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Revision 1.62 by root, Tue Nov 8 17:35:28 2005 UTC vs.
Revision 1.81 by root, Fri Jan 13 12:40:46 2006 UTC

24 24
25=head1 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 25=head1 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
26 26
27=over 4 27=over 4
28 28
29=item The new selection selects pieces that are too big, how can I select
30single words?
31
32Yes. For example, if you want to select alphanumeric words, you can use
33the following resource:
34
35 URxvt.selection.pattern-0: ([[:word:]]+)
36
37If you click more than twice, the selection will be extended
38more and more.
39
40To get a selection that is very similar to the old code, try this pattern:
41
42 URxvt.selection.pattern-0: ([^"&'()*,;<=>?@[\\\\]^`{|})]+)
43
44Please also note that the I<LeftClick Shift-LeftClik> combination also
45selects words like the old code.
46
47=item I don't like the new selection/popups/hotkeys/perl, how do I
48change/disable it?
49
50You can disable the perl extension completely by setting the
51B<perl-ext-common> resource to the empty string, which also keeps
52rxvt-unicode from initialising perl, saving memory.
53
54If you only want to disable specific features, you first have to
55identify which perl extension is responsible. For this, read the section
56B<PREPACKAGED EXTENSIONS> in the @@RXVT_NAME@@perl(3) manpage. For
57example, to disable the B<selection-popup> and B<option-popup>, specify
58this B<perl-ext-common> resource:
59
60 URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,-selection-popup,-option-popup
61
62This will keep the default extensions, but disable the two popup
63extensions. Some extensions can also be configured, for example,
64scrollback search mode is triggered by B<M-s>. You can move it to any
65other combination either by setting the B<searchable-scrollback> resource:
66
67 URxvt.searchable-scrollback: CM-s
68
69=item Isn't rxvt supposed to be small? Don't all those features bloat?
70
71I often get asked about this, and I think, no, they didn't cause extra
72bloat. If you compare a minimal rxvt and a minimal urxvt, you can see
73that the urxvt binary is larger (due to some encoding tables always being
74compiled in), but it actually uses less memory (RSS) after startup. Even
75with C<--disable-everything>, this comparison is a bit unfair, as many
76features unique to urxvt (locale, encoding conversion, iso14755 etc.) are
77already in use in this mode.
78
79 text data bss drs rss filename
80 98398 1664 24 15695 1824 rxvt --disable-everything
81 188985 9048 66616 18222 1788 urxvt --disable-everything
82
83When you C<--enable-everything> (which _is_ unfair, as this involves xft
84and full locale/XIM support which are quite bloaty inside libX11 and my
85libc), the two diverge, but not unreasnobaly so.
86
87 text data bss drs rss filename
88 163431 2152 24 20123 2060 rxvt --enable-everything
89 1035683 49680 66648 29096 3680 urxvt --enable-everything
90
91The very large size of the text section is explained by the east-asian
92encoding tables, which, if unused, take up disk space but nothing else
93and can be compiled out unless you rely on X11 core fonts that use those
94encodings. The BSS size comes from the 64k emergency buffer that my c++
95compiler allocates (but of course doesn't use unless you are out of
96memory). Also, using an xft font instead of a core font immediately adds a
97few megabytes of RSS. Xft indeed is responsible for a lot of RSS even when
98not used.
99
100Of course, due to every character using two or four bytes instead of one,
101a large scrollback buffer will ultimately make rxvt-unicode use more
102memory.
103
104Compared to e.g. Eterm (5112k), aterm (3132k) and xterm (4680k), this
105still fares rather well. And compared to some monsters like gnome-terminal
106(21152k + extra 4204k in separate processes) or konsole (22200k + extra
10743180k in daemons that stay around after exit, plus half a minute of
108startup time, including the hundreds of warnings it spits out), it fares
109extremely well *g*.
110
111=item Why C++, isn't that unportable/bloated/uncool?
