[Info-vax] Reverse telnet to a terminal emulator?

[Jeremy Begg]

Hi,

Snowshoe wrote:
> Is there any such thing as VTxxx-compatible terminal server software 
> that runs on a PC that, instead of actively connecting to a host via 
> telnet, is "passive", it waits until something connects to it?  Once a 
> host connects to it, it acts like a regular VTxxx terminal.  My idea is 
> for VMS to reverse-telnet to it. (TELNET> CREATE_SESSION 10.9.8.7 23 100 
> creates TNA100: on host at IP address 10.9.8.7 port 23) This is to 
> replace a hardwired terminal that doesn't log in, but an application 
> currently allocates it and uses it for part of its operator interface.

I've not heard of one.

> If the answer is "no", an alternative is for someone to use ordinary 
> terminal server SW to telnet into the VMS host and run a do-nothing 
> program that goes into a permanent LEF state, and VMS finds its TNAx 
> device and writes to it, but this is one step I'd rather not have the 
> operators do.

An alternative to that approach, or to writing some sort of "pipe" program, 
might be to have your application use a DECterm.  For example, run this 
before starting the application:

	$ SET DISPLAY/CREATE/NODE=pc-node/TRANSPORT=TCPIP
	$ CREATE/TERMINAL/NOPROCESS/DEFINE="DECTERM"

This will create a blank DECterm (not logged in) on the PC, with the logical 
name "DECTERM" defined to point to the corresponding FTAnnn: device.  Your 
application then just needs to do its I/O to the DECTERM device.

Of course, it requires that the PC (or Mac) is running an X11 server.

Regards,

	Jeremy Begg