README.FUNCKEY

Most function keys consist of multi-character sequences starting
with ESCape.  How long do you wait after seeing an ESC before you
decide the key is an "ESCape" and not the first character of a
function key sequence?  Not very long, huh?  But what if the
source may be an xterm, a serial line, a telnet/rlogin network
connection, or even a radio packet TNC.  The ESC could arrive a
long time before the next character in a sequence.  There is no
single answer.  I try to do what I can to guess, but you may want
to play with the 'eto' interactive command to diddle the timeout.
Don't make the timeout too short or ECU won't recognize the HOME
key and you'll have to go somewhere and kill ECU from another
terminal.

Function keys work fairly well so long as you
follow these suggestions (feel free to experiment with each to
see if they are appropriate for your keyboard):

1. After pressing ESCape, expect a delay before it is processed.
Wait for a second or so before pressing any other keys:

2. Don't press and hold ESC or extended keys (avoid auto-repeat).

3. After pressing a key you think should be accepted, if you hear
a bell or if nothing happens, wait a half a second or so and try
the key again.

Greater magicians than me have trouble in this area and many
high class programs don't get it right either. I've lost a
great deal of sleep over this one.  Maybe it is stable now.

Starting with 3.20, all keyboards must have a funckeymap entry
(see README.KEYBRD) matching the terminal type of the executing
screen.  Previous versions assumed terminal type "ansi"
indicated an SCO AT-attached keyboard as part of a multiscreen.
Other terminal types required a similar entry in a file named
nonansikeys.  Converting preexisting nonansikeys files to
funckeymaps files can be accomplished by merely renaming the file.
If you are an SCO user, you must also add one entry to the new file
if it is not already there (the old models/nonansikeys did in
fact contain the required entry).  See README.KEYBRD for further
detail.