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Technical

LETT.PAC

Inlormation

trom the

Laboratories

KAFI

Hewletl-Packard

of

D

J O

Company

NAL

U FI

Contents:

Display

New Ports,

sysfems.

cation

Dispfay Graham

user

the

to

Hardware

Srnlvas

performance

A Sificon-on-sapphire

was

SC-Cut

Wilson

L. The

1974, fhe

in

Ffexible Circuit stiffened

New

Zimmer,

testing

and

Gary C.

by

Station's

Easy access

interface.

and

Sukumar

and

considered

Quartz

SC Cut,

ftexibte

Temperature

Jr.

applications.

Station

Offers

Staas

User

tt's

Interface

to an

Firmware

and

retiabitity,

Support

John

and

Integrated

mandatory

Oscillator

more stab/e

lt's

Brief Summary, by

a

stress

compensated

Offers

Packaging

circuitry

is a

Probe

provides

tt

fast, accurate

Multiple

Screen

four terminats

ls Designed

extensive

Wiese

D. ease

feature set

Four

for

The

of use,

manufacturing,

Video Controller,

the display

make

to

lmproved

noisy,

/ess

and

Chartes

has many

cut

a Crystal

of

radical

approach

Locates Circuit

temperature

MARCH

Windows

in one,

for

1981

and

bringing

Increased

requires

a thorough,

Virtual Terminals

goals

2645A compatibility,

were

and

by Jean-Claude

system

practical

Performance,by

fasfer,

warms A. Adams

up

and

John

vtrtues-

James

Oscillator,

by

meets tough

that

Hot Spots, by

measurements

Volume 32

Dual Data

flexibility to

new

Productivity, by

thoughtful

in One

service.

Robert

J.

and uses

A.

Marvin

Display

reliable.

and

Burgoon and

/ess

Kusters

H. Steinmetz

obiectives.

F.

for

Number

o

Communications

computer

appli-

Gordon

approach

Station' by

improved

Roy

pricel

Integratton

Robert

power.

introduced

First

Selectively

Estes and

design,

Donald

diagnostic,

3

C-

In

lattice. Thin crystal angles oscillator make give earlier

precision

in

Pages 3 neeO bt can happening

happening

different

possibilities

designers

lllustrator.

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2

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this

thin transoarent used watches slices of

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the crystal

to

described

it relatively

the new oscillator,

HP

crystal

many computer

be set

computers

Wrapping up

Editor, Fichard

Nancv

JoURNAL

more strongly frequency

discs

insensitive

oscillators.

laboratory

through

up to

in one

find

19

function as up to

in

one,

virtual

for

computer the

and

Vanderbloom

S

N,4ARCH

The shiny

Quartz lattice.

in the article

instruments,

of

two,

or

issue

eliminate

p

1981

rock on

for frequency

some of

that

quaftz

at

and time

is

a crystalline

for frequency control

Different angles

on

to temperature

1081 1lVB, better

Model

issue describe

this

for a terminal

users

four

three, or

terminal

the same

application

is

Dolan

o Administrative Services,

all

at a time,

article about

an

circuit

. Associate

month's cover

this

mounted

disc

and

control

wear

us

are sublected

frequency

one

references.

material,

are

produce

page

20 derives

variations.

1//B is designed

1081

especially

separate

four

computer

systems.

hot

those that

new computer

a

that can

these

of

using

at

the

that

spots

Editor, Kenneth

Typography,

in its holder

in many electronic

timing

(not

all crystals

alternating

to an

at any other.

than

which

from large

taken

different

frequency stability

its

This

stability,

to serve

have to

handle

"virtual"

the the same

100234

terminals.

virtual

keyboard.

Temperature indicate

may

A Shaw.

piece

is

a

means that

lower

terminal,

relatively

terminals

time.

Anne S LoPresti

of cultured

front

in

sets of desirable

property

Any two

Art

the

of

as

are

voltage,

lt's this

its

quartz

and

power

consumption,

highly stable

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as

operate

Model

complex

The operator

at the

virtual

kind of

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problems

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(laboratory-grown)

quartz

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devices,

large as

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atoms

rocks

from a crystal

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for long

26264 Display

same

or

Photographer, e European

including the

this one).

vibrate, and

that

line up

by slicing

properties.

state-of-the-art

frequency or

periods

operations.

see on

can

time, and

terminals

flexibility opens

a simple

failure sites'

likely

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Production

@ Hewletl

quartz.

the type

of

crystal

quartz

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When

vibrate

they

useful

them

makes

regular

in

a

the

The

that

faster warmup

and

without adjustment'

Station,

Internally the

the

can

can communicate

device

Manager'

Packard

pattern

quartz

at specific

HP

new

has been cut

circuit

reference

time

meets a

that

screen

affect what's

many

up

helps circuit

that

Dolan

nP'

Dick

Company

The

wrist-

thin

much

as

or

crystal

to

design

than

26264 what's

with new

Leeksma

Pnnted n U S

1981

A

New Displ

ay

Station

Offers

Multiple

Screen Windows

Communications

This versatile

terminals. /l's

computer

designed

terminal can

for

data entry

and Dual

Ports

act

and

development.

by Gary

display, computers taneously. munications ports erals

and the

and

the display

work

areas. acters with an

optional built-in grammable forms

Design

The

Staas

C.

