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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 can I start @@URXVT_NAME@@d automatically when I run URXVT_NAME@@c?
79
80If you want to start @@URXVT_NAME@@d automatically whenever you run
81@@URXVT_NAME@@c and the daemon isn't running yet, use this script:
82
83 #!/bin/sh
84 @@URXVT_NAME@@c "$@"
85 if [ $? -eq 2 ]; then
86 @@URXVT_NAME@@d -q -o -f
87 @@URXVT_NAME@@c "$@"
88 fi
89
90This tries to create a new terminal, and if fails with exit status 2,
91meaning it couldn't connect to the daemon, it will start the daemon and
92re-run the command. Subsequent invocations of the script will re-use the
93existing daemon.
94
95=head3 How do I distinguish whether I'm running rxvt-unicode or a regular xterm? I need this to decide about setting colors etc.
96
97The original rxvt and rxvt-unicode always export the variable "COLORTERM",
98so you can check and see if that is set. Note that several programs, JED,
99slrn, Midnight Commander automatically check this variable to decide
100whether or not to use color.
101
102=head3 How do I set the correct, full IP address for the DISPLAY variable?
103
104If you've compiled rxvt-unicode with DISPLAY_IS_IP and have enabled
105insecure mode then it is possible to use the following shell script
106snippets to correctly set the display. If your version of rxvt-unicode
107wasn't also compiled with ESCZ_ANSWER (as assumed in these snippets) then
108the COLORTERM variable can be used to distinguish rxvt-unicode from a
109regular xterm.
110
111Courtesy of Chuck Blake <cblake@BBN.COM> with the following shell script
112snippets:
113
114 # Bourne/Korn/POSIX family of shells:
115 [ ${TERM:-foo} = foo ] && TERM=xterm # assume an xterm if we don't know
116 if [ ${TERM:-foo} = xterm ]; then
117 stty -icanon -echo min 0 time 15 # see if enhanced rxvt or not
118 echo -n '^[Z'
119 read term_id
120 stty icanon echo
121 if [ ""${term_id} = '^[[?1;2C' -a ${DISPLAY:-foo} = foo ]; then
122 echo -n '^[[7n' # query the rxvt we are in for the DISPLAY string
123 read DISPLAY # set it in our local shell
124 fi
125 fi
126
127=head3 How do I compile the manual pages on my own?
128
129You need to have a recent version of perl installed as F</usr/bin/perl>,
130one that comes with F<pod2man>, F<pod2text> and F<pod2html>. Then go to
131the doc subdirectory and enter C<make alldoc>.
132
29=item Isn't rxvt supposed to be small? Don't all those features bloat? 133=head3 Isn't rxvt-unicode supposed to be small? Don't all those features bloat?
30 134
31I often get asked about this, and I think, no, they didn't cause extra 135I 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 136bloat. 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 137that the urxvt binary is larger (due to some encoding tables always being
34compiled in), but it actually uses less memory (RSS) after startup. Even 138compiled in), but it actually uses less memory (RSS) after startup. Even
38 142
39 text data bss drs rss filename 143 text data bss drs rss filename
40 98398 1664 24 15695 1824 rxvt --disable-everything 144 98398 1664 24 15695 1824 rxvt --disable-everything
41 188985 9048 66616 18222 1788 urxvt --disable-everything 145 188985 9048 66616 18222 1788 urxvt --disable-everything
42 146
43When you C<--enable-everything> (which _is_ unfair, as this involves xft 147When you C<--enable-everything> (which I<is> unfair, as this involves xft
44and full locale/XIM support which are quite bloaty inside libX11 and my 148and full locale/XIM support which are quite bloaty inside libX11 and my
45libc), the two diverge, but not unreasnobaly so. 149libc), the two diverge, but not unreasonably so.
46 150
47 text data bss drs rss filename 151 text data bss drs rss filename
48 163431 2152 24 20123 2060 rxvt --enable-everything 152 163431 2152 24 20123 2060 rxvt --enable-everything
49 1035683 49680 66648 29096 3680 urxvt --enable-everything 153 1035683 49680 66648 29096 3680 urxvt --enable-everything
50 154
62memory. 166memory.
63 167
64Compared to e.g. Eterm (5112k), aterm (3132k) and xterm (4680k), this 168Compared to e.g. Eterm (5112k), aterm (3132k) and xterm (4680k), this
65still fares rather well. And compared to some monsters like gnome-terminal 169still fares rather well. And compared to some monsters like gnome-terminal
66(21152k + extra 4204k in separate processes) or konsole (22200k + extra 170(21152k + extra 4204k in separate processes) or konsole (22200k + extra
6743180k in daemons that stay around after exit, plus half aminute of 17143180k in daemons that stay around after exit, plus half a minute of
68startup time, including the hundreds of warnings it spits out), it fares 172startup time, including the hundreds of warnings it spits out), it fares
69extremely well *g*. 173extremely well *g*.
70 174
71=item Why C++, isn't that unportable/bloated/uncool? 175=head3 Why C++, isn't that unportable/bloated/uncool?
72 176
73Is this a question? :) It comes up very often. The simple answer is: I had 177Is 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 178to 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 179of the time and effort (which is a scarce resource for me). Put even
76shorter: It simply wouldn't exist without C++. 180shorter: It simply wouldn't exist without C++.
100 /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00002aaaaaaab000) 204 /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00002aaaaaaab000)
101 205
102No large bloated libraries (of course, none were linked in statically), 206No large bloated libraries (of course, none were linked in statically),
103except maybe libX11 :) 207except maybe libX11 :)
104 208
105=item Does it support tabs, can I have a tabbed rxvt-unicode?
106 209
107rxvt-unicode does not directly support tabs. It will work fine with 210=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.
113 211
114=item How do I know which rxvt-unicode version I'm using? 212=head3 I can't get transparency working, what am I doing wrong?
115 213
116The version number is displayed with the usage (-h). Also the escape 214First 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 215you 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 216bug everybody else). Also, if you can't get it working consider it a rite
119daemon. 217of passage: ... and you failed.
120 218
121=item I am using Debian GNU/Linux and have a problem... 219Here are four ways to get transparency. B<Do> read the manpage and option
220descriptions for the programs mentioned and rxvt-unicode. Really, do it!
122 221
123The Debian GNU/Linux package of rxvt-unicode in sarge contains large 2221. 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).
131 223
132For other problems that also affect the Debian package, you can and 224 Esetroot wallpaper.jpg
133probably should use the Debian BTS, too, because, after all, it's also a 225 @@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.
136 226
227That works. If you think it doesn't, you lack transparency and tinting
228support, or you are unable to read.
229
2302. Use a simple pixmap and emulate pseudo-transparency. This enables you
231to use effects other than tinting and shading: Just shade/tint/whatever
232your picture with gimp or any other tool:
233
234 convert wallpaper.jpg -blur 20x20 -modulate 30 background.xpm
235 @@URXVT_NAME@@ -pixmap background.xpm -pe automove-background
236
237That works. If you think it doesn't, you lack XPM and Perl support, or you
238are unable to read.
239
2403. Use an ARGB visual:
241
242 @@URXVT_NAME@@ -depth 32 -fg grey90 -bg rgba:0000/0000/4444/cccc
243
244This requires XFT support, and the support of your X-server. If that
245doesn't work for you, blame Xorg and Keith Packard. ARGB visuals aren't
246there yet, no matter what they claim. Rxvt-Unicode contains the necessary
247bugfixes and workarounds for Xft and Xlib to make it work, but that
248doesn't mean that your WM has the required kludges in place.
249
2504. Use xcompmgr and let it do the job:
251
252 xprop -frame -f _NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY 32c \
253 -set _NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY 0xc0000000
254
255Then click on a window you want to make transparent. Replace C<0xc0000000>
256by other values to change the degree of opacity. If it doesn't work and
257your server crashes, you got to keep the pieces.
258
259=head3 Why does rxvt-unicode sometimes leave pixel droppings?
260
261Most fonts were not designed for terminal use, which means that character
262size varies a lot. A font that is otherwise fine for terminal use might
263contain some characters that are simply too wide. Rxvt-unicode will avoid
264these characters. For characters that are just "a bit" too wide a special
265"careful" rendering mode is used that redraws adjacent characters.
266
267All of this requires that fonts do not lie about character sizes,
268however: Xft fonts often draw glyphs larger than their acclaimed bounding
269box, and rxvt-unicode has no way of detecting this (the correct way is to
270ask for the character bounding box, which unfortunately is wrong in these
271cases).
272
273It's not clear (to me at least), whether this is a bug in Xft, freetype,
274or the respective font. If you encounter this problem you might try using
275the C<-lsp> option to give the font more height. If that doesn't work, you
276might be forced to use a different font.
277
278All of this is not a problem when using X11 core fonts, as their bounding
279box data is correct.
280
281=head3 How can I keep rxvt-unicode from using reverse video so much?
282
283First of all, make sure you are running with the right terminal settings
284(C<TERM=rxvt-unicode>), which will get rid of most of these effects. Then
285make sure you have specified colours for italic and bold, as otherwise
286rxvt-unicode might use reverse video to simulate the effect:
287
288 URxvt.colorBD: white
289 URxvt.colorIT: green
290
291=head3 Some programs assume totally weird colours (red instead of blue), how can I fix that?
292
293For some unexplainable reason, some rare programs assume a very weird
294colour palette when confronted with a terminal with more than the standard
2958 colours (rxvt-unicode supports 88). The right fix is, of course, to fix
296these programs not to assume non-ISO colours without very good reasons.
297
298In the meantime, you can either edit your C<rxvt-unicode> terminfo
299definition to only claim 8 colour support or use C<TERM=rxvt>, which will
300fix colours but keep you from using other rxvt-unicode features.
301
302=head3 Can I switch the fonts at runtime?
303
304Yes, using an escape sequence. Try something like this, which has the same
305effect as using the C<-fn> switch, and takes effect immediately:
306
307 printf '\33]50;%s\007' "9x15bold,xft:Kochi Gothic"
308
309This is useful if you e.g. work primarily with japanese (and prefer a
310japanese font), but you have to switch to chinese temporarily, where
311japanese fonts would only be in your way.
312
313You can think of this as a kind of manual ISO-2022 switching.
314
315=head3 Why do italic characters look as if clipped?
316
317Many fonts have difficulties with italic characters and hinting. For
318example, the otherwise very nicely hinted font C<xft:Bitstream Vera Sans
319Mono> completely fails in its italic face. A workaround might be to
320enable freetype autohinting, i.e. like this:
321
322 URxvt.italicFont: xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:italic:autohint=true
323 URxvt.boldItalicFont: xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:bold:italic:autohint=true
324
325=head3 Can I speed up Xft rendering somehow?
326
327Yes, the most obvious way to speed it up is to avoid Xft entirely, as
328it is simply slow. If you still want Xft fonts you might try to disable
329antialiasing (by appending C<:antialias=false>), which saves lots of
330memory and also speeds up rendering considerably.
331
332=head3 Rxvt-unicode doesn't seem to anti-alias its fonts, what is wrong?
333
334Rxvt-unicode will use whatever you specify as a font. If it needs to
335fall back to its default font search list it will prefer X11 core
336fonts, because they are small and fast, and then use Xft fonts. It has
337antialiasing disabled for most of them, because the author thinks they
338look best that way.
339
340If you want antialiasing, you have to specify the fonts manually.
341
342=head3 What's with this bold/blink stuff?
343
344If no bold colour is set via C<colorBD:>, bold will invert text using the
345standard foreground colour.
346
347For the standard background colour, blinking will actually make the
348text blink when compiled with C<--enable-blinking>. with standard
349colours. Without C<--enable-blinking>, the blink attribute will be
350ignored.
351
352On ANSI colours, bold/blink attributes are used to set high-intensity
353foreground/background colors.
