xt/layers

[John Canning]

In article <2502 at flatline.UUCP> jet at flatline.UUCP (j. eric townsend) writes:
>
>Just what is it?  wtinit says I must run it from a "DMD terminal"...
>

xt/layers runs with the AT&T 615 and 630 terminals.  It allows you to
run several processes from one terminal (aka the suspend function key
on the main console).  It fulfills the original marketing hype that
one could use the suspend key from remote terminals.

With the 615 terminal, you use the function keys to create a new window.
Using the local CPU inside the 615, you can resize the window, and
reposition it on the screen.  You can have either 3 or 5 windows (I
forget which is the maximum number).  If the window is active and
takes up the entire screen, then you cannot see any of the other windows.
Otherwise, you can have several windows on the same screen, and as
output goes to each window it is updated.

Output is sent to the terminal in packets, and each packet is tagged
for a specific window.  The 615 will update a window inside its own
memory even if it is not being displayed at the time.  So, xt/layers
acts as a bit of a multiplexer...

AT&T offered an upgrade to the 610 terminal to make it a 615 multi-
tasking terminal.  It cost about $80.

I found xt/layers to be a bit on the slow side.  Although several of
our customers have 615 terminals, none of them are using xt/layers.

With the 630 terminal, you can write your own drivers for the terminal
itself, and download them to it.  At a recent Unix convention, I
saw some pretty neat "layered" displays on the 630 with both the
6386 and 3B2 family of computers.

John Canning					...uunet!uvm-gen!banzai!john
The People's Computer Company			...attmail!banzai!john
Williston, Vermont				john at banzai.pcc.com
802-864-0747