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16=head1 DESCRIPTION 16=head1 DESCRIPTION
17 17
18This document contains the FAQ, the RXVT TECHNICAL REFERENCE documenting 18This document contains the FAQ, the RXVT TECHNICAL REFERENCE documenting
19all escape sequences, and other background information. 19all escape sequences, and other background information.
20 20
21The newest version of this document is 21The newest version of this document is also available on the World Wide Web at
22also available on the World Wide Web at
23L<http://cvs.schmorp.de/browse/*checkout*/rxvt-unicode/doc/rxvt.7.html>. 22L<http://cvs.schmorp.de/browse/*checkout*/rxvt-unicode/doc/rxvt.7.html>.
24 23
25=head1 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 24=head1 RXVT-UNICODE/URXVT FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
26 25
27=over 4
28 26
27=head2 Meta, Features & Commandline Issues
28
29=head3 My question isn't answered here, can I ask a human?
30
31Before sending me mail, you could go to IRC: C<irc.freenode.net>,
32channel C<#rxvt-unicode> has some rxvt-unicode enthusiasts that might be
33interested in learning about new and exciting problems (but not FAQs :).
34
35=head3 Does it support tabs, can I have a tabbed rxvt-unicode?
36
37Beginning with version 7.3, there is a perl extension that implements a
38simple tabbed terminal. It is installed by default, so any of these should
39give you tabs:
40
41 @@URXVT_NAME@@ -pe tabbed
42
43 URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,tabbed
44
45It will also work fine with tabbing functionality of many window managers
46or similar tabbing programs, and its embedding-features allow it to be
47embedded into other programs, as witnessed by F<doc/rxvt-tabbed> or
48the upcoming C<Gtk2::URxvt> perl module, which features a tabbed urxvt
49(murxvt) terminal as an example embedding application.
50
51=head3 How do I know which rxvt-unicode version I'm using?
52
53The version number is displayed with the usage (-h). Also the escape
54sequence C<ESC [ 8 n> sets the window title to the version number. When
55using the @@URXVT_NAME@@c client, the version displayed is that of the
56daemon.
57
58=head3 Rxvt-unicode uses gobs of memory, how can I reduce that?
59
60Rxvt-unicode tries to obey the rule of not charging you for something you
61don't use. One thing you should try is to configure out all settings that
62you don't need, for example, Xft support is a resource hog by design,
63when used. Compiling it out ensures that no Xft font will be loaded
64accidentally when rxvt-unicode tries to find a font for your characters.
65
66Also, many people (me included) like large windows and even larger
67scrollback buffers: Without C<--enable-unicode3>, rxvt-unicode will use
686 bytes per screen cell. For a 160x?? window this amounts to almost a
69kilobyte per line. A scrollback buffer of 10000 lines will then (if full)
70use 10 Megabytes of memory. With C<--enable-unicode3> it gets worse, as
71rxvt-unicode then uses 8 bytes per screen cell.
72
73=head3 How can I start @@URXVT_NAME@@d in a race-free way?
74
75Try C<@@URXVT_NAME@@d -f -o>, which tells @@URXVT_NAME@@d to open the
76display, create the listening socket and then fork.
77
78=head3 How do I distinguish wether I'm running rxvt-unicode or a regular xterm? I need this to decide about setting colors etc.
79
80The original rxvt and rxvt-unicode always export the variable "COLORTERM",
81so you can check and see if that is set. Note that several programs, JED,
82slrn, Midnight Commander automatically check this variable to decide
83whether or not to use color.
84
85=head3 How do I set the correct, full IP address for the DISPLAY variable?
86
87If you've compiled rxvt-unicode with DISPLAY_IS_IP and have enabled
88insecure mode then it is possible to use the following shell script
89snippets to correctly set the display. If your version of rxvt-unicode
90wasn't also compiled with ESCZ_ANSWER (as assumed in these snippets) then
91the COLORTERM variable can be used to distinguish rxvt-unicode from a
92regular xterm.
93
94Courtesy of Chuck Blake <cblake@BBN.COM> with the following shell script
95snippets:
96
97 # Bourne/Korn/POSIX family of shells:
98 [ ${TERM:-foo} = foo ] && TERM=xterm # assume an xterm if we don't know
99 if [ ${TERM:-foo} = xterm ]; then
100 stty -icanon -echo min 0 time 15 # see if enhanced rxvt or not
101 echo -n '^[Z'
102 read term_id
103 stty icanon echo
104 if [ ""${term_id} = '^[[?1;2C' -a ${DISPLAY:-foo} = foo ]; then
105 echo -n '^[[7n' # query the rxvt we are in for the DISPLAY string
106 read DISPLAY # set it in our local shell
107 fi
108 fi
109
110=head3 How do I compile the manual pages on my own?
111
112You need to have a recent version of perl installed as F</usr/bin/perl>,
113one that comes with F<pod2man>, F<pod2text> and F<pod2html>. Then go to
114the doc subdirectory and enter C<make alldoc>.
115
29=item Isn't rxvt supposed to be small? Don't all those features bloat? 116=head3 Isn't rxvt-unicode supposed to be small? Don't all those features bloat?
30 117
31I often get asked about this, and I think, no, they didn't cause extra 118I often get asked about this, and I think, no, they didn't cause extra
32bloat. If you compare a minimal rxvt and a minimal urxvt, you can see 119bloat. If you compare a minimal rxvt and a minimal urxvt, you can see
33that the urxvt binary is larger (due to some encoding tables always being 120that the urxvt binary is larger (due to some encoding tables always being
34compiled in), but it actually uses less memory (RSS) after startup. Even 121compiled in), but it actually uses less memory (RSS) after startup. Even
62memory. 149memory.
63 150
64Compared to e.g. Eterm (5112k), aterm (3132k) and xterm (4680k), this 151Compared to e.g. Eterm (5112k), aterm (3132k) and xterm (4680k), this
65still fares rather well. And compared to some monsters like gnome-terminal 152still fares rather well. And compared to some monsters like gnome-terminal
66(21152k + extra 4204k in separate processes) or konsole (22200k + extra 153(21152k + extra 4204k in separate processes) or konsole (22200k + extra
6743180k in daemons that stay around after exit, plus half aminute of 15443180k in daemons that stay around after exit, plus half a minute of
68startup time, including the hundreds of warnings it spits out), it fares 155startup time, including the hundreds of warnings it spits out), it fares
69extremely well *g*. 156extremely well *g*.
70 157
71=item Why C++, isn't that unportable/bloated/uncool? 158=head3 Why C++, isn't that unportable/bloated/uncool?
72 159
73Is this a question? :) It comes up very often. The simple answer is: I had 160Is this a question? :) It comes up very often. The simple answer is: I had
74to write it, and C++ allowed me to write and maintain it in a fraction 161to write it, and C++ allowed me to write and maintain it in a fraction
75of the time and effort (which is a scarce resource for me). Put even 162of the time and effort (which is a scarce resource for me). Put even
76shorter: It simply wouldn't exist without C++. 163shorter: It simply wouldn't exist without C++.
100 /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00002aaaaaaab000) 187 /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00002aaaaaaab000)
101 188
102No large bloated libraries (of course, none were linked in statically), 189No large bloated libraries (of course, none were linked in statically),
103except maybe libX11 :) 190except maybe libX11 :)
104 191
105=item Does it support tabs, can I have a tabbed rxvt-unicode?
106 192
107rxvt-unicode does not directly support tabs. It will work fine with 193=head2 Rendering, Font & Look and Feel Issues
108tabbing functionality of many window managers or similar tabbing programs,
109and its embedding-features allow it to be embedded into other programs,
110as witnessed by F<doc/rxvt-tabbed> or the upcoming C<Gtk2::URxvt> perl
111module, which features a tabbed urxvt (murxvt) terminal as an example
112embedding application.
113 194
114=item How do I know which rxvt-unicode version I'm using? 195=head3 I can't get transparency working, what am I doing wrong?
115 196
116The version number is displayed with the usage (-h). Also the escape 197First of all, transparency isn't officially supported in rxvt-unicode, so
117sequence C<ESC [ 8 n> sets the window title to the version number. When 198you are mostly on your own. Do not bug the author about it (but you may
118using the @@RXVT_NAME@@c client, the version displayed is that of the 199bug everybody else). Also, if you can't get it working consider it a rite
119daemon. 200of passage: ... and you failed.
120 201
121=item I am using Debian GNU/Linux and have a problem... 202Here are four ways to get transparency. B<Do> read the manpage and option
203descriptions for the programs mentioned and rxvt-unicode. Really, do it!
122 204
123The Debian GNU/Linux package of rxvt-unicode in sarge contains large 2051. Use inheritPixmap:
124patches that considerably change the behaviour of rxvt-unicode. Before
125reporting a bug to the original rxvt-unicode author please download and
126install the genuine version (L<http://software.schmorp.de#rxvt-unicode>)
127and try to reproduce the problem. If you cannot, chances are that the
128problems are specific to Debian GNU/Linux, in which case it should be
129reported via the Debian Bug Tracking System (use C<reportbug> to report
130the bug).
131 206
132For other problems that also affect the Debian package, you can and 207 Esetroot wallpaper.jpg
133probably should use the Debian BTS, too, because, after all, it's also a 208 @@URXVT_NAME@@ -ip -tint red -sh 40
134bug in the Debian version and it serves as a reminder for other users that
135might encounter the same issue.
136 209
210That works. If you think it doesn't, you lack transparency and tinting
211support, or you are unable to read.
212
2132. Use a simple pixmap and emulate pseudo-transparency. This enables you
214to use effects other than tinting and shading: Just shade/tint/whatever
215your picture with gimp or any other tool:
216
217 convert wallpaper.jpg -blur 20x20 -modulate 30 background.xpm
218 @@URXVT_NAME@@ -pixmap background.xpm -pe automove-background
219
220That works. If you think it doesn't, you lack XPM and Perl support, or you
221are unable to read.
222
2233. Use an ARGB visual:
224
225 @@URXVT_NAME@@ -depth 32 -fg grey90 -bg rgba:0000/0000/4444/cccc
226
227This requires XFT support, and the support of your X-server. If that
228doesn't work for you, blame Xorg and Keith Packard. ARGB visuals aren't
229there yet, no matter what they claim. Rxvt-Unicode contains the neccessary
230bugfixes and workarounds for Xft and Xlib to make it work, but that
231doesn't mean that your WM has the required kludges in place.
232
2334. Use xcompmgr and let it do the job:
234
235 xprop -frame -f _NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY 32c \
236 -set _NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY 0xc0000000
237
238Then click on a window you want to make transparent. Replace C<0xc0000000>
239by other values to change the degree of opacity. If it doesn't work and
240your server crashes, you got to keep the pieces.
241
242=head3 Why do some chinese characters look so different than others?
243
244This is because there is a difference between script and language --
245rxvt-unicode does not know which language the text that is output is,
246as it only knows the unicode character codes. If rxvt-unicode first
247sees a japanese/chinese character, it might choose a japanese font for
248display. Subsequent japanese characters will use that font. Now, many
249chinese characters aren't represented in japanese fonts, so when the first
250non-japanese character comes up, rxvt-unicode will look for a chinese font
251-- unfortunately at this point, it will still use the japanese font for
252chinese characters that are also in the japanese font.
253
254The workaround is easy: just tag a chinese font at the end of your font
255list (see the previous question). The key is to view the font list as
256a preference list: If you expect more japanese, list a japanese font
257first. If you expect more chinese, put a chinese font first.
258
259In the future it might be possible to switch language preferences at
260runtime (the internal data structure has no problem with using different
261fonts for the same character at the same time, but no interface for this
262has been designed yet).
