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Revision 1.27 by root, Thu Dec 22 16:44:10 2005 UTC vs.
Revision 1.28 by root, Sat Dec 24 12:55:17 2005 UTC

18 The newest version of this document is also available on the World Wide 18 The newest version of this document is also available on the World Wide
19 Web at 19 Web at
20 <http://cvs.schmorp.de/browse/*checkout*/rxvt-unicode/doc/rxvt.7.html>. 20 <http://cvs.schmorp.de/browse/*checkout*/rxvt-unicode/doc/rxvt.7.html>.
21 21
22FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 22FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
23 Isn't rxvt supposed to be small? Don't all those features bloat?
24 I often get asked about this, and I think, no, they didn't cause
25 extra bloat. If you compare a minimal rxvt and a minimal urxvt, you
26 can see that the urxvt binary is larger (due to some encoding tables
27 always being compiled in), but it actually uses less memory (RSS)
28 after startup. Even with "--disable-everything", this comparison is
29 a bit unfair, as many features unique to urxvt (locale, encoding
30 conversion, iso14755 etc.) are already in use in this mode.
31
32 text data bss drs rss filename
33 98398 1664 24 15695 1824 rxvt --disable-everything
34 188985 9048 66616 18222 1788 urxvt --disable-everything
35
36 When you "--enable-everything" (which _is_ unfair, as this involves
37 xft and full locale/XIM support which are quite bloaty inside libX11
38 and my libc), the two diverge, but not unreasnobaly so.
39
40 text data bss drs rss filename
41 163431 2152 24 20123 2060 rxvt --enable-everything
42 1035683 49680 66648 29096 3680 urxvt --enable-everything
43
44 The very large size of the text section is explained by the
45 east-asian encoding tables, which, if unused, take up disk space but
46 nothing else and can be compiled out unless you rely on X11 core
47 fonts that use those encodings. The BSS size comes from the 64k
48 emergency buffer that my c++ compiler allocates (but of course
49 doesn't use unless you are out of memory). Also, using an xft font
50 instead of a core font immediately adds a few megabytes of RSS. Xft
51 indeed is responsible for a lot of RSS even when not used.
52
53 Of course, due to every character using two or four bytes instead of
54 one, a large scrollback buffer will ultimately make rxvt-unicode use
55 more memory.
56
57 Compared to e.g. Eterm (5112k), aterm (3132k) and xterm (4680k),
58 this still fares rather well. And compared to some monsters like
59 gnome-terminal (21152k + extra 4204k in separate processes) or
60 konsole (22200k + extra 43180k in daemons that stay around after
61 exit, plus half aminute of startup time, including the hundreds of
62 warnings it spits out), it fares extremely well *g*.
63
64 Why C++, isn't that unportable/bloated/uncool?
65 Is this a question? :) It comes up very often. The simple answer is:
66 I had to write it, and C++ allowed me to write and maintain it in a
67 fraction of the time and effort (which is a scarce resource for me).
68 Put even shorter: It simply wouldn't exist without C++.
69
70 My personal stance on this is that C++ is less portable than C, but
71 in the case of rxvt-unicode this hardly matters, as its portability
72 limits are defined by things like X11, pseudo terminals, locale
73 support and unix domain sockets, which are all less portable than
74 C++ itself.
75
76 Regarding the bloat, see the above question: It's easy to write
77 programs in C that use gobs of memory, an certainly possible to
78 write programs in C++ that don't. C++ also often comes with large
79 libraries, but this is not necessarily the case with GCC. Here is
80 what rxvt links against on my system with a minimal config:
81
82 libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x00002aaaaabc3000)
83 libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00002aaaaadde000)
84 libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00002aaaab01d000)
85 /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00002aaaaaaab000)
86
87 And here is rxvt-unicode:
88
89 libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x00002aaaaabc3000)
90 libgcc_s.so.1 => /lib/libgcc_s.so.1 (0x00002aaaaada2000)
91 libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00002aaaaaeb0000)
92 libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00002aaaab0ee000)
93 /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00002aaaaaaab000)
94
95 No large bloated libraries (of course, none were linked in
96 statically), except maybe libX11 :)
97
98 Does it support tabs, can I have a tabbed rxvt-unicode?
99 rxvt-unicode does not directly support tabs. It will work fine with
100 tabbing functionality of many window managers or similar tabbing
101 programs, and its embedding-features allow it to be embedded into
102 other programs, as witnessed by doc/rxvt-tabbed or the upcoming
103 "Gtk2::URxvt" perl module, which features a tabbed urxvt (murxvt)
104 terminal as an example embedding application.
