| 1 | FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS |
1 | FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS |
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2 | The new selection selects pieces that are too big, how can I select |
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3 | single words? |
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4 | Yes. For example, if you want to select alphanumeric words, you can |
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5 | use the following resource: |
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6 | |
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7 | URxvt.selection.pattern-0: ([[:word:]]+) |
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8 | |
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9 | If you click more than twice, the selection will be extended more |
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10 | and more. |
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11 | |
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12 | To get a selection that is very similar to the old code, try this |
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13 | pattern: |
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14 | |
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15 | URxvt.selection.pattern-0: ([^"&'()*,;<=>?@[\\\\]^`{|})]+) |
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16 | |
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17 | Please also note that the *LeftClick Shift-LeftClik* combination |
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18 | also selects words like the old code. |
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19 | |
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20 | I don't like the new selection/popups/hotkeys/perl, how do I |
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21 | change/disable it? |
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22 | You can disable the perl extension completely by setting the |
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23 | perl-ext-common resource to the empty string, which also keeps |
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24 | rxvt-unicode from initialising perl, saving memory. |
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25 | |
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26 | If you only want to disable specific features, you first have to |
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27 | identify which perl extension is responsible. For this, read the |
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28 | section PREPACKAGED EXTENSIONS in the rxvtperl(3) manpage. For |
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29 | example, to disable the selection-popup and option-popup, specify |
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30 | this perl-ext-common resource: |
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31 | |
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32 | URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,-selection-popup,-option-popup |
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33 | |
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34 | This will keep the default extensions, but disable the two popup |
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35 | extensions. Some extensions can also be configured, for example, |
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36 | scrollback search mode is triggered by M-s. You can move it to any |
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37 | other combination either by setting the searchable-scrollback |
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38 | resource: |
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39 | |
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40 | URxvt.searchable-scrollback: CM-s |
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41 | |
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42 | Isn't rxvt supposed to be small? Don't all those features bloat? |
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43 | I often get asked about this, and I think, no, they didn't cause |
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44 | extra bloat. If you compare a minimal rxvt and a minimal urxvt, you |
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45 | can see that the urxvt binary is larger (due to some encoding tables |
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46 | always being compiled in), but it actually uses less memory (RSS) |
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47 | after startup. Even with "--disable-everything", this comparison is |
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48 | a bit unfair, as many features unique to urxvt (locale, encoding |
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49 | conversion, iso14755 etc.) are already in use in this mode. |
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50 | |
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51 | text data bss drs rss filename |
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52 | 98398 1664 24 15695 1824 rxvt --disable-everything |
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53 | 188985 9048 66616 18222 1788 urxvt --disable-everything |
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54 | |
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55 | When you "--enable-everything" (which _is_ unfair, as this involves |
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56 | xft and full locale/XIM support which are quite bloaty inside libX11 |
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57 | and my libc), the two diverge, but not unreasnobaly so. |
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58 | |
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59 | text data bss drs rss filename |
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60 | 163431 2152 24 20123 2060 rxvt --enable-everything |
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61 | 1035683 49680 66648 29096 3680 urxvt --enable-everything |
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62 | |
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63 | The very large size of the text section is explained by the |
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64 | east-asian encoding tables, which, if unused, take up disk space but |
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65 | nothing else and can be compiled out unless you rely on X11 core |
