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Revision 1.10 by root, Sun Feb 13 11:07:57 2005 UTC vs.
Revision 1.26 by root, Thu Jan 12 23:11:23 2006 UTC

1FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 1FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
2 The new selection selects pieces that are too big/too small, can I
3 change this?
4 Yes. For example, if you want to select smaller pieces ("words") you
5 can use the following resource:
6
7 URxvt.selection.pattern-0: ([[:word:]]+)
8
9 If you click more than twice, the selection will be extended more
10 and more.
11
12 To get a selection that is very similar to the old code, try this
13 pattern:
14
15 URxvt.selection.pattern-0: ([^"&'()*,;<=>?@[\\\\]^`{|})]+)
16
17 I don't like the new selection/popups/hotkeys/perl, how do I
18 change/disable it?
19 You can disable the perl extension completely by setting the
20 perl-ext-common resource to the empty string, which also keeps
21 rxvt-unicode from initialising perl, saving memory.
22
23 If you only want to disable specific features, you first have to
24 identify which perl extension is responsible. For this, read the
25 section PREPACKAGED EXTENSIONS in the rxvtperl(3) manpage. For
26 example, to disable the selection-popup and option-popup, specify
27 this perl-ext-common resource:
28
29 URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,-selection-popup,-option-popup
30
31 This will keep the default extensions, but disable the two popup
32 extensions. Some extensions can also be configured, for example,
33 scrollback search mode is triggered by M-s. You can move it to any
34 other combination either by setting the searchable-scrollback
35 resource:
36
37 URxvt.searchable-scrollback: CM-s
38
39 Isn't rxvt supposed to be small? Don't all those features bloat?
40 I often get asked about this, and I think, no, they didn't cause
41 extra bloat. If you compare a minimal rxvt and a minimal urxvt, you
42 can see that the urxvt binary is larger (due to some encoding tables
43 always being compiled in), but it actually uses less memory (RSS)
44 after startup. Even with "--disable-everything", this comparison is
45 a bit unfair, as many features unique to urxvt (locale, encoding
46 conversion, iso14755 etc.) are already in use in this mode.
47
48 text data bss drs rss filename
49 98398 1664 24 15695 1824 rxvt --disable-everything
50 188985 9048 66616 18222 1788 urxvt --disable-everything
51
52 When you "--enable-everything" (which _is_ unfair, as this involves
53 xft and full locale/XIM support which are quite bloaty inside libX11
54 and my libc), the two diverge, but not unreasnobaly so.
55
56 text data bss drs rss filename
57 163431 2152 24 20123 2060 rxvt --enable-everything
58 1035683 49680 66648 29096 3680 urxvt --enable-everything
59
60 The very large size of the text section is explained by the
61 east-asian encoding tables, which, if unused, take up disk space but
62 nothing else and can be compiled out unless you rely on X11 core
63 fonts that use those encodings. The BSS size comes from the 64k
64 emergency buffer that my c++ compiler allocates (but of course
65 doesn't use unless you are out of memory). Also, using an xft font
66 instead of a core font immediately adds a few megabytes of RSS. Xft
67 indeed is responsible for a lot of RSS even when not used.
68
69 Of course, due to every character using two or four bytes instead of
70 one, a large scrollback buffer will ultimately make rxvt-unicode use
71 more memory.
72
73 Compared to e.g. Eterm (5112k), aterm (3132k) and xterm (4680k),
74 this still fares rather well. And compared to some monsters like
75 gnome-terminal (21152k + extra 4204k in separate processes) or
76 konsole (22200k + extra 43180k in daemons that stay around after
77 exit, plus half a minute of startup time, including the hundreds of
78 warnings it spits out), it fares extremely well *g*.
79
80 Why C++, isn't that unportable/bloated/uncool?
81 Is this a question? :) It comes up very often. The simple answer is:
82 I had to write it, and C++ allowed me to write and maintain it in a
83 fraction of the time and effort (which is a scarce resource for me).
