Radio Shack TRS-80 Model II Reference Manual page 130

MODEL II TRSDOS
Modes of Operation
Menu Mode
This is an off-line mode, i.e., you cannot transmit characters to the host
program, and if characters are sent to you, they will be lost. This is the only
mode in which you can select menu options described later on. From it, you can
also enter the transmit from
RAM
or interactive terminal mode.
Interactive Terminal Mode
You can enter this mode from the menu with the T command; you also enter
this mode automatically after completion of an auto sign-on or a transmission
from the
RAM
buffer.
In the interactive terminal mode, characters you type are sent to the host
program, and incoming characters are displayed as they are received. If the
host program echoes your transmissions, they too will appear on the display;
if not, you can select the echo option and
TERMINAL
will display your
keyboard input.
Incoming characters can be saved in the
RAM
buffer (R option) and can be
output to the printer (P option).
If transmission errors occur,
TERMINAL
will display a descriptive error
message and wait for the error condition to be corrected. When it is, normal
I/O will resume in the interactive terminal mode.
To return to the menu mode, press (BREAK)
Transmit from RAM (and Auto Sign-On)
You enter this mode via the X command. The contents of the
RAM
buffer are
sent to the host program, and control passes to the interactive mode. Auto
sign-on (0 command) works just like transmit from
RAM;
the following
comments apply to both operations.
The
RAM
buffer contains prepared text which you have typically loaded from
a disk file with the G option. (If you are using auto sign-on, your auto sign on
message is sent.) You can send the data one line at a time when the host
program prompts you that it is ready (W option), or send it in a continuous
stream.
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