EW DATA ENTRY pabilities Model 2626'{

compare, and

and

The

Other

horizontal

tones for audio

design.

provided

are

Displav

four

different memory

new terminal

for

connection

user can

screen into

features

thermal forms-copy printer,

Objectives

objectives

that

guided

program

and

by a new

Station,

combine

[Fig.

divide

scrolling,

both

as many

are line widths

cues,

the

design

development

HP CRT terminal,

which lets

data from

1) has

to computers

the display memory

screen-labeled

and

two

workspaces

dual data

four

as

independent

up

to

for

keys

the 2626A Dis-

of

or

interactive

the user

different

simul-

com-

periph-

160

char-

softkeys,

like

four virtual

program

ca-

pro-

Data

play

Station are reflected in the terminal. An important with tion the 2626,4,, thereby

check MTBF tests isolate failures

repeatedly after terminal assembly make the terminal and other terminals in the 262Xline. configuration

HP 2645A

the

programs

The

new terminal is also reliable

and

out,

(mean

is

built into

executes most

2626A

the

Terminal. Terminal

work

that

protecting

service. Thereliability goal

time between failures). An

the terminal, and

to the component level.

easy to build, there

has many

ofthe terminal.

many

characteristic is

with the 2645A

of the other

to spot failures in

components in

of the characteristics

compatibility

drivers and applica-

will also work

software investments.

users'

is

and

easy to build,

was 8,000 hours

extensive set of

some of these tests can

One test, which

terminal tests,

the factory. To

very

are

The factory

Since that is an easy

few

common with

very little

does

of

with

self-

is

used

options

process,

Fig.

1.

Model

is

tion wtndow

has porfs figured cally independent

nals. lengths offers foreign and

MABCH

multi-workspace,

a

computer

dual

data

/ts

capabilities

dynamically

The

terminal

up

to 160

an optional

1981 f-IEWLETT-pACKARo

26264

Disptay

multi-

terminal

communications

may be

as four logi-

vittual can handle characters

language

built-in

termi-

options

printer

lounnnr 3

Sta-

that

con-

line

and

it

is

totally left to the

almost

User sophistication

very knowledgeable OEM

entry clerk user department needs to configure The pose. locked out confusing them

to the to take advantage of

needs

manager of a data

the terminal

terminal

On the other

provides

hand, these configuration

and made unavailable to

with details they don't

Among many new concepts

ability to handle more than one

the several task, the

sheets of

2626A, Display Station splits as many as dual datacomm with more than one

The optional

of expensive,

paper

four windows,

ports

allow these

computer

built-in thermal

distant, was considered essential the screen, such

integral

printer

To allow a user graphics been

expanded

as forms and special

makes

to

capability, one of

include appropriate

to

forms-drawing keys make

Foreign Ianguage support international marketplace. pean

languages,

The 26264 uses

integrated circuit

scale

make it

tures

including

HP's

possible

improved and expanded

HP 2645A.

an

user.

varies considerably,

a different

entry operation,

for use by data entry

configuration menus

embodied

on a desk, each

each with

windows to communicate

program

printer

large, and noisy

to be able to

possible.

this

simple

draw

the terminal's

it

easy to design

is an

2626A

The

mute

and overshike

silicon-on-sapphire

process,

to offer

feature

This and other design

a terminal

set

Softkeys

To allow easy access

to terminal eight sof&eys that do not high label at indicates its a terminal mode, such

bottom of the screen

the current

function.

as REMOTHLOCAL,

have

functions, the

fixed functions. A two-row-

A function key that

its label when the corresponding

softkeys can be

locked

the terminal stays

so

from

customer.

set of

for

data

the

Each

features.

example,

clerks.

for

menus

the clerks

pur-

this

can be

to avoid

need.

in

terminal

the

job

at a time.

Like

relating to a different

its

display screen

independent

data.

into The

at once.

avoids the

impact print character sets,

bar charts

character sets

data

important

provides

problems

printers.

whatever

was

and the

without

characters.

forms.

entry

goal

in

six

on

has

The

the

Euro-

characters.

(SOS) large-

fea-

with a much

for a cost comparable

2626A has

just

above each softkey

indicates

has an asterisk on

function

within a

is

on.

The

group

softkey

of Workspaces

A

When the terminal into displayable length ters

is

It

(

to

from B0 to

for instance,

wide,

fuo*ipai:e

levels

and

Data

having

lines of equal

similar

Windows

powered

is

sizes.

1.60 characters are useful

functions.

partitions

it

on,

The user can

per

line. Lines

132

for holding data

memory

select a

charac-

to be sent

(a)

Workspace

Flg.2. are displayed displayed.

4 rewrcrr-pnc<ARD

1

ln this example,

JoURNAL

pottions

in windows on the

FEBRUAFY

1981

of three

screen

Workspace

1

-t

2

- |

26264 workspaces

Workspace

4 is not

Bo

I

Keyboard

Flg.3. (a) each

keyboard window

Workspaces 2,3, and 4 are The host computer

After the

space displayed. receives the data workspace 2

ln this

holding

2 in the keyboard window and workspace 1 is no longer

example, the terminal

a form. Workspace 1 is

and the uset can type data

not

is

connected to workspacelwindow

presses

user

The host remains

ENIER key

the

just

entered while the user

displayed

attached

has four workspaces,

displayed

in

a screen

host

the

to workspace 1 and

in the

into form 1.

window.

