ATASCII on Unix/Linux/BSD

[jfalcon]

Greetings all,

 

Does anyone know if there is an ATASCII termcap for Unix/Linux systems? I'm interested in building a multi-user system for 8-bits or Atari Terminal Simulator users to log in, share messages, chat, etc... I would do the same with 8-bit hardware/emulators but I don't think it would work well with shared files.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Cybernoid]

I was looking for an ATASCII termcap years ago when I ran a Linux BBS on my TT030. If you find one, can you send it my way...?

 

I have a kludge that runs in PERL that pipes between 2 sockets and translates into ATASCII...

[jfalcon]

I found something close to it (google is so pimp when it comes to various file formats). Not sure if it will work 100%... now to figure out how to get it into the termcap/terminfo library....

 

Text File attached which ironically enough contains the information to get proper screen control on an Atari 8-bit. Still nothing about a true ATASCII screen but it's closer...

acsterm.txt

[bsittler]

This is far from perfect, but I have made a first attempt at a terminfo for ATASCII terminals. I built this from descriptions on Wikipedia, documentation for BobTerm, and using the Atari Terminal Simulator (ATS) running inside Wine. It has never been tested with a real Atari, so your mileage will likely vary. Please feel free to use it, comment on it, criticize it, and modify it — my hope is to eventually have a description good enough for inclusion in the master terminfo database.

 

Here's the URL where I'll put any updates:

 

http://xent.com/~bsittler/atascii.ti

 

I've also attached an automatic termcap conversion, in case the system you're connecting to does not use terminfo.

 

edit: i forgot to mention that this has also been tested using the ATASCII mode of SyncTERM, where it works somewhat

atascii.ti.txt

atascii.tc.txt

Edited June 3, 2009 by bsittler

[bsittler]

At some point I also hacked together a set of inputrc bindings for ATASCII which allow slightly easier typing on the bash command-line. They are far from perfect but might help someone else too, so here they are. I keep the latest version at http://xent.com/~bsittler/inputrc-atascii

 

To avoid unreasonable expectations/possibly save you a download,here are the comments describing what works and what doesn't:

# The Atari 400 and Atari 800 home computers used a bizarre
# not-quite-ASCII console character encoding called ATASCII ("Atari
# ASCII") which makes them hard to use as terminals. They support
# minimal relative cursor motion, clear screen, and newline. The ASCII
# characters '`', '{', '}', and '~' are not present, and there is an
# extensive alternate character set overlaid on the ASCII control
# codes and on some of the printable ASCII codes.
#
# The following stty settings were found to be helpful in ~/.bashrc:
#
#    if [[ -t 0 ]]; then case :"$TERM" in
#    (:atascii-80x24|:xep80)
#        stty rows 24 columns 80 quit ^- erase "$(printf '\176')" eol "$(printf '\233')" cs8 -parenb \
#            -istrip -ixon -ixoff -ixany -onlcr opost 2>/dev/null
#        export LC_ALL=C
#        export CHARSET=csASCII
#        ;;
#    (:atascii|:atascii-*|:bobterm)
#        stty rows 24 columns 40 quit ^- erase "$(printf '\176')" eol "$(printf '\233')" cs8 -parenb \
#            -istrip -ixon -ixoff -ixany -onlcr opost 2>/dev/null
#        export LC_ALL=C
#        export CHARSET=csASCII
#        ;;
#    esac; fi
#
# Notable readline bindings:
#
#       INVERSE , for '
#       INVERSE @ and INVERSE ' for \`
#       INVERSE <, INVERSE ( and INVERSE [ for {
#       INVERSE >, INVERSE ) and INVERSE ] for }
#       INVERSE ^, INVERSE - and INVERSE " for ~
#       RETURN for ^M (Enter, CR)
#       TAB for Ctrl- prefix
#       TAB TAB, TAB ESCAPE, TAB SPACE and TAB 9 for ^I (Tab, HT)
#       TAB RETURN for ^J (Newline, LF)
#       TAB , for '
#       TAB @ and TAB ' for \`
#       TAB < and TAB ( for {
#       TAB : and TAB ! for |
#       TAB > and TAB ) for }
#       TAB - and TAB " for ~
#       TAB UP for reverse-search-history
#       TAB DOWN for forward-search-history
#       TAB LEFT for beginning-of-line
#       TAB RIGHT for end-of-line
#
# Typical usage in ~/.inputrc:
#
#    $if term=atascii
#    $include ~/share/inputrc-atascii
#    $endif
#    $if term=bobterm
#    $include ~/share/inputrc-atascii
#    $endif
#    $if term=xep80
#    $include ~/share/inputrc-atascii
#    $endif
#
# The mapping from ATASCII to ASCII for input is incomplete.

 

inputrc-atascii.txt

[bsittler]

On 6/3/2009 at 9:26 AM, bsittler said:

This is far from perfect, but I have made a first attempt at a terminfo for ATASCII terminals. I built this from descriptions on Wikipedia, documentation for BobTerm, and using the Atari Terminal Simulator (ATS) running inside Wine. It has never been tested with a real Atari, so your mileage will likely vary. Please feel free to use it, comment on it, criticize it, and modify it — my hope is to eventually have a description good enough for inclusion in the master terminfo database.