354
355color0-7 are the low-intensity colors.
356
357color8-15 are the corresponding high-intensity colors.
358
359=head3 I don't like the screen colors. How do I change them?
360
361You can change the screen colors at run-time using F<~/.Xdefaults>
362resources (or as long-options).
363
364Here are values that are supposed to resemble a VGA screen,
365including the murky brown that passes for low-intensity yellow:
366
367 URxvt.color0: #000000
368 URxvt.color1: #A80000
369 URxvt.color2: #00A800
370 URxvt.color3: #A8A800
371 URxvt.color4: #0000A8
372 URxvt.color5: #A800A8
373 URxvt.color6: #00A8A8
374 URxvt.color7: #A8A8A8
375
376 URxvt.color8: #000054
377 URxvt.color9: #FF0054
378 URxvt.color10: #00FF54
379 URxvt.color11: #FFFF54
380 URxvt.color12: #0000FF
381 URxvt.color13: #FF00FF
382 URxvt.color14: #00FFFF
383 URxvt.color15: #FFFFFF
384
385And here is a more complete set of non-standard colors.
386
387 URxvt.cursorColor: #dc74d1
388 URxvt.pointerColor: #dc74d1
389 URxvt.background: #0e0e0e
390 URxvt.foreground: #4ad5e1
391 URxvt.color0: #000000
392 URxvt.color8: #8b8f93
393 URxvt.color1: #dc74d1
394 URxvt.color9: #dc74d1
395 URxvt.color2: #0eb8c7
396 URxvt.color10: #0eb8c7
397 URxvt.color3: #dfe37e
398 URxvt.color11: #dfe37e
399 URxvt.color5: #9e88f0
400 URxvt.color13: #9e88f0
401 URxvt.color6: #73f7ff
402 URxvt.color14: #73f7ff
403 URxvt.color7: #e1dddd
404 URxvt.color15: #e1dddd
405
406They have been described (not by me) as "pretty girly".
407
408=head3 Why do some characters look so much different than others?
409
410See next entry.
411
412=head3 How does rxvt-unicode choose fonts?
413
414Most fonts do not contain the full range of Unicode, which is
415fine. Chances are that the font you (or the admin/package maintainer of
416your system/os) have specified does not cover all the characters you want
417to display.
418
419B<rxvt-unicode> makes a best-effort try at finding a replacement
420font. Often the result is fine, but sometimes the chosen font looks
421bad/ugly/wrong. Some fonts have totally strange characters that don't
422resemble the correct glyph at all, and rxvt-unicode lacks the artificial
423intelligence to detect that a specific glyph is wrong: it has to believe
424the font that the characters it claims to contain indeed look correct.
425
426In that case, select a font of your taste and add it to the font list,
427e.g.:
428
429 @@URXVT_NAME@@ -fn basefont,font2,font3...
430
431When rxvt-unicode sees a character, it will first look at the base
432font. If the base font does not contain the character, it will go to the
433next font, and so on. Specifying your own fonts will also speed up this
434search and use less resources within rxvt-unicode and the X-server.
435
436The only limitation is that none of the fonts may be larger than the base
437font, as the base font defines the terminal character cell size, which
438must be the same due to the way terminals work.
439
440=head3 Why do some chinese characters look so different than others?
441
442This is because there is a difference between script and language --
443rxvt-unicode does not know which language the text that is output is,
444as it only knows the unicode character codes. If rxvt-unicode first
445sees a japanese/chinese character, it might choose a japanese font for
446display. Subsequent japanese characters will use that font. Now, many
447chinese characters aren't represented in japanese fonts, so when the first
448non-japanese character comes up, rxvt-unicode will look for a chinese font
449-- unfortunately at this point, it will still use the japanese font for
450chinese characters that are also in the japanese font.
451
452The workaround is easy: just tag a chinese font at the end of your font
453list (see the previous question). The key is to view the font list as
454a preference list: If you expect more japanese, list a japanese font
455first. If you expect more chinese, put a chinese font first.
456
457In the future it might be possible to switch language preferences at
458runtime (the internal data structure has no problem with using different
459fonts for the same character at the same time, but no interface for this
460has been designed yet).
461
462Until then, you might get away with switching fonts at runtime (see L<Can
463I switch the fonts at runtime?> later in this document).
464
465=head2 Keyboard, Mouse & User Interaction
466
467=head3 The new selection selects pieces that are too big, how can I select single words?
468
469If you want to select e.g. alphanumeric words, you can use the following
470setting:
471
472 URxvt.selection.pattern-0: ([[:word:]]+)
473
474If you click more than twice, the selection will be extended
475more and more.
476
477To get a selection that is very similar to the old code, try this pattern:
478
479 URxvt.selection.pattern-0: ([^"&'()*,;<=>?@[\\\\]^`{|})]+)
480
481Please also note that the I<LeftClick Shift-LeftClik> combination also
482selects words like the old code.
483
484=head3 I don't like the new selection/popups/hotkeys/perl, how do I change/disable it?
485
486You can disable the perl extension completely by setting the
487B<perl-ext-common> resource to the empty string, which also keeps
488rxvt-unicode from initialising perl, saving memory.
489
490If you only want to disable specific features, you first have to
491identify which perl extension is responsible. For this, read the section
492B<PREPACKAGED EXTENSIONS> in the @@URXVT_NAME@@perl(3) manpage. For
493example, to disable the B<selection-popup> and B<option-popup>, specify
494this B<perl-ext-common> resource:
495
496 URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,-selection-popup,-option-popup
497
498This will keep the default extensions, but disable the two popup
499extensions. Some extensions can also be configured, for example,
500scrollback search mode is triggered by B<M-s>. You can move it to any
501other combination either by setting the B<searchable-scrollback> resource:
502
503 URxvt.searchable-scrollback: CM-s
504
505=head3 The cursor moves when selecting text in the current input line, how do I switch this off?
506
507See next entry.
508
509=head3 During rlogin/ssh/telnet/etc. sessions, clicking near the cursor outputs strange escape sequences, how do I fix this?
510
511These are caused by the C<readline> perl extension. Under normal
512circumstances, it will move your cursor around when you click into the
513line that contains it. It tries hard not to do this at the wrong moment,
514but when running a program that doesn't parse cursor movements or in some
515cases during rlogin sessions, it fails to detect this properly.
516
517You can permanently switch this feature off by disabling the C<readline>
518extension:
519
520 URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,-readline
521
522=head3 My numerical keypad acts weird and generates differing output?
523
524Some Debian GNUL/Linux users seem to have this problem, although no
525specific details were reported so far. It is possible that this is caused
526by the wrong C<TERM> setting, although the details of whether and how
527this can happen are unknown, as C<TERM=rxvt> should offer a compatible
528keymap. See the answer to the previous question, and please report if that
529helped.
530
531=head3 My Compose (Multi_key) key is no longer working.
532
533The most common causes for this are that either your locale is not set
534correctly, or you specified a B<preeditStyle> that is not supported by
535your input method. For example, if you specified B<OverTheSpot> and
536your input method (e.g. the default input method handling Compose keys)
537does not support this (for instance because it is not visual), then
538rxvt-unicode will continue without an input method.
539
540In this case either do not specify a B<preeditStyle> or specify more than
541one pre-edit style, such as B<OverTheSpot,Root,None>.
542
543=head3 I cannot type C<Ctrl-Shift-2> to get an ASCII NUL character due to ISO 14755
544
545Either try C<Ctrl-2> alone (it often is mapped to ASCII NUL even on
546international keyboards) or simply use ISO 14755 support to your
547advantage, typing <Ctrl-Shift-0> to get a ASCII NUL. This works for other
548codes, too, such as C<Ctrl-Shift-1-d> to type the default telnet escape
549character and so on.
550
551=head3 Mouse cut/paste suddenly no longer works.
552
553Make sure that mouse reporting is actually turned off since killing
554some editors prematurely may leave the mouse in mouse report mode. I've
555heard that tcsh may use mouse reporting unless it otherwise specified. A
556quick check is to see if cut/paste works when the Alt or Shift keys are
557depressed.
558
559=head3 What's with the strange Backspace/Delete key behaviour?
560
561Assuming that the physical Backspace key corresponds to the
562Backspace keysym (not likely for Linux ... see the following
563question) there are two standard values that can be used for
564Backspace: C<^H> and C<^?>.
565
566Historically, either value is correct, but rxvt-unicode adopts the debian
567policy of using C<^?> when unsure, because it's the one only only correct
568choice :).
569
570Rxvt-unicode tries to inherit the current stty settings and uses the value
571of `erase' to guess the value for backspace. If rxvt-unicode wasn't
572started from a terminal (say, from a menu or by remote shell), then the
573system value of `erase', which corresponds to CERASE in <termios.h>, will
574be used (which may not be the same as your stty setting).
575
576For starting a new rxvt-unicode:
577
578 # use Backspace = ^H
579 $ stty erase ^H
580 $ @@URXVT_NAME@@
581
582 # use Backspace = ^?
583 $ stty erase ^?
584 $ @@URXVT_NAME@@
585
586Toggle with C<ESC [ 36 h> / C<ESC [ 36 l>.
587
588For an existing rxvt-unicode:
589
590 # use Backspace = ^H
591 $ stty erase ^H
592 $ echo -n "^[[36h"
593
594 # use Backspace = ^?
595 $ stty erase ^?
596 $ echo -n "^[[36l"
597
598This helps satisfy some of the Backspace discrepancies that occur, but
599if you use Backspace = C<^H>, make sure that the termcap/terminfo value
600properly reflects that.
601
602The Delete key is a another casualty of the ill-defined Backspace problem.
603To avoid confusion between the Backspace and Delete keys, the Delete
604key has been assigned an escape sequence to match the vt100 for Execute
605(C<ESC [ 3 ~>) and is in the supplied termcap/terminfo.
606
607Some other Backspace problems:
608
609some editors use termcap/terminfo,
610some editors (vim I'm told) expect Backspace = ^H,
611GNU Emacs (and Emacs-like editors) use ^H for help.
612
613Perhaps someday this will all be resolved in a consistent manner.
614
615=head3 I don't like the key-bindings. How do I change them?
616
617There are some compile-time selections available via configure. Unless
618you have run "configure" with the C<--disable-resources> option you can
619use the `keysym' resource to alter the keystrings associated with keysyms.
620
621Here's an example for a URxvt session started using C<@@URXVT_NAME@@ -name URxvt>
622
623 URxvt.keysym.Home: \033[1~
624 URxvt.keysym.End: \033[4~
625 URxvt.keysym.C-apostrophe: \033<C-'>
626 URxvt.keysym.C-slash: \033<C-/>
627 URxvt.keysym.C-semicolon: \033<C-;>
628 URxvt.keysym.C-grave: \033<C-`>
629 URxvt.keysym.C-comma: \033<C-,>
630 URxvt.keysym.C-period: \033<C-.>
631 URxvt.keysym.C-0x60: \033<C-`>
632 URxvt.keysym.C-Tab: \033<C-Tab>
633 URxvt.keysym.C-Return: \033<C-Return>
634 URxvt.keysym.S-Return: \033<S-Return>
635 URxvt.keysym.S-space: \033<S-Space>
636 URxvt.keysym.M-Up: \033<M-Up>
637 URxvt.keysym.M-Down: \033<M-Down>
638 URxvt.keysym.M-Left: \033<M-Left>
639 URxvt.keysym.M-Right: \033<M-Right>
640 URxvt.keysym.M-C-0: list \033<M-C- 0123456789 >
641 URxvt.keysym.M-C-a: list \033<M-C- abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz >
642 URxvt.keysym.F12: command:\033]701;zh_CN.GBK\007
643
644See some more examples in the documentation for the B<keysym> resource.