1.

displays

work-

fills form 2 in

(b)

to a computer into

workspaces, example, the user workspaces and workspace allowed. different

taneously

doing. The show all example, dow from

space 2 through screen border workspace space ceive

Multiple jobs

All

workspaces

to

screen

part

or

workspace

the first

might be

twenty-four. Dotted

to avoid

on

the screen

need not be

that is

and

send

workspace/window

To

avoid ambiguity, workspace Typed window,

as delete

The

on,

a

softkey.

Each spaces computer.

be

on a workspace associated allows typing grouped attached uration tion 2, used for

REMOTE

at a time,

data

not character, take

user

workspace can be

Most with a workspace,

a window

data into

into

to workspaces.

1, REMOTE

REMOTE

both

on. If workspace

and workspace

space L has

There

space

REMOTE are four can have

when workspaces

printer.

line

each with

could

of 80-character

2

with

workspaces

on

the terminal at

can

give

an

can be

of the

through

seen

confusion.

closed

data.

configuration.

appears

in

any

other window.

can change

operates independently,

used to

operating

basis.

to be

unprotected

a terminal

mode is

workspaces,

2

uses terminal

terminal

its

own

are

The workspace/window

on a menu

host

A

workspaces

the workspace

entry example

A

data enhy creates four its

host's turn to displays the keyboard into program

or remotely

computer.

data communications

given

at

a

only;

other workspaces

in Fig.

application program

workspaces

data

communications port

transmit

a form

the workspace

workspace

the form.

When

displays

the

The

user

can

70

a fixed

set up

lines,

lines.

number

the terminal

workspace

Up to four workspaces

are useful for

the

same time.

be displayed

overall view

divided into

workspaces.

r

might be viewed

the tenth

in

a window from

lines

The

to allow left

displayed

(i.e.,

has

no display window)

Fig.

z

all

keyboard input

the

one

in

only in

on the screen

of what

display windows

To

screen rows,

separate

terminal also

and right

to be functional.

shows

which

this

keyboard workspace/

Local effect the

keyboard

perform

modes

Some

in

only

this

window

different

of the

of the modes

such as FORMAT

used as

a form, limiting

fields.

configuration,

Suppose

on, and in

If

off.

1

and

1

uses

which

that

terminal

2, then

terminal

configuration

on

and workspace configurations

configuration.

to be used

for

different

configuration

by escape

port

time.

sequences

can be attached Data flow

are unaffected.

3 illustrates

in

the 2626,\

how this feature

in

the host

terminal

to each workspace

it.

to

After it

that has

so the user

the user

sends

the first form

can begin

presses

the ENTER

second workspace

group

these lines

lines. For

of

to have

1 with 40

doing

the terminal

continue

in

the above

a display win-

and work-

screen rows

windows

has a vertical

windows.

A

an example

affects

only

the cursor

editing

resides.

keys,

window,

by means

so that tasks

terminal

are or can

are always

mode, which

the user

Other modes

may be freely

in

terminal

config-

configura-

configuration

both will

configuration

2,

then work-

2 has

REMOTE

so that

This

kinds

can be

each work-

is

desirable

of

set locally

sent from

to any

is to

and

from

The

is

computer first

and attaches

all the

forms, it

and makes

entering

key, the

with

the

next form

two

Iines

are

several

simul-

that

eleven

on the

A

work-

can re-

of a

one

such

and

so

of

work-

with a

to

are

1 is

have

off.

jobs.

the

one of

that

data

used.

in

it

data

and attaches itself entered

the

concurrency

productivity. the horizontal

is

softkey another displayed than the

(a)

(b)

1

(c)

attaches

on

the form.

second form

To

fine-tune

moves

displays

on the

screen width

Fig.4.

Uses

is

attached clatacomm RS-232-C computer.

the

keyboard

to

the first workspace

The

while

results

a window

and vertical

the

cursor

the

screen.

to

user

this transfer

in greater

configuration,

borders

to

the next

Whenever

of a window,

s

of the dual

to a computer.

port,

device.

(c)

Both

data communications

can

be attached

(b)

Each

ports

are attached

port

it.

The

to receive

continues

throughput

with

screen window,

that is the line the

j,

.#B.

PORT 1

Port

2, when not to a

is

attached

to the

program

host

the data

entering

progress.

is in

and

the user

softkeys.

not

Iength

data mav be

COMPUTER

COMPUTE

COMPUTER

COMpUTER

ports.

rn use

serial

Drinter ot other

to a different host

same computel

then

just

data into

This

operator

can

move

Another

and

currently

greater

is

scrolled

R

port

(a)

as

a

1

tvARcH 198i

HEWLETT,pAoKARo

JouRlter 5

vertical border

horizontally.

for

30, umns displayed

to

sary

Dual Data Communications

further enhance

To

has two tached port

is user enters data while that for example) the

port,

workspace virtual

up a

Fig. 4 The two different

communications

data

using the two

Both workspaces that are on the screen terminal ports/workspaces user can be entering ously. and workspace

programmer might examine the output

a

or errors

If the

example,

a right

window

and horizontal

view

ports to a workspace, processed

the data.

aII

its

multitasking

for data communication.

it

means

and/or displayed

in that

workspace

is

the keyboard

terminal sends

and terminal configuration

terminal

shows

ports

computers

entity.

different

possibilities

can be cabled to

because each

protocol. Fig. 5 shows

ports

attached to

at the same time

truly useful

for handling multiple

receiving and sending

be

can

data

A useful single-host

for

a console

in

workspace

one

and

Ports

that data

workspace

in two windows.

in

a third application and another

edit

workspace.

