INSTRUCTIONS TO INSTALL KEY DEFINITION UTILITIES

                                        by

                                  Robert L. Hays












                                   CHAPTER 1

                  UTILITIES USING THE "DEFINE/KEY" DCL COMMAND



     The DEFINE/KEY  command  defines  keypad  and  function  keys  on  VT-style
     terminals  to DCL-executable strings.  A great many things can be done with
     this, but included here is a set of utilities to get you started.

     APPLICATION.COM toggles a VT2xx keypad mode from application to numeric and
     back.   @APPICATION A sets the keypad to application mode, and @APPLICATION
     N sets numeric mode.  @APPLICATION without a command qualifier toggles  the
     keypad mode.  The keypad must be in application mode to use keys defined on
     them.  As an added note, the keypad mode is  not  save-able  in  the  SETUP
     functions,  and  EDIT  and  other products have, as a "feature", a reset to
     numeric mode for the terminal.  Therefore, I  have  included  EDTSTART.COM,
     which  I define as symbol EDT in my startup file.  This command file resets
     the terminal to application keypad mode when editting is done.

     I recommend setting one of the PF keys to do @APPLICATION A, so that if you
     should find yourself in numeric keypad mode, you can get back painlessly.

     The logical symbol DEFINEKEYS must point to a file that  will  define  your
     keys.   This  file  will be a command file, and can be executed inside your
     LOGIN.COM file.  I have included my file, DEFINEKEYS.COM, and a help  file,
     KEYPAD.HLP,  that  contains  the  keypad definition that results.  You will
     notice that I define the help key to show a local  help  library.   I  load
     KEYPAD.HLP there.  This way I can read my key definitions easily.

     The command file CHANGEKEYDEF.COM is a simple interface to  the  DEFINE/KEY
     utility, allowing key definitions to be added to the DEFINEKEYS file and/or
     executing the DEFINE/KEY command.












                                   CHAPTER 2

                       STICKING TEXT INTO YOUR VT2XX KEYS



     Someone at a MIVAX meeting wanted to push text into the VT2xx  keys.   This
     can  be  done, as evidenced by VT200SET, a MACRO-11 program written by Mark
     Northrup.  LOADTXT.COM is a command file implementation of this.

     The general idea is to set up a data file with text strings.  This is  then
     read,  and  each string is headed with <ESC>P1;1|, signifying load a string
     into a SHIFT-FUNCTION key.  The string  elements  must  be  converted  from
     ASCII  to  the  hex  representation of the character, in ASCII, so that the
     string "A" is the string "65".  Terminate the string with <ESC>S.

     The command file LOADTXT.COM reads the file at logical SHIFTKEYDEF and then
     pushes  the  specified  text into the key.  The data file at SHIFTKEYDEF is
     ASCII, with comments beginning with !.  Each data line is as follows:

        nn/tttttttttttt...ttt

     where nn is the key number,  obtained  from  the  VT2xx  Programmer  Pocket
     Guide,  and  ttttt...ttt  is  the  text string.  If the string ends in ~, a
     RETURN is inserted at the end of the line.

     Bon appetit!












                                   CHAPTER 3

                                    PROMPTS



     The command file PROMPT.COM parses the node name and then sets it bold  for
     a  nice  prompt, especially if you have many similar systems.  Just execute
     it in the LOGIN.COM file for each system.












                                   CHAPTER 4

                                   HELP FILES



     CREATEHELPFILE.COM will set up a help file, with the  various  levels,  and
     then  put  you  into  the  EDITor  to  work  up  the file.  It then invokes
     CHANGEHELP.COM to put the help file into your own help library.  This  way,
     you  can have help for all your one-off programs.  I have included the help
     files that document my shift key definitions and my keypad definitions.