5
Using Set-Up

Overview

The VT420 has nine set-up screens that list the settings for the terminal's operating features.

• Set-Up Directory
• Global
• Display
• General
• Communications
• Printer
• Keyboard
• Tab
• Screen

You can display these screens and change the settings from the keyboard. This chapter describes set-up and how to use it.

Most set-up features are initially set to a factory-default setting that works with many Digital systems. The VT420 has the factory-default settings permanently stored. If you change settings, you can use the Set-Up Directory to reset the terminal to the factory-default settings.

You can also select and save settings to match your host system. The VT420 saves your selections in nonvolatile memory, along with the factory-default settings. When you shut power off, you do not lose your saved settings.

You can make all changes to set-up features from your keyboard. Also, your host system can change some settings, as described in the VT420 Programmer Reference Manual. See Appendix B to order VT420 manuals.

Independent Setups for Two Sessions

The VT420 can run two sessions with the host system at the same time. Chapters 2 and 3 explain how to set up the terminal to run two sessions.

When you use two sessions, the terminal stores a separate group of features for each session. Only one session is active at a time. The terminal uses the settings for the active session.

If you forget which session is active, you can check the keyboard indicator line at the bottom of the screen. See the "Keyboard Indicator Line" section in Chapter 4.

NOTE: You cannot switch sessions in set-up. To switch sessions, you must leave set-up and press the F4 (Session) key.

Entering and Leaving Set-Up

To enter set-up: You press the F3 (Set-Up) key. When you press F3 (Set-Up), information on the screen disappears. (This information reappears when you leave set-up.) Then the terminal displays the Set-Up Directory screen.

The Set-Up Directory lists all other set-up screens. You can select any other set-up screen from the Set-Up Directory.

To leave set-up: You press F3 (Set-Up) again. You can leave set-up from any set-up screen.

NOTE: Most settings that you change take effect when you leave set-up.

Set-Up Directory

When you enter set-up, the Set-Up Directory is always the first screen to appear. You can select any set-up screen from the Set-Up Directory. You can also perform such functions as saving and recalling feature settings.

Status Line and Keyboard Indicator Line

In set-up, the VT420 always displays the status line and the keyboard indicator line for the active session. Both lines appear at the bottom of the screen. The keyboard indicator line is in the smaller, 132-column font and appears below the status line. The keyboard indicator line is in the same video background as the session at the bottom of the screen. For more information, see the "Keyboard Indicator Line" and "Status Line" sections in Chapter 4.

Set-Up Cursor

Set-Up uses a field cursor that highlights a screen entry, or field, in reverse video. When you enter set-up, the field cursor highlights the Global field in the Set-Up Directory.

You use the arrow keys to move the field cursor to different features.

Action Fields

Most features in the Set-Up Directory are action fields. When you select an action field, the terminal immediately performs that action. You press the Enter key to select the action field highlighted by the cursor. Most set-up screens have some action fields.

Some actions do not affect the screen, so the VT420 displays a message to let you know if the action was successful. This message appears in place of the keyboard indicator line at the bottom of the screen.

• A Done message indicates the action is complete. The message disappears when you press another key.
• An error message indicates the terminal could not perform the action. See Table 10-2.

The VT420 displays messages for the following action fields on the Set-Up Directory screen.

• Clear Display
• Clear Comm
• Reset Session
• Recall (saved settings
• Save (settings)
• Default (recall factory settings)
• Enable Sessions
• Disable Sessions

Set-Up Language

The set-up language feature lets you display the set-up screens in one of three languages: English, French, or German. The language you select takes effect immediately in set-up. To change the setting:

1. Press F3 (Set-Up). The terminal displays the Set-Up Directory.
2. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor to Set-Up=English.
3. Press Enter to change the set-up language setting. Each time you press Enter, the language changes immediately.

Set-Up Directory Fields

Table 5-1 describes the Set-Up Directory features.

