I am finally cleaning up some code I originally wrote for AM65 terminals, and zTerm.
I cannot seem to get my text to "blink" as it originally did using Print Tab(-1,21) & (-1,22).
Does anyone know if ATE supports Blinking in WYSE5G or WYSE50 emulations?
Thanks.

Sorry, but I never implemented blink. You could say that it was due to laziness, and you might be at least partly right, but I'm going to stick to my story that it is a matter of solidarity with those of us who can't stand blinking screens.

Perhaps we could reach some kind of compromise or other accommodation, but no one has ever pressed the matter.

It's not the end of the world.
I do appreciate the quick reply - it kept me from experimenting further.

It's not like I use "blinking" a lot. In fact, I primarily use it to place a blinking asterisk temporarily next to new/updated features.

Since I'm moving to colors as well Print Tab(x,y,Z) style, I can just flip the color. Anybody on an old terminal (or zTerm) will see it blink, anyone on ATE will see a different color.

Hi Jack, I know it has been this way for a long time, but am wondering if you would consider reopening the case of supporting blinking fields? It would be nice to use in some situations to grab the user's attention without having to do something else manually in the code.

Let me ponder that...

Ok, I've pondered it and decided that there wasn't much harm in supporting it. It might take a bit more tweaking to get the refresh timing just right, but you can give this a try...

ash-7.0.1763.0-w32-upd.zip
ash70notes.txt

And Frank: if you're reading this, I know, I know! (Sorry!)

Total excitement the 1980s are here, I could not help myself trying this! but should the following really old reverse-video code I just dug out and tried also blink? if it is blinking my eyes are blinking at the same rate making it look the same/static?



I only update ATE with ashw32.exe, Version 7.0.1763.0)

oh hang on this does blink (non-reversed).


and also if both reserved and non-revered blink if both code is together: (maybe the -1,21 is kicking things off)


now all I need is a green background to make it more like the AM62A...

Thanks for implementing Jack. I didn't realize it was such a controversial feature! I am glad someone else aside from me is enjoying this.

I knew that it would create a stir, but I failed to think ahead and beef up the sales staff to deal with the onslaught of new license requests resulting from pent-up demand. So please be patient when calling in your orders!

As for the reverse and underline blink aesthetics, currently the blinking doesn't turn off the reverse video or underline; it only affects the text. It sounds like you're saying (Steve) that it probably should affect all the attributes. (I couldn't find an AM60 terminal to compare it to.) I'm also not sure if the blinking should be synchronized for all the affected fields, and I'm still not sure how to provide an advance warning to users who may be triggered by all this blinking! So approach with caution!

Very interesting observations from Steve. Looking in our system, I see places in our code using (-1,34) and (-1,35) as well. If we care about how it used to work, I could try on an AM-65 once I get back into town (provided I can figure out how to get telnet-server set up properly and launch A-Shell with the proper emulation. )
PS: Good luck with the order situation.

I have been meaning to follow up here as I did get a chance to try this on an AM-65 and it appears that your implementation of TAB(-1,33) and TAB(-1,35) in ATE pretty much mirrors what the terminal does.

Note that the 7.0.1765.7 update fixes a problem with the blink implementation in mixed GUI/text screens where it was causing a barely perceptible but annoying flickering effect on the GUI portions of the same screen with blinking text fields.

ash-7.0.1765.8-w32-upd.zip
ash70notes.txt