xterm - terminal emulator for X
xterm [-toolkitoption...] [-option...]
The xterm terminal emulator accepts all of the standard X
Toolkit command line options as well as the following (if
the option begins with a `+' instead of a `-', the option
is restored to its default value): This causes xterm to
print out a verbose message describing its options. Normally,
the VT102 DECCOLM escape sequence that switches
between 80 and 132 column mode is ignored. This option
causes the DECCOLM escape sequence to be recognized, and
the xterm window will resize appropriately. This option
indicates that xterm should always highlight the text cursor.
By default, xterm will display a hollow text cursor
whenever the focus is lost or the pointer leaves the window.
This option indicates that xterm should do text cursor
highlighting based on focus. This option specifies
the size of the inner border (the distance between the
outer edge of the characters and the window border) in
pixels. The default is 2. Set the vt100 resource cutToBeginningOfLine
to FALSE. Set the vt100 resource cutToBeginningOfLine
to TRUE. This sets classes indicated by the
given ranges for using in selecting by words. See the
section specifying character classes. This option indicates
that newlines should not be cut in line-mode selections.
This option indicates that newlines should be cut
in line-mode selections. This option specifies the color
to use for text cursor. The default is to use the same
foreground color that is used for text. This option indicates
that xterm should work around a bug in the more(1)
program that causes it to incorrectly display lines that
are exactly the width of the window and are followed by a
line beginning with a tab (the leading tabs are not displayed).
This option is so named because it was originally
thought to be a bug in the curses(3) cursor motion package.
This option indicates that xterm should not work
around the more(1) bug mentioned above. This option specifies
the program (and its command line arguments) to be
run in the xterm window. It also sets the window title
and icon name to be the basename of the program being executed
if neither -T nor -n are given on the command line.
This must be the last option on the command line. This
option specifies a font to be used when displaying bold
text. This font must be the same height and width as the
normal font. If only one of the normal or bold fonts is
specified, it will be used as the normal font and the bold
font will be produced by overstriking this font. The
default is to do overstriking of the normal font. Disables
mouse highlight tracking. When the hiliteTrackInhibit
option of -hi is set, the escape sequence causes a
message to be written to stderr, but has no effect on the
xterm. By default, the XTerm app-defaults file sets the
corresponding hiliteTrackInhibit resource to True.
Enables mouse highlight tracking. Turn on the useInsertMode
resource. Turn off the useInsertMode resource. This
option indicates that xterm should do jump scrolling.
Normally, text is scrolled one line at a time; this option
allows xterm to move multiple lines at a time so that it
does not fall as far behind. Its use is strongly recommended
since it make xterm much faster when scanning
through large amounts of text. The VT100 escape sequences
for enabling and disabling smooth scroll as well as the
"VT Options" menu can be used to turn this feature on or
off. This option indicates that xterm should not do jump
scrolling. This option indicates that the shell that is
started in the xterm window will be a login shell (that
is, the first character of argv[0] will be a dash, indicating
to the shell that it should read the user's .login
or .profile). This option indicates that the shell that
is started should not be a login shell (that is, it will
be a normal "subshell"). This option indicates that xterm
should ring a margin bell when the user types near the
right end of a line. This option can be turned on and off
from the "VT Options" menu. This option indicates that
margin bell should not be rung. This option specifies the
maximum time between multi-click selections. This option
specifies the color to be used for the pointer cursor.
The default is to use the foreground color. This option
specifies the number of characters from the right end of a
line at which the margin bell, if enabled, will ring. The
default is 10. This option indicates that reversewraparound
should be allowed. This allows the cursor to
back up from the leftmost column of one line to the rightmost
column of the previous line. This is very useful for
editing long shell command lines and is encouraged. This
option can be turned on and off from the "VT Options"
menu. This option indicates that reverse-wraparound
should not be allowed. This option indicates that autowraparound
should be allowed. This allows the cursor to
automatically wrap to the beginning of the next line when
it is at the rightmost position of a line and text is output.
This option indicates that auto-wraparound should
not be allowed. This option indicates that xterm may
scroll asynchronously, meaning that the screen does not
have to be kept completely up to date while scrolling.
This allows xterm to run faster when network latencies are
very high and is typically useful when running across a
very large internet or many gateways. This option indicates
that xterm should scroll synchronously. This option
indicates that some number of lines that are scrolled off
the top of the window should be saved and that a scrollbar
should be displayed so that those lines can be viewed.
This option may be turned on and off from the "VT Options"
menu. This option indicates that a scrollbar should not
be displayed. This option indicates that Sun Function Key
escape codes should be generated for function keys. This
option indicates that the standard escape codes should be
generated for function keys. This option indicates that
output to a window should not automatically reposition the
screen to the bottom of the scrolling region. This option
can be turned on and off from the "VT Options" menu. This
option indicates that output to a window should cause it
to scroll to the bottom. This option indicates that
pressing a key while using the scrollbar to review previous
lines of text should cause the window to be repositioned
automatically in the normal position at the bottom
of the scroll region. This option indicates that pressing
a key while using the scrollbar should not cause the window
to be repositioned. This option specifies the number
of lines to save that have been scrolled off the top of
the screen. The default is 64. This option indicates
that xterm should start in Tektronix mode, rather than in
VT102 mode. Switching between the two windows is done
using the "Options" menus. This option indicates that
xterm should start in VT102 mode. This option specifies a
series of terminal setting keywords followed by the characters
that should be bound to those functions, similar to
the stty program. Allowable keywords include: intr, quit,
erase, kill, eof, eol, swtch, start, stop, brk, susp,
dsusp, rprnt, flush, weras, and lnext. Control characters
may be specified as ^char (for example, ^c or ^u) and ^?
may be used to indicate delete. This option specifies the
name of the terminal type to be set in the TERM environment
variable. This terminal type must exist in the termcap(3x) database and should have li# and co# entries.
