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Revision 1.13 by root, Sun Apr 17 22:36:12 2005 UTC vs.
Revision 1.36 by root, Tue Jan 31 00:53:49 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 The cursor moves when selecting text in the current input line, how do I
43 switch this off?
44 During rlogin/ssh/telnet/etc. sessions, clicking near the cursor outputs
45 strange escape sequences, how do I fix this?
46 These are caused by the "readline" perl extension. Under normal
47 circumstances, it will move your cursor around when you click into
48 the line that contains it. It tries hard not to do this at the wrong
49 moment, but when running a program that doesn't parse cursor
50 movements or in some cases during rlogin sessions, it fails to
51 detect this properly.
52
53 You can permamently switch this feature off by disabling the
54 "readline" extension:
55
56 URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,-readline
57
58 Why doesn't rxvt-unicode read my resources?
59 Well, why, indeed? It does, in a way very similar to other X
60 applications. Most importantly, this means that if you or your OS
61 loads resources into the X display (the right way to do it),
62 rxvt-unicode will ignore any resource files in your home directory.
63 It will only read $HOME/.Xdefaults when no resources are attached to
64 the display.
65
66 If you have or use an $HOME/.Xresources file, chances are that
67 resources are loaded into your X-server. In this case, you have to
68 re-login after every change (or run xrdb -merge $HOME/.Xresources).
69
70 Also consider the form resources have to use:
71
72 URxvt.resource: value
73
74 If you want to use another form (there are lots of different ways of
75 specifying resources), make sure you understand wether and why it
76 works. If unsure, use the form above.
77
78 I can't get transparency working, what am I doing wrong?
79 First of all, transparency isn't officially supported in
80 rxvt-unicode, so you are mostly on your own. Do not bug the author
81 about it (but you may bug everybody else). Also, if you can't get it
82 working consider it a rite of passage: ... and you failed.
83
84 Here are four ways to get transparency. Do read the manpage and
85 option descriptions for the programs mentioned and rxvt-unicode.
86 Really, do it!
87
88 1. Use inheritPixmap:
89
90 Esetroot wallpaper.jpg
91 rxvt -ip -tint red -sh 40
92
93 That works. If you think it doesn't, you lack transparency and
94 tinting support, or you are unable to read.
95
96 2. Use a simple pixmap and emulate pseudo-transparency. This enables
97 you to use effects other than tinting and shading: Just
98 shade/tint/whatever your picture with gimp:
99
100 convert wallpaper.jpg -blur 20x20 -modulate 30 background.xpm
101 rxvt -pixmap background.xpm -pe automove-background
102
103 That works. If you think it doesn't, you lack XPM and Perl support,
104 or you are unable to read.
105
106 3. Use an ARGB visual:
107
108 rxvt -depth 32 -fg grey90 -bg rgba:0000/0000/4444/cccc
109
110 This requires XFT support, and the support of your X-server. If that
111 doesn't work for you, blame Xorg and Keith Packard. ARGB visuals
112 aren't there yet, no matter what they claim. Rxvt-Unicode contains
113 the neccessary bugfixes and workarounds for Xft and Xlib to make it
114 work, but that doesn't mean that your WM has the required kludges in
115 place.
116
117 4. Use xcompmgr and let it do the job:
118
119 xprop -frame -f _NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY 32c \
120 -set _NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY 0xc0000000
121
122 Then click on a window you want to make transparent. Replace
123 0xc0000000 by other values to change the degree of opacity. If it
124 doesn't work and your server crashes, you got to keep the pieces.
125
126 Isn't rxvt supposed to be small? Don't all those features bloat?
127 I often get asked about this, and I think, no, they didn't cause
128 extra bloat. If you compare a minimal rxvt and a minimal urxvt, you
129 can see that the urxvt binary is larger (due to some encoding tables
130 always being compiled in), but it actually uses less memory (RSS)
131 after startup. Even with "--disable-everything", this comparison is
132 a bit unfair, as many features unique to urxvt (locale, encoding
133 conversion, iso14755 etc.) are already in use in this mode.
134
135 text data bss drs rss filename
136 98398 1664 24 15695 1824 rxvt --disable-everything
137 188985 9048 66616 18222 1788 urxvt --disable-everything
138
139 When you "--enable-everything" (which _is_ unfair, as this involves
140 xft and full locale/XIM support which are quite bloaty inside libX11
141 and my libc), the two diverge, but not unreasnobaly so.