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66 | fonts that use those encodings. The BSS size comes from the 64k |
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67 | emergency buffer that my c++ compiler allocates (but of course |
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68 | doesn't use unless you are out of memory). Also, using an xft font |
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69 | instead of a core font immediately adds a few megabytes of RSS. Xft |
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70 | indeed is responsible for a lot of RSS even when not used. |
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71 | |
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72 | Of course, due to every character using two or four bytes instead of |
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73 | one, a large scrollback buffer will ultimately make rxvt-unicode use |
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74 | more memory. |
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75 | |
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76 | Compared to e.g. Eterm (5112k), aterm (3132k) and xterm (4680k), |
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77 | this still fares rather well. And compared to some monsters like |
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78 | gnome-terminal (21152k + extra 4204k in separate processes) or |
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79 | konsole (22200k + extra 43180k in daemons that stay around after |
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80 | exit, plus half a minute of startup time, including the hundreds of |
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81 | warnings it spits out), it fares extremely well *g*. |
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82 | |
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83 | Why C++, isn't that unportable/bloated/uncool? |
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84 | Is this a question? :) It comes up very often. The simple answer is: |
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85 | I had to write it, and C++ allowed me to write and maintain it in a |
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86 | fraction of the time and effort (which is a scarce resource for me). |
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87 | Put even shorter: It simply wouldn't exist without C++. |
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88 | |
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89 | My personal stance on this is that C++ is less portable than C, but |
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90 | in the case of rxvt-unicode this hardly matters, as its portability |
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91 | limits are defined by things like X11, pseudo terminals, locale |
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92 | support and unix domain sockets, which are all less portable than |
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93 | C++ itself. |
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94 | |
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95 | Regarding the bloat, see the above question: It's easy to write |
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96 | programs in C that use gobs of memory, an certainly possible to |
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97 | write programs in C++ that don't. C++ also often comes with large |
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98 | libraries, but this is not necessarily the case with GCC. Here is |
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99 | what rxvt links against on my system with a minimal config: |
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100 | |
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101 | libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x00002aaaaabc3000) |
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102 | libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00002aaaaadde000) |
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103 | libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00002aaaab01d000) |
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104 | /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00002aaaaaaab000) |
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105 | |
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106 | And here is rxvt-unicode: |
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107 | |
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108 | libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x00002aaaaabc3000) |
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109 | libgcc_s.so.1 => /lib/libgcc_s.so.1 (0x00002aaaaada2000) |
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110 | libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00002aaaaaeb0000) |
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111 | libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00002aaaab0ee000) |
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112 | /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00002aaaaaaab000) |
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113 | |
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114 | No large bloated libraries (of course, none were linked in |
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115 | statically), except maybe libX11 :) |
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116 | |
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117 | Does it support tabs, can I have a tabbed rxvt-unicode? |
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118 | Beginning with version 7.3, there is a perl extension that |
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119 | implements a simple tabbed terminal. It is installed by default, so |
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120 | any of these should give you tabs: |
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121 | |
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122 | rxvt -pe tabbed |
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123 | |
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124 | URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,tabbed |
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125 | |
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126 | It will also work fine with tabbing functionality of many window |
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127 | managers or similar tabbing programs, and its embedding-features |
