TRS-80 Videotex

The Videotex could run in an offline mode. It lets you enter pages of text and it was possible to later upload that data to an online service. To experience this, run trs80gp -mv or use File → Change Model → Videotex. Press almost any key (except escape) and you'll be entering text in the offline mode. Take time to be amazed that it word-wraps text as you type.

If you press escape (which is the emulated BREAK key) it will then prompt you with "PLACE CALL". On the real machine you'd pick up your phone, dial the information service. When in answered you'd put the phone down and press ENTER to let it know you're connected.

When you hung up the phone (or the server hung up) the terminal will print OFF LINE indicating this. There was also an LED, I gather. There must be some way to proceed from this point but either I don't know what it is or trs80gp doesn't quite emulate it yet. You can reset the emulator if necessary.

You can use another terminal to act as the online service. See the Serial section for general information on how to virtually hook up two trs80gp emulators. Here's a quick rundown of how to see it in action.

1. Start a Videotex with a DT-1 attached: trs80gp -mv -r :dt1 (or select "DT-1 Data Terminal" from the dropdown in the Serial port dialog box and click the "enable" checkbox).
2. Press escape on the Videotex to see the "PLACE CALL" prompt.
3. Wait a second or two.
4. Press Enter on the Videotex.
5. Typing in the Videotex should now cause characters to appear on the DT-1 side and vice-versa.
6. Not really a step, but you can use paste on either one as another way to enter text.
7. Close the DT-1 window and see the Videotex say "OFF LINE".