142
143 text data bss drs rss filename
144 163431 2152 24 20123 2060 rxvt --enable-everything
145 1035683 49680 66648 29096 3680 urxvt --enable-everything
146
147 The very large size of the text section is explained by the
148 east-asian encoding tables, which, if unused, take up disk space but
149 nothing else and can be compiled out unless you rely on X11 core
150 fonts that use those encodings. The BSS size comes from the 64k
151 emergency buffer that my c++ compiler allocates (but of course
152 doesn't use unless you are out of memory). Also, using an xft font
153 instead of a core font immediately adds a few megabytes of RSS. Xft
154 indeed is responsible for a lot of RSS even when not used.
155
156 Of course, due to every character using two or four bytes instead of
157 one, a large scrollback buffer will ultimately make rxvt-unicode use
158 more memory.
159
160 Compared to e.g. Eterm (5112k), aterm (3132k) and xterm (4680k),
161 this still fares rather well. And compared to some monsters like
162 gnome-terminal (21152k + extra 4204k in separate processes) or
163 konsole (22200k + extra 43180k in daemons that stay around after
164 exit, plus half a minute of startup time, including the hundreds of
165 warnings it spits out), it fares extremely well *g*.
166
167 Why C++, isn't that unportable/bloated/uncool?
168 Is this a question? :) It comes up very often. The simple answer is:
169 I had to write it, and C++ allowed me to write and maintain it in a
170 fraction of the time and effort (which is a scarce resource for me).
171 Put even shorter: It simply wouldn't exist without C++.
172
173 My personal stance on this is that C++ is less portable than C, but
174 in the case of rxvt-unicode this hardly matters, as its portability
175 limits are defined by things like X11, pseudo terminals, locale
176 support and unix domain sockets, which are all less portable than
177 C++ itself.
178
179 Regarding the bloat, see the above question: It's easy to write
180 programs in C that use gobs of memory, an certainly possible to
181 write programs in C++ that don't. C++ also often comes with large
182 libraries, but this is not necessarily the case with GCC. Here is
183 what rxvt links against on my system with a minimal config:
184
185 libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x00002aaaaabc3000)
186 libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00002aaaaadde000)
187 libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00002aaaab01d000)
188 /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00002aaaaaaab000)
189
190 And here is rxvt-unicode:
191
192 libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x00002aaaaabc3000)
193 libgcc_s.so.1 => /lib/libgcc_s.so.1 (0x00002aaaaada2000)
194 libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00002aaaaaeb0000)
195 libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00002aaaab0ee000)
196 /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00002aaaaaaab000)
197
198 No large bloated libraries (of course, none were linked in
199 statically), except maybe libX11 :)
200
201 Does it support tabs, can I have a tabbed rxvt-unicode?
202 Beginning with version 7.3, there is a perl extension that
203 implements a simple tabbed terminal. It is installed by default, so
204 any of these should give you tabs:
205
206 rxvt -pe tabbed
207
208 URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,tabbed
209
210 It will also work fine with tabbing functionality of many window
211 managers or similar tabbing programs, and its embedding-features
212 allow it to be embedded into other programs, as witnessed by
213 doc/rxvt-tabbed or the upcoming "Gtk2::URxvt" perl module, which
214 features a tabbed urxvt (murxvt) terminal as an example embedding
215 application.
216
2 How do I know which rxvt-unicode version I'm using? 217 How do I know which rxvt-unicode version I'm using?
3 The version number is displayed with the usage (-h). Also the escape 218 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. 219 sequence "ESC [ 8 n" sets the window title to the version number.
220 When using the rxvtc client, the version displayed is that of the
221 daemon.
5 222
6 I am using Debian GNU/Linux and have a problem... 223 I am using Debian GNU/Linux and have a problem...
7 The Debian GNU/Linux package of rxvt-unicode contains large patches 224 The Debian GNU/Linux package of rxvt-unicode in sarge contains large
8 that considerably change the behaviour of rxvt-unicode. Before 225 patches that considerably change the behaviour of rxvt-unicode (but
226 unfortunately this notice has been removed). Before reporting a bug
9 reporting a bug to the original rxvt-unicode author please download 227 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 228 genuine version (<http://software.schmorp.de#rxvt-unicode>) and try
12 problem. If you cannot, chances are that the problems are specific 229 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 230 problems are specific to Debian GNU/Linux, in which case it should
14 Debian Bug Tracking System (use "reportbug" to report the bug). 231 be reported via the Debian Bug Tracking System (use "reportbug" to
232 report the bug).
15 233
16 For other problems that also affect the Debian package, you can and 234 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 235 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 236 also a bug in the Debian version and it serves as a reminder for
19 other users that might encounter the same issue. 237 other users that might encounter the same issue.
238
239 I am maintaining rxvt-unicode for distribution/OS XXX, any
240 recommendation?