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128 | allow it to be embedded into other programs, as witnessed by |
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129 | doc/rxvt-tabbed or the upcoming "Gtk2::URxvt" perl module, which |
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130 | features a tabbed urxvt (murxvt) terminal as an example embedding |
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131 | application. |
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132 | |
| 2 | How do I know which rxvt-unicode version I'm using? |
133 | How do I know which rxvt-unicode version I'm using? |
| 3 | The version number is displayed with the usage (-h). Also the escape |
134 | 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. |
135 | sequence "ESC [ 8 n" sets the window title to the version number. |
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136 | When using the rxvtc client, the version displayed is that of the |
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137 | daemon. |
| 5 | |
138 | |
| 6 | I am using Debian GNU/Linux and have a problem... |
139 | I am using Debian GNU/Linux and have a problem... |
| 7 | The Debian GNU/Linux package of rxvt-unicode contains large patches |
140 | The Debian GNU/Linux package of rxvt-unicode in sarge contains large |
| 8 | that considerably change the behaviour of rxvt-unicode. Before |
141 | patches that considerably change the behaviour of rxvt-unicode (but |
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142 | unfortunately this notice has been removed). Before reporting a bug |
| 9 | reporting a bug to the original rxvt-unicode author please download |
143 | to the original rxvt-unicode author please download and install the |
| 10 | and install the genuine version |
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| 11 | (<http://software.schmorp.de#rxvt-unicode>) and try to reproduce the |
144 | genuine version (<http://software.schmorp.de#rxvt-unicode>) and try |
| 12 | problem. If you cannot, chances are that the problems are specific |
145 | 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 |
146 | problems are specific to Debian GNU/Linux, in which case it should |
| 14 | Debian Bug Tracking System (use "reportbug" to report the bug). |
147 | be reported via the Debian Bug Tracking System (use "reportbug" to |
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148 | report the bug). |
| 15 | |
149 | |
| 16 | For other problems that also affect the Debian package, you can and |
150 | 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 |
151 | 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 |
152 | also a bug in the Debian version and it serves as a reminder for |
| 19 | other users that might encounter the same issue. |
153 | other users that might encounter the same issue. |
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154 | |
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155 | I am maintaining rxvt-unicode for distribution/OS XXX, any |
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156 | recommendation? |
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157 | You should build one binary with the default options. configure now |
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158 | enables most useful options, and the trend goes to making them |
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159 | runtime-switchable, too, so there is usually no drawback to enbaling |
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160 | them, except higher disk and possibly memory usage. The perl |
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161 | interpreter should be enabled, as important functionality (menus, |
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162 | selection, likely more in the future) depends on it. |
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163 | |
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164 | You should not overwrite the "perl-ext-common" snd "perl-ext" |
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165 | resources system-wide (except maybe with "defaults"). This will |
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166 | result in useful behaviour. If your distribution aims at low memory, |
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167 | add an empty "perl-ext-common" resource to the app-defaults file. |
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168 | This will keep the perl interpreter disabled until the user enables |
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169 | it. |
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170 | |
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171 | If you can/want build more binaries, I recommend building a minimal |
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172 | one with "--disable-everything" (very useful) and a maximal one with |
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173 | "--enable-everything" (less useful, it will be very big due to a lot |
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174 | of encodings built-in that increase download times and are rarely |
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175 | used). |
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176 | |
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177 | I need to make it setuid/setgid to support utmp/ptys on my OS, is this |
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178 | safe? |
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179 | It should be, starting with release 7.1. You are encouraged to |
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180 | properly install urxvt with privileges necessary for your OS now. |
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181 | |
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182 | When rxvt-unicode detects that it runs setuid or setgid, it will |
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183 | fork into a helper process for privileged operations (pty handling |
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184 | on some systems, utmp/wtmp/lastlog handling on others) and drop |
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185 | privileges immediately. This is much safer than most other terminals |
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186 | that keep privileges while running (but is more relevant to urxvt, |
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187 | as it contains things as perl interpreters, which might be "helpful" |
