xterm(1)
- NetBSD Manual Pages
XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
NAME
xterm - terminal emulator for X
SYNOPSIS
xterm [-toolkitoption ...] [-option ...]
DESCRIPTION
The xterm program is a terminal emulator for the X Window
System. It provides DEC VT102/VT220 (VTxxx) and Tektronix
4014 compatible terminals for programs that can't use the
window system directly. If the underlying operating sys-
tem 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 graph-
ics in the other at the same time. To maintain the cor-
rect 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.
EMULATIONS
The VT102 emulation is fairly complete, but does not sup-
port autorepeat. Double-size and blinking characters are
partially implemented; the emulation is functional but
does not have the appearance of a real VT102. The VT220
emulation does not support soft fonts, it is otherwise
complete. Termcap(5) 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 ``TERM-
CAP'' environment variables. You may also use ``vt220,''
but must set the terminal emulation level with the decTer-
minalID resource.
Many of the special xterm features may be modified under
program control through a set of escape sequences differ-
ent from the standard VT102 escape sequences. (See the
Xterm Control Sequences document.)
The Tektronix 4014 emulation is also fairly good. It sup-
ports 12-bit graphics addressing, scaled to the window
size. Four different font sizes and five different lines
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types are supported. There is no write-through or defo-
cused mode support. The Tektronix text and graphics com-
mands 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 ``COPYyyyy-MM-dd.hh:mm:ss'', where yy, MM, dd, hh, mm
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).
OTHER FEATURES
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 high-
lighted 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 alter-
nate screen. Saving of lines scrolled off the top of the
window is disabled until the normal screen is restored.
The termcap(5) 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. Addition-
ally, in VT102 mode, xterm implements the window-manipula-
tion control sequences from dtterm, such as resizing the
window, setting its location on the screen.
Xterm allows character-based applications to receive mouse
events (currently button-press and release events, and
button-motion events) as keyboard control sequences. See
Xterm Control Sequences for details.
OPTIONS
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). The -version and -help
options are interpreted even if xterm cannot open the dis-
play, and are useful for testing and configuration
scripts:
-version
This causes xterm to print a version number to the
standard output.
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-help This causes xterm to print out a verbose message
describing its options. The message is written to
the standard error.
The other options are used to control the appearance and
behavior:
-132 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.
-ah 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.
+ah This option indicates that xterm should do text
cursor highlighting based on focus.
-ai This option disables active icon support if that
feature was compiled into xterm. This is equiva-
lent to setting the vt100 resource activeIcon to
FALSE.
+ai This option enables active icon support if that
feature was compiled into xterm. This is equiva-
lent to setting the vt100 resource activeIcon to
TRUE.
-aw This option indicates that auto-wraparound should
be allowed. This allows the cursor to automati-
cally wrap to the beginning of the next line when
when it is at the rightmost position of a line and
text is output.
+aw This option indicates that auto-wraparound should
not be allowed.
-b number
This option specifies the size of the inner border
(the distance between the outer edge of the char-
acters and the window border) in pixels. The
default is 2.
-bdc This option disables the display of characters
with bold attribute as color rather than bold.
+bdc This option enables the display of characters with
bold attribute as color rather than bold.
-cb Set the vt100 resource cutToBeginningOfLine to
FALSE.
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+cb Set the vt100 resource cutToBeginningOfLine to
TRUE.
-cc characterclassrange:value[,...]
This sets classes indicated by the given ranges
for using in selecting by words. See the section
specifying character classes.
-cm This option disables recognition of ANSI color-
change escape sequences.
+cm This option enables recognition of ANSI color-
change escape sequences.
-cn This option indicates that newlines should not be
cut in line-mode selections.
+cn This option indicates that newlines should be cut
in line-mode selections.
-cr color
This option specifies the color to use for text
cursor. The default is to use the same foreground
color that is used for text.
-cu 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(3x) cursor motion package.
+cu This option indicates that xterm should not work
around the more(1) bug mentioned above.
-dc This option disables the escape sequence to change
dynamic colors: the vt100 foreground and back-
ground colors, the text cursor color, the mouse
cursor foreground and background colors, the Tek-
tronix emulator foreground and background colors,
and highlight color.
+dc This option enables the escape sequence to change
dynamic colors.
-e program [ arguments ... ]
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.
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-fb font
This option specifies a font to be used when dis-
playing 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.
-fi This option sets the font for active icons if that
feature was compiled into xterm.
-hc color
This option specifies the color to use for the
background of selected or otherwise highlighted
text. If not specified, reverse video is used.
-ie Turn on the ptyInitialErase resource, i.e., use
the pseudo-terminal's sense of the stty erase
value.
+ie Turn off the ptyInitialErase resource, i.e., set
the stty erase value using the kD string from the
termcap entry as a reference, if available.
-im Turn on the useInsertMode resource.
+im Turn off the useInsertMode resource.
-j 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 doesn't 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.
+j This option indicates that xterm should not do
jump scrolling.