112
113Is this a question? :) It comes up very often. The simple answer is: I had
114to write it, and C++ allowed me to write and maintain it in a fraction
115of the time and effort (which is a scarce resource for me). Put even
116shorter: It simply wouldn't exist without C++.
117
118My personal stance on this is that C++ is less portable than C, but in
119the case of rxvt-unicode this hardly matters, as its portability limits
120are defined by things like X11, pseudo terminals, locale support and unix
121domain sockets, which are all less portable than C++ itself.
122
123Regarding the bloat, see the above question: It's easy to write programs
124in C that use gobs of memory, an certainly possible to write programs in
125C++ that don't. C++ also often comes with large libraries, but this is
126not necessarily the case with GCC. Here is what rxvt links against on my
127system with a minimal config:
128
129 libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x00002aaaaabc3000)
130 libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00002aaaaadde000)
131 libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00002aaaab01d000)
132 /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00002aaaaaaab000)
133
134And here is rxvt-unicode:
135
136 libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x00002aaaaabc3000)
137 libgcc_s.so.1 => /lib/libgcc_s.so.1 (0x00002aaaaada2000)
138 libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00002aaaaaeb0000)
139 libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00002aaaab0ee000)
140 /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00002aaaaaaab000)
141
142No large bloated libraries (of course, none were linked in statically),
143except maybe libX11 :)
144
145=item Does it support tabs, can I have a tabbed rxvt-unicode?
146
147rxvt-unicode does not directly support tabs. It will work fine with
148tabbing functionality of many window managers or similar tabbing programs,
149and its embedding-features allow it to be embedded into other programs,
150as witnessed by F<doc/rxvt-tabbed> or the upcoming C<Gtk2::URxvt> perl
151module, which features a tabbed urxvt (murxvt) terminal as an example
152embedding application.
153
29=item How do I know which rxvt-unicode version I'm using? 154=item How do I know which rxvt-unicode version I'm using?
30 155
31The version number is displayed with the usage (-h). Also the escape 156The version number is displayed with the usage (-h). Also the escape
32sequence C<ESC [ 8 n> sets the window title to the version number. 157sequence C<ESC [ 8 n> sets the window title to the version number. When
158using the @@RXVT_NAME@@c client, the version displayed is that of the
159daemon.
33 160
34=item I am using Debian GNU/Linux and have a problem... 161=item I am using Debian GNU/Linux and have a problem...
35 162
36The Debian GNU/Linux package of rxvt-unicode in sarge contains large 163The Debian GNU/Linux package of rxvt-unicode in sarge contains large
37patches that considerably change the behaviour of rxvt-unicode. Before 164patches that considerably change the behaviour of rxvt-unicode. Before
44 171
45For other problems that also affect the Debian package, you can and 172For other problems that also affect the Debian package, you can and
46probably should use the Debian BTS, too, because, after all, it's also a 173probably should use the Debian BTS, too, because, after all, it's also a
47bug in the Debian version and it serves as a reminder for other users that 174bug in the Debian version and it serves as a reminder for other users that
48might encounter the same issue. 175might encounter the same issue.
176
177=item I am maintaining rxvt-unicode for distribution/OS XXX, any recommendation?
178
179You should build one binary with the default options. F<configure>
180now enables most useful options, and the trend goes to making them
181runtime-switchable, too, so there is usually no drawback to enbaling them,
182except higher disk and possibly memory usage. The perl interpreter should
183be enabled, as important functionality (menus, selection, likely more in
184the future) depends on it.
185
186You should not overwrite the C<perl-ext-common> snd C<perl-ext> resources
187system-wide (except maybe with C<defaults>). This will result in useful
188behaviour. If your distribution aims at low memory, add an empty
189C<perl-ext-common> resource to the app-defaults file. This will keep the
190perl interpreter disabled until the user enables it.
191
192If you can/want build more binaries, I recommend building a minimal
193one with C<--disable-everything> (very useful) and a maximal one with
194C<--enable-everything> (less useful, it will be very big due to a lot of
195encodings built-in that increase download times and are rarely used).