263
264Until then, you might get away with switching fonts at runtime (see L<Can
265I switch the fonts at runtime?> later in this document).
266
267=head3 Why does rxvt-unicode sometimes leave pixel droppings?
268
269Most fonts were not designed for terminal use, which means that character
270size varies a lot. A font that is otherwise fine for terminal use might
271contain some characters that are simply too wide. Rxvt-unicode will avoid
272these characters. For characters that are just "a bit" too wide a special
273"careful" rendering mode is used that redraws adjacent characters.
274
275All of this requires that fonts do not lie about character sizes,
276however: Xft fonts often draw glyphs larger than their acclaimed bounding
277box, and rxvt-unicode has no way of detecting this (the correct way is to
278ask for the character bounding box, which unfortunately is wrong in these
279cases).
280
281It's not clear (to me at least), wether this is a bug in Xft, freetype,
282or the respective font. If you encounter this problem you might try using
283the C<-lsp> option to give the font more height. If that doesn't work, you
284might be forced to use a different font.
285
286All of this is not a problem when using X11 core fonts, as their bounding
287box data is correct.
288
289=head3 How can I keep rxvt-unicode from using reverse video so much?
290
291First of all, make sure you are running with the right terminal settings
292(C<TERM=rxvt-unicode>), which will get rid of most of these effects. Then
293make sure you have specified colours for italic and bold, as otherwise
294rxvt-unicode might use reverse video to simulate the effect:
295
296 URxvt.colorBD: white
297 URxvt.colorIT: green
298
299=head3 Some programs assume totally weird colours (red instead of blue), how can I fix that?
300
301For some unexplainable reason, some rare programs assume a very weird
302colour palette when confronted with a terminal with more than the standard
3038 colours (rxvt-unicode supports 88). The right fix is, of course, to fix
304these programs not to assume non-ISO colours without very good reasons.
305
306In the meantime, you can either edit your C<rxvt-unicode> terminfo
307definition to only claim 8 colour support or use C<TERM=rxvt>, which will
308fix colours but keep you from using other rxvt-unicode features.
309
310=head3 Can I switch the fonts at runtime?
311
312Yes, using an escape sequence. Try something like this, which has the same
313effect as using the C<-fn> switch, and takes effect immediately:
314
315 printf '\e]50;%s\007' "9x15bold,xft:Kochi Gothic"
316
317This is useful if you e.g. work primarily with japanese (and prefer a
318japanese font), but you have to switch to chinese temporarily, where
319japanese fonts would only be in your way.
320
321You can think of this as a kind of manual ISO-2022 switching.
322
323=head3 Why do italic characters look as if clipped?
324
325Many fonts have difficulties with italic characters and hinting. For
326example, the otherwise very nicely hinted font C<xft:Bitstream Vera Sans
327Mono> completely fails in it's italic face. A workaround might be to
328enable freetype autohinting, i.e. like this:
329
330 URxvt.italicFont: xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:italic:autohint=true
331 URxvt.boldItalicFont: xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:bold:italic:autohint=true
332
333=head3 Can I speed up Xft rendering somehow?
334
335Yes, the most obvious way to speed it up is to avoid Xft entirely, as
336it is simply slow. If you still want Xft fonts you might try to disable
337antialiasing (by appending C<:antialias=false>), which saves lots of
338memory and also speeds up rendering considerably.
339
340=head3 Rxvt-unicode doesn't seem to anti-alias its fonts, what is wrong?
341
342Rxvt-unicode will use whatever you specify as a font. If it needs to
343fall back to it's default font search list it will prefer X11 core
344fonts, because they are small and fast, and then use Xft fonts. It has
345antialiasing disabled for most of them, because the author thinks they
346look best that way.
347
348If you want antialiasing, you have to specify the fonts manually.
349
350=head3 What's with this bold/blink stuff?
351
352If no bold colour is set via C<colorBD:>, bold will invert text using the
353standard foreground colour.
354
355For the standard background colour, blinking will actually make the
356text blink when compiled with C<--enable-blinking>. with standard
357colours. Without C<--enable-blinking>, the blink attribute will be
358ignored.
359
360On ANSI colours, bold/blink attributes are used to set high-intensity
361foreground/background colors.
362
363color0-7 are the low-intensity colors.
364
365color8-15 are the corresponding high-intensity colors.
366
367=head3 I don't like the screen colors. How do I change them?
368
369You can change the screen colors at run-time using F<~/.Xdefaults>
370resources (or as long-options).
371
372Here are values that are supposed to resemble a VGA screen,
373including the murky brown that passes for low-intensity yellow:
374
375 URxvt.color0: #000000
376 URxvt.color1: #A80000
377 URxvt.color2: #00A800
378 URxvt.color3: #A8A800
379 URxvt.color4: #0000A8
380 URxvt.color5: #A800A8
381 URxvt.color6: #00A8A8
382 URxvt.color7: #A8A8A8
383
384 URxvt.color8: #000054
385 URxvt.color9: #FF0054
386 URxvt.color10: #00FF54
387 URxvt.color11: #FFFF54
388 URxvt.color12: #0000FF
389 URxvt.color13: #FF00FF
390 URxvt.color14: #00FFFF
391 URxvt.color15: #FFFFFF
392
393And here is a more complete set of non-standard colors described (not by
394me) as "pretty girly".
395
396 URxvt.cursorColor: #dc74d1
397 URxvt.pointerColor: #dc74d1
398 URxvt.background: #0e0e0e
399 URxvt.foreground: #4ad5e1
400 URxvt.color0: #000000
401 URxvt.color8: #8b8f93
402 URxvt.color1: #dc74d1
403 URxvt.color9: #dc74d1
404 URxvt.color2: #0eb8c7
405 URxvt.color10: #0eb8c7
406 URxvt.color3: #dfe37e
407 URxvt.color11: #dfe37e
408 URxvt.color5: #9e88f0
409 URxvt.color13: #9e88f0
410 URxvt.color6: #73f7ff
411 URxvt.color14: #73f7ff
412 URxvt.color7: #e1dddd
413 URxvt.color15: #e1dddd
414
415=head3 Why do some characters look so much different than others?
416
417See next entry.
418
419=head3 How does rxvt-unicode choose fonts?
420
421Most fonts do not contain the full range of Unicode, which is
422fine. Chances are that the font you (or the admin/package maintainer of
423your system/os) have specified does not cover all the characters you want
424to display.
425
426B<rxvt-unicode> makes a best-effort try at finding a replacement
427font. Often the result is fine, but sometimes the chosen font looks
428bad/ugly/wrong. Some fonts have totally strange characters that don't
429resemble the correct glyph at all, and rxvt-unicode lacks the artificial
430intelligence to detect that a specific glyph is wrong: it has to believe
431the font that the characters it claims to contain indeed look correct.
432
433In that case, select a font of your taste and add it to the font list,
434e.g.:
435
436 @@URXVT_NAME@@ -fn basefont,font2,font3...
437
438When rxvt-unicode sees a character, it will first look at the base
439font. If the base font does not contain the character, it will go to the
440next font, and so on. Specifying your own fonts will also speed up this
441search and use less resources within rxvt-unicode and the X-server.
442
443The only limitation is that none of the fonts may be larger than the base
444font, as the base font defines the terminal character cell size, which
445must be the same due to the way terminals work.
446
447
448=head2 Keyboard, Mouse & User Interaction
449
450=head3 The new selection selects pieces that are too big, how can I select single words?
451
452If you want to select e.g. alphanumeric words, you can use the following
453setting:
454
455 URxvt.selection.pattern-0: ([[:word:]]+)
456
457If you click more than twice, the selection will be extended
458more and more.
459
460To get a selection that is very similar to the old code, try this pattern:
461
462 URxvt.selection.pattern-0: ([^"&'()*,;<=>?@[\\\\]^`{|})]+)
463
464Please also note that the I<LeftClick Shift-LeftClik> combination also
465selects words like the old code.
466
467=head3 I don't like the new selection/popups/hotkeys/perl, how do I change/disable it?
468
469You can disable the perl extension completely by setting the
470B<perl-ext-common> resource to the empty string, which also keeps
471rxvt-unicode from initialising perl, saving memory.
472
473If you only want to disable specific features, you first have to
474identify which perl extension is responsible. For this, read the section
475B<PREPACKAGED EXTENSIONS> in the @@URXVT_NAME@@perl(3) manpage. For
476example, to disable the B<selection-popup> and B<option-popup>, specify
477this B<perl-ext-common> resource:
478
479 URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,-selection-popup,-option-popup
480
481This will keep the default extensions, but disable the two popup
482extensions. Some extensions can also be configured, for example,
483scrollback search mode is triggered by B<M-s>. You can move it to any
484other combination either by setting the B<searchable-scrollback> resource:
485
486 URxvt.searchable-scrollback: CM-s
487
488=head3 The cursor moves when selecting text in the current input line, how do I switch this off?
489
490See next entry.
491
492=head3 During rlogin/ssh/telnet/etc. sessions, clicking near the cursor outputs strange escape sequences, how do I fix this?
493
494These are caused by the C<readline> perl extension. Under normal
495circumstances, it will move your cursor around when you click into the
496line that contains it. It tries hard not to do this at the wrong moment,
497but when running a program that doesn't parse cursor movements or in some
498cases during rlogin sessions, it fails to detect this properly.
499
500You can permamently switch this feature off by disabling the C<readline>
501extension:
502
503 URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,-readline
504
505=head3 My numerical keypad acts weird and generates differing output?
506
507Some Debian GNUL/Linux users seem to have this problem, although no
508specific details were reported so far. It is possible that this is caused
509by the wrong C<TERM> setting, although the details of wether and how
510this can happen are unknown, as C<TERM=rxvt> should offer a compatible
511keymap. See the answer to the previous question, and please report if that
512helped.
513
514=head3 My Compose (Multi_key) key is no longer working.
515
516The most common causes for this are that either your locale is not set
517correctly, or you specified a B<preeditStyle> that is not supported by
518your input method. For example, if you specified B<OverTheSpot> and
519your input method (e.g. the default input method handling Compose keys)
520does not support this (for instance because it is not visual), then
521rxvt-unicode will continue without an input method.
522
523In this case either do not specify a B<preeditStyle> or specify more than
524one pre-edit style, such as B<OverTheSpot,Root,None>.
525
526=head3 I cannot type C<Ctrl-Shift-2> to get an ASCII NUL character due to ISO 14755
527
528Either try C<Ctrl-2> alone (it often is mapped to ASCII NUL even on
529international keyboards) or simply use ISO 14755 support to your
530advantage, typing <Ctrl-Shift-0> to get a ASCII NUL. This works for other
531codes, too, such as C<Ctrl-Shift-1-d> to type the default telnet escape
532character and so on.
533
534=head3 Mouse cut/paste suddenly no longer works.
535
536Make sure that mouse reporting is actually turned off since killing
537some editors prematurely may leave the mouse in mouse report mode. I've
538heard that tcsh may use mouse reporting unless it otherwise specified. A
539quick check is to see if cut/paste works when the Alt or Shift keys are
540depressed.
541
542=head3 What's with the strange Backspace/Delete key behaviour?
543
544Assuming that the physical Backspace key corresponds to the
545BackSpace keysym (not likely for Linux ... see the following
546question) there are two standard values that can be used for
547Backspace: C<^H> and C<^?>.
548
549Historically, either value is correct, but rxvt-unicode adopts the debian
550policy of using C<^?> when unsure, because it's the one only only correct
551choice :).
