Using the Scrollback Buffer

To obtain display screen information from a client A computer or application that uses services provided by a server. application, VShell uses a technique called scraping. Scraping means that VShell regularly captures images of the screen and then uses those images to update what is being displayed on the client's screen. This can mean, however, that data that appears and disappears from the screen between image captures may be lost. To alleviate this problem, the VShell implementation of the Windows command shell also supports a scrollback buffer allowing you to review recent command line entries. You enable this feature by setting your client to send a terminal type tty message when it connects.

Note: When using the scrollback buffer mode, depending on your command shell, it may not be possible to use cursor-based applications like Edit, VI or VIM. Also, you may not be able to use the back arrow to get to the first line of a multi-line command (e.g., if the command is very long and wraps to the next line, you may not be able to cursor back up to the first line).

You may need to experiment with command-line switches to optimize the function of your particular command shell.

To configure VanDyke Software's SecureCRT® to use the VShell scrollback buffer, follow these instructions:

1.   Open the SecureCRT Session Options dialog and select the Emulation / Advanced category.

2.   Check the Terminal type check box, enter tty in the corresponding entry box and click the OK button to save your changes..

Always Use Scrollback

If you want your clients to always use the scrollback buffer, you will need to force them to use TTY mode. You can configure VShell to do this by setting the following registry entry to 1. .

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VanDyke\VShell\Server\Force TTY Mode