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Network Working Group C. Hedrick
Request for Comments: 1079 Rutgers University
December 1988
Telnet Terminal Speed Option
Status of This Memo
This RFC specifies a standard for the Internet community. Hosts on
the Internet that exchange terminal speed information within the
Telnet protocol are expected to adopt and implement this standard.
Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
This standard is modelled on RFC 930 [1], the telnet terminal type
option. Much of the text of this document is copied from that RFC.
Motivation
Most operating systems have provisions to keep track of the speed
(bit rate) of directly attached terminals and modems. This
information is used to control various timing-dependent display
processes, e.g., the number of padding characters used for delay.
Some software also has user interfaces that are tuned differently for
fast and slow terminals. The purpose of this option is to provide
similar information for telnet connections.
1. Command Name and Code
TERMINAL-SPEED
Code = 32
2. Command Meanings
IAC WILL TERMINAL-SPEED
Sender is willing to send terminal speed information in a
subsequent sub-negotiation.
IAC WON'T TERMINAL-SPEED
Sender refuses to send terminal speed information.
Hedrick [Page 1]
RFC 1079 Telnet Terminal Speed Option December 1988 IAC DO TERMINAL-SPEED Sender is willing to receive terminal speed information in a subsequent sub-negotiation. IAC DON'T TERMINAL-SPEED Sender refuses to accept terminal speed information. IAC SB TERMINAL-SPEED SEND IAC SE Sender requests receiver to transmit his (the receiver's) terminal speed. The code for SEND is 1. (See below.) IAC SB TERMINAL-SPEED IS ... IAC SE Sender is stating his terminal speed. The code for IS is 0. (See below.) 3. Default WON'T TERMINAL-SPEED Terminal speed information will not be exchanged. DON'T TERMINAL-SPEED Terminal speed information will not be exchanged. 4. Description of the Option WILL and DO are used only to obtain and grant permission for future discussion. The actual exchange of status information occurs within option subcommands (IAC SB TERMINAL-SPEED...). Once the two hosts have exchanged a WILL and a DO, the sender of the DO TERMINAL-SPEED is free to request speed information. Only the sender of the DO may send requests (IAC SB TERMINAL-SPEED SEND IAC SE) and only the sender of the WILL may transmit actual speed information (within an IAC SB TERMINAL-SPEED IS ... IAC SE command). Terminal speed information may not be sent spontaneously, but only in response to a request. The terminal speed information is an NVT ASCII string. This string contains the decimal representation of the transmit and receive speeds of the terminal, separated by a comma, e.g., 9600,100 Hedrick [Page 2]
RFC 1079 Telnet Terminal Speed Option December 1988 No leading zeros may be included. No extraneous characters such as spaces may be included. The following is an example of use of the option: Host1: IAC DO TERMINAL-SPEED Host2: IAC WILL TERMINAL-SPEED (Host1 is now free to request status information at any time.) Host1: IAC SB TERMINAL-SPEED SEND IAC SE Host2: IAC SB TERMINAL-SPEED IS "1200,1200" IAC SE (This command is 15 octets.) 5. Implementation Suggestions Many systems allow only certain discrete terminal speeds. In such cases it is possible that a speed may be received that does not match one of the allowed values. We suggest that you pick the nearest speed that is allowed, rounding in a "safe" direction. Safety will depend upon the use of the speed information. If it is being used for padding, it is best to round up, since too much padding is better than too little. Reference [1] Solomon, M., and Wimmers, E., "Telnet Terminal Type Option", RFC 930, January, 1985 [AAuthor's Address: Charles Hedrick Rutgers University Center for Computer and Information Services Hill Center, Busch Campus P.O. Box 879 Piscataway, NJ 08855-0879 Phone: (201) 932-3088 Email: HEDRICK@ARAMIS.RUTGERS.EDU Hedrick [Page 3]