Re: Problem with arrow and function key interpretation.

In response to Mary's question: > We have been having a problem with arrow and function key interpretation. > Can anyone shed some light on the problem? > > We are running on an AT&T 3B2 with PC users coming in via telnet. > (The folks on the PC are using PROCOMM). > > The application running on the 3B2 is an Informix application. The user > should be able to move from field to field by pressing an arrow key. > Intermittantly, the arrow key doesn't work, leaving characters like a [A > in the field. Also, we have had a problem with the function keys - F6 > cannot be used from remote locations. (F6 works fine for local terminals) > Evidently, the esc character needed for correct interpretation of the keys > is being separated. > > Any thoughts on cause or a possible solution? The problem with using arrow keys in INFORMIX is very common when TCP/IP is involved. It happens because the format of the key sequence sent by the arrow and function keys is ESC followed by the rest of the key sequence. In TCP/IP it is possible that the ESC is getting sent in one packet and the rest of the key sequence is getting sent another packet. When this happens the program sees the ESC by itself and thinks the user hit the ESC key. When the rest of the key sequence shows up the program is not ready for it. If you are using INFORMIX 4.0 or higher, you can use the undocumented environment variable DBESCWT. This variable indicates how long (seconds) the program should wait when it sees an ESC to see if it is actually an ESC or part of a key sequence. This is what I use: DBESCWT=2 export DBESCWT Hope this helps. -- Matthew Roth 314-235-3170 mr7378@swuts.sbc.com