Re: Backspace Key in screen forms

In <34mgg3$ifr@brachio.zrz.TU-Berlin.DE> olhe4000@mailszrz.zrz.TU-Berlin.DE (Olaf Hendel) writes: >Is there a possibility to use the Backspace-Key inside an input >field of a screen form (4GL/ISQL)? On our Informix-System the cursur >moves back, but without clearing the character. >I think it is a termcap-related problem, so I "played" a bit around >with my termcap file, but without success. >(I use the vt100 entry from $INFORMIXDIR/etc/termcap. On the Unix >command-line the backspace key works well) Our users were *adamant* that backspace erase the character (like most normal applications -- are you LISTENING Informix?!?). I kludged up an ugly solution: All users have PCs with a comm program -- I mapped the BS key to send out ^H^X. Of course this messes up Unix, so I have "stty swtch ^X" since we don't use shell layers. Or use some other stty char, 'flush' comes to mind. Of course, this isn't workable in 'raw' (or cbreak) mode applications like vi, emacs, etc., and even worse for programs that USE ^X for something... Personally, I think informix needs to replace the antiquated character handling with something ENTIRELY under the control of the programmer, so we can define ANY key to do whatever -- having ^A stuck on insert, etc. is a royal pain in the ass. Thank heavens for remappable keyboards. -- Andrew Burt aburt@du.edu "But if he was dying he wouldn't bother to carve "Aaaaargh", he'd just say it."