552
553Rxvt-unicode tries to inherit the current stty settings and uses the value
554of `erase' to guess the value for backspace. If rxvt-unicode wasn't
555started from a terminal (say, from a menu or by remote shell), then the
556system value of `erase', which corresponds to CERASE in <termios.h>, will
557be used (which may not be the same as your stty setting).
558
559For starting a new rxvt-unicode:
560
561 # use Backspace = ^H
562 $ stty erase ^H
563 $ @@URXVT_NAME@@
564
565 # use Backspace = ^?
566 $ stty erase ^?
567 $ @@URXVT_NAME@@
568
569Toggle with C<ESC [ 36 h> / C<ESC [ 36 l>.
570
571For an existing rxvt-unicode:
572
573 # use Backspace = ^H
574 $ stty erase ^H
575 $ echo -n "^[[36h"
576
577 # use Backspace = ^?
578 $ stty erase ^?
579 $ echo -n "^[[36l"
580
581This helps satisfy some of the Backspace discrepancies that occur, but
582if you use Backspace = C<^H>, make sure that the termcap/terminfo value
583properly reflects that.
584
585The Delete key is a another casualty of the ill-defined Backspace problem.
586To avoid confusion between the Backspace and Delete keys, the Delete
587key has been assigned an escape sequence to match the vt100 for Execute
588(C<ESC [ 3 ~>) and is in the supplied termcap/terminfo.
589
590Some other Backspace problems:
591
592some editors use termcap/terminfo,
593some editors (vim I'm told) expect Backspace = ^H,
594GNU Emacs (and Emacs-like editors) use ^H for help.
595
596Perhaps someday this will all be resolved in a consistent manner.
597
598=head3 I don't like the key-bindings. How do I change them?
599
600There are some compile-time selections available via configure. Unless
601you have run "configure" with the C<--disable-resources> option you can
602use the `keysym' resource to alter the keystrings associated with keysyms.
603
604Here's an example for a URxvt session started using C<@@URXVT_NAME@@ -name URxvt>
605
606 URxvt.keysym.Home: \033[1~
607 URxvt.keysym.End: \033[4~
608 URxvt.keysym.C-apostrophe: \033<C-'>
609 URxvt.keysym.C-slash: \033<C-/>
610 URxvt.keysym.C-semicolon: \033<C-;>
611 URxvt.keysym.C-grave: \033<C-`>
612 URxvt.keysym.C-comma: \033<C-,>
613 URxvt.keysym.C-period: \033<C-.>
614 URxvt.keysym.C-0x60: \033<C-`>
615 URxvt.keysym.C-Tab: \033<C-Tab>
616 URxvt.keysym.C-Return: \033<C-Return>
617 URxvt.keysym.S-Return: \033<S-Return>
618 URxvt.keysym.S-space: \033<S-Space>
619 URxvt.keysym.M-Up: \033<M-Up>
620 URxvt.keysym.M-Down: \033<M-Down>
621 URxvt.keysym.M-Left: \033<M-Left>
622 URxvt.keysym.M-Right: \033<M-Right>
623 URxvt.keysym.M-C-0: list \033<M-C- 0123456789 >
624 URxvt.keysym.M-C-a: list \033<M-C- abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz >
625 URxvt.keysym.F12: command:\033]701;zh_CN.GBK\007
626
627See some more examples in the documentation for the B<keysym> resource.
628
629=head3 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
630
631 KP_Insert == Insert
632 F22 == Print
633 F27 == Home
634 F29 == Prior
635 F33 == End
636 F35 == Next
637
638Rather than have rxvt-unicode try to accommodate all the various possible
639keyboard mappings, it is better to use `xmodmap' to remap the keys as
640required for your particular machine.
641
642
643
644=head2 Terminal Configuration
645
646=head3 Why doesn't rxvt-unicode read my resources?
647
648Well, why, indeed? It does, in a way very similar to other X
649applications. Most importantly, this means that if you or your OS loads
650resources into the X display (the right way to do it), rxvt-unicode will
651ignore any resource files in your home directory. It will only read
652F<$HOME/.Xdefaults> when no resources are attached to the display.
653
654If you have or use an F<$HOME/.Xresources> file, chances are that
655resources are loaded into your X-server. In this case, you have to
656re-login after every change (or run F<xrdb -merge $HOME/.Xresources>).
657
658Also consider the form resources have to use:
659
660 URxvt.resource: value
661
662If you want to use another form (there are lots of different ways of
663specifying resources), make sure you understand wether and why it
664works. If unsure, use the form above.
665
137=item When I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data? 666=head3 When I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data?
138 667
139The terminal description used by rxvt-unicode is not as widely available 668The terminal description used by rxvt-unicode is not as widely available
140as that for xterm, or even rxvt (for which the same problem often arises). 669as that for xterm, or even rxvt (for which the same problem often arises).
141 670
142The correct solution for this problem is to install the terminfo, this can 671The correct solution for this problem is to install the terminfo, this can
158resource to set it: 687resource to set it:
159 688
160 URxvt.termName: rxvt 689 URxvt.termName: rxvt
161 690
162If you don't plan to use B<rxvt> (quite common...) you could also replace 691If you don't plan to use B<rxvt> (quite common...) you could also replace
163the rxvt terminfo file with the rxvt-unicode one. 692the rxvt terminfo file with the rxvt-unicode one and use C<TERM=rxvt>.
164 693
165=item C<tic> outputs some error when compiling the terminfo entry. 694=head3 C<tic> outputs some error when compiling the terminfo entry.
166 695
167Most likely it's the empty definition for C<enacs=>. Just replace it by 696Most likely it's the empty definition for C<enacs=>. Just replace it by
168C<enacs=\E[0@> and try again. 697C<enacs=\E[0@> and try again.
169 698
170=item C<bash>'s readline does not work correctly under @@RXVT_NAME@@. 699=head3 C<bash>'s readline does not work correctly under @@URXVT_NAME@@.
171 700
701See next entry.
702
172=item I need a termcap file entry. 703=head3 I need a termcap file entry.
173 704
174One reason you might want this is that some distributions or operating 705One reason you might want this is that some distributions or operating
175systems still compile some programs using the long-obsoleted termcap 706systems still compile some programs using the long-obsoleted termcap
176library (Fedora Core's bash is one example) and rely on a termcap entry 707library (Fedora Core's bash is one example) and rely on a termcap entry
177for C<rxvt-unicode>. 708for C<rxvt-unicode>.
203 :sc=\E7:se=\E[27m:sf=^J:so=\E[7m:sr=\EM:st=\EH:ta=^I:\ 734 :sc=\E7:se=\E[27m:sf=^J:so=\E[7m:sr=\EM:st=\EH:ta=^I:\
204 :te=\E[r\E[?1049l:ti=\E[?1049h:ue=\E[24m:up=\E[A:\ 735 :te=\E[r\E[?1049l:ti=\E[?1049h:ue=\E[24m:up=\E[A:\
205 :us=\E[4m:vb=\E[?5h\E[?5l:ve=\E[?25h:vi=\E[?25l:\ 736 :us=\E[4m:vb=\E[?5h\E[?5l:ve=\E[?25h:vi=\E[?25l:\
206 :vs=\E[?25h: 737 :vs=\E[?25h:
207 738
208=item Why does C<ls> no longer have coloured output? 739=head3 Why does C<ls> no longer have coloured output?
209 740
210The C<ls> in the GNU coreutils unfortunately doesn't use terminfo to 741The C<ls> in the GNU coreutils unfortunately doesn't use terminfo to
211decide wether a terminal has colour, but uses it's own configuration 742decide wether a terminal has colour, but uses it's own configuration
212file. Needless to say, C<rxvt-unicode> is not in it's default file (among 743file. Needless to say, C<rxvt-unicode> is not in it's default file (among
213with most other terminals supporting colour). Either add: 744with most other terminals supporting colour). Either add:
218 749
219 alias ls='ls --color=auto' 750 alias ls='ls --color=auto'
220 751
221to your C<.profile> or C<.bashrc>. 752to your C<.profile> or C<.bashrc>.
222 753
223=item Why doesn't vim/emacs etc. use the 88 colour mode? 754=head3 Why doesn't vim/emacs etc. use the 88 colour mode?
224 755
756See next entry.
757
225=item Why doesn't vim/emacs etc. make use of italic? 758=head3 Why doesn't vim/emacs etc. make use of italic?
226 759
760See next entry.
761
227=item Why are the secondary screen-related options not working properly? 762=head3 Why are the secondary screen-related options not working properly?
228 763
229Make sure you are using C<TERM=rxvt-unicode>. Some pre-packaged 764Make sure you are using C<TERM=rxvt-unicode>. Some pre-packaged
230distributions (most notably Debian GNU/Linux) break rxvt-unicode 765distributions (most notably Debian GNU/Linux) break rxvt-unicode
231by setting C<TERM> to C<rxvt>, which doesn't have these extra 766by setting C<TERM> to C<rxvt>, which doesn't have these extra
232features. Unfortunately, some of these (most notably, again, Debian 767features. Unfortunately, some of these (most notably, again, Debian
233GNU/Linux) furthermore fail to even install the C<rxvt-unicode> terminfo 768GNU/Linux) furthermore fail to even install the C<rxvt-unicode> terminfo
234file, so you will need to install it on your own (See the question B<When 769file, so you will need to install it on your own (See the question B<When
235I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data?> on 770I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data?> on
236how to do this). 771how to do this).
237 772
238=item My numerical keypad acts weird and generates differing output?
239 773
240Some Debian GNUL/Linux users seem to have this problem, although no 774=head2 Encoding / Locale / Input Method Issues
241specific details were reported so far. It is possible that this is caused
242by the wrong C<TERM> setting, although the details of wether and how
243this can happen are unknown, as C<TERM=rxvt> should offer a compatible
244keymap. See the answer to the previous question, and please report if that
245helped.
246 775
247=item Rxvt-unicode does not seem to understand the selected encoding? 776=head3 Rxvt-unicode does not seem to understand the selected encoding?
248 777
778See next entry.
779
249=item Unicode does not seem to work? 780=head3 Unicode does not seem to work?
250 781
251If you encounter strange problems like typing an accented character but 782If you encounter strange problems like typing an accented character but
252getting two unrelated other characters or similar, or if program output is 783getting two unrelated other characters or similar, or if program output is
253subtly garbled, then you should check your locale settings. 784subtly garbled, then you should check your locale settings.
254 785
274 805
275If nothing works and you are sure that everything is set correctly then 806If nothing works and you are sure that everything is set correctly then
276you will need to remember a little known fact: Some programs just don't 807you will need to remember a little known fact: Some programs just don't
277support locales :( 808support locales :(
278 809
279=item Why do some characters look so much different than others? 810=head3 How does rxvt-unicode determine the encoding to use?
280 811
281=item How does rxvt-unicode choose fonts? 812See next entry.
282 813
283Most fonts do not contain the full range of Unicode, which is 814=head3 Is there an option to switch encodings?
284fine. Chances are that the font you (or the admin/package maintainer of
285your system/os) have specified does not cover all the characters you want
286to display.
287 815
288B<rxvt-unicode> makes a best-effort try at finding a replacement 816Unlike some other terminals, rxvt-unicode has no encoding switch, and no
289font. Often the result is fine, but sometimes the chosen font looks 817specific "utf-8" mode, such as xterm. In fact, it doesn't even know about
290bad/ugly/wrong. Some fonts have totally strange characters that don't 818UTF-8 or any other encodings with respect to terminal I/O.
291resemble the correct glyph at all, and rxvt-unicode lacks the artificial
292intelligence to detect that a specific glyph is wrong: it has to believe
293the font that the characters it claims to contain indeed look correct.
