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Uniscope Protocol Support

Uniscope is a proprietary polled protocol developed by Unisys (Sperry) that uses sync transmission method and multipoint addressing. Each Uniscope terminal has a unique, two-level address: a RID (Remote Identifier) and a SID (Station Identifier).

The terminal only answers polls with the correct address. If several terminals are attached to a Terminal Multiplexer, the terminal will answer polls with the General or specific RID and a General SID. The MUX then determines which terminal can send to the network.

If the terminal is configured for Screen Bypass (dual screen), the terminal will define a separate screen buffer for two or more consecutive SID Addresses. Each screen buffer can be accessed by the host or through the keyboard. The second screen is often used for background printing.


Uniscope Terminals

The following Uniscope terminals are connected through RS-232C cables and support different screen formatting commands:

    SO/SI FCC Expanded FCC
    U100
    U200    		 UTS 400
    UTS 20
    SVT 1120    		 UTS 30
    UTS 40
    UTS 60 (Mapper Color/Graphics)
    PC with emulation card

The terminal formatting commands are upwardly compatible. A terminal that supports Expanded FCCs will also support SO/SI and FCCs. All UTS terminals introduced since the UTS 400 support Screen Bypass.

The UTS 4020 and UTS 4040 are cluster controllers that attach UTS 20W and UTS 40W terminals through coax cables. They act as a T-MUX and provide local intelligence (through COBOL programming) and disk storage.

The IBM Personal Computer (and compatibles) can be attached through a Uniscope emulation card, allowing the PC to act as a UTS terminal.

The UTS 60 supports Expanded FCCs and Color/Graphics. The formatting commands for color and graphics are supplied by special versions of the MAPPER application program.


Screen Formatting

Uniscope data streams consist of control codes and data formatting codes. The control codes are used for the transmission of the text through the Uniscope protocol network. The data formatting codes differ from one terminal to another. There are three types of data formatting codes: SO/SI, FCC, and Expanded FCC.
SO/SI
(Shift Out/Shift In)		 These formatting codes were introduced with the Uniscope 100 (U100) terminal. The U100 terminal's screen is defined as Protected (keyboard entry not allowed). When the application program wants to allow keyboard entry, an SI code is placed in the screen buffer. When an SI code is entered by the user or application, the data entry field shifts to Unprotected. The user can then enter data into the field from the keyboard. The host application can place data anywhere on the screen.

Other U100 formatting is provided by TAB STOPS and FS and GS Markers. FS and GS Markers are blinking markers that are used to indicate error conditions. The formatting codes, except SO and SI codes, require a screen position.
FCCs
(Field Control Characters)		 These formatting codes provide more functions than SO/SI codes. FCCs were introduced with the Universal Terminal System 400 (UTS 400 terminal). The FCCs define the following:
  Screen Formatting Protected entry
Unprotected entry
Unrestricted entry
Numeric Only
Alphabetic Only
Right Justified
  Video Presentation High Intensity
Blink
Off (non display)
Reverse Video or
Low Intensity
  TAB Stops: Allows faster cursor movement.
  Changed Fields: (see Transmission Methods)
Expanded FCCs These formatting codes are an enhancement to normal FCCs and were introduced with the UTS 40 terminal. In addition to all of the definitions supported by the FCCs, Expanded FCCs define the following:
  Video Presentation: Different combinations of video. For example: blinking from High Intensity to Reverse Video.
  Special emphasis characters Protected entry
Underscore
Strike through
Column Separators
  Downloaded character set: (for graphics)

Control Page

The Control Page is used by the UTS terminal to define the network addresses and control the physical characteristics of the terminal. Either the operator or a host application can access the Control Page. Entries in the Control Page determine how the terminal performs Transmit (XMIT), Transfer (XFER), and Print operations.


Transmission Methods

The Uniscope terminal supports several different types of transmission options. The transmission options are:
All All data is sent.
VAR All unprotected data is sent.
CHAN Only the fields with changed data are sent. The FCC has a bit used to indicate if the operator has entered data into a field. If it has, a flag is set. The host can also set the changed field bit.

When the XMIT (Transmit) key is pressed, the terminal scans backwards from the cursor location until it finds an SOE (Start of Entry character) or the Home position. The data between the SOE (or Home) and the cursor is eligible for transmission to the host. The terminal then looks at the Control Page to determine which part of the data and FCCs should be sent to the host.


Indicator Line

The UTS terminal uses an Indicator Line to inform the operator of the terminal's status and network activity. The indicator line and the Control Page provide extensive information for the operator.


Print Options

The UTS terminal supports two types of printing. With either method, the eligible data is selected in the same manner as the XMIT function.

The Print function is used to print the text only. The Print options are:

    PRNT All data is printed except for trailing spaces on a line with a CR inserted at the end of each line.
    FORM Only unprotected data is printed with spaces substituted for the protected data and a CR is inserted at the end of each line.
    XPAR All data and control codes are printed, including trailing spaces.

The Transfer function is used to print the text and FCCs. The Transfer options are:

  • ALL - All data, including FCCs, is printed.
  • VAR - All unprotected data, including FCCs, is printed.
  • CHAN - Only the fields with changed data and associated FCCs are printed.

Error Reporting

The UTS terminal uses an error log to keep track of errors. The error log can be sent to the host to report problems to the application program. The terminal can also perform a Power-on Confidence test at power on to check its functions.

To view the available options that can be specified for this protocol, please view one of the worksheets. If you need further information on Uniscope protocol or our implementation and support for this protocol, please e-mail us.