-leftbar
Force scrollbar to the left side of VT100 screen.
This is the default, unless you have set the
rightScrollBar resource.
-ls This option indicates that the shell that is
started in the xterm window will be a login shell
(i.e., the first character of argv[0] will be a
dash, indicating to the shell that it should read
the user's .login or .profile).
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+ls This option indicates that the shell that is
started should not be a login shell (i.e. it will
be a normal ``subshell'').
-mb 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.
+mb This option indicates that margin bell should not
be rung.
-mc milliseconds
This option specifies the maximum time between
multi-click selections.
-ms color
This option specifies the color to be used for the
pointer cursor. The default is to use the fore-
ground color.
-nb number
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.
-nul This option enables the display of underlining.
+nul This option disables the display of underlining.
-pc This option enables the PC-style use of bold col-
ors (see boldColors resource).
+pc This option disables the PC-style use of bold col-
ors.
-rightbar
Force scrollbar to the right side of VT100 screen.
-rw This option indicates that reverse-wraparound
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.
+rw This option indicates that reverse-wraparound
should not be allowed.
-s This option indicates that xterm may scroll asyn-
chronously, meaning that the screen does not have
to be kept completely up to date while scrolling.
This allows xterm to run faster when network
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latencies are very high and is typically useful
when running across a very large internet or many
gateways.
+s This option indicates that xterm should scroll
synchronously.
-samename
Doesn't send title and icon name change requests
when the request would have no effect: the name
isn't changed. This has the advantage of prevent-
ing flicker and the disadvantage of requiring an
extra round trip to the server to find out the
previous value. In practice this should never be
a problem.
+samename
Always send title and icon name change requests.
-sb 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.
+sb This option indicates that a scrollbar should not
be displayed.
-sf This option indicates that Sun Function Key escape
codes should be generated for function keys.
+sf This option indicates that the standard escape
codes should be generated for function keys.
-si 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.
+si This option indicates that output to a window
should cause it to scroll to the bottom.
-sk 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.
+sk This option indicates that pressing a key while
using the scrollbar should not cause the window to
be repositioned.
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-sl number
This option specifies the number of lines to save
that have been scrolled off the top of the screen.
The default is 64.
-sp This option indicates that Sun/PC keyboard should
be assumed, providing mapping for keypad `+' to
`,', and CTRL-F1 to F13, CTRL-F2 to F14, etc.
+sp This option indicates that the standard escape
codes should be generated for keypad and function
keys.
-t 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.
+t This option indicates that xterm should start in
VT102 mode.
-tm string
This option specifies a series of terminal setting
keywords followed by the characters that should be
bound to those functions, similar to the stty pro-
gram. Allowable keywords include: intr, quit,
erase, kill, eof, eol, swtch, start, stop, brk,
susp, dsusp, rprnt, flush, weras, and lnext. Con-
trol characters may be specified as ^char (e.g. ^c
or ^u) and ^? may be used to indicate delete.
-tn name
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(5)
database and should have li# and co# entries.
-ulc This option disables the display of characters
with underline attribute as color rather than with
underlining.
+ulc This option enables the display of characters with
underline attribute as color rather than with
underlining.
-ut This option indicates that xterm shouldn't write a
record into the the system log file /etc/utmp.
+ut This option indicates that xterm should write a
record into the system log file /etc/utmp.
-vb This option indicates that a visual bell is pre-
ferred over an audible one. Instead of ringing
the terminal bell whenever a Control-G is
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received, the window will be flashed.
+vb This option indicates that a visual bell should
not be used.
-wf This option indicates that xterm should wait for
the window to be mapped the first time before
starting the subprocess so that the initial termi-
nal size settings and environment variables are
correct. It is the application's responsibility
to catch subsequent terminal size changes.
+wf This option indicates that xterm show not wait
before starting the subprocess.
-ziconbeep percent
Same as zIconBeep resource. If percent is non-
zero, xterms that produce output while iconified
will cause an XBell sound at the given volume and
have "***" prepened to their icon titles. Most
window managers will detect this change immedi-
ately, showing you which window has the output.
(A similar feature was in x10 xterm.)
-C 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 pro-
grams explicitly change the ownership of the con-
sole device in order to get this option to work.
-Sccn This option specifies the last two letters of the
name of a pseudo-terminal 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.
The following command line arguments are provided for com-
patibility with older versions. They may not be supported
in the next release as the X Toolkit provides standard
options that accomplish the same task.
%geom This option specifies the preferred size and posi-
tion of the Tektronix window. It is shorthand for
specifying the ``*tekGeometry'' resource.
#geom This option specifies the preferred position of
the icon window. It is shorthand for specifying
the ``*iconGeometry'' resource.
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-T string
This option specifies the title for xterm's win-
dows. It is equivalent to -title.
-n string
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.
-r This option indicates that reverse video should be
simulated by swapping the foreground and back-
ground colors. It is equivalent to -rv.