241 You should build one binary with the default options. configure now
242 enables most useful options, and the trend goes to making them
243 runtime-switchable, too, so there is usually no drawback to enbaling
244 them, except higher disk and possibly memory usage. The perl
245 interpreter should be enabled, as important functionality (menus,
246 selection, likely more in the future) depends on it.
247
248 You should not overwrite the "perl-ext-common" snd "perl-ext"
249 resources system-wide (except maybe with "defaults"). This will
250 result in useful behaviour. If your distribution aims at low memory,
251 add an empty "perl-ext-common" resource to the app-defaults file.
252 This will keep the perl interpreter disabled until the user enables
253 it.
254
255 If you can/want build more binaries, I recommend building a minimal
256 one with "--disable-everything" (very useful) and a maximal one with
257 "--enable-everything" (less useful, it will be very big due to a lot
258 of encodings built-in that increase download times and are rarely
259 used).
260
261 I need to make it setuid/setgid to support utmp/ptys on my OS, is this
262 safe?
263 It should be, starting with release 7.1. You are encouraged to
264 properly install urxvt with privileges necessary for your OS now.
265
266 When rxvt-unicode detects that it runs setuid or setgid, it will
267 fork into a helper process for privileged operations (pty handling
268 on some systems, utmp/wtmp/lastlog handling on others) and drop
269 privileges immediately. This is much safer than most other terminals
270 that keep privileges while running (but is more relevant to urxvt,
271 as it contains things as perl interpreters, which might be "helpful"
272 to attackers).
273
274 This forking is done as the very first within main(), which is very
275 early and reduces possible bugs to initialisation code run before
276 main(), or things like the dynamic loader of your system, which
277 should result in very little risk.
20 278
21 When I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data? 279 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 280 The terminal description used by rxvt-unicode is not as widely
23 available as that for xterm, or even rxvt (for which the same 281 available as that for xterm, or even rxvt (for which the same
24 problem often arises). 282 problem often arises).
… …
44 302
45 URxvt.termName: rxvt 303 URxvt.termName: rxvt
46 304
47 If you don't plan to use rxvt (quite common...) you could also 305 If you don't plan to use rxvt (quite common...) you could also
48 replace the rxvt terminfo file with the rxvt-unicode one. 306 replace the rxvt terminfo file with the rxvt-unicode one.
307
308 "tic" outputs some error when compiling the terminfo entry.
309 Most likely it's the empty definition for "enacs=". Just replace it
310 by "enacs=\E[0@" and try again.
49 311
50 "bash"'s readline does not work correctly under rxvt. 312 "bash"'s readline does not work correctly under rxvt.
51 I need a termcap file entry. 313 I need a termcap file entry.
52 One reason you might want this is that some distributions or 314 One reason you might want this is that some distributions or
53 operating systems still compile some programs using the 315 operating systems still compile some programs using the
… …
226 that doesn't work, you might be forced to use a different font. 488 that doesn't work, you might be forced to use a different font.
227 489
228 All of this is not a problem when using X11 core fonts, as their 490 All of this is not a problem when using X11 core fonts, as their
229 bounding box data is correct. 491 bounding box data is correct.
230 492
493 On Solaris 9, many line-drawing characters are too wide.
494 Seems to be a known bug, read
495 <http://nixdoc.net/files/forum/about34198.html>. Some people use the
496 following ugly workaround to get non-double-wide-characters working:
497
498 #define wcwidth(x) wcwidth(x) > 1 ? 1 : wcwidth(x)
499
231 My Compose (Multi_key) key is no longer working. 500 My Compose (Multi_key) key is no longer working.
232 The most common causes for this are that either your locale is not 501 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 502 set correctly, or you specified a preeditStyle that is not supported
234 by your input method. For example, if you specified OverTheSpot and 503 by your input method. For example, if you specified OverTheSpot and
235 your input method (e.g. the default input method handling Compose 504 your input method (e.g. the default input method handling Compose
… …
301 570
302 The rxvt-unicode author insists that the right way to fix this is in 571 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 572 the system libraries once and for all, instead of forcing every app
304 to carry complete replacements for them :) 573 to carry complete replacements for them :)
305 574
575 I use Solaris 9 and it doesn't compile/work/etc.
576 Try the diff in doc/solaris9.patch as a base. It fixes the worst
577 problems with "wcwidth" and a compile problem.
578
579 How can I use rxvt-unicode under cygwin?
580 rxvt-unicode should compile and run out of the box on cygwin, using
581 the X11 libraries that come with cygwin. libW11 emulation is no
582 longer supported (and makes no sense, either, as it only supported a
583 single font). I recommend starting the X-server in "-multiwindow" or
584 "-rootless" mode instead, which will result in similar look&feel as
585 the old libW11 emulation.
