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Ask HN: Interesting TUIs (text user interfaces), maybe forgotten ones?

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Re: Ask HN: Interesting TUIs (text user interfaces), maybe forgotten ones?

#141
post #10
post #6

In stark contrast to most GNU/*nix tools, I really liked MS-DOS's edit.com text editor. Unlike emacs or vim or even nano, it didn't have a bunch of invisible shortcut keys, just a Windows-like drop-down menu system (but rendered in DOS). You could easily browse through the menu hierarchy, but still memorize certain shortcuts that you often use (just like Windows). In later versions you could even use the mouse to sel…

Not only that, I found it much easier to create TUIs on DOS than on a UN*X system. I still have a hard time with curses. Zortech c on DOS had a small set of screen functions, disp_*(). These are enhanced printf(), scanf(), getc() type functions by adding cursor positioning on an 80x25 screen. Pretty basic but you could create nice applications with these basic functions in Zortech c. Granted, on DOS the screen size d…

If you loaded ANSI.SYS in your config.sys, then the procedure is exactly the same.

I think this will demonstrate color with ANSI.SYS and/or VT-color:

  $ cat rgbdemo.sh
  #!/bin/sh

  alias p=printf

   N=$(p \\033) N="$N[" x=30

   for a in Bl R G Y B M C W  # Black Red Green Yellow Blue Magenta Cyan White
   do eval $a='$N'"'"$((     x))"m'" \
          b$a='$N'"'"$((60 + x))"m'" \
       ${a}bg='$N'"'"$((10 + x))"m'" \
      b${a}bg='$N'"'"$((70 + x))"m'" # bX=bright Xbg=background bXbg=brgt bgnd
      x=$(( x + 1 ))
   done                       # https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code

   N=$N'0m'

  echo "I am $Wbg$R red, $G green, $B and blue $N on a white background."

Re: Ask HN: Interesting TUIs (text user interfaces), maybe forgotten ones?

#142
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In stark contrast to most GNU/*nix tools That's ridiculous! The only invisible things in Emacs deserve to be so. For everything else, there is a menu bar which is also visible in terminal `emacs -nw` mode. Just add `(xterm-mouse-mode t)` to ~/.emacs to make sure the mouse works properly. Very pointy, very clicky, and nice pretty menus that tell you the shortcut of each function.

To enable the helpful mouse interface, run with this mode and add this to your hidden config file. What's a mode? How do I edit the config file until I fix my editor? This is such a unix answer.

To be fair if you're trying to start Emacs in a terminal instead of letting Emacs control its output on its own you've already gone off the beaten path.

The thing you want (the helpful mouse interface) is the Emacs default. The funny command-line flag is what makes it weird. Just don't use that flag.

Re: Ask HN: Interesting TUIs (text user interfaces), maybe forgotten ones?

#144
I'm surprised I'd had to scroll so far down to find orthodox file managers mentioned (Norton commander, midnight commander, etc.)

Bezroukov has written about the type of TUI he calls "orthodox interfaces" and he does it more justice than I can: https://softpanorama.org/Articles/introduction_to_orthodox_f...

Re: Ask HN: Interesting TUIs (text user interfaces), maybe forgotten ones?

#145
post #6

In stark contrast to most GNU/*nix tools, I really liked MS-DOS's edit.com text editor. Unlike emacs or vim or even nano, it didn't have a bunch of invisible shortcut keys, just a Windows-like drop-down menu system (but rendered in DOS). You could easily browse through the menu hierarchy, but still memorize certain shortcuts that you often use (just like Windows). In later versions you could even use the mouse to sel…

I really wish edit.com still existed for Windows and was built in. Every now and then I need to do some stuff on a Windows machine and find myself wishing for a simple terminal editor.

Re: Ask HN: Interesting TUIs (text user interfaces), maybe forgotten ones?

#146
post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen those at Costco stores also. Whereas in indie coffee shops they use a Square tablet and in Apple stores the store people just use iPhones with special cases. Best Buy or Walgreens uses POS tablets with a relatively ugly GUI. Legacy apps never die. Charles Schwab might use mainframes while Robinhood won't but Schwab won't move off because it's too hard for an established firm. Same with Costco TUIs.

> Legacy apps never die I think it's a mistake to frame this as legacy vs. new. There are real benefits to the approach taken by these TUI applications and it would behoove modern app designers to learn from them. It's perhaps the case that those coffee shops will someday adopt a TUI once they reach a level of sophistication. As an example: I believe Starbucks uses a TUI for order processing.

I remember around 2010 seeing ads about how KLM/AF did a huge upgrade of their passenger handling system - and how they explicitly went with TN3270 talking to z/TPF application as the new main interface for agents to use.

At least at the time, it sounded like they made a completely new application... and explicitly went with this stack.

Now, before you point to Amadeus still being command oriented just like that, modern Amadeus is accessed over GUI client - even if you're going to use all console commands.

Meanwhile when I had to reschedule a flight due to a volcano exploding and grounding all planes, I got to see what the KLM/AF local agent did. Fullscreen red-on-black TN3270 session. Took only a moment to handle my case and throw in a few extras.

Re: Ask HN: Interesting TUIs (text user interfaces), maybe forgotten ones?

#148
I'm getting kind of old by tech standards (33), but when I was 16 (2007) I worked at a McDonalds franchise as a cashier, and their screens were TUI-based.

I actually really hated it, because there was a six character limit meaning that most stuff had to be abbreviated. A double cheeseburger was "DBLCHZ", McNuggets were "MCNUGS", Fillets of Fish were "FIOFIS". I got used to it eventually, but learning was a huge pain because you're at the whim of figuring the abbreviation of whomever programmed the machine.

Still, it's better than a lot of other fast food kiosks that I heard people use, where they didn't even have words, just pictures, which I think I'd hate even more.

Re: Ask HN: Interesting TUIs (text user interfaces), maybe forgotten ones?

#149
post #125

I don’t know if you can find it running anywhere, but the fox pro database (before the Microsoft acquisition and turning “Visual”) was really easy to use. You could build a relational database and lookup and entry forms for an app all in a tui.

Indeed! FoxPro was a joy to develop with. You could create something useful in very little time, it looked nice, and it ran very fast. Too bad it's completely gone.
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