-w number
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:
-bd color
This option specifies the color to use for the
border of the window. The default is ``black.''
-bg color
This option specifies the color to use for the
background of the window. The default is
``white.''
-bw number
This option specifies the width in pixels of the
border surrounding the window.
-display display
This option specifies the X server to contact; see
X(1).
-fg color
This option specifies the color to use for dis-
playing text. The default is ``black.''
-fn font
This option specifies the font to be used for dis-
playing normal text. The default is fixed.
-geometry geometry
This option specifies the preferred size and posi-
tion of the VT102 window; see X(1).
-iconic This option indicates that xterm should ask the
window manager to start it as an icon rather than
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as the normal window.
-name name
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.
-rv This option indicates that reverse video should be
simulated by swapping the foreground and back-
ground colors.
-title string
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, other-
wise the application name.
-xrm resourcestring
This option specifies a resource string to be
used. This is especially useful for setting
resources that do not have separate command line
options.
RESOURCES
The program understands all of the core X Toolkit resource
names and classes as well as:
backarrowKeyIsErase (class BackarrowKeyIsErase)
Tie the VTxxx backarrowKey and ptyInitialErase
resources together by setting the DECBKM state
according to whether the initial value of stty
erase is a backspace or delete character. The
default is ``false'', which disables this feature.
iconGeometry (class IconGeometry)
Specifies the preferred size and position of the
application when iconified. It is not necessarily
obeyed by all window managers.
iconName (class IconName)
Specifies the icon name. The default is the
application name.
ptyInitialErase (class PtyInitialErase)
If ``true'', xterm will use the pseudo-terminal's
sense of the stty erase value. If ``false'',
xterm will set the stty erase value to match its
own configuration, using the kD string from the
termcap entry as a reference, if available. In
either case, the result is applied to the TERMCAP
variable which xterm sets. The default is
``false''.
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sameName (class SameName)
If the value of this resource is "true", xterm
doesn't send title and icon name change requests
when the request would have no effect: the name
isn't changed. This has the advantage of prevent-
ing flicker and the disadvantage of requiring an
extra round trip to the server to find out the
previous value. In practice this should never be
a problem. The default is "true".
sunFunctionKeys (class SunFunctionKeys)
Specifies whether or not Sun Function Key escape
codes should be generated for function keys
instead of standard escape sequences.
sunKeyboard (class SunKeyboard)
Specifies whether or not Sun/PC keyboard layout
should be assumed rather than DEC VT220. This
causes the keypad `+' to be mapped to `,'. and
CTRL-F1 to F13, CTRL-F2 to F14, etc.
termName (class TermName)
Specifies the terminal type name to be set in the
TERM environment variable.
title (class Title)
Specifies a string that may be used by the window
manager when displaying this application.
ttyModes (class TtyModes)
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. Con-
trol characters may be specified as ^char (e.g. ^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.
useInsertMode (class UseInsertMode)
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.''
utmpInhibit (class UtmpInhibit)
Specifies whether or not xterm should try to
record the user's terminal in /etc/utmp.
waitForMap (class WaitForMap)
Specifies whether or not xterm should wait for the
initial window map before starting the subprocess.
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The default is ``false.''
zIconBeep (class ZIconBeep)
Same as -ziconbeep command line argument. If the
value of this resource is non-zero, xterms that
produce output while iconified will cause an XBell
sound at the given volume and have "***" prepened
to their icon titles. Most window managers will
detect this change immediately, showing you which
window has the output. (A similar feature was in
x10 xterm.)
The following resources are specified as part of the vt100
widget (class VT100):
activeIcon (class ActiveIcon)
Specifies whether or not active icon windows are
to be used when the xterm window is iconified, if
this feature is compiled into xterm. The active
icon is a miniature representation of the content
of the window and will update as the content
changes. Not all window managers necessarily sup-
port application icon windows. Some window man-
agers will allow you to enter keystrokes into the
active icon window. The default is ``false.''
allowSendEvents (class AllowSendEvents)
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.
alwaysHighlight (class AlwaysHighlight)
Specifies whether or not xterm should always dis-
play 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.
appcursorDefault (class AppcursorDefault)
If ``true,'' the cursor keys are initially in
application mode. The default is ``false.''
appkeypadDefault (class AppkeypadDefault)
If ``true,'' the keypad keys are initially in
application mode. The default is ``false.''
autoWrap (class AutoWrap)
Specifies whether or not auto-wraparound should be
enabled. The default is ``true.''
