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C
HAPTER
3.
U
SING
T
HE
QDATA F
ILE
3.1
QDATA Files
A QDATA file is used to configure your terminal. There
are four reasons you may want to use a QDATA file:
•
You want to change what keys send when they are
pressed, or design your own display characters (this
must be done with the QDATA file).
•
You want to change some of the other defaults (such
as beep length, tab settings, etc.).
•
You want to define event-driven strings or macro
strings.
•
You want to protect your development investment by
modifying the terminal from its factory-default opera-
tion.
If the fourth reason is important to you, be sure to consider
modifying the <qdata retrieve mode> identifier to ensure
that your investment remains protected.
With your terminal you will have received a disk (PC-com-
patible) with a variety of files. Two of these files are
QDATA File
An ASCII (text) file that specifies val-
ues for all of the configurable parame-
ters of the QTERM.
QSETUP.EXE
A program which loads the QDATA
file into the QTERM.
There are actually several versions of the QDATA file on
the disk:
QDATA24.Vxy
For 24-key terminals.
QDATA40.Vxy
For 40-key terminals.
QDATA24W.Vxy
For 24-key terminals with wide-tem-
perature displays.
QDATA40W.Vxy
For 40-key terminals with wide-tem-
perature displays.
The file extension “Vxy” will actually be the QDATA soft-
ware version, represented by “Version x.y”. For example
“QDATA24.V21” would be the QDATA file for a 24 key
QTERM with version 2.1 QCODE.
You will only need to use the QDATA file that matches the
hardware on your terminal. The QDATA file for your
QTERM is already set up with default values for all param-
eters. You will modify only the parameters which you want
to change from their default. NOTE: The QTERM-P40 is
not available with a wide-temp display.
Your QTERM is delivered with the default QDATA file
already installed. You only need to modify the appropriate
QDATA file and load it into the terminal if you want to
change any of the default values. If not, you can skip this
entire chapter.
Note that all QTERM parameters can be modified using
software commands (see Chapter 2) except for key strings
and custom display characters! The only way to modify
what a key sends when it is pressed, or to redefine the cus-
tom display characters, is by modifying the QDATA file
and loading it into the QTERM using the QSETUP pro-
gram.
3.2
Using QSETUP
Your distribution disk includes the QSETUP.EXE pro-
gram, which is used to load the QDATA file into your
QTERM. This program actually performs three tasks:
•
load a QDATA file into the QTERM
•
retrieve a QDATA file from the QTERM
•
load the operation code file (QCODE file) into the
QTERM
To use QSETUP, you must use power-on setup to set the
QTERM's baud rate and data format to 9600/8n1. These are
the only settings that will work with QSETUP.
You must also connect your terminal to your PC's COM
port and supply power to it. If you do not have an EIA-232