294 819
295In that case, select a font of your taste and add it to the font list, 820The reasons is that there exists a perfectly fine mechanism for selecting
296e.g.: 821the encoding, doing I/O and (most important) communicating this to all
297 822applications so everybody agrees on character properties such as width
298 @@RXVT_NAME@@ -fn basefont,font2,font3... 823and code number. This mechanism is the I<locale>. Applications not using
299 824that info will have problems (for example, C<xterm> gets the width of
300When rxvt-unicode sees a character, it will first look at the base 825characters wrong as it uses it's own, locale-independent table under all
301font. If the base font does not contain the character, it will go to the
302next font, and so on. Specifying your own fonts will also speed up this
303search and use less resources within rxvt-unicode and the X-server.
304
305The only limitation is that none of the fonts may be larger than the base
306font, as the base font defines the terminal character cell size, which
307must be the same due to the way terminals work.
308
309=item Why do some chinese characters look so different than others?
310
311This is because there is a difference between script and language --
312rxvt-unicode does not know which language the text that is output is,
313as it only knows the unicode character codes. If rxvt-unicode first
314sees a japanese/chinese character, it might choose a japanese font for
315display. Subsequent japanese characters will use that font. Now, many
316chinese characters aren't represented in japanese fonts, so when the first
317non-japanese character comes up, rxvt-unicode will look for a chinese font
318-- unfortunately at this point, it will still use the japanese font for
319chinese characters that are also in the japanese font.
320
321The workaround is easy: just tag a chinese font at the end of your font
322list (see the previous question). The key is to view the font list as
323a preference list: If you expect more japanese, list a japanese font
324first. If you expect more chinese, put a chinese font first.
325
326In the future it might be possible to switch language preferences at
327runtime (the internal data structure has no problem with using different
328fonts for the same character at the same time, but no interface for this
329has been designed yet).
330
331Until then, you might get away with switching fonts at runtime (see L<Can
332I switch the fonts at runtime?> later in this document).
333
334=item Why does rxvt-unicode sometimes leave pixel droppings?
335
336Most fonts were not designed for terminal use, which means that character
337size varies a lot. A font that is otherwise fine for terminal use might
338contain some characters that are simply too wide. Rxvt-unicode will avoid
339these characters. For characters that are just "a bit" too wide a special
340"careful" rendering mode is used that redraws adjacent characters.
341
342All of this requires that fonts do not lie about character sizes,
343however: Xft fonts often draw glyphs larger than their acclaimed bounding
344box, and rxvt-unicode has no way of detecting this (the correct way is to
345ask for the character bounding box, which unfortunately is wrong in these
346cases). 826locales).
347 827
348It's not clear (to me at least), wether this is a bug in Xft, freetype, 828Rxvt-unicode uses the C<LC_CTYPE> locale category to select encoding. All
349or the respective font. If you encounter this problem you might try using 829programs doing the same (that is, most) will automatically agree in the
350the C<-lsp> option to give the font more height. If that doesn't work, you 830interpretation of characters.
351might be forced to use a different font.
352 831
353All of this is not a problem when using X11 core fonts, as their bounding 832Unfortunately, there is no system-independent way to select locales, nor
354box data is correct. 833is there a standard on how locale specifiers will look like.
355 834
835On most systems, the content of the C<LC_CTYPE> environment variable
836contains an arbitrary string which corresponds to an already-installed
837locale. Common names for locales are C<en_US.UTF-8>, C<de_DE.ISO-8859-15>,
838C<ja_JP.EUC-JP>, i.e. C<language_country.encoding>, but other forms
839(i.e. C<de> or C<german>) are also common.
840
841Rxvt-unicode ignores all other locale categories, and except for
842the encoding, ignores country or language-specific settings,
843i.e. C<de_DE.UTF-8> and C<ja_JP.UTF-8> are the normally same to
844rxvt-unicode.
845
846If you want to use a specific encoding you have to make sure you start
847rxvt-unicode with the correct C<LC_CTYPE> category.
848
849=head3 Can I switch locales at runtime?
850
851Yes, using an escape sequence. Try something like this, which sets
852rxvt-unicode's idea of C<LC_CTYPE>.
853
854 printf '\e]701;%s\007' ja_JP.SJIS
855
856See also the previous answer.
857
858Sometimes this capability is rather handy when you want to work in
859one locale (e.g. C<de_DE.UTF-8>) but some programs don't support it
860(e.g. UTF-8). For example, I use this script to start C<xjdic>, which
861first switches to a locale supported by xjdic and back later:
862
863 printf '\e]701;%s\007' ja_JP.SJIS
864 xjdic -js
865 printf '\e]701;%s\007' de_DE.UTF-8
866
867You can also use xterm's C<luit> program, which usually works fine, except
868for some locales where character width differs between program- and
869rxvt-unicode-locales.
870
871=head3 My input method wants <some encoding> but I want UTF-8, what can I do?
872
873You can specify separate locales for the input method and the rest of the
874terminal, using the resource C<imlocale>:
875
876 URxvt.imlocale: ja_JP.EUC-JP
877
878Now you can start your terminal with C<LC_CTYPE=ja_JP.UTF-8> and still
879use your input method. Please note, however, that you will not be able to
880input characters outside C<EUC-JP> in a normal way then, as your input
881method limits you.
882
883=head3 Rxvt-unicode crashes when the X Input Method changes or exits.
884
885Unfortunately, this is unavoidable, as the XIM protocol is racy by
886design. Applications can avoid some crashes at the expense of memory
887leaks, and Input Methods can avoid some crashes by careful ordering at
888exit time. B<kinput2> (and derived input methods) generally succeeds,
889while B<SCIM> (or similar input methods) fails. In the end, however,
890crashes cannot be completely avoided even if both sides cooperate.
891
892So the only workaround is not to kill your Input Method Servers.
893
894
895=head2 Operating Systems / Package Maintaining
896
897=head3 I am using Debian GNU/Linux and have a problem...
898
899The Debian GNU/Linux package of rxvt-unicode in sarge contains large
900patches that considerably change the behaviour of rxvt-unicode (but
901unfortunately this notice has been removed). Before reporting a bug to
902the original rxvt-unicode author please download and install the genuine
903version (L<http://software.schmorp.de#rxvt-unicode>) and try to reproduce
904the problem. If you cannot, chances are that the problems are specific to
905Debian GNU/Linux, in which case it should be reported via the Debian Bug
906Tracking System (use C<reportbug> to report the bug).
907
908For other problems that also affect the Debian package, you can and
909probably should use the Debian BTS, too, because, after all, it's also a
910bug in the Debian version and it serves as a reminder for other users that
911might encounter the same issue.
912
913=head3 I am maintaining rxvt-unicode for distribution/OS XXX, any recommendation?
914
915You should build one binary with the default options. F<configure>
916now enables most useful options, and the trend goes to making them
917runtime-switchable, too, so there is usually no drawback to enbaling them,
918except higher disk and possibly memory usage. The perl interpreter should
919be enabled, as important functionality (menus, selection, likely more in
920the future) depends on it.
921
922You should not overwrite the C<perl-ext-common> snd C<perl-ext> resources
923system-wide (except maybe with C<defaults>). This will result in useful
924behaviour. If your distribution aims at low memory, add an empty
925C<perl-ext-common> resource to the app-defaults file. This will keep the
926perl interpreter disabled until the user enables it.
927
928If you can/want build more binaries, I recommend building a minimal
929one with C<--disable-everything> (very useful) and a maximal one with
930C<--enable-everything> (less useful, it will be very big due to a lot of
931encodings built-in that increase download times and are rarely used).
932
933=head3 I need to make it setuid/setgid to support utmp/ptys on my OS, is this safe?
934
935It should be, starting with release 7.1. You are encouraged to properly
936install urxvt with privileges necessary for your OS now.
937
938When rxvt-unicode detects that it runs setuid or setgid, it will fork
939into a helper process for privileged operations (pty handling on some
940systems, utmp/wtmp/lastlog handling on others) and drop privileges
941immediately. This is much safer than most other terminals that keep
942privileges while running (but is more relevant to urxvt, as it contains
943things as perl interpreters, which might be "helpful" to attackers).
944
945This forking is done as the very first within main(), which is very early
946and reduces possible bugs to initialisation code run before main(), or
947things like the dynamic loader of your system, which should result in very
948little risk.
949
356=item On Solaris 9, many line-drawing characters are too wide. 950=head3 On Solaris 9, many line-drawing characters are too wide.
357 951
358Seems to be a known bug, read 952Seems to be a known bug, read
359L<http://nixdoc.net/files/forum/about34198.html>. Some people use the 953L<http://nixdoc.net/files/forum/about34198.html>. Some people use the
360following ugly workaround to get non-double-wide-characters working: 954following ugly workaround to get non-double-wide-characters working:
361 955
362 #define wcwidth(x) wcwidth(x) > 1 ? 1 : wcwidth(x) 956 #define wcwidth(x) wcwidth(x) > 1 ? 1 : wcwidth(x)
363 957
364=item My Compose (Multi_key) key is no longer working.
365
366The most common causes for this are that either your locale is not set
367correctly, or you specified a B<preeditStyle> that is not supported by
368your input method. For example, if you specified B<OverTheSpot> and
369your input method (e.g. the default input method handling Compose keys)
370does not support this (for instance because it is not visual), then
371rxvt-unicode will continue without an input method.
372
373In this case either do not specify a B<preeditStyle> or specify more than
374one pre-edit style, such as B<OverTheSpot,Root,None>.
375
376=item I cannot type C<Ctrl-Shift-2> to get an ASCII NUL character due to ISO 14755
377
378Either try C<Ctrl-2> alone (it often is mapped to ASCII NUL even on
379international keyboards) or simply use ISO 14755 support to your
380advantage, typing <Ctrl-Shift-0> to get a ASCII NUL. This works for other
381codes, too, such as C<Ctrl-Shift-1-d> to type the default telnet escape
382character and so on.
383
384=item How can I keep rxvt-unicode from using reverse video so much?
385
386First of all, make sure you are running with the right terminal settings
387(C<TERM=rxvt-unicode>), which will get rid of most of these effects. Then
388make sure you have specified colours for italic and bold, as otherwise
389rxvt-unicode might use reverse video to simulate the effect:
390
391 URxvt.colorBD: white
392 URxvt.colorIT: green
393
394=item Some programs assume totally weird colours (red instead of blue), how can I fix that?
395
396For some unexplainable reason, some rare programs assume a very weird
397colour palette when confronted with a terminal with more than the standard
3988 colours (rxvt-unicode supports 88). The right fix is, of course, to fix
399these programs not to assume non-ISO colours without very good reasons.
400
401In the meantime, you can either edit your C<rxvt-unicode> terminfo
402definition to only claim 8 colour support or use C<TERM=rxvt>, which will
403fix colours but keep you from using other rxvt-unicode features.
404
405=item I am on FreeBSD and rxvt-unicode does not seem to work at all. 958=head3 I am on FreeBSD and rxvt-unicode does not seem to work at all.
406 959
407Rxvt-unicode requires the symbol C<__STDC_ISO_10646__> to be defined 960Rxvt-unicode requires the symbol C<__STDC_ISO_10646__> to be defined
408in your compile environment, or an implementation that implements it, 961in your compile environment, or an implementation that implements it,
409wether it defines the symbol or not. C<__STDC_ISO_10646__> requires that 962wether it defines the symbol or not. C<__STDC_ISO_10646__> requires that
410B<wchar_t> is represented as unicode. 963B<wchar_t> is represented as unicode.
