SUMMARY: Making the Delete key work from command line

From: Thompson , Troy <tthompson_at_tmisolutions.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 16:57:47 -0500

Hello All (Sorry if this is a resend, as I got a rejected submission reply
back),

Thanks to

Jim Bodie
Jim Fitzmaurice
Dr. Tom Blin
Michael Bucholtz

for their replies.

I looks like it is my emulator program. If I use the windows telnet
emulator, I can use my Delete and Backspace key on my keyboard (They work
the same). I'm currently using SimpTerm which will let me customize my
function keys (F1, F2 etc, and my Backspace key) but I don't see any place
to customize the Delete key.

We will just have to use the windows telnet emulator for this functionality
or go looking for a different one.


This is what was suggested
********************************************
Jim Bodie wrote:
The 'character' for the delete key is ^? just as ^H is for
backspace. So instead of 'stty erase ^H' you need 'stty erase ^?'. This
works under korn shell. If any of your people use C-shell and want to do
this, they will need to escape the '?' so the command is:
'stty erase ^\?'.

********************************************
Jim Fitzmaurice wrote:
        Go into vi, while in insert mode hit <Ctrl>-<V> then hit the
<Delete> key.
This will show you the command sequence for the <Delete> key.( ^[[4 ) In her
.cmis_user_profile enter the following:

                                stty erase <Ctrl>-<V> <Delete>

This should enable her to use her delete key instead of the backspace.


I wrote Jim stating "When I do this it gives me nothing for the delete key."


Jim wrote back saying:
        I depends on your Terminal Emulation program. It sounds like your
Emulator
doesn't interpret that key by default. Most allow some type of keyboard
mapping and some will even interpret 2 keys with the same code. (You can
make <Backspace> and <Delete> send the ^H code to your UNIX box.) Check the
manual for your Emulation program or play with it until you find it. Usually
under [Options]-->[Keyboard Map] or [Setup]-->[Keyboard] and on some
[Customize]-->[Keyboard].

***************************
Dr. Tom Blinn wrote:
What delete key, on what kind of keyboard? What does the key send to
system software? If you mean the key on the editing keypad that has
the label "Delete" on most PC compatible keyboards, it probably does
not transmit a simple sequence through the character mode TTY driver.
And the intended behavior of that key is "delete forward", which isn't
the same as the normal UNIX "delete" (usually mapped to "backspace").

Oh, yeah, what terminal emulation software running on what system? Is
the keyboard controlled by a UNIX workstation or a PC of some kind?

The fact the key doesn't seem to "do anything" may well mean that in
the standard UNIX keyboard mapping supported by Tru64 UNIX for use by
our workstation products, that key does not generate a key code that
can be seen by user software -- in which case, your user is simply out
of luck. Period. This would NEVER be changed by a patch, and if it's
the "workstation console" keyboard, the mappings are handled down deep
in the bowels of the kernel's "gpc" driver; you don't even want to know
how that software works, it's incredibly convoluted. Of course, it may
be in the X window code, also, that the key is getting masked, in which
case you MIGHT be able to change it with your X terminal emulator, if
in fact it's X that's involved. But if it's a PC that's the user's
system, then you need to figure out what that system is sending if any
thing is sent at all.

***************************************
Michael Bucholtz wrote:
I just tried something.. I can get the delete key to work like the backspace
key..

stty erase D

************************************
thank you to all




Here is my original question
        Hello unix friends,

        We run DU4.0e but this is more of a command line editor question in
general.

        Our developers telnet to the unix servers and use the korn shell
(/bin/ksh). Some of our developers use the vi editor and some use the emacs
editor from the command line by having "set -o emacs" or "set -o vi" in
their .profile (actually a file called .cmis_user_profile that is called by
.profile, as our .profile is standard for everyone, they are free to change
the .cmis_user_profile at will).

        A new employee started this week and she likes the vi editor from
the command line, but she really would like the Delete key to work (she said
it worked at here last job).

        We got the Backspace key to work by adding this to the
.cmis_user_profile file
        stty erase ^H

        I am at a loss for getting the Delete key to work. It doesn't do
anything when pressed. Even in emacs mode the Delete key doesn't do
anything.

        Is there a command to make the Delete key work from the command
line.


        Thanks in advance for any help


Troy Thompson
TMI Communications
(613) 742-0010 ext 4406
tthompson_at_tmisolutions.com
www.tmisolutions.com
Received on Thu Mar 30 2000 - 21:58:51 NZST

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