HP OpenVMS Systems Documentation

HP DECwindows Motif for OpenVMS
Release Notes

V1.3--1

A new resource, ignoreVisibility , has been added to prevent scrolling problems that occur when displaying a DECterm window using eXcursion or on a XINERAMA multihead system. To prevent these problems from occurring, insert the following line into the DECterm options file:

*.ignoreVisibility: True

To save and activate the setting, choose Save Options, and then close and restart all DECterm windows.

2.4.4.6 Invoking DECterm May Fail while Kerberos is Enabled

V1.3

When using Kerberos authentication, the DECterm controller may fail to start. The workaround for this problem is to change SYLOGIN.COM so that Kerberos is initialized (@SYS$MANAGER:KRB$SYMBOLS.COM) within the MODE_OTHER section of SYLOGIN.COM.

2.4.4.7 Euro Currency Symbol May Not Display Correctly When Using eXcursion

V1.3

Due to differences in how the euro symbol is supported between eXcursion and DECwindows Motif, the symbol may not display correctly on DECterm windows invoked via eXcursion. DECterm substitutes Latin-9 fonts with equivalent Latin-1 fonts, causing problems with the display of the symbol.

To prevent font substitution from occurring, modify the eXcursion font alias files, as described in the eXcursion release notes. The release notes describe how to edit the alias files, and describe additional restrictions related to support of the euro currency symbol.

2.4.4.8 Text Does Not Display Properly on XINERAMA Multihead Systems using Powerstorm 4d20 Graphics Cards (Alpha Only)

V1.3

In a multihead configuration that uses the XINERAMA extension and Powerstorm 4d20 graphics cards, DECterm windows may not display text properly. However, keyboard input is still processed.

To correct this issue, refresh the text in the affected DECterm windows by running the xrefresh utility from each window, as follows:

$  RUN DECW$UTILS:XREFRESH

V1.2--5

If the XUI window manager is in use, "Auto Resize Terminal" is on, and you used the mouse to resize the DECterm window, the DECterm window shrinks. To workaround this problem, add the following line to the DECterm resource file DECW$TERMINAL_DEFAULT.DAT:

DECW$TERMINAL.main.terminal.useWMHints: false

If you make this change, be aware that the window manager will report the size of the DECterm window in pixels rather than character cells. Also, if you maximize a DECterm window, it might not properly restore to its previous size. However, it will no longer shrink.

2.4.4.10 DECterm Resource File Name

V1.2--4

The locale of the display is now used to create the file name of the DECterm resource file. For example, if the locale is set to "ja_JP", then the default resource file name becomes DECW$TERMINAL_DEFAULT_JA_JP.DAT.

However, DECterm continues to use the old resource file name until the user selects Save Options at least once in the particular locale. The default resource file name for DECterm continues to be DECW$TERMINAL_DEFAULT.DAT if the locale meets any of the following conditions:

• Is "C"
• Starts with "en_US"
• Contains "8859-1"

V1.2--4

A DECterm controller can create a maximum of 23 DECterm windows. This occurs because DECterm needs an event flag for each terminal window in use. There are 23 event flags that DECterm can use. (Event flag 0 and event flags 24--32 are not available for DECterm to use.)

If you need more than 23 DECterm windows, then you must create a new controller. To create a new controller, enter the following command:

$ MCR DECW$TERMINAL

Note that the window from which this command is executed cannot be used for anything else because this command does not return until the last DECterm window is closed. After starting the controller with this method, the user can create another 23 DECterm windows with the DCL command CREATE/TERMINAL.

2.4.4.12 Resizing the Terminal

V1.2--3

If you maximize the DECterm window when you enable the Auto Resize Terminal window option, the window is expanded to its nearest cell boundary; the window does not necessarily occupy the entire screen. The Restore options continue to function appropriately.

2.4.4.13 Reporting the DECterm Window Size

V1.2--3

When you enable the Show Feedback option in the Workspace Options dialog box of the Window Manager, and you resize a DECterm window, the size of the window is reported in characters instead of pixels.