645
646=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
647
648 KP_Insert == Insert
649 F22 == Print
650 F27 == Home
651 F29 == Prior
652 F33 == End
653 F35 == Next
654
655Rather than have rxvt-unicode try to accommodate all the various possible
656keyboard mappings, it is better to use `xmodmap' to remap the keys as
657required for your particular machine.
658
659
660
661=head2 Terminal Configuration
662
663=head3 Can I see a typical configuration?
664
665The default configuration tries to be xterm-like, which I don't like that
666much, but it's least surprise to regular users.
667
668As a rxvt or rxvt-unicode user, you are practically supposed to invest
669time into customising your terminal. To get you started, here is the
670author's .Xdefaults entries, with comments on what they do. It's certainly
671not I<typical>, but what's typical...
672
673 URxvt.cutchars: "()*,<>[]{}|'
674 URxvt.print-pipe: cat >/tmp/xxx
675
676These are just for testing stuff.
677
678 URxvt.imLocale: ja_JP.UTF-8
679 URxvt.preeditType: OnTheSpot,None
680
681This tells rxvt-unicode to use a special locale when communicating with
682the X Input Method, and also tells it to only use the OnTheSpot pre-edit
683type, which requires the C<xim-onthespot> perl extension but rewards me
684with correct-looking fonts.
685
686 URxvt.perl-lib: /root/lib/urxvt
687 URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,selection-autotransform,selection-pastebin,xim-onthespot,remote-clipboard
688 URxvt.selection.pattern-0: ( at .*? line \\d+)
689 URxvt.selection.pattern-1: ^(/[^:]+):\
690 URxvt.selection-autotransform.0: s/^([^:[:space:]]+):(\\d+):?$/:e \\Q$1\\E\\x0d:$2\\x0d/
691 URxvt.selection-autotransform.1: s/^ at (.*?) line (\\d+)$/:e \\Q$1\\E\\x0d:$2\\x0d/
692
693This is my perl configuration. The first two set the perl library
694directory and also tells urxvt to use a large number of extensions. I
695develop for myself mostly, so I actually use most of the extensions I
696write.
697
698The selection stuff mainly makes the selection perl-error-message aware
699and tells it to convert perl error messages into vi-commands to load the
700relevant file and go tot he error line number.
701
702 URxvt.scrollstyle: plain
703 URxvt.secondaryScroll: true
704
705As the documentation says: plain is the preferred scrollbar for the
706author. The C<secondaryScroll> configures urxvt to scroll in full-screen
707apps, like screen, so lines scrolled out of screen end up in urxvt's
708scrollback buffer.
709
710 URxvt.background: #000000
711 URxvt.foreground: gray90
712 URxvt.color7: gray90
713 URxvt.colorBD: #ffffff
714 URxvt.cursorColor: #e0e080
715 URxvt.throughColor: #8080f0
716 URxvt.highlightColor: #f0f0f0
717
718Some colours. Not sure which ones are being used or even non-defaults, but
719these are in my .Xdefaults. Most notably, they set foreground/background
720to light gray/black, and also make sure that the colour 7 matches the
721default foreground colour.
722
723 URxvt.underlineColor: yellow
724
725Another colour, makes underline lines look different. Sometimes hurts, but
726is mostly a nice effect.
727
728 URxvt.geometry: 154x36
729 URxvt.loginShell: false
730 URxvt.meta: ignore
731 URxvt.utmpInhibit: true
732
733Uh, well, should be mostly self-explanatory. By specifying some defaults
734manually, I can quickly switch them for testing.
735
736 URxvt.saveLines: 8192
737
738A large scrollback buffer is essential. Really.
739
740 URxvt.mapAlert: true
741
742The only case I use it is for my IRC window, which I like to keep
743iconified till people msg me (which beeps).
744
745 URxvt.visualBell: true
746
747The audible bell is often annoying, especially when in a crowd.
748
749 URxvt.insecure: true
750
751Please don't hack my mutt! Ooops...
752
753 URxvt.pastableTabs: false
754
755I once thought this is a great idea.
756
757 urxvt.font: 9x15bold,\
758 -misc-fixed-bold-r-normal--15-140-75-75-c-90-iso10646-1,\
759 -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--15-140-75-75-c-90-iso10646-1, \
760 [codeset=JISX0208]xft:Kochi Gothic, \
761 xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:autohint=true, \
762 xft:Code2000:antialias=false
763 urxvt.boldFont: -xos4-terminus-bold-r-normal--14-140-72-72-c-80-iso8859-15
764 urxvt.italicFont: xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:italic:autohint=true
765 urxvt.boldItalicFont: xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:bold:italic:autohint=true
766
767I wrote rxvt-unicode to be able to specify fonts exactly. So don't be
768overwhelmed. A special note: the C<9x15bold> mentioned above is actually
769the version from XFree-3.3, as XFree-4 replaced it by a totally different
770font (different glyphs for C<;> and many other harmless characters),
771while the second font is actually the C<9x15bold> from XFree4/XOrg. The
772bold version has less chars than the medium version, so I use it for rare
773characters, too. When editing sources with vim, I use italic for comments
774and other stuff, which looks quite good with Bitstream Vera anti-aliased.
775
776Terminus is a quite bad font (many very wrong glyphs), but for most of my
777purposes, it works, and gives a different look, as my normal (Non-bold)
778font is already bold, and I want to see a difference between bold and
779normal fonts.
780
781Please note that I used the C<urxvt> instance name and not the C<URxvt>
782class name. Thats because I use different configs for different purposes,
783for example, my IRC window is started with C<-name IRC>, and uses these
784defaults:
785
786 IRC*title: IRC
787 IRC*geometry: 87x12+535+542
788 IRC*saveLines: 0
789 IRC*mapAlert: true
790 IRC*font: suxuseuro
791 IRC*boldFont: suxuseuro
792 IRC*colorBD: white
793 IRC*keysym.M-C-1: command:\033]710;suxuseuro\007\033]711;suxuseuro\007
794 IRC*keysym.M-C-2: command:\033]710;9x15bold\007\033]711;9x15bold\007
795
796C<Alt-Shift-1> and C<Alt-Shift-2> switch between two different font
797sizes. C<suxuseuro> allows me to keep an eye (and actually read)
798stuff while keeping a very small window. If somebody pastes something
799complicated (e.g. japanese), I temporarily switch to a larger font.
800
801The above is all in my C<.Xdefaults> (I don't use C<.Xresources> nor
802C<xrdb>). I also have some resources in a separate C<.Xdefaults-hostname>
803file for different hosts, for example, on ym main desktop, I use:
804
805 URxvt.keysym.C-M-q: command:\033[3;5;5t
806 URxvt.keysym.C-M-y: command:\033[3;5;606t
807 URxvt.keysym.C-M-e: command:\033[3;1605;5t
808 URxvt.keysym.C-M-c: command:\033[3;1605;606t
809 URxvt.keysym.C-M-p: perl:test
810
811The first for keysym definitions allow me to quickly bring some windows
812in the layout I like most. Ion users might start laughing but will stop
813immediately when I tell them that I use my own Fvwm2 module for much the
814same effect as Ion provides, and I only very rarely use the above key
815combinations :->
816
817=head3 Why doesn't rxvt-unicode read my resources?
818
819Well, why, indeed? It does, in a way very similar to other X
820applications. Most importantly, this means that if you or your OS loads
821resources into the X display (the right way to do it), rxvt-unicode will
822ignore any resource files in your home directory. It will only read
823F<$HOME/.Xdefaults> when no resources are attached to the display.
824
825If you have or use an F<$HOME/.Xresources> file, chances are that
826resources are loaded into your X-server. In this case, you have to
827re-login after every change (or run F<xrdb -merge $HOME/.Xresources>).
828
829Also consider the form resources have to use:
830
831 URxvt.resource: value
832
833If you want to use another form (there are lots of different ways of
834specifying resources), make sure you understand whether and why it
835works. If unsure, use the form above.
836
137=item When I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data? 837=head3 When I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data?
138 838
139The terminal description used by rxvt-unicode is not as widely available 839The 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). 840as that for xterm, or even rxvt (for which the same problem often arises).
141 841
142The correct solution for this problem is to install the terminfo, this can 842The correct solution for this problem is to install the terminfo, this can
158resource to set it: 858resource to set it:
159 859
160 URxvt.termName: rxvt 860 URxvt.termName: rxvt
161 861
162If you don't plan to use B<rxvt> (quite common...) you could also replace 862If you don't plan to use B<rxvt> (quite common...) you could also replace
163the rxvt terminfo file with the rxvt-unicode one. 863the rxvt terminfo file with the rxvt-unicode one and use C<TERM=rxvt>.
164 864
165=item C<tic> outputs some error when compiling the terminfo entry. 865=head3 C<tic> outputs some error when compiling the terminfo entry.
166 866
167Most likely it's the empty definition for C<enacs=>. Just replace it by 867Most likely it's the empty definition for C<enacs=>. Just replace it by
168C<enacs=\E[0@> and try again. 868C<enacs=\E[0@> and try again.
169 869
170=item C<bash>'s readline does not work correctly under @@RXVT_NAME@@. 870=head3 C<bash>'s readline does not work correctly under @@URXVT_NAME@@.
171 871
872See next entry.
873
172=item I need a termcap file entry. 874=head3 I need a termcap file entry.
173 875
174One reason you might want this is that some distributions or operating 876One reason you might want this is that some distributions or operating
175systems still compile some programs using the long-obsoleted termcap 877systems still compile some programs using the long-obsoleted termcap
176library (Fedora Core's bash is one example) and rely on a termcap entry 878library (Fedora Core's bash is one example) and rely on a termcap entry
177for C<rxvt-unicode>. 879for C<rxvt-unicode>.
178 880
179You could use rxvt's termcap entry with resonable results in many cases. 881You could use rxvt's termcap entry with reasonable results in many cases.
180You can also create a termcap entry by using terminfo's infocmp program 882You can also create a termcap entry by using terminfo's infocmp program
181like this: 883like this:
182 884
183 infocmp -C rxvt-unicode 885 infocmp -C rxvt-unicode
184 886
203 :sc=\E7:se=\E[27m:sf=^J:so=\E[7m:sr=\EM:st=\EH:ta=^I:\ 905 :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:\ 906 :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:\ 907 :us=\E[4m:vb=\E[?5h\E[?5l:ve=\E[?25h:vi=\E[?25l:\
206 :vs=\E[?25h: 908 :vs=\E[?25h:
207 909
208=item Why does C<ls> no longer have coloured output? 910=head3 Why does C<ls> no longer have coloured output?
209 911
210The C<ls> in the GNU coreutils unfortunately doesn't use terminfo to 912The C<ls> in the GNU coreutils unfortunately doesn't use terminfo to
211decide wether a terminal has colour, but uses it's own configuration 913decide whether a terminal has colour, but uses its own configuration
212file. Needless to say, C<rxvt-unicode> is not in it's default file (among 914file. Needless to say, C<rxvt-unicode> is not in its default file (among
213with most other terminals supporting colour). Either add: 915with most other terminals supporting colour). Either add:
214 916
215 TERM rxvt-unicode 917 TERM rxvt-unicode
216 918
217to C</etc/DIR_COLORS> or simply add: 919to C</etc/DIR_COLORS> or simply add:
218 920
219 alias ls='ls --color=auto' 921 alias ls='ls --color=auto'
220 922
221to your C<.profile> or C<.bashrc>. 923to your C<.profile> or C<.bashrc>.
222 924
223=item Why doesn't vim/emacs etc. use the 88 colour mode? 925=head3 Why doesn't vim/emacs etc. use the 88 colour mode?
224 926
927See next entry.
928
225=item Why doesn't vim/emacs etc. make use of italic? 929=head3 Why doesn't vim/emacs etc. make use of italic?
226 930
931See next entry.
932
227=item Why are the secondary screen-related options not working properly? 933=head3 Why are the secondary screen-related options not working properly?