This option indicates that xterm should always log to the
system log file /var/adm/utmp unless the -ut option is
specified, regardless of whether the -ls option is specified.
The -ue option is the default. This option indicates
that xterm will only log to the system log file
/var/adm/utmp when the -ls option is specified. This
option indicates that xterm should not write a record into
the system log file /var/adm/utmp. This option indicates
that xterm should write a record into the system log file
/var/adm/utmp. This option is enabled only when either
the -ls option is specified or the +ue option is not specified.
This option indicates that a visual bell is preferred
over an audible one. Instead of ringing the terminal
bell whenever a Control-G is received, the window will
be flashed. This option indicates that a visual bell
should not be used. This option indicates that xterm
should wait for the window to be mapped the first time
before starting the subprocess so that the initial terminal
size settings and environment variables are correct.
It is the application's responsibility to catch subsequent
terminal size changes. This option indicates that xterm
show not wait before starting the subprocess. This option
indicates that this window should receive console output.
This is not supported on all systems. To obtain console
output, you must be the owner of the console device, and
you must have read and write permission for it. If you
are running X under xdm on the console screen you may need
to have the session startup and reset programs explicitly
change the ownership of the console device in order to get
this option to work. This option specifies the last two
letters of the name of a pseudoterminal to use in slave
mode, plus the number of the inherited file descriptor.
The option is parsed "%c%c%d". This allows xterm to be
used as an input and output channel for an existing program
and is sometimes used in specialized applications.
Although the two characters representing the pseudoterminal
name are required for parsing the
option's argument, the actual characters are irrelevant;
only the integer representing the file
descriptor is really used.
The following command line arguments are provided for compatibility
with older versions. They may not be supported
in the next release as the X Toolkit provides standard
options that accomplish the same task. This option specifies
the preferred size and position of the Tektronix window.
It is shorthand for specifying the "*tekGeometry"
resource. This option specifies the preferred position of
the icon window. It is shorthand for specifying the
"*iconGeometry" resource. This option specifies the title
for xterm's windows. It is equivalent to -title. This
option specifies the icon name for xterm's windows. It is
shorthand for specifying the "*iconName" resource. Note
that this is not the same as the toolkit option -name (see
below). The default icon name is the application name.
This option indicates that reverse video should be simulated
by swapping the foreground and background colors.
It is equivalent to -rv. This option specifies the width
in pixels of the border surrounding the window. It is
equivalent to -borderwidth or -bw.
The following standard X Toolkit command line arguments
are commonly used with xterm: This option specifies the
color to use for the background of the window. The default
is "white." This option specifies the color to use for
the border of the window. The default is "black." This
option specifies the width in pixels of the border surrounding
the window. This option specifies the color to
use for displaying text. The default is "black." This
option specifies the font to be used for displaying normal
text. The default is fixed. This option specifies the
application name under which resources are to be obtained,
rather than the default executable file name. name should
not contain "." or "*" characters. This option specifies
the window title string, which may be displayed by window
managers if the user so chooses. The default title is the
command line specified after the -e option, if any, otherwise
the application name. This option indicates that
reverse video should be simulated by swapping the foreground
and background colors. This option specifies the
preferred size and position of the VT102 window; see
X(1X). This option specifies the X server to contact; see
X(1X). This option specifies a resource string to be
used. This is especially useful for setting resources
that do not have separate command line options. This
option indicates that xterm should ask the window manager
to start it as an icon rather than as the normal window.
The xterm program is a terminal emulator for the X Window
System. It provides DEC VT102 and Tektronix 4014 compatible
terminals for programs that cannot use the window system
directly. If the underlying operating system supports
terminal resizing capabilities (for example, the SIGWINCH
signal in systems derived from 4.3bsd), xterm will use the
facilities to notify programs running in the window whenever
it is resized.
The VT102 and Tektronix 4014 terminals each have their own
window so that you can edit text in one and look at graphics
in the other at the same time. To maintain the correct
aspect ratio (height/width), Tektronix graphics will be
restricted to the largest box with a 4014's aspect ratio
that will fit in the window. This box is located in the
upper left area of the window.
Although both windows may be displayed at the same time,
one of them is considered the "active" window for receiving
keyboard input and terminal output. This is the window
that contains the text cursor. The active window can
be chosen through escape sequences, the "VT Options" menu
in the VT102 window, and the "Tek Options" menu in the
4014 window.
The VT102 emulation is fairly complete, but does not support
smooth scrolling, VT52 mode, the blinking character
attribute nor the double-wide and double-size character
sets. termcap(3x) entries that work with xterm include
"xterm," "vt102," "vt100" and "ansi," and xterm automatically
searches the termcap file in this order for these
entries and then sets the "TERM" and the "TERMCAP" environment
variables.
