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Revision 1.12 by root, Thu Feb 17 12:06:21 2005 UTC vs.
Revision 1.32 by root, Thu Jan 19 19:26:30 2006 UTC

1FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 1FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
2 The new selection selects pieces that are too big, how can I select
3 single words?
4 Yes. For example, if you want to select alphanumeric words, you can
5 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 Please also note that the *LeftClick Shift-LeftClik* combination
18 also selects words like the old code.
19
20 I don't like the new selection/popups/hotkeys/perl, how do I
21 change/disable it?
22 You can disable the perl extension completely by setting the
23 perl-ext-common resource to the empty string, which also keeps
24 rxvt-unicode from initialising perl, saving memory.
25
26 If you only want to disable specific features, you first have to
27 identify which perl extension is responsible. For this, read the
28 section PREPACKAGED EXTENSIONS in the rxvtperl(3) manpage. For
29 example, to disable the selection-popup and option-popup, specify
30 this perl-ext-common resource:
31
32 URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,-selection-popup,-option-popup
33
34 This will keep the default extensions, but disable the two popup
35 extensions. Some extensions can also be configured, for example,
36 scrollback search mode is triggered by M-s. You can move it to any
37 other combination either by setting the searchable-scrollback
38 resource:
39
40 URxvt.searchable-scrollback: CM-s
41
42 Isn't rxvt supposed to be small? Don't all those features bloat?
43 I often get asked about this, and I think, no, they didn't cause
44 extra bloat. If you compare a minimal rxvt and a minimal urxvt, you
45 can see that the urxvt binary is larger (due to some encoding tables
46 always being compiled in), but it actually uses less memory (RSS)
47 after startup. Even with "--disable-everything", this comparison is
48 a bit unfair, as many features unique to urxvt (locale, encoding
49 conversion, iso14755 etc.) are already in use in this mode.
50
51 text data bss drs rss filename
52 98398 1664 24 15695 1824 rxvt --disable-everything
53 188985 9048 66616 18222 1788 urxvt --disable-everything
54
55 When you "--enable-everything" (which _is_ unfair, as this involves
56 xft and full locale/XIM support which are quite bloaty inside libX11
57 and my libc), the two diverge, but not unreasnobaly so.
58
59 text data bss drs rss filename
60 163431 2152 24 20123 2060 rxvt --enable-everything
61 1035683 49680 66648 29096 3680 urxvt --enable-everything
62
63 The very large size of the text section is explained by the
64 east-asian encoding tables, which, if unused, take up disk space but
65 nothing else and can be compiled out unless you rely on X11 core
66 fonts that use those encodings. The BSS size comes from the 64k
67 emergency buffer that my c++ compiler allocates (but of course
68 doesn't use unless you are out of memory). Also, using an xft font
69 instead of a core font immediately adds a few megabytes of RSS. Xft
70 indeed is responsible for a lot of RSS even when not used.
71
72 Of course, due to every character using two or four bytes instead of
73 one, a large scrollback buffer will ultimately make rxvt-unicode use
74 more memory.
75
76 Compared to e.g. Eterm (5112k), aterm (3132k) and xterm (4680k),
77 this still fares rather well. And compared to some monsters like
78 gnome-terminal (21152k + extra 4204k in separate processes) or
79 konsole (22200k + extra 43180k in daemons that stay around after
80 exit, plus half a minute of startup time, including the hundreds of
81 warnings it spits out), it fares extremely well *g*.
82
83 Why C++, isn't that unportable/bloated/uncool?
84 Is this a question? :) It comes up very often. The simple answer is:
85 I had to write it, and C++ allowed me to write and maintain it in a
86 fraction of the time and effort (which is a scarce resource for me).