228 934
229Make sure you are using C<TERM=rxvt-unicode>. Some pre-packaged 935Make sure you are using C<TERM=rxvt-unicode>. Some pre-packaged
230distributions (most notably Debian GNU/Linux) break rxvt-unicode 936distributions (most notably Debian GNU/Linux) break rxvt-unicode
231by setting C<TERM> to C<rxvt>, which doesn't have these extra 937by setting C<TERM> to C<rxvt>, which doesn't have these extra
232features. Unfortunately, some of these (most notably, again, Debian 938features. Unfortunately, some of these (most notably, again, Debian
233GNU/Linux) furthermore fail to even install the C<rxvt-unicode> terminfo 939GNU/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 940file, 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 941I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data?> on
236how to do this). 942how to do this).
237 943
238=item My numerical keypad acts weird and generates differing output?
239 944
240Some Debian GNUL/Linux users seem to have this problem, although no 945=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.
246 946
247=item Rxvt-unicode does not seem to understand the selected encoding? 947=head3 Rxvt-unicode does not seem to understand the selected encoding?
248 948
949See next entry.
950
249=item Unicode does not seem to work? 951=head3 Unicode does not seem to work?
250 952
251If you encounter strange problems like typing an accented character but 953If you encounter strange problems like typing an accented character but
252getting two unrelated other characters or similar, or if program output is 954getting two unrelated other characters or similar, or if program output is
253subtly garbled, then you should check your locale settings. 955subtly garbled, then you should check your locale settings.
254 956
258something else, e.g. C<en_GB.UTF-8>. Needless to say, this is not going to work. 960something else, e.g. C<en_GB.UTF-8>. Needless to say, this is not going to work.
259 961
260The best thing is to fix your startup environment, as you will likely run 962The best thing is to fix your startup environment, as you will likely run
261into other problems. If nothing works you can try this in your .profile. 963into other problems. If nothing works you can try this in your .profile.
262 964
263 printf '\e]701;%s\007' "$LC_CTYPE" 965 printf '\33]701;%s\007' "$LC_CTYPE"
264 966
265If this doesn't work, then maybe you use a C<LC_CTYPE> specification not 967If this doesn't work, then maybe you use a C<LC_CTYPE> specification not
266supported on your systems. Some systems have a C<locale> command which 968supported on your systems. Some systems have a C<locale> command which
267displays this (also, C<perl -e0> can be used to check locale settings, as 969displays this (also, C<perl -e0> can be used to check locale settings, as
268it will complain loudly if it cannot set the locale). If it displays something 970it will complain loudly if it cannot set the locale). If it displays something
274 976
275If nothing works and you are sure that everything is set correctly then 977If 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 978you will need to remember a little known fact: Some programs just don't
277support locales :( 979support locales :(
278 980
279=item Why do some characters look so much different than others? 981=head3 How does rxvt-unicode determine the encoding to use?
280 982
281=item How does rxvt-unicode choose fonts? 983See next entry.
282 984
283Most fonts do not contain the full range of Unicode, which is 985=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.
287 986
288B<rxvt-unicode> makes a best-effort try at finding a replacement 987Unlike some other terminals, rxvt-unicode has no encoding switch, and no
289font. Often the result is fine, but sometimes the chosen font looks 988specific "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 989UTF-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.
294 990
295In that case, select a font of your taste and add it to the font list, 991The reasons is that there exists a perfectly fine mechanism for selecting
296e.g.: 992the encoding, doing I/O and (most important) communicating this to all
297 993applications so everybody agrees on character properties such as width
298 @@RXVT_NAME@@ -fn basefont,font2,font3... 994and code number. This mechanism is the I<locale>. Applications not using
299 995that 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 996characters wrong as it uses its 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). 997locales).
347 998
348It's not clear (to me at least), wether this is a bug in Xft, freetype, 999Rxvt-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 1000programs 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 1001interpretation of characters.
351might be forced to use a different font.
352 1002
353All of this is not a problem when using X11 core fonts, as their bounding 1003Unfortunately, there is no system-independent way to select locales, nor
354box data is correct. 1004is there a standard on how locale specifiers will look like.
355 1005
1006On most systems, the content of the C<LC_CTYPE> environment variable
1007contains an arbitrary string which corresponds to an already-installed
1008locale. Common names for locales are C<en_US.UTF-8>, C<de_DE.ISO-8859-15>,
1009C<ja_JP.EUC-JP>, i.e. C<language_country.encoding>, but other forms
1010(i.e. C<de> or C<german>) are also common.
1011
1012Rxvt-unicode ignores all other locale categories, and except for
1013the encoding, ignores country or language-specific settings,
1014i.e. C<de_DE.UTF-8> and C<ja_JP.UTF-8> are the normally same to
1015rxvt-unicode.
1016
1017If you want to use a specific encoding you have to make sure you start
1018rxvt-unicode with the correct C<LC_CTYPE> category.
1019
1020=head3 Can I switch locales at runtime?
1021
1022Yes, using an escape sequence. Try something like this, which sets
1023rxvt-unicode's idea of C<LC_CTYPE>.
1024
1025 printf '\33]701;%s\007' ja_JP.SJIS
1026
1027See also the previous answer.
1028
1029Sometimes this capability is rather handy when you want to work in
1030one locale (e.g. C<de_DE.UTF-8>) but some programs don't support it
1031(e.g. UTF-8). For example, I use this script to start C<xjdic>, which
1032first switches to a locale supported by xjdic and back later:
1033
1034 printf '\33]701;%s\007' ja_JP.SJIS
1035 xjdic -js
1036 printf '\33]701;%s\007' de_DE.UTF-8
1037
1038You can also use xterm's C<luit> program, which usually works fine, except
1039for some locales where character width differs between program- and
1040rxvt-unicode-locales.
1041
1042=head3 I have problems getting my input method working.
1043
1044Try a search engine, as this is slightly different for every input method server.
1045
1046Here is a checklist:
1047
1048=over 4
1049
1050=item - Make sure your locale I<and> the imLocale are supported on your OS.
1051
1052Try C<locale -a> or check the documentation for your OS.
1053
1054=item - Make sure your locale or imLocale matches a locale supported by your XIM.
1055
1056For example, B<kinput2> does not support UTF-8 locales, you should use
1057C<ja_JP.EUC-JP> or equivalent.
1058
1059=item - Make sure your XIM server is actually running.
1060
1061=item - Make sure the C<XMODIFIERS> environment variable is set correctly when I<starting> rxvt-unicode.
1062
1063When you want to use e.g. B<kinput2>, it must be set to
1064C<@im=kinput2>. For B<scim>, use C<@im=SCIM>. You can see what input
1065method servers are running with this command:
1066
1067 xprop -root XIM_SERVERS
1068
1069=item
1070
1071=back
1072
1073=head3 My input method wants <some encoding> but I want UTF-8, what can I do?
1074
1075You can specify separate locales for the input method and the rest of the
1076terminal, using the resource C<imlocale>:
1077
1078 URxvt.imlocale: ja_JP.EUC-JP
1079
1080Now you can start your terminal with C<LC_CTYPE=ja_JP.UTF-8> and still
1081use your input method. Please note, however, that, depending on your Xlib
1082version, you may not be able to input characters outside C<EUC-JP> in a
1083normal way then, as your input method limits you.
1084
1085=head3 Rxvt-unicode crashes when the X Input Method changes or exits.
1086
1087Unfortunately, this is unavoidable, as the XIM protocol is racy by
1088design. Applications can avoid some crashes at the expense of memory
1089leaks, and Input Methods can avoid some crashes by careful ordering at
1090exit time. B<kinput2> (and derived input methods) generally succeeds,
1091while B<SCIM> (or similar input methods) fails. In the end, however,
1092crashes cannot be completely avoided even if both sides cooperate.
1093
1094So the only workaround is not to kill your Input Method Servers.
1095
1096
1097=head2 Operating Systems / Package Maintaining
1098
1099=head3 I am using Debian GNU/Linux and have a problem...
1100
1101The Debian GNU/Linux package of rxvt-unicode in sarge contains large
1102patches that considerably change the behaviour of rxvt-unicode (but
1103unfortunately this notice has been removed). Before reporting a bug to
1104the original rxvt-unicode author please download and install the genuine
1105version (L<http://software.schmorp.de#rxvt-unicode>) and try to reproduce
1106the problem. If you cannot, chances are that the problems are specific to
1107Debian GNU/Linux, in which case it should be reported via the Debian Bug
1108Tracking System (use C<reportbug> to report the bug).
1109
1110For other problems that also affect the Debian package, you can and
1111probably should use the Debian BTS, too, because, after all, it's also a
1112bug in the Debian version and it serves as a reminder for other users that
1113might encounter the same issue.
1114
1115=head3 I am maintaining rxvt-unicode for distribution/OS XXX, any recommendation?
1116
1117You should build one binary with the default options. F<configure>
1118now enables most useful options, and the trend goes to making them
1119runtime-switchable, too, so there is usually no drawback to enabling them,
1120except higher disk and possibly memory usage. The perl interpreter should
1121be enabled, as important functionality (menus, selection, likely more in
1122the future) depends on it.
1123
1124You should not overwrite the C<perl-ext-common> snd C<perl-ext> resources
1125system-wide (except maybe with C<defaults>). This will result in useful
1126behaviour. If your distribution aims at low memory, add an empty
1127C<perl-ext-common> resource to the app-defaults file. This will keep the
1128perl interpreter disabled until the user enables it.
1129
1130If you can/want build more binaries, I recommend building a minimal
1131one with C<--disable-everything> (very useful) and a maximal one with
1132C<--enable-everything> (less useful, it will be very big due to a lot of
1133encodings built-in that increase download times and are rarely used).
1134
1135=head3 I need to make it setuid/setgid to support utmp/ptys on my OS, is this safe?
1136
1137It should be, starting with release 7.1. You are encouraged to properly
1138install urxvt with privileges necessary for your OS now.
1139
1140When rxvt-unicode detects that it runs setuid or setgid, it will fork
1141into a helper process for privileged operations (pty handling on some
1142systems, utmp/wtmp/lastlog handling on others) and drop privileges
1143immediately. This is much safer than most other terminals that keep
1144privileges while running (but is more relevant to urxvt, as it contains
1145things as perl interpreters, which might be "helpful" to attackers).
1146
1147This forking is done as the very first within main(), which is very early
1148and reduces possible bugs to initialisation code run before main(), or
1149things like the dynamic loader of your system, which should result in very
1150little risk.
1151
356=item On Solaris 9, many line-drawing characters are too wide. 1152=head3 On Solaris 9, many line-drawing characters are too wide.
357 1153
358Seems to be a known bug, read 1154Seems to be a known bug, read
359L<http://nixdoc.net/files/forum/about34198.html>. Some people use the 1155L<http://nixdoc.net/files/forum/about34198.html>. Some people use the
360following ugly workaround to get non-double-wide-characters working: 1156following ugly workaround to get non-double-wide-characters working:
361 1157
362 #define wcwidth(x) wcwidth(x) > 1 ? 1 : wcwidth(x) 1158 #define wcwidth(x) wcwidth(x) > 1 ? 1 : wcwidth(x)
363 1159
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. 1160=head3 I am on FreeBSD and rxvt-unicode does not seem to work at all.
406 1161
407Rxvt-unicode requires the symbol C<__STDC_ISO_10646__> to be defined 1162Rxvt-unicode requires the symbol C<__STDC_ISO_10646__> to be defined
408in your compile environment, or an implementation that implements it, 1163in your compile environment, or an implementation that implements it,
409wether it defines the symbol or not. C<__STDC_ISO_10646__> requires that 1164whether it defines the symbol or not. C<__STDC_ISO_10646__> requires that
410B<wchar_t> is represented as unicode. 1165B<wchar_t> is represented as unicode.