432 985
433The rxvt-unicode author insists that the right way to fix this is in the 986The rxvt-unicode author insists that the right way to fix this is in the
434system libraries once and for all, instead of forcing every app to carry 987system libraries once and for all, instead of forcing every app to carry
435complete replacements for them :) 988complete replacements for them :)
436 989
437=item I use Solaris 9 and it doesn't compile/work/etc. 990=head3 I use Solaris 9 and it doesn't compile/work/etc.
438 991
439Try the diff in F<doc/solaris9.patch> as a base. It fixes the worst 992Try the diff in F<doc/solaris9.patch> as a base. It fixes the worst
440problems with C<wcwidth> and a compile problem. 993problems with C<wcwidth> and a compile problem.
441 994
442=item How can I use rxvt-unicode under cygwin? 995=head3 How can I use rxvt-unicode under cygwin?
443 996
444rxvt-unicode should compile and run out of the box on cygwin, using 997rxvt-unicode should compile and run out of the box on cygwin, using
445the X11 libraries that come with cygwin. libW11 emulation is no 998the X11 libraries that come with cygwin. libW11 emulation is no
446longer supported (and makes no sense, either, as it only supported a 999longer supported (and makes no sense, either, as it only supported a
447single font). I recommend starting the X-server in C<-multiwindow> or 1000single font). I recommend starting the X-server in C<-multiwindow> or
450 1003
451At the time of this writing, cygwin didn't seem to support any multi-byte 1004At the time of this writing, cygwin didn't seem to support any multi-byte
452encodings (you might try C<LC_CTYPE=C-UTF-8>), so you are likely limited 1005encodings (you might try C<LC_CTYPE=C-UTF-8>), so you are likely limited
453to 8-bit encodings. 1006to 8-bit encodings.
454 1007
455=item How does rxvt-unicode determine the encoding to use?
456
457=item Is there an option to switch encodings?
458
459Unlike some other terminals, rxvt-unicode has no encoding switch, and no
460specific "utf-8" mode, such as xterm. In fact, it doesn't even know about
461UTF-8 or any other encodings with respect to terminal I/O.
462
463The reasons is that there exists a perfectly fine mechanism for selecting
464the encoding, doing I/O and (most important) communicating this to all
465applications so everybody agrees on character properties such as width
466and code number. This mechanism is the I<locale>. Applications not using
467that info will have problems (for example, C<xterm> gets the width of
468characters wrong as it uses it's own, locale-independent table under all
469locales).
470
471Rxvt-unicode uses the C<LC_CTYPE> locale category to select encoding. All
472programs doing the same (that is, most) will automatically agree in the
473interpretation of characters.
474
475Unfortunately, there is no system-independent way to select locales, nor
476is there a standard on how locale specifiers will look like.
477
478On most systems, the content of the C<LC_CTYPE> environment variable
479contains an arbitrary string which corresponds to an already-installed
480locale. Common names for locales are C<en_US.UTF-8>, C<de_DE.ISO-8859-15>,
481C<ja_JP.EUC-JP>, i.e. C<language_country.encoding>, but other forms
482(i.e. C<de> or C<german>) are also common.
483
484Rxvt-unicode ignores all other locale categories, and except for
485the encoding, ignores country or language-specific settings,
486i.e. C<de_DE.UTF-8> and C<ja_JP.UTF-8> are the normally same to
487rxvt-unicode.
488
489If you want to use a specific encoding you have to make sure you start
490rxvt-unicode with the correct C<LC_CTYPE> category.
491
492=item Can I switch locales at runtime?
493
494Yes, using an escape sequence. Try something like this, which sets
495rxvt-unicode's idea of C<LC_CTYPE>.
496
497 printf '\e]701;%s\007' ja_JP.SJIS
498
499See also the previous answer.
500
501Sometimes this capability is rather handy when you want to work in
502one locale (e.g. C<de_DE.UTF-8>) but some programs don't support it
503(e.g. UTF-8). For example, I use this script to start C<xjdic>, which
504first switches to a locale supported by xjdic and back later:
505
506 printf '\e]701;%s\007' ja_JP.SJIS
507 xjdic -js
508 printf '\e]701;%s\007' de_DE.UTF-8
509
510You can also use xterm's C<luit> program, which usually works fine, except
511for some locales where character width differs between program- and
512rxvt-unicode-locales.
513
514=item Can I switch the fonts at runtime?
515
516Yes, using an escape sequence. Try something like this, which has the same
517effect as using the C<-fn> switch, and takes effect immediately:
518
519 printf '\e]50;%s\007' "9x15bold,xft:Kochi Gothic"
520
521This is useful if you e.g. work primarily with japanese (and prefer a
522japanese font), but you have to switch to chinese temporarily, where
523japanese fonts would only be in your way.
524
525You can think of this as a kind of manual ISO-2022 switching.
526
527=item Why do italic characters look as if clipped?
528
529Many fonts have difficulties with italic characters and hinting. For
530example, the otherwise very nicely hinted font C<xft:Bitstream Vera Sans
531Mono> completely fails in it's italic face. A workaround might be to
532enable freetype autohinting, i.e. like this:
533
534 URxvt.italicFont: xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:italic:autohint=true
535 URxvt.boldItalicFont: xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:bold:italic:autohint=true
536
537=item My input method wants <some encoding> but I want UTF-8, what can I do?
538
539You can specify separate locales for the input method and the rest of the
540terminal, using the resource C<imlocale>:
541
542 URxvt*imlocale: ja_JP.EUC-JP
543
544Now you can start your terminal with C<LC_CTYPE=ja_JP.UTF-8> and still
545use your input method. Please note, however, that you will not be able to
546input characters outside C<EUC-JP> in a normal way then, as your input
547method limits you.
548
549=item Rxvt-unicode crashes when the X Input Method changes or exits.
550
551Unfortunately, this is unavoidable, as the XIM protocol is racy by
552design. Applications can avoid some crashes at the expense of memory
553leaks, and Input Methods can avoid some crashes by careful ordering at
554exit time. B<kinput2> (and derived input methods) generally succeeds,
555while B<SCIM> (or similar input methods) fails. In the end, however,
556crashes cannot be completely avoided even if both sides cooperate.
557
558So the only workaround is not to kill your Input Method Servers.
559
560=item Rxvt-unicode uses gobs of memory, how can I reduce that?
561
562Rxvt-unicode tries to obey the rule of not charging you for something you
563don't use. One thing you should try is to configure out all settings that
564you don't need, for example, Xft support is a resource hog by design,
565when used. Compiling it out ensures that no Xft font will be loaded
566accidentally when rxvt-unicode tries to find a font for your characters.
567
568Also, many people (me included) like large windows and even larger
569scrollback buffers: Without C<--enable-unicode3>, rxvt-unicode will use
5706 bytes per screen cell. For a 160x?? window this amounts to almost a
571kilobyte per line. A scrollback buffer of 10000 lines will then (if full)
572use 10 Megabytes of memory. With C<--enable-unicode3> it gets worse, as
573rxvt-unicode then uses 8 bytes per screen cell.
574
575=item Can I speed up Xft rendering somehow?
576
577Yes, the most obvious way to speed it up is to avoid Xft entirely, as
578it is simply slow. If you still want Xft fonts you might try to disable
579antialiasing (by appending C<:antialias=false>), which saves lots of
580memory and also speeds up rendering considerably.
581
582=item Rxvt-unicode doesn't seem to anti-alias its fonts, what is wrong?
583
584Rxvt-unicode will use whatever you specify as a font. If it needs to
585fall back to it's default font search list it will prefer X11 core
586fonts, because they are small and fast, and then use Xft fonts. It has
587antialiasing disabled for most of them, because the author thinks they
588look best that way.
589
590If you want antialiasing, you have to specify the fonts manually.
591
592=item Mouse cut/paste suddenly no longer works.
593
594Make sure that mouse reporting is actually turned off since killing
595some editors prematurely may leave the mouse in mouse report mode. I've
596heard that tcsh may use mouse reporting unless it otherwise specified. A
597quick check is to see if cut/paste works when the Alt or Shift keys are
598depressed. See @@RXVT_NAME@@(7)
599
600=item What's with this bold/blink stuff?
601
602If no bold colour is set via C<colorBD:>, bold will invert text using the
603standard foreground colour.
604
605For the standard background colour, blinking will actually make the
606text blink when compiled with C<--enable-blinking>. with standard
607colours. Without C<--enable-blinking>, the blink attribute will be
608ignored.
609
610On ANSI colours, bold/blink attributes are used to set high-intensity
611foreground/background colors.
612
613color0-7 are the low-intensity colors.
614
615color8-15 are the corresponding high-intensity colors.
616
617=item I don't like the screen colors. How do I change them?
618
619You can change the screen colors at run-time using F<~/.Xdefaults>
620resources (or as long-options).
621
622Here are values that are supposed to resemble a VGA screen,
623including the murky brown that passes for low-intensity yellow:
624
625 URxvt.color0: #000000
626 URxvt.color1: #A80000
627 URxvt.color2: #00A800
628 URxvt.color3: #A8A800
629 URxvt.color4: #0000A8
630 URxvt.color5: #A800A8
631 URxvt.color6: #00A8A8
632 URxvt.color7: #A8A8A8
633
634 URxvt.color8: #000054
635 URxvt.color9: #FF0054
636 URxvt.color10: #00FF54
637 URxvt.color11: #FFFF54
638 URxvt.color12: #0000FF
639 URxvt.color13: #FF00FF
640 URxvt.color14: #00FFFF
641 URxvt.color15: #FFFFFF
642
643And here is a more complete set of non-standard colors described (not by
644me) as "pretty girly".
645
646 URxvt.cursorColor: #dc74d1
647 URxvt.pointerColor: #dc74d1
648 URxvt.background: #0e0e0e
649 URxvt.foreground: #4ad5e1
650 URxvt.color0: #000000
651 URxvt.color8: #8b8f93
652 URxvt.color1: #dc74d1
653 URxvt.color9: #dc74d1
654 URxvt.color2: #0eb8c7
655 URxvt.color10: #0eb8c7
656 URxvt.color3: #dfe37e
657 URxvt.color11: #dfe37e
658 URxvt.color5: #9e88f0
659 URxvt.color13: #9e88f0
660 URxvt.color6: #73f7ff
661 URxvt.color14: #73f7ff
662 URxvt.color7: #e1dddd
663 URxvt.color15: #e1dddd
664
665=item How can I start @@RXVT_NAME@@d in a race-free way?
666
667Try C<@@RXVT_NAME@@d -f -o>, which tells @@RXVT_NAME@@d to open the
668display, create the listening socket and then fork.
669
670=item What's with the strange Backspace/Delete key behaviour?
671
672Assuming that the physical Backspace key corresponds to the
673BackSpace keysym (not likely for Linux ... see the following
674question) there are two standard values that can be used for
675Backspace: C<^H> and C<^?>.
676
677Historically, either value is correct, but rxvt-unicode adopts the debian
678policy of using C<^?> when unsure, because it's the one only only correct
679choice :).
680
681Rxvt-unicode tries to inherit the current stty settings and uses the value
682of `erase' to guess the value for backspace. If rxvt-unicode wasn't
683started from a terminal (say, from a menu or by remote shell), then the
684system value of `erase', which corresponds to CERASE in <termios.h>, will
685be used (which may not be the same as your stty setting).
686
687For starting a new rxvt-unicode:
688
689 # use Backspace = ^H
690 $ stty erase ^H
691 $ @@RXVT_NAME@@
692
693 # use Backspace = ^?
694 $ stty erase ^?
