Micro-Term ACT-SA User manual

OPERATING
MANUAL
model ACT
-SA
SMOOTH SCROLL
miCRO-TERm, Inc.
S1. LOUIS, MISSOURI 63144

OPERATING MANUAL
MODEL: ACT -SA
SMOOTH SCROLL
REVISION A, 1-81
SER. # 80340881 and Above
MTI PART * 1-79820013-0A
COPYRIGHT 1981
MICRO-TERM, INC.

ACT-SA SMOOTH SCROLL

SECTION
1
1.1
2
2.1
2.2
2.3
3
3.1
3.2
3.2.1
3.2.2
3.2.3
3.2.4
3.2.5
3.2.6
3.2.7
3.3
4
ACT·SA COMPUTER TERMINAL tsy
MICRO·TERM, INC.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Installation and Introduction to the ACT-5A . . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . .. .. 7
Using the ACT-5A Operating Manual. . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . .. 7
Operating Modes. . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . .. 8
Notes On Protected Fields. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. .. 8
Transparancy Mode. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . .. 8
Local SelfTest. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . .. . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . .. 8
Keyboard ............................................................................. 9
Encoded & Modifier Keys. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . .. .. 9
Function Keys ....................................................................... 10
Li ne/Local Key ...................................................................... 10
CursorControl Keys ................................................................ 10
Break Key .......................................................................... 10
Function Keys ...................................................................... 11
Toggle Video Attribute Keys -Underline, Reduced Intensity, Blink and Reverse Video ... 11
Send Key ........................................................................... 11
Print Key ........................ , .......................... , ....................... 12
Numeric Entry ......................................................... , ............. 12
Response To Control Codes ............................................. , ............. 13
Absolute Cursor Postitioning (Direct Cursor Addressing) ......................... , .. 13
Background Follows .............................................................. 13
Backspace ....................................................................... 13
Bell .............................................................................. 13
Carriage Return .................................................................. 13
Change Intensity .............. , ......................... , ........................ 14
Clear Unprotected ................................................................ 14
Cursor Down ..................................................................... 14
Cursor Right ......... '.' .......................................................... 14
Cursor Off (On) ................................................................... 14
Cursor Up ................ : ....................................................... 14
Delete Character ................................................................. 14
Delete Line ....................................................................... 15
Display Control Codes ............................................................ 15
Enable (Disable) Keyclick ......................................................... 15
Enable (Disable) Scroll ... ' ............................................... , ........ 15
EnterGraphics Mode ............................................................. 15
Erase To End Of Frame ............................................................ 15
Erase To End Of Line ............................................................. 16
Escape ........................................................................... 16
Exit Graphics Mode ............................................................... 16
Foreground Follows .......................................... , ................... 17
Format Mode ..................................................................... 17
Home Up ......................................................................... 17
Home &Clear .................................................................... 17
Home & Clear To (Un)Protected .................................................... 17
Insert Characters ........ " ........................ , .............................. 17
---Insert Line .................................................................... " . 18
Line Feed ........................................................................ 18
Null ... ' " ........................ , .............................................. 18
Pass Through PrinterOn (Off) ..................................................... 18
Print Line ........................................................................ 19
Print Page ........................................................................ 19
Report Character At Cursor Position ............................................... 19