411 1166
412As you might have guessed, FreeBSD does neither define this symobl nor 1167As you might have guessed, FreeBSD does neither define this symbol nor
413does it support it. Instead, it uses it's own internal representation of 1168does it support it. Instead, it uses its own internal representation of
414B<wchar_t>. This is, of course, completely fine with respect to standards. 1169B<wchar_t>. This is, of course, completely fine with respect to standards.
415 1170
416However, that means rxvt-unicode only works in C<POSIX>, C<ISO-8859-1> and 1171However, that means rxvt-unicode only works in C<POSIX>, C<ISO-8859-1> and
417C<UTF-8> locales under FreeBSD (which all use Unicode as B<wchar_t>. 1172C<UTF-8> locales under FreeBSD (which all use Unicode as B<wchar_t>.
418 1173
432 1187
433The rxvt-unicode author insists that the right way to fix this is in the 1188The 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 1189system libraries once and for all, instead of forcing every app to carry
435complete replacements for them :) 1190complete replacements for them :)
436 1191
437=item I use Solaris 9 and it doesn't compile/work/etc. 1192=head3 I use Solaris 9 and it doesn't compile/work/etc.
438 1193
439Try the diff in F<doc/solaris9.patch> as a base. It fixes the worst 1194Try the diff in F<doc/solaris9.patch> as a base. It fixes the worst
440problems with C<wcwidth> and a compile problem. 1195problems with C<wcwidth> and a compile problem.
441 1196
442=item How can I use rxvt-unicode under cygwin? 1197=head3 How can I use rxvt-unicode under cygwin?
443 1198
444rxvt-unicode should compile and run out of the box on cygwin, using 1199rxvt-unicode should compile and run out of the box on cygwin, using
445the X11 libraries that come with cygwin. libW11 emulation is no 1200the X11 libraries that come with cygwin. libW11 emulation is no
446longer supported (and makes no sense, either, as it only supported a 1201longer supported (and makes no sense, either, as it only supported a
447single font). I recommend starting the X-server in C<-multiwindow> or 1202single font). I recommend starting the X-server in C<-multiwindow> or
450 1205
451At the time of this writing, cygwin didn't seem to support any multi-byte 1206At 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 1207encodings (you might try C<LC_CTYPE=C-UTF-8>), so you are likely limited
453to 8-bit encodings. 1208to 8-bit encodings.
454 1209
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 1210=head1 RXVT-UNICODE TECHNICAL REFERENCE
820
821=head1 DESCRIPTION
822 1211
823The rest of this document describes various technical aspects of 1212The rest of this document describes various technical aspects of
824B<rxvt-unicode>. First the description of supported command sequences, 1213B<rxvt-unicode>. First the description of supported command sequences,
825followed by menu and pixmap support and last by a description of all 1214followed by pixmap support and last by a description of all features
826features selectable at C<configure> time. 1215selectable at C<configure> time.
827 1216
828=head1 Definitions 1217=head2 Definitions
829 1218
830=over 4 1219=over 4
831 1220
832=item B<< C<c> >> 1221=item B<< C<c> >>
833 1222
851 1240
852A text parameter composed of printable characters. 1241A text parameter composed of printable characters.
853 1242
854=back 1243=back
855 1244
856=head1 Values 1245=head2 Values
857 1246
858=over 4 1247=over 4
859 1248
860=item B<< C<ENQ> >> 1249=item B<< C<ENQ> >>
861 1250
904 1293
905Space Character 1294Space Character
906 1295
907=back 1296=back
908 1297
909=head1 Escape Sequences 1298=head2 Escape Sequences
910 1299
911=over 4 1300=over 4
912 1301
913=item B<< C<ESC # 8> >> 1302=item B<< C<ESC # 8> >>
914 1303
1012 1401
1013=back 1402=back
1014 1403
1015X<CSI> 1404X<CSI>
1016 1405
1017=head1 CSI (Command Sequence Introducer) Sequences 1406=head2 CSI (Command Sequence Introducer) Sequences
1018 1407
1019=over 4 1408=over 4
1020 1409
1021=item B<< C<ESC [ Ps @> >> 1410=item B<< C<ESC [ Ps @> >>
1022 1411
1292 1681
1293=back 1682=back
1294 1683
1295X<PrivateModes> 1684X<PrivateModes>
1296 1685
1297=head1 DEC Private Modes 1686=head2 DEC Private Modes
1298 1687
1299=over 4 1688=over 4
1300 1689
1301=item B<< C<ESC [ ? Pm h> >> 1690=item B<< C<ESC [ ? Pm h> >>
1302 1691
1318 1707
1319Toggle DEC Private Mode Values (rxvt extension). I<where> 1708Toggle DEC Private Mode Values (rxvt extension). I<where>
1320 1709
1321=over 4 1710=over 4
1322 1711
1323=item B<< C<Ps = 1> >> (DECCKM) 1712=item B<< C<Pm = 1> >> (DECCKM)
1324 1713
1325=begin table 1714=begin table
1326 1715
1327 B<< C<h> >> Application Cursor Keys 1716 B<< C<h> >> Application Cursor Keys
1328 B<< C<l> >> Normal Cursor Keys 1717 B<< C<l> >> Normal Cursor Keys
1329 1718
1330=end table 1719=end table
1331 1720
1332=item B<< C<Ps = 2> >> (ANSI/VT52 mode) 1721=item B<< C<Pm = 2> >> (ANSI/VT52 mode)
1333 1722
1334=begin table 1723=begin table
1335 1724
1336 B<< C<h> >> Enter VT52 mode 1725 B<< C<h> >> Enter VT52 mode
1337 B<< C<l> >> Enter VT52 mode 1726 B<< C<l> >> Enter VT52 mode
1338 1727
1339=end table 1728=end table
1340 1729
1341=item B<< C<Ps = 3> >> 1730=item B<< C<Pm = 3> >>
1342 1731
1343=begin table 1732=begin table
1344 1733
1345 B<< C<h> >> 132 Column Mode (DECCOLM) 1734 B<< C<h> >> 132 Column Mode (DECCOLM)
1346 B<< C<l> >> 80 Column Mode (DECCOLM) 1735 B<< C<l> >> 80 Column Mode (DECCOLM)
1347 1736
1348=end table 1737=end table
1349 1738
1350=item B<< C<Ps = 4> >> 1739=item B<< C<Pm = 4> >>
1351 1740
1352=begin table 1741=begin table
1353 1742
1354 B<< C<h> >> Smooth (Slow) Scroll (DECSCLM) 1743 B<< C<h> >> Smooth (Slow) Scroll (DECSCLM)
1355 B<< C<l> >> Jump (Fast) Scroll (DECSCLM) 1744 B<< C<l> >> Jump (Fast) Scroll (DECSCLM)
1356 1745
1357=end table 1746=end table
1358 1747
1359=item B<< C<Ps = 5> >> 1748=item B<< C<Pm = 5> >>
1360 1749
1361=begin table 1750=begin table
1362 1751
1363 B<< C<h> >> Reverse Video (DECSCNM) 1752 B<< C<h> >> Reverse Video (DECSCNM)
1364 B<< C<l> >> Normal Video (DECSCNM) 1753 B<< C<l> >> Normal Video (DECSCNM)
1365 1754
1366=end table 1755=end table
1367 1756
1368=item B<< C<Ps = 6> >> 1757=item B<< C<Pm = 6> >>
1369 1758
1370=begin table 1759=begin table
1371 1760
1372 B<< C<h> >> Origin Mode (DECOM) 1761 B<< C<h> >> Origin Mode (DECOM)
1373 B<< C<l> >> Normal Cursor Mode (DECOM) 1762 B<< C<l> >> Normal Cursor Mode (DECOM)
1374 1763
1375=end table 1764=end table
1376 1765
1377=item B<< C<Ps = 7> >> 1766=item B<< C<Pm = 7> >>
1378 1767
1379=begin table 1768=begin table
1380 1769
1381 B<< C<h> >> Wraparound Mode (DECAWM) 1770 B<< C<h> >> Wraparound Mode (DECAWM)
1382 B<< C<l> >> No Wraparound Mode (DECAWM) 1771 B<< C<l> >> No Wraparound Mode (DECAWM)
1383 1772
1384=end table 1773=end table
1385 1774
1386=item B<< C<Ps = 8> >> I<unimplemented> 1775=item B<< C<Pm = 8> >> I<unimplemented>
1387 1776
1388=begin table 1777=begin table
1389 1778
1390 B<< C<h> >> Auto-repeat Keys (DECARM) 1779 B<< C<h> >> Auto-repeat Keys (DECARM)
1391 B<< C<l> >> No Auto-repeat Keys (DECARM) 1780 B<< C<l> >> No Auto-repeat Keys (DECARM)
1392 1781
1393=end table 1782=end table
1394 1783
1395=item B<< C<Ps = 9> >> X10 XTerm 1784=item B<< C<Pm = 9> >> X10 XTerm
1396 1785
1397=begin table 1786=begin table
1398 1787
1399 B<< C<h> >> Send Mouse X & Y on button press. 1788 B<< C<h> >> Send Mouse X & Y on button press.
1400 B<< C<l> >> No mouse reporting. 1789 B<< C<l> >> No mouse reporting.
1401 1790
1402=end table 1791=end table
1403 1792
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> >> 1793=item B<< C<Pm = 25> >>
1414 1794
1415=begin table 1795=begin table
1416 1796
1417 B<< C<h> >> Visible cursor {cnorm/cvvis} 1797 B<< C<h> >> Visible cursor {cnorm/cvvis}
1418 B<< C<l> >> Invisible cursor {civis} 1798 B<< C<l> >> Invisible cursor {civis}
1419 1799
1420=end table 1800=end table
1421 1801
1422=item B<< C<Ps = 30> >> 1802=item B<< C<Pm = 30> >>
1423 1803
1424=begin table 1804=begin table
1425 1805
1426 B<< C<h> >> scrollBar visisble 1806 B<< C<h> >> scrollBar visisble
1427 B<< C<l> >> scrollBar invisisble 1807 B<< C<l> >> scrollBar invisisble
1428 1808
1429=end table 1809=end table
1430 1810
1431=item B<< C<Ps = 35> >> (B<rxvt>) 1811=item B<< C<Pm = 35> >> (B<rxvt>)
1432 1812
1433=begin table 1813=begin table
1434 1814
1435 B<< C<h> >> Allow XTerm Shift+key sequences 1815 B<< C<h> >> Allow XTerm Shift+key sequences
1436 B<< C<l> >> Disallow XTerm Shift+key sequences 1816 B<< C<l> >> Disallow XTerm Shift+key sequences
1437 1817
1438=end table 1818=end table
1439 1819
1440=item B<< C<Ps = 38> >> I<unimplemented> 1820=item B<< C<Pm = 38> >> I<unimplemented>
1441 1821
1442Enter Tektronix Mode (DECTEK) 1822Enter Tektronix Mode (DECTEK)
1443 1823
1444=item B<< C<Ps = 40> >> 1824=item B<< C<Pm = 40> >>
1445 1825
1446=begin table 1826=begin table
1447 1827
1448 B<< C<h> >> Allow 80/132 Mode 1828 B<< C<h> >> Allow 80/132 Mode
1449 B<< C<l> >> Disallow 80/132 Mode 1829 B<< C<l> >> Disallow 80/132 Mode
1450 1830
1451=end table 1831=end table
1452 1832
1453=item B<< C<Ps = 44> >> I<unimplemented> 1833=item B<< C<Pm = 44> >> I<unimplemented>
1454 1834
1455=begin table 1835=begin table
1456 1836
1457 B<< C<h> >> Turn On Margin Bell 1837 B<< C<h> >> Turn On Margin Bell
1458 B<< C<l> >> Turn Off Margin Bell 1838 B<< C<l> >> Turn Off Margin Bell
1459 1839
1460=end table 1840=end table
1461 1841
1462=item B<< C<Ps = 45> >> I<unimplemented> 1842=item B<< C<Pm = 45> >> I<unimplemented>
1463 1843
1464=begin table 1844=begin table
1465 1845
1466 B<< C<h> >> Reverse-wraparound Mode 1846 B<< C<h> >> Reverse-wraparound Mode
1467 B<< C<l> >> No Reverse-wraparound Mode 1847 B<< C<l> >> No Reverse-wraparound Mode
1468 1848
1469=end table 1849=end table
1470 1850
1471=item B<< C<Ps = 46> >> I<unimplemented> 1851=item B<< C<Pm = 46> >> I<unimplemented>
1472 1852
1473=item B<< C<Ps = 47> >> 1853=item B<< C<Pm = 47> >>
1474 1854
1475=begin table 1855=begin table
1476 1856
1477 B<< C<h> >> Use Alternate Screen Buffer 1857 B<< C<h> >> Use Alternate Screen Buffer
1478 B<< C<l> >> Use Normal Screen Buffer 1858 B<< C<l> >> Use Normal Screen Buffer
1479 1859
1480=end table 1860=end table
1481 1861
1482X<Priv66> 1862X<Priv66>
1483 1863
1484=item B<< C<Ps = 66> >> 1864=item B<< C<Pm = 66> >>
1485 1865
1486=begin table 1866=begin table
1487 1867
1488 B<< C<h> >> Application Keypad (DECPAM) == C<ESC => 1868 B<< C<h> >> Application Keypad (DECPAM) == C<ESC =>
1489 B<< C<l> >> Normal Keypad (DECPNM) == C<< ESC > >> 1869 B<< C<l> >> Normal Keypad (DECPNM) == C<< ESC > >>
1490 1870
1491=end table 1871=end table
1492 1872
1493=item B<< C<Ps = 67> >> 1873=item B<< C<Pm = 67> >>
1494 1874
1495=begin table 1875=begin table
1496 1876
1497 B<< C<h> >> Backspace key sends B<< C<BS> (DECBKM) >> 1877 B<< C<h> >> Backspace key sends B<< C<BS> (DECBKM) >>
1498 B<< C<l> >> Backspace key sends B<< C<DEL> >> 1878 B<< C<l> >> Backspace key sends B<< C<DEL> >>
1499 1879
1500=end table 1880=end table
1501 1881
1502=item B<< C<Ps = 1000> >> (X11 XTerm) 1882=item B<< C<Pm = 1000> >> (X11 XTerm)
1503 1883
1504=begin table 1884=begin table
1505 1885
1506 B<< C<h> >> Send Mouse X & Y on button press and release. 1886 B<< C<h> >> Send Mouse X & Y on button press and release.