695 $ @@RXVT_NAME@@
696
697Toggle with C<ESC [ 36 h> / C<ESC [ 36 l> as documented in @@RXVT_NAME@@(7).
698
699For an existing rxvt-unicode:
700
701 # use Backspace = ^H
702 $ stty erase ^H
703 $ echo -n "^[[36h"
704
705 # use Backspace = ^?
706 $ stty erase ^?
707 $ echo -n "^[[36l"
708
709This helps satisfy some of the Backspace discrepancies that occur, but
710if you use Backspace = C<^H>, make sure that the termcap/terminfo value
711properly reflects that.
712
713The Delete key is a another casualty of the ill-defined Backspace problem.
714To avoid confusion between the Backspace and Delete keys, the Delete
715key has been assigned an escape sequence to match the vt100 for Execute
716(C<ESC [ 3 ~>) and is in the supplied termcap/terminfo.
717
718Some other Backspace problems:
719
720some editors use termcap/terminfo,
721some editors (vim I'm told) expect Backspace = ^H,
722GNU Emacs (and Emacs-like editors) use ^H for help.
723
724Perhaps someday this will all be resolved in a consistent manner.
725
726=item I don't like the key-bindings. How do I change them?
727
728There are some compile-time selections available via configure. Unless
729you have run "configure" with the C<--disable-resources> option you can
730use the `keysym' resource to alter the keystrings associated with keysyms.
731
732Here's an example for a URxvt session started using C<@@RXVT_NAME@@ -name URxvt>
733
734 URxvt.keysym.Home: \033[1~
735 URxvt.keysym.End: \033[4~
736 URxvt.keysym.C-apostrophe: \033<C-'>
737 URxvt.keysym.C-slash: \033<C-/>
738 URxvt.keysym.C-semicolon: \033<C-;>
739 URxvt.keysym.C-grave: \033<C-`>
740 URxvt.keysym.C-comma: \033<C-,>
741 URxvt.keysym.C-period: \033<C-.>
742 URxvt.keysym.C-0x60: \033<C-`>
743 URxvt.keysym.C-Tab: \033<C-Tab>
744 URxvt.keysym.C-Return: \033<C-Return>
745 URxvt.keysym.S-Return: \033<S-Return>
746 URxvt.keysym.S-space: \033<S-Space>
747 URxvt.keysym.M-Up: \033<M-Up>
748 URxvt.keysym.M-Down: \033<M-Down>
749 URxvt.keysym.M-Left: \033<M-Left>
750 URxvt.keysym.M-Right: \033<M-Right>
751 URxvt.keysym.M-C-0: list \033<M-C- 0123456789 >
752 URxvt.keysym.M-C-a: list \033<M-C- abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz >
753 URxvt.keysym.F12: command:\033]701;zh_CN.GBK\007
754
755See some more examples in the documentation for the B<keysym> resource.
756
757=item I'm using keyboard model XXX that has extra Prior/Next/Insert keys.
758How do I make use of them? For example, the Sun Keyboard type 4
759has the following mappings that rxvt-unicode doesn't recognize.
760
761 KP_Insert == Insert
762 F22 == Print
763 F27 == Home
764 F29 == Prior
765 F33 == End
766 F35 == Next
767
768Rather than have rxvt-unicode try to accommodate all the various possible
769keyboard mappings, it is better to use `xmodmap' to remap the keys as
770required for your particular machine.
771
772=item How do I distinguish wether I'm running rxvt-unicode or a regular xterm?
773I need this to decide about setting colors etc.
774
775rxvt and rxvt-unicode always export the variable "COLORTERM", so you can
776check and see if that is set. Note that several programs, JED, slrn,
777Midnight Commander automatically check this variable to decide whether or
778not to use color.
779
780=item How do I set the correct, full IP address for the DISPLAY variable?
781
782If you've compiled rxvt-unicode with DISPLAY_IS_IP and have enabled
783insecure mode then it is possible to use the following shell script
784snippets to correctly set the display. If your version of rxvt-unicode
785wasn't also compiled with ESCZ_ANSWER (as assumed in these snippets) then
786the COLORTERM variable can be used to distinguish rxvt-unicode from a
787regular xterm.
788
789Courtesy of Chuck Blake <cblake@BBN.COM> with the following shell script
790snippets:
791
792 # Bourne/Korn/POSIX family of shells:
793 [ ${TERM:-foo} = foo ] && TERM=xterm # assume an xterm if we don't know
794 if [ ${TERM:-foo} = xterm ]; then
795 stty -icanon -echo min 0 time 15 # see if enhanced rxvt or not
796 echo -n '^[Z'
797 read term_id
798 stty icanon echo
799 if [ ""${term_id} = '^[[?1;2C' -a ${DISPLAY:-foo} = foo ]; then
800 echo -n '^[[7n' # query the rxvt we are in for the DISPLAY string
801 read DISPLAY # set it in our local shell
802 fi
803 fi
804
805=item How do I compile the manual pages for myself?
806
807You need to have a recent version of perl installed as F</usr/bin/perl>,
808one that comes with F<pod2man>, F<pod2text> and F<pod2html>. Then go to
809the doc subdirectory and enter C<make alldoc>.
810
811=item My question isn't answered here, can I ask a human?
812
813Before sending me mail, you could go to IRC: C<irc.freenode.net>,
814channel C<#rxvt-unicode> has some rxvt-unicode enthusiasts that might be
815interested in learning about new and exciting problems (but not FAQs :).
816
817=back
818
819=head1 RXVT TECHNICAL REFERENCE 1008=head1 RXVT-UNICODE TECHNICAL REFERENCE
820 1009
821=head1 DESCRIPTION 1010=head1 DESCRIPTION
822 1011
823The rest of this document describes various technical aspects of 1012The rest of this document describes various technical aspects of
824B<rxvt-unicode>. First the description of supported command sequences, 1013B<rxvt-unicode>. First the description of supported command sequences,
825followed by menu and pixmap support and last by a description of all 1014followed by pixmap support and last by a description of all features
826features selectable at C<configure> time. 1015selectable at C<configure> time.
827 1016
828=head1 Definitions 1017=head1 Definitions
829 1018
830=over 4 1019=over 4
831 1020
1399 B<< C<h> >> Send Mouse X & Y on button press. 1588 B<< C<h> >> Send Mouse X & Y on button press.
1400 B<< C<l> >> No mouse reporting. 1589 B<< C<l> >> No mouse reporting.
1401 1590
1402=end table 1591=end table
1403 1592
1404=item B<< C<Ps = 10> >> (B<rxvt>)
1405
1406=begin table
1407
1408 B<< C<h> >> menuBar visible
1409 B<< C<l> >> menuBar invisible
1410
1411=end table
1412
1413=item B<< C<Ps = 25> >> 1593=item B<< C<Ps = 25> >>
1414 1594
1415=begin table 1595=begin table
1416 1596
1417 B<< C<h> >> Visible cursor {cnorm/cvvis} 1597 B<< C<h> >> Visible cursor {cnorm/cvvis}
1597 B<< C<Ps = 10> >> Change colour of text foreground to B<< C<Pt> >> B<(NB: may change in future)> 1777 B<< C<Ps = 10> >> Change colour of text foreground to B<< C<Pt> >> B<(NB: may change in future)>
1598 B<< C<Ps = 11> >> Change colour of text background to B<< C<Pt> >> B<(NB: may change in future)> 1778 B<< C<Ps = 11> >> Change colour of text background to B<< C<Pt> >> B<(NB: may change in future)>
1599 B<< C<Ps = 12> >> Change colour of text cursor foreground to B<< C<Pt> >> 1779 B<< C<Ps = 12> >> Change colour of text cursor foreground to B<< C<Pt> >>
1600 B<< C<Ps = 13> >> Change colour of mouse foreground to B<< C<Pt> >> 1780 B<< C<Ps = 13> >> Change colour of mouse foreground to B<< C<Pt> >>
1601 B<< C<Ps = 17> >> Change colour of highlight characters to B<< C<Pt> >> 1781 B<< C<Ps = 17> >> Change colour of highlight characters to B<< C<Pt> >>
1602 B<< C<Ps = 18> >> Change colour of bold characters to B<< C<Pt> >> 1782 B<< C<Ps = 18> >> Change colour of bold characters to B<< C<Pt> >> [deprecated, see 706]
1603 B<< C<Ps = 19> >> Change colour of underlined characters to B<< C<Pt> >> 1783 B<< C<Ps = 19> >> Change colour of underlined characters to B<< C<Pt> >> [deprecated, see 707]
1604 B<< C<Ps = 20> >> Change default background to B<< C<Pt> >> 1784 B<< C<Ps = 20> >> Change background pixmap parameters (see section XPM) (Compile XPM).
1605 B<< C<Ps = 39> >> Change default foreground colour to B<< C<Pt> >>. 1785 B<< C<Ps = 39> >> Change default foreground colour to B<< C<Pt> >>.
1606 B<< C<Ps = 46> >> Change Log File to B<< C<Pt> >> I<unimplemented> 1786 B<< C<Ps = 46> >> Change Log File to B<< C<Pt> >> I<unimplemented>
1607 B<< C<Ps = 49> >> Change default background colour to B<< C<Pt> >>. 1787 B<< C<Ps = 49> >> Change default background colour to B<< C<Pt> >>.
1608 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> >> 1788 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> >>
1609 B<< C<Ps = 55> >> Log all scrollback buffer and all of screen to B<< C<Pt> >> 1789 B<< C<Ps = 55> >> Log all scrollback buffer and all of screen to B<< C<Pt> >>
1610 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). 1790 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).
1611 B<< C<Ps = 703> >> Menubar command B<< C<Pt> >> (Compile menubar). 1791 B<< C<Ps = 702> >> Request version if B<< C<Pt> >> is B<< C<?> >>, returning C<rxvt-unicode>, the resource name, the major and minor version numbers, e.g. C<ESC ] 702 ; rxvt-unicode ; urxvt ; 7 ; 4 ST>.
1612 B<< C<Ps = 704> >> Change colour of italic characters to B<< C<Pt> >> 1792 B<< C<Ps = 704> >> Change colour of italic characters to B<< C<Pt> >>
1613 B<< C<Ps = 705> >> Change background pixmap tint colour to B<< C<Pt> >> (Compile transparency). 1793 B<< C<Ps = 705> >> Change background pixmap tint colour to B<< C<Pt> >> (Compile transparency).
1794 B<< C<Ps = 706> >> Change colour of bold characters to B<< C<Pt> >>
1795 B<< C<Ps = 707> >> Change colour of underlined characters to B<< C<Pt> >>
1614 B<< C<Ps = 710> >> Set normal fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Same as C<Ps = 50>. 1796 B<< C<Ps = 710> >> Set normal fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Same as C<Ps = 50>.
1615 B<< C<Ps = 711> >> Set bold fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50> (Compile styles). 1797 B<< C<Ps = 711> >> Set bold fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50> (Compile styles).
1616 B<< C<Ps = 712> >> Set italic fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50> (Compile styles). 1798 B<< C<Ps = 712> >> Set italic fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50> (Compile styles).
1617 B<< C<Ps = 713> >> Set bold-italic fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50> (Compile styles). 1799 B<< C<Ps = 713> >> Set bold-italic fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50> (Compile styles).
1618 B<< C<Ps = 720> >> Move viewing window up by B<< C<Pt> >> lines, or clear scrollback buffer if C<Pt = 0> (Compile frills). 1800 B<< C<Ps = 720> >> Move viewing window up by B<< C<Pt> >> lines, or clear scrollback buffer if C<Pt = 0> (Compile frills).