(continued)
Report Cursor
Position ............................................................ 19
Report Present Video Attributes ................................................... 19
Reverse Line Feed ................................................................ 19
Reverse Tab ...................................................................... 20
Rubout .......................................................................... 20
Set End
of Block Character ........................................................ 20
Set Send Data Type
Unprotected .................................................. 20
Set Video Attributes .............................................................. 20
Smooth Scroll (Line Feed) ......................................................... 21
Split Screen Mode ................................................................ 21
Start (End) Blinking Field .......................................................... 21
Start (End) Reverse Video Field .................................................... 21
Start (End) Underlined Field ............ , .............................. , ........... 22
Tab .............................................................................. 22
Underline Current Character ..... , .................................... , ........... 22
5 Interface Instructions ................................................................. 23
5.1 EIA Connector Pin Assignments ...................................................... 23
5.2 Current Loop Interface ............................................................... 23
5.3 Full and Half Duplex Operation ....................................................... 23
5.3.1 Full Duplex Operation ............................................................... 24
5.3.2 Half Duplex With Modem Control .................................................... 24
5.4 Data Rate Selection .................................................................. 24
5.4.1 Selecting the I/O Data Rate ........................................................... 24
5.4.2 Selecting the Printer Data Rate ...................................................... 24
5.5 UART Options ....................................................................... 24
5.6
Printer Port .......................................................................... 25
5.6.1 Buffered Printer Mode ............................................................... 25
5.6.2 Pass-Through Printer Operation ..... , .................. , ............................. 25
6 User Selectable Options ............................................................... 26
6.1 SinglelDouble Underline .............................................................. 26
6.2
Blink Rates ForCursorand Blinking Field ............................................. 26
6.3 Protected Video
Attribute ............................................................ 26
6.4 Keyboard
Auto Repeat Rate ........................................................... 27
6.5
Display Null Character On/Off ......................................................... 27
7 Appendix
7.1 Function Summary ................................................................... 28
7.2
Absolute Cursor Addressing Table .................................................... 29
7.3
Character Sets ....................................................................... 30
7.4 ASCII Codes ......................................................................... 32
8 Warranty and Service
Information ...................................................... 33
9
Custom Modifications ................................................................. 33
10 Suggestion Sheet ..................................................................... 34
6

1.0 INSTALLATION AND INTRODUCTION
The ACT-5A should be positioned on a steady surface and at acomfortable level for the user. A space
of at least 3 inches must be provided at the rear of the ACT-5A to provide ease of access to the power
switch and brightness control. Care should be taken that magazines or other material do not fall
behind the terminal and impede ventilation. The line cord should then be connected to a grounded
power source.
The ACT-5A power
switch is located on the rear of the unit. After a one minute warm-up period, the
monitor should display a blinking block cursor in the upper left corner of the screen. This position
will be referred to as the HOME or HOME-UP position throughout this manual. If the cursor does not
appeal in the home position of an otherwise clear screen, turn the terminal off and back on again. If
the cursor still does not appear, refer to Section 8 of this manual.
Depress the I t~t.1 key on the keyboard. Type on the keyboard. Characters should now appear cor-
responding to the keys depressed and the cursor will advance. There are 80 character positions per
line; after the 80th character is entered on a line a new line is initiated. When the cursor is on the bot-
tom line,the next new line will cause the contents of the screen to scroll upward one line so that the
top line disappears.
Adjust the BRIGHTNESS control, on the rear, for comfortable viewing while maintaining a black
background. Excessive brightness will cause premature phosphor degradation or burning not
covered under warranty.
1.1 USING THE ACT· SA OPERATING MANUAL
All the information necessary to realize the full potential of this powerfully versatile product is con-
tained in this operating manual. We strongly urge you to read the manual thoroughly before you use
the unit.
Section 2 describes the various modes of operation including FORMAT, SPLIT SCREEN, GRAPHICS
and DISPLAY CONTROL CODES.
Section 3 details the operation
of the keyboard and describes the operation of all function keys and
numeric key cluster.
Section 4
lists the multitude of ACT-5A features and their definitions alphabetically. Should you en-
counter problems when attempting to use a particular feature you may refer to its description in Sec-
tion 4 for clarification.
Section 5 describes the Input/Output (I/O) and Printer interfaces. Information contained in this sec-
tion is useful to insure compatibility between the ACT-5A and your host computer.
Section 6 explains the user selectable options which include SinglelDouble Underline, Cursor Blink
Rate, Blinking Field Blink Rate, Selection of the Protected Video Attribute, Keyboard Repeat Rate
and Keyclick Enable/Disable. Instructions are prov ided for changing these
options to meet your
specific tastes or application.
Section 7 is
an Appendix which contains the following useful information: A complete list of soft-
ware controlled features arranged in ascending order by control code or Escape sequence value; a
table to aid in using the Cursor Positioning feature; a complete list of the ASCII codes including their
Hexadecimal, Octal, Binary and Decimal equivalents; and an enlarged presentation of the 7 x 9 dot
matrix for each character in the display set.
7