1507 B<< C<l> >> No mouse reporting. 1887 B<< C<l> >> No mouse reporting.
1508 1888
1509=end table 1889=end table
1510 1890
1511=item B<< C<Ps = 1001> >> (X11 XTerm) I<unimplemented> 1891=item B<< C<Pm = 1001> >> (X11 XTerm) I<unimplemented>
1512 1892
1513=begin table 1893=begin table
1514 1894
1515 B<< C<h> >> Use Hilite Mouse Tracking. 1895 B<< C<h> >> Use Hilite Mouse Tracking.
1516 B<< C<l> >> No mouse reporting. 1896 B<< C<l> >> No mouse reporting.
1517 1897
1518=end table 1898=end table
1519 1899
1520=item B<< C<Ps = 1010> >> (B<rxvt>) 1900=item B<< C<Pm = 1010> >> (B<rxvt>)
1521 1901
1522=begin table 1902=begin table
1523 1903
1524 B<< C<h> >> Don't scroll to bottom on TTY output 1904 B<< C<h> >> Don't scroll to bottom on TTY output
1525 B<< C<l> >> Scroll to bottom on TTY output 1905 B<< C<l> >> Scroll to bottom on TTY output
1526 1906
1527=end table 1907=end table
1528 1908
1529=item B<< C<Ps = 1011> >> (B<rxvt>) 1909=item B<< C<Pm = 1011> >> (B<rxvt>)
1530 1910
1531=begin table 1911=begin table
1532 1912
1533 B<< C<h> >> Scroll to bottom when a key is pressed 1913 B<< C<h> >> Scroll to bottom when a key is pressed
1534 B<< C<l> >> Don't scroll to bottom when a key is pressed 1914 B<< C<l> >> Don't scroll to bottom when a key is pressed
1535 1915
1536=end table 1916=end table
1537 1917
1918=item B<< C<Pm = 1021> >> (B<rxvt>)
1919
1920=begin table
1921
1922 B<< C<h> >> Bold/italic implies high intensity (see option B<-is>)
1923 B<< C<l> >> Font styles have no effect on intensity (Compile styles)
1924
1925=end table
1926
1538=item B<< C<Ps = 1047> >> 1927=item B<< C<Pm = 1047> >>
1539 1928
1540=begin table 1929=begin table
1541 1930
1542 B<< C<h> >> Use Alternate Screen Buffer 1931 B<< C<h> >> Use Alternate Screen Buffer
1543 B<< C<l> >> Use Normal Screen Buffer - clear Alternate Screen Buffer if returning from it 1932 B<< C<l> >> Use Normal Screen Buffer - clear Alternate Screen Buffer if returning from it
1544 1933
1545=end table 1934=end table
1546 1935
1547=item B<< C<Ps = 1048> >> 1936=item B<< C<Pm = 1048> >>
1548 1937
1549=begin table 1938=begin table
1550 1939
1551 B<< C<h> >> Save cursor position 1940 B<< C<h> >> Save cursor position
1552 B<< C<l> >> Restore cursor position 1941 B<< C<l> >> Restore cursor position
1553 1942
1554=end table 1943=end table
1555 1944
1556=item B<< C<Ps = 1049> >> 1945=item B<< C<Pm = 1049> >>
1557 1946
1558=begin table 1947=begin table
1559 1948
1560 B<< C<h> >> Use Alternate Screen Buffer - clear Alternate Screen Buffer if switching to it 1949 B<< C<h> >> Use Alternate Screen Buffer - clear Alternate Screen Buffer if switching to it
1561 B<< C<l> >> Use Normal Screen Buffer 1950 B<< C<l> >> Use Normal Screen Buffer
1566 1955
1567=back 1956=back
1568 1957
1569X<XTerm> 1958X<XTerm>
1570 1959
1571=head1 XTerm Operating System Commands 1960=head2 XTerm Operating System Commands
1572 1961
1573=over 4 1962=over 4
1574 1963
1575=item B<< C<ESC ] Ps;Pt ST> >> 1964=item B<< C<ESC ] Ps;Pt ST> >>
1576 1965
1588 B<< C<Ps = 10> >> Change colour of text foreground to B<< C<Pt> >> B<(NB: may change in future)> 1977 B<< C<Ps = 10> >> Change colour of text foreground to B<< C<Pt> >> B<(NB: may change in future)>
1589 B<< C<Ps = 11> >> Change colour of text background to B<< C<Pt> >> B<(NB: may change in future)> 1978 B<< C<Ps = 11> >> Change colour of text background to B<< C<Pt> >> B<(NB: may change in future)>
1590 B<< C<Ps = 12> >> Change colour of text cursor foreground to B<< C<Pt> >> 1979 B<< C<Ps = 12> >> Change colour of text cursor foreground to B<< C<Pt> >>
1591 B<< C<Ps = 13> >> Change colour of mouse foreground to B<< C<Pt> >> 1980 B<< C<Ps = 13> >> Change colour of mouse foreground to B<< C<Pt> >>
1592 B<< C<Ps = 17> >> Change colour of highlight characters to B<< C<Pt> >> 1981 B<< C<Ps = 17> >> Change colour of highlight characters to B<< C<Pt> >>
1593 B<< C<Ps = 18> >> Change colour of bold characters to B<< C<Pt> >> 1982 B<< C<Ps = 18> >> Change colour of bold characters to B<< C<Pt> >> [deprecated, see 706]
1594 B<< C<Ps = 19> >> Change colour of underlined characters to B<< C<Pt> >> 1983 B<< C<Ps = 19> >> Change colour of underlined characters to B<< C<Pt> >> [deprecated, see 707]
1595 B<< C<Ps = 20> >> Change default background to B<< C<Pt> >> 1984 B<< C<Ps = 20> >> Change background pixmap parameters (see section XPM) (Compile XPM).
1596 B<< C<Ps = 39> >> Change default foreground colour to B<< C<Pt> >>. 1985 B<< C<Ps = 39> >> Change default foreground colour to B<< C<Pt> >>.
1597 B<< C<Ps = 46> >> Change Log File to B<< C<Pt> >> I<unimplemented> 1986 B<< C<Ps = 46> >> Change Log File to B<< C<Pt> >> I<unimplemented>
1598 B<< C<Ps = 49> >> Change default background colour to B<< C<Pt> >>. 1987 B<< C<Ps = 49> >> Change default background colour to B<< C<Pt> >>.
1599 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> >> 1988 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> >>
1600 B<< C<Ps = 55> >> Log all scrollback buffer and all of screen to B<< C<Pt> >> 1989 B<< C<Ps = 55> >> Log all scrollback buffer and all of screen to B<< C<Pt> >>
1601 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). 1990 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).
1602 B<< C<Ps = 703> >> Menubar command B<< C<Pt> >> (Compile menubar). 1991 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>.
1603 B<< C<Ps = 704> >> Change colour of italic characters to B<< C<Pt> >> 1992 B<< C<Ps = 704> >> Change colour of italic characters to B<< C<Pt> >>
1604 B<< C<Ps = 705> >> Change background pixmap tint colour to B<< C<Pt> >> (Compile transparency). 1993 B<< C<Ps = 705> >> Change background pixmap tint colour to B<< C<Pt> >> (Compile transparency).
1994 B<< C<Ps = 706> >> Change colour of bold characters to B<< C<Pt> >>
1995 B<< C<Ps = 707> >> Change colour of underlined characters to B<< C<Pt> >>
1605 B<< C<Ps = 710> >> Set normal fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Same as C<Ps = 50>. 1996 B<< C<Ps = 710> >> Set normal fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Same as C<Ps = 50>.
1606 B<< C<Ps = 711> >> Set bold fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50> (Compile styles). 1997 B<< C<Ps = 711> >> Set bold fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50> (Compile styles).
1607 B<< C<Ps = 712> >> Set italic fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50> (Compile styles). 1998 B<< C<Ps = 712> >> Set italic fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50> (Compile styles).
1608 B<< C<Ps = 713> >> Set bold-italic fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50> (Compile styles). 1999 B<< C<Ps = 713> >> Set bold-italic fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50> (Compile styles).
1609 B<< C<Ps = 720> >> Move viewing window up by B<< C<Pt> >> lines, or clear scrollback buffer if C<Pt = 0> (Compile frills). 2000 B<< C<Ps = 720> >> Move viewing window up by B<< C<Pt> >> lines, or clear scrollback buffer if C<Pt = 0> (Compile frills).
1610 B<< C<Ps = 721> >> Move viewing window down by B<< C<Pt> >> lines, or clear scrollback buffer if C<Pt = 0> (Compile frills). 2001 B<< C<Ps = 721> >> Move viewing window down by B<< C<Pt> >> lines, or clear scrollback buffer if C<Pt = 0> (Compile frills).
2002 B<< C<Ps = 777> >> Call the perl extension with the given string, which should be of the form C<extension:parameters> (Compile perl).
1611 2003
1612=end table 2004=end table
1613 2005
1614=back 2006=back
1615
1616X<menuBar>
1617
1618=head1 menuBar
1619
1620B<< The exact syntax used is I<almost> solidified. >>
1621In the menus, B<DON'T> try to use menuBar commands that add or remove a
1622menuBar.