Many of the special xterm features may be modified under
program control through a set of escape sequences different
from the standard VT102 escape sequences. (See the
Xterm Control Sequences document.)
The Tektronix 4014 emulation is also fairly good. It supports
12-bit graphics addressing, scaled to the window
size. Four different font sizes and five different lines
types are supported. There is no write-through or defocused
mode support. The Tektronix text and graphics commands
are recorded internally by xterm and may be written
to a file by sending the COPY escape sequence (or through
the Tektronix menu; see below). The name of the file will
be "COPYyy-MM-dd.hh:mm:ss", where yy, MM, dd, hh, mm,/*O
and ss are the year, month, day, hour, minute and second
when the COPY was performed (the file is created in the
directory xterm is started in, or the home directory for a
login xterm).
xterm automatically highlights the text cursor when the
pointer enters the window (selected) and unhighlights it
when the pointer leaves the window (unselected). If the
window is the focus window, then the text cursor is highlighted
no matter where the pointer is.
In VT102 mode, there are escape sequences to activate and
deactivate an alternate screen buffer, which is the same
size as the display area of the window. When activated,
the current screen is saved and replaced with the alternate
screen. Saving of lines scrolled off the top of the
window is disabled until the normal screen is restored.
The termcap(3x) entry for xterm allows the visual editor
vi(1) to switch to the alternate screen for editing and to
restore the screen on exit.
In either VT102 or Tektronix mode, there are escape
sequences to change the name of the windows. See Xterm
Control Sequences for details.
The program understands all of the core X Toolkit resource
names and classes as well as: Specifies the preferred size
and position of the application when iconified. It is not
necessarily obeyed by all window managers. Specifies the
icon name. The default is the application name. Specifies
the terminal type name to be set in the TERM environment
variable. Specifies a string that may be used by the
window manager when displaying this application. Specifies
a string containing terminal setting keywords and the
characters to which they may be bound. Allowable keywords
include: intr, quit, erase, kill, eof, eol, swtch, start,
stop, brk, susp, dsusp, rprnt, flush, weras, and lnext.
Control characters may be specified as ^char (for example,
^c or ^u) and ^? may be used to indicate Delete. This is
very useful for overriding the default terminal settings
without having to do an stty every time an xterm is
started. Force use of insert mode by adding appropriate
entries to the TERMCAP environment variable. This is useful
if the system termcap is broken. The default is
"false." If set to "true", xterm will record the user's
terminal in /var/adm/utmp unless utmpInhibit is also set
to "true". The default is "true". Specifies whether or
not xterm should try to record the user's terminal in
var/adm/utmp. If set to "false", recording in utmp is
enabled only if the loginShell resource or the utmpEnable
resource is set to "true". The default is "false". (The
loginShell resource is described in the list of resources
associated with the vt100 widget that follows this list.)
Specifies whether or not Sun Function Key escape codes
should be generated for function keys instead of standard
escape sequences. Specifies whether or not xterm should
wait for the initial window map before starting the subprocess.
The default is "false."
The following resources are specified as part of the vt100
widget (class VT100): Specifies whether or not synthetic
key and button events (generated using the X protocol
SendEvent request) should be interpreted or discarded.
The default is "false" meaning they are discarded. Note
that allowing such events creates a very large security
hole. Specifies whether or not xterm should always display
a highlighted text cursor. By default, a hollow text
cursor is displayed whenever the pointer moves out of the
window or the window loses the input focus. If "true,"
the cursor keys are initially in application mode. The
default is "false." If "true," the keypad keys are initially
in application mode. The default is "false." Specifies
whether or not auto-wraparound should be enabled.
The default is "true." Number of milliseconds after a
bell command is sent during which additional bells will be
suppressed. Default is 200. If set non-zero, additional
bells will also be suppressed until the server reports
that processing of the first bell has been completed; this
feature is most useful with the visible bell. Specifies
the name of the bold font to use instead of overstriking.
Specifies whether or not the VT102 DECCOLM escape sequence
should be honored. The default is "false." If false,
triple clicking to select a line does not include the Newline
at the end of the line. If true, the Newline is
selected. The default is "true." If false, triple clicking
to select a line selects only from the current word
forward. If true, the entire line is selected. The default
is "true." Specifies comma-separated lists of character
class bindings of the form [low-]high:value. These are
used in determining which sets of characters should be
treated the same when doing cut and paste. See the section
on specifying character classes. Specifies whether or not
the last column bug in more(1) should be worked around.
See the -cu option for details. The default is "false."
Specifies the color to use for the background of the window.
The default is "white." Specifies the color to use
for displaying text in the window. Setting the class name
instead of the instance name is an easy way to have everything
that would normally appear in the text color change
color. The default is "black." Specifies the color to
use for the text cursor. The default is "black." If
true, Meta characters input from the keyboard are presented
as a single character with the eighth bit turned
on. If false, Meta characters are converted into a twocharacter
sequence with the character itself preceded by
ESC. The default is "true." Specifies whether or not
eight-bit characters sent from the host should be accepted
as is or stripped when printed. The default is "true."
Specifies the name of the normal font. The default is
"fixed." Specifies the name of the first alternative
font. Specifies the name of the second alternative font.