1621 1803
1622=end table 1804=end table
1623 1805
1624=back 1806=back
1625 1807
1626X<menuBar>
1627
1628=head1 menuBar
1629
1630B<< The exact syntax used is I<almost> solidified. >>
1631In the menus, B<DON'T> try to use menuBar commands that add or remove a
1632menuBar.
1633
1634Note that in all of the commands, the B<< I</path/> >> I<cannot> be
1635omitted: use B<./> to specify a menu relative to the current menu.
1636
1637=head2 Overview of menuBar operation
1638
1639For the menuBar XTerm escape sequence C<ESC ] 703 ; Pt ST>, the syntax
1640of C<Pt> can be used for a variety of tasks:
1641
1642At the top level is the current menuBar which is a member of a circular
1643linked-list of other such menuBars.
1644
1645The menuBar acts as a parent for the various drop-down menus, which in
1646turn, may have labels, separator lines, menuItems and subMenus.
1647
1648The menuItems are the useful bits: you can use them to mimic keyboard
1649input or even to send text or escape sequences back to rxvt.
1650
1651The menuBar syntax is intended to provide a simple yet robust method of
1652constructing and manipulating menus and navigating through the
1653menuBars.
1654
1655The first step is to use the tag B<< [menu:I<name>] >> which creates
1656the menuBar called I<name> and allows access. You may now or menus,
1657subMenus, and menuItems. Finally, use the tag B<[done]> to set the
1658menuBar access as B<readonly> to prevent accidental corruption of the
1659menus. To re-access the current menuBar for alterations, use the tag
1660B<[menu]>, make the alterations and then use B<[done]>
1661
1662X<menuBarCommands>
1663
1664=head2 Commands
1665
1666=over 4
1667
1668=item B<< [menu:+I<name>] >>
1669
1670access the named menuBar for creation or alteration. If a new menuBar
1671is created, it is called I<name> (max of 15 chars) and the current
1672menuBar is pushed onto the stack
1673
1674=item B<[menu]>
1675
1676access the current menuBar for alteration
1677
1678=item B<< [title:+I<string>] >>
1679
1680set the current menuBar's title to I<string>, which may contain the
1681following format specifiers:
1682
1683 B<%n> rxvt name (as per the B<-name> command-line option)
1684 B<%v> rxvt version
1685 B<%%> literal B<%> character
1686
1687=item B<[done]>
1688
1689set menuBar access as B<readonly>.
1690End-of-file tag for B<< [read:+I<file>] >> operations.
1691
1692=item B<< [read:+I<file>] >>
1693
1694read menu commands directly from I<file> (extension ".menu" will be
1695appended if required.) Start reading at a line with B<[menu]> or B<<
1696[menu:+I<name> >> and continuing until B<[done]> is encountered.
1697
1698Blank and comment lines (starting with B<#>) are ignored. Actually,
1699since any invalid menu commands are also ignored, almost anything could
1700be construed as a comment line, but this may be tightened up in the
1701future ... so don't count on it!.
1702
1703=item B<< [read:+I<file>;+I<name>] >>
1704
1705The same as B<< [read:+I<file>] >>, but start reading at a line with
1706B<< [menu:+I<name>] >> and continuing until B<< [done:+I<name>] >> or
1707B<[done]> is encountered.
1708
1709=item B<[dump]>
1710
1711dump all menuBars to the file B</tmp/rxvt-PID> in a format suitable for
1712later rereading.
1713
1714=item B<[rm:name]>
1715
1716remove the named menuBar
1717
1718=item B<[rm] [rm:]>
1719
1720remove the current menuBar
1721
1722=item B<[rm*] [rm:*]>
1723
1724remove all menuBars
1725
1726=item B<[swap]>
1727
1728swap the top two menuBars
1729
1730=item B<[prev]>
1731
1732access the previous menuBar
1733
1734=item B<[next]>
1735
1736access the next menuBar
1737
1738=item B<[show]>
1739
1740Enable display of the menuBar
1741
1742=item B<[hide]>
1743
1744Disable display of the menuBar
1745
1746=item B<< [pixmap:+I<name>] >>
1747
1748=item B<< [pixmap:+I<name>;I<scaling>] >>
1749
1750(set the background pixmap globally
1751
1752B<< A Future implementation I<may> make this local to the menubar >>)
1753
1754=item B<< [:+I<command>:] >>
1755
1756ignore the menu readonly status and issue a I<command> to or a menu or
1757menuitem or change the ; a useful shortcut for setting the quick arrows
1758from a menuBar.
1759
1760=back
1761
1762X<menuBarAdd>
1763
1764=head2 Adding and accessing menus
1765
1766The following commands may also be B<+> prefixed.
1767
1768=over 4
1769
1770=item B</+>
1771
1772access menuBar top level
1773
1774=item B<./+>
1775
1776access current menu level
1777
1778=item B<../+>
1779
1780access parent menu (1 level up)
1781
1782=item B<../../>
1783
1784access parent menu (multiple levels up)
1785
1786=item B<< I</path/>menu >>
1787
1788add/access menu
1789
1790=item B<< I</path/>menu/* >>
1791
1792add/access menu and clear it if it exists
1793
1794=item B<< I</path/>{-} >>
1795
1796add separator
1797
1798=item B<< I</path/>{item} >>
1799
1800add B<item> as a label
1801
1802=item B<< I</path/>{item} action >>
1803
1804add/alter I<menuitem> with an associated I<action>
1805
1806=item B<< I</path/>{item}{right-text} >>
1807
1808add/alter I<menuitem> with B<right-text> as the right-justified text
1809and as the associated I<action>
1810
1811=item B<< I</path/>{item}{rtext} action >>
1812
1813add/alter I<menuitem> with an associated I<action> and with B<rtext> as
1814the right-justified text.
1815
1816=back
1817
1818=over 4
1819
1820=item Special characters in I<action> must be backslash-escaped:
1821
1822B<\a \b \E \e \n \r \t \octal>
1823
1824=item or in control-character notation:
1825
1826B<^@, ^A .. ^Z .. ^_, ^?>
1827
1828=back
1829
1830To send a string starting with a B<NUL> (B<^@>) character to the
1831program, start I<action> with a pair of B<NUL> characters (B<^@^@>),
1832the first of which will be stripped off and the balance directed to the
1833program. Otherwise if I<action> begins with B<NUL> followed by
1834non-+B<NUL> characters, the leading B<NUL> is stripped off and the
1835balance is sent back to rxvt.
1836
1837As a convenience for the many Emacs-type editors, I<action> may start
1838with B<M-> (eg, B<M-$> is equivalent to B<\E$>) and a B<CR> will be
1839appended if missed from B<M-x> commands.
1840
1841As a convenience for issuing XTerm B<ESC ]> sequences from a menubar (or
1842quick arrow), a B<BEL> (B<^G>) will be appended if needed.
1843
1844=over 4
1845
1846=item For example,
1847
1848B<M-xapropos> is equivalent to B<\Exapropos\r>
1849
1850=item and
1851
1852B<\E]703;mona;100> is equivalent to B<\E]703;mona;100\a>
1853
1854=back
1855
1856The option B<< {I<right-rtext>} >> will be right-justified. In the
1857absence of a specified action, this text will be used as the I<action>
1858as well.
1859
1860=over 4
1861
1862=item For example,
1863
1864B</File/{Open}{^X^F}> is equivalent to B</File/{Open}{^X^F} ^X^F>
1865
1866=back
1867
1868The left label I<is> necessary, since it's used for matching, but
1869implicitly hiding the left label (by using same name for both left and
1870right labels), or explicitly hiding the left label (by preceeding it
1871with a dot), makes it possible to have right-justified text only.
1872
1873=over 4
1874
1875=item For example,
1876
1877B</File/{Open}{Open} Open-File-Action>
1878
1879=item or hiding it
1880
1881B</File/{.anylabel}{Open} Open-File-Action>
1882
1883=back
1884
1885X<menuBarRemove>
1886
1887=head2 Removing menus
1888
1889=over 4
1890
1891=item B<< -/*+ >>
1892
1893remove all menus from the menuBar, the same as B<[clear]>
1894
1895=item B<< -+I</path>menu+ >>
1896
1897remove menu
1898
1899=item B<< -+I</path>{item}+ >>
1900
1901remove item
1902
1903=item B<< -+I</path>{-} >>
1904
1905remove separator)
1906
1907=item B<-/path/menu/*>
1908
1909remove all items, separators and submenus from menu
1910
1911=back
1912
1913X<menuBarArrows>
1914
1915=head2 Quick Arrows
1916
1917The menus also provide a hook for I<quick arrows> to provide easier
1918user access. If nothing has been explicitly set, the default is to
1919emulate the curror keys. The syntax permits each arrow to be altered
1920individually or all four at once without re-entering their common
1921beginning/end text. For example, to explicitly associate cursor actions
1922with the arrows, any of the following forms could be used:
1923
1924=over 4
1925
1926=item B<< <r>+I<Right> >>
1927
1928=item B<< <l>+I<Left> >>
1929
1930=item B<< <u>+I<Up> >>
1931
1932=item B<< <d>+I<Down> >>
1933
1934Define actions for the respective arrow buttons
1935
1936=item B<< <b>+I<Begin> >>
1937
1938=item B<< <e>+I<End> >>
1939
1940Define common beginning/end parts for I<quick arrows> which used in
1941conjunction with the above <r> <l> <u> <d> constructs
1942
1943=back
1944
1945=over 4
1946
1947=item For example, define arrows individually,
1948
1949 <u>\E[A
1950
1951 <d>\E[B
1952
1953 <r>\E[C
1954
1955 <l>\E[D
1956
1957=item or all at once
1958
1959 <u>\E[AZ<><d>\E[BZ<><r>\E[CZ<><l>\E[D
1960
1961=item or more compactly (factoring out common parts)
1962
1963 <b>\E[<u>AZ<><d>BZ<><r>CZ<><l>D
1964
1965=back
1966
1967X<menuBarSummary>
1968
1969=head2 Command Summary
1970
1971A short summary of the most I<common> commands:
1972
1973=over 4
1974
1975=item [menu:name]
1976
1977use an existing named menuBar or start a new one
1978
1979=item [menu]
1980
1981use the current menuBar
1982
1983=item [title:string]
1984
1985set menuBar title
1986
1987=item [done]
1988
1989set menu access to readonly and, if reading from a file, signal EOF
1990
1991=item [done:name]
1992
1993if reading from a file using [read:file;name] signal EOF
1994
1995=item [rm:name]
1996
1997remove named menuBar(s)
1998
1999=item [rm] [rm:]
2000
2001remove current menuBar
2002
2003=item [rm*] [rm:*]
2004
2005remove all menuBar(s)
2006
2007=item [swap]
2008
2009swap top two menuBars
2010
2011=item [prev]
2012
2013access the previous menuBar
2014
2015=item [next]
2016
2017access the next menuBar
2018
2019=item [show]
2020
2021map menuBar
2022
2023=item [hide]
2024
2025unmap menuBar
2026
2027=item [pixmap;file]
2028
2029=item [pixmap;file;scaling]
2030
2031set a background pixmap
2032
2033=item [read:file]
2034
2035=item [read:file;name]
2036
2037read in a menu from a file
2038
2039=item [dump]
2040
2041dump out all menuBars to /tmp/rxvt-PID
2042
2043=item /
2044
2045access menuBar top level
2046
2047=item ./
2048
2049=item ../
2050
2051=item ../../
2052
2053access current or parent menu level
2054
2055=item /path/menu
2056
2057add/access menu
2058
2059=item /path/{-}
2060
2061add separator
2062
2063=item /path/{item}{rtext} action
2064
2065add/alter menu item
2066
2067=item -/*
2068
2069remove all menus from the menuBar
2070
2071=item -/path/menu
2072
2073remove menu items, separators and submenus from menu
2074
2075=item -/path/menu
2076
2077remove menu
2078
2079=item -/path/{item}
2080
2081remove item
2082
2083=item -/path/{-}
2084
2085remove separator
2086
2087=item <b>Begin<r>Right<l>Left<u>Up<d>Down<e>End
2088
2089menu quick arrows
2090
2091=back
2092X<XPM> 1808X<XPM>
2093 1809
2094=head1 XPM 1810=head1 XPM
2095 1811
2096For the XPM XTerm escape sequence B<< C<ESC ] 20 ; Pt ST> >> then value 1812For the XPM XTerm escape sequence B<< C<ESC ] 20 ; Pt ST> >> then value
2195=begin table 1911=begin table
2196 1912
2197 4 Shift 1913 4 Shift
2198 8 Meta 1914 8 Meta
2199 16 Control 1915 16 Control
2200 32 Double Click I<(Rxvt extension)> 1916 32 Double Click I<(rxvt extension)>
2201 1917
2202=end table 1918=end table
2203 1919
2204Col = B<< C<< <x> - SPACE >> >> 1920Col = B<< C<< <x> - SPACE >> >>
2205 1921
2343alternative input methods (e.g. kinput2) and will also correctly 2059alternative input methods (e.g. kinput2) and will also correctly
2344set up the input for people using dead keys or compose keys. 2060set up the input for people using dead keys or compose keys.