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awaitInput (class AwaitInput)
Specifies whether or not the xterm uses a 50 mil-
lisecond timeout to await input (i.e., to support
the Xaw3d arrow scrollbar). The default is
``false.''
backarrowKey (class BackarrowKey)
Specifies whether the backarrow key transmits a
backspace or delete character. This corresponds
to the DECBKM control sequence. The default
(backspace) is ``true.'' Pressing the control key
toggles this behavior.
background (class Background)
Specifies the color to use for the background of
the window. The default is ``white.''
bellSuppressTime (class BellSuppressTime)
Number of milliseconds after a bell command is
sent during which additional bells will be sup-
pressed. Default is 200. If set non-zero, addi-
tional 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.
boldColors (class ColorMode)
Specifies whether to combine bold attribute with
colors like the IBM PC, i.e., map colors 0 through
7 to colors 8 through 15. These normally are the
brighter versions of the first 8 colors, hence
bold. The default is ``true.''
boldFont (class BoldFont)
Specifies the name of the bold font to use instead
of overstriking.
c132 (class C132)
Specifies whether or not the VT102 DECCOLM escape
sequence should be honored. The default is
``false.''
cutNewline (class CutNewline)
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.''
cutToBeginningOfLine (class CutToBeginningOfLine)
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.''
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charClass (class CharClass)
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.
curses (class Curses)
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.''
colorAttrMode (class ColorMode)
Specifies whether ``colorBD'', ``colorBL'' and
``colorUL'' should override ANSI colors. If not,
these are displayed only when no ANSI colors have
been set for the corresponding position. The
default is ``false.''
colorMode (class ColorMode)
Specifies whether or not recognition of ANSI (ISO
6429) color change escape sequences should be
enabled. The default is ``true.''
colorBDMode (class ColorMode)
Specifies whether characters with the bold
attribute should be displayed in color or as bold
characters. Note that setting ``colorMode'' off
disables all colors, including bold.
colorBLMode (class ColorMode)
Specifies whether characters with the blink
attribute should be displayed in color. Note that
setting ``colorMode'' off disables all colors,
including this.
colorULMode (class ColorMode)
Specifies whether characters with the underline
attribute should be displayed in color or as
underlined characters. Note that setting ``color-
Mode'' off disables all colors, including under-
lining.
color0 (class Foreground)
color1 (class Foreground)
color2 (class Foreground)
color3 (class Foreground)
color4 (class Foreground)
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color5 (class Foreground)
color6 (class Foreground)
color7 (class Foreground)
These specify the colors for the ISO 6429 exten-
sion. The defaults are, respectively, black, red,
green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, and white.
color8 (class Foreground)
color9 (class Foreground)
color10 (class Foreground)
color11 (class Foreground)
color12 (class Foreground)
color13 (class Foreground)
color14 (class Foreground)
color15 (class Foreground)
These specify the colors for the ISO 6429 exten-
sion if the bold attribute is also enabled. The
defaults are, respectively, black, red, green,
yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, and white.
colorBD (class Foreground)
This specifies the color to use to display bold
characters if the ``colorBDMode'' resource is
enabled.
colorBL (class Foreground)
This specifies the color to use to display blink
characters if the ``colorBLMode'' resource is
enabled.
colorUL (class Foreground)
This specifies the color to use to display under-
lined characters if the ``colorULMode'' resource
is enabled.
cursorColor (class Foreground)
Specifies the color to use for the text cursor.
The default is ``black.''
highlightColor (class Foreground)
Specifies the color to use for the background of
selected or otherwise highlighted text. If not
specified, reverse video is used.
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decTerminalID (class DecTerminalID)
Specifies the emulation level (100=VT100,
220=VT220, etc.), used to determine the type of
response to a DA control sequence. The default is
100.
dynamicColors (class DynamicColors)
Specifies whether or not escape sequences to
change colors assigned to different attributes are
recognized.
eightBitControl (class EightBitControl)
Specifies whether or not control sequences sent by
the terminal should be eight-bit characters or
escape sequences. The default is ``false.''
eightBitInput (class EightBitInput)
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 two-character sequence with
the character itself preceded by ESC. The default
is ``true.''
eightBitOutput (class EightBitOutput)
Specifies whether or not eight-bit characters sent
from the host should be accepted as is or stripped
when printed. The default is ``true.''
font (class Font)
Specifies the name of the normal font. The
default is ``fixed.''
font1 (class Font1)
Specifies the name of the first alternative font.
font2 (class Font2)
Specifies the name of the second alternative font.
font3 (class Font3)
Specifies the name of the third alternative font.
font4 (class Font4)
Specifies the name of the fourth alternative font.
font5 (class Font5)
Specifies the name of the fifth alternative font.
font6 (class Font6)
Specifies the name of the sixth alternative font.
foreground (class Foreground)
Specifies the color to use for displaying text in
the window. Setting the class name instead of the
X Version 11 Release 6.3 17
XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
instance name is an easy way to have everything
that would normally appear in the text color
change color. The default is ``black.''
geometry (class Geometry)
Specifies the preferred size and position of the
VT102 window.
highlightSelection (class HighlightSelection)
If false, selecting with the mouse highlights all
positions on the screen between the beginning of
the selection and the current position. If true,
xterm highlights only the positions that contain
text that can be selected. The default is
``false.''
hpLowerleftBugCompat (class HpLowerleftBugCompat)
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.''
iconBorderColor (class BorderColor)
Specifies the border color for the active icon
window if this feature is compiled into xterm.