Selecting Set-Up Screens

There are two ways to select set-up screens. You can move from one screen to the next, in the same order listed on the Set-Up Directory. You can also select any screen directly from the Set-Up Directory.

Moving from Screen to Screen

Each set-up screen has a To Next Set-Up field. To move from one screen to the next:

1. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor to To Next Set-Up.
2. Press Enter.

Selecting a Screen from the Set-Up Directory

The Set-Up Directory lists all the set-up screens. To display a selected screen:

1. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor to the name of the desired screen.
2. Press Enter.

Changing and Recalling Settings

This section describes how to change, save, and recall set-up settings.

How to Change Settings

Use the arrow keys to move the set-up cursor to a particular feature on a set-up screen. Most features have two or more possible settings. Use the Enter key to change the setting of the feature highlighted by the cursor. Each time you press Enter, the setting changes. Depending on the feature, the change takes effect immediately or when you leave set-up.

Example

This example shows you how to change the screen display setting from 80 to 132 columns.

1. Press F3 (Set-Up) to enter set-up. The Set-Up Directory appears. The field cursor is on the Global field.
2. Use the arrow keys to move to the Display field.
3. Press Enter. The Display Set-Up screen appears.
4. Use the arrow keys to move to the 80 Columns field. Press Enter to change the setting to 132 Columns.

When you change a feature setting, the VT420 uses that setting until you turn the terminal off or change the setting again. To save a new setting, read the next section.

How to Save Your Settings

If you make changes to current settings, you can save your changes with the save feature in the Set-Up Directory. This feature saves all current settings (in most set-up screens) for the active session. Even after you turn off the terminal, it retains the saved settings. The VT420 automatically uses these settings each time you turn the terminal on.

Example

This example shows how to save the 132 column setting selected in the previous example.

1. After you select the 132 columns setting, use the arrow keys to move to the To Directory field.
2. Press Enter to return to the Set-Up Directory screen.
3. Use the arrow keys to move to the Save field.
4. Press Enter to save all current settings.
5. Press F3 (Set-Up) to leave set-up.

If you change settings again, you can recall your saved settings. Read the next section.

How to Recall Saved Settings

For some applications, you may want to make temporary changes to current settings. When you are finished using the temporary settings, you can recall your saved settings with the recall feature in the Set-Up Directory.

To recall saved settings:

1. Press F3 (Set-Up). The terminal displays the Set-Up Directory.
2. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor to the Recall field.
3. Press Enter. The VT420 replaces all existing settings with the previously saved settings. A Done message on the status line indicates the action is complete.
4. Press F3 (Set-Up) to leave set-up.

NOTE: If you are using a modem, Recall disconnects communication with the host system.

Global Set-Up Screen

This screen has features that affect both sessions when you use two sessions. Table 5-2 describes each feature on the Global Set-Up screen.

Two Sessions

You use two features on the Global Set-Up screen to set up the VT420 for two sessions.

• Terminal comm ports
• Comm port selection

The feature settings must match the system cable connection on the rear of the terminal. After you connect the terminal's cables and select the set-up features for two sessions (Chapter 3), refer to Chapter 7 to use two sessions.

Display Set-Up Screen

This screen has features that affect the way data appears on the screen. Table 5-3 describes the Display Set-Up features.

Selecting a Page Size

The VT420 has page memory that can store up to 144 lines of text entered from the keyboard or host system. You can divide the 144 lines into a different number of pages, by using the page arrangement feature on the Display Set-Up screen.

There are many page sizes available (Table 5-3). The default page size is the same size as the default screen display area.

• If you use one session, all 144 lines of page memory are available. The default setting is 6 pages of 24 lines each.
• If you use two sessions, each session has 72 lines available. The default setting for each session is 3 pages of 24 lines each.

Pages create boundaries. Before you change the standard page size of 24 lines, you may want to check your application's documentation to make sure the application can recognize the new page boundaries. To display a new page, use the Ctrl Next and Ctrl Prev keys.