2345 2061
2346=item --enable-unicode3 (default: off) 2062=item --enable-unicode3 (default: off)
2347 2063
2064Recommended to stay off unless you really need non-BMP characters.
2065
2348Enable direct support for displaying unicode codepoints above 2066Enable direct support for displaying unicode codepoints above
234965535 (the basic multilingual page). This increases storage 206765535 (the basic multilingual page). This increases storage
2350requirements per character from 2 to 4 bytes. X11 fonts do not yet 2068requirements per character from 2 to 4 bytes. X11 fonts do not yet
2351support these extra characters, but Xft does. 2069support these extra characters, but Xft does.
2352 2070
2362composite characters. This is required for proper viewing of text 2080composite characters. This is required for proper viewing of text
2363where accents are encoded as seperate unicode characters. This is 2081where accents are encoded as seperate unicode characters. This is
2364done by using precomposited characters when available or creating 2082done by using precomposited characters when available or creating
2365new pseudo-characters when no precomposed form exists. 2083new pseudo-characters when no precomposed form exists.
2366 2084
2367Without --enable-unicode3, the number of additional precomposed characters 2085Without --enable-unicode3, the number of additional precomposed
2368is rather limited (2048, if this is full, rxvt-unicode will use the 2086characters is somewhat limited (the 6400 private use characters will be
2369private use area, extending the number of combinations to 8448). With
2370--enable-unicode3, no practical limit exists. 2087(ab-)used). With --enable-unicode3, no practical limit exists.
2371 2088
2372This option will also enable storage (but not display) of characters 2089This option will also enable storage (but not display) of characters
2373beyond plane 0 (>65535) when --enable-unicode3 was not specified. 2090beyond plane 0 (>65535) when --enable-unicode3 was not specified.
2374 2091
2375The combining table also contains entries for arabic presentation forms, 2092The combining table also contains entries for arabic presentation forms,
2376but these are not currently used. Bug me if you want these to be used (and 2093but these are not currently used. Bug me if you want these to be used (and
2377tell me how these are to be used...). 2094tell me how these are to be used...).
2378 2095
2379=item --enable-fallback(=CLASS) (default: Rxvt) 2096=item --enable-fallback(=CLASS) (default: Rxvt)
2380 2097
2381When reading resource settings, also read settings for class CLASS. To disable resource fallback use --disable-fallback. 2098When reading resource settings, also read settings for class CLASS. To
2099disable resource fallback use --disable-fallback.
2382 2100
2383=item --with-res-name=NAME (default: urxvt) 2101=item --with-res-name=NAME (default: urxvt)
2384 2102
2385Use the given name as default application name when 2103Use the given name as default application name when
2386reading resources. Specify --with-res-name=rxvt to replace rxvt. 2104reading resources. Specify --with-res-name=rxvt to replace rxvt.
2406 2124
2407Write user and tty to lastlog file (used by programs like 2125Write user and tty to lastlog file (used by programs like
2408F<lastlogin>) at start of rxvt execution. This option requires 2126F<lastlogin>) at start of rxvt execution. This option requires
2409--enable-utmp to also be specified. 2127--enable-utmp to also be specified.
2410 2128
2411=item --enable-xpm-background (default: off) 2129=item --enable-xpm-background (default: on)
2412 2130
2413Add support for XPM background pixmaps. 2131Add support for XPM background pixmaps.
2414 2132
2415=item --enable-transparency (default: off) 2133=item --enable-transparency (default: on)
2416 2134
2417Add support for inheriting parent backgrounds thus giving a fake 2135Add support for inheriting parent backgrounds thus giving a fake
2418transparency to the term. 2136transparency to the term.
2419 2137
2420=item --enable-fading (default: on) 2138=item --enable-fading (default: on)
2422Add support for fading the text when focus is lost (requires C<--enable-transparency>). 2140Add support for fading the text when focus is lost (requires C<--enable-transparency>).
2423 2141
2424=item --enable-tinting (default: on) 2142=item --enable-tinting (default: on)
2425 2143
2426Add support for tinting of transparent backgrounds (requires C<--enable-transparency>). 2144Add support for tinting of transparent backgrounds (requires C<--enable-transparency>).
2427
2428=item --enable-menubar (default: off)
2429
2430Add support for our menu bar system (this interacts badly with
2431dynamic locale switching currently).
2432 2145
2433=item --enable-rxvt-scroll (default: on) 2146=item --enable-rxvt-scroll (default: on)
2434 2147
2435Add support for the original rxvt scrollbar. 2148Add support for the original rxvt scrollbar.
2436 2149
2446 2159
2447Add support for a very unobtrusive, plain-looking scrollbar that 2160Add support for a very unobtrusive, plain-looking scrollbar that
2448is the favourite of the rxvt-unicode author, having used it for 2161is the favourite of the rxvt-unicode author, having used it for
2449many years. 2162many years.
2450 2163
2451=item --enable-half-shadow (default: off)
2452
2453Make shadows on the scrollbar only half the normal width & height.
2454only applicable to rxvt scrollbars.
2455
2456=item --enable-ttygid (default: off) 2164=item --enable-ttygid (default: off)
2457 2165
2458Change tty device setting to group "tty" - only use this if 2166Change tty device setting to group "tty" - only use this if
2459your system uses this type of security. 2167your system uses this type of security.
2460 2168
2468do it. 2176do it.
2469 2177
2470=item --disable-resources 2178=item --disable-resources
2471 2179
2472Removes any support for resource checking. 2180Removes any support for resource checking.
2473
2474=item --enable-xgetdefault
2475
2476Make resources checking via XGetDefault() instead of our small
2477version which only checks ~/.Xdefaults, or if that doesn't exist then
2478~/.Xresources.
2479
2480Please note that nowadays, things like XIM will automatically pull in and
2481use the full X resource manager, so the overhead of using it might be very
2482small, if nonexistant.
2483
2484=item --enable-strings (default: off)
2485
2486Add support for our possibly faster memset() function and other
2487various routines, overriding your system's versions which may
2488have been hand-crafted in assembly or may require extra libraries
2489to link in. (this breaks ANSI-C rules and has problems on many
2490GNU/Linux systems).
2491 2181
2492=item --disable-swapscreen 2182=item --disable-swapscreen
2493 2183
2494Remove support for secondary/swap screen. 2184Remove support for secondary/swap screen.
2495 2185
2502A non-exhaustive list of features enabled by C<--enable-frills> (possibly 2192A non-exhaustive list of features enabled by C<--enable-frills> (possibly
2503in combination with other switches) is: 2193in combination with other switches) is:
2504 2194
2505 MWM-hints 2195 MWM-hints
2506 EWMH-hints (pid, utf8 names) and protocols (ping) 2196 EWMH-hints (pid, utf8 names) and protocols (ping)
2507 seperate underline colour 2197 seperate underline colour (-underlineColor)
2508 settable border widths and borderless switch 2198 settable border widths and borderless switch (-w, -b, -bl)
2199 visual depth selection (-depth)
2509 settable extra linespacing 2200 settable extra linespacing /-lsp)
2510 iso-14755-2 and -3, and visual feedback 2201 iso-14755-2 and -3, and visual feedback
2202 tripleclickwords (-tcw)
2203 settable insecure mode (-insecure)
2204 keysym remapping support
2205 cursor blinking and underline cursor (-cb, -uc)
2206 XEmbed support (-embed)
2207 user-pty (-pty-fd)
2208 hold on exit (-hold)
2209 skip builtin block graphics (-sbg)
2210
2211It also enabled some non-essential features otherwise disabled, such as:
2212
2213 some round-trip time optimisations
2214 nearest color allocation on pseudocolor screens
2215 UTF8_STRING supporr for selection
2216 sgr modes 90..97 and 100..107
2511 backindex and forwardindex escape sequence 2217 backindex and forwardindex escape sequences
2218 view change/zero scorllback esacpe sequences
2219 locale switching escape sequence
2512 window op and some xterm/OSC escape sequences 2220 window op and some xterm/OSC escape sequences
2513 tripleclickwords 2221 rectangular selections
2514 settable insecure mode 2222 trailing space removal for selections
2515 keysym remapping support 2223 verbose X error handling
2516 cursor blinking and underline cursor
2517 -embed, -pty-fd and -hold options
2518 2224
2519=item --enable-iso14755 (default: on) 2225=item --enable-iso14755 (default: on)
2520 2226
2521Enable extended ISO 14755 support (see @@RXVT_NAME@@(1), or 2227Enable extended ISO 14755 support (see @@RXVT_NAME@@(1), or
2522F<doc/rxvt.1.txt>). Basic support (section 5.1) is enabled by 2228F<doc/rxvt.1.txt>). Basic support (section 5.1) is enabled by
2565 2271
2566=item --enable-pointer-blank (default: on) 2272=item --enable-pointer-blank (default: on)
2567 2273
2568Add support to have the pointer disappear when typing or inactive. 2274Add support to have the pointer disappear when typing or inactive.
2569 2275
2570=item --enable-perl (default: off) 2276=item --enable-perl (default: on)
2571 2277
2572Enable an embedded perl interpreter. See the B<@@RXVT_NAME@@perl(3)> 2278Enable an embedded perl interpreter. See the B<@@RXVT_NAME@@perl(3)>
2573manpage (F<doc/rxvtperl.txt>) for more info on this feature, or the files 2279manpage (F<doc/rxvtperl.txt>) for more info on this feature, or the files
2574in F<src/perl-ext/> for the extensions that are installed by default. 2280in F<src/perl-ext/> for the extensions that are installed by default. The
2281perl interpreter that is used can be specified via the C<PERL> environment
2282variable when running configure.
2575 2283
2576=item --with-name=NAME (default: urxvt) 2284=item --with-name=NAME (default: urxvt)
2577 2285
2578Set the basename for the installed binaries, resulting 2286Set the basename for the installed binaries, resulting
2579in C<urxvt>, C<urxvtd> etc.). Specify C<--with-name=rxvt> to replace with 2287in C<urxvt>, C<urxvtd> etc.). Specify C<--with-name=rxvt> to replace with

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