Patch for terminfo stuff for serial consoles

[Dr . Tilmann Bubeck]

Hello!

please find enclosed a patch to enable grub to work with any kind of
serial console, not just vt100. This is realized by a new builtin command
called "terminfo" which could be used to set the 6 different escape
sequences used by grub to their correct value. E.g. you would say for a
ibm3161 terminal:

terminfo --name=ibm3161 --cursor_left=\ED --cursor_right=\EC
--cursor_address=\EY%p1%{32}%+%c%p2%{32}%+%c --clear_screen=\EH\EJ
--enter_standout_mode=\E4A address@hidden<@

Then I changed a few lines of grub, so that the hard coded escape
sequences of vt100 are replaced by the given variables. The default of
grub is still vt100, so if the user will not use the new builtin command,
then grub will behave as before.

The user can get the above terminfo command line by using the infocmp(1)
command under linux or by using the shell skript
util/make-terminfo-command which is also included in this patch. This
shell skript will print out the correct command line for a given terminal
by asking ncurses for the right escape sequences. The above command line
is generated by "make-terminfo-command".

The most complicated thing of this terminal emulation was the
"cursor_address" command, because every terminal uses its own way to
specify the X/Y position of the cursor. Therefore I decided to include the
file "tparm.c" from ncurses-5.2 and modify it slightly, so that it can be
used within grub. The main thing was to change the memory allocation from
dynamic to static. Ncurses-5.2 is (C) by FSF and inclusion should be no
problem. The license is more "weak" than GPL, its basically BSD-like.

I also attached a second file "read_terminfo.c" which is a small
standalone program to show how a binary terminfo database file could be
read. It follows the description of term(5) about the terminfo file
format, which is mainly portable between most unixes. If you like the
idea, then I could send you a seconds patch of grub, which would take the
escape sequences from a terminfo file. Then the user must not deal with
complicated escape sequences but will simply copy the needed terminfo file
to /boot/grub/... and let grub read it. This should be no problem and
would be easier for the user. However, as many on the list has suggested I
started with a "simple" patch to define the needed escape sequences
instead of reading the terminfo file. This "read_terminfo" is just an
idea. What do you think?

So please tell me what you think about this patch and if you are willing
to apply it or if you would like me to change something... I'm at your
command! :-)

Till

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grub-terminal-emulation.patch
Description: Binary data

read_terminfo.c
Description: Binary data