2.4.4.14 Changing the Auto Repeat Setting

V1.2--3

You cannot change the Auto Repeat setting in the DECterm Keyboard Options dialog box. Instead, change the setting in the Keyboard dialog box in the Session Manager (Traditional DECwindows Desktop) or Style Manager (New Desktop).

2.4.4.15 Timeout for Displaying the Copyright Notice

V1.2--3

If keyboard or mouse activity does not take place for 10 seconds after the copyright notice is displayed on the terminal, the notice disappears from the DECterm screen.

2.4.4.16 Selecting Fonts

V1.2

Not all fonts work properly with DECterm. DECterm emulates a character-cell terminal, and, therefore, expects the fonts to be monospaced, fixed-width fonts (such as, CharCell), where each glyph possesses the same pixel width and the ascenders and descenders do not extend beyond the bounding box. Proportional fonts can be specified, but they produce unpredictable results.

Furthermore, DECterm fonts are supplied in families of 26 related fonts, including variations for bold, double-width, double-width/double-height, normal, and condensed characters. Also, DECterm fonts include special characters, such as the Line Drawing and the DIGITAL Technical character sets. A DECterm font family is identified by the font naming convention.

Use of fonts that do not have all the related font family variations, fonts that do not have the needed special characters, or font families that do not adhere to the DECterm font family naming conventions, may not result in an optimal display or otherwise perform as expected.

If DECterm cannot find a selected font, or if DECterm encounters a font not present in the selected font family, a warning message is displayed indicating that the font cannot be found. DECterm then proceeds to use the fallback replacement for the specified font.

2.4.4.17 Supported DECterm Logical Names

V1.1

Table 2-1 describes the logical names that are supported by DECterm. If you do not define these logical names in your LOGIN.COM file, the terminal controller uses the default values.

V1.1

Printing to a port device requires you to have read and write privileges on that port. You cannot print by allocating the device, since the controller requires access to the device. Instead, set the device to WORLD:RW.

For example, to use the printer port TTA3:, enter the following command from a privileged account or include the command in the system startup file:

$ SET PROTECTION=WORLD:RW TTA3:/DEVICE

V1.1

If the hold screen key response time is too slow, add the following lines to your DECW$TERMINAL_DEFAULT.DAT file:

DECW$TERMINAL.main.terminal.syncFrequency: 1
DECW$TERMINAL.main.terminal.batchScrollCount: 1

Using these resources can affect the performance of the DECterm window. The actual impact on performance varies from site to site. You can trade off scrolling speed to hold-screen response time. A faster hold-screen response results in a slower scrolling speed. The default values for these resources are 10 and 0, respectively.

2.4.4.20 DECterm Graphics

V1.1

The following information is specific to DECterm graphics:

• In some cases, a private colormap is created in DECterm. This private colormap is created when ReGIS or sixel graphics are displayed in the window and a sufficient number of colors from the default colormap cannot be allocated. The result is that when the DECterm window has input focus, the colormap changes for the entire workstation. The default colormap is four colors on a four-plane or monochrome system and 16 colors on color systems with more than four planes.
  To restore a DECterm window to the default colormap, select Clear Display from the Commands menu to clear the window. Then select Reset Terminal from the Commands menu to reset the terminal.
• Only graphics, not text, are written to the graphics backing store. When part of a window has to be redrawn in DECterm, the graphics portion of the window is drawn first, then the text is overlaid. As a result, the redrawn window might not look the same as the original picture.
• ReGIS addresses the entire window, not just 24 rows and 80 columns, so the aspect ratio between text and graphics might not always be the same as on the VT330 or VT340 terminal.
• The following ReGIS features are not implemented:

  Command Display mode
  Scrolling
  Output cursors

V1.1

You cannot create more terminal windows than your system resources and quotas allow. If you have insufficient resources, a dialog box is displayed with a message indicating that no additional DECterm windows can be created.