Specifies the name of the third alternative font. Specifies
the name of the fourth alternative font. Specifies
the name of the fifth alternative font. Specifies the
name of the sixth alternative font. Specifies the preferred
size and position of the VT102 window. Specifies
whether to work around a bug in HP's xdb, which ignores
termcap and always sends ESC F to move to the lower left
corner. "true" causes xterm to interpret ESC F as a
request to move to the lower left corner of the screen.
The default is "false." Specifies the number of pixels
between the characters and the window border. The default
is 2. Specifies whether or not jump scroll should be
used. The default is "true." Specifies whether or not
the shell to be run in the window should be started as a
login shell. The default is "false." Specifies whether
or not the bell should be run when the user types near the
right margin. The default is "false." Specifies the maximum
time in milliseconds between multi-click select
events. The default is 250 milliseconds. Specifies
whether or not scrolling should be done asynchronously.
The default is "false." Specifies the number of characters
from the right margin at which the margin bell should
be rung, when enabled. Specifies the foreground color of
the pointer. The default is "XtDefaultForeground." Specifies
the background color of the pointer. The default is
"XtDefaultBackground." Specifies the name of the shape of
the pointer. The default is "xterm." Affects the behavior
when the window is resized to be taller or shorter.
NorthWest specifies that the top line of text on the
screen stay fixed. If the window is made shorter, lines
are dropped from the bottom; if the window is made taller,
blank lines are added at the bottom. This is compatible
with the behavior in R4. SouthWest (the default) specifies
that the bottom line of text on the screen stay
fixed. If the window is made taller, additional saved
lines will be scrolled down onto the screen; if the window
is made shorter, lines will be scrolled off the top of the
screen, and the top saved lines will be dropped. Specifies
whether or not reverse video should be simulated.
The default is "false." Specifies whether or not reversewraparound
should be enabled. The default is "false."
Specifies the number of lines to save beyond the top of
the screen when a scrollbar is turned on. The default is
64. The maximum value you can specify is 32768. Specifies
whether or not the scrollbar should be displayed. The
default is "false." Specifies whether or not output to
the terminal should automatically cause the scrollbar to
go to the bottom of the scrolling region. The default is
"true." Specifies whether or not pressing a key should
automatically cause the scrollbar to go to the bottom of
the scrolling region. The default is "false." Specifies
the number of lines that the scroll-back and scroll-forw
actions should use as a default. The default value is 1.
Specifies whether or not the entries in the "Main Options"
menu for sending signals to xterm should be disallowed.
The default is "false." Specifies the preferred size and
position of the Tektronix window. Specifies whether or
not the escape sequence to enter Tektronix mode should be
ignored. The default is "false." Specifies whether or
not the Tektronix mode window should start in its smallest
size if no explicit geometry is given. This is useful
when running xterm on displays with small screens. The
default is "false." Specifies whether or not xterm should
start up in Tektronix mode. The default is "false." Specifies
whether or not xterm should remove ti and te termcap
entries (used to switch between alternate screens on
startup of many screen-oriented programs) from the TERMCAP
string. If set, xterm also ignores the escape sequence to
switch to the alternate screen. Specifies the key and
button bindings for menus, selections, "programmed
strings," and so forth. See ACTIONS below. Specifies
whether or not a visible bell (that is, flashing) should
be used instead of an audible bell when Control-G is
received. The default is "false."
The following resources are specified as part of the
tek4014 widget (class Tek4014): Specifies the width of the
Tektronix window in pixels. Specifies the height of the
Tektronix window in pixels. Specifies the large font to
use in the Tektronix window. Specifies font number 2 to
use in the Tektronix window. Specifies font number 3 to
use in the Tektronix window. Specifies the small font to
use in the Tektronix window. Specifies which of the four
Tektronix fonts to use initially. Values are the same as
for the set-tek-text action. The default is "large."
Specifies what character(s) should follow a GIN report or
status report. The possibilities are "none," which sends
no terminating characters, "CRonly," which sends CR, and
"CR&EOT," which sends both CR and EOT. The default is
"none."
The resources that may be specified for the various menus
are described in the documentation for the Athena SimpleMenu
widget. The name and classes of the entries in each
of the menus are listed below.
The mainMenu has the following entries: This entry invokes
the secure() action. This entry invokes the allow-sendevents(toggle)
action. This entry invokes the redraw()
action. This is a separator. This entry invokes the
send-signal(tstp) action on systems that support job control.
This entry invokes the send-signal(cont) action on
systems that support job control. This entry invokes the
send-signal(int) action. This entry invokes the send-signal(hup)
action. This entry invokes the send-signal(term)
action. This entry invokes the send-signal(kill) action.
This is a separator. This entry invokes the quit()
action.
The vtMenu has the following entries: This entry invokes
the set-scrollbar(toggle) action. This entry invokes the
set-jumpscroll(toggle) action. This entry invokes the
set-reverse-video(toggle) action. This entry invokes the
set-autowrap(toggle) action. This entry invokes the setreversewrap(toggle)
action. This entry invokes the setautolinefeed(toggle)
action. This entry invokes the setappcursor(toggle)
action. This entry invokes the set-appkeypad(toggle)
action. This entry invokes the set-scrollon-key(toggle)
action. This entry invokes the set-scrollon-tty-output(toggle)
action. This entry invokes the setallow132(toggle)
action. This entry invokes the set-cursesemul(toggle)
action. This entry invokes the set-visualbell(toggle)
action. This entry invokes the set-marginbell(toggle)
action. This entry is currently disabled.
