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127.\} 127.\}
128.rm #[ #] #H #V #F C 128.rm #[ #] #H #V #F C
129.\" ======================================================================== 129.\" ========================================================================
130.\" 130.\"
131.IX Title "rxvt 7" 131.IX Title "rxvt 7"
132.TH rxvt 7 "2006-01-16" "7.0" "RXVT-UNICODE" 132.TH rxvt 7 "2006-01-31" "7.5" "RXVT-UNICODE"
133.SH "NAME" 133.SH "NAME"
134RXVT REFERENCE \- FAQ, command sequences and other background information 134RXVT REFERENCE \- FAQ, command sequences and other background information
135.SH "SYNOPSIS" 135.SH "SYNOPSIS"
136.IX Header "SYNOPSIS" 136.IX Header "SYNOPSIS"
137.Vb 2 137.Vb 2
151.SH "DESCRIPTION" 151.SH "DESCRIPTION"
152.IX Header "DESCRIPTION" 152.IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
153This document contains the \s-1FAQ\s0, the \s-1RXVT\s0 \s-1TECHNICAL\s0 \s-1REFERENCE\s0 documenting 153This document contains the \s-1FAQ\s0, the \s-1RXVT\s0 \s-1TECHNICAL\s0 \s-1REFERENCE\s0 documenting
154all escape sequences, and other background information. 154all escape sequences, and other background information.
155.PP 155.PP
156The newest version of this document is 156The newest version of this document is also available on the World Wide Web at
157also available on the World Wide Web at
158<http://cvs.schmorp.de/browse/*checkout*/rxvt\-unicode/doc/rxvt.7.html>. 157<http://cvs.schmorp.de/browse/*checkout*/rxvt\-unicode/doc/rxvt.7.html>.
159.SH "FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS" 158.SH "RXVT\-UNICODE/URXVT FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS"
160.IX Header "FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS" 159.IX Header "RXVT-UNICODE/URXVT FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS"
161.IP "The new selection selects pieces that are too big, how can I select single words?" 4 160.Sh "Meta, Features & Commandline Issues"
162.IX Item "The new selection selects pieces that are too big, how can I select single words?" 161.IX Subsection "Meta, Features & Commandline Issues"
163Yes. For example, if you want to select alphanumeric words, you can use 162\fIMy question isn't answered here, can I ask a human?\fR
164the following resource: 163.IX Subsection "My question isn't answered here, can I ask a human?"
165.Sp 164.PP
165Before sending me mail, you could go to \s-1IRC:\s0 \f(CW\*(C`irc.freenode.net\*(C'\fR,
166channel \f(CW\*(C`#rxvt\-unicode\*(C'\fR has some rxvt-unicode enthusiasts that might be
167interested in learning about new and exciting problems (but not FAQs :).
168.PP
169\fIDoes it support tabs, can I have a tabbed rxvt\-unicode?\fR
170.IX Subsection "Does it support tabs, can I have a tabbed rxvt-unicode?"
171.PP
172Beginning with version 7.3, there is a perl extension that implements a
173simple tabbed terminal. It is installed by default, so any of these should
174give you tabs:
175.PP
166.Vb 1 176.Vb 1
167\& URxvt.selection.pattern-0: ([[:word:]]+) 177\& @@URXVT_NAME@@ -pe tabbed
168.Ve 178.Ve
169.Sp 179.PP
170If you click more than twice, the selection will be extended
171more and more.
172.Sp
173To get a selection that is very similar to the old code, try this pattern:
174.Sp
175.Vb 1 180.Vb 1
176\& URxvt.selection.pattern-0: ([^"&'()*,;<=>?@[\e\e\e\e]^`{|})]+) 181\& URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,tabbed
177.Ve 182.Ve
178.Sp 183.PP
179Please also note that the \fILeftClick Shift-LeftClik\fR combination also 184It will also work fine with tabbing functionality of many window managers
180selects words like the old code. 185or similar tabbing programs, and its embedding-features allow it to be
181.IP "I don't like the new selection/popups/hotkeys/perl, how do I change/disable it?" 4 186embedded into other programs, as witnessed by \fIdoc/rxvt\-tabbed\fR or
182.IX Item "I don't like the new selection/popups/hotkeys/perl, how do I change/disable it?" 187the upcoming \f(CW\*(C`Gtk2::URxvt\*(C'\fR perl module, which features a tabbed urxvt
183You can disable the perl extension completely by setting the 188(murxvt) terminal as an example embedding application.
184\&\fBperl-ext-common\fR resource to the empty string, which also keeps 189.PP
185rxvt-unicode from initialising perl, saving memory. 190\fIHow do I know which rxvt-unicode version I'm using?\fR
186.Sp 191.IX Subsection "How do I know which rxvt-unicode version I'm using?"
187If you only want to disable specific features, you first have to 192.PP
188identify which perl extension is responsible. For this, read the section 193The version number is displayed with the usage (\-h). Also the escape
189\&\fB\s-1PREPACKAGED\s0 \s-1EXTENSIONS\s0\fR in the @@RXVT_NAME@@\fIperl\fR\|(3) manpage. For 194sequence \f(CW\*(C`ESC [ 8 n\*(C'\fR sets the window title to the version number. When
190example, to disable the \fBselection-popup\fR and \fBoption-popup\fR, specify 195using the @@URXVT_NAME@@c client, the version displayed is that of the
191this \fBperl-ext-common\fR resource: 196daemon.
192.Sp 197.PP
198\fIRxvt-unicode uses gobs of memory, how can I reduce that?\fR
199.IX Subsection "Rxvt-unicode uses gobs of memory, how can I reduce that?"
200.PP
201Rxvt-unicode tries to obey the rule of not charging you for something you
202don't use. One thing you should try is to configure out all settings that
203you don't need, for example, Xft support is a resource hog by design,
204when used. Compiling it out ensures that no Xft font will be loaded
205accidentally when rxvt-unicode tries to find a font for your characters.
206.PP
207Also, many people (me included) like large windows and even larger
208scrollback buffers: Without \f(CW\*(C`\-\-enable\-unicode3\*(C'\fR, rxvt-unicode will use
2096 bytes per screen cell. For a 160x?? window this amounts to almost a
210kilobyte per line. A scrollback buffer of 10000 lines will then (if full)
211use 10 Megabytes of memory. With \f(CW\*(C`\-\-enable\-unicode3\*(C'\fR it gets worse, as
212rxvt-unicode then uses 8 bytes per screen cell.
213.PP
214\fIHow can I start @@URXVT_NAME@@d in a race-free way?\fR
215.IX Subsection "How can I start @@URXVT_NAME@@d in a race-free way?"
216.PP
217Try \f(CW\*(C`@@URXVT_NAME@@d \-f \-o\*(C'\fR, which tells @@URXVT_NAME@@d to open the
218display, create the listening socket and then fork.
219.PP
220\fIHow do I distinguish wether I'm running rxvt-unicode or a regular xterm? I need this to decide about setting colors etc.\fR
221.IX Subsection "How do I distinguish wether I'm running rxvt-unicode or a regular xterm? I need this to decide about setting colors etc."
222.PP
223The original rxvt and rxvt-unicode always export the variable \*(L"\s-1COLORTERM\s0\*(R",
224so you can check and see if that is set. Note that several programs, \s-1JED\s0,
225slrn, Midnight Commander automatically check this variable to decide
226whether or not to use color.
227.PP
228\fIHow do I set the correct, full \s-1IP\s0 address for the \s-1DISPLAY\s0 variable?\fR
229.IX Subsection "How do I set the correct, full IP address for the DISPLAY variable?"
230.PP
231If you've compiled rxvt-unicode with \s-1DISPLAY_IS_IP\s0 and have enabled
232insecure mode then it is possible to use the following shell script
233snippets to correctly set the display. If your version of rxvt-unicode
234wasn't also compiled with \s-1ESCZ_ANSWER\s0 (as assumed in these snippets) then
235the \s-1COLORTERM\s0 variable can be used to distinguish rxvt-unicode from a
236regular xterm.
237.PP
238Courtesy of Chuck Blake <cblake@BBN.COM> with the following shell script
239snippets:
240.PP
193.Vb 1 241.Vb 12
194\& URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,-selection-popup,-option-popup 242\& # Bourne/Korn/POSIX family of shells:
243\& [ ${TERM:-foo} = foo ] && TERM=xterm # assume an xterm if we don't know
244\& if [ ${TERM:-foo} = xterm ]; then
245\& stty -icanon -echo min 0 time 15 # see if enhanced rxvt or not
246\& echo -n '^[Z'
247\& read term_id
248\& stty icanon echo
249\& if [ ""${term_id} = '^[[?1;2C' -a ${DISPLAY:-foo} = foo ]; then
250\& echo -n '^[[7n' # query the rxvt we are in for the DISPLAY string
251\& read DISPLAY # set it in our local shell
252\& fi
253\& fi
195.Ve 254.Ve
196.Sp 255.PP
197This will keep the default extensions, but disable the two popup 256\fIHow do I compile the manual pages on my own?\fR
198extensions. Some extensions can also be configured, for example, 257.IX Subsection "How do I compile the manual pages on my own?"
199scrollback search mode is triggered by \fBM\-s\fR. You can move it to any 258.PP
200other combination either by setting the \fBsearchable-scrollback\fR resource: 259You need to have a recent version of perl installed as \fI/usr/bin/perl\fR,
201.Sp 260one that comes with \fIpod2man\fR, \fIpod2text\fR and \fIpod2html\fR. Then go to
202.Vb 1 261the doc subdirectory and enter \f(CW\*(C`make alldoc\*(C'\fR.
203\& URxvt.searchable-scrollback: CM-s 262.PP
204.Ve
205.IP "Isn't rxvt supposed to be small? Don't all those features bloat?" 4 263\fIIsn't rxvt-unicode supposed to be small? Don't all those features bloat?\fR
206.IX Item "Isn't rxvt supposed to be small? Don't all those features bloat?" 264.IX Subsection "Isn't rxvt-unicode supposed to be small? Don't all those features bloat?"
265.PP
207I often get asked about this, and I think, no, they didn't cause extra 266I often get asked about this, and I think, no, they didn't cause extra
208bloat. If you compare a minimal rxvt and a minimal urxvt, you can see 267bloat. If you compare a minimal rxvt and a minimal urxvt, you can see
209that the urxvt binary is larger (due to some encoding tables always being 268that the urxvt binary is larger (due to some encoding tables always being
210compiled in), but it actually uses less memory (\s-1RSS\s0) after startup. Even 269compiled in), but it actually uses less memory (\s-1RSS\s0) after startup. Even
211with \f(CW\*(C`\-\-disable\-everything\*(C'\fR, this comparison is a bit unfair, as many 270with \f(CW\*(C`\-\-disable\-everything\*(C'\fR, this comparison is a bit unfair, as many
212features unique to urxvt (locale, encoding conversion, iso14755 etc.) are 271features unique to urxvt (locale, encoding conversion, iso14755 etc.) are
213already in use in this mode. 272already in use in this mode.
214.Sp 273.PP
215.Vb 3 274.Vb 3
216\& text data bss drs rss filename 275\& text data bss drs rss filename
217\& 98398 1664 24 15695 1824 rxvt --disable-everything 276\& 98398 1664 24 15695 1824 rxvt --disable-everything
218\& 188985 9048 66616 18222 1788 urxvt --disable-everything 277\& 188985 9048 66616 18222 1788 urxvt --disable-everything
219.Ve 278.Ve
220.Sp 279.PP
221When you \f(CW\*(C`\-\-enable\-everything\*(C'\fR (which _is_ unfair, as this involves xft 280When you \f(CW\*(C`\-\-enable\-everything\*(C'\fR (which \fIis\fR unfair, as this involves xft
222and full locale/XIM support which are quite bloaty inside libX11 and my 281and full locale/XIM support which are quite bloaty inside libX11 and my
223libc), the two diverge, but not unreasnobaly so. 282libc), the two diverge, but not unreasnobaly so.
224.Sp 283.PP
225.Vb 3 284.Vb 3
226\& text data bss drs rss filename 285\& text data bss drs rss filename
227\& 163431 2152 24 20123 2060 rxvt --enable-everything 286\& 163431 2152 24 20123 2060 rxvt --enable-everything
228\& 1035683 49680 66648 29096 3680 urxvt --enable-everything 287\& 1035683 49680 66648 29096 3680 urxvt --enable-everything
229.Ve 288.Ve
230.Sp 289.PP
231The very large size of the text section is explained by the east-asian 290The very large size of the text section is explained by the east-asian
232encoding tables, which, if unused, take up disk space but nothing else 291encoding tables, which, if unused, take up disk space but nothing else
233and can be compiled out unless you rely on X11 core fonts that use those 292and can be compiled out unless you rely on X11 core fonts that use those
234encodings. The \s-1BSS\s0 size comes from the 64k emergency buffer that my c++ 293encodings. The \s-1BSS\s0 size comes from the 64k emergency buffer that my c++
235compiler allocates (but of course doesn't use unless you are out of 294compiler allocates (but of course doesn't use unless you are out of
236memory). Also, using an xft font instead of a core font immediately adds a 295memory). Also, using an xft font instead of a core font immediately adds a
237few megabytes of \s-1RSS\s0. Xft indeed is responsible for a lot of \s-1RSS\s0 even when 296few megabytes of \s-1RSS\s0. Xft indeed is responsible for a lot of \s-1RSS\s0 even when
238not used. 297not used.
239.Sp 298.PP
240Of course, due to every character using two or four bytes instead of one, 299Of course, due to every character using two or four bytes instead of one,
241a large scrollback buffer will ultimately make rxvt-unicode use more 300a large scrollback buffer will ultimately make rxvt-unicode use more
242memory. 301memory.
243.Sp 302.PP
244Compared to e.g. Eterm (5112k), aterm (3132k) and xterm (4680k), this 303Compared to e.g. Eterm (5112k), aterm (3132k) and xterm (4680k), this
245still fares rather well. And compared to some monsters like gnome-terminal 304still fares rather well. And compared to some monsters like gnome-terminal
246(21152k + extra 4204k in separate processes) or konsole (22200k + extra 305(21152k + extra 4204k in separate processes) or konsole (22200k + extra
24743180k in daemons that stay around after exit, plus half a minute of 30643180k in daemons that stay around after exit, plus half a minute of
248startup time, including the hundreds of warnings it spits out), it fares 307startup time, including the hundreds of warnings it spits out), it fares
249extremely well *g*. 308extremely well *g*.
309.PP
250.IP "Why \*(C+, isn't that unportable/bloated/uncool?" 4 310\fIWhy \*(C+, isn't that unportable/bloated/uncool?\fR
251.IX Item "Why , isn't that unportable/bloated/uncool?" 311.IX Subsection "Why , isn't that unportable/bloated/uncool?"
312.PP
252Is this a question? :) It comes up very often. The simple answer is: I had 313Is this a question? :) It comes up very often. The simple answer is: I had
253to write it, and \*(C+ allowed me to write and maintain it in a fraction 314to write it, and \*(C+ allowed me to write and maintain it in a fraction
254of the time and effort (which is a scarce resource for me). Put even 315of the time and effort (which is a scarce resource for me). Put even
255shorter: It simply wouldn't exist without \*(C+. 316shorter: It simply wouldn't exist without \*(C+.