Not all window managers will make the icon border
visible.
iconBorderWidth (class BorderWidth)
Specifies the border width for the active icon
window if this feature is compiled into xterm.
The default is 0 (no border). Not all window man-
agers will make the border visible.
iconFont (class IconFont)
Specifies the font for the miniature active icon
window, if this feature is compiled into xterm.
The default is "nil2".
internalBorder (class BorderWidth)
Specifies the number of pixels between the charac-
ters and the window border. The default is 2.
jumpScroll (class JumpScroll)
Specifies whether or not jump scroll should be
used. The default is ``true.''
loginShell (class LoginShell)
Specifies whether or not the shell to be run in
the window should be started as a login shell.
The default is ``false.''
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marginBell (class MarginBell)
Specifies whether or not the bell should be run
when the user types near the right margin. The
default is ``false.''
multiClickTime (class MultiClickTime)
Specifies the maximum time in milliseconds between
multi-click select events. The default is 250
milliseconds.
multiScroll (class MultiScroll)
Specifies whether or not scrolling should be done
asynchronously. The default is ``false.''
nMarginBell (class Column)
Specifies the number of characters from the right
margin at which the margin bell should be rung,
when enabled.
oldXtermFKeys (class OldXtermFKeys)
If true, xterm will use old-style control
sequences for function keys F1 to F4, for compati-
bility with X Consortium xterm. Otherwise, it
uses the VT100-style codes for PF1 to PF4. The
default is ``false.''
pointerColor (class Foreground)
Specifies the foreground color of the pointer.
The default is ``XtDefaultForeground.''
pointerColorBackground (class Background)
Specifies the background color of the pointer.
The default is ``XtDefaultBackground.''
pointerShape (class Cursor)
Specifies the name of the shape of the pointer.
The default is ``xterm.''
printAttributes (class PrintAttributes)
Specifies whether to print graphic attributes
along with the text. A real DEC VTxxx terminal
will print the underline, highlighting codes but
your printer may not handle these. A ``0'' dis-
ables the attributes. A ``1'' prints the normal
set of attributes (bold, underline, inverse and
blink) as VT100-style control sequences. A ``2''
prints ANSI color attributes as well. The default
is ``1.''
printerAutoClose (class PrinterAutoClose)
If true, xterm will close the printer (a pipe)
when the application switches the printer offline
with a Media Copy command. The default is
``false.''
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printerCommand (class PrinterCommand)
Specifies a shell command to which xterm will open
a pipe when the first MC (Media Copy) command is
initiated. The default is ``lpr.''
printerControlMode (class PrinterControlMode)
Specifies the printer control mode. A ``1''
selects autoprint mode, which causes xterm to
print a line from the screen when you move the
cursor off that line with a line feed, form feed
or vertical tab character, or an autowrap occurs.
Autoprint mode is overridden by printer controller
mode (a ``2''), which causes all of the output to
be directed to the printer. The default is ``0.''
printerExtent (class PrinterExtent)
Controls whether a print page function will print
the entire page (true), or only the the portion
within the scrolling margins (false). The default
is ``false.''
printerFormFeed (class PrinterFormFeed)
Controls whether a form feed is sent to the
printer at the end of a print page function. The
default is ``false.''
resizeGravity (class ResizeGravity)
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.
reverseVideo (class ReverseVideo)
Specifies whether or not reverse video should be
simulated. The default is ``false.''
reverseWrap (class ReverseWrap)
Specifies whether or not reverse-wraparound should
be enabled. The default is ``false.''
rightScrollBar (class RightScrollBar)
Specifies whether or not the scrollbar should be
displayed on the right rather than the left. The
default is ``false.''
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saveLines (class SaveLines)
Specifies the number of lines to save beyond the
top of the screen when a scrollbar is turned on.
The default is 64.
scrollBar (class ScrollBar)
Specifies whether or not the scrollbar should be
displayed. The default is ``false.''
scrollKey (class ScrollCond)
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.''
scrollLines (class ScrollLines)
Specifies the number of lines that the scroll-back
and scroll-forw actions should use as a default.
The default value is 1.
scrollTtyOutput (class ScrollCond)
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.''
signalInhibit (class SignalInhibit)
Specifies whether or not the entries in the ``Main
Options'' menu for sending signals to xterm should
be disallowed. The default is ``false.''
tekGeometry (class Geometry)
Specifies the preferred size and position of the
Tektronix window.
tekInhibit (class TekInhibit)
Specifies whether or not the escape sequence to
enter Tektronix mode should be ignored. The
default is ``false.''
tekSmall (class TekSmall)
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.''
tekStartup (class TekStartup)
Specifies whether or not xterm should start up in
Tektronix mode. The default is ``false.''
titeInhibit (class TiteInhibit)
Specifies whether or not xterm should remove
remove ti and te termcap entries (used to switch
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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.
translations (class Translations)
Specifies the key and button bindings for menus,
selections, ``programmed strings,'' etc. See
ACTIONS below.
underLine (class UnderLine)
This specifies whether or not text with the under-
line attribute should be underlined. It may be
desirable to disable underlining when color is
being used for the underline attribute.
visualBell (class VisualBell)
Specifies whether or not a visible bell (i.e.
