Dynapro Technologies Dynapro ET TCS, Application Developer'S Manual

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The Reporting Format command enables the following three characters to be changed in TCS
reports:
The First Introducer Character (default is <ESC>).
The Second Introducer Character (default is left bracket: [).
The Appended Terminator Character (default is no terminator).
To provide for specific host computer protocols, the Reporting Format command can be used to
redefine the format of reports.
The reporting format interacts with the language used to program applications on the host. For
example in most computer systems, the INPUT statement in BASIC expects inputs to be
terminated with <CR>, 0D Hex. If the appended terminator character has not previously been
defined as <CR>, the program will not process TCS inputs except when the user presses the
RETURN key on the optional keyboard.
Some systems, such as the Fluke 1722A Instrument Controller, permit changing the character
used to indicate End Of Line (EOL) on the RS-232-E interface. For input to be done on a line
basis for each touch report, the TCS reporting format must specify an appended terminator
character that matches the EOL character on the host system.
Another problem can occur when the host system interprets one or both of the introducers as an
EOL character. For example, some VAX/VMS programs use <ESC> (l 8 hex) as a line
terminator. Since <ESC> is also the default first introducer of the TCS, line input is terminated
before any information is received. The information may be read in at the next line input, but the
information will not be synchronous with the event (such as a TCS touch report). The solution is
to redefine the introducer character. In the case of VAX/VMS, change the TCS terminator to any
ASCII character greater than IF Hex.
To be fail-safe, some applications must ensure that touch panel reports can never be duplicated
by keystrokes. By setting the introducers to characters that the keyboard cannot send (such as
extended characters), the host program can be certain that touch reports are not accidentally
simulated at the keyboard.