To reduce the memory requirement of each DECterm window and create additional terminal windows, decrease the number of Record Lines Off Top in the Display dialog box and decrease the number of columns for each DECterm window.

Once the resource limit is reached, log out of all DECterm windows that are running on the host system before you increase the number of terminal windows.

2.4.4.22 Diagnostic Crash File and Messages

V1.1

DECterm produces a diagnostic file when a status code of fatal is returned. The DECTERM_ERROR.LOG file is produced in the login directory when the DECterm application exits abnormally. If you have a problem with the DECterm application, submit a copy of this log file to your HP service representative. However, under certain circumstances, a log file is generated even when no problem is encountered. Therefore, the appearance of a log file as an isolated event should not be cause for a problem report.

You can enable additional levels of diagnostic messages by defining either a logical name or a symbol named DECTERM_DIAG. When defined, enhanced diagnostics are displayed by the DECterm images. Use this mode only for diagnosing problems; it causes Session Manager message windows to be generated for each new DECterm created from the Session Manager.

DECterm diagnostics can be captured in a file by defining the logical name DECW$DECTERM_OUTPUT to point to a file.

2.4.4.23 Using the Debugger

V1.0

To redirect the output from the debugger to a DECterm window, enter the following command:

$ CREATE/TERMINAL/NOPROCESS/DEFINE=xxx

This command creates a DECterm without an associated process but with a logical name of xxx that points to the terminal. This procedure enables you to direct output to a DECterm window other than the window where the application is currently running. To redirect the output, enter the following commands:

$ DEFINE /USER DBG$INPUT xxx:
$ DEFINE /USER DBG$OUTPUT xxx:
$ RUN /DEBUG application.EXE

V1.0

To create a process that uses a virtual terminal, enter the following command:

$ CREATE/TERMINAL/NOPROCESS

Then establish focus to the newly created DECterm, press Return, and log in. Note that the /DEFINE qualifier is not required.

2.4.4.25 VT330 and VT340 Terminal Emulation Restrictions

V1.0

Although DECterm incorporates some of the features of the VT330- and VT340-series video terminals, such as ReGIS and Sixel graphics; it does not provide complete VT330 and VT340 terminal emulation.

The following restrictions apply to DECterm:

• User-loadable characters (DRCS), local mode, and control representation mode (CRM) are not implemented.
• The checkerboard character (character 97 in the DIGITAL Special Graphic character set) is used as an error character in place of the reverse question mark.
• DECterm uses replace mode as the default for Sixel drawing on servers with eight planes or less. On servers with more than eight planes, DECterm uses overlay mode; replace mode is not functional on those servers.

V1.0

The /PROCESS=procnam qualifier does not work when used in conjunction with the /DETACHED qualifier, unless there is already a process running on the system where its process name is equal to the user name.

To work around this problem, use the following command procedure:

$! CREATE_TERM_PROC.COM
$!
$! Invoke as SPAWN/NOWAIT @CREATE_TERM_PROC procname
$!
$ SET NOON
$!
$! Set Process name to username
$!
$ X = F$CONTEXT("PROCESS", PID, "PRCNAM", "''F$PROCESS()'","EQL")
$ NAME = F$EDIT(F$GETJPI(X,"USERNAME"),"COLLAPSE")
$ SET PROCESS/NAME="''NAME'"
$ CREATE/TERMINAL/DETACHED/PROCESS="''P1'"
$!
$! Allow new process to RUN LOGINOUT before exiting subprocess
$ WAIT 00:00:10

If the /PROCESS=procnam qualifier specifies a process name that is already in use, the DECterm is created but creation of the process inside the DECterm fails. In this case, the DCL command CREATE/TERMINAL returns the following error message:

%SYSTEM-F-DUPLNAM, duplicate name

V1.0

When DECterm sends a ReGIS locator report in response to the R(P(I)) command, or in multiple input mode and the locator position is outside the addressable area, DECterm sends a locator report with the coordinates omitted. For example, press the A key to generate the report:

A[]<CR>, where <CR> is a carriage return (ASCII code 13).

