I have a terminal thats of vt220 type.. Currently I have it set to spawn a C program as a shell.. If the user hits the f4 key it will rlogin to another computer that will start a different application for it. All this currently is working, but what happens is with the same $TERM on all machines ( checked to make sure it wasn't getting changed anywhere ) I lose my function keys.. When ever I hit one after I have made it though the 'rlogin' to the other computer (with the application running ) I get a rlogin disconnected message and redirected back to my original shell ( the C app i wrote ) on the original box. Anyone have any insight in to this. I have been pulling hair out by the hand fulls trying to debug this whole process. Any needed info ill post on request beings that I don't know what config etc.. etc.. would be useful.

Your jargonology seems confusing:
You mean a big bulky piece of hardware with a screen and keyboard,... or a bit of software that makes a window on some host behave like one of the the above? If the latter, please identify it.

Now, a terminal in and of itself is too stupid to do that. What is it that is really spawning a a process?

Whoa... all what machines? So far you've only told us about a terminal and 'another computer'. What are the other machines? And 'rlogin'? Seriously?

So, your shell is used to invoke a rlogin, and pressing a function keys causes a logout? Function keys are programmable on VT200's. Is there something programmed into it that would cause that? What shell or application runs when you do the rlogin? Even an application can program the function keys. Could the application be doing that in your case?

Are you sure it has anything to do with the terminal? How else have you tried doing a rlogin to the same host?

--- rod.

I just worked around the issue and solved it, but just to clarify what was going on here:

Its a time clock the proccess runs on Linuxbox1 spawned to /dev/ttyUSB0 ( we are using some serial over eathernet over usb devices lol yes seriously its called a rocket port and a net232 connector ) When a user punches in at the terminal there is some sub options that are avalable to them and some of them start a new proccess on another machine. so here is a map of what it all kind of looked like ( this is not of my design I was just told to fix it )

Terminal--- net 232 connecter ---- cat 5 ----- other net232 connecter ---- rocketport to - Linux box 1

now the user logs in and select one of those options we can add this to our layer of junk ( so all the above)
-- rlogin to linux box2 --- so yes the terminal is going though a lot of changes but yes it works now. as far as a terminal its a real dumb terminal ( adds 6k series ) not some make shift deal... I use agetty to spawn a proccess to the port its pluged in blah blah blah... you get the picture.

Like I said not how I would of done things, but it was in place before I started here and it got dropped in to my lap as such things always do

forgot to add the cherry on top... lol they use telnet for local logins............ Yeah...