This is a separator. This entry invokes the soft-reset()
action. This entry invokes the hard-reset() action. This
entry invokes the clear-saved-lines() action. This is a
separator. This entry invokes the set-visibility(tek,toggle)
action. This entry invokes the set-terminaltype(tek)
action. This entry invokes the set-visibility(vt,off)
action.
The fontMenu has the following entries: This entry invokes
the set-vt-font(d) action. This entry invokes the set-vtfont(1) action. This entry invokes the set-vt-font(2)
action. This entry invokes the set-vt-font(3) action.
This entry invokes the set-vt-font(4) action. This entry
invokes the set-vt-font(5) action. This entry invokes the
set-vt-font(6) action. This entry invokes the set-vtfont(e)
action. This entry invokes the set-vt-font(s)
action.
The tekMenu has the following entries: This entry invokes
the set-tek-text(l) action. This entry invokes the settek-text(2) action. This entry invokes the set-tektext(3) action. This entry invokes the set-tek-text(s)
action. This is a separator. This entry invokes the tekpage()
action. This entry invokes the tek-reset() action.
This entry invokes the tek-copy() action. This is a separator.
This entry invokes the set-visibility(vt,toggle)
action. This entry invokes the set-terminal-type(vt)
action. This entry invokes the set-visibility(tek,toggle)
action.
The following resources are useful when specified for the
Athena Scrollbar widget: Specifies the width in pixels of
the scrollbar. Specifies the color to use for the background
of the scrollbar. Specifies the color to use for
the foreground of the scrollbar. The "thumb" of the
scrollbar is a simple checkerboard pattern alternating
pixels for foreground and background color.
Once the VT102 window is created, xterm allows you to
select text and copy it within the same or other windows.
The selection functions are invoked when the pointer buttons
are used with no modifiers, and when they are used
with the "shift" key. The assignment of the functions
described below to keys and buttons may be changed through
the resource database; see ACTIONS below.
Pointer button one (usually left) is used to save text
into the cut buffer. Move the cursor to beginning of the
text, and then hold the button down while moving the cursor
to the end of the region and releasing the button.
The selected text is highlighted and is saved in the
global cut buffer and made the primary selection when the
button is released. Double-clicking selects by words.
Triple-clicking selects by lines. Quadruple-clicking goes
back to characters, and so forth. Multiple-click is determined
by the time from button up to button down, so you
can change the selection unit in the middle of a selection.
If the key/button bindings specify that an X selection
is to be made, xterm will leave the selected text
highlighted for as long as it is the selection owner.
Pointer button two (usually middle) `types' (pastes) the
text from the primary selection, if any, otherwise from
the cut buffer, inserting it as keyboard input.
Pointer button three (usually right) extends the current
selection. (Without loss of generality, you can swap
"right" and "left" everywhere in the rest of this paragraph.)
If pressed while closer to the right edge of the
selection than the left, it extends/contracts the right
edge of the selection. If you contract the selection past
the left edge of the selection, xterm assumes you really
meant the left edge, restores the original selection, then
extends/contracts the left edge of the selection. Extension
starts in the selection unit mode that the last
selection or extension was performed in; you can multipleclick
to cycle through them.
By cutting and pasting pieces of text without trailing new
lines, you can take text from several places in different
windows and form a command to the shell, for example, or
take output from a program and insert it into your
favorite editor. Since the cut buffer is globally shared
among different applications, you should regard it as a
`file' whose contents you know. The terminal emulator and
other text programs should be treating it as if it were a
text file, that is, the text is delimited by new lines.
The scroll region displays the position and amount of text
currently showing in the window (highlighted) relative to
the amount of text actually saved. As more text is saved
(up to the maximum), the size of the highlighted area
decreases.
Clicking button one with the pointer in the scroll region
moves the adjacent line to the top of the display window.
Clicking button three moves the top line of the display
window down to the pointer position.
Clicking button two moves the display to a position in the
saved text that corresponds to the pointer's position in
the scrollbar.
Unlike the VT102 window, the Tektronix window dows not
allow the copying of text. It does allow Tektronix GIN
mode, and in this mode the cursor will change from an
arrow to a cross. Pressing any key will send that key and
the current coordinate of the cross cursor. Pressing button
one, two, or three will return the letters `l', `m',
and `r', respectively. If the `shift' key is pressed when
a pointer button is pressed, the corresponding upper case
letter is sent. To distinguish a pointer button from a
key, the high bit of the character is set (but this is bit
is normally stripped unless the terminal mode is RAW; see
tty(1) for details).
xterm has four menus, named mainMenu, vtMenu, fontMenu,
and tekMenu. Each menu pops up under the correct combinations
of key and button presses. Most menus are divided
into two section, separated by a horizontal line. The top
portion contains various modes that can be altered. A
check mark appears next to a mode that is currently
active. Selecting one of these modes toggles its state.
The bottom portion of the menu are command entries;
selecting one of these performs the indicated function.
The xterm menu pops up when the "control" key and pointer
button one are pressed in a window. The mainMenu contains
items that apply to both the VT102 and Tektronix windows.