84 Put even shorter: It simply wouldn't exist without C++.
85
86 My personal stance on this is that C++ is less portable than C, but
87 in the case of rxvt-unicode this hardly matters, as its portability
88 limits are defined by things like X11, pseudo terminals, locale
89 support and unix domain sockets, which are all less portable than
90 C++ itself.
91
92 Regarding the bloat, see the above question: It's easy to write
93 programs in C that use gobs of memory, an certainly possible to
94 write programs in C++ that don't. C++ also often comes with large
95 libraries, but this is not necessarily the case with GCC. Here is
96 what rxvt links against on my system with a minimal config:
97
98 libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x00002aaaaabc3000)
99 libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00002aaaaadde000)
100 libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00002aaaab01d000)
101 /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00002aaaaaaab000)
102
103 And here is rxvt-unicode:
104
105 libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x00002aaaaabc3000)
106 libgcc_s.so.1 => /lib/libgcc_s.so.1 (0x00002aaaaada2000)
107 libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00002aaaaaeb0000)
108 libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00002aaaab0ee000)
109 /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00002aaaaaaab000)
110
111 No large bloated libraries (of course, none were linked in
112 statically), except maybe libX11 :)
113
114 Does it support tabs, can I have a tabbed rxvt-unicode?
115 rxvt-unicode does not directly support tabs. It will work fine with
116 tabbing functionality of many window managers or similar tabbing
117 programs, and its embedding-features allow it to be embedded into
118 other programs, as witnessed by doc/rxvt-tabbed or the upcoming
119 "Gtk2::URxvt" perl module, which features a tabbed urxvt (murxvt)
120 terminal as an example embedding application.
121
2 How do I know which rxvt-unicode version I'm using? 122 How do I know which rxvt-unicode version I'm using?
3 The version number is displayed with the usage (-h). Also the escape 123 The version number is displayed with the usage (-h). Also the escape
4 sequence "ESC [ 8 n" sets the window title to the version number. 124 sequence "ESC [ 8 n" sets the window title to the version number.
125 When using the rxvtc client, the version displayed is that of the
126 daemon.
5 127
6 I am using Debian GNU/Linux and have a problem... 128 I am using Debian GNU/Linux and have a problem...
7 The Debian GNU/Linux package of rxvt-unicode contains large patches 129 The Debian GNU/Linux package of rxvt-unicode in sarge contains large
8 that considerably change the behaviour of rxvt-unicode. Before 130 patches that considerably change the behaviour of rxvt-unicode.
9 reporting a bug to the original rxvt-unicode author please download 131 Before reporting a bug to the original rxvt-unicode author please
10 and install the genuine version 132 download and install the genuine version
11 (<http://software.schmorp.de#rxvt-unicode>) and try to reproduce the 133 (<http://software.schmorp.de#rxvt-unicode>) and try to reproduce the
12 problem. If you cannot, chances are that the problems are specific 134 problem. If you cannot, chances are that the problems are specific
13 to Debian GNU/Linux, in which case it should be reported via the 135 to Debian GNU/Linux, in which case it should be reported via the
14 Debian Bug Tracking System (use "reportbug" to report the bug). 136 Debian Bug Tracking System (use "reportbug" to report the bug).
15 137
16 For other problems that also affect the Debian package, you can and 138 For other problems that also affect the Debian package, you can and
17 probably should use the Debian BTS, too, because, after all, it's 139 probably should use the Debian BTS, too, because, after all, it's
18 also a bug in the Debian version and it serves as a reminder for 140 also a bug in the Debian version and it serves as a reminder for
19 other users that might encounter the same issue. 141 other users that might encounter the same issue.
142
143 I am maintaining rxvt-unicode for distribution/OS XXX, any
144 recommendation?
145 You should build one binary with the default options. configure now
146 enables most useful options, and the trend goes to making them
147 runtime-switchable, too, so there is usually no drawback to enbaling
148 them, except higher disk and possibly memory usage. The perl
149 interpreter should be enabled, as important functionality (menus,
150 selection, likely more in the future) depends on it.