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):
font2 (class Font)
Specifies font number 2 to use in the Tektronix
window.
font3 (class Font)
Specifies font number 3 to use in the Tektronix
window.
fontLarge (class Font)
Specifies the large font to use in the Tektronix
window.
fontSmall (class Font)
Specifies the small font to use in the Tektronix
window.
ginTerminator (class GinTerminator)
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.''
height (class Height)
Specifies the height of the Tektronix window in
pixels.
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initialFont (class InitialFont)
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.''
width (class Width)
Specifies the width of the Tektronix window in
pixels.
The resources that may be specified for the various menus
are described in the documentation for the Athena Simple-
Menu widget. The name and classes of the entries in each
of the menus are listed below.
The mainMenu has the following entries:
securekbd (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the secure() action.
allowsends (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the allow-send-events(toggle)
action.
logging (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the logging(toggle) action.
print (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the print() action.
redraw (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the redraw() action.
line1 (class SmeLine)
This is a separator.
8-bit-control (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-8-bit-control(toggle)
action.
backarrow key (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-backarrow(toggle)
action.
sun function-keys (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the sun function-keys(toggle)
action.
sun keyboard (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the sun keyboard(toggle)
action.
line2 (class SmeLine)
This is a separator.
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suspend (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the send-signal(tstp) action on
systems that support job control.
continue (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the send-signal(cont) action on
systems that support job control.
interrupt (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the send-signal(int) action.
hangup (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the send-signal(hup) action.
terminate (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the send-signal(term) action.
kill (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the send-signal(kill) action.
line3 (class SmeLine)
This is a separator.
quit (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the quit() action.
The vtMenu has the following entries:
scrollbar (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-scrollbar(toggle)
action.
jumpscroll (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-jumpscroll(toggle)
action.
reversevideo (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-reverse-video(toggle)
action.
autowrap (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-autowrap(toggle)
action.
reversewrap (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-reversewrap(toggle)
action.
autolinefeed (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-autolinefeed(toggle)
action.
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appcursor (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-appcursor(toggle)
action.
appkeypad (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-appkeypad(toggle)
action.
scrollkey (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-scroll-on-key(toggle)
action.
scrollttyoutput (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-scroll-on-tty-out-
put(toggle) action.
allow132 (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-allow132(toggle)
action.
cursesemul (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-cursesemul(toggle)
action.
visualbell (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-visualbell(toggle)
action.
marginbell (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-marginbell(toggle)
action.
altscreen (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-altscreen(toggle)
action.
activeicon (class SMeBSB)
This entry toggles active icons on and off if this
feature was compiled into xterm. It is enabled
only if xterm was started with the command line
option +ai or the activeIcon resource set to
``True.''
line1 (class SmeLine)
This is a separator.
softreset (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the soft-reset() action.
hardreset (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the hard-reset() action.
clearsavedlines (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the clear-saved-lines() action.
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line2 (class SmeLine)
This is a separator.
tekshow (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-visibility(tek,toggle)
action.
tekmode (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-terminal-type(tek)
action.
vthide (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-visibility(vt,off)
action.
The fontMenu has the following entries:
fontdefault (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-vt-font(d) action.
font1 (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-vt-font(1) action.
font2 (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-vt-font(2) action.
font3 (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-vt-font(3) action.
font4 (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-vt-font(4) action.
font5 (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-vt-font(5) action.
font6 (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-vt-font(6) action.
fontescape (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-vt-font(e) action.
fontsel (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-vt-font(s) action.
The tekMenu has the following entries:
tektextlarge (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-tek-text(l) action.
tektext2 (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-tek-text(2) action.
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tektext3 (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-tek-text(3) action.
tektextsmall (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-tek-text(s) action.
line1 (class SmeLine)
This is a separator.
tekpage (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the tek-page() action.
tekreset (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the tek-reset() action.
tekcopy (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the tek-copy() action.
line2 (class SmeLine)
This is a separator.
vtshow (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-visibility(vt,toggle)
action.
vtmode (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-terminal-type(vt)
action.
tekhide (class SmeBSB)
This entry invokes the set-visibility(tek,toggle)
action.
The following resources are useful when specified for the
Athena Scrollbar widget:
thickness (class Thickness)
Specifies the width in pixels of the scrollbar.
background (class Background)
Specifies the color to use for the background of
the scrollbar.
foreground (class Foreground)
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.
POINTER USAGE
Once the VT102 window is created, xterm allows you to
select text and copy it within the same or other windows.