2.0 OPERATING MODES
The ACT-SA offers a number of useful operating modes that assist the user in communication with
the host computer. Careful study and experimentation with these modes will familiarize the oper-
ator with the many powerful communications techniques offered by the ACT-SA.
Specifically designed to help the user understand the computer outputs are the Display the Control
Codes,
Split Screen, and Graphics modes. By displaying (rather than executing) the control codes
the ACT-SA can present every received code to the operator
for debugging assistance. The Split
Screen mode permits twice as many lines to be displayed on the screen, (provided they are less than
40 characters), greatly relieving the operator's memory. The Graphics mode offers a special set of 32
characters that are useful in presenting fractions and graphic data more clearly.
For efficient communications the Local mode with associated editing features may be utilized to
minimize use of costly host CPU time or to minimize the number of packets transmitted in a pay-by-
the-packet system. The Local mode can also be used for testing and studying the operation of
various terminal features.
To further enhance
efficiency the Format mode, with associated protected fields, may be called
upon to reduce redundant transmissions of forms from the host in data entry applications. It should
be noted that the Format and
Split Screen modes are mutually exclusive.
2.1 NOTES ON PROTECTED FIELDS
Unlike most computer terminals that restrict the protected field video attribute to Reduced Intensity,
the ACT-SA
allows the user to choose this attribute from Reduced Intensity (Standard), Reverse
Video, Blink,
or Underline.
For
explicit instructions on selecting one of the alternate video attributes, please refer to Section 6.3
of this manual. It is important to follow these instructions carefully in order to insure successful use
of the protected fields feature.
NOTE: Several of the ESCAPE sequence features discussed in Section 4 refer to protected or
unprotected positions. The user should
substitute his video attribute selection for the word
"protected" when reading about these features.
2.2 TRANSPARENCY MODE
A very useful feature of the ACT-SA is its capability to display a unique symbol for each of the
ASCII control codes when in the Display Control Code mode. This mode can be entered and exited
only by depressing the ICTRL Iand Gkeys simultaneously while in the LOCAL mode. This aids
both the receive and transmit operations. On the receive side it permits one to identify every
character received by the terminal
settling any format problems caused by otherwise unseen control
characters. On the transmit side
it allows control characters to be imbedded in the displayed data for
transmission in block mode
to the computer.
2.3 LOCAL SELF TEST
The LOCAL mode also provides a means of testing the terminal manually. If the terminal works in
the LOCAL mode any problems are
limited to either the ACT-SA interface, the communication link or
the remote computer.
2.4 X·ON/X·OFF LINE PROTOCOL
Since this terminal is equiped with the SMOOTH SCROLL feature, it requires the host computer to
honor the X-ON/X-OFF protocol to match the input character rate to the scrolling rate. The ACT-5A
perform5
jump scroll operations and refrains from sending any X-OFF or X-ON codes at any time
until the smooth scroll feature is selected (see section 4). When SMOOTH SCROLL is selected, the
ACT-5A automatically sends
an X-OFF code when its input buffer is nearly full or when a PRINT
LINE or PRINT PAGE operation is initiated.
8

3.0 KEYBOARD
ESC
The ACT-5A keyboard contains 88 keys which may be classified as either encoded, modifier or func-
tion keys (see Figure 3.1).
The keyboard features typamatic (Auto-Repeat) operation at a user selectable rate of either 7.5, 15 or
30 characters per second (CPS). This rate is set to 30 CPS at the factory but may be changed accord-
ing to the directionsgiven in Section 6.4 of this manual.
An audible tone is emitted each time a key is struck or when the keyboard is auto-repeating. This
keyclicking feature may be disabled by following the directions in Section 4 of this manual.
16 FUNCTION KEYS
It I ~ I .... I~I
7 8 9
4 5 6
2 3 E
N
T
E
0 R
67 ENCODED KEYS
Figure 3.1 Keyboard Layout
3.1 ENCODED AND MODIFIER KEYS
The majority of keys on the keyboard generate an output code when struck. The aSSignment of out-
put codes to keys is illustrated in Figures 3.1 and 3.2. Note that the rutpr code. generated by the
encoded keys depend on the state
of the four modifier keys -I f~b~1 GTRL El and 1 SHIFTI· The
modifier keys do not generate output codes nor do they cause a keyclick to sound when they are
depressed.
NOTE: The encoded key B and the modifier key I GTRL r have special significance to the
ACT-5A and appear frequently in
this manual in conjunction with another key ego B
G ,I GTRLI c:J The B key should be depressed and released before striking
the
c:=J key in the above example but the I GTRL Ikey (because it is a modifier key) must be
depressed and held down while simultaneously striking the
~ key and released afterthe
c:J key is released.
9