256.Sp 317.PP
257My personal stance on this is that \*(C+ is less portable than C, but in 318My personal stance on this is that \*(C+ is less portable than C, but in
258the case of rxvt-unicode this hardly matters, as its portability limits 319the case of rxvt-unicode this hardly matters, as its portability limits
259are defined by things like X11, pseudo terminals, locale support and unix 320are defined by things like X11, pseudo terminals, locale support and unix
260domain sockets, which are all less portable than \*(C+ itself. 321domain sockets, which are all less portable than \*(C+ itself.
261.Sp 322.PP
262Regarding the bloat, see the above question: It's easy to write programs 323Regarding the bloat, see the above question: It's easy to write programs
263in C that use gobs of memory, an certainly possible to write programs in 324in C that use gobs of memory, an certainly possible to write programs in
264\&\*(C+ that don't. \*(C+ also often comes with large libraries, but this is 325\&\*(C+ that don't. \*(C+ also often comes with large libraries, but this is
265not necessarily the case with \s-1GCC\s0. Here is what rxvt links against on my 326not necessarily the case with \s-1GCC\s0. Here is what rxvt links against on my
266system with a minimal config: 327system with a minimal config:
267.Sp 328.PP
268.Vb 4 329.Vb 4
269\& libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x00002aaaaabc3000) 330\& libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x00002aaaaabc3000)
270\& libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00002aaaaadde000) 331\& libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00002aaaaadde000)
271\& libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00002aaaab01d000) 332\& libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00002aaaab01d000)
272\& /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00002aaaaaaab000) 333\& /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00002aaaaaaab000)
273.Ve 334.Ve
274.Sp 335.PP
275And here is rxvt\-unicode: 336And here is rxvt\-unicode:
276.Sp 337.PP
277.Vb 5 338.Vb 5
278\& libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x00002aaaaabc3000) 339\& libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x00002aaaaabc3000)
279\& libgcc_s.so.1 => /lib/libgcc_s.so.1 (0x00002aaaaada2000) 340\& libgcc_s.so.1 => /lib/libgcc_s.so.1 (0x00002aaaaada2000)
280\& libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00002aaaaaeb0000) 341\& libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00002aaaaaeb0000)
281\& libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00002aaaab0ee000) 342\& libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00002aaaab0ee000)
282\& /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00002aaaaaaab000) 343\& /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00002aaaaaaab000)
283.Ve 344.Ve
284.Sp 345.PP
285No large bloated libraries (of course, none were linked in statically), 346No large bloated libraries (of course, none were linked in statically),
286except maybe libX11 :) 347except maybe libX11 :)
287.IP "Does it support tabs, can I have a tabbed rxvt\-unicode?" 4 348.Sh "Rendering, Font & Look and Feel Issues"
288.IX Item "Does it support tabs, can I have a tabbed rxvt-unicode?" 349.IX Subsection "Rendering, Font & Look and Feel Issues"
289rxvt-unicode does not directly support tabs. It will work fine with 350\fII can't get transparency working, what am I doing wrong?\fR
290tabbing functionality of many window managers or similar tabbing programs, 351.IX Subsection "I can't get transparency working, what am I doing wrong?"
291and its embedding-features allow it to be embedded into other programs, 352.PP
292as witnessed by \fIdoc/rxvt\-tabbed\fR or the upcoming \f(CW\*(C`Gtk2::URxvt\*(C'\fR perl 353First of all, transparency isn't officially supported in rxvt\-unicode, so
293module, which features a tabbed urxvt (murxvt) terminal as an example 354you are mostly on your own. Do not bug the author about it (but you may
294embedding application. 355bug everybody else). Also, if you can't get it working consider it a rite
295.IP "How do I know which rxvt-unicode version I'm using?" 4 356of passage: ... and you failed.
296.IX Item "How do I know which rxvt-unicode version I'm using?" 357.PP
297The version number is displayed with the usage (\-h). Also the escape 358Here are four ways to get transparency. \fBDo\fR read the manpage and option
298sequence \f(CW\*(C`ESC [ 8 n\*(C'\fR sets the window title to the version number. When 359descriptions for the programs mentioned and rxvt\-unicode. Really, do it!
299using the @@RXVT_NAME@@c client, the version displayed is that of the 360.PP
300daemon. 3611. Use inheritPixmap:
301.IP "I am using Debian GNU/Linux and have a problem..." 4 362.PP
302.IX Item "I am using Debian GNU/Linux and have a problem..." 363.Vb 2
303The Debian GNU/Linux package of rxvt-unicode in sarge contains large 364\& Esetroot wallpaper.jpg
304patches that considerably change the behaviour of rxvt\-unicode. Before 365\& @@URXVT_NAME@@ -ip -tint red -sh 40
305reporting a bug to the original rxvt-unicode author please download and 366.Ve
306install the genuine version (<http://software.schmorp.de#rxvt\-unicode>) 367.PP
307and try to reproduce the problem. If you cannot, chances are that the 368That works. If you think it doesn't, you lack transparency and tinting
308problems are specific to Debian GNU/Linux, in which case it should be 369support, or you are unable to read.
309reported via the Debian Bug Tracking System (use \f(CW\*(C`reportbug\*(C'\fR to report 370.PP
310the bug). 3712. Use a simple pixmap and emulate pseudo\-transparency. This enables you
311.Sp 372to use effects other than tinting and shading: Just shade/tint/whatever
312For other problems that also affect the Debian package, you can and 373your picture with gimp or any other tool:
313probably should use the Debian \s-1BTS\s0, too, because, after all, it's also a 374.PP
314bug in the Debian version and it serves as a reminder for other users that 375.Vb 2
315might encounter the same issue. 376\& convert wallpaper.jpg -blur 20x20 -modulate 30 background.xpm
316.IP "I am maintaining rxvt-unicode for distribution/OS \s-1XXX\s0, any recommendation?" 4 377\& @@URXVT_NAME@@ -pixmap background.xpm -pe automove-background
317.IX Item "I am maintaining rxvt-unicode for distribution/OS XXX, any recommendation?" 378.Ve
318You should build one binary with the default options. \fIconfigure\fR 379.PP
319now enables most useful options, and the trend goes to making them 380That works. If you think it doesn't, you lack \s-1XPM\s0 and Perl support, or you
320runtime\-switchable, too, so there is usually no drawback to enbaling them, 381are unable to read.
321except higher disk and possibly memory usage. The perl interpreter should 382.PP
322be enabled, as important functionality (menus, selection, likely more in 3833. Use an \s-1ARGB\s0 visual:
323the future) depends on it. 384.PP
324.Sp 385.Vb 1
325You should not overwrite the \f(CW\*(C`perl\-ext\-common\*(C'\fR snd \f(CW\*(C`perl\-ext\*(C'\fR resources 386\& @@URXVT_NAME@@ -depth 32 -fg grey90 -bg rgba:0000/0000/4444/cccc
326system-wide (except maybe with \f(CW\*(C`defaults\*(C'\fR). This will result in useful 387.Ve
327behaviour. If your distribution aims at low memory, add an empty 388.PP
328\&\f(CW\*(C`perl\-ext\-common\*(C'\fR resource to the app-defaults file. This will keep the 389This requires \s-1XFT\s0 support, and the support of your X\-server. If that
329perl interpreter disabled until the user enables it. 390doesn't work for you, blame Xorg and Keith Packard. \s-1ARGB\s0 visuals aren't
330.Sp 391there yet, no matter what they claim. Rxvt-Unicode contains the neccessary
331If you can/want build more binaries, I recommend building a minimal 392bugfixes and workarounds for Xft and Xlib to make it work, but that
332one with \f(CW\*(C`\-\-disable\-everything\*(C'\fR (very useful) and a maximal one with 393doesn't mean that your \s-1WM\s0 has the required kludges in place.
333\&\f(CW\*(C`\-\-enable\-everything\*(C'\fR (less useful, it will be very big due to a lot of 394.PP
334encodings built-in that increase download times and are rarely used). 3954. Use xcompmgr and let it do the job:
335.IP "I need to make it setuid/setgid to support utmp/ptys on my \s-1OS\s0, is this safe?" 4 396.PP
336.IX Item "I need to make it setuid/setgid to support utmp/ptys on my OS, is this safe?" 397.Vb 2
337Likely not. While I honestly try to make it secure, and am probably not 398\& xprop -frame -f _NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY 32c \e
338bad at it, I think it is simply unreasonable to expect all of freetype 399\& -set _NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY 0xc0000000
339+ fontconfig + xft + xlib + perl + ... + rxvt-unicode itself to all be 400.Ve
340secure. Also, rxvt-unicode disables some options when it detects that it 401.PP
341runs setuid or setgid, which is not nice. Besides, with the embedded perl 402Then click on a window you want to make transparent. Replace \f(CW0xc0000000\fR
342interpreter the possibility for security problems easily multiplies. 403by other values to change the degree of opacity. If it doesn't work and
343.Sp 404your server crashes, you got to keep the pieces.
344Elevated privileges are only required for utmp and pty operations on some 405.PP
345systems (for example, GNU/Linux doesn't need any extra privileges for 406\fIWhy do some chinese characters look so different than others?\fR
346ptys, but some need it for utmp support). It is planned to mvoe this into 407.IX Subsection "Why do some chinese characters look so different than others?"
347a forked handler process, but this is not yet done. 408.PP
348.Sp 409This is because there is a difference between script and language \*(--
349So, while setuid/setgid operation is supported and not a problem on your 410rxvt-unicode does not know which language the text that is output is,
350typical single-user-no-other-logins unix desktop, always remember that 411as it only knows the unicode character codes. If rxvt-unicode first
351its an awful lot of code, most of which isn't checked for security issues 412sees a japanese/chinese character, it might choose a japanese font for
352regularly. 413display. Subsequent japanese characters will use that font. Now, many
414chinese characters aren't represented in japanese fonts, so when the first
415non-japanese character comes up, rxvt-unicode will look for a chinese font
416\&\*(-- unfortunately at this point, it will still use the japanese font for
417chinese characters that are also in the japanese font.
418.PP
419The workaround is easy: just tag a chinese font at the end of your font
420list (see the previous question). The key is to view the font list as
421a preference list: If you expect more japanese, list a japanese font
422first. If you expect more chinese, put a chinese font first.
423.PP
424In the future it might be possible to switch language preferences at
425runtime (the internal data structure has no problem with using different
426fonts for the same character at the same time, but no interface for this
427has been designed yet).
428.PP
429Until then, you might get away with switching fonts at runtime (see \*(L"Can I switch the fonts at runtime?\*(R" later in this document).
430.PP
431\fIWhy does rxvt-unicode sometimes leave pixel droppings?\fR
432.IX Subsection "Why does rxvt-unicode sometimes leave pixel droppings?"
433.PP
434Most fonts were not designed for terminal use, which means that character
435size varies a lot. A font that is otherwise fine for terminal use might
436contain some characters that are simply too wide. Rxvt-unicode will avoid
437these characters. For characters that are just \*(L"a bit\*(R" too wide a special
438\&\*(L"careful\*(R" rendering mode is used that redraws adjacent characters.
439.PP
440All of this requires that fonts do not lie about character sizes,
441however: Xft fonts often draw glyphs larger than their acclaimed bounding
442box, and rxvt-unicode has no way of detecting this (the correct way is to
443ask for the character bounding box, which unfortunately is wrong in these
444cases).
445.PP
446It's not clear (to me at least), wether this is a bug in Xft, freetype,
447or the respective font. If you encounter this problem you might try using
448the \f(CW\*(C`\-lsp\*(C'\fR option to give the font more height. If that doesn't work, you
449might be forced to use a different font.
450.PP
451All of this is not a problem when using X11 core fonts, as their bounding
452box data is correct.
453.PP
454\fIHow can I keep rxvt-unicode from using reverse video so much?\fR
455.IX Subsection "How can I keep rxvt-unicode from using reverse video so much?"
456.PP
457First of all, make sure you are running with the right terminal settings
458(\f(CW\*(C`TERM=rxvt\-unicode\*(C'\fR), which will get rid of most of these effects. Then
459make sure you have specified colours for italic and bold, as otherwise
460rxvt-unicode might use reverse video to simulate the effect:
461.PP
462.Vb 2
463\& URxvt.colorBD: white
464\& URxvt.colorIT: green
465.Ve
466.PP
467\fISome programs assume totally weird colours (red instead of blue), how can I fix that?\fR
468.IX Subsection "Some programs assume totally weird colours (red instead of blue), how can I fix that?"
469.PP
470For some unexplainable reason, some rare programs assume a very weird
471colour palette when confronted with a terminal with more than the standard
4728 colours (rxvt\-unicode supports 88). The right fix is, of course, to fix
473these programs not to assume non-ISO colours without very good reasons.
474.PP
475In the meantime, you can either edit your \f(CW\*(C`rxvt\-unicode\*(C'\fR terminfo
476definition to only claim 8 colour support or use \f(CW\*(C`TERM=rxvt\*(C'\fR, which will
477fix colours but keep you from using other rxvt-unicode features.
478.PP
479\fICan I switch the fonts at runtime?\fR
480.IX Subsection "Can I switch the fonts at runtime?"
481.PP
482Yes, using an escape sequence. Try something like this, which has the same
483effect as using the \f(CW\*(C`\-fn\*(C'\fR switch, and takes effect immediately:
484.PP
485.Vb 1
486\& printf '\ee]50;%s\e007' "9x15bold,xft:Kochi Gothic"
487.Ve
488.PP
489This is useful if you e.g. work primarily with japanese (and prefer a
490japanese font), but you have to switch to chinese temporarily, where
491japanese fonts would only be in your way.
492.PP
493You can think of this as a kind of manual \s-1ISO\-2022\s0 switching.
494.PP
495\fIWhy do italic characters look as if clipped?\fR
496.IX Subsection "Why do italic characters look as if clipped?"
497.PP
498Many fonts have difficulties with italic characters and hinting. For
499example, the otherwise very nicely hinted font \f(CW\*(C`xft:Bitstream Vera Sans
500Mono\*(C'\fR completely fails in it's italic face. A workaround might be to
501enable freetype autohinting, i.e. like this:
502.PP
503.Vb 2
504\& URxvt.italicFont: xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:italic:autohint=true
505\& URxvt.boldItalicFont: xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:bold:italic:autohint=true
506.Ve
507.PP
508\fICan I speed up Xft rendering somehow?\fR
509.IX Subsection "Can I speed up Xft rendering somehow?"
510.PP
511Yes, the most obvious way to speed it up is to avoid Xft entirely, as
512it is simply slow. If you still want Xft fonts you might try to disable
513antialiasing (by appending \f(CW\*(C`:antialias=false\*(C'\fR), which saves lots of
514memory and also speeds up rendering considerably.
515.PP
516\fIRxvt-unicode doesn't seem to anti-alias its fonts, what is wrong?\fR
517.IX Subsection "Rxvt-unicode doesn't seem to anti-alias its fonts, what is wrong?"