151
152 You should not overwrite the "perl-ext-common" snd "perl-ext"
153 resources system-wide (except maybe with "defaults"). This will
154 result in useful behaviour. If your distribution aims at low memory,
155 add an empty "perl-ext-common" resource to the app-defaults file.
156 This will keep the perl interpreter disabled until the user enables
157 it.
158
159 If you can/want build more binaries, I recommend building a minimal
160 one with "--disable-everything" (very useful) and a maximal one with
161 "--enable-everything" (less useful, it will be very big due to a lot
162 of encodings built-in that increase download times and are rarely
163 used).
164
165 I need to make it setuid/setgid to support utmp/ptys on my OS, is this
166 safe?
167 Likely not. While I honestly try to make it secure, and am probably
168 not bad at it, I think it is simply unreasonable to expect all of
169 freetype + fontconfig + xft + xlib + perl + ... + rxvt-unicode
170 itself to all be secure. Also, rxvt-unicode disables some options
171 when it detects that it runs setuid or setgid, which is not nice.
172 Besides, with the embedded perl interpreter the possibility for
173 security problems easily multiplies.
174
175 Elevated privileges are only required for utmp and pty operations on
176 some systems (for example, GNU/Linux doesn't need any extra
177 privileges for ptys, but some need it for utmp support). It is
178 planned to mvoe this into a forked handler process, but this is not
179 yet done.
180
181 So, while setuid/setgid operation is supported and not a problem on
182 your typical single-user-no-other-logins unix desktop, always
183 remember that its an awful lot of code, most of which isn't checked
184 for security issues regularly.
20 185
21 When I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data? 186 When I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data?
22 The terminal description used by rxvt-unicode is not as widely 187 The terminal description used by rxvt-unicode is not as widely
23 available as that for xterm, or even rxvt (for which the same 188 available as that for xterm, or even rxvt (for which the same
24 problem often arises). 189 problem often arises).
45 URxvt.termName: rxvt 210 URxvt.termName: rxvt
46 211
47 If you don't plan to use rxvt (quite common...) you could also 212 If you don't plan to use rxvt (quite common...) you could also
48 replace the rxvt terminfo file with the rxvt-unicode one. 213 replace the rxvt terminfo file with the rxvt-unicode one.
49 214
215 "tic" outputs some error when compiling the terminfo entry.
216 Most likely it's the empty definition for "enacs=". Just replace it
217 by "enacs=\E[0@" and try again.
218
50 "bash"'s readline does not work correctly under rxvt. 219 "bash"'s readline does not work correctly under rxvt.
51 I need a termcap file entry. 220 I need a termcap file entry.
52 One reason you might want this is that some distributions or 221 One reason you might want this is that some distributions or
53 operating systems still compile some programs using the 222 operating systems still compile some programs using the
54 long-obsoleted termcap (Fedora Core's bash is one example) and rely 223 long-obsoleted termcap library (Fedora Core's bash is one example)
55 on a termcap entry for "rxvt-unicode". 224 and rely on a termcap entry for "rxvt-unicode".