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
The selection functions are invoked when the pointer but-
tons 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 cur-
sor 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, etc. 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. Logical
words and lines selected by double- or triple-clicking may
wrap across more than one screen line if lines were
wrapped by xterm itself rather than by the application
running in the window. 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 selec-
tion 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 selec-
tion 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 multiple-click 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, i.e., 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
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
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 does 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 but-
ton 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(4) for details).
Xterm has four menus, named mainMenu, vtMenu, fontMenu,
and tekMenu. Each menu pops up under the correct combina-
tions 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 envi-
ronment; see SECURITY below. Notable entries in the com-
mand section of the menu are the Continue, Suspend, Inter-
rupt, 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
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
two are pressed in the VT102 window. In the command sec-
tion 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 pro-
cessing 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 docu-
ment 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 but-
ton 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.
SECURITY
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(1)), 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 activi-
ties, 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 Key-
board 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 dis-
able 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 suc-
ceeds, the foreground and background colors will be
X Version 11 Release 6.3 30
XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
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 hap-
pens, the foreground and background colors will be
switched back and the bell will sound in warning.
CHARACTER CLASSES
Clicking the middle mouse button twice in rapid succession
will cause all characters of the same class (e.g. 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,
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
/* 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.
ACTIONS
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 transla-
tions for events other than key and button events is not
expected, and will cause unpredictable behavior. The fol-
lowing actions are provided for using within the vt100 or
tek4014 translations resources:
allow-send-events(on/off/toggle)
This action set or toggles the allowSendEvents
resource and is also invoked by the allowsends
entry in mainMenu.
bell([percent])
This action rings the keyboard bell at the speci-
fied percentage above or below the base volume.
clear-saved-lines()
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.
create-menu(m/v/f/t)
This action creates one of the menus used by
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xterm, if it has not been previously created. The
parameter values are the menu names: mainMenu,
vtMenu, fontMenu, tekMenu, respectively.
dired-button()
Handles a button event (other than press and
release) by echoing the event's position (i.e.,
character line and column) in the following for-
mat:
^X ESC G <line+' '> <col+' '>
hard-reset()
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.
ignore()
This action ignores the event but checks for spe-
cial pointer position escape sequences.
insert()
This action inserts the character or string asso-
ciated with the key that was pressed.
insert-eight-bit()
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.
insert-selection(sourcename [, ...])
This action inserts the string found in the selec-
tion 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 CLIP-
BOARD. Cut buffers are typically named
CUT_BUFFER0 through CUT_BUFFER7.
insert-seven-bit()
This action is a synonym for insert()
keymap(name)
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.
popup-menu(menuname)
This action displays the specified popup menu.
Valid names (case is significant) include: main-
Menu, vtMenu, fontMenu, and tekMenu.
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
print() This action prints the window and is also invoked
by the print entry in mainMenu.
quit() This action sends a SIGHUP to the subprogram and
exits. It is also invoked by the quit entry in
mainMenu.
redraw()
This action redraws the window and is also invoked
by the redraw entry in mainMenu.
scroll-back(count [,units])
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.
scroll-forw(count [,units])
This action scrolls is similar to scroll-back
except that it scrolls the other direction.
secure()
This action toggles the Secure Keyboard mode
described in the section named SECURITY, and is
invoked from the securekbd entry in mainMenu.
select-cursor-end(destname [, ...])
This action is similar to select-end except that
it should be used with select-cursor-start.
select-cursor-start()
This action is similar to select-start except that
it begins the selection at the current text cursor
position.
select-end(destname [, ...])
This action puts the currently selected text into
all of the selections or cutbuffers specified by
destname.
select-extend()
This action tracks the pointer and extends the
selection. It should only be bound to Motion
events.
select-set()
This action stores text that corresponds to the
current selection, without affecting the selection
mode.
select-start()
This action begins text selection at the current
pointer location. See the section on POINTER
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
USAGE for information on making selections.
send-signal(signame)
This action sends the signal named by signame to
the xterm subprocess (the shell or program speci-
fied 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 signifi-
cant): tstp (if supported by the operating sys-
tem), suspend (same as tstp), cont (if supported
by the operating system), int, hup, term, quit,
alrm, alarm (same as alrm) and kill.
set-allow132(on/off/toggle)
This action toggles the c132 resource and is also
invoked from the allow132 entry in vtMenu.
set-altscreen(on/off/toggle)
This action toggles between the alternate and cur-
rent screens.
set-appcursor(on/off/toggle)
This action toggles the handling Application Cur-
sor Key mode and is also invoked by the appcursor
entry in vtMenu.
set-appkeypad(on/off/toggle)
This action toggles the handling of Application
Keypad mode and is also invoked by the appkeypad
entry in vtMenu.
set-autolinefeed(on/off/toggle)
This action toggles automatic insertion of line-
feeds and is also invoked by the autolinefeed
entry in vtMenu.
set-autowrap(on/off/toggle)
This action toggles automatic wrapping of long
lines and is also invoked by the autowrap entry in
vtMenu.
set-cursesemul(on/off/toggle)
This action toggles the curses resource and is
also invoked from the cursesemul entry in vtMenu.
set-jumpscroll(on/off/toggle)
This action toggles the jumpscroll resource and is
also invoked by the jumpscroll entry in vtMenu.
set-logging()
This action toggles the state of the logging
option.