518.PP
519Rxvt-unicode will use whatever you specify as a font. If it needs to
520fall back to it's default font search list it will prefer X11 core
521fonts, because they are small and fast, and then use Xft fonts. It has
522antialiasing disabled for most of them, because the author thinks they
523look best that way.
524.PP
525If you want antialiasing, you have to specify the fonts manually.
526.PP
527\fIWhat's with this bold/blink stuff?\fR
528.IX Subsection "What's with this bold/blink stuff?"
529.PP
530If no bold colour is set via \f(CW\*(C`colorBD:\*(C'\fR, bold will invert text using the
531standard foreground colour.
532.PP
533For the standard background colour, blinking will actually make the
534text blink when compiled with \f(CW\*(C`\-\-enable\-blinking\*(C'\fR. with standard
535colours. Without \f(CW\*(C`\-\-enable\-blinking\*(C'\fR, the blink attribute will be
536ignored.
537.PP
538On \s-1ANSI\s0 colours, bold/blink attributes are used to set high-intensity
539foreground/background colors.
540.PP
541color0\-7 are the low-intensity colors.
542.PP
543color8\-15 are the corresponding high-intensity colors.
544.PP
545\fII don't like the screen colors. How do I change them?\fR
546.IX Subsection "I don't like the screen colors. How do I change them?"
547.PP
548You can change the screen colors at run-time using \fI~/.Xdefaults\fR
549resources (or as long\-options).
550.PP
551Here are values that are supposed to resemble a \s-1VGA\s0 screen,
552including the murky brown that passes for low-intensity yellow:
553.PP
554.Vb 8
555\& URxvt.color0: #000000
556\& URxvt.color1: #A80000
557\& URxvt.color2: #00A800
558\& URxvt.color3: #A8A800
559\& URxvt.color4: #0000A8
560\& URxvt.color5: #A800A8
561\& URxvt.color6: #00A8A8
562\& URxvt.color7: #A8A8A8
563.Ve
564.PP
565.Vb 8
566\& URxvt.color8: #000054
567\& URxvt.color9: #FF0054
568\& URxvt.color10: #00FF54
569\& URxvt.color11: #FFFF54
570\& URxvt.color12: #0000FF
571\& URxvt.color13: #FF00FF
572\& URxvt.color14: #00FFFF
573\& URxvt.color15: #FFFFFF
574.Ve
575.PP
576And here is a more complete set of non-standard colors.
577.PP
578.Vb 18
579\& URxvt.cursorColor: #dc74d1
580\& URxvt.pointerColor: #dc74d1
581\& URxvt.background: #0e0e0e
582\& URxvt.foreground: #4ad5e1
583\& URxvt.color0: #000000
584\& URxvt.color8: #8b8f93
585\& URxvt.color1: #dc74d1
586\& URxvt.color9: #dc74d1
587\& URxvt.color2: #0eb8c7
588\& URxvt.color10: #0eb8c7
589\& URxvt.color3: #dfe37e
590\& URxvt.color11: #dfe37e
591\& URxvt.color5: #9e88f0
592\& URxvt.color13: #9e88f0
593\& URxvt.color6: #73f7ff
594\& URxvt.color14: #73f7ff
595\& URxvt.color7: #e1dddd
596\& URxvt.color15: #e1dddd
597.Ve
598.PP
599(They were described (not by me) as \*(L"pretty girly\*(R").
600.PP
601\fIWhy do some characters look so much different than others?\fR
602.IX Subsection "Why do some characters look so much different than others?"
603.PP
604See next entry.
605.PP
606\fIHow does rxvt-unicode choose fonts?\fR
607.IX Subsection "How does rxvt-unicode choose fonts?"
608.PP
609Most fonts do not contain the full range of Unicode, which is
610fine. Chances are that the font you (or the admin/package maintainer of
611your system/os) have specified does not cover all the characters you want
612to display.
613.PP
614\&\fBrxvt-unicode\fR makes a best-effort try at finding a replacement
615font. Often the result is fine, but sometimes the chosen font looks
616bad/ugly/wrong. Some fonts have totally strange characters that don't
617resemble the correct glyph at all, and rxvt-unicode lacks the artificial
618intelligence to detect that a specific glyph is wrong: it has to believe
619the font that the characters it claims to contain indeed look correct.
620.PP
621In that case, select a font of your taste and add it to the font list,
622e.g.:
623.PP
624.Vb 1
625\& @@URXVT_NAME@@ -fn basefont,font2,font3...
626.Ve
627.PP
628When rxvt-unicode sees a character, it will first look at the base
629font. If the base font does not contain the character, it will go to the
630next font, and so on. Specifying your own fonts will also speed up this
631search and use less resources within rxvt-unicode and the X\-server.
632.PP
633The only limitation is that none of the fonts may be larger than the base
634font, as the base font defines the terminal character cell size, which
635must be the same due to the way terminals work.
636.Sh "Keyboard, Mouse & User Interaction"
637.IX Subsection "Keyboard, Mouse & User Interaction"
638\fIThe new selection selects pieces that are too big, how can I select single words?\fR
639.IX Subsection "The new selection selects pieces that are too big, how can I select single words?"
640.PP
641If you want to select e.g. alphanumeric words, you can use the following
642setting:
643.PP
644.Vb 1
645\& URxvt.selection.pattern-0: ([[:word:]]+)
646.Ve
647.PP
648If you click more than twice, the selection will be extended
649more and more.
650.PP
651To get a selection that is very similar to the old code, try this pattern:
652.PP
653.Vb 1
654\& URxvt.selection.pattern-0: ([^"&'()*,;<=>?@[\e\e\e\e]^`{|})]+)
655.Ve
656.PP
657Please also note that the \fILeftClick Shift-LeftClik\fR combination also
658selects words like the old code.
659.PP
660\fII don't like the new selection/popups/hotkeys/perl, how do I change/disable it?\fR
661.IX Subsection "I don't like the new selection/popups/hotkeys/perl, how do I change/disable it?"
662.PP
663You can disable the perl extension completely by setting the
664\&\fBperl-ext-common\fR resource to the empty string, which also keeps
665rxvt-unicode from initialising perl, saving memory.
666.PP
667If you only want to disable specific features, you first have to
668identify which perl extension is responsible. For this, read the section
669\&\fB\s-1PREPACKAGED\s0 \s-1EXTENSIONS\s0\fR in the @@URXVT_NAME@@\fIperl\fR\|(3) manpage. For
670example, to disable the \fBselection-popup\fR and \fBoption-popup\fR, specify
671this \fBperl-ext-common\fR resource:
672.PP
673.Vb 1
674\& URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,-selection-popup,-option-popup
675.Ve
676.PP
677This will keep the default extensions, but disable the two popup
678extensions. Some extensions can also be configured, for example,
679scrollback search mode is triggered by \fBM\-s\fR. You can move it to any
680other combination either by setting the \fBsearchable-scrollback\fR resource:
681.PP
682.Vb 1
683\& URxvt.searchable-scrollback: CM-s
684.Ve
685.PP
686\fIThe cursor moves when selecting text in the current input line, how do I switch this off?\fR
687.IX Subsection "The cursor moves when selecting text in the current input line, how do I switch this off?"
688.PP
689See next entry.
690.PP
691\fIDuring rlogin/ssh/telnet/etc. sessions, clicking near the cursor outputs strange escape sequences, how do I fix this?\fR
692.IX Subsection "During rlogin/ssh/telnet/etc. sessions, clicking near the cursor outputs strange escape sequences, how do I fix this?"
693.PP
694These are caused by the \f(CW\*(C`readline\*(C'\fR perl extension. Under normal
695circumstances, it will move your cursor around when you click into the
696line that contains it. It tries hard not to do this at the wrong moment,
697but when running a program that doesn't parse cursor movements or in some
698cases during rlogin sessions, it fails to detect this properly.
699.PP
700You can permamently switch this feature off by disabling the \f(CW\*(C`readline\*(C'\fR
701extension:
702.PP
703.Vb 1
704\& URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,-readline
705.Ve
706.PP
707\fIMy numerical keypad acts weird and generates differing output?\fR
708.IX Subsection "My numerical keypad acts weird and generates differing output?"
709.PP
710Some Debian GNUL/Linux users seem to have this problem, although no
711specific details were reported so far. It is possible that this is caused
712by the wrong \f(CW\*(C`TERM\*(C'\fR setting, although the details of wether and how
713this can happen are unknown, as \f(CW\*(C`TERM=rxvt\*(C'\fR should offer a compatible
714keymap. See the answer to the previous question, and please report if that
715helped.
716.PP
717\fIMy Compose (Multi_key) key is no longer working.\fR
718.IX Subsection "My Compose (Multi_key) key is no longer working."
719.PP
720The most common causes for this are that either your locale is not set
721correctly, or you specified a \fBpreeditStyle\fR that is not supported by
722your input method. For example, if you specified \fBOverTheSpot\fR and
723your input method (e.g. the default input method handling Compose keys)
724does not support this (for instance because it is not visual), then
725rxvt-unicode will continue without an input method.
726.PP
727In this case either do not specify a \fBpreeditStyle\fR or specify more than
728one pre-edit style, such as \fBOverTheSpot,Root,None\fR.
729.PP
730\fII cannot type \f(CI\*(C`Ctrl\-Shift\-2\*(C'\fI to get an \s-1ASCII\s0 \s-1NUL\s0 character due to \s-1ISO\s0 14755\fR
731.IX Subsection "I cannot type Ctrl-Shift-2 to get an ASCII NUL character due to ISO 14755"
732.PP
733Either try \f(CW\*(C`Ctrl\-2\*(C'\fR alone (it often is mapped to \s-1ASCII\s0 \s-1NUL\s0 even on
734international keyboards) or simply use \s-1ISO\s0 14755 support to your
735advantage, typing <Ctrl\-Shift\-0> to get a \s-1ASCII\s0 \s-1NUL\s0. This works for other
736codes, too, such as \f(CW\*(C`Ctrl\-Shift\-1\-d\*(C'\fR to type the default telnet escape
737character and so on.
738.PP
739\fIMouse cut/paste suddenly no longer works.\fR
740.IX Subsection "Mouse cut/paste suddenly no longer works."
741.PP
742Make sure that mouse reporting is actually turned off since killing
743some editors prematurely may leave the mouse in mouse report mode. I've
744heard that tcsh may use mouse reporting unless it otherwise specified. A
745quick check is to see if cut/paste works when the Alt or Shift keys are
746depressed.
747.PP
748\fIWhat's with the strange Backspace/Delete key behaviour?\fR
749.IX Subsection "What's with the strange Backspace/Delete key behaviour?"
750.PP
751Assuming that the physical Backspace key corresponds to the
752BackSpace keysym (not likely for Linux ... see the following
753question) there are two standard values that can be used for
754Backspace: \f(CW\*(C`^H\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`^?\*(C'\fR.
755.PP
756Historically, either value is correct, but rxvt-unicode adopts the debian
757policy of using \f(CW\*(C`^?\*(C'\fR when unsure, because it's the one only only correct
758choice :).
759.PP
760Rxvt-unicode tries to inherit the current stty settings and uses the value
761of `erase' to guess the value for backspace. If rxvt-unicode wasn't
762started from a terminal (say, from a menu or by remote shell), then the
763system value of `erase', which corresponds to \s-1CERASE\s0 in <termios.h>, will
764be used (which may not be the same as your stty setting).
765.PP
766For starting a new rxvt\-unicode:
767.PP
768.Vb 3
769\& # use Backspace = ^H
770\& $ stty erase ^H
771\& $ @@URXVT_NAME@@
772.Ve
773.PP
774.Vb 3
775\& # use Backspace = ^?
776\& $ stty erase ^?
777\& $ @@URXVT_NAME@@
778.Ve
779.PP
780Toggle with \f(CW\*(C`ESC [ 36 h\*(C'\fR / \f(CW\*(C`ESC [ 36 l\*(C'\fR.
781.PP
782For an existing rxvt\-unicode:
783.PP
784.Vb 3
785\& # use Backspace = ^H
786\& $ stty erase ^H
787\& $ echo -n "^[[36h"
788.Ve
789.PP
790.Vb 3
791\& # use Backspace = ^?
792\& $ stty erase ^?
793\& $ echo -n "^[[36l"
794.Ve
795.PP
796This helps satisfy some of the Backspace discrepancies that occur, but
797if you use Backspace = \f(CW\*(C`^H\*(C'\fR, make sure that the termcap/terminfo value
798properly reflects that.
799.PP
800The Delete key is a another casualty of the ill-defined Backspace problem.
801To avoid confusion between the Backspace and Delete keys, the Delete
802key has been assigned an escape sequence to match the vt100 for Execute
803(\f(CW\*(C`ESC [ 3 ~\*(C'\fR) and is in the supplied termcap/terminfo.
804.PP
805Some other Backspace problems:
806.PP
807some editors use termcap/terminfo,
808some editors (vim I'm told) expect Backspace = ^H,
809\&\s-1GNU\s0 Emacs (and Emacs-like editors) use ^H for help.
810.PP
811Perhaps someday this will all be resolved in a consistent manner.
812.PP
813\fII don't like the key\-bindings. How do I change them?\fR
814.IX Subsection "I don't like the key-bindings. How do I change them?"
815.PP
816There are some compile-time selections available via configure. Unless
817you have run \*(L"configure\*(R" with the \f(CW\*(C`\-\-disable\-resources\*(C'\fR option you can
818use the `keysym' resource to alter the keystrings associated with keysyms.
819.PP
820Here's an example for a URxvt session started using \f(CW\*(C`@@URXVT_NAME@@ \-name URxvt\*(C'\fR
821.PP
822.Vb 20
823\& URxvt.keysym.Home: \e033[1~
824\& URxvt.keysym.End: \e033[4~
825\& URxvt.keysym.C-apostrophe: \e033<C-'>
826\& URxvt.keysym.C-slash: \e033<C-/>
827\& URxvt.keysym.C-semicolon: \e033<C-;>
828\& URxvt.keysym.C-grave: \e033<C-`>
829\& URxvt.keysym.C-comma: \e033<C-,>
830\& URxvt.keysym.C-period: \e033<C-.>
831\& URxvt.keysym.C-0x60: \e033<C-`>
832\& URxvt.keysym.C-Tab: \e033<C-Tab>
833\& URxvt.keysym.C-Return: \e033<C-Return>
834\& URxvt.keysym.S-Return: \e033<S-Return>
835\& URxvt.keysym.S-space: \e033<S-Space>
836\& URxvt.keysym.M-Up: \e033<M-Up>
837\& URxvt.keysym.M-Down: \e033<M-Down>
838\& URxvt.keysym.M-Left: \e033<M-Left>
839\& URxvt.keysym.M-Right: \e033<M-Right>
840\& URxvt.keysym.M-C-0: list \e033<M-C- 0123456789 >
841\& URxvt.keysym.M-C-a: list \e033<M-C- abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz >
842\& URxvt.keysym.F12: command:\e033]701;zh_CN.GBK\e007
843.Ve
844.PP
845See some more examples in the documentation for the \fBkeysym\fR resource.
