Hi,

here is a patch which improves the handling of escape sequences
for text consoles. This fix is needed for programs like top, vi,
clear and reset running in QEMU's serial console, but also for
readline line editing (eg. in bash).

While many users of Windows or Linux on i386 never use the serial
console (and so don't need this patch), it is vital for embedded
devices (QEMU AR7 emulation) or the new MIPS Malta emulation.

So please apply it to CVS HEAD.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code for more information
on the new and enhanced ANSI escape sequences.

Still missing: report cursor position (how can I add characters
to the console input queue?).

Open question: bash sets LINES=24, but the console has 25 lines.

Kind regards
Stefan Weil


Appendix: console-patch.tar.bz2 with patch and test script (Linux,
cygwin with bash)