The Secure Keyboard mode is be used when typing in
passwords or other sensitive data in an unsecure environment;
see SECURITY below. Notable entries in the command
section of the menu are the Continue, Suspend, Interrupt,
Hangup, Terminate and Kill which sends the SIGCONT, SIGTSTP,
SIGINT, SIGHUP, SIGTERM and SIGKILL signals, respectively,
to the process group of the process running under
xterm (usually the shell). The Continue function is especially
useful if the user has accidentally typed CTRL-Z,
suspending the process.
The vtMenu sets various modes in the VT102 emulation, and
is popped up when the "control" key and pointer button two
are pressed in the VT102 window. In the command section of
this menu, the soft reset entry will reset scroll regions.
This can be convenient when some program has left the
scroll regions set incorrectly (often a problem when using
VMS or TOPS-20). The full reset entry will clear the
screen, reset tabs to every eight columns, and reset the
terminal modes (such as wrap and smooth scroll) to their
initial states just after xterm has finished processing
the command line options.
The fontMenu sets the font used in the VT102 window. In
addition to the default font and a number of alternatives
that are set with resources, the menu offers the font last
specified by the Set Font escape sequence (see the document
Xterm Control Sequences) and the current selection as
a font name (if the PRIMARY selection is owned).
The tekMenu sets various modes in the Tektronix emulation,
and is popped up when the "control" key and pointer button
two are pressed in the Tektronix window. The current font
size is checked in the modes section of the menu. The PAGE
entry in the command section clears the Tektronix window.
X environments differ in their security consciousness.
Most servers, run under xdm, are capable of using a "magic
cookie" authorization scheme that can provide a reasonable
level of security for many people. If your server is only
using a host-based mechanism to control access to the
server (see xhost(1X)), then if you enable access for a
host and other users are also permitted to run clients on
that same host, there is every possibility that someone
can run an application that will use the basic services of
the X protocol to snoop on your activities, potentially
capturing a transcript of everything you type at the keyboard.
This is of particular concern when you want to type
in a password or other sensitive data. The best solution
to this problem is to use a better authorization mechanism
that host-based control, but a simple mechanism exists for
protecting keyboard input in xterm.
The xterm menu (see MENUS above) contains a Secure Keyboard
entry which, when enabled, ensures that all keyboard
input is directed only to xterm (using the GrabKeyboard
protocol request). When an application prompts you for a
password (or other sensitive data), you can enable Secure
Keyboard using the menu, type in the data, and then disable
Secure Keyboard using the menu again. Only one X
client at a time can secure the keyboard, so when you
attempt to enable Secure Keyboard it may fail. In this
case, the bell will sound. If the Secure Keyboard succeeds,
the foreground and background colors will be
exchanged (as if you selected the Reverse Video entry in
the Modes menu); they will be exchanged again when you
exit secure mode. If the colors do not switch, then you
should be very suspicious that you are being spoofed. If
the application you are running displays a prompt before
asking for the password, it is safest to enter secure mode
before the prompt gets displayed, and to make sure that
the prompt gets displayed correctly (in the new colors),
to minimize the probability of spoofing. You can also
bring up the menu again and make sure that a check mark
appears next to the entry.
Secure Keyboard mode will be disabled automatically if
your xterm window becomes iconified (or otherwise
unmapped), or if you start up a reparenting window manager
(that places a title bar or other decoration around the
window) while in Secure Keyboard mode. (This is a feature
of the X protocol not easily overcome.) When this happens,
the foreground and background colors will be
switched back and the bell will sound in warning.
Clicking the middle mouse button twice in rapid succession
will cause all characters of the same class (for example,
letters, white space, punctuation) to be selected. Since
different people have different preferences for what
should be selected (for example, should filenames be
selected as a whole or only the separate subnames), the
default mapping can be overridden through the use of the
charClass (class CharClass) resource.
This resource is a series of comma-separated of
range:value pairs. The range is either a single number or
low-high in the range of 0 to 127, corresponding to the
ASCII code for the character or characters to be set. The
value is arbitrary, although the default table uses the
character number of the first character occurring in the
set.
The default table is
static int charClass[128] = { /* NUL SOH STX ETX EOT
ENQ ACK BEL */
32, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, /* BS HT
NL VT NP CR SO SI */
1, 32, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, /* DLE DC1
DC2 DC3 DC4 NAK SYN ETB */
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, /* CAN EM
SUB ESC FS GS RS US */
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, /* SP !
" # $ % & ' */
32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, /* ( )
* + , - . / */
40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, /* 0 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, /* 8 9
: ; < = > ? */
48, 48, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, /* @ A
B C D E F G */
64, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, /* H I
J K L M N O */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, /* P Q
R S T U V W */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, /* X Y
Z [ \ ] ^ _ */
48, 48, 48, 91, 92, 93, 94, 48, /* ` a
b c d e f g */
96, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, /* h i
j k l m n o */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, /* p q
r s t u v w */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, /* x y
z { | } ~ DEL */
48, 48, 48, 123, 124, 125, 126, 1};
For example, the string "33:48,37:48,45-47:48,64:48" indicates
that the exclamation mark, percent sign, dash,
period, slash, and ampersand characters should be treated
the same way as characters and numbers. This is useful
for cutting and pasting electronic mailing addresses and
filenames.