196
197=item I need to make it setuid/setgid to support utmp/ptys on my OS, is this safe?
198
199Likely not. While I honestly try to make it secure, and am probably not
200bad at it, I think it is simply unreasonable to expect all of freetype
201+ fontconfig + xft + xlib + perl + ... + rxvt-unicode itself to all be
202secure. Also, rxvt-unicode disables some options when it detects that it
203runs setuid or setgid, which is not nice. Besides, with the embedded perl
204interpreter the possibility for security problems easily multiplies.
205
206Elevated privileges are only required for utmp and pty operations on some
207systems (for example, GNU/Linux doesn't need any extra privileges for
208ptys, but some need it for utmp support). It is planned to mvoe this into
209a forked handler process, but this is not yet done.
210
211So, while setuid/setgid operation is supported and not a problem on your
212typical single-user-no-other-logins unix desktop, always remember that
213its an awful lot of code, most of which isn't checked for security issues
214regularly.
49 215
50=item When I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data? 216=item When I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data?
51 217
52The terminal description used by rxvt-unicode is not as widely available 218The terminal description used by rxvt-unicode is not as widely available
53as that for xterm, or even rxvt (for which the same problem often arises). 219as that for xterm, or even rxvt (for which the same problem often arises).
506 672
507Make sure that mouse reporting is actually turned off since killing 673Make sure that mouse reporting is actually turned off since killing
508some editors prematurely may leave the mouse in mouse report mode. I've 674some editors prematurely may leave the mouse in mouse report mode. I've
509heard that tcsh may use mouse reporting unless it otherwise specified. A 675heard that tcsh may use mouse reporting unless it otherwise specified. A
510quick check is to see if cut/paste works when the Alt or Shift keys are 676quick check is to see if cut/paste works when the Alt or Shift keys are
511depressed. See @@RXVT_NAME@@(7) 677depressed.
512 678
513=item What's with this bold/blink stuff? 679=item What's with this bold/blink stuff?
514 680
515If no bold colour is set via C<colorBD:>, bold will invert text using the 681If no bold colour is set via C<colorBD:>, bold will invert text using the
516standard foreground colour. 682standard foreground colour.
605 771
606 # use Backspace = ^? 772 # use Backspace = ^?
607 $ stty erase ^? 773 $ stty erase ^?
608 $ @@RXVT_NAME@@ 774 $ @@RXVT_NAME@@
609 775
610Toggle with C<ESC [ 36 h> / C<ESC [ 36 l> as documented in @@RXVT_NAME@@(7). 776Toggle with C<ESC [ 36 h> / C<ESC [ 36 l>.
611 777
612For an existing rxvt-unicode: 778For an existing rxvt-unicode:
613 779
614 # use Backspace = ^H 780 # use Backspace = ^H
615 $ stty erase ^H 781 $ stty erase ^H
1446 B<< C<h> >> Scroll to bottom when a key is pressed 1612 B<< C<h> >> Scroll to bottom when a key is pressed
1447 B<< C<l> >> Don't scroll to bottom when a key is pressed 1613 B<< C<l> >> Don't scroll to bottom when a key is pressed
1448 1614
1449=end table 1615=end table
1450 1616
1617=item B<< C<Ps = 1021> >> (B<rxvt>)
1618
1619=begin table
1620
1621 B<< C<h> >> Bold/italic implies high intensity (see option B<-is>)
