Terminal protocols

Claim 2

Terminal protocol in an apparatus responsive to sequentially-received protocols, for controlling the apparatus characterized by: (1) a first protocol (503) having a second protocol (507) as an operand and specifying an operation to be performed using the second protocol and (2) means (201) in the apparatus responsive to the first protocol for performing the specified operation using the second protocol.

Claim 3

Terminal protocol according to claim 1 characterized in that: (1) the first protocol (503) specifies that the second protocol (507) is to be repeated in a predetermined manner and (2) the means responsive to the first protocol repeats execution of the second protocol as specified by the first protocol.

Claim 4

Terminal protocol according to claim 2 characterized in that: (1) the first protocol (503) includes a further operand (505) specifying the number of times the second protocol (507) is to be repeated and (2) the means responsive to the first protocol repeats execution of the second protocol the number of times specified by the further operand.

Claim 5

Terminal protocol in a display device, which is connected with a digital computer system, is responsive to sequential protocols received from the digital computer system, provides sequential protocols to the digital computer system, displays characters, which includes means for specifying a given one of the displayed characters, and in which each character is associated with an attribute defining how the character is to be displayed, with means for determining the attribute associated with the given character, especially accordance to any of claims 1 to 3, characterized by: (1) a first sequential protocol (1201) which is provided by the digital computer system to the desplay means and which specifies that the display device return the attribute associated with the given character; (2) a second sequential protocol (1207) which is provided by the desplay means to the digital computer system and which specifies the attribute; and (3) means (201) in the display means responsive to the first. sequential protocol for obtaining the attribute associated with the given character, forming the second sequential protocol using the obtained attribute, and providing the second sequential protocol to the digital computer system.

Claim 6

Terminal protocol in a device which is connected with a digital computer system, is responsive to a first sequential protocol which is received from the digital computer system and which contains data, and provides a second sequential protocol to the digital computer system, with means for verifying that the data was properly received especially according to any of claims 1 to 4, characterized by: (1) a checksum value (1009) in certain of said first sequential protocols; (2) a value (1021) in the second sequential protocol for indicating whether the data is valid; and (3) means (201) responsive to the first sequential protocol for determining from the checksum value and the data whether the data is valid and providing the second sequential protocol with the value set to indicate whether the data is valid.

Claim 7

Terminal protocol for obtaining information from a device communicating sequentially with a digital computer system characterized by: (1) first sequential protocols (1201) provided to the device by the digital computer system; (2) second sequential protocols (1207) provided to the digital computer system by the device and including (a) a first code (1017) specifying that the following bytes belong to one of the second sequential protocols, (b) a second code (1303) specifying a specific one of the second sequential protocols, (c) data (1305) returned in the specific one of the sequential protocols, and (d) a terminator code (1023) specifying the end of one of the second sequential protocols; (3) means (201) in the device for producing a given one of the second sequential protocols in response to a given one of the first sequential protocols; and (4) means (103) in the computer system for responding to the given second sequential protocol and processing the data from the given second sequential protocol as determinded by the second code in the given second sequential protocol until encountering the terminator code.

Claim 8

Terminal protocol for obtaining information from a device communicating sequentially with a digital computer system characterized by: (1) first sequential protocols (1201) provided to the device by the digital computer system; (2) second sequential protocols (1207) provided to the digital computer system by the device and including (a) a first code (1017) specifying that the following bytes belong to one of the second sequential protocols, (b) a second code (1303) specifying a specific one of the second sequential protocols, (c) data (1305) returned in the specific one of the sequential protocols, and (d) a terminator code (1023) specifying the end of one of the second sequential protocols; (3) means (201) in the device for producing a given one of the second sequential protocols in response to a given one of the first sequential protocols; and (4) means (103) in the computer system for responding to the given second sequential protocol and processing the data from the given second sequential protocol as determinded by the second code in the given second sequential protocol until encountering the terminator code.

Claim 9

Terminal protocol according to claim 6 characterized in that: the means (103) in the computer system for responding to the given second sequential protocol (207) includes storage means (1307) corresponding to each of the second codes (1303), and processes the data by placing it in the storage means corresponding to the second code in the given second sequential protocol.

Claim 10

Terminal protocol in a display device which is connected with a digital computer system, is responsive to sequential protocols received from the digital computer system, and displays sequences of characters, and in which each character is associated with an attribute defining how the character is to be displayed, with means for controlling the display of the characters in the display device characterized by: (1) means (709) for specifying a current attribute; (2) writable attribute association means (223) for associating each character to be displayed with its attribute; (3) a rewrite attribute protocol (701) specifying that the attribute associated with each character of a specified sequence of the characters be set to the current attribute; and (4) means (201) in the display device responsive to the rewrite attribute protocol and the means for specifying the current attribute for setting the writable attribute association means so that each character of the specified sequence is associated with the current attribute.

Claim 11

Terminal protocol in a display device which is connected with a digital computer system, is responsive to sequential protocols received from the digital computer system, and displays sequences of characters, and in which each character is associated with an attribute defining how the character is to be displayed, with means for controlling the display of the characters in the display device characterized by: (1) means (709) for specifying a current attribute; (2) writable attribute association means (223) for associating each character to be displayed with its attribute; (3) a rewrite attribute protocol (701) specifying that the attribute associated with each character of a specified sequence of the characters be set to the current attribute; and (4) means (201) in the display device responsive to the rewrite attribute protocol and the means for specifying the current attribute for setting the writable attribute association means so that each character of the specified sequence is associated with the current attribute.

Claim 12

Terminal protocol in a terminal which is used in a digital computer system, includes display means for displaying fields of characters having fixed positions in the fields, and employs a cursor to mark a location in the display means, with means for altering the fields of characters in the display means characterized by: a shift field one position protocol (801) specifying a shift direction, a field size, and a character and means (201) for receiving the shift field one position protocol and responding thereto by shifting a field which is of the specified size and begins at the current curson location one position in the specified shift direction and inserting the specified character into the position made vacant by the shift.

Claim 13

Terminal protocol in a terminal which is used in a digital computer system, includes display means for displaying fields of characters having fixed positions in the fields, and employs a cursor to mark a location in the display means, with means for altering the fields of characters in the display means characterized by: a shift field one position protocol (801) specifying a shift direction, a field size, and a character and means (201) for receiving the shift field one position protocol and responding thereto by shifting a field which is of the specified size and begins at the current curson location one position in the specified shift direction and inserting the specified character into the position made vacant by the shift.

Claim 14

Terminal protocol according to claim 9 characterized in that: the shift direction is specified in the alternative by a shift field left code (803) and a shift field right code (811), the field size is specified as a number of characters (805), and the character is specified by means of a character code (807).