 

Here's the URL where I'll put any updates:

 

http://xent.com/~bsittler/atascii.ti

 

I've also attached an automatic termcap conversion, in case the system you're connecting to does not use terminfo.

 

edit: i forgot to mention that this has also been tested using the ATASCII mode of SyncTERM, where it works somewhat

atascii.ti.txt 6.29 kB · 169 downloads

atascii.tc.txt 6.64 kB · 156 downloads

Pasted comments from the terminfo, again to save you a download in case this is not going to meet your needs:

# The Atari 400 and Atari 800 home computers used a bizarre
# not-quite-ASCII console character encoding called ATASCII ("Atari
# ASCII") which makes them hard to use as terminals. They support
# minimal relative cursor motion, clear screen, and newline. The ASCII
# characters '`', '{', '}', and '~' are not present, and there is an
# extensive alternate character set overlaid on the ASCII control
# codes and on some of the printable ASCII codes.
#
# The most useful single piece of advice for those using these boxes:
#
#     Many programs will expect Ctrl-J or Ctrl-M instead of return,
#     and Ctrl-H or Ctrl-? instead of backspace or delete.
#
# Another big one:
#
#     Every time a '}' is output the screen is cleared, and every time a
#     '~' is output a character is erased.
#
# This terminfo "barely works", and only very flexible and intelligent
# programs can use it well. Anything using ncurses should get most of
# the way there, but filtering out the control sequences overlaid on
# ASCII '}' and '~' is very tricky. In some cases you can get pretty
# close with something like this:
#
# troublesome-command |
#     tr '\a\b\t\n\v\f\r\140\173\175\176\177' '\375\176\177\233\034\175\233\247\333\335\015\376'
#
# That outputs inverse-video '[] instead of `{} and overbar in place
# of ~, and translates some of the most critical control characters.
# Note that \b is destructive, both \n and \r become ATASCII newline,
# \v moves up one line, and \f clears the screen. It is close enough
# for many purposes.
#
# The more notable codes:
#
# \000 (ASCII NUL) is U+2665 BLACK HEART SUIT
# \001 (ASCII SOH) is U+251C BOX DRAWINGS LIGHT VERTICAL AND RIGHT
# \002 (ASCII STX) is U+23B9 RIGHT VERTICAL BOX LINE
# \003 (ASCII ETX) is U+2518 BOX DRAWINGS LIGHT UP AND LEFT
# \004 (ASCII EOT) is U+2524 BOX DRAWINGS LIGHT VERTICAL AND LEFT
# \005 (ASCII ENQ) is U+2510 BOX DRAWINGS LIGHT DOWN AND LEFT
# \006 (ASCII ACK) is U+2571 BOX DRAWINGS LIGHT DIAGONAL UPPER RIGHT TO LOWER LEFT
# \007 (ASCII BEL) is U+2572 BOX DRAWINGS LIGHT DIAGONAL UPPER LEFT TO LOWER RIGHT
# \010 (ASCII BS) is U+25E2 BLACK LOWER RIGHT TRIANGLE
# \011 (ASCII HT) is U+2597 QUADRANT LOWER RIGHT
# \012 (ASCII NL) is U+25E3 BLACK LOWER LEFT TRIANGLE
# \013 (ASCII VT) is U+259D QUADRANT UPPER RIGHT
# \014 (ASCII NP) is U+2598 QUADRANT UPPER LEFT
# \015 (ASCII CR) is U+23BA HORIZONTAL SCAN LINE-1
# \016 (ASCII SO) is U+23BD HORIZONTAL SCAN LINE-9
# \017 (ASCII SI) is U+2596 QUADRANT LOWER LEFT
# \020 (ASCII DLE) is U+2663 BLACK CLUB SUIT
# \021 (ASCII DC1) is U+250C BOX DRAWINGS LIGHT DOWN AND RIGHT
# \022 (ASCII DC2) is U+2500 BOX DRAWINGS LIGHT HORIZONTAL
# \023 (ASCII DC3) is U+253C BOX DRAWINGS LIGHT VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL
# \024 (ASCII DC4) is U+2022 BULLET
#                  or U+25CF BLACK CIRCLE
#                  or U+26AB MEDIUM BLACK CIRCLE
# \025 (ASCII NAK) is U+2584 LOWER HALF BLOCK
# \026 (ASCII SYN) is U+23B8 LEFT VERTICAL BOX LINE
# \027 (ASCII ETB) is U+252C BOX DRAWINGS LIGHT DOWN AND HORIZONTAL
# \030 (ASCII CAN) is U+2534 BOX DRAWINGS LIGHT UP AND HORIZONTAL
# \031 (ASCII EM) is U+258C LEFT HALF BLOCK
# \032 (ASCII SUB) is U+2514 BOX DRAWINGS LIGHT UP AND RIGHT
# \033 (ASCII ESC) is used to graphically