Soft Configuration

26264 represents an advance

The

its

nals in

flexibility hardware configuration user configures the terminal

built into the terminal.

workspace/windows, data

and ease of configuration.

switches

by choosing

There are configuration

communications

were at

screen

column

would have only

be neces-

scrolling

would

capability,

When a

received

the 2626,{

port

from that

in that workspace.

(by pressing

workspace/window,

data through

that

together

for using

the same

both

host or to

port can use a different

an example

two different

ports

computers.

can be displayed

make the

To

jobs,

data and

workspace simultane-

is to use one as a user terminal,

of a compiler

in another

over

file

There are no

inside the terminal.

values

on

forms for

for each

50 col-

is at-

If

the

ENTER

port.

make

ports.

two

both

port

for

termi-

menus

port,

lAXIS TITLE

',0

]

/r0 '10

-t0

!0

0

Fig.

6. New line drawing characters

high-quality bar charts

A

terminal items. tion data

modes

A host computer item on any in battery-powered

configurations applications tional

attached

involving less sophisticated

to

printer is

port

thermal

for further backup.

provides

2626,4,

The

data communications

a

cation configuration

that cover most

as multipoint

Device

The 26264

other workspaces.

more

(multidrop

Control

can copy

REMOTE mode,

into

that

host to another.

data communications

port

port.

26264

The

A

typed one the second RS-232-C tions

One of the the terminal. terminal's character provides pressed PORT mode is the lines to

normal,

(132

top of each

format standard

characters/line)

on,

page,

A data logging mode

it receives

data

terminal

prints

workspace to the destination

for the workspace

lines

otherwise lines as they

Ordinarily,

destination printer(s) played

lost.

are received.

one

device(s). SCREEN

exactly as

are copied.

EAR]

I]P

2625A BAR

tl::)

CHARTS EXAtlPLE

BAR2

VZn

8AR3

W

make it easy to draw

global

for

each

workspace,

program

The

menu.

terminal

RAM when ac

be locked to

can

present

point-to-point

both

print

2, the user can

as standard

is done by means of six

full

half-duplex configurations

and

also set any configura-

can

saves configuration

power

line

prevent

Iocal alteration

users.

if an external

or

configuration menu

the

and multipoint

features. Data

general

terminal

is off. All

If

the op-

printer is

communi-

bisynchronous) communications.

data from

If

the

it will transmit the data

workspace to one or

one

receiving

workspace is in

just

if it were

as

workspace. This allows data transfers

An external

it is not

when

options

printer is

sets to

expanded

printer provides

the

60 lines oftext,

printer

port,

as a

used

is a thermal

capable of

give

exact screen

(40

characters/line),

printing

and

can be connected

is

which

printing

data

printer

a standard

communica-

integral to

all

copies.

and

modes.

three

When RE-

blank lines at

blank bottom

Btlx11-inch sheets.

enables the terminal

on

printer.

a

When LOG TOP mode

lines as they disappear

printer(s)

are used up and the data

LOG BOTTOM causes

workspace at a time

to record all the

is

from the top of

when all display

would be

the terminal

is

copied

COPY copies the screen

it appears, so that all

windows dis-

menus

as well

from

the

of

It

also

com-

the

on,

log

to

to the

in

to

a

Fig,

5. /n

the

data base

listing bottom windowlworkspace data entry port

6 ngwrEtt-pecrARD

program

2

JoURNAL

top windowlworkspace,

from

a computer

can

attached

get

infomation

running on a second

IMARCH 1981

a user can examtne

to

port

1 , and

needed

in

for

the

computer attached

User-Definable Softkeys

a

to

When they are not being used

control, the

or user-defined functions.

pressing

by

abled

2626A's

the USER

for

terminal configuration

softkeys

can be used to

perform

The user-defined functions are en-

KEYS

key.

Each

softkey

may be

given

a definition characters. Subsequently, effect as character are defined by the ments may be the eye-catching labels tions. The ENTER Another

Sketch Forms Facility

character

the 2626,\ makes it a

drawn

and automatically softkeys the keys automatically (left,

Video

selected select them with large-character ters. With user the workspace plays hancement fields. For black background

pressing

rows

BO-displayable-character

key sets the

The HP

set to

set of keys to draw horizontal

lines

vertical

the

video

enhancement

right,

Enhancements

Video

enhancements

only by escape

the new line-drawing

can create bar

as blanks,

is users

consisting

pressing

all the

keys

on the screen label

Video

user.

embedded directly in

and more information

and RETURN

default

264X family

represent

do not

lines

cross, the

selected. The

line

type

top

and bottom)

sets have all

has

no matter what

useful

who

of terminals has

forms.

much

easier

overwrite text

desired

draws

a box around

and

sequence. The

softkeys. The

charts as shown in Fig.

the new

for password

prefer

can be

switched to

as many

of

in

its

and character

key

values

The to use this

orfields. When horizontal

correct intersection

user initially

(single,

for

or the

character

line-drawing,

been expanded

characters, for

security enhancement,

fields

black-on-white

as B0

displayable

a softkey has

definition. Two

each

softkey; the labels

set enhance-

the softkey labels

definitions. This

in

the defini-

keys

are also softkeys.

of the user

a line

sketch forms

by

set

vertical

and

character is

selects through

double

the

displayed data.

sets were

2626,{

data is

inverse

or

line.