It is possible to rebind keys (or sequences of keys) to
arbitrary strings for input, by changing the translations
for the vt100 or tek4014 widgets. Changing the translations
for events other than key and button events is not
expected, and will cause unpredictable behavior. The following
actions are provided for using within the vt100 or
tek4014 translations resources: This action rings the keyboard
bell at the specified percentage above or below the
base volume. This action ignores the event but checks for
special pointer position escape sequences. This action
inserts the character or string associated with the key
that was pressed. This action is a synonym for insert()
This action inserts an eight-bit (Meta) version of the
character or string associated with the key that was
pressed. The exact action depends on the value of the
eightBitInput resource. This action inserts the string
found in the selection or cutbuffer indicated by sourcename.
Sources are checked in the order given (case is
significant) until one is found. Commonly-used selections
include: PRIMARY, SECONDARY, and CLIPBOARD. Cut buffers
are typically named CUT_BUFFER0 through CUT_BUFFER7. This
action dynamically defines a new translation table whose
resource name is name with the suffix Keymap (case is significant).
The name None restores the original translation
table. This action displays the specified popup menu.
Valid names (case is significant) include: mainMenu,
vtMenu, fontMenu, and tekMenu. This action toggles the
Secure Keyboard mode described in the section named SECURITY,
and is invoked from the securekbd entry in mainMenu.
This action begins text selection at the current pointer
location. See the section on POINTER USAGE for information
on making selections. This action tracks the pointer
and extends the selection. It should only be bound to
Motion events. This action puts the currently selected
text into all of the selections or cutbuffers specified by
destname. This action is similar to select-start except
that it begins the selection at the current text cursor
position. This action is similar to select-end except
that it should be used with select-cursor-start. This
action sets the font or fonts currently being used in the
VT102 window. The first argument is a single character
that specifies the font to be used: d or D indicate the
default font (the font initially used when xterm was
started), 1 through 6 indicate the fonts specified by the
font1 through font6 resources, e or E indicate the normal
and bold fonts that have been set through escape codes (or
specified as the second and third action arguments,
respectively), and s or S indicate the font selection (as
made by programs such as xfontsel(1X)) indicated by the
second action argument. This action is similar to selectstart
except that the selection is extended to the current
pointer location. This action is similar to select-extend
except that the selection is extended to the current text
cursor position. This action inserts the specified text
string as if it had been typed. Quotation is necessary if
the string contains whitespace or non-alphanumeric characters.
If the string argument begins with the characters
"0x", it is interpreted as a hex character constant. This
action scrolls the text window backward so that text that
had previously scrolled off the top of the screen is now
visible. The count argument indicates the number of units
(which may be page, halfpage, pixel, or line) by which to
scroll. This action scrolls is similar to scroll-back
except that it scrolls the other direction. This action
set or toggles the allowSendEvents resource and is also
invoked by the allowsends entry in mainMenu. This action
redraws the window and is also invoked by the redraw entry
in mainMenu. This action sends the signal named by signame
to the xterm subprocess (the shell or program specified
with the -e command line option) and is also invoked
by the suspend, continue, interrupt, hangup, terminate,
and kill entries in mainMenu. Allowable signal names are
(case is not significant): tstp (if supported by the operating
system), suspend (same as tstp), cont (if supported
by the operating system), int, hup, term, quit, alrm,
alarm (same as alrm) and kill. This action sends a SIGHUP
to the subprogram and exits. It is also invoked by the
quit entry in mainMenu. This action toggles the scrollbar
resource and is also invoked by the scrollbar entry in
vtMenu. This action toggles the jumpscroll resource and
is also invoked by the jumpscroll entry in vtMenu. This
action toggles the reverseVideo resource and is also
invoked by the reversevideo entry in vtMenu. This action
toggles automatic wrapping of long lines and is also
invoked by the autowrap entry in vtMenu. This action toggles
the reverseWrap resource and is also invoked by the
reversewrap entry in vtMenu. This action toggles automatic
insertion of linefeeds and is also invoked by the
autolinefeed entry in vtMenu. This action toggles the
handling Application Cursor Key mode and is also invoked
by the appcursor entry in vtMenu. This action toggles the
handling of Application Keypad mode and is also invoked by
the appkeypad entry in vtMenu. This action toggles the
scrollKey resource and is also invoked from the scrollkey
entry in vtMenu. This action toggles the scrollTtyOutput
resource and is also invoked from the scrollttyoutput
entry in vtMenu. This action toggles the c132 resource
and is also invoked from the allow132 entry in vtMenu.
This action toggles the curses resource and is also
invoked from the cursesemul entry in vtMenu. This action
toggles the visualBell resource and is also invoked by the
visualbell entry in vtMenu. This action toggles the
marginBell resource and is also invoked from the marginbell
entry in vtMenu. This action toggles between the
alternate and current screens. This action resets the
scrolling region and is also invoked from the softreset
entry in vtMenu. This action resets the scrolling region,
tabs, window size, and cursor keys and clears the screen.
It is also invoked from the hardreset entry in vtMenu.
This action does hard-reset() (see above) and also clears
the history of lines saved off the top of the screen. It
is also invoked from the clearsavedlines entry in vtMenu.