1622 B<< C<l> >> Font styles have no effect on intensity (Compile styles)
1623
1624=end table
1625
1451=item B<< C<Ps = 1047> >> 1626=item B<< C<Ps = 1047> >>
1452 1627
1453=begin table 1628=begin table
1454 1629
1455 B<< C<h> >> Use Alternate Screen Buffer 1630 B<< C<h> >> Use Alternate Screen Buffer
1501 B<< C<Ps = 10> >> Change colour of text foreground to B<< C<Pt> >> B<(NB: may change in future)> 1676 B<< C<Ps = 10> >> Change colour of text foreground to B<< C<Pt> >> B<(NB: may change in future)>
1502 B<< C<Ps = 11> >> Change colour of text background to B<< C<Pt> >> B<(NB: may change in future)> 1677 B<< C<Ps = 11> >> Change colour of text background to B<< C<Pt> >> B<(NB: may change in future)>
1503 B<< C<Ps = 12> >> Change colour of text cursor foreground to B<< C<Pt> >> 1678 B<< C<Ps = 12> >> Change colour of text cursor foreground to B<< C<Pt> >>
1504 B<< C<Ps = 13> >> Change colour of mouse foreground to B<< C<Pt> >> 1679 B<< C<Ps = 13> >> Change colour of mouse foreground to B<< C<Pt> >>
1505 B<< C<Ps = 17> >> Change colour of highlight characters to B<< C<Pt> >> 1680 B<< C<Ps = 17> >> Change colour of highlight characters to B<< C<Pt> >>
1506 B<< C<Ps = 18> >> Change colour of bold characters to B<< C<Pt> >> 1681 B<< C<Ps = 18> >> Change colour of bold characters to B<< C<Pt> >> [deprecated, see 706]
1507 B<< C<Ps = 19> >> Change colour of underlined characters to B<< C<Pt> >> 1682 B<< C<Ps = 19> >> Change colour of underlined characters to B<< C<Pt> >> [deprecated, see 707]
1508 B<< C<Ps = 20> >> Change default background to B<< C<Pt> >> 1683 B<< C<Ps = 20> >> Change default background to B<< C<Pt> >>
1509 B<< C<Ps = 39> >> Change default foreground colour to B<< C<Pt> >>. 1684 B<< C<Ps = 39> >> Change default foreground colour to B<< C<Pt> >>.
1510 B<< C<Ps = 46> >> Change Log File to B<< C<Pt> >> I<unimplemented> 1685 B<< C<Ps = 46> >> Change Log File to B<< C<Pt> >> I<unimplemented>
1511 B<< C<Ps = 49> >> Change default background colour to B<< C<Pt> >>. 1686 B<< C<Ps = 49> >> Change default background colour to B<< C<Pt> >>.
1512 B<< C<Ps = 50> >> Set fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>, with the following special values of B<< C<Pt> >> (B<rxvt>) B<< C<#+n> >> change up B<< C<n> >> B<< C<#-n> >> change down B<< C<n> >> if B<< C<n> >> is missing of 0, a value of 1 is used I<empty> change to font0 B<< C<n> >> change to font B<< C<n> >> 1687 B<< C<Ps = 50> >> Set fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>, with the following special values of B<< C<Pt> >> (B<rxvt>) B<< C<#+n> >> change up B<< C<n> >> B<< C<#-n> >> change down B<< C<n> >> if B<< C<n> >> is missing of 0, a value of 1 is used I<empty> change to font0 B<< C<n> >> change to font B<< C<n> >>
1513 B<< C<Ps = 55> >> Log all scrollback buffer and all of screen to B<< C<Pt> >> 1688 B<< C<Ps = 55> >> Log all scrollback buffer and all of screen to B<< C<Pt> >>
1514 B<< C<Ps = 701> >> Change current locale to B<< C<Pt> >>, or, if B<< C<Pt> >> is B<< C<?> >>, return the current locale (Compile frills). 1689 B<< C<Ps = 701> >> Change current locale to B<< C<Pt> >>, or, if B<< C<Pt> >> is B<< C<?> >>, return the current locale (Compile frills).
1515 B<< C<Ps = 703> >> Menubar command B<< C<Pt> >> (Compile menubar). 1690 B<< C<Ps = 703> >> Menubar command B<< C<Pt> >> (Compile menubar).