quote, and is sent by Esc
# \033\033 (ASCII ESC ESC) is U+241B SYMBOL FOR ESCAPE
# \033\034 (ASCII ESC FS) is U+2191 UPWARDS ARROW
# \033\035 (ASCII ESC GS) is U+2193 DOWNWARDS ARROW
# \033\036 (ASCII ESC RS) is U+2190 LEFTWARDS ARROW
# \033\037 (ASCII ESC US) is U+2192 RIGHTWARDS ARROW
# \033\175 (ASCII ESC '}') is U+21B0 UPWARDS ARROW WITH TIP LEFTWARDS
# \033\176 (ASCII ESC '~') is U+25C4 BLACK LEFT-POINTING POINTER
#                          or U+25C0 BLACK LEFT-POINTING TRIANGLE
#                          or U+25C2 BLACK LEFT-POINTING SMALL TRIANGLE
# \033\177 (ASCII ESC DEL) is U+25BA BLACK RIGHT-POINTING POINTER
#                          or U+25B6 BLACK RIGHT-POINTING TRIANGLE
#                          or U+25B8 BLACK RIGHT-POINTING SMALL TRIANGLE
# \034 (ASCII FS) is <cuu1> and <kcuu1>, and is sent by Ctrl -
# \035 (ASCII GS) is <cud1> and <kcud1>, and is sent by Ctrl =
# \036 (ASCII RS) is <cub1> and <kcub1>, and is sent by Ctrl +
# \037 (ASCII US) is <cuf1> and <kcuf1>, and is sent by Ctrl *
# \140 (ASCII '`') is U+25C6 BLACK DIAMOND
# \173 (ASCII '{') is U+2660 BLACK SPADE SUIT
# \174 (ASCII '|') is U+007C VERTICAL LINE
#                  or U+2502 BOX DRAWINGS LIGHT VERTICAL
# \175 (ASCII '}') is <clear> and <kclr>, and is sent by Ctrl < or Shift <
# \176 (ASCII '~') is destructive backspace and <kbs>, and is sent by Back Space
# \177 (ASCII DEL) is non-destructive <ht>, and is sent by Tab
# \210 is U+25E4 BLACK UPPER LEFT TRIANGLE
# \211 is U+259B QUADRANT UPPER LEFT AND UPPER RIGHT AND LOWER LEFT
# \212 is U+25E5 BLACK UPPER RIGHT TRIANGLE
# \213 is U+2599 QUADRANT UPPER LEFT AND LOWER LEFT AND LOWER RIGHT
# \214 is U+259F QUADRANT UPPER RIGHT AND LOWER LEFT AND LOWER RIGHT
# \217 is U+259C QUADRANT UPPER LEFT AND UPPER RIGHT AND LOWER RIGHT
# \224 is U+25D8 INVERSE BULLET
# \225 is U+2580 UPPER HALF BLOCK
# \231 is U+2590 RIGHT HALF BLOCK
# \233 is <nel>, and is sent by Return
# \234 is <dl1> and <kdl1>, and is sent by Shift Back Space
# \235 is <il1> and <kil1>, and is sent by Shift >
# \236 is <kctab> and clears the current tab stop, and is sent by Ctrl Tab
# \237 is <hts> and <khts>, and is sent by Shift Tab
# \240 is U+25A0 BLACK SQUARE
#      or U+25FC BLACK MEDIUM SQUARE
#      or U+FFED HALFWIDTH BLACK SQUARE
# \375 is <bel>, and is sent by Ctrl 2
# \376 is <dch1> and <kdch1>, and is sent by Ctrl Back Space
# \377 is <ich1> and <kich1>, and is sent by Ctrl >
#
# The Wikipedia article explains ATASCII pretty well:
#
#     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATASCII
#
# There's a nice ATASCII code chart here:
#
#     http://raster.infos.cz/atari/chars/atascii.htm
#
# The following are omitted from <acsc> because they must be
# immediately prefixed with \033:
#
#     .\035,\036+\037=\034
#
# The standout mode is not describable using <smso> and <rmso> since
# it is invoked by toggling the eighth bit. The one place it is usable
# is in <acsc>, where it is used to make a solid block (acsc '0') by
# inverting a space.
#
# Proper setup with stty is essential. At least the following is
# recommended: (syntax shown is Bash)
#
# $ stty rows 24 columns 40 quit ^- erase $'\176' eol $'\233' cs8 -parenb \
#       -istrip -ixon -ixoff -ixany -onlcr opost 2>/dev/null
#
# NOTE: This terminfo also works with the Atari Terminal Simulator (ATS) for
# Windows (which works in Wine too):
#
#     http://www.atarimax.com/
#
# Here's a direct link since that page is huge and does not support fragments:
#
#     http://www.atarimax.com/atariterm/downloads/ats.exe
#

 

[bsittler]

A more direct link to the ATS section of the Atarimax page, but only works in more modern web browsers: https://www.atarimax.com/#:~:text=Players for Windows)-,Download ATS,-2.0 The ATASCII

Edited January 12 by bsittler