Bug report : 1 Mar 2020 : PE6 Terminal, control character behaviour ?

[Technical]

To use web based programming (via picaxecloud.com or webserial.io) you need to use a browser that supports the webserial API - ie Chrome/Edge/Opera.

An ALT+TAB keyboard press will let you very simply alternate between PE6 and any third party terminal application you like.

 

[Buzby]

Actually, I don't think you understand my suggestion. I know Alt/Tab can switch between PE6 and any other prog, but this is not what I meant.

I meant that PE6 simulator should be able to switch between outputting text to 'PE Terminal' or text to a '3rd party terminal'.

If this could happen, then all screen navigation will be done by the user's PICAXE code sending escape sequences. This is the technique I had to use when I needed to navigate the screen. However, I had to download the code to a real PICAXE, and use a real serial port on my PC which was running TeraTerm. This meant I lost all the advantages of testing in the simulator.

It would have been so much easier if PE6 simulator sent the text directly to TeraTerm.

 

[Buzby]

What do the numbers in the lefthand column refer to ?

In projects I've worked on professionally, the usual job of these type of numbers is to uniquely define a 'bug' or 'discrepancy' that needs attention.

The identical numbers shown above relate to two different issues.

There is at least one other duplicated number, which coincidentally (?) relates to another bug that I reported.

 

[Buzby]

I know I've been banging on this drum for years with no results, but I now need a decent PE Terminal again, so I'm banging my drum once more !

When PE6 was introduced we were told part of the reason for it was that it would be easier for Rev-Ed to add features to the new platform.

The feature I would like is to allow re-direction of the simulated serial output to a 3rd party terminal instead of PE Terminal. A selection in the Editor Options dialogue could be used to let the user choose between 'PE Terminal' or 'something else'.

The 'something else' could be, in order of simplicity of development effort :

(1) a direct link to a COM Port, thus letting the user use a second PC as a terminal.
(2) a built-in proper terminal emulation, something like a module to replicate a VT100.
(3) a preset, specific, link to a developer selected 3rd party terminal, like TeraTerm or RealTerm.
(4) a completely free choice of any terminal program that is on the user's PC.

All the 'parts' needed to implement one of these are already in PE6, such as selecting a pin for sim-LCD output, or manipulating COM ports for downloading.

Why are Rev-Ed so reticent to implement a solution, or give a good reason why they can't ?

 

[papaof2]

The guy who spoke RS232 retired? ;-)

 

[Buzby]

In post #39 from Technical it is stated that the same staff who started PE6 are still there.

If not, the same post shows the author, Technical, understands the textstream mechanism, and quite eloquently described why 08 was such a disaster.

PE6 is built using off-the-shelf development packages, ( Actiprosoftware is one ), so it should be relatively easy to re-direct the textstream.
Textstream redirection something like this is already in PE6. The simulated LCD accepts a textstream from the simulator. The textstream is sent from a simulated pin, selected by the user. It's not a huge step to redirect the serial port textstream in a similar way.

A ready-built terminal app could easily be the target of the textstream. Something like TeraTerm, RealTerm, or SecureCRT could be used, if Rev-Ed liased with the app developers to get the interface details .

A proper terminal would help in education, as the learning needed to generate the Esc/ control codes is something that fits in well in computing.
( See https://espterm.github.io/docs/VT100 escape codes.html for the full set. We only really need the 'cursorup/dn/lf/rt' and 'cursorpos' types. )

I cannot understand why Rev-Ed have not taken my request seriously.

 

[papaof2]

Very aware of the VT-100 codes as I dealt with hundreds of terminals spread out over multiple floors of a Telco building - including major differences in ground potential between floors: shocks when handling "grounded metal shell" RS-232 connectors being connected to "grounded" terminals multiple floors away from the DEC PDP-11/70 computers they were connected to.

Bell Labs did months of analysis and verifying the corrections in electrical wiring (mostly the electrical grounding) before the first 4ESS electronic toll switch could be installed in a Telco building in Atlanta. At that point in time, I could have written the 20 or so most common movement codes from memory... But I haven't used those in a long time.

I agree that having the ability to pass the output of a PICAXE to a terminal seems a reasonable and logical thing - not that reasonable or logical often hold much weight in some corporate decisions.

Microsoft Word 2003 wanted to correct the spelling of "You're" to "You is". Absolutely no reason for that to have passed testing...

 

[Technical]

I cannot understand why Rev-Ed have not taken my request seriously.

Your multiple requests have been noted. There is no current plan to develop this idea - new feature requests are only approved if the time (and hence considerable cost) of software development is considered to fit our core objectives.