Re: ring menu problem

In article <C5InCu.Ao@salmon.demon.co.uk>, neil@salmon.demon.co.uk ("Neil S. Briscoe") writes: |> The observed fault is that if the user leaves the application at a |> ring menu and does nothing for some time (the user has not been able |> to quantify how long) when they next press a letter to access a menu |> item, instead of the menu bar moving and the relevant actions being |> performed, the letter typed is echoed in the position just left of the |> first menu item. To get the actions executed, you then have to press |> the RETURN key. This is a good description of what would happen if the (software) terminal mode was changed to normal ("cooked"), instead of the "cbreak" mode that 4GL runs in. |> We changed both the console terminal, and the processor board |> and the fault continued (it only happens on the console). The fact that it only happens on the console, combined with the fact that the time interval is unpredictable, suggests that one of the system processes (perhaps one of the ones that occasionally outputs error messages to the console) is misbehaving, and resetting the terminal mode to normal. (Note that terminal mode is _not_ local to the process: if one process changes it, it affects everything that uses that terminal.) If this is the kind of thing that's going on, then you could: 1) Avoid using the console. Isn't it annoying to have all the error messages disrupting the screen? 2) Use X, or Sunview, or some such, so that "console" behavior is redirected toward just one window, leaving the other windows undisturbed. 3) Track down the background process that changing the mode. (How? :-() Then try to fix it, or do without it. 4) Upgrade the operating system, and hope the problem disappears. Hope this helps! -- Harry Bochner bochner@das.harvard.edu