87 Put even shorter: It simply wouldn't exist without C++.
88
89 My personal stance on this is that C++ is less portable than C, but
90 in the case of rxvt-unicode this hardly matters, as its portability
91 limits are defined by things like X11, pseudo terminals, locale
92 support and unix domain sockets, which are all less portable than
93 C++ itself.
94
95 Regarding the bloat, see the above question: It's easy to write
96 programs in C that use gobs of memory, an certainly possible to
97 write programs in C++ that don't. C++ also often comes with large
98 libraries, but this is not necessarily the case with GCC. Here is
99 what rxvt links against on my system with a minimal config:
100
101 libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x00002aaaaabc3000)
102 libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00002aaaaadde000)
103 libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00002aaaab01d000)
104 /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00002aaaaaaab000)
105
106 And here is rxvt-unicode:
107
108 libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x00002aaaaabc3000)
109 libgcc_s.so.1 => /lib/libgcc_s.so.1 (0x00002aaaaada2000)
110 libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00002aaaaaeb0000)
111 libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00002aaaab0ee000)
112 /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00002aaaaaaab000)
113
114 No large bloated libraries (of course, none were linked in
115 statically), except maybe libX11 :)
116
117 Does it support tabs, can I have a tabbed rxvt-unicode?
118 rxvt-unicode does not directly support tabs. It will work fine with
119 tabbing functionality of many window managers or similar tabbing
120 programs, and its embedding-features allow it to be embedded into
121 other programs, as witnessed by doc/rxvt-tabbed or the upcoming
122 "Gtk2::URxvt" perl module, which features a tabbed urxvt (murxvt)
123 terminal as an example embedding application.
124
2 How do I know which rxvt-unicode version I'm using? 125 How do I know which rxvt-unicode version I'm using?
3 The version number is displayed with the usage (-h). Also the escape 126 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. 127 sequence "ESC [ 8 n" sets the window title to the version number.
128 When using the rxvtc client, the version displayed is that of the
129 daemon.
5 130
6 I am using Debian GNU/Linux and have a problem... 131 I am using Debian GNU/Linux and have a problem...
7 The Debian GNU/Linux package of rxvt-unicode contains large patches 132 The Debian GNU/Linux package of rxvt-unicode in sarge contains large
8 that considerably change the behaviour of rxvt-unicode. Before 133 patches that considerably change the behaviour of rxvt-unicode (but
134 unfortunately this notice has been removed). Before reporting a bug
9 reporting a bug to the original rxvt-unicode author please download 135 to the original rxvt-unicode author please download and install the
10 and install the genuine version
11 (<http://software.schmorp.de#rxvt-unicode>) and try to reproduce the 136 genuine version (<http://software.schmorp.de#rxvt-unicode>) and try
12 problem. If you cannot, chances are that the problems are specific 137 to reproduce the problem. If you cannot, chances are that the
13 to Debian GNU/Linux, in which case it should be reported via the 138 problems are specific to Debian GNU/Linux, in which case it should
14 Debian Bug Tracking System (use "reportbug" to report the bug). 139 be reported via the Debian Bug Tracking System (use "reportbug" to
140 report the bug).
15 141
16 For other problems that also affect the Debian package, you can and 142 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 143 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 144 also a bug in the Debian version and it serves as a reminder for
19 other users that might encounter the same issue. 145 other users that might encounter the same issue.
146
147 I am maintaining rxvt-unicode for distribution/OS XXX, any
148 recommendation?
149 You should build one binary with the default options. configure now
150 enables most useful options, and the trend goes to making them
151 runtime-switchable, too, so there is usually no drawback to enbaling
152 them, except higher disk and possibly memory usage. The perl
153 interpreter should be enabled, as important functionality (menus,
154 selection, likely more in the future) depends on it.
155
156 You should not overwrite the "perl-ext-common" snd "perl-ext"
157 resources system-wide (except maybe with "defaults"). This will
158 result in useful behaviour. If your distribution aims at low memory,
159 add an empty "perl-ext-common" resource to the app-defaults file.
160 This will keep the perl interpreter disabled until the user enables
161 it.