846.PP
847\fII'm using keyboard model \s-1XXX\s0 that has extra Prior/Next/Insert keys. How do I make use of them? For example, the Sun Keyboard type 4 has the following map\fR
848.IX Subsection "I'm using keyboard model XXX that has extra Prior/Next/Insert keys. How do I make use of them? For example, the Sun Keyboard type 4 has the following map"
849.PP
850.Vb 6
851\& KP_Insert == Insert
852\& F22 == Print
853\& F27 == Home
854\& F29 == Prior
855\& F33 == End
856\& F35 == Next
857.Ve
858.PP
859Rather than have rxvt-unicode try to accommodate all the various possible
860keyboard mappings, it is better to use `xmodmap' to remap the keys as
861required for your particular machine.
862.Sh "Terminal Configuration"
863.IX Subsection "Terminal Configuration"
864\fIWhy doesn't rxvt-unicode read my resources?\fR
865.IX Subsection "Why doesn't rxvt-unicode read my resources?"
866.PP
867Well, why, indeed? It does, in a way very similar to other X
868applications. Most importantly, this means that if you or your \s-1OS\s0 loads
869resources into the X display (the right way to do it), rxvt-unicode will
870ignore any resource files in your home directory. It will only read
871\&\fI$HOME/.Xdefaults\fR when no resources are attached to the display.
872.PP
873If you have or use an \fI$HOME/.Xresources\fR file, chances are that
874resources are loaded into your X\-server. In this case, you have to
875re-login after every change (or run \fIxrdb \-merge \f(CI$HOME\fI/.Xresources\fR).
876.PP
877Also consider the form resources have to use:
878.PP
879.Vb 1
880\& URxvt.resource: value
881.Ve
882.PP
883If you want to use another form (there are lots of different ways of
884specifying resources), make sure you understand wether and why it
885works. If unsure, use the form above.
886.PP
353.IP "When I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data?" 4 887\fIWhen I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data?\fR
354.IX Item "When I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data?" 888.IX Subsection "When I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data?"
889.PP
355The terminal description used by rxvt-unicode is not as widely available 890The terminal description used by rxvt-unicode is not as widely available
356as that for xterm, or even rxvt (for which the same problem often arises). 891as that for xterm, or even rxvt (for which the same problem often arises).
357.Sp 892.PP
358The correct solution for this problem is to install the terminfo, this can 893The correct solution for this problem is to install the terminfo, this can
359be done like this (with ncurses' infocmp): 894be done like this (with ncurses' infocmp):
360.Sp 895.PP
361.Vb 2 896.Vb 2
362\& REMOTE=remotesystem.domain 897\& REMOTE=remotesystem.domain
363\& infocmp rxvt-unicode | ssh $REMOTE "cat >/tmp/ti && tic /tmp/ti" 898\& infocmp rxvt-unicode | ssh $REMOTE "cat >/tmp/ti && tic /tmp/ti"
364.Ve 899.Ve
365.Sp 900.PP
366\&... or by installing rxvt-unicode normally on the remote system, 901\&... or by installing rxvt-unicode normally on the remote system,
367.Sp 902.PP
368If you cannot or do not want to do this, then you can simply set 903If you cannot or do not want to do this, then you can simply set
369\&\f(CW\*(C`TERM=rxvt\*(C'\fR or even \f(CW\*(C`TERM=xterm\*(C'\fR, and live with the small number of 904\&\f(CW\*(C`TERM=rxvt\*(C'\fR or even \f(CW\*(C`TERM=xterm\*(C'\fR, and live with the small number of
370problems arising, which includes wrong keymapping, less and different 905problems arising, which includes wrong keymapping, less and different
371colours and some refresh errors in fullscreen applications. It's a nice 906colours and some refresh errors in fullscreen applications. It's a nice
372quick-and-dirty workaround for rare cases, though. 907quick-and-dirty workaround for rare cases, though.
373.Sp 908.PP
374If you always want to do this (and are fine with the consequences) you 909If you always want to do this (and are fine with the consequences) you
375can either recompile rxvt-unicode with the desired \s-1TERM\s0 value or use a 910can either recompile rxvt-unicode with the desired \s-1TERM\s0 value or use a
376resource to set it: 911resource to set it:
377.Sp 912.PP
378.Vb 1 913.Vb 1
379\& URxvt.termName: rxvt 914\& URxvt.termName: rxvt
380.Ve 915.Ve
381.Sp 916.PP
382If you don't plan to use \fBrxvt\fR (quite common...) you could also replace 917If you don't plan to use \fBrxvt\fR (quite common...) you could also replace
383the rxvt terminfo file with the rxvt-unicode one. 918the rxvt terminfo file with the rxvt-unicode one and use \f(CW\*(C`TERM=rxvt\*(C'\fR.
384.ie n .IP """tic"" outputs some error when compiling the terminfo entry." 4 919.PP
385.el .IP "\f(CWtic\fR outputs some error when compiling the terminfo entry." 4 920\fI\f(CI\*(C`tic\*(C'\fI outputs some error when compiling the terminfo entry.\fR
386.IX Item "tic outputs some error when compiling the terminfo entry." 921.IX Subsection "tic outputs some error when compiling the terminfo entry."
922.PP
387Most likely it's the empty definition for \f(CW\*(C`enacs=\*(C'\fR. Just replace it by 923Most likely it's the empty definition for \f(CW\*(C`enacs=\*(C'\fR. Just replace it by
388\&\f(CW\*(C`enacs=\eE[0@\*(C'\fR and try again. 924\&\f(CW\*(C`enacs=\eE[0@\*(C'\fR and try again.
389.ie n .IP """bash""'s readline does not work correctly under @@RXVT_NAME@@." 4 925.PP
390.el .IP "\f(CWbash\fR's readline does not work correctly under @@RXVT_NAME@@." 4 926\fI\f(CI\*(C`bash\*(C'\fI's readline does not work correctly under @@URXVT_NAME@@.\fR
391.IX Item "bash's readline does not work correctly under @@RXVT_NAME@@." 927.IX Subsection "bash's readline does not work correctly under @@URXVT_NAME@@."
392.PD 0 928.PP
929See next entry.
930.PP
393.IP "I need a termcap file entry." 4 931\fII need a termcap file entry.\fR
394.IX Item "I need a termcap file entry." 932.IX Subsection "I need a termcap file entry."
395.PD 933.PP
396One reason you might want this is that some distributions or operating 934One reason you might want this is that some distributions or operating
397systems still compile some programs using the long-obsoleted termcap 935systems still compile some programs using the long-obsoleted termcap
398library (Fedora Core's bash is one example) and rely on a termcap entry 936library (Fedora Core's bash is one example) and rely on a termcap entry
399for \f(CW\*(C`rxvt\-unicode\*(C'\fR. 937for \f(CW\*(C`rxvt\-unicode\*(C'\fR.
400.Sp 938.PP
401You could use rxvt's termcap entry with resonable results in many cases. 939You could use rxvt's termcap entry with resonable results in many cases.
402You can also create a termcap entry by using terminfo's infocmp program 940You can also create a termcap entry by using terminfo's infocmp program
403like this: 941like this:
404.Sp 942.PP
405.Vb 1 943.Vb 1
406\& infocmp -C rxvt-unicode 944\& infocmp -C rxvt-unicode
407.Ve 945.Ve
408.Sp 946.PP
409Or you could use this termcap entry, generated by the command above: 947Or you could use this termcap entry, generated by the command above:
410.Sp 948.PP
411.Vb 20 949.Vb 20
412\& rxvt-unicode|rxvt-unicode terminal (X Window System):\e 950\& rxvt-unicode|rxvt-unicode terminal (X Window System):\e
413\& :am:bw:eo:km:mi:ms:xn:xo:\e 951\& :am:bw:eo:km:mi:ms:xn:xo:\e
414\& :co#80:it#8:li#24:lm#0:\e 952\& :co#80:it#8:li#24:lm#0:\e
415\& :AL=\eE[%dL:DC=\eE[%dP:DL=\eE[%dM:DO=\eE[%dB:IC=\eE[%d@:\e 953\& :AL=\eE[%dL:DC=\eE[%dP:DL=\eE[%dM:DO=\eE[%dB:IC=\eE[%d@:\e
428\& :sc=\eE7:se=\eE[27m:sf=^J:so=\eE[7m:sr=\eEM:st=\eEH:ta=^I:\e 966\& :sc=\eE7:se=\eE[27m:sf=^J:so=\eE[7m:sr=\eEM:st=\eEH:ta=^I:\e
429\& :te=\eE[r\eE[?1049l:ti=\eE[?1049h:ue=\eE[24m:up=\eE[A:\e 967\& :te=\eE[r\eE[?1049l:ti=\eE[?1049h:ue=\eE[24m:up=\eE[A:\e
430\& :us=\eE[4m:vb=\eE[?5h\eE[?5l:ve=\eE[?25h:vi=\eE[?25l:\e 968\& :us=\eE[4m:vb=\eE[?5h\eE[?5l:ve=\eE[?25h:vi=\eE[?25l:\e
431\& :vs=\eE[?25h: 969\& :vs=\eE[?25h:
432.Ve 970.Ve
433.ie n .IP "Why does ""ls"" no longer have coloured output?" 4 971.PP
434.el .IP "Why does \f(CWls\fR no longer have coloured output?" 4 972\fIWhy does \f(CI\*(C`ls\*(C'\fI no longer have coloured output?\fR
435.IX Item "Why does ls no longer have coloured output?" 973.IX Subsection "Why does ls no longer have coloured output?"
974.PP
436The \f(CW\*(C`ls\*(C'\fR in the \s-1GNU\s0 coreutils unfortunately doesn't use terminfo to 975The \f(CW\*(C`ls\*(C'\fR in the \s-1GNU\s0 coreutils unfortunately doesn't use terminfo to
437decide wether a terminal has colour, but uses it's own configuration 976decide wether a terminal has colour, but uses it's own configuration
438file. Needless to say, \f(CW\*(C`rxvt\-unicode\*(C'\fR is not in it's default file (among 977file. Needless to say, \f(CW\*(C`rxvt\-unicode\*(C'\fR is not in it's default file (among
439with most other terminals supporting colour). Either add: 978with most other terminals supporting colour). Either add:
440.Sp 979.PP
441.Vb 1 980.Vb 1
442\& TERM rxvt-unicode 981\& TERM rxvt-unicode
443.Ve 982.Ve
444.Sp 983.PP
445to \f(CW\*(C`/etc/DIR_COLORS\*(C'\fR or simply add: 984to \f(CW\*(C`/etc/DIR_COLORS\*(C'\fR or simply add:
446.Sp 985.PP
447.Vb 1 986.Vb 1
448\& alias ls='ls --color=auto' 987\& alias ls='ls --color=auto'
449.Ve 988.Ve
450.Sp 989.PP
451to your \f(CW\*(C`.profile\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`.bashrc\*(C'\fR. 990to your \f(CW\*(C`.profile\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`.bashrc\*(C'\fR.
991.PP
452.IP "Why doesn't vim/emacs etc. use the 88 colour mode?" 4 992\fIWhy doesn't vim/emacs etc. use the 88 colour mode?\fR
453.IX Item "Why doesn't vim/emacs etc. use the 88 colour mode?" 993.IX Subsection "Why doesn't vim/emacs etc. use the 88 colour mode?"
454.PD 0 994.PP
995See next entry.
996.PP
455.IP "Why doesn't vim/emacs etc. make use of italic?" 4 997\fIWhy doesn't vim/emacs etc. make use of italic?\fR
456.IX Item "Why doesn't vim/emacs etc. make use of italic?" 998.IX Subsection "Why doesn't vim/emacs etc. make use of italic?"
999.PP
1000See next entry.
1001.PP
457.IP "Why are the secondary screen-related options not working properly?" 4 1002\fIWhy are the secondary screen-related options not working properly?\fR
458.IX Item "Why are the secondary screen-related options not working properly?" 1003.IX Subsection "Why are the secondary screen-related options not working properly?"
459.PD 1004.PP
460Make sure you are using \f(CW\*(C`TERM=rxvt\-unicode\*(C'\fR. Some pre-packaged 1005Make sure you are using \f(CW\*(C`TERM=rxvt\-unicode\*(C'\fR. Some pre-packaged
461distributions (most notably Debian GNU/Linux) break rxvt-unicode 1006distributions (most notably Debian GNU/Linux) break rxvt-unicode
462by setting \f(CW\*(C`TERM\*(C'\fR to \f(CW\*(C`rxvt\*(C'\fR, which doesn't have these extra 1007by setting \f(CW\*(C`TERM\*(C'\fR to \f(CW\*(C`rxvt\*(C'\fR, which doesn't have these extra
463features. Unfortunately, some of these (most notably, again, Debian 1008features. Unfortunately, some of these (most notably, again, Debian
464GNU/Linux) furthermore fail to even install the \f(CW\*(C`rxvt\-unicode\*(C'\fR terminfo 1009GNU/Linux) furthermore fail to even install the \f(CW\*(C`rxvt\-unicode\*(C'\fR terminfo
465file, so you will need to install it on your own (See the question \fBWhen 1010file, so you will need to install it on your own (See the question \fBWhen
466I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data?\fR on 1011I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data?\fR on
467how to do this). 1012how to do this).
468.IP "My numerical keypad acts weird and generates differing output?" 4 1013.Sh "Encoding / Locale / Input Method Issues"
469.IX Item "My numerical keypad acts weird and generates differing output?" 1014.IX Subsection "Encoding / Locale / Input Method Issues"
470Some Debian GNUL/Linux users seem to have this problem, although no
471specific details were reported so far. It is possible that this is caused
472by the wrong \f(CW\*(C`TERM\*(C'\fR setting, although the details of wether and how
473this can happen are unknown, as \f(CW\*(C`TERM=rxvt\*(C'\fR should offer a compatible
474keymap. See the answer to the previous question, and please report if that
475helped.
476.IP "Rxvt-unicode does not seem to understand the selected encoding?" 4 1015\fIRxvt-unicode does not seem to understand the selected encoding?\fR
477.IX Item "Rxvt-unicode does not seem to understand the selected encoding?" 1016.IX Subsection "Rxvt-unicode does not seem to understand the selected encoding?"
478.PD 0 1017.PP
1018See next entry.
1019.PP
479.IP "Unicode does not seem to work?" 4 1020\fIUnicode does not seem to work?\fR
480.IX Item "Unicode does not seem to work?" 1021.IX Subsection "Unicode does not seem to work?"
481.PD 1022.PP
482If you encounter strange problems like typing an accented character but 1023If you encounter strange problems like typing an accented character but
483getting two unrelated other characters or similar, or if program output is 1024getting two unrelated other characters or similar, or if program output is
484subtly garbled, then you should check your locale settings. 1025subtly garbled, then you should check your locale settings.