105
23 How do I know which rxvt-unicode version I'm using? 106 How do I know which rxvt-unicode version I'm using?
24 The version number is displayed with the usage (-h). Also the escape 107 The version number is displayed with the usage (-h). Also the escape
25 sequence "ESC [ 8 n" sets the window title to the version number. 108 sequence "ESC [ 8 n" sets the window title to the version number.
109 When using the urxvtc client, the version displayed is that of the
110 daemon.
26 111
27 I am using Debian GNU/Linux and have a problem... 112 I am using Debian GNU/Linux and have a problem...
28 The Debian GNU/Linux package of rxvt-unicode in sarge contains large 113 The Debian GNU/Linux package of rxvt-unicode in sarge contains large
29 patches that considerably change the behaviour of rxvt-unicode. 114 patches that considerably change the behaviour of rxvt-unicode.
30 Before reporting a bug to the original rxvt-unicode author please 115 Before reporting a bug to the original rxvt-unicode author please
70 155
71 "tic" outputs some error when compiling the terminfo entry. 156 "tic" outputs some error when compiling the terminfo entry.
72 Most likely it's the empty definition for "enacs=". Just replace it 157 Most likely it's the empty definition for "enacs=". Just replace it
73 by "enacs=\E[0@" and try again. 158 by "enacs=\E[0@" and try again.
74 159
75 "bash"'s readline does not work correctly under rxvt. 160 "bash"'s readline does not work correctly under urxvt.
76 I need a termcap file entry. 161 I need a termcap file entry.
77 One reason you might want this is that some distributions or 162 One reason you might want this is that some distributions or
78 operating systems still compile some programs using the 163 operating systems still compile some programs using the
79 long-obsoleted termcap library (Fedora Core's bash is one example) 164 long-obsoleted termcap library (Fedora Core's bash is one example)
80 and rely on a termcap entry for "rxvt-unicode". 165 and rely on a termcap entry for "rxvt-unicode".
191 indeed look correct. 276 indeed look correct.
192 277
193 In that case, select a font of your taste and add it to the font 278 In that case, select a font of your taste and add it to the font
194 list, e.g.: 279 list, e.g.:
195 280
196 rxvt -fn basefont,font2,font3... 281 urxvt -fn basefont,font2,font3...
197 282
198 When rxvt-unicode sees a character, it will first look at the base 283 When rxvt-unicode sees a character, it will first look at the base
199 font. If the base font does not contain the character, it will go to 284 font. If the base font does not contain the character, it will go to
200 the next font, and so on. Specifying your own fonts will also speed 285 the next font, and so on. Specifying your own fonts will also speed
201 up this search and use less resources within rxvt-unicode and the 286 up this search and use less resources within rxvt-unicode and the
486 Mouse cut/paste suddenly no longer works. 571 Mouse cut/paste suddenly no longer works.
487 Make sure that mouse reporting is actually turned off since killing 572 Make sure that mouse reporting is actually turned off since killing
488 some editors prematurely may leave the mouse in mouse report mode. 573 some editors prematurely may leave the mouse in mouse report mode.
489 I've heard that tcsh may use mouse reporting unless it otherwise 574 I've heard that tcsh may use mouse reporting unless it otherwise
490 specified. A quick check is to see if cut/paste works when the Alt 575 specified. A quick check is to see if cut/paste works when the Alt
491 or Shift keys are depressed. See rxvt(7) 576 or Shift keys are depressed. See urxvt(7)
492 577
493 What's with this bold/blink stuff? 578 What's with this bold/blink stuff?
494 If no bold colour is set via "colorBD:", bold will invert text using 579 If no bold colour is set via "colorBD:", bold will invert text using
495 the standard foreground colour. 580 the standard foreground colour.