This section contains release notes pertaining to the DECwindows CD Player application.

2.4.5.1 Required Privileges

V1.1

The DECwindows CD Player (DECW$CDPLAYER) application in the DECW$EXAMPLES directory requires PHY_IO and DIAGNOSE privileges to operate the compact-disc player hardware. Either your process or the image must have these privileges.

2.4.6 DECwindows Mail

This section contains release notes pertaining to the DECwindows Mail application.

2.4.6.1 Support Removed for Display PostScript

V1.2--6

With the removal of the support for Display PostScript from DECwindows Motif, DECwindows Mail no longer supports the display of messages that are exclusively PostScript code. In previous versions, DECwindows Mail sensed the presence of a mail message containing PostScript and used Display PostScript to display the message.

Currently, when DECwindows Mail detects a messages that is exclusively PostScript code, it displays the following error message:

[This PostScript® message cannot currently be displayed.]

As a workaround, use the Extract option in the File menu, (deselect the "Include Header Information" button in the Extract dialog box), and print the extracted file.

2.4.6.2 Pasting Messages from the Directory Window

V1.2--4

In DECwindows Mail, if the user selects one or more messages in the directory window using MB1 and then clicks on MB2 in another window (such as a DECterm window), the entire contents of the selected messages is pasted into the other window. The selected messages are highlighted in the directory window, however the text of the selected and pasted message is not highlighted in the Read window.

2.4.6.3 Responses to Keyboard Actions

V1.2--3

Enhancements in the DECwindows Mail application to comply more closely with OSF/Motif style conventions cause some changes with application responses to keyboard actions.

Note the following changes:

• If you use the Tab key to advance through text entry boxes in the Create/Send window, the current field is no longer highlighted. To select a field, use one of the standard Motif actions, such as double or triple clicking MB1, or use the Shift+Alt -> key sequence.
• In several dialog boxes, press either the Select key or the space bar to activate a pushbutton through the keyboard. Note that the Return key and the Enter key are bound to other widgets in the dialog box. Alternatively, you can continue to click MB1 to activate a pushbutton.

V1.2

If you use the color customizer sample program provided in the directory DECW$EXAMPLES to control DECwindows Mail colors, the DECwindows Mail color customization dialog boxes used to modify those colors may not reflect the correct current color values. This is normal behavior; use the color customizer instead of the DECwindows Mail color customization dialog boxes to change these values. Alternatively, exit from the color customizer and restart DECwindows Mail.

2.4.7 Notepad

This section contains release notes pertaining to the Notepad application.

2.4.7.1 Notepad Is Linked with the OSF/Motif Release 1.1.3 Toolkit

V1.2--3

The Notepad application is linked with the OSF/Motif Release 1.1.3 Toolkit; it has not been modified to link with the updated OSF/Motif Release 1.2.3 Toolkit. As a result, the following restrictions apply:

• OSF/Motif Release 1.2 drag-and-drop functionality is not supported. As a workaround, use the standard clipboard operations (Cut, Copy, and Paste) to transfer text into Notepad.
• OSF/Motif Release 1.2 tear-off menus are not supported.

This section contains release notes pertaining to the Paint application.

2.4.8.1 Private Colormaps

V1.1

If your workstation does not have sufficient colormap entries to view or edit a color image, Paint creates a private colormap. When this happens, the Paint image retains its colors, but the colors on the rest of the workstation are modified. To restore the colors to their original values, give another window input focus by clicking on it.

2.4.8.2 Slow Performance of Some Paint Operations

V1.0

On GPX systems, Paint might appear slow even when performing basic operations such as drawing a brush stroke. This is because the pixmap is being swapped into the pixmap memory in order to paint the object. If Paint performance is slow, click on the Pencil tool and draw a point in the image area. This should improve performance following the initial Pencil click.

When editing images (especially color images), you can resize the image area using the Picture Size... entry from the Options menu. Resize to the least possible image area to significantly reduce the amount of required pixmap memory.