485.Sp 1026.PP
486Rxvt-unicode must be started with the same \f(CW\*(C`LC_CTYPE\*(C'\fR setting as the 1027Rxvt-unicode must be started with the same \f(CW\*(C`LC_CTYPE\*(C'\fR setting as the
487programs. Often rxvt-unicode is started in the \f(CW\*(C`C\*(C'\fR locale, while the 1028programs. Often rxvt-unicode is started in the \f(CW\*(C`C\*(C'\fR locale, while the
488login script running within the rxvt-unicode window changes the locale to 1029login script running within the rxvt-unicode window changes the locale to
489something else, e.g. \f(CW\*(C`en_GB.UTF\-8\*(C'\fR. Needless to say, this is not going to work. 1030something else, e.g. \f(CW\*(C`en_GB.UTF\-8\*(C'\fR. Needless to say, this is not going to work.
490.Sp 1031.PP
491The best thing is to fix your startup environment, as you will likely run 1032The best thing is to fix your startup environment, as you will likely run
492into other problems. If nothing works you can try this in your .profile. 1033into other problems. If nothing works you can try this in your .profile.
493.Sp 1034.PP
494.Vb 1 1035.Vb 1
495\& printf '\ee]701;%s\e007' "$LC_CTYPE" 1036\& printf '\ee]701;%s\e007' "$LC_CTYPE"
496.Ve 1037.Ve
497.Sp 1038.PP
498If this doesn't work, then maybe you use a \f(CW\*(C`LC_CTYPE\*(C'\fR specification not 1039If this doesn't work, then maybe you use a \f(CW\*(C`LC_CTYPE\*(C'\fR specification not
499supported on your systems. Some systems have a \f(CW\*(C`locale\*(C'\fR command which 1040supported on your systems. Some systems have a \f(CW\*(C`locale\*(C'\fR command which
500displays this (also, \f(CW\*(C`perl \-e0\*(C'\fR can be used to check locale settings, as 1041displays this (also, \f(CW\*(C`perl \-e0\*(C'\fR can be used to check locale settings, as
501it will complain loudly if it cannot set the locale). If it displays something 1042it will complain loudly if it cannot set the locale). If it displays something
502like: 1043like:
503.Sp 1044.PP
504.Vb 1 1045.Vb 1
505\& locale: Cannot set LC_CTYPE to default locale: ... 1046\& locale: Cannot set LC_CTYPE to default locale: ...
506.Ve 1047.Ve
507.Sp 1048.PP
508Then the locale you specified is not supported on your system. 1049Then the locale you specified is not supported on your system.
509.Sp 1050.PP
510If nothing works and you are sure that everything is set correctly then 1051If nothing works and you are sure that everything is set correctly then
511you will need to remember a little known fact: Some programs just don't 1052you will need to remember a little known fact: Some programs just don't
512support locales :( 1053support locales :(
513.IP "Why do some characters look so much different than others?" 4 1054.PP
514.IX Item "Why do some characters look so much different than others?" 1055\fIHow does rxvt-unicode determine the encoding to use?\fR
515.PD 0 1056.IX Subsection "How does rxvt-unicode determine the encoding to use?"
516.IP "How does rxvt-unicode choose fonts?" 4 1057.PP
517.IX Item "How does rxvt-unicode choose fonts?" 1058See next entry.
518.PD 1059.PP
519Most fonts do not contain the full range of Unicode, which is 1060\fIIs there an option to switch encodings?\fR
520fine. Chances are that the font you (or the admin/package maintainer of 1061.IX Subsection "Is there an option to switch encodings?"
521your system/os) have specified does not cover all the characters you want 1062.PP
522to display. 1063Unlike some other terminals, rxvt-unicode has no encoding switch, and no
523.Sp 1064specific \*(L"utf\-8\*(R" mode, such as xterm. In fact, it doesn't even know about
524\&\fBrxvt-unicode\fR makes a best-effort try at finding a replacement 1065\&\s-1UTF\-8\s0 or any other encodings with respect to terminal I/O.
525font. Often the result is fine, but sometimes the chosen font looks 1066.PP
526bad/ugly/wrong. Some fonts have totally strange characters that don't 1067The reasons is that there exists a perfectly fine mechanism for selecting
527resemble the correct glyph at all, and rxvt-unicode lacks the artificial 1068the encoding, doing I/O and (most important) communicating this to all
528intelligence to detect that a specific glyph is wrong: it has to believe 1069applications so everybody agrees on character properties such as width
529the font that the characters it claims to contain indeed look correct. 1070and code number. This mechanism is the \fIlocale\fR. Applications not using
530.Sp 1071that info will have problems (for example, \f(CW\*(C`xterm\*(C'\fR gets the width of
531In that case, select a font of your taste and add it to the font list, 1072characters wrong as it uses it's own, locale-independent table under all
532e.g.: 1073locales).
533.Sp 1074.PP
1075Rxvt-unicode uses the \f(CW\*(C`LC_CTYPE\*(C'\fR locale category to select encoding. All
1076programs doing the same (that is, most) will automatically agree in the
1077interpretation of characters.
1078.PP
1079Unfortunately, there is no system-independent way to select locales, nor
1080is there a standard on how locale specifiers will look like.
1081.PP
1082On most systems, the content of the \f(CW\*(C`LC_CTYPE\*(C'\fR environment variable
1083contains an arbitrary string which corresponds to an already-installed
1084locale. Common names for locales are \f(CW\*(C`en_US.UTF\-8\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`de_DE.ISO\-8859\-15\*(C'\fR,
1085\&\f(CW\*(C`ja_JP.EUC\-JP\*(C'\fR, i.e. \f(CW\*(C`language_country.encoding\*(C'\fR, but other forms
1086(i.e. \f(CW\*(C`de\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`german\*(C'\fR) are also common.
1087.PP
1088Rxvt-unicode ignores all other locale categories, and except for
1089the encoding, ignores country or language-specific settings,
1090i.e. \f(CW\*(C`de_DE.UTF\-8\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`ja_JP.UTF\-8\*(C'\fR are the normally same to
1091rxvt\-unicode.
1092.PP
1093If you want to use a specific encoding you have to make sure you start
1094rxvt-unicode with the correct \f(CW\*(C`LC_CTYPE\*(C'\fR category.
1095.PP
1096\fICan I switch locales at runtime?\fR
1097.IX Subsection "Can I switch locales at runtime?"
1098.PP
1099Yes, using an escape sequence. Try something like this, which sets
1100rxvt\-unicode's idea of \f(CW\*(C`LC_CTYPE\*(C'\fR.
1101.PP
534.Vb 1 1102.Vb 1
535\& @@RXVT_NAME@@ -fn basefont,font2,font3... 1103\& printf '\ee]701;%s\e007' ja_JP.SJIS
536.Ve 1104.Ve
537.Sp 1105.PP
538When rxvt-unicode sees a character, it will first look at the base 1106See also the previous answer.
539font. If the base font does not contain the character, it will go to the 1107.PP
540next font, and so on. Specifying your own fonts will also speed up this 1108Sometimes this capability is rather handy when you want to work in
541search and use less resources within rxvt-unicode and the X\-server. 1109one locale (e.g. \f(CW\*(C`de_DE.UTF\-8\*(C'\fR) but some programs don't support it
542.Sp 1110(e.g. \s-1UTF\-8\s0). For example, I use this script to start \f(CW\*(C`xjdic\*(C'\fR, which
543The only limitation is that none of the fonts may be larger than the base 1111first switches to a locale supported by xjdic and back later:
544font, as the base font defines the terminal character cell size, which 1112.PP
545must be the same due to the way terminals work. 1113.Vb 3
546.IP "Why do some chinese characters look so different than others?" 4 1114\& printf '\ee]701;%s\e007' ja_JP.SJIS
547.IX Item "Why do some chinese characters look so different than others?" 1115\& xjdic -js
548This is because there is a difference between script and language \*(-- 1116\& printf '\ee]701;%s\e007' de_DE.UTF-8
549rxvt-unicode does not know which language the text that is output is, 1117.Ve
550as it only knows the unicode character codes. If rxvt-unicode first 1118.PP
551sees a japanese/chinese character, it might choose a japanese font for 1119You can also use xterm's \f(CW\*(C`luit\*(C'\fR program, which usually works fine, except
552display. Subsequent japanese characters will use that font. Now, many 1120for some locales where character width differs between program\- and
553chinese characters aren't represented in japanese fonts, so when the first 1121rxvt\-unicode\-locales.
554non-japanese character comes up, rxvt-unicode will look for a chinese font 1122.PP
555\&\*(-- unfortunately at this point, it will still use the japanese font for 1123\fIMy input method wants <some encoding> but I want \s-1UTF\-8\s0, what can I do?\fR
556chinese characters that are also in the japanese font. 1124.IX Subsection "My input method wants <some encoding> but I want UTF-8, what can I do?"
557.Sp 1125.PP
558The workaround is easy: just tag a chinese font at the end of your font 1126You can specify separate locales for the input method and the rest of the
559list (see the previous question). The key is to view the font list as 1127terminal, using the resource \f(CW\*(C`imlocale\*(C'\fR:
560a preference list: If you expect more japanese, list a japanese font 1128.PP
561first. If you expect more chinese, put a chinese font first. 1129.Vb 1
562.Sp 1130\& URxvt.imlocale: ja_JP.EUC-JP
563In the future it might be possible to switch language preferences at 1131.Ve
564runtime (the internal data structure has no problem with using different 1132.PP
565fonts for the same character at the same time, but no interface for this 1133Now you can start your terminal with \f(CW\*(C`LC_CTYPE=ja_JP.UTF\-8\*(C'\fR and still
566has been designed yet). 1134use your input method. Please note, however, that you will not be able to
567.Sp 1135input characters outside \f(CW\*(C`EUC\-JP\*(C'\fR in a normal way then, as your input
568Until then, you might get away with switching fonts at runtime (see \*(L"Can I switch the fonts at runtime?\*(R" later in this document). 1136method limits you.
569.IP "Why does rxvt-unicode sometimes leave pixel droppings?" 4 1137.PP
570.IX Item "Why does rxvt-unicode sometimes leave pixel droppings?" 1138\fIRxvt-unicode crashes when the X Input Method changes or exits.\fR
571Most fonts were not designed for terminal use, which means that character 1139.IX Subsection "Rxvt-unicode crashes when the X Input Method changes or exits."
572size varies a lot. A font that is otherwise fine for terminal use might 1140.PP
573contain some characters that are simply too wide. Rxvt-unicode will avoid 1141Unfortunately, this is unavoidable, as the \s-1XIM\s0 protocol is racy by
574these characters. For characters that are just \*(L"a bit\*(R" too wide a special 1142design. Applications can avoid some crashes at the expense of memory
575\&\*(L"careful\*(R" rendering mode is used that redraws adjacent characters. 1143leaks, and Input Methods can avoid some crashes by careful ordering at
576.Sp 1144exit time. \fBkinput2\fR (and derived input methods) generally succeeds,
577All of this requires that fonts do not lie about character sizes, 1145while \fB\s-1SCIM\s0\fR (or similar input methods) fails. In the end, however,
578however: Xft fonts often draw glyphs larger than their acclaimed bounding 1146crashes cannot be completely avoided even if both sides cooperate.
579box, and rxvt-unicode has no way of detecting this (the correct way is to 1147.PP
580ask for the character bounding box, which unfortunately is wrong in these 1148So the only workaround is not to kill your Input Method Servers.
581cases). 1149.Sh "Operating Systems / Package Maintaining"
582.Sp 1150.IX Subsection "Operating Systems / Package Maintaining"
583It's not clear (to me at least), wether this is a bug in Xft, freetype, 1151\fII am using Debian GNU/Linux and have a problem...\fR
584or the respective font. If you encounter this problem you might try using 1152.IX Subsection "I am using Debian GNU/Linux and have a problem..."
585the \f(CW\*(C`\-lsp\*(C'\fR option to give the font more height. If that doesn't work, you 1153.PP
586might be forced to use a different font. 1154The Debian GNU/Linux package of rxvt-unicode in sarge contains large
587.Sp 1155patches that considerably change the behaviour of rxvt-unicode (but
588All of this is not a problem when using X11 core fonts, as their bounding 1156unfortunately this notice has been removed). Before reporting a bug to
589box data is correct. 1157the original rxvt-unicode author please download and install the genuine
1158version (<http://software.schmorp.de#rxvt\-unicode>) and try to reproduce
1159the problem. If you cannot, chances are that the problems are specific to
1160Debian GNU/Linux, in which case it should be reported via the Debian Bug
1161Tracking System (use \f(CW\*(C`reportbug\*(C'\fR to report the bug).
1162.PP
1163For other problems that also affect the Debian package, you can and
1164probably should use the Debian \s-1BTS\s0, too, because, after all, it's also a
1165bug in the Debian version and it serves as a reminder for other users that
1166might encounter the same issue.
1167.PP
1168\fII am maintaining rxvt-unicode for distribution/OS \s-1XXX\s0, any recommendation?\fR
1169.IX Subsection "I am maintaining rxvt-unicode for distribution/OS XXX, any recommendation?"
1170.PP
1171You should build one binary with the default options. \fIconfigure\fR
1172now enables most useful options, and the trend goes to making them
1173runtime\-switchable, too, so there is usually no drawback to enbaling them,
1174except higher disk and possibly memory usage. The perl interpreter should
1175be enabled, as important functionality (menus, selection, likely more in
1176the future) depends on it.
1177.PP
1178You should not overwrite the \f(CW\*(C`perl\-ext\-common\*(C'\fR snd \f(CW\*(C`perl\-ext\*(C'\fR resources
1179system-wide (except maybe with \f(CW\*(C`defaults\*(C'\fR). This will result in useful
1180behaviour. If your distribution aims at low memory, add an empty
1181\&\f(CW\*(C`perl\-ext\-common\*(C'\fR resource to the app-defaults file. This will keep the
1182perl interpreter disabled until the user enables it.
1183.PP
1184If you can/want build more binaries, I recommend building a minimal
1185one with \f(CW\*(C`\-\-disable\-everything\*(C'\fR (very useful) and a maximal one with
1186\&\f(CW\*(C`\-\-enable\-everything\*(C'\fR (less useful, it will be very big due to a lot of
1187encodings built-in that increase download times and are rarely used).
1188.PP
1189\fII need to make it setuid/setgid to support utmp/ptys on my \s-1OS\s0, is this safe?\fR
1190.IX Subsection "I need to make it setuid/setgid to support utmp/ptys on my OS, is this safe?"
1191.PP
1192It should be, starting with release 7.1. You are encouraged to properly
1193install urxvt with privileges necessary for your \s-1OS\s0 now.
1194.PP
1195When rxvt-unicode detects that it runs setuid or setgid, it will fork
1196into a helper process for privileged operations (pty handling on some
1197systems, utmp/wtmp/lastlog handling on others) and drop privileges
1198immediately. This is much safer than most other terminals that keep
1199privileges while running (but is more relevant to urxvt, as it contains
1200things as perl interpreters, which might be \*(L"helpful\*(R" to attackers).
1201.PP
1202This forking is done as the very first within \fImain()\fR, which is very early
1203and reduces possible bugs to initialisation code run before \fImain()\fR, or
1204things like the dynamic loader of your system, which should result in very
1205little risk.
1206.PP
590.IP "On Solaris 9, many line-drawing characters are too wide." 4 1207\fIOn Solaris 9, many line-drawing characters are too wide.\fR
591.IX Item "On Solaris 9, many line-drawing characters are too wide." 1208.IX Subsection "On Solaris 9, many line-drawing characters are too wide."
