RFC 1184 (rfc1184) - Page 1 of 23
Telnet Linemode Option
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
Network Working Group Telnet Working Group
Request for Comments: 1184 D. Borman, Editor
Obsoletes: RFC 1116 Cray Research, Inc.
October 1990
Telnet Linemode Option
Status of this Memo
This memo describes a Draft Standard for the Internet community, and
requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. This RFC
specifies an IAB standards track protocol for the Internet community.
Please refer to the current edition of the "IAB Official Protocol
Standards" for the standardization state and status of this protocol.
Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Changes from RFC 1116:
Two new mode bits have been added, SOFT_TAB and LIT_ECHO. These
bits allow the server to give the client some advise on how to
echo tabs and non-printable characters.
Several new special character mappings have been added for cursor
motion when visual editing is supported. These are: Move cursor
one character left/right (SLC_MCL/SLC_MCR), move cursor one word
left/right (SLC_MCWL/SLC_MCWR), move cursor to begining/end of
line (SLC_MCBOL/SLC_MCEOL), enter insert/overstrike mode
(SLC_INSRT/SLC_OVER), erase one character/word to the right
(SLC_ECR/SLC_EWR), and erase to the beginning/end of the line
(SLC_EBOL/SLC_EEOL).
Overview
Linemode Telnet is a way of doing terminal character processing on
the client side of a Telnet connection. While in Linemode with
editing enabled for the local side, network traffic is reduced to a
couple of packets per command line, rather than a couple of packets
per character typed. This is very useful for long delay networks,
because the user has local response time while typing the command
line, and only incurs the network delays after the command is typed.
It is also useful to reduce costs on networks that charge on a per
packet basis. Please send comments to the
mailing list.
Telnet Working Group