should there be an xenl in the unix-pc terminfo on non-unix-pc hosts?

daniel.r.levy danl at cbnewsc.ATT.COM
Sun Apr 30 19:10:26 AEST 1989


When using my 3b1 to "cu" other hosts (System V, non-unix-pc) and exporting
my TERM to "unixpc", I was having a lot of trouble using "vi" on those
systems.  Wrapped lines caused an extra line to be skipped at the point of the
wrap, which messed up the screen.

I discovered, using infocmp, that there was an "xenl" flag in the "unixpc"
terminfo.  Hmm, this flag is supposed to mean that the terminal "eats a
newline" when the cursor is "one column past" the last column on the screen,
right?  So curses, after painting a line the full width of the screen, sends
a newline anyhow, then, knowing that the newline was "eaten," sends a carriage
return and another newline in anticipation of the next line to be painted.
Well...  the 3b1 (at least when cu'ing from it) DOESN'T "eat newlines," and
hence the bug described above appears.

By recompiling the "unixpc" terminfo entry minus the "xenl" flag, I was able to
verify that this was, indeed, the case.  Using this entry, curses WORKS with
my 3b1 in cu, and I have no more headaches with wrapped lines.

Can anyone say why the xenl is in the unix-pc terminfo entry as distributed
with System V?  Is it needed in the terminal emulator (as opposed to the
native console)?  Did earlier versions of the 3b1/7300 require it?
-- 
Dan'l Levy                 UNIX(R) mail:  att!ttbcad!levy, att!cbnewsc!danl
AT&T Bell Laboratories
5555 West Touhy Avenue     Any opinions expressed in the message above are
Skokie, Illinois  60077    mine, and not necessarily AT&T's.



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