CompuServe Messages

Rick: For characters 128-255 on the Rainbow, I have two sources: (1) Rainbow MS-DOS Version 2.11 Advanced User's Guide, page 4-37: in explaining the use of the SORT command, it lists characters 0 through 255 in SORT order; (2) Rainbow Owner's Manual, appendix F, p. 139: a chart of all 256 "DEC Multinational Characters" in numerical order with octal, decimal, and hexadecimal equivalents. But these are not the "Graphics" characters used to draw lines, boxes, and checkerboards on the screen. To activate those (called the "Special Characters and Line Drawing Character Set" in the Rainbow Owner's Manual appendix H, p.184) you have to send an escape sequence to the screen: either ESC ( 0 or ESC ) 0 depending on the currently selected character set (G0 or G1). And to get back to the "U.S. Character Set" you have to send the corresponding escape sequence ESC ( B or ESC ) B. (I can attest also that the LA50 printer has the "Special Characters" and responds to the same escape sequences.) The "Special Characters and Line Drawing Character Set" are assigned to some of the bytes from 0 to 127, _not_ 128 to 255. I don't have a list of them. They are probably described in the VT100 or VT102 terminal manuals, which I don't have. Who needs them? Make a file with ESC ( 0 or ESC ) 0 in it and TYPE it (or just enter PROMPT $e(0 or PROMPT $e)0 at the MS-DOS prompt), and then hit a few keys! If it's confusing, hit the LOCK key. (Uppercase letters are unchanged in the Special Character set.)