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Received: by minnie.vk1xwt.ampr.org with NNTP id AA398 ; Sun, 31 Jan 93 14:06:14 EST Xref: sserve comp.unix.programmer:7997 comp.unix.bsd:10683 Path: sserve!manuel.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!spool.mu.edu!nigel.msen.com!fmsrl7!lynx.unm.edu!polaris.unm.edu!caadams From: caadams@polaris.unm.edu (Clifford A Adams) Newsgroups: comp.unix.programmer,comp.unix.bsd Subject: TERMIO/TERMIOS reliability on BSD-like systems. Date: 1 Feb 1993 02:42:09 GMT Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque Lines: 29 Distribution: world Message-ID: <1ki2m1INNeea@lynx.unm.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: polaris.unm.edu Summary: The trn newsreader prefers sgtty routines for BSD Keywords: termio, termios, POSIX, terminal handling, BSD I am working on extensions to the trn newsreader, and found an interesting configuration assumption. Trn looks for (and uses) termio or termios functionality before trying to use sgtty.h. That is, *unless* the system is a BSD type, in which case sgtty.h is looked for first. In trn 2.4, BSD-type means a Sun, ULTRIX, or Pyramid(?) system. In trn 3.0 (still in testing), sgtty is looked for first for any BSD-like system (that the new Configure knows about). My problem is that I would like to use the VMIN and VTIME variables specified in the termio/termios behavior. (I use them to wait a short time for input before doing background processing, which makes the program much more responsive to user input.) I contacted the author of trn, and he said sgtty was used first because of concerns that the termio(s) handling on BSD systems didn't always work properly, although he didn't know specifics. I found that both termio and termios worked properly on my (ULTRIX 4.2) system, and I'm wondering if other systems still have problems. In other words: is it safe to rely on termio/termios with BSD-like systems? Since trn is used on a wide variety of systems I want to be very safe. Were there problems with termio/termios, and if so, are there many installations out there with these problems? (If, for instance, SunOs 3.x.y was still used by many people and it had a problem, I'd like to know.) --Cliff