1209.PP
592Seems to be a known bug, read 1210Seems to be a known bug, read
593<http://nixdoc.net/files/forum/about34198.html>. Some people use the 1211<http://nixdoc.net/files/forum/about34198.html>. Some people use the
594following ugly workaround to get non-double-wide-characters working: 1212following ugly workaround to get non-double-wide-characters working:
595.Sp 1213.PP
596.Vb 1 1214.Vb 1
597\& #define wcwidth(x) wcwidth(x) > 1 ? 1 : wcwidth(x) 1215\& #define wcwidth(x) wcwidth(x) > 1 ? 1 : wcwidth(x)
598.Ve 1216.Ve
599.IP "My Compose (Multi_key) key is no longer working." 4 1217.PP
600.IX Item "My Compose (Multi_key) key is no longer working."
601The most common causes for this are that either your locale is not set
602correctly, or you specified a \fBpreeditStyle\fR that is not supported by
603your input method. For example, if you specified \fBOverTheSpot\fR and
604your input method (e.g. the default input method handling Compose keys)
605does not support this (for instance because it is not visual), then
606rxvt-unicode will continue without an input method.
607.Sp
608In this case either do not specify a \fBpreeditStyle\fR or specify more than
609one pre-edit style, such as \fBOverTheSpot,Root,None\fR.
610.ie n .IP "I cannot type ""Ctrl\-Shift\-2"" to get an \s-1ASCII\s0 \s-1NUL\s0 character due to \s-1ISO\s0 14755" 4
611.el .IP "I cannot type \f(CWCtrl\-Shift\-2\fR to get an \s-1ASCII\s0 \s-1NUL\s0 character due to \s-1ISO\s0 14755" 4
612.IX Item "I cannot type Ctrl-Shift-2 to get an ASCII NUL character due to ISO 14755"
613Either try \f(CW\*(C`Ctrl\-2\*(C'\fR alone (it often is mapped to \s-1ASCII\s0 \s-1NUL\s0 even on
614international keyboards) or simply use \s-1ISO\s0 14755 support to your
615advantage, typing <Ctrl\-Shift\-0> to get a \s-1ASCII\s0 \s-1NUL\s0. This works for other
616codes, too, such as \f(CW\*(C`Ctrl\-Shift\-1\-d\*(C'\fR to type the default telnet escape
617character and so on.
618.IP "How can I keep rxvt-unicode from using reverse video so much?" 4
619.IX Item "How can I keep rxvt-unicode from using reverse video so much?"
620First of all, make sure you are running with the right terminal settings
621(\f(CW\*(C`TERM=rxvt\-unicode\*(C'\fR), which will get rid of most of these effects. Then
622make sure you have specified colours for italic and bold, as otherwise
623rxvt-unicode might use reverse video to simulate the effect:
624.Sp
625.Vb 2
626\& URxvt.colorBD: white
627\& URxvt.colorIT: green
628.Ve
629.IP "Some programs assume totally weird colours (red instead of blue), how can I fix that?" 4
630.IX Item "Some programs assume totally weird colours (red instead of blue), how can I fix that?"
631For some unexplainable reason, some rare programs assume a very weird
632colour palette when confronted with a terminal with more than the standard
6338 colours (rxvt\-unicode supports 88). The right fix is, of course, to fix
634these programs not to assume non-ISO colours without very good reasons.
635.Sp
636In the meantime, you can either edit your \f(CW\*(C`rxvt\-unicode\*(C'\fR terminfo
637definition to only claim 8 colour support or use \f(CW\*(C`TERM=rxvt\*(C'\fR, which will
638fix colours but keep you from using other rxvt-unicode features.
639.IP "I am on FreeBSD and rxvt-unicode does not seem to work at all." 4 1218\fII am on FreeBSD and rxvt-unicode does not seem to work at all.\fR
640.IX Item "I am on FreeBSD and rxvt-unicode does not seem to work at all." 1219.IX Subsection "I am on FreeBSD and rxvt-unicode does not seem to work at all."
1220.PP
641Rxvt-unicode requires the symbol \f(CW\*(C`_\|_STDC_ISO_10646_\|_\*(C'\fR to be defined 1221Rxvt-unicode requires the symbol \f(CW\*(C`_\|_STDC_ISO_10646_\|_\*(C'\fR to be defined
642in your compile environment, or an implementation that implements it, 1222in your compile environment, or an implementation that implements it,
643wether it defines the symbol or not. \f(CW\*(C`_\|_STDC_ISO_10646_\|_\*(C'\fR requires that 1223wether it defines the symbol or not. \f(CW\*(C`_\|_STDC_ISO_10646_\|_\*(C'\fR requires that
644\&\fBwchar_t\fR is represented as unicode. 1224\&\fBwchar_t\fR is represented as unicode.
645.Sp 1225.PP
646As you might have guessed, FreeBSD does neither define this symobl nor 1226As you might have guessed, FreeBSD does neither define this symobl nor
647does it support it. Instead, it uses it's own internal representation of 1227does it support it. Instead, it uses it's own internal representation of
648\&\fBwchar_t\fR. This is, of course, completely fine with respect to standards. 1228\&\fBwchar_t\fR. This is, of course, completely fine with respect to standards.
649.Sp 1229.PP
650However, that means rxvt-unicode only works in \f(CW\*(C`POSIX\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`ISO\-8859\-1\*(C'\fR and 1230However, that means rxvt-unicode only works in \f(CW\*(C`POSIX\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`ISO\-8859\-1\*(C'\fR and
651\&\f(CW\*(C`UTF\-8\*(C'\fR locales under FreeBSD (which all use Unicode as \fBwchar_t\fR. 1231\&\f(CW\*(C`UTF\-8\*(C'\fR locales under FreeBSD (which all use Unicode as \fBwchar_t\fR.
652.Sp 1232.PP
653\&\f(CW\*(C`_\|_STDC_ISO_10646_\|_\*(C'\fR is the only sane way to support multi-language 1233\&\f(CW\*(C`_\|_STDC_ISO_10646_\|_\*(C'\fR is the only sane way to support multi-language
654apps in an \s-1OS\s0, as using a locale-dependent (and non\-standardized) 1234apps in an \s-1OS\s0, as using a locale-dependent (and non\-standardized)
655representation of \fBwchar_t\fR makes it impossible to convert between 1235representation of \fBwchar_t\fR makes it impossible to convert between
656\&\fBwchar_t\fR (as used by X11 and your applications) and any other encoding 1236\&\fBwchar_t\fR (as used by X11 and your applications) and any other encoding
657without implementing OS-specific-wrappers for each and every locale. There 1237without implementing OS-specific-wrappers for each and every locale. There
658simply are no APIs to convert \fBwchar_t\fR into anything except the current 1238simply are no APIs to convert \fBwchar_t\fR into anything except the current
659locale encoding. 1239locale encoding.
660.Sp 1240.PP
661Some applications (such as the formidable \fBmlterm\fR) work around this 1241Some applications (such as the formidable \fBmlterm\fR) work around this
662by carrying their own replacement functions for character set handling 1242by carrying their own replacement functions for character set handling
663with them, and either implementing OS-dependent hacks or doing multiple 1243with them, and either implementing OS-dependent hacks or doing multiple
664conversions (which is slow and unreliable in case the \s-1OS\s0 implements 1244conversions (which is slow and unreliable in case the \s-1OS\s0 implements
665encodings slightly different than the terminal emulator). 1245encodings slightly different than the terminal emulator).
666.Sp 1246.PP
667The rxvt-unicode author insists that the right way to fix this is in the 1247The rxvt-unicode author insists that the right way to fix this is in the
668system libraries once and for all, instead of forcing every app to carry 1248system libraries once and for all, instead of forcing every app to carry
669complete replacements for them :) 1249complete replacements for them :)
1250.PP
670.IP "I use Solaris 9 and it doesn't compile/work/etc." 4 1251\fII use Solaris 9 and it doesn't compile/work/etc.\fR
671.IX Item "I use Solaris 9 and it doesn't compile/work/etc." 1252.IX Subsection "I use Solaris 9 and it doesn't compile/work/etc."
1253.PP
672Try the diff in \fIdoc/solaris9.patch\fR as a base. It fixes the worst 1254Try the diff in \fIdoc/solaris9.patch\fR as a base. It fixes the worst
673problems with \f(CW\*(C`wcwidth\*(C'\fR and a compile problem. 1255problems with \f(CW\*(C`wcwidth\*(C'\fR and a compile problem.
1256.PP
674.IP "How can I use rxvt-unicode under cygwin?" 4 1257\fIHow can I use rxvt-unicode under cygwin?\fR
675.IX Item "How can I use rxvt-unicode under cygwin?" 1258.IX Subsection "How can I use rxvt-unicode under cygwin?"
1259.PP
676rxvt-unicode should compile and run out of the box on cygwin, using 1260rxvt-unicode should compile and run out of the box on cygwin, using
677the X11 libraries that come with cygwin. libW11 emulation is no 1261the X11 libraries that come with cygwin. libW11 emulation is no
678longer supported (and makes no sense, either, as it only supported a 1262longer supported (and makes no sense, either, as it only supported a
679single font). I recommend starting the X\-server in \f(CW\*(C`\-multiwindow\*(C'\fR or 1263single font). I recommend starting the X\-server in \f(CW\*(C`\-multiwindow\*(C'\fR or
680\&\f(CW\*(C`\-rootless\*(C'\fR mode instead, which will result in similar look&feel as the 1264\&\f(CW\*(C`\-rootless\*(C'\fR mode instead, which will result in similar look&feel as the
681old libW11 emulation. 1265old libW11 emulation.
682.Sp 1266.PP
683At the time of this writing, cygwin didn't seem to support any multi-byte 1267At the time of this writing, cygwin didn't seem to support any multi-byte
684encodings (you might try \f(CW\*(C`LC_CTYPE=C\-UTF\-8\*(C'\fR), so you are likely limited 1268encodings (you might try \f(CW\*(C`LC_CTYPE=C\-UTF\-8\*(C'\fR), so you are likely limited
685to 8\-bit encodings. 1269to 8\-bit encodings.
686.IP "How does rxvt-unicode determine the encoding to use?" 4
687.IX Item "How does rxvt-unicode determine the encoding to use?"
688.PD 0
689.IP "Is there an option to switch encodings?" 4
690.IX Item "Is there an option to switch encodings?"
691.PD
692Unlike some other terminals, rxvt-unicode has no encoding switch, and no
693specific \*(L"utf\-8\*(R" mode, such as xterm. In fact, it doesn't even know about
694\&\s-1UTF\-8\s0 or any other encodings with respect to terminal I/O.
695.Sp
696The reasons is that there exists a perfectly fine mechanism for selecting
697the encoding, doing I/O and (most important) communicating this to all
698applications so everybody agrees on character properties such as width
699and code number. This mechanism is the \fIlocale\fR. Applications not using
700that info will have problems (for example, \f(CW\*(C`xterm\*(C'\fR gets the width of
701characters wrong as it uses it's own, locale-independent table under all
702locales).
703.Sp
704Rxvt-unicode uses the \f(CW\*(C`LC_CTYPE\*(C'\fR locale category to select encoding. All
705programs doing the same (that is, most) will automatically agree in the
706interpretation of characters.
707.Sp
708Unfortunately, there is no system-independent way to select locales, nor
709is there a standard on how locale specifiers will look like.
710.Sp
711On most systems, the content of the \f(CW\*(C`LC_CTYPE\*(C'\fR environment variable
712contains an arbitrary string which corresponds to an already-installed
713locale. Common names for locales are \f(CW\*(C`en_US.UTF\-8\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`de_DE.ISO\-8859\-15\*(C'\fR,
714\&\f(CW\*(C`ja_JP.EUC\-JP\*(C'\fR, i.e. \f(CW\*(C`language_country.encoding\*(C'\fR, but other forms
715(i.e. \f(CW\*(C`de\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`german\*(C'\fR) are also common.
716.Sp
717Rxvt-unicode ignores all other locale categories, and except for
718the encoding, ignores country or language-specific settings,
719i.e. \f(CW\*(C`de_DE.UTF\-8\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`ja_JP.UTF\-8\*(C'\fR are the normally same to
720rxvt\-unicode.
721.Sp
722If you want to use a specific encoding you have to make sure you start
723rxvt-unicode with the correct \f(CW\*(C`LC_CTYPE\*(C'\fR category.
724.IP "Can I switch locales at runtime?" 4
725.IX Item "Can I switch locales at runtime?"
726Yes, using an escape sequence. Try something like this, which sets
727rxvt\-unicode's idea of \f(CW\*(C`LC_CTYPE\*(C'\fR.
728.Sp
729.Vb 1
730\& printf '\ee]701;%s\e007' ja_JP.SJIS
731.Ve
732.Sp
733See also the previous answer.
734.Sp
735Sometimes this capability is rather handy when you want to work in
736one locale (e.g. \f(CW\*(C`de_DE.UTF\-8\*(C'\fR) but some programs don't support it
737(e.g. \s-1UTF\-8\s0). For example, I use this script to start \f(CW\*(C`xjdic\*(C'\fR, which
738first switches to a locale supported by xjdic and back later:
739.Sp
740.Vb 3
741\& printf '\ee]701;%s\e007' ja_JP.SJIS
742\& xjdic -js
743\& printf '\ee]701;%s\e007' de_DE.UTF-8
744.Ve
745.Sp
746You can also use xterm's \f(CW\*(C`luit\*(C'\fR program, which usually works fine, except
747for some locales where character width differs between program\- and
748rxvt\-unicode\-locales.
749.IP "Can I switch the fonts at runtime?" 4
750.IX Item "Can I switch the fonts at runtime?"
751Yes, using an escape sequence. Try something like this, which has the same
752effect as using the \f(CW\*(C`\-fn\*(C'\fR switch, and takes effect immediately:
753.Sp
754.Vb 1
755\& printf '\ee]50;%s\e007' "9x15bold,xft:Kochi Gothic"
756.Ve
757.Sp
758This is useful if you e.g. work primarily with japanese (and prefer a
759japanese font), but you have to switch to chinese temporarily, where
760japanese fonts would only be in your way.
761.Sp
762You can think of this as a kind of manual \s-1ISO\-2022\s0 switching.
763.IP "Why do italic characters look as if clipped?" 4
764.IX Item "Why do italic characters look as if clipped?"
765Many fonts have difficulties with italic characters and hinting. For
766example, the otherwise very nicely hinted font \f(CW\*(C`xft:Bitstream Vera Sans
767Mono\*(C'\fR completely fails in it's italic face. A workaround might be to
768enable freetype autohinting, i.e. like this:
769.Sp
770.Vb 2
771\& URxvt.italicFont: xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:italic:autohint=true
772\& URxvt.boldItalicFont: xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:bold:italic:autohint=true
773.Ve
774.IP "My input method wants <some encoding> but I want \s-1UTF\-8\s0, what can I do?" 4
775.IX Item "My input method wants <some encoding> but I want UTF-8, what can I do?"