Selecting the Number of Lines/Screen

You use the lines/screen feature on the Display Set-Up screen to select the number of text lines you see on the screen. The ability for the VT420 to display the selected number of lines depends on the following factors:

Coupling the Cursor to the Display

The VT420 lets you pan through the information stored on one page or move to another page. The Display Set-Up screen has two features that determine whether or not the display automatically pans to keep the cursor visible: vertical coupling and page coupling. See Chapter 7 for a description of panning.

General Set-Up Screen

This screen lets you set general features, such as the character set used to display characters on the screen. The terminal mode feature lets the VT420 emulate other VT series terminal for software compatibility. Table 5-4 describes the General Set-Up features.

Character Sets

The General Set-Up screen lets you select the type of character set suited for your computing environment, multinational or national. Both types include the characters for many different languages. However, the multinational mode supports 8-bit characters, while the national mode restricts you to 7-bit characters.

You use the character set mode feature to select multinational or national mode. Chapter 9 shows all the built-in character sets.

Multinational Mode

This mode supports two 8-bit character sets:

• DEC multinational character set
• ISO Latin Alphabet No. 1 character set
  (International Organization for Standardization).

Both character sets have two parts -- the U.S. ASCII character set and a supplemental set.

• The U.S. ASCII character set (United States American Standard Code for Information Interchange) contains the letters and numbers for English-speaking countries.
• The supplemental character set contains additional symbols and most characters used in the major European languages. There are two supplemental character sets to select from -- DEC Supplemental character set and ISO Latin-1 supplemental character set.

If you select multinational mode, you use the UPSS (user-preferred supplemental set) feature to select the supplemental character set you prefer, DEC Supplemental or ISO Latin-1 supplemental. You can enter many of the characters in a supplemental set by using compose sequences (Chapter 6).

By default, the VT420 uses the DEC Multinational character set.

National Mode

This mode supports 12 national replacement character sets (NRCs) built into the VT420. Each 7-bit NRC set is for a particular European language or dialect. You select an NRC set the keyboard dialect feature in the Keyboard Set-Up screen. You can only use one NRC set at a time.

National mode is for 7-bit computing environments. You cannot use the 8-bit multinational character sets in national mode.

NOTE: You cannot select national mode when the keyboard dialect feature is set to North American.

Communications Set-Up Screen

This screen lets you set up the terminal to communicate with your host system. The default settings are those commonly used on Digital systems. Make sure the settings you use match the communication settings of your system.

This screen also includes features for use with modems. Chapter 8 has more information on modems.

If you use the printer connector to connect a second host system to the terminal, the Communications Set-Up screen indicates which port is in use for the current session. The term Comm or Print appears on the top line of the set-up screen.

Table 5-5 describes the Communications Set-Up features. For more information, see VT420 Programmer Reference Manual.

Keyboard Set-Up Screen

This screen lets you control the operation of the keyboard. This includes the function of various keys and the keyboard's keyclick, warning bell, and margin bell.

The typewriter/data processing feature lets you select the standard typewriter layout or data processing layout on the keyboard. This setting affects keys that have characters on the right half on their keycaps. If you select Typewriter Keys, you can type all the legends on the left half of the keycaps. If you select Data Processing Keys, you can type all the legends on the right half of the keycaps.

Table 5-6 describes the Keyboard Set-Up features.

Tab Set-Up Screen

This screen lets you set the number of tab stops on a line. Tab stops on the screen are similar to tab stops on a typewriter. When you press the Tab key outside of set-up, the cursor advances to the next tab stop. Table 5-7 describes the Tab Set-Up features.

There is one tab stop field for each column on the screen. You can use a screen display of 80 or 132 columns wide. See the 80/132 column mode feature in the Display Set-Up screen.

You can use the arrow keys or the Tab key to move the cursor to any tab stop field. Press the Enter key to place a T in a blank field or erase a T from that field. The following figure shows the default tab stop settings.

NOTE: You cannot put a tab in column 1.