Another

either the margins

previously

user can also

math, and

to 96

instance, the

If

6.

a

there. This

for

and

other

lettering,

video.

the same

eight-

and

allows

softkeys.

drawing

facility

providing

lines. The

bold)

and

set of

charac-

portion

it

dis-

en-

secure

the

of

French without

character The which by Roman nal

Terminal Whenever

to function. during errors munications ety oftests pattern

with

mutes

moving

is replaced

terminal

characters

setting

the eighth

extension

can

operate with

Tests

The

2626A

the

give

the user

A

more

the burn-in

found into

test facility

on each

on the thermal printer. has identification screen; the

tests can

this is

exact version

be invoked downloading tomer tomer less

All

any

perform

can

engineer

frequent

of the self-tests

problems

duce errors, such as certain

tion menus. If the terminal messages appear replacing The

the softkey labels

rest

of the screen remains visible

easily determine the error.

enabled,

the cursor.

by

provides

are

set

an HP

and Error

offers

terminal is powered

immediate

an

comprehensive

time

typing When

the letter

an

a with

eight-bit

shifted into

bit. When

is

selected

as

300A Messages

powerful

a

indication

of the terminal.

a circumflex

the letter a is

mode for

the

alternate

the

the alternate,

doing foreign processing.

set of internal

on, it

test is

the battery-powered

is

menu-driven

port.

The

integral printer

Each

information

useful

to customer

firmware

of

a diagnostic

a

test and pass

over the

and more

produce

found.

a user

Some user

attempts

that

can be displayed

engineers in

in

the terminal.

by

softkeys into

terminal

on the results

telephone,

making

efficient.

error messages indicating

operations can also

illegal

settings on the configura-

to set such a configuration,

displays an explanatory

the

on

bottom two lines

until

the message is cleared.

a

circumflex

the Hp 300A

character

foreign

characters

performs

of terminal

used by

fhis

iest logs

RAM.

The

and

allows

prints

test

ROM

in

the terminal determining

All

and do

not require

memory.

service

message. All

of the

user

so the

displays it typed, the

over it.

in

set

or

the

termi-

tests.

a self-test

mal-

production

any

data

com-

a vari-

a test

on the

of

these

A

cus-

to a cus-

calls

pro-

error

screen

can more

Foreign

pean French, are available for

operate global built into keyboard with placements

Some of the languages bility. For

LANGUAGE USASCII Swedish/F nn Danrsh/Norwegian French

German

United Kingciom

Spanish

Languages

The 2626,\

languages:

Fig. 7 illustrates

are available

has ISO

German, United

all

given

for

a

configuration

the terminal;

the special character

and the extra

example, when

sh

Fig. 7,

Speclal characters, including

Swedish/Finnish,

these languages.

language

the new language

character

Kingdom,

by

menu. AII

a user

character

provide

the

35 64 91

rct

ttfi tQI

ta

rlA tct

,Qi

sets for

and

making a selection

the language

needs only the appropriate

a mute

terminal is configured for

92

0 g

0

N

following Euro-

the

Danish/Norwegian,

Spanish. Keyboards

The

terminal

keycaps

ROM.

set

option characters.

and

overstrike capa-

DECII\IAL VALUE 93 94 96 123

uea

overstrike

is

capability is

and key

124

t

t) oeii oA

ud

otB !)

{

nt

{

characters,

set to

on the

125 126

Additional Features

Among

15

tones,

kinds

of terminal

dow

status shows the current workspace/window

speaking, another

2626A's

the

16

durations, and

humor

and

computer

features is a programmable

volume

two

are also

status

Gary Gary and attended graduating mathematics In MS University After software tems, he vrsion, included entry system velopment 26264 member

philosophy,

Recently

firm

offered.

C. Staas

Staas was

in 1969

in

degree

for

hospital information

joined

where

QA of

and

other terminals Gary the ACM

of

running,

he left HP

N/ARcH 1981 HEwLETT-pAOKARo

born

the

statistics

three

HP's

his responsibilities

various

design, and

feature

pursue

to

bell

Ievels.

Several new

For

example,

in

Dayton,

University

with a BS

1971 he

backpacking,

of

degree in

received his

from

Stanford

years

developing

Data Termina

terminals, data

firmware

design for the

and a resident

his

career

.touRNll

with

win-

config-

Ohio

Dayton,

sys-

Di-

s

have

de-

is

a

of

public

with

7

uration.

and retransmit

feature

number of spaces

rather than sending

appropriate

This makes

not understand tab characters.

and

terminal

Modify modes

pressing

is

on,

number

it

easy to create

ID identifies the terminal

allow a user to modify

it to the

host. When the

the TAB key transmits

to take the cursor to

a tab character.

backspaces

of

text files for applications

as

a line on the screen

TAB : SPACES

appropriate

the

the next tab

BACK TAB sends

a 2626A.

stop

the

tab stop.

that do

Acknowledgments

I

would like to

Prem Kapoor, for his

ager, features and continual uct. Stan and keyboard be management. ager, ham and

couragement

Telson

realized without the

Tom

Ken Blackford,

acknowledge the

contributed

hardware.

I would like to thank

Anderson,

and support.