1623
1624Note that in all of the commands, the B<< I</path/> >> I<cannot> be
1625omitted: use B<./> to specify a menu relative to the current menu.
1626
1627=head2 Overview of menuBar operation
1628
1629For the menuBar XTerm escape sequence C<ESC ] 703 ; Pt ST>, the syntax
1630of C<Pt> can be used for a variety of tasks:
1631
1632At the top level is the current menuBar which is a member of a circular
1633linked-list of other such menuBars.
1634
1635The menuBar acts as a parent for the various drop-down menus, which in
1636turn, may have labels, separator lines, menuItems and subMenus.
1637
1638The menuItems are the useful bits: you can use them to mimic keyboard
1639input or even to send text or escape sequences back to rxvt.
1640
1641The menuBar syntax is intended to provide a simple yet robust method of
1642constructing and manipulating menus and navigating through the
1643menuBars.
1644
1645The first step is to use the tag B<< [menu:I<name>] >> which creates
1646the menuBar called I<name> and allows access. You may now or menus,
1647subMenus, and menuItems. Finally, use the tag B<[done]> to set the
1648menuBar access as B<readonly> to prevent accidental corruption of the
1649menus. To re-access the current menuBar for alterations, use the tag
1650B<[menu]>, make the alterations and then use B<[done]>
1651
1652X<menuBarCommands>
1653
1654=head2 Commands
1655
1656=over 4
1657
1658=item B<< [menu:+I<name>] >>
1659
1660access the named menuBar for creation or alteration. If a new menuBar
1661is created, it is called I<name> (max of 15 chars) and the current
1662menuBar is pushed onto the stack
1663
1664=item B<[menu]>
1665
1666access the current menuBar for alteration
1667
1668=item B<< [title:+I<string>] >>
1669
1670set the current menuBar's title to I<string>, which may contain the
1671following format specifiers:
1672
1673 B<%n> rxvt name (as per the B<-name> command-line option)
1674 B<%v> rxvt version
1675 B<%%> literal B<%> character
1676
1677=item B<[done]>
1678
1679set menuBar access as B<readonly>.
1680End-of-file tag for B<< [read:+I<file>] >> operations.
1681
1682=item B<< [read:+I<file>] >>
1683
1684read menu commands directly from I<file> (extension ".menu" will be
1685appended if required.) Start reading at a line with B<[menu]> or B<<
1686[menu:+I<name> >> and continuing until B<[done]> is encountered.
1687
1688Blank and comment lines (starting with B<#>) are ignored. Actually,
1689since any invalid menu commands are also ignored, almost anything could
1690be construed as a comment line, but this may be tightened up in the
1691future ... so don't count on it!.
1692
1693=item B<< [read:+I<file>;+I<name>] >>
1694
1695The same as B<< [read:+I<file>] >>, but start reading at a line with
1696B<< [menu:+I<name>] >> and continuing until B<< [done:+I<name>] >> or
1697B<[done]> is encountered.
1698
1699=item B<[dump]>
1700
1701dump all menuBars to the file B</tmp/rxvt-PID> in a format suitable for
1702later rereading.
1703
1704=item B<[rm:name]>
1705
1706remove the named menuBar
1707
1708=item B<[rm] [rm:]>
1709
1710remove the current menuBar
1711
1712=item B<[rm*] [rm:*]>
1713
1714remove all menuBars
1715
1716=item B<[swap]>
1717
1718swap the top two menuBars
1719
1720=item B<[prev]>
1721
1722access the previous menuBar
1723
1724=item B<[next]>
1725
1726access the next menuBar
1727
1728=item B<[show]>
1729
1730Enable display of the menuBar
1731
1732=item B<[hide]>
1733
1734Disable display of the menuBar
1735
1736=item B<< [pixmap:+I<name>] >>
1737
1738=item B<< [pixmap:+I<name>;I<scaling>] >>
1739
1740(set the background pixmap globally
1741
1742B<< A Future implementation I<may> make this local to the menubar >>)
1743
1744=item B<< [:+I<command>:] >>
1745
1746ignore the menu readonly status and issue a I<command> to or a menu or
1747menuitem or change the ; a useful shortcut for setting the quick arrows
1748from a menuBar.
1749
1750=back
1751
1752X<menuBarAdd>
1753
1754=head2 Adding and accessing menus
1755
1756The following commands may also be B<+> prefixed.
1757
1758=over 4
1759
1760=item B</+>
1761
1762access menuBar top level
1763
1764=item B<./+>
1765
1766access current menu level
1767
1768=item B<../+>
1769
1770access parent menu (1 level up)
1771
1772=item B<../../>
1773
1774access parent menu (multiple levels up)
1775
1776=item B<< I</path/>menu >>
1777
1778add/access menu
1779
1780=item B<< I</path/>menu/* >>
1781
1782add/access menu and clear it if it exists
1783
1784=item B<< I</path/>{-} >>
1785
1786add separator
1787
1788=item B<< I</path/>{item} >>
1789
1790add B<item> as a label
1791
1792=item B<< I</path/>{item} action >>
1793
1794add/alter I<menuitem> with an associated I<action>
1795
1796=item B<< I</path/>{item}{right-text} >>
1797
1798add/alter I<menuitem> with B<right-text> as the right-justified text
1799and as the associated I<action>
1800
1801=item B<< I</path/>{item}{rtext} action >>
1802
1803add/alter I<menuitem> with an associated I<action> and with B<rtext> as
1804the right-justified text.
1805
1806=back
1807
1808=over 4
1809
1810=item Special characters in I<action> must be backslash-escaped:
1811
1812B<\a \b \E \e \n \r \t \octal>
1813
1814=item or in control-character notation:
1815
1816B<^@, ^A .. ^Z .. ^_, ^?>
1817
1818=back
1819
1820To send a string starting with a B<NUL> (B<^@>) character to the
1821program, start I<action> with a pair of B<NUL> characters (B<^@^@>),
1822the first of which will be stripped off and the balance directed to the
1823program. Otherwise if I<action> begins with B<NUL> followed by
1824non-+B<NUL> characters, the leading B<NUL> is stripped off and the
1825balance is sent back to rxvt.
1826
1827As a convenience for the many Emacs-type editors, I<action> may start
1828with B<M-> (eg, B<M-$> is equivalent to B<\E$>) and a B<CR> will be
1829appended if missed from B<M-x> commands.
1830
1831As a convenience for issuing XTerm B<ESC ]> sequences from a menubar (or
1832quick arrow), a B<BEL> (B<^G>) will be appended if needed.
1833
1834=over 4
1835
1836=item For example,
1837
1838B<M-xapropos> is equivalent to B<\Exapropos\r>
1839
1840=item and
1841
1842B<\E]703;mona;100> is equivalent to B<\E]703;mona;100\a>
1843
1844=back
1845
1846The option B<< {I<right-rtext>} >> will be right-justified. In the
1847absence of a specified action, this text will be used as the I<action>
1848as well.
1849
1850=over 4
1851
1852=item For example,
1853
1854B</File/{Open}{^X^F}> is equivalent to B</File/{Open}{^X^F} ^X^F>
1855
1856=back
1857
1858The left label I<is> necessary, since it's used for matching, but
1859implicitly hiding the left label (by using same name for both left and
1860right labels), or explicitly hiding the left label (by preceeding it
1861with a dot), makes it possible to have right-justified text only.
1862
1863=over 4
1864
1865=item For example,
1866
1867B</File/{Open}{Open} Open-File-Action>
1868
1869=item or hiding it
1870
1871B</File/{.anylabel}{Open} Open-File-Action>
1872
1873=back
1874
1875X<menuBarRemove>
1876
1877=head2 Removing menus
1878
1879=over 4
1880
1881=item B<< -/*+ >>
1882
1883remove all menus from the menuBar, the same as B<[clear]>
1884
1885=item B<< -+I</path>menu+ >>
1886
1887remove menu
1888
1889=item B<< -+I</path>{item}+ >>
1890
1891remove item
1892
1893=item B<< -+I</path>{-} >>
1894
1895remove separator)
1896
1897=item B<-/path/menu/*>
1898
1899remove all items, separators and submenus from menu
1900
1901=back
1902
1903X<menuBarArrows>
1904
1905=head2 Quick Arrows
1906
1907The menus also provide a hook for I<quick arrows> to provide easier
1908user access. If nothing has been explicitly set, the default is to
1909emulate the curror keys. The syntax permits each arrow to be altered
1910individually or all four at once without re-entering their common
1911beginning/end text. For example, to explicitly associate cursor actions
1912with the arrows, any of the following forms could be used:
1913
1914=over 4
1915
1916=item B<< <r>+I<Right> >>
1917
1918=item B<< <l>+I<Left> >>
1919
1920=item B<< <u>+I<Up> >>
1921
1922=item B<< <d>+I<Down> >>
1923
1924Define actions for the respective arrow buttons
1925
1926=item B<< <b>+I<Begin> >>
1927
1928=item B<< <e>+I<End> >>
1929
1930Define common beginning/end parts for I<quick arrows> which used in
1931conjunction with the above <r> <l> <u> <d> constructs
1932
1933=back
1934
1935=over 4
1936
1937=item For example, define arrows individually,
1938
1939 <u>\E[A
1940
1941 <d>\E[B
1942
1943 <r>\E[C
1944
1945 <l>\E[D
1946
1947=item or all at once
1948
1949 <u>\E[AZ<><d>\E[BZ<><r>\E[CZ<><l>\E[D
1950
1951=item or more compactly (factoring out common parts)
1952
1953 <b>\E[<u>AZ<><d>BZ<><r>CZ<><l>D
1954
1955=back
1956
1957X<menuBarSummary>
1958
1959=head2 Command Summary
1960
1961A short summary of the most I<common> commands:
1962
1963=over 4
1964
1965=item [menu:name]
1966
1967use an existing named menuBar or start a new one
1968
1969=item [menu]
1970
1971use the current menuBar
1972
1973=item [title:string]
1974
1975set menuBar title
1976
1977=item [done]
1978
1979set menu access to readonly and, if reading from a file, signal EOF
1980
1981=item [done:name]
1982
1983if reading from a file using [read:file;name] signal EOF
1984
1985=item [rm:name]
1986
1987remove named menuBar(s)
1988
1989=item [rm] [rm:]
1990
1991remove current menuBar
1992
1993=item [rm*] [rm:*]
1994
1995remove all menuBar(s)
1996
1997=item [swap]
1998
1999swap top two menuBars
2000
2001=item [prev]
2002
2003access the previous menuBar
2004
2005=item [next]
2006
2007access the next menuBar
2008
2009=item [show]
2010
2011map menuBar
2012
2013=item [hide]
2014
2015unmap menuBar
2016
2017=item [pixmap;file]
2018
2019=item [pixmap;file;scaling]
2020
2021set a background pixmap
2022
2023=item [read:file]
2024
2025=item [read:file;name]
2026
2027read in a menu from a file
2028
2029=item [dump]
2030
2031dump out all menuBars to /tmp/rxvt-PID
2032
2033=item /
2034
2035access menuBar top level
2036
2037=item ./
2038
2039=item ../
2040
2041=item ../../
2042
2043access current or parent menu level
2044
2045=item /path/menu
2046
2047add/access menu
2048
2049=item /path/{-}
2050
2051add separator
2052
2053=item /path/{item}{rtext} action
2054
2055add/alter menu item
2056
2057=item -/*
2058
2059remove all menus from the menuBar
2060
2061=item -/path/menu
2062
2063remove menu items, separators and submenus from menu
2064
2065=item -/path/menu
2066
2067remove menu
2068
2069=item -/path/{item}
2070
2071remove item
2072
2073=item -/path/{-}
2074
2075remove separator
2076
2077=item <b>Begin<r>Right<l>Left<u>Up<d>Down<e>End
2078
2079menu quick arrows
2080
2081=back
2082X<XPM>
2083 2007
2084=head1 XPM 2008=head1 XPM
2085 2009
2086For the XPM XTerm escape sequence B<< C<ESC ] 20 ; Pt ST> >> then value 2010For the XPM XTerm escape sequence B<< C<ESC ] 20 ; Pt ST> >> then value
2087of B<< C<Pt> >> can be the name of the background pixmap followed by a 2011of B<< C<Pt> >> can be the name of the background pixmap followed by a
2185=begin table 2109=begin table
2186 2110
2187 4 Shift 2111 4 Shift
2188 8 Meta 2112 8 Meta
2189 16 Control 2113 16 Control
2190 32 Double Click I<(Rxvt extension)> 2114 32 Double Click I<(rxvt extension)>
2191 2115
2192=end table 2116=end table
2193 2117
2194Col = B<< C<< <x> - SPACE >> >> 2118Col = B<< C<< <x> - SPACE >> >>
2195 2119
2333alternative input methods (e.g. kinput2) and will also correctly 2257alternative input methods (e.g. kinput2) and will also correctly
2334set up the input for people using dead keys or compose keys. 2258set up the input for people using dead keys or compose keys.