This action directs output to either the vt or tek windows,
according to the type string. It is also invoked by
the tekmode entry in vtMenu and the vtmode entry in tekMenu.
This action controls whether or not the vt or tek
windows are visible. It is also invoked from the tekshow
and vthide entries in vtMenu and the vtshow and tekhide
entries in tekMenu. This action sets font used in the
Tektronix window to the value of the resources tektextlarge,
tektext2, tektext3, and tektextsmall according to
the argument. It is also by the entries of the same names
as the resources in tekMenu. This action clears the Tektronix
window and is also invoked by the tekpage entry in
tekMenu. This action resets the Tektronix window and is
also invoked by the tekreset entry in tekMenu. This
action copies the escape codes used to generate the current
window contents to a file in the current directory
beginning with the name COPY. It is also invoked from the
tekcopy entry in tekMenu. This action flashes the window
quickly.
The Tektronix window also has the following action: This
action sends the indicated graphics input code.
The default bindings in the VT102 window are:
Shift <KeyPress> Prior: scroll-back(1,halfpage) \n\
Shift <KeyPress> Next: scroll-forw(1,halfpage) \n\
Shift <KeyPress> Select: select-cursor-start() \
select-cursor-end(PRIMARY, CUT_BUFFER0) \n\ Shift
<KeyPress> Insert: insert-selection(PRIMARY,
CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
~Meta<KeyPress>: insert-seven-bit() \n\
Meta<KeyPress>: insert-eight-bit() \n\
!Ctrl <Btn1Down>: popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
!Lock Ctrl <Btn1Down>: popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
~Meta <Btn1Down>: select-start() \n\
~Meta <Btn1Motion>: select-extend() \n\
!Ctrl <Btn2Down>: popup-menu(vtMenu) \n\
!Lock Ctrl <Btn2Down>: popup-menu(vtMenu) \n\
~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn2Down>: ignore() \n\
~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn2Up>: insert-selection(PRIMARY,
CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
!Ctrl <Btn3Down>: popup-menu(fontMenu) \n\
!Lock Ctrl <Btn3Down>: popup-menu(fontMenu) \n\
~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn3Down>: start-extend() \n\
~Meta <Btn3Motion>: select-extend() \n\
<BtnUp>: select-end(PRIMARY,
CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
<BtnDown>: bell(0)
The default bindings in the Tektronix window are:
~Meta<KeyPress>: insert-seven-bit() \n\
Meta<KeyPress>: insert-eight-bit() \n\
!Ctrl <Btn1Down>: popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\ !Lock
Ctrl <Btn1Down>: popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
!Ctrl <Btn2Down>: popup-menu(tekMenu) \n\ !Lock
Ctrl <Btn2Down>: popup-menu(tekMenu) \n\ Shift
~Meta<Btn1Down>: gin-press(L) \n\
~Meta<Btn1Down>: gin-press(l) \n\ Shift
~Meta<Btn2Down>: gin-press(M) \n\
~Meta<Btn2Down>: gin-press(m) \n\ Shift
~Meta<Btn3Down>: gin-press(R) \n\
~Meta<Btn3Down>: gin-press(r)
Below is a sample how of the keymap() action is used to
add special keys for entering commonly-typed works:
*VT100.Translations: #override <Key>F13: keymap(dbx)
*VT100.dbxKeymap.translations: \
<Key>F14: keymap(None) \n\
<Key>F17: string("next") string(0x0d) \n\
<Key>F18: string("step") string(0x0d) \n\
<Key>F19: string("continue") string(0x0d) \n\
<Key>F20: string("print ") insert-selection
(PRIMARY, CUT_BUFFER0)
xterm sets the environment variables TERM and TERMCAP
properly for the size window you have created. It also
uses and sets the environment variable DISPLAY to specify
which bit map display terminal to use. The environment
variable WINDOWID is set to the X window id number of the
xterm window.
Large pastes do not work on some systems. This is not a
bug in xterm; it is a bug in the pseudo terminal driver of
those systems. xterm feeds large pastes to the pty only
as fast as the pty will accept data, but some pty drivers
do not return enough information to know if the write has
succeeded.
Many of the options are not resettable after xterm starts.
Only fixed-width, character-cell fonts are supported.
This program still needs to be rewritten. It should be
split into very modular sections, with the various emulators
being completely separate widgets that do not know
about each other. Ideally, you'd like to be able to pick
and choose emulator widgets and stick them into a single
control widget.
There needs to be a dialog box to allow entry of the Tek
COPY file name.
resize(1X), X(1X), pty(7), tty(7)
Xterm Control Sequences
Far too many people, including:
Loretta Guarino Reid (DEC-UEG-WSL), Joel McCormack (DECUEG-WSL),
Terry Weissman (DEC-UEG-WSL), Edward Moy (Berkeley),
Ralph R. Swick (MIT-Athena), Mark Vandevoorde (MITAthena),
Bob McNamara (DEC-MAD), Jim Gettys (MIT-Athena),
Bob Scheifler (MIT X Consortium), Doug Mink (SAO), Steve
Pitschke (Stellar), Ron Newman (MIT-Athena), Jim Fulton
(MIT X Consortium), Dave Serisky (HP), Jonathan Kamens
(MIT-Athena)
xterm(1X)
[ Back ] |
