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Q108581: Setting Up VI POSIX Editor for Windows NT 3.1

Article: Q108581
Product(s): Microsoft Windows NT
Version(s): 3.1
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbtool
Last Modified: 15-DEC-2000

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The information in this article applies to:

- MSPRESS Microsoft Windows NT Resource Kit, version 3.1 
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To successfully execute the VI POSIX Editor that ships with the Windows NT
Resource Kit, you must correctly setup the system environment. The Windows
NT "Resource Kit Tools Help" helpfile does not give all the information
needed to configure VI for use with Windows NT 3.1. To correctly setup VI
for use within Windows NT 3.1, perform the following steps:

1. In the Control Panel window, choose the System icon.

2. In "User Environment Variables for <user>" box, enter the following
  environment variables:

  TERM = ansi
  TERMCAP = //<drive letter in ALL CAPS>/<dir>/<termcap
  filename>
  _POSIX_TERM = on
  tmp = //<drive letter in ALL CAPS>/<dir>
  path = <drive letter>:\<vi executable location>

- The TERM variable needs to have a value that matches an entry in the TERMCAP
  file; by default, this entry is named ansi. Make sure the word "ansi" is
  lowercase.

- The TERMCAP variable contains the full path of the TERMCAP file including the
  TERMCAP filename itself. You must use the POSIX style naming convention and
  the drive letter must be in uppercase. You can customize the entry in the
  TERMCAP file according to your usual command prompt window size; if you
  usually use a window that's not 80 columns-by- 25 lines, change the CO entry
  to match the number of columns, and change the LI entry to match the number
  of lines. For example, if you usually use a 100 column-by-60 line window, the
  CO entry would be "co#100" and the LI entry would be "li#60". There is an
  example of a TERMCAP file later in this document.

- The POSIX_TERM variable must be set to "on" to use the terminal emulation
  portion of the POSIX server.

- The TMP variable must be set to any valid directory, you must use the POSIX
  style naming convention, and the drive letter must be in uppercase. The drive
  letter itself must be located on an NTFS volume. If /tmp is not located on an
  NTFS volume, then you will only be able to launch vi from any local root
  directory.


- The PATH variable needs to include the directory where the vi executable
  resides, to be able to run it from anywhere. You should use the standard
  MS-DOS naming convention.

Example
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If the directory of the TERMCAP file and the location of "tmp" is on drive
D, AND VI.EXE is located in the D:\reskit\posix directory, then the
environment variable entries should be the following:

  TERM = ansi
  TERMCAP = //D/etc/termcap       (Drive letter must be in ALL
  CAPS)
  _POSIX_TERM = on
  tmp = //D/etc                   (Drive letter must be in ALL
  CAPS)
  path = d:\reskit\posix

You can verify that these environment variables are set correctly by typing
"set" from the command prompt. However, do not initialize these environment
variables using "set" because they will disappear when you exit the VDM.
Always use the System applet.

The TERMCAP file must have the following entries to work under Windows NT:

li|ansi|psx_ansi|:\ 

            :co#80:li#25:\ 
            :am:pt:ms:bw:\ 
            :cl=\E[2J:cm=\E[%i%d;%dH:ce=\E[K:cd=\E[J:\ 
            :sf=\E[S:sr=\E[T:\ 
             :ho=\E[H:sc=\E[s:rc=\E[u:up=\E[A:d=^J:nd=\E[C:le=^H:\ 
             :ku=\E[A:kd=\E[V:kr=\E[C:kl=\E[D:kb=^H:\ 
             :so=\E[7m:se=\E[m:mr=\E[7m:me=\E[0m:\ 

WARNING: Having the "tmp" variable set to a POSIX-style path causes
problems with other applications that look for "tmp" because they expect
the "tmp" variable to be set to a standard MS-DOS style naming convention,
and may fail when it is not.

Additional query words: prodnt

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Keywords          : kbtool 
Technology        : kbMSPressSearch kbZNotKeyword6 kbZNotKeyword2
Version           : 3.1

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