1516 B<< C<Ps = 704> >> Change colour of italic characters to B<< C<Pt> >> 1691 B<< C<Ps = 704> >> Change colour of italic characters to B<< C<Pt> >>
1517 B<< C<Ps = 705> >> Change background pixmap tint colour to B<< C<Pt> >> (Compile transparency). 1692 B<< C<Ps = 705> >> Change background pixmap tint colour to B<< C<Pt> >> (Compile transparency).
1693 B<< C<Ps = 706> >> Change colour of bold characters to B<< C<Pt> >>
1694 B<< C<Ps = 707> >> Change colour of underlined characters to B<< C<Pt> >>
1518 B<< C<Ps = 710> >> Set normal fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Same as C<Ps = 50>. 1695 B<< C<Ps = 710> >> Set normal fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Same as C<Ps = 50>.
1519 B<< C<Ps = 711> >> Set bold fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50> (Compile styles). 1696 B<< C<Ps = 711> >> Set bold fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50> (Compile styles).
1520 B<< C<Ps = 712> >> Set italic fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50> (Compile styles). 1697 B<< C<Ps = 712> >> Set italic fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50> (Compile styles).
1521 B<< C<Ps = 713> >> Set bold-italic fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50> (Compile styles). 1698 B<< C<Ps = 713> >> Set bold-italic fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50> (Compile styles).
1522 B<< C<Ps = 720> >> Move viewing window up by B<< C<Pt> >> lines, or clear scrollback buffer if C<Pt = 0> (Compile frills). 1699 B<< C<Ps = 720> >> Move viewing window up by B<< C<Pt> >> lines, or clear scrollback buffer if C<Pt = 0> (Compile frills).
1523 B<< C<Ps = 721> >> Move viewing window down by B<< C<Pt> >> lines, or clear scrollback buffer if C<Pt = 0> (Compile frills). 1700 B<< C<Ps = 721> >> Move viewing window down by B<< C<Pt> >> lines, or clear scrollback buffer if C<Pt = 0> (Compile frills).
1701 B<< C<Ps = 777> >> Call the perl extension with the given string, which should be of the form C<extension:parameters> (Compile perl).
1524 1702
1525=end table 1703=end table
1526 1704
1527=back 1705=back
1528 1706
2309 2487
2310Write user and tty to lastlog file (used by programs like 2488Write user and tty to lastlog file (used by programs like
2311F<lastlogin>) at start of rxvt execution. This option requires 2489F<lastlogin>) at start of rxvt execution. This option requires
2312--enable-utmp to also be specified. 2490--enable-utmp to also be specified.
2313 2491
2314=item --enable-xpm-background (default: off) 2492=item --enable-xpm-background (default: on)
2315 2493
2316Add support for XPM background pixmaps. 2494Add support for XPM background pixmaps.
2317 2495
2318=item --enable-transparency (default: off) 2496=item --enable-transparency (default: on)
2319 2497
2320Add support for inheriting parent backgrounds thus giving a fake 2498Add support for inheriting parent backgrounds thus giving a fake
2321transparency to the term. 2499transparency to the term.
2322 2500
2323=item --enable-fading (default: on) 2501=item --enable-fading (default: on)
2326 2504
2327=item --enable-tinting (default: on) 2505=item --enable-tinting (default: on)
2328 2506
2329Add support for tinting of transparent backgrounds (requires C<--enable-transparency>). 2507Add support for tinting of transparent backgrounds (requires C<--enable-transparency>).
2330 2508
2331=item --enable-menubar (default: off) 2509=item --enable-menubar (default: off) [DEPRECATED]
2332 2510
2333Add support for our menu bar system (this interacts badly with 2511Add support for our menu bar system (this interacts badly with dynamic
2334dynamic locale switching currently). 2512locale switching currently). This option is DEPRECATED and will be removed
2513in the future.
2335 2514
2336=item --enable-rxvt-scroll (default: on) 2515=item --enable-rxvt-scroll (default: on)
2337 2516
2338Add support for the original rxvt scrollbar. 2517Add support for the original rxvt scrollbar.
2339 2518
2371do it. 2550do it.