586
587 At the time of this writing, cygwin didn't seem to support any
588 multi-byte encodings (you might try "LC_CTYPE=C-UTF-8"), so you are
589 likely limited to 8-bit encodings.
590
306 How does rxvt-unicode determine the encoding to use? 591 How does rxvt-unicode determine the encoding to use?
307 Is there an option to switch encodings? 592 Is there an option to switch encodings?
308 Unlike some other terminals, rxvt-unicode has no encoding switch, 593 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 594 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 595 even know about UTF-8 or any other encodings with respect to
… …
385 670
386 My input method wants <some encoding> but I want UTF-8, what can I do? 671 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 672 You can specify separate locales for the input method and the rest
388 of the terminal, using the resource "imlocale": 673 of the terminal, using the resource "imlocale":
389 674
390 URxvt*imlocale: ja_JP.EUC-JP 675 URxvt.imlocale: ja_JP.EUC-JP
391 676
392 Now you can start your terminal with "LC_CTYPE=ja_JP.UTF-8" and 677 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 678 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, 679 be able to input characters outside "EUC-JP" in a normal way then,
395 as your input method limits you. 680 as your input method limits you.
… …
421 it gets worse, as rxvt-unicode then uses 8 bytes per screen cell. 706 it gets worse, as rxvt-unicode then uses 8 bytes per screen cell.
422 707
423 Can I speed up Xft rendering somehow? 708 Can I speed up Xft rendering somehow?
424 Yes, the most obvious way to speed it up is to avoid Xft entirely, 709 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 710 as it is simply slow. If you still want Xft fonts you might try to
426 disable antialiasing (by appending ":antialiasing=false"), which 711 disable antialiasing (by appending ":antialias=false"), which saves
427 saves lots of memory and also speeds up rendering considerably. 712 lots of memory and also speeds up rendering considerably.
428 713
429 Rxvt-unicode doesn't seem to anti-alias its fonts, what is wrong? 714 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 715 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 716 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 717 fonts, because they are small and fast, and then use Xft fonts. It
… …
438 Mouse cut/paste suddenly no longer works. 723 Mouse cut/paste suddenly no longer works.
439 Make sure that mouse reporting is actually turned off since killing 724 Make sure that mouse reporting is actually turned off since killing
440 some editors prematurely may leave the mouse in mouse report mode. 725 some editors prematurely may leave the mouse in mouse report mode.
441 I've heard that tcsh may use mouse reporting unless it otherwise 726 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 727 specified. A quick check is to see if cut/paste works when the Alt
443 or Shift keys are depressed. See rxvt(7) 728 or Shift keys are depressed.
444 729
445 What's with this bold/blink stuff? 730 What's with this bold/blink stuff?
446 If no bold colour is set via "colorBD:", bold will invert text using 731 If no bold colour is set via "colorBD:", bold will invert text using
447 the standard foreground colour. 732 the standard foreground colour.
448 733
… …
504 URxvt.color14: #73f7ff 789 URxvt.color14: #73f7ff
505 URxvt.color7: #e1dddd 790 URxvt.color7: #e1dddd
506 URxvt.color15: #e1dddd 791 URxvt.color15: #e1dddd
507 792
508 How can I start rxvtd in a race-free way? 793 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 794 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 795 listening socket and then fork.
511 itself.
512
513 To ensure rxvtd is listening on it's socket, you can use the
514 following method to wait for the startup message before continuing:
515
516 { rxvtd & } | read
517 796
518 What's with the strange Backspace/Delete key behaviour? 797 What's with the strange Backspace/Delete key behaviour?
519 Assuming that the physical Backspace key corresponds to the 798 Assuming that the physical Backspace key corresponds to the
520 BackSpace keysym (not likely for Linux ... see the following 799 BackSpace keysym (not likely for Linux ... see the following
521 question) there are two standard values that can be used for 800 question) there are two standard values that can be used for
… …
540 819
541 # use Backspace = ^? 820 # use Backspace = ^?
542 $ stty erase ^? 821 $ stty erase ^?
543 $ rxvt 822 $ rxvt
544 823
545 Toggle with "ESC [ 36 h" / "ESC [ 36 l" as documented in rxvt(7). 824 Toggle with "ESC [ 36 h" / "ESC [ 36 l".
546 825
547 For an existing rxvt-unicode: 826 For an existing rxvt-unicode:
548 827
549 # use Backspace = ^H 828 # use Backspace = ^H
550 $ stty erase ^H 829 $ stty erase ^H

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