HP 2626A

many helpful

for

striving

Products

active support

marketing manager,

product

excellence

much to the

complexity

of this

lab and marketing

of

Lance

managers,

project

suggestions on

self-test

Mills, lab manand Terry

for their en-

in

the

man-

prod-

features

cannot

East-

Displ ay Designed

by Gordon

minal. make the more

developed

thoughtful

Elements of

All user interfaces

Model. This

User product product

develops and will resorting to

arises.

tion design. feature pletely

that its use

and Command related to the tation of

user accesses the should way, and

handling

and Feedback from ment completion status back

mechanisms

is being used

tions. soon as they

C. Graham

PRIMARY CONTRIBUTION play

Station

quick

allows

important design

An

terminal

features

by

approach

the User

forms as to

has been carefully

good

a

use

the

This

Each new

be

must

consistent

Language. The

user model and

it. It is

all relate to each other

should

errors.

in

response to commands

properly

Feedback is also used to

are detected.

Station's

For

is its advanced

to the

access

goal

easy to than HP, easy

is

understanding,

product's features

operator's

area

feature and every

carefully

with the operation of

is

natural

means

by

features of a

include

the

of any command.

inspires

use.

previous alphanumeric

access

user

to the

Interface

have four elements

mental

the

how the equipment

designed,

manual

very important

is a

evaluated

to the operator.

command

is in fact a

the command

of

provisions for

Instrument.

confidence

performing

is

and

point

User

lncreased

Dis-

2626A

HP

the

of

interface,

user

features of

many

in this

Because

required

interface.

model that

model, of

or

every time

to ensure

product. The commands

in

a consistent, systematic

Feedback

tells

out errors to

project

this

in

common:

functions.

user automatically

the

naturally

part

change

all other

language

concrete

language that

aborting

from the

the user about

Proper

design

that the

the desired

which

the ter-

was to

terminal

terminals

a thorough,

the user of

If

how it works,

instead

a new situa-

total

of the

to an existing

it is com-

that

features,

is closely

represen-

commands

instru-

feed-

of

instrument

func-

the user

has

the

of

the

as

Interface

ls

Productivity

Information feedback. The central a manner that tween the

means

tion takes

display.

Application

reflected

driven configuration.

a

Screen-Labeled

Earlier terminals means fixed task associated clear

the

function

the functions, required the user

ESC key cise many of the designed terminal ease of features

willing to memorize or look

users To solve these

duced the concept of tree-structured, softkeys. The

Softkeys

instead

but upon the

tion of

displayed

current

terminal

displayed on the screen,

Fresented

promotes

user and the instrument.

can be used. Generally, the

must be tailored to the characteristics

these

of

in

two areas:

Softkey

function keys on the keyboard.

of

display.

followed by

and so were designed

use. The

of

state of the terminal.

a 2626A softkey,

function

function or cause a

This approach

was

set

functions. These escape sequences

for

use by a

result was

these terminals

problems,

2626A has

are keys that

perform

on the screen

(see

User. This is closely related to

to

issue is how to display

the most effective

guidelines

screen-labeled softkevs

provided

with

them,

Later

small.

type

to

or more other keystrokes)

one

host

computer

were used only by sophisticated

more recent terminals

extended

do not

different

many

a visual

with a

Fig. 1). A

new set of softkey

assigning a new set

thus

information in

interaction be-

Both visual and audible

form

that

26264 is mainly

to the

access to their

These keys

such as home the

was

satisfactory

terminals, with

in

escape sequences

system driving

for

compactness

many

that

up

have a dedicated

To indicate the current

representation of the

label describing the

softkey

of

escape sequences.

the

this approach.

functions

may

informa-

visual

and menu-

features by

cursor or

long as

as

many more

to exer-

rather

advanced

the

have intro-

screen-labeled

function,

depending

perform

either

labels to

offeatures

of the

had a

(the

were

the

than

func-

key is

key's

a

be

8 rEwlerr-pncrAnD JoURNAL

1981

N,4ARCH

Flg.2.

The

branch

top level

to a separate functional

of the

softkey

area

trce Each key

of the

termina!.

causes

a

Ffg.

1.

Ihe relationship Iabels.

screen

all

to

ofthe

softkeys. Each

node

of a softkey

screen-labeled

Within member, lished. letters, softkeys is labels all lower-case, area the softkey in fact, these labels the top

An wish by displaying key ing branch labels BLINK VIDEO (f5 desired asterisks

labels

positioned

is selected

the terminal family

a softkey

A

key that

while

a

labeled in

displayed at

of the terminal.

tree, often referred

a

dedicated

when

of the

softkey tree.

example will illustrate

to enhance

it in blinking

returns

the fifth

the

softkey, labeled

to

video

the

shown in Fig.

combination

appear in

to indicate

on the

enhancements.

between

set

oflabels

tree, hence

softkeys.

labeling

performs

that performs

key

lower-case

the top level

so each branches

This is

key labeled

pressed,

a certain

terminal to

enhancement

3. The

and f6)

of enhancements.

the lower

they have

screen at the

convention function

a

the functional

to as

thus

several

section

inverse video.

the top

enhance video,

keys labeled

can

then be

right-hand

been

When

the eight softkeys

can be

the name

of which

has

is

labeled in

a branch

letters. Fig.

ofthe

softkey

to a

separate functional

the AIDS

AIDS

that always

providing

points.

of text

on the CRT

Pressing

of the softkey

level

and

INVERSE

pressed

In

response

corners

selected. Next,

starting

this is

accomplished,

and their

thought ofas

tree-structured,

2626A

the

been

to a new

2 indicates

tree.

choice level

level. There is,

easy access

Suppose

then

displays the

indicate

to

of

position

capital

These

displays

screen

the AIDS

Press-

tree.

causes

VIDEO

to

these

the

cursor

for

is

estab-

set

the

are

you

and

the

this,

key

the the

pressed

SET ENHNCMNT key

is combination. To end the enhancement the at

the ending

That's all

through the entire

selecting enhancements, ond time toggles its

selection.