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188 | to attackers). |
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189 | |
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190 | This forking is done as the very first within main(), which is very |
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191 | early and reduces possible bugs to initialisation code run before |
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192 | main(), or things like the dynamic loader of your system, which |
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193 | should result in very little risk. |
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194 | |
| 21 | When I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data? |
195 | 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 |
196 | The terminal description used by rxvt-unicode is not as widely |
| 23 | available as that for xterm, or even rxvt (for which the same |
197 | available as that for xterm, or even rxvt (for which the same |
| 24 | problem often arises). |
198 | problem often arises). |
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| 44 | |
218 | |
| 45 | URxvt.termName: rxvt |
219 | URxvt.termName: rxvt |
| 46 | |
220 | |
| 47 | If you don't plan to use rxvt (quite common...) you could also |
221 | If you don't plan to use rxvt (quite common...) you could also |
| 48 | replace the rxvt terminfo file with the rxvt-unicode one. |
222 | replace the rxvt terminfo file with the rxvt-unicode one. |
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223 | |
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224 | "tic" outputs some error when compiling the terminfo entry. |
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225 | Most likely it's the empty definition for "enacs=". Just replace it |
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226 | by "enacs=\E[0@" and try again. |
| 49 | |
227 | |
| 50 | "bash"'s readline does not work correctly under rxvt. |
228 | "bash"'s readline does not work correctly under rxvt. |
| 51 | I need a termcap file entry. |
229 | I need a termcap file entry. |
| 52 | One reason you might want this is that some distributions or |
230 | One reason you might want this is that some distributions or |
| 53 | operating systems still compile some programs using the |
231 | operating systems still compile some programs using the |
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| 226 | that doesn't work, you might be forced to use a different font. |
404 | that doesn't work, you might be forced to use a different font. |
| 227 | |
405 | |
| 228 | All of this is not a problem when using X11 core fonts, as their |
406 | All of this is not a problem when using X11 core fonts, as their |
| 229 | bounding box data is correct. |
407 | bounding box data is correct. |
| 230 | |
408 | |
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409 | On Solaris 9, many line-drawing characters are too wide. |
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410 | Seems to be a known bug, read |
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411 | <http://nixdoc.net/files/forum/about34198.html>. Some people use the |
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412 | following ugly workaround to get non-double-wide-characters working: |
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413 | |
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414 | #define wcwidth(x) wcwidth(x) > 1 ? 1 : wcwidth(x) |
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415 | |
| 231 | My Compose (Multi_key) key is no longer working. |
416 | My Compose (Multi_key) key is no longer working. |
| 232 | The most common causes for this are that either your locale is not |
417 | 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 |
418 | set correctly, or you specified a preeditStyle that is not supported |
| 234 | by your input method. For example, if you specified OverTheSpot and |
419 | by your input method. For example, if you specified OverTheSpot and |
| 235 | your input method (e.g. the default input method handling Compose |
420 | your input method (e.g. the default input method handling Compose |
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| 301 | |
486 | |
| 302 | The rxvt-unicode author insists that the right way to fix this is in |
487 | The rxvt-unicode author insists that the right way to fix this is in |
| 303 | the system libraries once and for all, instead of forcing every app |
488 | the system libraries once and for all, instead of forcing every app |
| 304 | to carry complete replacements for them :) |
489 | to carry complete replacements for them :) |
| 305 | |
490 | |
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491 | I use Solaris 9 and it doesn't compile/work/etc. |
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492 | Try the diff in doc/solaris9.patch as a base. It fixes the worst |
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493 | problems with "wcwidth" and a compile problem. |
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494 | |
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495 | How can I use rxvt-unicode under cygwin? |
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496 | rxvt-unicode should compile and run out of the box on cygwin, using |
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497 | the X11 libraries that come with cygwin. libW11 emulation is no |
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498 | longer supported (and makes no sense, either, as it only supported a |
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499 | single font). I recommend starting the X-server in "-multiwindow" or |
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500 | "-rootless" mode instead, which will result in similar look&feel as |
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501 | the old libW11 emulation. |
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502 | |
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503 | At the time of this writing, cygwin didn't seem to support any |
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504 | multi-byte encodings (you might try "LC_CTYPE=C-UTF-8"), so you are |
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505 | likely limited to 8-bit encodings. |
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506 | |
| 306 | How does rxvt-unicode determine the encoding to use? |
507 | How does rxvt-unicode determine the encoding to use? |
| 307 | Is there an option to switch encodings? |
508 | Is there an option to switch encodings? |
