6 Aug
2014
6 Aug
'14
6:15 p.m.
My answers, embedded though I'm sure millions will reply. From my recollection....
aps
Begin forwarded message:
From: "Jeremy C. Reed"
<reed(a)reedmedia.net>
Subject: Re: [TUHS] terminal - just for fun
Date: August 6, 2014 at 8:26:22 AM PDT
To: tuhs(a)minnie.tuhs.org
On Wed, 6 Aug 2014, John Cowan wrote:
I guess it was common to use the Teletype Model 33 independently without
any video display. (I read that it could accommodate a modem too.) Did
it automatically print to paper everything typed to keyboard in
real-time? Or maybe only when LINE FEED or RE-TURN key was pressed?
The 33 was capable of full-duplex so this depended upon what it was talking to (or how it
was optioned). Teletype did have an OEM acoustically coupled modem on 33's (and
32's??). In the "barebones" version, they were current-loop machines
(make-brake contacts to represent the 1's and 0's for the code). There was also
an OEM option for RS232.
So the
model-33 wasn't ASCII?
The keyboard could send all of ASCII except lower-case letters, grave,
braces, and vertical bar (i.e. excluding x60 to x7E). The high-order
bit was always set. Using the paper tape reader and punch, you could
transmit arbitrary 8-bit characters. How would RUB OUT be used when using the sh shell? (I
tried looking
through the code and manual for some old 32V and previous versions but
didn't see code for it yet.)
When you pressed RUBOUT, the 'deleted' character was printed on the paper by the
system to which the 33 was connected and removed from the butter (pointer moved backwards,
etc.).
When did the sh shell provide intra-line editing?
I first experienced this with the CSH but maybe there were others before.
Were the early Unix versions case insensitive? (Like
could I run "DaTe"
from shell?) If not, how to get the model-33 to work with it?
I recall that there was an STTY command that would allow case to be ignored. Remember,
the shell would look for a file name in a set of directories (later, $PATH) for the file
name to fork/exec.
What about the model-33 printer? Did it print
lowercase?
I do not believe so.
How was the "HERE IS" key programmed? Was it
used in Unix?
32's and 33's were focused on Telex and TWX services. Hence the "HERE
IS" (popular with Telex or TWX call initiations) and REPT (I can't recall its
meaning but, geez, looks like a request to repeat last transmission or indicating that
what follows is a repeat transmission).
What was the "REPT" key used for?
See above.
I also noticed there wasn't any tilde key. So I
looked at some old Unix
code and didn't see tilde used for home directory until 1980 csh. But
how was tilde entered for previous uses? (Maybe I just overlooked on
keyboard.)
I thought the tilde (~) was used in the C language. I remember seeing tildes as home
directories in V7 or certainly in CSH. Again, my recollections...
Was there any concept of intra-line editing when using
a model-33 -- but
without seeing what is being typed or having it print over (and over)
same line content? (I should assume that intra-line editing can only
happen on video terminals.)
As implied before, I don't recall any intraline editing (beyond backspacing or
erasing-the-last-character commands for those "glass tty's" that could
support it) until CSH.
(My book in progress explains a lot about the history
of ex/vi but
the earliest version I have is 1.1 which included the support for
intra-line editing and even visual mode for HP 2645 and LSI ADM-3A
cursor-addressible terminals. I am hoping my book can also introduce the
basic usage concepts for readers who have no familiarity with the
hardware around then. One of the TUHS list participants and termcap/vi
developer already told me some about the hjkl arrow keys, for example.)
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