Looking for Screen Management Package (for DOS and UNIX)

[Victor Gavin]

In article <4080004 at hpopd.HP.COM> djna1 at hpopd.HP.COM (Dave Artus) writes:
>hpopd:comp.lang.c / djna1 at hpopd.HP.COM (Dave Artus) /  1:05 pm  Jun 15, 1989
>In article <12079 at well.UUCP> rchao at well.UUCP (Robert Chao) writes:
>>
>>I am developing a piece of software, and am looking for a screen manager
>>package of utilities. I'd like to be able to do this for DOS and then
>>port it over to UNIX. Does anyone have an recommendations?
>
>We're using JAM, which appears to be available on a number of platforms
>including DOS and various unices.
>
>We found it to be more appropriate than curses for our applications. Top of
>our wish list would be a documented method of dynamically altering screen
>formats at run-time. This would permit us to cope more easily with running
>in windows of various sizes.

The problem I found with JAM (running on HP kit) was that it likes to do
everything its own way -- having never heard of portability/compatability
(for instance, it is another of these packages that requires its own terminal
database.)

Some other points are:

  * It doesn't like terminals with embedded attributes (like HP and Wyse
    terminals)

  * It is convoluted to program (eg the first character at the start of an
    action string determines what the action is and the rest of the string the
    name of the object to apply the action to.)

  * It places the menus/windows where ever it feels like on-screen.

  * The user interface is decidedly crummy

  * Doesn't support Unix very well -- eg Job control.
    All you've got is an action which will run a ``system command'' for you.

Biggest problem with JAM -- the garbage user interface.

Second biggest problem -- the lack of flexibility, you are continually
constrained to what ever ideas the person who designed JAM could think of.


			vic
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Victor Gavin						Zengrange Limited
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