776You can specify separate locales for the input method and the rest of the
777terminal, using the resource \f(CW\*(C`imlocale\*(C'\fR:
778.Sp
779.Vb 1
780\& URxvt.imlocale: ja_JP.EUC-JP
781.Ve
782.Sp
783Now you can start your terminal with \f(CW\*(C`LC_CTYPE=ja_JP.UTF\-8\*(C'\fR and still
784use your input method. Please note, however, that you will not be able to
785input characters outside \f(CW\*(C`EUC\-JP\*(C'\fR in a normal way then, as your input
786method limits you.
787.IP "Rxvt-unicode crashes when the X Input Method changes or exits." 4
788.IX Item "Rxvt-unicode crashes when the X Input Method changes or exits."
789Unfortunately, this is unavoidable, as the \s-1XIM\s0 protocol is racy by
790design. Applications can avoid some crashes at the expense of memory
791leaks, and Input Methods can avoid some crashes by careful ordering at
792exit time. \fBkinput2\fR (and derived input methods) generally succeeds,
793while \fB\s-1SCIM\s0\fR (or similar input methods) fails. In the end, however,
794crashes cannot be completely avoided even if both sides cooperate.
795.Sp
796So the only workaround is not to kill your Input Method Servers.
797.IP "Rxvt-unicode uses gobs of memory, how can I reduce that?" 4
798.IX Item "Rxvt-unicode uses gobs of memory, how can I reduce that?"
799Rxvt-unicode tries to obey the rule of not charging you for something you
800don't use. One thing you should try is to configure out all settings that
801you don't need, for example, Xft support is a resource hog by design,
802when used. Compiling it out ensures that no Xft font will be loaded
803accidentally when rxvt-unicode tries to find a font for your characters.
804.Sp
805Also, many people (me included) like large windows and even larger
806scrollback buffers: Without \f(CW\*(C`\-\-enable\-unicode3\*(C'\fR, rxvt-unicode will use
8076 bytes per screen cell. For a 160x?? window this amounts to almost a
808kilobyte per line. A scrollback buffer of 10000 lines will then (if full)
809use 10 Megabytes of memory. With \f(CW\*(C`\-\-enable\-unicode3\*(C'\fR it gets worse, as
810rxvt-unicode then uses 8 bytes per screen cell.
811.IP "Can I speed up Xft rendering somehow?" 4
812.IX Item "Can I speed up Xft rendering somehow?"
813Yes, the most obvious way to speed it up is to avoid Xft entirely, as
814it is simply slow. If you still want Xft fonts you might try to disable
815antialiasing (by appending \f(CW\*(C`:antialias=false\*(C'\fR), which saves lots of
816memory and also speeds up rendering considerably.
817.IP "Rxvt-unicode doesn't seem to anti-alias its fonts, what is wrong?" 4
818.IX Item "Rxvt-unicode doesn't seem to anti-alias its fonts, what is wrong?"
819Rxvt-unicode will use whatever you specify as a font. If it needs to
820fall back to it's default font search list it will prefer X11 core
821fonts, because they are small and fast, and then use Xft fonts. It has
822antialiasing disabled for most of them, because the author thinks they
823look best that way.
824.Sp
825If you want antialiasing, you have to specify the fonts manually.
826.IP "Mouse cut/paste suddenly no longer works." 4
827.IX Item "Mouse cut/paste suddenly no longer works."
828Make sure that mouse reporting is actually turned off since killing
829some editors prematurely may leave the mouse in mouse report mode. I've
830heard that tcsh may use mouse reporting unless it otherwise specified. A
831quick check is to see if cut/paste works when the Alt or Shift keys are
832depressed.
833.IP "What's with this bold/blink stuff?" 4
834.IX Item "What's with this bold/blink stuff?"
835If no bold colour is set via \f(CW\*(C`colorBD:\*(C'\fR, bold will invert text using the
836standard foreground colour.
837.Sp
838For the standard background colour, blinking will actually make the
839text blink when compiled with \f(CW\*(C`\-\-enable\-blinking\*(C'\fR. with standard
840colours. Without \f(CW\*(C`\-\-enable\-blinking\*(C'\fR, the blink attribute will be
841ignored.
842.Sp
843On \s-1ANSI\s0 colours, bold/blink attributes are used to set high-intensity
844foreground/background colors.
845.Sp
846color0\-7 are the low-intensity colors.
847.Sp
848color8\-15 are the corresponding high-intensity colors.
849.IP "I don't like the screen colors. How do I change them?" 4
850.IX Item "I don't like the screen colors. How do I change them?"
851You can change the screen colors at run-time using \fI~/.Xdefaults\fR
852resources (or as long\-options).
853.Sp
854Here are values that are supposed to resemble a \s-1VGA\s0 screen,
855including the murky brown that passes for low-intensity yellow:
856.Sp
857.Vb 8
858\& URxvt.color0: #000000
859\& URxvt.color1: #A80000
860\& URxvt.color2: #00A800
861\& URxvt.color3: #A8A800
862\& URxvt.color4: #0000A8
863\& URxvt.color5: #A800A8
864\& URxvt.color6: #00A8A8
865\& URxvt.color7: #A8A8A8
866.Ve
867.Sp
868.Vb 8
869\& URxvt.color8: #000054
870\& URxvt.color9: #FF0054
871\& URxvt.color10: #00FF54
872\& URxvt.color11: #FFFF54
873\& URxvt.color12: #0000FF
874\& URxvt.color13: #FF00FF
875\& URxvt.color14: #00FFFF
876\& URxvt.color15: #FFFFFF
877.Ve
878.Sp
879And here is a more complete set of non-standard colors described (not by
880me) as \*(L"pretty girly\*(R".
881.Sp
882.Vb 18
883\& URxvt.cursorColor: #dc74d1
884\& URxvt.pointerColor: #dc74d1
885\& URxvt.background: #0e0e0e
886\& URxvt.foreground: #4ad5e1
887\& URxvt.color0: #000000
888\& URxvt.color8: #8b8f93
889\& URxvt.color1: #dc74d1
890\& URxvt.color9: #dc74d1
891\& URxvt.color2: #0eb8c7
892\& URxvt.color10: #0eb8c7
893\& URxvt.color3: #dfe37e
894\& URxvt.color11: #dfe37e
895\& URxvt.color5: #9e88f0
896\& URxvt.color13: #9e88f0
897\& URxvt.color6: #73f7ff
898\& URxvt.color14: #73f7ff
899\& URxvt.color7: #e1dddd
900\& URxvt.color15: #e1dddd
901.Ve
902.IP "How can I start @@RXVT_NAME@@d in a race-free way?" 4
903.IX Item "How can I start @@RXVT_NAME@@d in a race-free way?"
904Try \f(CW\*(C`@@RXVT_NAME@@d \-f \-o\*(C'\fR, which tells @@RXVT_NAME@@d to open the
905display, create the listening socket and then fork.
906.IP "What's with the strange Backspace/Delete key behaviour?" 4
907.IX Item "What's with the strange Backspace/Delete key behaviour?"
908Assuming that the physical Backspace key corresponds to the
909BackSpace keysym (not likely for Linux ... see the following
910question) there are two standard values that can be used for
911Backspace: \f(CW\*(C`^H\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`^?\*(C'\fR.
912.Sp
913Historically, either value is correct, but rxvt-unicode adopts the debian
914policy of using \f(CW\*(C`^?\*(C'\fR when unsure, because it's the one only only correct
915choice :).
916.Sp
917Rxvt-unicode tries to inherit the current stty settings and uses the value
918of `erase' to guess the value for backspace. If rxvt-unicode wasn't
919started from a terminal (say, from a menu or by remote shell), then the
920system value of `erase', which corresponds to \s-1CERASE\s0 in <termios.h>, will
921be used (which may not be the same as your stty setting).
922.Sp
923For starting a new rxvt\-unicode:
924.Sp
925.Vb 3
926\& # use Backspace = ^H
927\& $ stty erase ^H
928\& $ @@RXVT_NAME@@
929.Ve
930.Sp
931.Vb 3
932\& # use Backspace = ^?
933\& $ stty erase ^?
934\& $ @@RXVT_NAME@@
935.Ve
936.Sp
937Toggle with \f(CW\*(C`ESC [ 36 h\*(C'\fR / \f(CW\*(C`ESC [ 36 l\*(C'\fR.
938.Sp
939For an existing rxvt\-unicode:
940.Sp
941.Vb 3
942\& # use Backspace = ^H
943\& $ stty erase ^H
944\& $ echo -n "^[[36h"
945.Ve
946.Sp
947.Vb 3
948\& # use Backspace = ^?
949\& $ stty erase ^?
950\& $ echo -n "^[[36l"
951.Ve
952.Sp
953This helps satisfy some of the Backspace discrepancies that occur, but
954if you use Backspace = \f(CW\*(C`^H\*(C'\fR, make sure that the termcap/terminfo value
955properly reflects that.
956.Sp
957The Delete key is a another casualty of the ill-defined Backspace problem.
958To avoid confusion between the Backspace and Delete keys, the Delete
959key has been assigned an escape sequence to match the vt100 for Execute
960(\f(CW\*(C`ESC [ 3 ~\*(C'\fR) and is in the supplied termcap/terminfo.
961.Sp
962Some other Backspace problems:
963.Sp
964some editors use termcap/terminfo,
965some editors (vim I'm told) expect Backspace = ^H,
966\&\s-1GNU\s0 Emacs (and Emacs-like editors) use ^H for help.
967.Sp
968Perhaps someday this will all be resolved in a consistent manner.
969.IP "I don't like the key\-bindings. How do I change them?" 4
970.IX Item "I don't like the key-bindings. How do I change them?"
971There are some compile-time selections available via configure. Unless
972you have run \*(L"configure\*(R" with the \f(CW\*(C`\-\-disable\-resources\*(C'\fR option you can
973use the `keysym' resource to alter the keystrings associated with keysyms.
974.Sp
975Here's an example for a URxvt session started using \f(CW\*(C`@@RXVT_NAME@@ \-name URxvt\*(C'\fR
976.Sp
977.Vb 20
978\& URxvt.keysym.Home: \e033[1~
979\& URxvt.keysym.End: \e033[4~
980\& URxvt.keysym.C-apostrophe: \e033<C-'>
981\& URxvt.keysym.C-slash: \e033<C-/>
982\& URxvt.keysym.C-semicolon: \e033<C-;>
983\& URxvt.keysym.C-grave: \e033<C-`>
984\& URxvt.keysym.C-comma: \e033<C-,>
985\& URxvt.keysym.C-period: \e033<C-.>
986\& URxvt.keysym.C-0x60: \e033<C-`>
987\& URxvt.keysym.C-Tab: \e033<C-Tab>
988\& URxvt.keysym.C-Return: \e033<C-Return>
989\& URxvt.keysym.S-Return: \e033<S-Return>
990\& URxvt.keysym.S-space: \e033<S-Space>
991\& URxvt.keysym.M-Up: \e033<M-Up>
992\& URxvt.keysym.M-Down: \e033<M-Down>
993\& URxvt.keysym.M-Left: \e033<M-Left>
994\& URxvt.keysym.M-Right: \e033<M-Right>
995\& URxvt.keysym.M-C-0: list \e033<M-C- 0123456789 >
996\& URxvt.keysym.M-C-a: list \e033<M-C- abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz >
997\& URxvt.keysym.F12: command:\e033]701;zh_CN.GBK\e007
998.Ve
999.Sp
1000See some more examples in the documentation for the \fBkeysym\fR resource.
1001.IP "I'm using keyboard model \s-1XXX\s0 that has extra Prior/Next/Insert keys. How do I make use of them? For example, the Sun Keyboard type 4 has the following mappings that rxvt-unicode doesn't recognize." 4
1002.IX Item "I'm using keyboard model XXX that has extra Prior/Next/Insert keys. How do I make use of them? For example, the Sun Keyboard type 4 has the following mappings that rxvt-unicode doesn't recognize."
1003.Vb 6
1004\& KP_Insert == Insert
1005\& F22 == Print
1006\& F27 == Home
1007\& F29 == Prior
1008\& F33 == End
1009\& F35 == Next
1010.Ve
1011.Sp
1012Rather than have rxvt-unicode try to accommodate all the various possible
1013keyboard mappings, it is better to use `xmodmap' to remap the keys as
1014required for your particular machine.
1015.IP "How do I distinguish wether I'm running rxvt-unicode or a regular xterm? I need this to decide about setting colors etc." 4
1016.IX Item "How do I distinguish wether I'm running rxvt-unicode or a regular xterm? I need this to decide about setting colors etc."
1017rxvt and rxvt-unicode always export the variable \*(L"\s-1COLORTERM\s0\*(R", so you can
1018check and see if that is set. Note that several programs, \s-1JED\s0, slrn,
1019Midnight Commander automatically check this variable to decide whether or
1020not to use color.
1021.IP "How do I set the correct, full \s-1IP\s0 address for the \s-1DISPLAY\s0 variable?" 4
1022.IX Item "How do I set the correct, full IP address for the DISPLAY variable?"
1023If you've compiled rxvt-unicode with \s-1DISPLAY_IS_IP\s0 and have enabled
1024insecure mode then it is possible to use the following shell script
1025snippets to correctly set the display. If your version of rxvt-unicode
1026wasn't also compiled with \s-1ESCZ_ANSWER\s0 (as assumed in these snippets) then
1027the \s-1COLORTERM\s0 variable can be used to distinguish rxvt-unicode from a
1028regular xterm.
1029.Sp
1030Courtesy of Chuck Blake <cblake@BBN.COM> with the following shell script
1031snippets:
1032.Sp
1033.Vb 12
1034\& # Bourne/Korn/POSIX family of shells:
1035\& [ ${TERM:-foo} = foo ] && TERM=xterm # assume an xterm if we don't know
1036\& if [ ${TERM:-foo} = xterm ]; then
1037\& stty -icanon -echo min 0 time 15 # see if enhanced rxvt or not
1038\& echo -n '^[Z'
1039\& read term_id
1040\& stty icanon echo
1041\& if [ ""${term_id} = '^[[?1;2C' -a ${DISPLAY:-foo} = foo ]; then
1042\& echo -n '^[[7n' # query the rxvt we are in for the DISPLAY string
1043\& read DISPLAY # set it in our local shell
1044\& fi
1045\& fi
1046.Ve
1047.IP "How do I compile the manual pages for myself?" 4
1048.IX Item "How do I compile the manual pages for myself?"
1049You need to have a recent version of perl installed as \fI/usr/bin/perl\fR,
1050one that comes with \fIpod2man\fR, \fIpod2text\fR and \fIpod2html\fR. Then go to
1051the doc subdirectory and enter \f(CW\*(C`make alldoc\*(C'\fR.
1052.IP "My question isn't answered here, can I ask a human?" 4
1053.IX Item "My question isn't answered here, can I ask a human?"
1054Before sending me mail, you could go to \s-1IRC:\s0 \f(CW\*(C`irc.freenode.net\*(C'\fR,
1055channel \f(CW\*(C`#rxvt\-unicode\*(C'\fR has some rxvt-unicode enthusiasts that might be
1056interested in learning about new and exciting problems (but not FAQs :).