| 308 | Unlike some other terminals, rxvt-unicode has no encoding switch, |
509 | Unlike some other terminals, rxvt-unicode has no encoding switch, |
| 309 | and no specific "utf-8" mode, such as xterm. In fact, it doesn't |
510 | and no specific "utf-8" mode, such as xterm. In fact, it doesn't |
| 310 | even know about UTF-8 or any other encodings with respect to |
511 | even know about UTF-8 or any other encodings with respect to |
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| 385 | |
586 | |
| 386 | My input method wants <some encoding> but I want UTF-8, what can I do? |
587 | My input method wants <some encoding> but I want UTF-8, what can I do? |
| 387 | You can specify separate locales for the input method and the rest |
588 | You can specify separate locales for the input method and the rest |
| 388 | of the terminal, using the resource "imlocale": |
589 | of the terminal, using the resource "imlocale": |
| 389 | |
590 | |
| 390 | URxvt*imlocale: ja_JP.EUC-JP |
591 | URxvt.imlocale: ja_JP.EUC-JP |
| 391 | |
592 | |
| 392 | Now you can start your terminal with "LC_CTYPE=ja_JP.UTF-8" and |
593 | Now you can start your terminal with "LC_CTYPE=ja_JP.UTF-8" and |
| 393 | still use your input method. Please note, however, that you will not |
594 | still use your input method. Please note, however, that you will not |
| 394 | be able to input characters outside "EUC-JP" in a normal way then, |
595 | be able to input characters outside "EUC-JP" in a normal way then, |
| 395 | as your input method limits you. |
596 | as your input method limits you. |
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| 421 | it gets worse, as rxvt-unicode then uses 8 bytes per screen cell. |
622 | it gets worse, as rxvt-unicode then uses 8 bytes per screen cell. |
| 422 | |
623 | |
| 423 | Can I speed up Xft rendering somehow? |
624 | Can I speed up Xft rendering somehow? |
| 424 | Yes, the most obvious way to speed it up is to avoid Xft entirely, |
625 | Yes, the most obvious way to speed it up is to avoid Xft entirely, |
| 425 | as it is simply slow. If you still want Xft fonts you might try to |
626 | as it is simply slow. If you still want Xft fonts you might try to |
| 426 | disable antialiasing (by appending ":antialiasing=false"), which |
627 | disable antialiasing (by appending ":antialias=false"), which saves |
| 427 | saves lots of memory and also speeds up rendering considerably. |
628 | lots of memory and also speeds up rendering considerably. |
| 428 | |
629 | |
| 429 | Rxvt-unicode doesn't seem to anti-alias its fonts, what is wrong? |
630 | Rxvt-unicode doesn't seem to anti-alias its fonts, what is wrong? |
| 430 | Rxvt-unicode will use whatever you specify as a font. If it needs to |
631 | Rxvt-unicode will use whatever you specify as a font. If it needs to |
| 431 | fall back to it's default font search list it will prefer X11 core |
632 | fall back to it's default font search list it will prefer X11 core |
| 432 | fonts, because they are small and fast, and then use Xft fonts. It |
633 | fonts, because they are small and fast, and then use Xft fonts. It |
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| 438 | Mouse cut/paste suddenly no longer works. |
639 | Mouse cut/paste suddenly no longer works. |
| 439 | Make sure that mouse reporting is actually turned off since killing |
640 | Make sure that mouse reporting is actually turned off since killing |
| 440 | some editors prematurely may leave the mouse in mouse report mode. |
641 | some editors prematurely may leave the mouse in mouse report mode. |
| 441 | I've heard that tcsh may use mouse reporting unless it otherwise |
642 | I've heard that tcsh may use mouse reporting unless it otherwise |
| 442 | specified. A quick check is to see if cut/paste works when the Alt |
643 | specified. A quick check is to see if cut/paste works when the Alt |
| 443 | or Shift keys are depressed. See rxvt(7) |
644 | or Shift keys are depressed. |
| 444 | |
645 | |
| 445 | What's with this bold/blink stuff? |
646 | What's with this bold/blink stuff? |
| 446 | If no bold colour is set via "colorBD:", bold will invert text using |
647 | If no bold colour is set via "colorBD:", bold will invert text using |
| 447 | the standard foreground colour. |
648 | the standard foreground colour. |
| 448 | |
649 | |
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… | |
| 504 | URxvt.color14: #73f7ff |
705 | URxvt.color14: #73f7ff |
| 505 | URxvt.color7: #e1dddd |
706 | URxvt.color7: #e1dddd |
| 506 | URxvt.color15: #e1dddd |
707 | URxvt.color15: #e1dddd |
| 507 | |
708 | |
| 508 | How can I start rxvtd in a race-free way? |
709 | How can I start rxvtd in a race-free way? |
| 509 | Despite it's name, rxvtd is not a real daemon, but more like a |
710 | Try "rxvtd -f -o", which tells rxvtd to open the display, create the |
| 510 | server that answers rxvtc's requests, so it doesn't background |
711 | listening socket and then fork. |
| 511 | itself. |
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| 512 | |
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| 513 | To ensure rxvtd is listening on it's socket, you can use the |
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| 514 | following method to wait for the startup message before continuing: |
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| 515 | |
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| 516 | { rxvtd & } | read |
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| 517 | |
712 | |
| 518 | What's with the strange Backspace/Delete key behaviour? |
713 | What's with the strange Backspace/Delete key behaviour? |
| 519 | Assuming that the physical Backspace key corresponds to the |
714 | Assuming that the physical Backspace key corresponds to the |
| 520 | BackSpace keysym (not likely for Linux ... see the following |
715 | BackSpace keysym (not likely for Linux ... see the following |
| 521 | question) there are two standard values that can be used for |
716 | question) there are two standard values that can be used for |
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| 540 | |
735 | |
| 541 | # use Backspace = ^? |
736 | # use Backspace = ^? |
| 542 | $ stty erase ^? |
737 | $ stty erase ^? |
| 543 | $ rxvt |
738 | $ rxvt |
| 544 | |
739 | |
| 545 | Toggle with "ESC [ 36 h" / "ESC [ 36 l" as documented in rxvt(7). |
740 | Toggle with "ESC [ 36 h" / "ESC [ 36 l". |
| 546 | |
741 | |
| 547 | For an existing rxvt-unicode: |
742 | For an existing rxvt-unicode: |
| 548 | |
743 | |
| 549 | # use Backspace = ^H |
744 | # use Backspace = ^H |
| 550 | $ stty erase ^H |
745 | $ stty erase ^H |
