[Konsole-devel] [Bug 127285] Honor VT100 Remote Printing Sequences

[Lars Doelle]

------- You are receiving this mail because: -------
You are the assignee for the bug, or are watching the assignee.
         
http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=127285         




------- Additional Comments From lars.doelle on-line de  2006-05-21 23:33 -------
Michael,

i have a patch on an archive tape somewhere that does it. I can dig it up for you.

I neverthenless hesitate to include it into the konsole - if it is about konsole's usability,
as i believe, the solution to build it in is not the right way. Typically, were such a feature
is used, it is actually about creating a multiplexer to tunnel data forth and back on the
terminal line for various reasons.

Very typically are mere technical applications, e.g. a konsole build into a technical device,
which is controlled over the remote line, too. Now the number of such channels vary, as
does the programs accepting or sending data - there are not only printers that can be
attached to terminals, but also "readers", like balances or bar code readers to be concrete.

I have seen this in more "commertial" applications, where they even allow to pass any
command lines over the back channel. Thus, what the "printer" is on the other side, might
vary extremely.

The alternative would be a complete separate program, say "ptytunnel", that hooks
between the konsole and the telnet/ssh/serial line. One could for instance say "ptytunnel
ssh me host"  Now ptytunnel could have a configuration and filter out perhaps configurable
escape sequences, switching channels, starting program that communicate with device, etc.
Often a remote application would like to know, whether the attached device is ready or
available at all, etc, etc.

Likely, printing demands can vary. If it is only a file to print, ok, [4i goes to the spooler, if a
real printer is attached (think of a PDA-like device), [4i might only switch channels, but does
not close, etc.

To cope with all such diversities, my preferred solution is actually to have such a feature not
being integrated into the konsole, but to have it as a separate program, much like "writed" is
separate from the konsole. The advantage would also be to allow to run any terminal program
on top of it, much like any terminal program runs on top of telnet or ssh. I have looked in sf.net
and freshmeat.net, but such a program does not appear to be available.

Michael, I'm currently too busy with other stuff, so i cannot spent the week it needs to code
such as thing. If you know a C-programmer who thinks such a thing would be fun, i can help
with a specification and technical details.

I do understand that you ask for something simple, that you want the banana but not the gorilla.
I thus can dig up the patch for the [5i and [4i stuff for your personal use these days, but i'm not
in favour to integrate it into the konsole. There, my preference is clearly a "ptytunnel" solution as
sketched above.

-lars