162
163 If you can/want build more binaries, I recommend building a minimal
164 one with "--disable-everything" (very useful) and a maximal one with
165 "--enable-everything" (less useful, it will be very big due to a lot
166 of encodings built-in that increase download times and are rarely
167 used).
168
169 I need to make it setuid/setgid to support utmp/ptys on my OS, is this
170 safe?
171 It should be, starting with release 7.1. You are encouraged to
172 properly install urxvt with privileges necessary for your OS now.
173
174 When rxvt-unicode detects that it runs setuid or setgid, it will
175 fork into a helper process for privileged operations (pty handling
176 on some systems, utmp/wtmp/lastlog handling on others) and drop
177 privileges immediately. This is much safer than most other terminals
178 that keep privileges while running (but is more relevant to urxvt,
179 as it contains things as perl interpreters, which might be "helpful"
180 to attackers).
181
182 This forking is done as the very first within main(), which is very
183 early and reduces possible bugs to initialisation code run before
184 main(), or things like the dynamic loader of your system, which
185 should result in very little risk.
20 186
21 When I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data? 187 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 188 The terminal description used by rxvt-unicode is not as widely
23 available as that for xterm, or even rxvt (for which the same 189 available as that for xterm, or even rxvt (for which the same
24 problem often arises). 190 problem often arises).
44 210
45 URxvt.termName: rxvt 211 URxvt.termName: rxvt
46 212
47 If you don't plan to use rxvt (quite common...) you could also 213 If you don't plan to use rxvt (quite common...) you could also
48 replace the rxvt terminfo file with the rxvt-unicode one. 214 replace the rxvt terminfo file with the rxvt-unicode one.
215
216 "tic" outputs some error when compiling the terminfo entry.
217 Most likely it's the empty definition for "enacs=". Just replace it
218 by "enacs=\E[0@" and try again.
49 219
50 "bash"'s readline does not work correctly under rxvt. 220 "bash"'s readline does not work correctly under rxvt.
51 I need a termcap file entry. 221 I need a termcap file entry.
52 One reason you might want this is that some distributions or 222 One reason you might want this is that some distributions or
53 operating systems still compile some programs using the 223 operating systems still compile some programs using the
226 that doesn't work, you might be forced to use a different font. 396 that doesn't work, you might be forced to use a different font.
227 397
228 All of this is not a problem when using X11 core fonts, as their 398 All of this is not a problem when using X11 core fonts, as their
229 bounding box data is correct. 399 bounding box data is correct.
230 400
401 On Solaris 9, many line-drawing characters are too wide.
402 Seems to be a known bug, read
403 <http://nixdoc.net/files/forum/about34198.html>. Some people use the
404 following ugly workaround to get non-double-wide-characters working:
405
406 #define wcwidth(x) wcwidth(x) > 1 ? 1 : wcwidth(x)
407
231 My Compose (Multi_key) key is no longer working. 408 My Compose (Multi_key) key is no longer working.
232 The most common causes for this are that either your locale is not 409 The most common causes for this are that either your locale is not
233 set correctly, or you specified a preeditStyle that is not supported 410 set correctly, or you specified a preeditStyle that is not supported
234 by your input method. For example, if you specified OverTheSpot and 411 by your input method. For example, if you specified OverTheSpot and
235 your input method (e.g. the default input method handling Compose 412 your input method (e.g. the default input method handling Compose
279 As you might have guessed, FreeBSD does neither define this symobl 456 As you might have guessed, FreeBSD does neither define this symobl
280 nor does it support it. Instead, it uses it's own internal 457 nor does it support it. Instead, it uses it's own internal
281 representation of wchar_t. This is, of course, completely fine with 458 representation of wchar_t. This is, of course, completely fine with
282 respect to standards. 459 respect to standards.
283 460
461 However, that means rxvt-unicode only works in "POSIX", "ISO-8859-1"
462 and "UTF-8" locales under FreeBSD (which all use Unicode as wchar_t.