56 225
57 You could use rxvt's termcap entry with resonable results in many 226 You could use rxvt's termcap entry with resonable results in many
58 cases. You can also create a termcap entry by using terminfo's 227 cases. You can also create a termcap entry by using terminfo's
59 infocmp program like this: 228 infocmp program like this:
60 229
62 231
63 Or you could use this termcap entry, generated by the command above: 232 Or you could use this termcap entry, generated by the command above:
64 233
65 rxvt-unicode|rxvt-unicode terminal (X Window System):\ 234 rxvt-unicode|rxvt-unicode terminal (X Window System):\
66 :am:bw:eo:km:mi:ms:xn:xo:\ 235 :am:bw:eo:km:mi:ms:xn:xo:\
67 :co#80:it#8:li#24:\ 236 :co#80:it#8:li#24:lm#0:\
68 :AL=\E[%dL:DC=\E[%dP:DL=\E[%dM:DO=\E[%dB:IC=\E[%d@:\ 237 :AL=\E[%dL:DC=\E[%dP:DL=\E[%dM:DO=\E[%dB:IC=\E[%d@:\
69 :K1=\EOw:K2=\EOu:K3=\EOy:K4=\EOq:K5=\EOs:LE=\E[%dD:\ 238 :K1=\EOw:K2=\EOu:K3=\EOy:K4=\EOq:K5=\EOs:LE=\E[%dD:\
70 :RI=\E[%dC:SF=\E[%dS:SR=\E[%dT:UP=\E[%dA:ae=^O:al=\E[L:\ 239 :RI=\E[%dC:SF=\E[%dS:SR=\E[%dT:UP=\E[%dA:ae=\E(B:al=\E[L:\
71 :as=^N:bl=^G:cd=\E[J:ce=\E[K:cl=\E[H\E[2J:cm=\E[%i%d;%dH:\ 240 :as=\E(0:bl=^G:cd=\E[J:ce=\E[K:cl=\E[H\E[2J:\
72 :cr=^M:cs=\E[%i%d;%dr:ct=\E[3g:dc=\E[P:dl=\E[M:do=^J:\ 241 :cm=\E[%i%d;%dH:cr=^M:cs=\E[%i%d;%dr:ct=\E[3g:dc=\E[P:\
73 :ec=\E[%dX:ei=\E[4l:ho=\E[H:i1=\E[?47l\E=\E[?1l:ic=\E[@:\ 242 :dl=\E[M:do=^J:ec=\E[%dX:ei=\E[4l:ho=\E[H:\
243 :i1=\E[?47l\E=\E[?1l:ic=\E[@:im=\E[4h:\
74 :im=\E[4h:is=\E[r\E[m\E[2J\E[H\E[?7h\E[?1;3;4;6l\E[4l:\ 244 :is=\E[r\E[m\E[2J\E[H\E[?7h\E[?1;3;4;6l\E[4l:\
75 :k0=\E[21~:k1=\E[11~:k2=\E[12~:k3=\E[13~:k4=\E[14~:\ 245 :k1=\E[11~:k2=\E[12~:k3=\E[13~:k4=\E[14~:k5=\E[15~:\
76 :k5=\E[15~:k6=\E[17~:k7=\E[18~:k8=\E[19~:k9=\E[20~:\ 246 :k6=\E[17~:k7=\E[18~:k8=\E[19~:k9=\E[20~:kD=\E[3~:\
77 :kD=\E[3~:kI=\E[2~:kN=\E[6~:kP=\E[5~:kb=\177:kd=\EOB:\ 247 :kI=\E[2~:kN=\E[6~:kP=\E[5~:kb=\177:kd=\EOB:ke=\E[?1l\E>:\
78 :ke=\E[?1l\E>:kh=\E[7~:kl=\EOD:kr=\EOC:ks=\E[?1h\E=:\ 248 :kh=\E[7~:kl=\EOD:kr=\EOC:ks=\E[?1h\E=:ku=\EOA:le=^H:\
79 :ku=\EOA:le=^H:mb=\E[5m:md=\E[1m:me=\E[m\017:mr=\E[7m:\ 249 :mb=\E[5m:md=\E[1m:me=\E[m\017:mr=\E[7m:nd=\E[C:rc=\E8:\
80 :nd=\E[C:rc=\E8:sc=\E7:se=\E[27m:sf=^J:so=\E[7m:sr=\EM:\ 250 :sc=\E7:se=\E[27m:sf=^J:so=\E[7m:sr=\EM:st=\EH:ta=^I:\
81 :st=\EH:ta=^I:te=\E[r\E[?1049l:ti=\E[?1049h:ue=\E[24m:\ 251 :te=\E[r\E[?1049l:ti=\E[?1049h:ue=\E[24m:up=\E[A:\
82 :up=\E[A:us=\E[4m:vb=\E[?5h\E[?5l:ve=\E[?25h:vi=\E[?25l:\ 252 :us=\E[4m:vb=\E[?5h\E[?5l:ve=\E[?25h:vi=\E[?25l:\
83 :vs=\E[?25h: 253 :vs=\E[?25h:
84 254
85 Why does "ls" no longer have coloured output? 255 Why does "ls" no longer have coloured output?
86 The "ls" in the GNU coreutils unfortunately doesn't use terminfo to 256 The "ls" in the GNU coreutils unfortunately doesn't use terminfo to
87 decide wether a terminal has colour, but uses it's own configuration 257 decide wether a terminal has colour, but uses it's own configuration
225 that doesn't work, you might be forced to use a different font. 395 that doesn't work, you might be forced to use a different font.
226 396
227 All of this is not a problem when using X11 core fonts, as their 397 All of this is not a problem when using X11 core fonts, as their
228 bounding box data is correct. 398 bounding box data is correct.
229 399
400 On Solaris 9, many line-drawing characters are too wide.
401 Seems to be a known bug, read
402 <http://nixdoc.net/files/forum/about34198.html>. Some people use the
403 following ugly workaround to get non-double-wide-characters working:
404
405 #define wcwidth(x) wcwidth(x) > 1 ? 1 : wcwidth(x)
406
230 My Compose (Multi_key) key is no longer working. 407 My Compose (Multi_key) key is no longer working.
231 The most common causes for this are that either your locale is not 408 The most common causes for this are that either your locale is not
232 set correctly, or you specified a preeditStyle that is not supported 409 set correctly, or you specified a preeditStyle that is not supported
233 by your input method. For example, if you specified OverTheSpot and 410 by your input method. For example, if you specified OverTheSpot and
234 your input method (e.g. the default input method handling Compose 411 your input method (e.g. the default input method handling Compose
278 As you might have guessed, FreeBSD does neither define this symobl 455 As you might have guessed, FreeBSD does neither define this symobl
279 nor does it support it. Instead, it uses it's own internal 456 nor does it support it. Instead, it uses it's own internal
280 representation of wchar_t. This is, of course, completely fine with 457 representation of wchar_t. This is, of course, completely fine with
281 respect to standards. 458 respect to standards.
282 459
460 However, that means rxvt-unicode only works in "POSIX", "ISO-8859-1"
461 and "UTF-8" locales under FreeBSD (which all use Unicode as wchar_t.
462
283 However, "__STDC_ISO_10646__" is the only sane way to support 463 "__STDC_ISO_10646__" is the only sane way to support multi-language
284 multi-language apps in an OS, as using a locale-dependent (and 464 apps in an OS, as using a locale-dependent (and non-standardized)
285 non-standardized) representation of wchar_t makes it impossible to 465 representation of wchar_t makes it impossible to convert between
286 convert between wchar_t (as used by X11 and your applications) and 466 wchar_t (as used by X11 and your applications) and any other
287 any other encoding without implementing OS-specific-wrappers for 467 encoding without implementing OS-specific-wrappers for each and
288 each and every locale. There simply are no APIs to convert wchar_t 468 every locale. There simply are no APIs to convert wchar_t into
289 into anything except the current locale encoding. 469 anything except the current locale encoding.
290 470
291 Some applications (such as the formidable mlterm) work around this 471 Some applications (such as the formidable mlterm) work around this
292 by carrying their own replacement functions for character set 472 by carrying their own replacement functions for character set
293 handling with them, and either implementing OS-dependent hacks or 473 handling with them, and either implementing OS-dependent hacks or
294 doing multiple conversions (which is slow and unreliable in case the 474 doing multiple conversions (which is slow and unreliable in case the
296 emulator). 476 emulator).