Contrast this

indication

were

available in

function

this have

to

and

type

position

there

to the

in

position

in

and SET ENHNCMNT is

is

to it. The

operation.

pressing

the displayed asterisk

to the older method. First

occasional user that video

the terminal

2626,\).

the

the cursor

to the desired

escape

propagate

to

the enhancement,

and type

escape & d

terminate

to memorized ence manual, of user's

a

all through user-oriented

a

softkey labels tree

of

available transitions

branching

of

interface extensive significantly

to

minal feature each softkeys guage.

ten

a

sophistication

actions

2626A

The

26264

and the

Relating

accessible

All

one) and

Fig,

it. These

found by

or

escape sequences had

looking through

either of which requires

than letting

to the desired result. It

features

are still

escape sequences. The

means of accomplishing softkey represents

labels

within

there. The

that

are

flower-case)

2626A

softkey

design leads

use

of tree-structured,

improves

into

set

is

tree

one

that

auows

possible

keys.

operation

to the following

the

user

smaller functionally

through branching

makes

for a particularly

features

ale

available

there is virtually

3.

video

Ihe

enhancement

propagate

to

softkey labels direct

If

a mistake is

the

erroneous

the selected

is

cursor

pressed.

again

the user

made when

key a sec-

placed

off, thus reversing

there was

enhancements

(the

enhance

video

key

serves

Once aware, the user would

starting

position

& d C

then reposition

the cursor

@

to be

the terminal refer-

a much higher level

the softkey labels

should be

accessible to

softkey

the same

shown in Fig.

level (or

node)

level identify

between

rows

to the

levels

four

direct the

noted that

host

the

is

tree

simply a

thing.

4. Each of the

the functions

indicate

using

areas

system

row

softkey

ofuser

conclusions. First,

screen-labeled

model by

breaking

keys. Second,

softkeys

the

areas,

simple command

with

a few

keystrokes

no syntax

level

to learn

of the softkey tree

no

of

the the

ter-

of

lan-

(of-

or

rvARcH

i98r HEWLETT-pACKARo

lounrunr

9

OEVICE

FUNCTIONS

GROUP

AIDS

MAFGINi

TAB COt

SEFVICE

WINDOW

CON

ENHANCE

VlDEO

ENHANCEMENTS

GFOUP

FORMS GROUP

memorize. Consistent

simplify

between

the shucture of tunities user. Since the softkeys information is label key keytop and

of the key. Menu-Driven Configuratlon

their designs offered total

optional

within the terminal.

either type of

a different

of their the terminal, terminal, open

strap, reassemble the terminal,

of the terminal

external switches, such as trols the terminal.

full terminal feature set accessible to all users just

accomplish inside All

the command

function softkeys and

for

functions exceeds what can

Early terminals were designed

feature sets did not

terminal market. Some

extras,

physical

a

wire

internal straps.

related meanings

remove it,

Stapping

for

data

To enhance the user

the skilled

2626A,

the

configuration

DEFINE

F

[,4ODIFY

CHAR SET

SKETCi]

FORi,,IS

DRAW LINES

DEFINE

LINES

CONF

the softkey tree

enhancing the

presented.

thus makes

features

while

switch on

jumper.

feature

set simply

The user became

To alter the straps the

the case, locate the

locate

with the

the

terminal

communications,

few, the 2626A uses a menu approach to

the

same

so

items

ffi

I

W

ffi

TF]OL

IF LDS

IG

labeling conventions

language

are tree-structured,

it easier

have a

that covered

some

Straps

The

terminal

by reading the

the strap,

turn it on,

modified

interface in

result. There are no

a user will never have to open

are selected simply

ffi

ry

F

EF

m

F

w

H

ffi

by

branching softkeys.

display of

The

use

to

great

of these were available

usually took one of two

printed

a

by modifying the

in this way,

the baud rate and duplex

ffi

ry

m

I ffi

ffi

@

ffi

5fl

ffi

visually

presents

of sixteen characters

understand

for specific

features were

could

aware of the straps

user had to

make the

and verify the operation

strap.

is

this area and

differentiating

several oppor-

information to

only

placed

be

deal ofbreadth.

portions

larger

as strap options

board or some

circuit

be made to exhibit

reference manual

board containing

and

called configuring

physical

ffi

I ffi

@ ffi ffi

further

Third,

the

relevant

a normal

on

function

the

purposes

arrangement

unplug the

adjustment,

setting

rather than

by choosing

and

Later

of the

added as

forms,

and

the

a few

con-

make the

shaps

the case.

ffi

ffi ffi

ffim ffiffi

ffi ffi

ffiffi

menu items displayed

This approach not only

mode.

tion face but also eliminates Thanks to the

reconfigure the terniinal

ble to tions.