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
set-marginbell(on/off/toggle)
This action toggles the marginBell resource and is
also invoked from the marginbell entry in vtMenu.
set-reverse-video(on/off/toggle)
This action toggles the reverseVideo resource and
is also invoked by the reversevideo entry in
vtMenu.
set-reversewrap(on/off/toggle)
This action toggles the reverseWrap resource and
is also invoked by the reversewrap entry in
vtMenu.
set-scroll-on-key(on/off/toggle)
This action toggles the scrollKey resource and is
also invoked from the scrollkey entry in vtMenu.
set-scroll-on-tty-output(on/off/toggle)
This action toggles the scrollTtyOutput resource
and is also invoked from the scrollttyoutput entry
in vtMenu.
set-scrollbar(on/off/toggle)
This action toggles the scrollbar resource and is
also invoked by the scrollbar entry in vtMenu.
set-tek-text(large/2/3/small)
This action sets font used in the Tektronix window
to the value of the resources tektextlarge, tek-
text2, tektext3, and tektextsmall according to the
argument. It is also by the entries of the same
names as the resources in tekMenu.
set-terminal-type(type)
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.
set-visibility(vt/tek,on/off/toggle)
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.
set-visual-bell(on/off/toggle)
This action toggles the visualBell resource and is
also invoked by the visualbell entry in vtMenu.
set-vt-font(d/1/2/3/4/5/6/e/s [,normalfont [, boldfont]])
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
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
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 nor-
mal and bold fonts that have been set through
escape codes (or specified as the second and third
action arguments, respectively), and s or S indi-
cate the font selection (as made by programs such
as xfontsel(1)) indicated by the second action
argument.
soft-reset()
This action resets the scrolling region and is
also invoked from the softreset entry in vtMenu.
start-extend()
This action is similar to select-start except that
the selection is extended to the current pointer
location.
start-cursor-extend()
This action is similar to select-extend except
that the selection is extended to the current text
cursor position.
string(string)
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.
tek-copy()
This action copies the escape codes used to gener-
ate 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 tek-
Menu.
tek-page()
This action clears the Tektronix window and is
also invoked by the tekpage entry in tekMenu.
tek-reset()
This action resets the Tektronix window and is
also invoked by the tekreset entry in tekMenu.
vi-button()
Handles a button event (other than press and
release) by echoing a control sequence computed
from the event's line number in the screen rela-
tive to the current line:
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
ESC ^P
or
ESC ^N
according to whether the event is before, or after
the current line, respectively. The ^N (or ^P) is
repeated once for each line that the event differs
from the current line. The control sequence is
omitted altogether if the button event is on the
current line.
visual-bell()
This action flashes the window quickly.
The Tektronix window also has the following action:
gin-press(l/L/m/M/r/R)
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\
!Lock Ctrl @Num_Lock <Btn1Down>:popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
! @Num_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\
!Lock Ctrl @Num_Lock <Btn2Down>:popup-menu(vtMenu) \n\
! @Num_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\
!Lock Ctrl @Num_Lock <Btn3Down>:popup-menu(fontMenu) \n\
! @Num_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\
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
Meta<KeyPress>: insert-eight-bit() \n\
!Ctrl <Btn1Down>: popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
!Lock Ctrl <Btn1Down>: popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
!Lock Ctrl @Num_Lock <Btn1Down>:popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
!Ctrl @Num_Lock <Btn1Down>:popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
!Ctrl <Btn2Down>: popup-menu(tekMenu) \n\
!Lock Ctrl <Btn2Down>: popup-menu(tekMenu) \n\
!Lock Ctrl @Num_Lock <Btn2Down>:popup-menu(tekMenu) \n\
!Ctrl @Num_Lock <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)
ENVIRONMENT
Xterm sets the environment variables ``TERM'' and ``TERM-
CAP'' 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 envi-
ronment variable ``WINDOWID'' is set to the X window id
number of the xterm window.
SEE ALSO
resize(1), X(1), pty(4), tty(4)
Xterm Control Sequences (this is the file ctlseqs.ms).
BUGS
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.
This program still needs to be rewritten. It should be
split into very modular sections, with the various emula-
tors being completely separate widgets that don't know
X Version 11 Release 6.3 39
XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
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.
AUTHORS
Far too many people, including:
Loretta Guarino Reid (DEC-UEG-WSL), Joel McCormack (DEC-
UEG-WSL), Terry Weissman (DEC-UEG-WSL), Edward Moy (Berke-
ley), Ralph R. Swick (MIT-Athena), Mark Vandevoorde (MIT-
Athena), 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), Jason Bacon <acadix@execpc.com>, David Wex-
elblat, and Thomas Dickey (XFree86 Project).
X Version 11 Release 6.3 40
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