496 581
551 URxvt.color6: #73f7ff 636 URxvt.color6: #73f7ff
552 URxvt.color14: #73f7ff 637 URxvt.color14: #73f7ff
553 URxvt.color7: #e1dddd 638 URxvt.color7: #e1dddd
554 URxvt.color15: #e1dddd 639 URxvt.color15: #e1dddd
555 640
556 How can I start rxvtd in a race-free way? 641 How can I start urxvtd in a race-free way?
557 Try "rxvtd -f -o", which tells rxvtd to open the display, create the 642 Try "urxvtd -f -o", which tells urxvtd to open the display, create
558 listening socket and then fork. 643 the listening socket and then fork.
559 644
560 What's with the strange Backspace/Delete key behaviour? 645 What's with the strange Backspace/Delete key behaviour?
561 Assuming that the physical Backspace key corresponds to the 646 Assuming that the physical Backspace key corresponds to the
562 BackSpace keysym (not likely for Linux ... see the following 647 BackSpace keysym (not likely for Linux ... see the following
563 question) there are two standard values that can be used for 648 question) there are two standard values that can be used for
576 661
577 For starting a new rxvt-unicode: 662 For starting a new rxvt-unicode:
578 663
579 # use Backspace = ^H 664 # use Backspace = ^H
580 $ stty erase ^H 665 $ stty erase ^H
581 $ rxvt 666 $ urxvt
582 667
583 # use Backspace = ^? 668 # use Backspace = ^?
584 $ stty erase ^? 669 $ stty erase ^?
585 $ rxvt 670 $ urxvt
586 671
587 Toggle with "ESC [ 36 h" / "ESC [ 36 l" as documented in rxvt(7). 672 Toggle with "ESC [ 36 h" / "ESC [ 36 l" as documented in urxvt(7).
588 673
589 For an existing rxvt-unicode: 674 For an existing rxvt-unicode:
590 675
591 # use Backspace = ^H 676 # use Backspace = ^H
592 $ stty erase ^H 677 $ stty erase ^H
618 There are some compile-time selections available via configure. 703 There are some compile-time selections available via configure.
619 Unless you have run "configure" with the "--disable-resources" 704 Unless you have run "configure" with the "--disable-resources"
620 option you can use the `keysym' resource to alter the keystrings 705 option you can use the `keysym' resource to alter the keystrings
621 associated with keysyms. 706 associated with keysyms.
622 707
623 Here's an example for a URxvt session started using "rxvt -name 708 Here's an example for a URxvt session started using "urxvt -name
624 URxvt" 709 URxvt"
625 710
626 URxvt.keysym.Home: \033[1~ 711 URxvt.keysym.Home: \033[1~
627 URxvt.keysym.End: \033[4~ 712 URxvt.keysym.End: \033[4~
628 URxvt.keysym.C-apostrophe: \033<C-'> 713 URxvt.keysym.C-apostrophe: \033<C-'>
1869 keysym remapping support 1954 keysym remapping support
1870 cursor blinking and underline cursor 1955 cursor blinking and underline cursor
1871 -embed, -pty-fd and -hold options 1956 -embed, -pty-fd and -hold options
1872 1957
1873 --enable-iso14755 (default: on) 1958 --enable-iso14755 (default: on)
1874 Enable extended ISO 14755 support (see rxvt(1), or doc/rxvt.1.txt). 1959 Enable extended ISO 14755 support (see urxvt(1), or doc/rxvt.1.txt).
1875 Basic support (section 5.1) is enabled by "--enable-frills", while 1960 Basic support (section 5.1) is enabled by "--enable-frills", while
1876 support for 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4 is enabled with this switch. 1961 support for 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4 is enabled with this switch.
1877 1962
1878 --enable-keepscrolling (default: on) 1963 --enable-keepscrolling (default: on)
1879 Add support for continual scrolling of the display when you hold the 1964 Add support for continual scrolling of the display when you hold the

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