#6 AND THE EXCITING NEW VT100

<[2J[H[?5l[0m[0q(B[?4h[?3l[1;24r#6 WELCOME TO DIGITAL
#6 AND THE EXCITING NEW VT100
#6 VIDEO DISPLAY TERMINAL

The VT100 is the most versatile softcopy terminal ever
offered by Digital.

In its simplest form, it serves as a direct replacement for
the well-known VT52. The screen format is 24 lines of 80
columns, in lower and upper case, and the VT100 will accept the
complete set of VT52 escape sequences, including...
[?2lCursor stepping...CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC...to the right...BBBBBB...down...DDDD
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD...back to the left...AAAA...and u
p...��HJY#%We have direct cursor addressingHTo home position...Y*D...or...Y,H...an
ywhere else...Y.L...on the screen...��
We have partial erase; we can erase the rest of a line...DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD��Ko
r the rest of the screen...
AA��JAKHFrom here at home we can do the whole screen...H��JThe keyboard alternatives
exist, too, including
alternate keypad and cursor control keys.

We even have a set of special characters.

F !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP
QRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}~G��<[2J[H#6BUT...
Beyond its capabilities as a VT52 emulator, the VT100
implements a full set of ANSI compatible controls,
and a set of features never before found in a DEC terminal.

It does, of course, have the normal cursor stepping.
[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C[C
..to the right...[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D
[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D...back to the left...[B[B[B[B[B[B...down.
.[A[A[A[A[A...and back up...��

..but beside the unit cursor stepping, it has relative
cursor spacing, by stepping with a parameterized move...
from the margin...[20C...way right...[35D...back to the left...[6A...straight up
..[7B...and down again...
..all in a trice.
��[2J[HAbsolute direct cursor addressing is available in three forms.
The parameterized ANSI sequences offer two commands.
[10;15HEach is implemented to allow the user freedom of choice.[8;10fThe third i
s the "save and restore cursor" command pair.[14;1H��The available erase commands
are much more versatile
than the comparable VT52 modes.
From the current cursor position,
we can erase to the end of the line.7 (this part, for example).
8��[0K
..or we can erase to the start of the line (as the line above).
8��[1K

or the entire current line from any point within it.[25D��[2K[12;1HThe entire scre
en can be bounded in the same manner,
and we can erase to the end of the screen from the cursor...��[0J
..from the start of the screen to the cursor...
[A[A��[1J...or the whole screen at once...
��[2J[HSeveral character sets may be resident in the VT100.
The normal set is the USASCII set of letters and graphics...
(B !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?
@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}~
There is a similar set for the United Kingdom...
(A !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?
@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}~
Special graphics may be enabled...
(0 !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?
@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}~
(BAn alternate character ROM may be installed...(1
!"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?
@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}~
(BOr last, alternate graphics may be available...(2
!"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?
@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}~
(B��[2J[H
There may be as many as four optional character attributes
which may be associated with any character on the screen.
Normally, once an attribute is enabled it is associated
with all characters displayed after it until it is changed.
Characters with attributes never lose their attributes
as long as they remain on the screen without being overwritten.
The separate attributes are [0m[1mbold, [0m[4munderline, [0m[5mblink, and [0m[7m
reverse video.
[0mAttributes may be turned on in combination, as
[1m[7m bold and reverse.
[0mAny combinations are legal.
��
Along with the character attributes there are some
line and screen wide attributes of note.
#6One of the more dramatic is
#6double width lines.
Double width is selected on a line by line basis.
Lines previously entered may be changed
between modes selectively.
��[A[A#6
#6
��[A[A#5
#5
��#3Then there is the double height line.
#4Then there is the double height line.
The double height line is always double width,
and provides that extra emphasis for very important displays.
How could one miss the following, for example...
��#3[5m[1m[4m[7mA/C FAILURE - CALL REPAIR
#4[5m[1m[4m[7mA/C FAILURE - CALL REPAIR��
[0m��
��[?3hThe other dramatic display mode is the 132 column line.
It, of necessity, clears the screen when invoked,
but does allow the convenient display of wide format data such as program listin
gs or financial reports with a minimum of distortion and line wraparound.
#6The combination of 132 column mode and double width characters
#6can also be used to simulate a 66 column screen if desired.
��#3Double height by 66 column
#4Double height by 66 column
#3may be very useful in limited vision applications.
#4may be very useful in limited vision applications.
��[?3lThe last screen wide display attributes is full reverse video.
[?5hThis provides a dark-on-light display which
some users find helpful by providing more visible
display area margins and a different screen contrast environment.
The four possible character attributes may still be present,
and they display as [0m[1mbold, [0m[4munderline, [0m[5mblink, [0m[7mand reverse.
[0m[1mThe bold on screen reverse,
[0m[7mor character reverse on screen reverse may be
particularly useful in a forms-filling or
direct access editing environment to delimit used and unused
display area.

[0mNote that changing screen background does not clear the screen.
��[?5l��[2J[HMost terminals just scroll, but the VT100
has two modes of scrolling and a definable scrolling region.
[?4l
[22;0fThis is typical scrolling,
with the screen jumping from line to line.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
[?4hThis is VT100 smooth scrolling.
It is much more uniform and consistent,
and reduces eyestrain and screen blur.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
��[2J[HBy the use of the indexing sequences, the terminal can b
e made
MM to scroll in reverse,
MM allowing new input to be at the top of the screen.
[10;1HAnother useful feature of the VT100 scrolling system
is the defined scrolling region.
First we add a little screen background...