463
284 However, "__STDC_ISO_10646__" is the only sane way to support 464 "__STDC_ISO_10646__" is the only sane way to support multi-language
285 multi-language apps in an OS, as using a locale-dependent (and 465 apps in an OS, as using a locale-dependent (and non-standardized)
286 non-standardized) representation of wchar_t makes it impossible to 466 representation of wchar_t makes it impossible to convert between
287 convert between wchar_t (as used by X11 and your applications) and 467 wchar_t (as used by X11 and your applications) and any other
288 any other encoding without implementing OS-specific-wrappers for 468 encoding without implementing OS-specific-wrappers for each and
289 each and every locale. There simply are no APIs to convert wchar_t 469 every locale. There simply are no APIs to convert wchar_t into
290 into anything except the current locale encoding. 470 anything except the current locale encoding.
291 471
292 Some applications (such as the formidable mlterm) work around this 472 Some applications (such as the formidable mlterm) work around this
293 by carrying their own replacement functions for character set 473 by carrying their own replacement functions for character set
294 handling with them, and either implementing OS-dependent hacks or 474 handling with them, and either implementing OS-dependent hacks or
295 doing multiple conversions (which is slow and unreliable in case the 475 doing multiple conversions (which is slow and unreliable in case the
297 emulator). 477 emulator).
298 478
299 The rxvt-unicode author insists that the right way to fix this is in 479 The rxvt-unicode author insists that the right way to fix this is in
300 the system libraries once and for all, instead of forcing every app 480 the system libraries once and for all, instead of forcing every app
301 to carry complete replacements for them :) 481 to carry complete replacements for them :)
482
483 I use Solaris 9 and it doesn't compile/work/etc.
484 Try the diff in doc/solaris9.patch as a base. It fixes the worst
485 problems with "wcwidth" and a compile problem.
486
487 How can I use rxvt-unicode under cygwin?
488 rxvt-unicode should compile and run out of the box on cygwin, using
489 the X11 libraries that come with cygwin. libW11 emulation is no
490 longer supported (and makes no sense, either, as it only supported a
491 single font). I recommend starting the X-server in "-multiwindow" or
492 "-rootless" mode instead, which will result in similar look&feel as
493 the old libW11 emulation.
494
495 At the time of this writing, cygwin didn't seem to support any
496 multi-byte encodings (you might try "LC_CTYPE=C-UTF-8"), so you are
497 likely limited to 8-bit encodings.
302 498
303 How does rxvt-unicode determine the encoding to use? 499 How does rxvt-unicode determine the encoding to use?
304 Is there an option to switch encodings? 500 Is there an option to switch encodings?
305 Unlike some other terminals, rxvt-unicode has no encoding switch, 501 Unlike some other terminals, rxvt-unicode has no encoding switch,
306 and no specific "utf-8" mode, such as xterm. In fact, it doesn't 502 and no specific "utf-8" mode, such as xterm. In fact, it doesn't
382 578
383 My input method wants <some encoding> but I want UTF-8, what can I do? 579 My input method wants <some encoding> but I want UTF-8, what can I do?
384 You can specify separate locales for the input method and the rest 580 You can specify separate locales for the input method and the rest
385 of the terminal, using the resource "imlocale": 581 of the terminal, using the resource "imlocale":
386 582
387 URxvt*imlocale: ja_JP.EUC-JP 583 URxvt.imlocale: ja_JP.EUC-JP
388 584
389 Now you can start your terminal with "LC_CTYPE=ja_JP.UTF-8" and 585 Now you can start your terminal with "LC_CTYPE=ja_JP.UTF-8" and
390 still use your input method. Please note, however, that you will not 586 still use your input method. Please note, however, that you will not
391 be able to input characters outside "EUC-JP" in a normal way then, 587 be able to input characters outside "EUC-JP" in a normal way then,
392 as your input method limits you. 588 as your input method limits you.
418 it gets worse, as rxvt-unicode then uses 8 bytes per screen cell. 614 it gets worse, as rxvt-unicode then uses 8 bytes per screen cell.