The

to

for

terminal's

areas, each

are: configuration, 2626A

terminal configuration

datacomm configuration datacomm Global Configuration.

all

to language guages) Window the This configuration memory into windows. Terminal Configuration. given block,

alternate character sets.

of Datacomm Configuration.

with

global

configuration,

can

ports.

four virtual terminals.

(USASCII

and

Configuration.

window/workspace relationships

into workspaces and

virtual

format, etc.), handshaking requirements,

Ffg. 5.

Flg.4.

2626A softkey

labels represents one level

row of

tree and the

of the that

available

tween tions that are branching

on the CRT screen

keyboard and

relative ease of this approach

quickly

feature

its

own configuration

and datacomm configuration. Since

like four virtual

act

Contains

or one of

frame rate

menu is used to

terminal,

Ihe contigurction

is broken into

set

window configuration, terminal

menus. Similarly,

menus to accommodate the

Examples are the terminal

(50

Hz

Contains all

to

Contains

virtual

i.e.,

Contains all datacomm

level of the softkey

identify

level

rows indicate the ttansac-

improves the user

terminals,

configuration the six

60

or

partition

all items specific

terminal

The arrows be-

there.

possib/e

(lower-case)

during configura-

internal switches.

it is now

for different applica-

menu. The four areas

there there are two

international Hz). items associated

within

the

the terminal's

the CRT screen

modes

trce. Each

labels within

functions

the

using the keys.

interfeasi-

four

smaller

are

global

items

with

terminal.

(remote,

and choice

items.

trce

the

four

two

lan-

to a

10 riewrerr-pncKAnD JoURNAL

vlARcH 1981

first

One datacomm

fills

menus. Suppose that the from uration the Then, a set of tion language is a up the appropriate menu configuration Ianguage

softkey labeled NEXT CHOICE list displays the mnemonic associated with guages depressions are required to display

DANSK/NORSK changes made been changed items required Once again, language field

user through the

advanced TAB allowing

two ways. underlined, it implies softkeys are to be used to predefined not underlined, then the from

(POWER

chooses

out the configuration items for

An

example will best illustrate

USASCII to Danish. Like

menus are accessed

AIDS

key

pressing

softkey

menus in

To change

of all available languages. Each

supported by the terminal.

required in

using a similar approach. When

completed

to

Within a

the BACK

key.

quick

Values

are

the keyboard. Depressing f4

ON

from

a set of menus

protocols

returns

global

specification.

this

change

the

configuration menu the cursor can be

from field

selected

If

the

list

VALUES)

supported by

terminal

through the softkeys.

the terminal to the top softkey level.

config keys

labels allowing

the terminal

item

the cursor is

(Danish/Norwegian).

and the

are activated. Typically, this is

softkey labels combined with English-

names

operation.

access to all menu

value

values for

of

(f8)

pressing

item,

(see

on the second line of this menu

positioned (f3)

global

the

SAVE CONFIG key

any configuration item in

in

the configuration menu lead

to field with

TAB key

returns it

for

each configuration item in

field

that the NEXT

scroll

that

user types

the entire

causes

describing the

the terminal and then

particular

that the use of configuration

language is

all other

causes

access to all of the configura-

(Fig.

Fig.

configuration

of the configuration

forward/backward

field (as

features

a branch

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Acknowledgments

The design

the

contributions Maxine Brown key

tree and the project veloping

the default

stored

review

groups.

the user

command

modified types

erroneous

in

particularly

the above features

for

configuration

the entire

presented

items

develop

its

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are

in

the new

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to

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When

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and

the consistency

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offending field

that the configuration

In

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This

letter was

each

describing

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older

to straps by

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possibility

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softkey label

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products

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ability

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of the user interface

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developed the framework

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takes

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back via

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detected

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of

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included

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letter

to make quick,

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number

with

on

configure

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cursor and

learn

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an English-language

When values

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area, and

in

aid

correcting the

presenting

menus

each

strap was

associated

an English-language

The equivalent

with existing

only. The fact

displayed

present

keys

for

the 2626A represents

people.

of

menus. 2626A, to

was instrumental

its present

ROM

the user model

set

each functional

other menus. This

of the terminal by

displayed, items

a

or

during

of

each

items

information

make a large

with its function

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to maintain consis-

at once

accurate

to a manual. Since

only

for both the

Prem

state

of

power-

or the

to the

As

with

into

smaller

menu,

while

the 2626,{

the

predefined

remember.

config-

CHOICE

the cursor is

given

applications

reduced.

In

keys

are entered

value

is verified.

error.

con-

a letter

letter

that all

greatly

changes

valid

data

particular,

soft-

Kapoor,

in

refinement.

four

the

user

list

by

de-

is

to

F)9.6.

Global terminal configuration

menu,

Gordon Gordon gramming tion He years and Californra, he MSEE California 1975 lrves

loys

C, Graham

Graham

for

joined

of experience in

design

circuit

degrees from

Los Angeles in

at

He's married,

in

San Mateo,

photography

N,4ARCH 1981 HEWLET-T-PACKARO

firmware

drd

the 26264 Display

HP in

1979 with

programming

A native

received his BSEE

and brcycling

of Covina,

the

University

1971 and

has

a daughter,

California, and en-

JOUqNN. 11

oro-

Sta-

several

and

of