2335 2259
2336=item --enable-unicode3 (default: off) 2260=item --enable-unicode3 (default: off)
2337 2261
2262Recommended to stay off unless you really need non-BMP characters.
2263
2338Enable direct support for displaying unicode codepoints above 2264Enable direct support for displaying unicode codepoints above
233965535 (the basic multilingual page). This increases storage 226565535 (the basic multilingual page). This increases storage
2340requirements per character from 2 to 4 bytes. X11 fonts do not yet 2266requirements per character from 2 to 4 bytes. X11 fonts do not yet
2341support these extra characters, but Xft does. 2267support these extra characters, but Xft does.
2342 2268
2352composite characters. This is required for proper viewing of text 2278composite characters. This is required for proper viewing of text
2353where accents are encoded as seperate unicode characters. This is 2279where accents are encoded as seperate unicode characters. This is
2354done by using precomposited characters when available or creating 2280done by using precomposited characters when available or creating
2355new pseudo-characters when no precomposed form exists. 2281new pseudo-characters when no precomposed form exists.
2356 2282
2357Without --enable-unicode3, the number of additional precomposed characters 2283Without --enable-unicode3, the number of additional precomposed
2358is rather limited (2048, if this is full, rxvt-unicode will use the 2284characters is somewhat limited (the 6400 private use characters will be
2359private use area, extending the number of combinations to 8448). With
2360--enable-unicode3, no practical limit exists. 2285(ab-)used). With --enable-unicode3, no practical limit exists.
2361 2286
2362This option will also enable storage (but not display) of characters 2287This option will also enable storage (but not display) of characters
2363beyond plane 0 (>65535) when --enable-unicode3 was not specified. 2288beyond plane 0 (>65535) when --enable-unicode3 was not specified.
2364 2289
2365The combining table also contains entries for arabic presentation forms, 2290The combining table also contains entries for arabic presentation forms,
2366but these are not currently used. Bug me if you want these to be used (and 2291but these are not currently used. Bug me if you want these to be used (and
2367tell me how these are to be used...). 2292tell me how these are to be used...).
2368 2293
2369=item --enable-fallback(=CLASS) (default: Rxvt) 2294=item --enable-fallback(=CLASS) (default: Rxvt)
2370 2295
2371When reading resource settings, also read settings for class CLASS. To disable resource fallback use --disable-fallback. 2296When reading resource settings, also read settings for class CLASS. To
2297disable resource fallback use --disable-fallback.
2372 2298
2373=item --with-res-name=NAME (default: urxvt) 2299=item --with-res-name=NAME (default: urxvt)
2374 2300
2375Use the given name as default application name when 2301Use the given name as default application name when
2376reading resources. Specify --with-res-name=rxvt to replace rxvt. 2302reading resources. Specify --with-res-name=rxvt to replace rxvt.
2396 2322
2397Write user and tty to lastlog file (used by programs like 2323Write user and tty to lastlog file (used by programs like
2398F<lastlogin>) at start of rxvt execution. This option requires 2324F<lastlogin>) at start of rxvt execution. This option requires
2399--enable-utmp to also be specified. 2325--enable-utmp to also be specified.
2400 2326
2401=item --enable-xpm-background (default: off) 2327=item --enable-xpm-background (default: on)
2402 2328
2403Add support for XPM background pixmaps. 2329Add support for XPM background pixmaps.
2404 2330
2405=item --enable-transparency (default: off) 2331=item --enable-transparency (default: on)
2406 2332
2407Add support for inheriting parent backgrounds thus giving a fake 2333Add support for inheriting parent backgrounds thus giving a fake
2408transparency to the term. 2334transparency to the term.
2409 2335
2410=item --enable-fading (default: on) 2336=item --enable-fading (default: on)
2412Add support for fading the text when focus is lost (requires C<--enable-transparency>). 2338Add support for fading the text when focus is lost (requires C<--enable-transparency>).
2413 2339
2414=item --enable-tinting (default: on) 2340=item --enable-tinting (default: on)
2415 2341
2416Add support for tinting of transparent backgrounds (requires C<--enable-transparency>). 2342Add support for tinting of transparent backgrounds (requires C<--enable-transparency>).
2417
2418=item --enable-menubar (default: off)
2419
2420Add support for our menu bar system (this interacts badly with
2421dynamic locale switching currently).
2422 2343
2423=item --enable-rxvt-scroll (default: on) 2344=item --enable-rxvt-scroll (default: on)
2424 2345
2425Add support for the original rxvt scrollbar. 2346Add support for the original rxvt scrollbar.
2426 2347
2436 2357
2437Add support for a very unobtrusive, plain-looking scrollbar that 2358Add support for a very unobtrusive, plain-looking scrollbar that
2438is the favourite of the rxvt-unicode author, having used it for 2359is the favourite of the rxvt-unicode author, having used it for
2439many years. 2360many years.
2440 2361
2441=item --enable-half-shadow (default: off)
2442
2443Make shadows on the scrollbar only half the normal width & height.
2444only applicable to rxvt scrollbars.
2445
2446=item --enable-ttygid (default: off) 2362=item --enable-ttygid (default: off)
2447 2363
2448Change tty device setting to group "tty" - only use this if 2364Change tty device setting to group "tty" - only use this if
2449your system uses this type of security. 2365your system uses this type of security.
2450 2366
2458do it. 2374do it.
2459 2375
2460=item --disable-resources 2376=item --disable-resources
2461 2377
2462Removes any support for resource checking. 2378Removes any support for resource checking.
2463
2464=item --enable-xgetdefault
2465
2466Make resources checking via XGetDefault() instead of our small
2467version which only checks ~/.Xdefaults, or if that doesn't exist then
2468~/.Xresources.
2469
2470Please note that nowadays, things like XIM will automatically pull in and
2471use the full X resource manager, so the overhead of using it might be very
2472small, if nonexistant.
2473
2474=item --enable-strings (default: off)
2475
2476Add support for our possibly faster memset() function and other
2477various routines, overriding your system's versions which may
2478have been hand-crafted in assembly or may require extra libraries
2479to link in. (this breaks ANSI-C rules and has problems on many
2480GNU/Linux systems).
2481 2379
2482=item --disable-swapscreen 2380=item --disable-swapscreen
2483 2381
2484Remove support for secondary/swap screen. 2382Remove support for secondary/swap screen.
2485 2383
2492A non-exhaustive list of features enabled by C<--enable-frills> (possibly 2390A non-exhaustive list of features enabled by C<--enable-frills> (possibly
2493in combination with other switches) is: 2391in combination with other switches) is:
2494 2392
2495 MWM-hints 2393 MWM-hints
2496 EWMH-hints (pid, utf8 names) and protocols (ping) 2394 EWMH-hints (pid, utf8 names) and protocols (ping)
2497 seperate underline colour 2395 seperate underline colour (-underlineColor)
2498 settable border widths and borderless switch 2396 settable border widths and borderless switch (-w, -b, -bl)
2397 visual depth selection (-depth)
2499 settable extra linespacing 2398 settable extra linespacing /-lsp)
2500 iso-14755-2 and -3, and visual feedback 2399 iso-14755-2 and -3, and visual feedback
2400 tripleclickwords (-tcw)
2401 settable insecure mode (-insecure)
2402 keysym remapping support
2403 cursor blinking and underline cursor (-cb, -uc)
2404 XEmbed support (-embed)
2405 user-pty (-pty-fd)
2406 hold on exit (-hold)
2407 skip builtin block graphics (-sbg)
2408 separate highlightcolor support (-hc)
2409
2410It also enables some non-essential features otherwise disabled, such as:
2411
2412 some round-trip time optimisations
2413 nearest color allocation on pseudocolor screens
2414 UTF8_STRING supporr for selection
2415 sgr modes 90..97 and 100..107
2501 backindex and forwardindex escape sequence 2416 backindex and forwardindex escape sequences
2417 view change/zero scorllback esacpe sequences
2418 locale switching escape sequence
2502 window op and some xterm/OSC escape sequences 2419 window op and some xterm/OSC escape sequences
2503 tripleclickwords 2420 rectangular selections
2504 settable insecure mode 2421 trailing space removal for selections
2505 keysym remapping support 2422 verbose X error handling
2506 cursor blinking and underline cursor
2507 -embed, -pty-fd and -hold options
2508 2423
2509=item --enable-iso14755 (default: on) 2424=item --enable-iso14755 (default: on)
2510 2425
2511Enable extended ISO 14755 support (see @@RXVT_NAME@@(1), or 2426Enable extended ISO 14755 support (see @@RXVT_NAME@@(1), or
2512F<doc/rxvt.1.txt>). Basic support (section 5.1) is enabled by 2427F<doc/rxvt.1.txt>). Basic support (section 5.1) is enabled by
2533Remove support for mouse selection style like that of xterm. 2448Remove support for mouse selection style like that of xterm.
2534 2449
2535=item --enable-dmalloc (default: off) 2450=item --enable-dmalloc (default: off)
2536 2451
2537Use Gray Watson's malloc - which is good for debugging See 2452Use Gray Watson's malloc - which is good for debugging See
2538http://www.letters.com/dmalloc/ for details If you use either this or the 2453L<http://www.letters.com/dmalloc/> for details If you use either this or the
2539next option, you may need to edit src/Makefile after compiling to point 2454next option, you may need to edit src/Makefile after compiling to point
2540DINCLUDE and DLIB to the right places. 2455DINCLUDE and DLIB to the right places.
2541 2456
2542You can only use either this option and the following (should 2457You can only use either this option and the following (should
2543you use either) . 2458you use either) .
2554the screen in a fixed position. 2469the screen in a fixed position.
2555 2470
2556=item --enable-pointer-blank (default: on) 2471=item --enable-pointer-blank (default: on)
2557 2472
2558Add support to have the pointer disappear when typing or inactive. 2473Add support to have the pointer disappear when typing or inactive.
2474
2475=item --enable-perl (default: on)
2476
2477Enable an embedded perl interpreter. See the B<@@RXVT_NAME@@perl(3)>
2478manpage (F<doc/rxvtperl.txt>) for more info on this feature, or the files
2479in F<src/perl-ext/> for the extensions that are installed by default. The
2480perl interpreter that is used can be specified via the C<PERL> environment
2481variable when running configure.
2559 2482
2560=item --with-name=NAME (default: urxvt) 2483=item --with-name=NAME (default: urxvt)
2561 2484
2562Set the basename for the installed binaries, resulting 2485Set the basename for the installed binaries, resulting
2563in C<urxvt>, C<urxvtd> etc.). Specify C<--with-name=rxvt> to replace with 2486in C<urxvt>, C<urxvtd> etc.). Specify C<--with-name=rxvt> to replace with

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