...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...
...background...[8;1H[8;14rDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDThe
scrolling region is any contiguous set of lines
on the screen in which normal scrolling takes place
while the rest of the screen stays fixed.
��
The subset area may be used to display variable text while
the background area is used to display forms or other
fixed format material.
��[?6l[7;1HThe background area may still be written to...

..but any explicit or implicit scrolling will be
limited to the scrolling area.
��

MMMMScrolling in this area is still bidirectional.
DDDDD��MMMMMMMMMMMM��[1;24r[2J[H[2J[HSpeaking of forms, the VT100 has as a part of
its special
character sets a line character set suitable for the
display of forms or simple charts and graphs:
(0j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x (B
��Consider the following hypothetical form:
(07qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq8l
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
mqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqj�[Ax�[Ax�[Ax�[Ax�[Ax�[Ax�[Ax�[Ax�[Ax�[A
x�[Ax�[Ax�[Ax�[Ax�[Ak
8

tqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqu

tqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqu
8[4B[18Cw�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bv8[7B[18Cn8[12B[18Ctqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq
qqqqqqqqqqqu8(B7[B[B[C[C[1mDigital Equipment Corporation Sample Video Form[0m

[C[C[1mTerminal:[0m VT100[4C[1mDate and time:[0m 28-Mar-78 17:05 8[13B[20C[1mA
pproval:[0m

��[2J[H[?3h[H[H(0opqrs[Bopqrs[Bopqrs[Bopqrs[Bopqrs[Bopqrs[Bopqrs[Bopqrs[Bopqrs[Bop
qrs[Bopqrs[Bopqrs[Bopqrs[Bopqrs[Bopqrs[Bopqrs[Bopqrs[Bopqrs[Bopqrs[Bopqrs[Bopqrs
[Bopqrs[Bopqrs[Bopqrs[B[H(B[8B
The horizontal bar set gives one-fifth line vertical resolution, and in 132 colu
mn mode,
the total screen resolution is 120 rows by 132 columns.
[2J[H[13;6H(07[1mqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq
qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq8[11A[1mx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[B
x�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[Bx�[B8[10A[1mn�[5Bn�[5Bn�[5Bn�[5Bn�[5B8[1m
[11A 1.0
[4B 0.5
[4B 0.0
[4B-0.5
[4B-1.0
[4B8[1mn[12Cn[12Cn[12Cn[12Cn[12Cn[12Cn[12Cn[12Cn[12Cn[12C8[1m[C[B[12C1[12C2[12C3
[12C4[12C5[12C6[12C7[12C8[12C98[C[A[A[A[A[A[A[A[A[A[As[Bopqqrs[Bopqrss[Bopqqrs[B
oopqqrrs[Booppqqrrss[Booppqqrrrss[Booopppqqqrrrssss[Booooppppqqqqrrrrrssssss[Boo
ooooppppppppqqqqqqqqrrrrrrrrrrrsssss[H#6 Y=EXP(-0.4*X) [5m Y=SIN(1.5*X-1)8[C[5
m[B[B[B[B[B[B[B[Bqo[Aq[Asp[Ar[Asp[Aq[Ar[Aso[Ap[Ar[Aso[Ap[Aq[Aso[Aq[Asp[Asp[Asqpo
[Asrrrrrs[Boqr[Bor[Bor[Bps[Bq[Bps[Br[Bq[Bp[Bos[Bq[Bp[Bos[Br[Bp[Bor[Bps[Bps[Bprs[
Bopqqqqqpo[Arqo[Aqo[Aq[Asp[Ar[Asp[Aq[Ar[Aso[Ap[Ar[Aso[Ap[Aq[Aso[Aq[Asp[Asp[Asqpo
[Asrrrrrs[Boqr[Bor[Bor[Bps(B[H��[?3l[0m[2J[H[2J[HEven the keyboard is special on t
he VT100.
Aside from being detached from the main housing to
better accommodate user work areas, the actions of
the keyboard are user programmable with regard to
keyboard auto-repeat (on or off)
codes sent from the cursor control keys
codes sent from the alternate keypad
and keyboard LED display.
The other features are hard to demonstrate, but watch
the LEDs, as these can be controlled quite easily.
��[0q[1q��[0q[2q��[0q[3q��[0q[4q��[0q[1q[2q[3q[4q��[0q�The beep was to get your attention aga
in.
��The left three lights are special purpose, the far left
is terminal online, the next is terminal local (these are
always complements of each other), and the next is keyboard lock.
��[2J[HThere is much more that can not be instantly demonstrated
by an exerciser such as this. The VT100 has several reports
it can make to a host, such as current cursor position, self-
test confidence report, and terminal identification.

It should also be noted that most of the changes in terminal
operations shown under host control here can be user controlled
through SET-UP mode, and the user-defined default set of such
controls can be saved in memory and made immune to power
outages or normal shutdowns.

In short, the VT100 represents a new generation in video
terminal architecture, and it is likely to serve as a base
for a large class of divergent terminal applications in the
years ahead.