1057.SH "RXVT TECHNICAL REFERENCE" 1270.SH "RXVT-UNICODE TECHNICAL REFERENCE"
1058.IX Header "RXVT TECHNICAL REFERENCE" 1271.IX Header "RXVT-UNICODE TECHNICAL REFERENCE"
1059.SH "DESCRIPTION" 1272.SH "DESCRIPTION"
1060.IX Header "DESCRIPTION" 1273.IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
1061The rest of this document describes various technical aspects of 1274The rest of this document describes various technical aspects of
1062\&\fBrxvt-unicode\fR. First the description of supported command sequences, 1275\&\fBrxvt-unicode\fR. First the description of supported command sequences,
1063followed by menu and pixmap support and last by a description of all 1276followed by pixmap support and last by a description of all features
1064features selectable at \f(CW\*(C`configure\*(C'\fR time. 1277selectable at \f(CW\*(C`configure\*(C'\fR time.
1065.SH "Definitions" 1278.SH "Definitions"
1066.IX Header "Definitions" 1279.IX Header "Definitions"
1067.ie n .IP "\fB\fB""c""\fB\fR" 4 1280.ie n .IP "\fB\fB""c""\fB\fR" 4
1068.el .IP "\fB\f(CBc\fB\fR" 4 1281.el .IP "\fB\f(CBc\fB\fR" 4
1069.IX Item "c" 1282.IX Item "c"
1811Ps = 12 Change colour of text cursor foreground to Pt 2024Ps = 12 Change colour of text cursor foreground to Pt
1812Ps = 13 Change colour of mouse foreground to Pt 2025Ps = 13 Change colour of mouse foreground to Pt
1813Ps = 17 Change colour of highlight characters to Pt 2026Ps = 17 Change colour of highlight characters to Pt
1814Ps = 18 Change colour of bold characters to Pt [deprecated, see 706] 2027Ps = 18 Change colour of bold characters to Pt [deprecated, see 706]
1815Ps = 19 Change colour of underlined characters to Pt [deprecated, see 707] 2028Ps = 19 Change colour of underlined characters to Pt [deprecated, see 707]
1816Ps = 20 Change default background to Pt 2029Ps = 20 Change background pixmap parameters (see section XPM) (Compile XPM).
1817Ps = 39 Change default foreground colour to Pt. 2030Ps = 39 Change default foreground colour to Pt.
1818Ps = 46 Change Log File to Pt unimplemented 2031Ps = 46 Change Log File to Pt unimplemented
1819Ps = 49 Change default background colour to Pt. 2032Ps = 49 Change default background colour to Pt.
1820Ps = 50 Set fontset to Pt, with the following special values of Pt (rxvt) #+n change up n #-n change down n if n is missing of 0, a value of 1 is used empty change to font0 n change to font n 2033Ps = 50 Set fontset to Pt, with the following special values of Pt (rxvt) #+n change up n #-n change down n if n is missing of 0, a value of 1 is used empty change to font0 n change to font n
1821Ps = 55 Log all scrollback buffer and all of screen to Pt 2034Ps = 55 Log all scrollback buffer and all of screen to Pt
1822Ps = 701 Change current locale to Pt, or, if Pt is ?, return the current locale (Compile frills). 2035Ps = 701 Change current locale to Pt, or, if Pt is ?, return the current locale (Compile frills).
2036Ps = 702 Request version if Pt is ?, returning rxvt-unicode, the resource name, the major and minor version numbers, e.g. ESC ] 702 ; rxvt-unicode ; urxvt ; 7 ; 4 ST.
1823Ps = 704 Change colour of italic characters to Pt 2037Ps = 704 Change colour of italic characters to Pt
1824Ps = 705 Change background pixmap tint colour to Pt (Compile transparency). 2038Ps = 705 Change background pixmap tint colour to Pt (Compile transparency).
1825Ps = 706 Change colour of bold characters to Pt 2039Ps = 706 Change colour of bold characters to Pt
1826Ps = 707 Change colour of underlined characters to Pt 2040Ps = 707 Change colour of underlined characters to Pt
1827Ps = 710 Set normal fontset to Pt. Same as Ps = 50. 2041Ps = 710 Set normal fontset to Pt. Same as Ps = 50.
1913.TS 2127.TS
1914l l . 2128l l .
19154 Shift 21294 Shift
19168 Meta 21308 Meta
191716 Control 213116 Control
191832 Double Click (Rxvt extension) 213232 Double Click (rxvt extension)
1919.TE 2133.TE
1920 2134
1921Col = \fB\f(CB\*(C`<x> \- SPACE\*(C'\fB\fR 2135Col = \fB\f(CB\*(C`<x> \- SPACE\*(C'\fB\fR
1922.Sp 2136.Sp
1923Row = \fB\f(CB\*(C`<y> \- SPACE\*(C'\fB\fR 2137Row = \fB\f(CB\*(C`<y> \- SPACE\*(C'\fB\fR
2045Add support for \s-1XIM\s0 (X Input Method) protocol. This allows using 2259Add support for \s-1XIM\s0 (X Input Method) protocol. This allows using
2046alternative input methods (e.g. kinput2) and will also correctly 2260alternative input methods (e.g. kinput2) and will also correctly
2047set up the input for people using dead keys or compose keys. 2261set up the input for people using dead keys or compose keys.
2048.IP "\-\-enable\-unicode3 (default: off)" 4 2262.IP "\-\-enable\-unicode3 (default: off)" 4
2049.IX Item "--enable-unicode3 (default: off)" 2263.IX Item "--enable-unicode3 (default: off)"
2264Recommended to stay off unless you really need non-BMP characters.
2265.Sp
2050Enable direct support for displaying unicode codepoints above 2266Enable direct support for displaying unicode codepoints above
205165535 (the basic multilingual page). This increases storage 226765535 (the basic multilingual page). This increases storage
2052requirements per character from 2 to 4 bytes. X11 fonts do not yet 2268requirements per character from 2 to 4 bytes. X11 fonts do not yet
2053support these extra characters, but Xft does. 2269support these extra characters, but Xft does.
2054.Sp 2270.Sp
2063composite characters. This is required for proper viewing of text 2279composite characters. This is required for proper viewing of text
2064where accents are encoded as seperate unicode characters. This is 2280where accents are encoded as seperate unicode characters. This is
2065done by using precomposited characters when available or creating 2281done by using precomposited characters when available or creating
2066new pseudo-characters when no precomposed form exists. 2282new pseudo-characters when no precomposed form exists.
2067.Sp 2283.Sp
2068Without \-\-enable\-unicode3, the number of additional precomposed characters 2284Without \-\-enable\-unicode3, the number of additional precomposed
2069is rather limited (2048, if this is full, rxvt-unicode will use the 2285characters is somewhat limited (the 6400 private use characters will be
2070private use area, extending the number of combinations to 8448). With
2071\&\-\-enable\-unicode3, no practical limit exists. 2286(ab\-)used). With \-\-enable\-unicode3, no practical limit exists.
2072.Sp 2287.Sp
2073This option will also enable storage (but not display) of characters 2288This option will also enable storage (but not display) of characters
2074beyond plane 0 (>65535) when \-\-enable\-unicode3 was not specified. 2289beyond plane 0 (>65535) when \-\-enable\-unicode3 was not specified.
2075.Sp 2290.Sp
2076The combining table also contains entries for arabic presentation forms, 2291The combining table also contains entries for arabic presentation forms,
2077but these are not currently used. Bug me if you want these to be used (and 2292but these are not currently used. Bug me if you want these to be used (and
2078tell me how these are to be used...). 2293tell me how these are to be used...).
2079.IP "\-\-enable\-fallback(=CLASS) (default: Rxvt)" 4 2294.IP "\-\-enable\-fallback(=CLASS) (default: Rxvt)" 4
2080.IX Item "--enable-fallback(=CLASS) (default: Rxvt)" 2295.IX Item "--enable-fallback(=CLASS) (default: Rxvt)"
2081When reading resource settings, also read settings for class \s-1CLASS\s0. To disable resource fallback use \-\-disable\-fallback. 2296When reading resource settings, also read settings for class \s-1CLASS\s0. To
2297disable resource fallback use \-\-disable\-fallback.
2082.IP "\-\-with\-res\-name=NAME (default: urxvt)" 4 2298.IP "\-\-with\-res\-name=NAME (default: urxvt)" 4
2083.IX Item "--with-res-name=NAME (default: urxvt)" 2299.IX Item "--with-res-name=NAME (default: urxvt)"
2084Use the given name as default application name when 2300Use the given name as default application name when
2085reading resources. Specify \-\-with\-res\-name=rxvt to replace rxvt. 2301reading resources. Specify \-\-with\-res\-name=rxvt to replace rxvt.
2086.IP "\-\-with\-res\-class=CLASS /default: URxvt)" 4 2302.IP "\-\-with\-res\-class=CLASS /default: URxvt)" 4
2127.IP "\-\-enable\-plain\-scroll (default: on)" 4 2343.IP "\-\-enable\-plain\-scroll (default: on)" 4
2128.IX Item "--enable-plain-scroll (default: on)" 2344.IX Item "--enable-plain-scroll (default: on)"
2129Add support for a very unobtrusive, plain-looking scrollbar that 2345Add support for a very unobtrusive, plain-looking scrollbar that
2130is the favourite of the rxvt-unicode author, having used it for 2346is the favourite of the rxvt-unicode author, having used it for
2131many years. 2347many years.
2132.IP "\-\-enable\-half\-shadow (default: off)" 4
2133.IX Item "--enable-half-shadow (default: off)"
2134Make shadows on the scrollbar only half the normal width & height.
2135only applicable to rxvt scrollbars.
2136.IP "\-\-enable\-ttygid (default: off)" 4 2348.IP "\-\-enable\-ttygid (default: off)" 4
2137.IX Item "--enable-ttygid (default: off)" 2349.IX Item "--enable-ttygid (default: off)"
2138Change tty device setting to group \*(L"tty\*(R" \- only use this if 2350Change tty device setting to group \*(L"tty\*(R" \- only use this if
2139your system uses this type of security. 2351your system uses this type of security.
2140.IP "\-\-disable\-backspace\-key" 4 2352.IP "\-\-disable\-backspace\-key" 4
2157disable this. 2369disable this.
2158.Sp 2370.Sp
2159A non-exhaustive list of features enabled by \f(CW\*(C`\-\-enable\-frills\*(C'\fR (possibly 2371A non-exhaustive list of features enabled by \f(CW\*(C`\-\-enable\-frills\*(C'\fR (possibly
2160in combination with other switches) is: 2372in combination with other switches) is:
2161.Sp 2373.Sp
2162.Vb 17 2374.Vb 15
2163\& MWM-hints 2375\& MWM-hints
2164\& EWMH-hints (pid, utf8 names) and protocols (ping) 2376\& EWMH-hints (pid, utf8 names) and protocols (ping)
2165\& seperate underline colour (-underlineColor) 2377\& seperate underline colour (-underlineColor)
2166\& settable border widths and borderless switch (-w, -b, -bl) 2378\& settable border widths and borderless switch (-w, -b, -bl)
2379\& visual depth selection (-depth)
2167\& settable extra linespacing /-lsp) 2380\& settable extra linespacing /-lsp)
2168\& iso-14755-2 and -3, and visual feedback 2381\& iso-14755-2 and -3, and visual feedback
2169\& backindex and forwardindex escape sequence
2170\& window op and some xterm/OSC escape sequences
2171\& tripleclickwords (-tcw) 2382\& tripleclickwords (-tcw)
2172\& settable insecure mode (-insecure) 2383\& settable insecure mode (-insecure)
2173\& keysym remapping support 2384\& keysym remapping support
2174\& cursor blinking and underline cursor (-cb, -uc) 2385\& cursor blinking and underline cursor (-cb, -uc)
2175\& XEmbed support (-embed) 2386\& XEmbed support (-embed)
2176\& user-pty (-pty-fd) 2387\& user-pty (-pty-fd)
2177\& hold on exit (-hold) 2388\& hold on exit (-hold)
2178\& skip builtin block graphics (-sbg) 2389\& skip builtin block graphics (-sbg)
2390.Ve
2391.Sp
2392It also enabled some non-essential features otherwise disabled, such as:
2393.Sp
2394.Vb 11
2395\& some round-trip time optimisations
2396\& nearest color allocation on pseudocolor screens
2397\& UTF8_STRING supporr for selection
2179\& sgr modes 90..97 and 100..107 2398\& sgr modes 90..97 and 100..107
2399\& backindex and forwardindex escape sequences
2400\& view change/zero scorllback esacpe sequences
2401\& locale switching escape sequence
2402\& window op and some xterm/OSC escape sequences
2403\& rectangular selections
2404\& trailing space removal for selections
2405\& verbose X error handling
2180.Ve 2406.Ve
2181.IP "\-\-enable\-iso14755 (default: on)" 4 2407.IP "\-\-enable\-iso14755 (default: on)" 4
2182.IX Item "--enable-iso14755 (default: on)" 2408.IX Item "--enable-iso14755 (default: on)"
2183Enable extended \s-1ISO\s0 14755 support (see @@RXVT_NAME@@(1), or 2409Enable extended \s-1ISO\s0 14755 support (see @@RXVT_NAME@@(1), or
2184\&\fIdoc/rxvt.1.txt\fR). Basic support (section 5.1) is enabled by 2410\&\fIdoc/rxvt.1.txt\fR). Basic support (section 5.1) is enabled by
2218keys. This should keep the window corner which is closest to a corner of 2444keys. This should keep the window corner which is closest to a corner of
2219the screen in a fixed position. 2445the screen in a fixed position.
2220.IP "\-\-enable\-pointer\-blank (default: on)" 4 2446.IP "\-\-enable\-pointer\-blank (default: on)" 4
2221.IX Item "--enable-pointer-blank (default: on)" 2447.IX Item "--enable-pointer-blank (default: on)"
2222Add support to have the pointer disappear when typing or inactive. 2448Add support to have the pointer disappear when typing or inactive.
2223.IP "\-\-enable\-perl (default: off)" 4 2449.IP "\-\-enable\-perl (default: on)" 4
2224.IX Item "--enable-perl (default: off)" 2450.IX Item "--enable-perl (default: on)"
2225Enable an embedded perl interpreter. See the \fB@@RXVT_NAME@@\f(BIperl\fB\|(3)\fR 2451Enable an embedded perl interpreter. See the \fB@@RXVT_NAME@@\f(BIperl\fB\|(3)\fR
2226manpage (\fIdoc/rxvtperl.txt\fR) for more info on this feature, or the files 2452manpage (\fIdoc/rxvtperl.txt\fR) for more info on this feature, or the files
2227in \fIsrc/perl\-ext/\fR for the extensions that are installed by default. The 2453in \fIsrc/perl\-ext/\fR for the extensions that are installed by default. The
2228perl interpreter that is used can be specified via the \f(CW\*(C`PERL\*(C'\fR environment 2454perl interpreter that is used can be specified via the \f(CW\*(C`PERL\*(C'\fR environment
2229variable when running configure. 2455variable when running configure.

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