IBM RT Notes

vi has two different modes. One is Command Mode, the other is Text Entry Mode:

1. Logging In
   If you are on a tty terminal or on an RT console, you will see a shell prompt. To bring up X-Windows from an RT console, issue the xinit command.
   
2. Listing a Directory's Contents
   On an IBM RT, you must use the ls -C command for column output.
   
3. Naming Files
   Filenames on IBM RT systems running AIX are only significant to the first 14 characters. Be extremely careful of filenames approaching 14 characters on AIX systems as it is possible to overwrite an existing file with a new one if the first 14 characters of both file names are the same.
   
4. Transferring Files From UNIX to IBM PC
   A way to transfer files to a floppy is to logon to your account on one of the RT's, place a formatted disk (either 360k or 1.2M) into the disk drive, and enter the following command:
   

   doswrite -a <sourcefilename> <destfilename>
   
   The file that you selected will be copied onto the floppy disk. The -a argument is used to convert the newline characters into the <CR><linefeed> combinations that the IBM-PC expects. If you wish to upload files from a floppy into your home directory, use the dosread command in the same manner. The -a argument then serves to convert <CR><linefeed> sequences back to newline characters. If the file is a binary file, then don't use the -a switch.
   

5. Logging out
   The 'logout' option on the right-hand mouse button in X-Windows causes a lot of trouble if you are on an RT. The proper way of logging out on an RT is to press CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE to kill the X-Windows process, then entering 'logout' on the command line.