419 615
420 Can I speed up Xft rendering somehow? 616 Can I speed up Xft rendering somehow?
421 Yes, the most obvious way to speed it up is to avoid Xft entirely, 617 Yes, the most obvious way to speed it up is to avoid Xft entirely,
422 as it is simply slow. If you still want Xft fonts you might try to 618 as it is simply slow. If you still want Xft fonts you might try to
423 disable antialiasing (by appending ":antialiasing=false"), which 619 disable antialiasing (by appending ":antialias=false"), which saves
424 saves lots of memory and also speeds up rendering considerably. 620 lots of memory and also speeds up rendering considerably.
425 621
426 Rxvt-unicode doesn't seem to anti-alias its fonts, what is wrong? 622 Rxvt-unicode doesn't seem to anti-alias its fonts, what is wrong?
427 Rxvt-unicode will use whatever you specify as a font. If it needs to 623 Rxvt-unicode will use whatever you specify as a font. If it needs to
428 fall back to it's default font search list it will prefer X11 core 624 fall back to it's default font search list it will prefer X11 core
429 fonts, because they are small and fast, and then use Xft fonts. It 625 fonts, because they are small and fast, and then use Xft fonts. It
435 Mouse cut/paste suddenly no longer works. 631 Mouse cut/paste suddenly no longer works.
436 Make sure that mouse reporting is actually turned off since killing 632 Make sure that mouse reporting is actually turned off since killing
437 some editors prematurely may leave the mouse in mouse report mode. 633 some editors prematurely may leave the mouse in mouse report mode.
438 I've heard that tcsh may use mouse reporting unless it otherwise 634 I've heard that tcsh may use mouse reporting unless it otherwise
439 specified. A quick check is to see if cut/paste works when the Alt 635 specified. A quick check is to see if cut/paste works when the Alt
440 or Shift keys are depressed. See rxvt(7) 636 or Shift keys are depressed.
441 637
442 What's with this bold/blink stuff? 638 What's with this bold/blink stuff?
443 If no bold colour is set via "colorBD:", bold will invert text using 639 If no bold colour is set via "colorBD:", bold will invert text using
444 the standard foreground colour. 640 the standard foreground colour.
445 641
501 URxvt.color14: #73f7ff 697 URxvt.color14: #73f7ff
502 URxvt.color7: #e1dddd 698 URxvt.color7: #e1dddd
503 URxvt.color15: #e1dddd 699 URxvt.color15: #e1dddd
504 700
505 How can I start rxvtd in a race-free way? 701 How can I start rxvtd in a race-free way?
506 Despite it's name, rxvtd is not a real daemon, but more like a 702 Try "rxvtd -f -o", which tells rxvtd to open the display, create the
507 server that answers rxvtc's requests, so it doesn't background 703 listening socket and then fork.
508 itself.
509
510 To ensure rxvtd is listening on it's socket, you can use the
511 following method to wait for the startup message before continuing:
512
513 { rxvtd & } | read
514 704
515 What's with the strange Backspace/Delete key behaviour? 705 What's with the strange Backspace/Delete key behaviour?
516 Assuming that the physical Backspace key corresponds to the 706 Assuming that the physical Backspace key corresponds to the
517 BackSpace keysym (not likely for Linux ... see the following 707 BackSpace keysym (not likely for Linux ... see the following
518 question) there are two standard values that can be used for 708 question) there are two standard values that can be used for
537 727
538 # use Backspace = ^? 728 # use Backspace = ^?
539 $ stty erase ^? 729 $ stty erase ^?
540 $ rxvt 730 $ rxvt
541 731
542 Toggle with "ESC [ 36 h" / "ESC [ 36 l" as documented in rxvt(7). 732 Toggle with "ESC [ 36 h" / "ESC [ 36 l".
543 733
544 For an existing rxvt-unicode: 734 For an existing rxvt-unicode:
545 735
546 # use Backspace = ^H 736 # use Backspace = ^H
547 $ stty erase ^H 737 $ stty erase ^H

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