297 477
298 The rxvt-unicode author insists that the right way to fix this is in 478 The rxvt-unicode author insists that the right way to fix this is in
299 the system libraries once and for all, instead of forcing every app 479 the system libraries once and for all, instead of forcing every app
300 to carry complete replacements for them :) 480 to carry complete replacements for them :)
481
482 I use Solaris 9 and it doesn't compile/work/etc.
483 Try the diff in doc/solaris9.patch as a base. It fixes the worst
484 problems with "wcwidth" and a compile problem.
485
486 How can I use rxvt-unicode under cygwin?
487 rxvt-unicode should compile and run out of the box on cygwin, using
488 the X11 libraries that come with cygwin. libW11 emulation is no
489 longer supported (and makes no sense, either, as it only supported a
490 single font). I recommend starting the X-server in "-multiwindow" or
491 "-rootless" mode instead, which will result in similar look&feel as
492 the old libW11 emulation.
493
494 At the time of this writing, cygwin didn't seem to support any
495 multi-byte encodings (you might try "LC_CTYPE=C-UTF-8"), so you are
496 likely limited to 8-bit encodings.
301 497
302 How does rxvt-unicode determine the encoding to use? 498 How does rxvt-unicode determine the encoding to use?
303 Is there an option to switch encodings? 499 Is there an option to switch encodings?
304 Unlike some other terminals, rxvt-unicode has no encoding switch, 500 Unlike some other terminals, rxvt-unicode has no encoding switch,
305 and no specific "utf-8" mode, such as xterm. In fact, it doesn't 501 and no specific "utf-8" mode, such as xterm. In fact, it doesn't
417 it gets worse, as rxvt-unicode then uses 8 bytes per screen cell. 613 it gets worse, as rxvt-unicode then uses 8 bytes per screen cell.
418 614
419 Can I speed up Xft rendering somehow? 615 Can I speed up Xft rendering somehow?
420 Yes, the most obvious way to speed it up is to avoid Xft entirely, 616 Yes, the most obvious way to speed it up is to avoid Xft entirely,
421 as it is simply slow. If you still want Xft fonts you might try to 617 as it is simply slow. If you still want Xft fonts you might try to
422 disable antialiasing (by appending ":antialiasing=false"), which 618 disable antialiasing (by appending ":antialias=false"), which saves
423 saves lots of memory and also speeds up rendering considerably. 619 lots of memory and also speeds up rendering considerably.
424 620
425 Rxvt-unicode doesn't seem to anti-alias its fonts, what is wrong? 621 Rxvt-unicode doesn't seem to anti-alias its fonts, what is wrong?
426 Rxvt-unicode will use whatever you specify as a font. If it needs to 622 Rxvt-unicode will use whatever you specify as a font. If it needs to
427 fall back to it's default font search list it will prefer X11 core 623 fall back to it's default font search list it will prefer X11 core
428 fonts, because they are small and fast, and then use Xft fonts. It 624 fonts, because they are small and fast, and then use Xft fonts. It
500 URxvt.color14: #73f7ff 696 URxvt.color14: #73f7ff
501 URxvt.color7: #e1dddd 697 URxvt.color7: #e1dddd
502 URxvt.color15: #e1dddd 698 URxvt.color15: #e1dddd
503 699
504 How can I start rxvtd in a race-free way? 700 How can I start rxvtd in a race-free way?
505 Despite it's name, rxvtd is not a real daemon, but more like a 701 Try "rxvtd -f -o", which tells rxvtd to open the display, create the
506 server that answers rxvtc's requests, so it doesn't background 702 listening socket and then fork.
507 itself.
508
509 To ensure rxvtd is listening on it's socket, you can use the
510 following method to wait for the startup message before continuing:
511
512 { rxvtd & } | read
513 703
514 What's with the strange Backspace/Delete key behaviour? 704 What's with the strange Backspace/Delete key behaviour?
515 Assuming that the physical Backspace key corresponds to the 705 Assuming that the physical Backspace key corresponds to the
516 BackSpace keysym (not likely for Linux ... see the following 706 BackSpace keysym (not likely for Linux ... see the following
517 question) there are two standard values that can be used for 707 question) there are two standard values that can be used for

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