2372 2551
2373=item --disable-resources 2552=item --disable-resources
2374 2553
2375Removes any support for resource checking. 2554Removes any support for resource checking.
2376
2377=item --enable-xgetdefault
2378
2379Make resources checking via XGetDefault() instead of our small
2380version which only checks ~/.Xdefaults, or if that doesn't exist then
2381~/.Xresources.
2382
2383Please note that nowadays, things like XIM will automatically pull in and
2384use the full X resource manager, so the overhead of using it might be very
2385small, if nonexistant.
2386 2555
2387=item --enable-strings (default: off) 2556=item --enable-strings (default: off)
2388 2557
2389Add support for our possibly faster memset() function and other 2558Add support for our possibly faster memset() function and other
2390various routines, overriding your system's versions which may 2559various routines, overriding your system's versions which may
2405A non-exhaustive list of features enabled by C<--enable-frills> (possibly 2574A non-exhaustive list of features enabled by C<--enable-frills> (possibly
2406in combination with other switches) is: 2575in combination with other switches) is:
2407 2576
2408 MWM-hints 2577 MWM-hints
2409 EWMH-hints (pid, utf8 names) and protocols (ping) 2578 EWMH-hints (pid, utf8 names) and protocols (ping)
2410 seperate underline colour 2579 seperate underline colour (-underlineColor)
2411 settable border widths and borderless switch 2580 settable border widths and borderless switch (-w, -b, -bl)
2412 settable extra linespacing 2581 settable extra linespacing /-lsp)
2413 iso-14755-2 and -3, and visual feedback 2582 iso-14755-2 and -3, and visual feedback
2414 backindex and forwardindex escape sequence 2583 backindex and forwardindex escape sequence
2415 window op and some xterm/OSC escape sequences 2584 window op and some xterm/OSC escape sequences
2416 tripleclickwords 2585 tripleclickwords (-tcw)
2417 settable insecure mode 2586 settable insecure mode (-insecure)
2418 keysym remapping support 2587 keysym remapping support
2419 cursor blinking and underline cursor 2588 cursor blinking and underline cursor (-cb, -uc)
2420 -embed and -pty-fd options 2589 XEmbed support (-embed)
2590 user-pty (-pty-fd)
2591 hold on exit (-hold)
2592 skip builtin block graphics (-sbg)
2593 sgr modes 90..97 and 100..107
2421 2594
2422=item --enable-iso14755 (default: on) 2595=item --enable-iso14755 (default: on)
2423 2596
2424Enable extended ISO 14755 support (see @@RXVT_NAME@@(1), or 2597Enable extended ISO 14755 support (see @@RXVT_NAME@@(1), or
2425F<doc/rxvt.1.txt>). Basic support (section 5.1) is enabled by 2598F<doc/rxvt.1.txt>). Basic support (section 5.1) is enabled by
2468 2641
2469=item --enable-pointer-blank (default: on) 2642=item --enable-pointer-blank (default: on)
2470 2643
2471Add support to have the pointer disappear when typing or inactive. 2644Add support to have the pointer disappear when typing or inactive.
2472 2645
2646=item --enable-perl (default: off)
2647
2648Enable an embedded perl interpreter. See the B<@@RXVT_NAME@@perl(3)>
2649manpage (F<doc/rxvtperl.txt>) for more info on this feature, or the files
2650in F<src/perl-ext/> for the extensions that are installed by default. The
2651perl interpreter that is used can be specified via the C<PERL> environment
2652variable when running configure.
2653
2473=item --with-name=NAME (default: urxvt) 2654=item --with-name=NAME (default: urxvt)
2474 2655
2475Set the basename for the installed binaries, resulting 2656Set the basename for the installed binaries, resulting
2476in C<urxvt>, C<urxvtd> etc.). Specify C<--with-name=rxvt> to replace with 2657in C<urxvt>, C<urxvtd> etc.). Specify C<--with-name=rxvt> to replace with
2477C<rxvt>. 2658C<rxvt>.

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