1XTERM(1) X Window System XTERM(1)
2
6 xterm - terminal emulator for X
7
9 xterm [-toolkitoption ...] [-option ...] [shell]
10
12 The xterm program is a terminal emulator for the X Window System. It
13 provides DEC VT102/VT220 and selected features from higher-level
14 terminals such as VT320/VT420/VT520 (VTxxx). It also provides
15 Tektronix 4014 emulation for programs that cannot use the window system
16 directly. If the underlying operating system supports terminal
17 resizing capabilities (for example, the SIGWINCH signal in systems
18 derived from 4.3BSD), xterm will use the facilities to notify programs
19 running in the window whenever it is resized.
20 The VTxxx and Tektronix 4014 terminals each have their own window so
22 that you can edit text in one and look at graphics in the other at the
23 same time. To maintain the correct aspect ratio (height/width),
24 Tektronix graphics will be restricted to the largest box with a 4014's
25 aspect ratio that will fit in the window. This box is located in the
26 upper left area of the window.
27 Although both windows may be displayed at the same time, one of them is
29 considered the “active” window for receiving keyboard input and
30 terminal output. This is the window that contains the text cursor.
31 The active window can be chosen through escape sequences, the VT
32 Options menu in the VTxxx window, and the Tek Options menu in the 4014
33 window.
34
36 Xterm provides usable emulations of related DEC terminals:
37 · VT52 emulation is complete.
39 · VT102 emulation is fairly complete, but does not support autorepeat
41 (because that would affect the keyboard used by other X clients).
42 Double-size characters are displayed properly if your font server
44 supports scalable fonts.
45 · VT220 emulation does not support soft fonts, it is otherwise
47 complete.
48 · VT420 emulation (the default) supports controls for manipulating
50 rectangles of characters as well as left/right margins.
51 Xterm does not support some other features which are not suitable
53 for emulation, e.g., two-sessions.
54 Terminal database (terminfo (5) or termcap (5)) entries that work with
56 xterm include
57 an optional platform-specific entry (“xterm”),
59 “xterm”,
60 “vt102”,
61 “vt100”,
62 “ansi” and
63 “dumb”
64 Xterm automatically searches the terminal database in this order for
66 these entries and then sets the “TERM” variable (and the “TERMCAP”
67 environment variable on a few older systems). The alternatives after
68 “xterm” are very old, from the late 1980s.
69 VT100 and VT102 emulations are commonly equated, though they actually
71 differ. The VT102 provided controls for inserting and deleting lines.
72 Similarly, “ansi” and “vt100” are often equated. These are not really
74 the same. For instance, they use different controls for scrolling (but
75 xterm supports both). These features differ in an “ansi” terminal
76 description from xterm:
77 acsc
79 Pseudo-graphics (line-drawing) uses a different mapping.
80 xenl
82 Xterm wraps text at the right margin using the VT100 “newline
83 glitch” behavior.
84 Because of the wrapping behavior, you would occasionally have to
86 repaint the screen when using a text editor with the “ansi”
87 description.
88 You may also use descriptions corresponding to the various supported
90 emulations such as “vt220” or “vt420”, but should set the terminal
91 emulation level with the decTerminalID resource.
92 On most systems, xterm will use the terminfo database. Some older
94 systems use termcap. (The “TERMCAP” environment variable is not set if
95 xterm is linked against a terminfo library, since the requisite
96 information is not provided by the termcap emulation of terminfo
97 libraries).
98 Many of the special xterm features may be modified under program
100 control through a set of escape sequences different from the standard
101 VTxxx escape sequences (see Xterm Control Sequences).
102 The Tektronix 4014 emulation is also fairly good. It supports 12-bit
104 graphics addressing, scaled to the window size. Four different font
105 sizes and five different lines types are supported. There is no write-
106 through or defocused mode support. The Tektronix text and graphics
107 commands are recorded internally by xterm and may be written to a file
108 by sending the COPY escape sequence (or through the Tektronix menu; see
109 below). The name of the file will be
110 “COPYyyyy-MM-dd.hh:mm:ss”
112 where yyyy, MM, dd, hh, mm and ss are the year, month, day, hour,
114 minute and second when the COPY was performed (the file is created in
115 the directory xterm is started in, or the home directory for a login
116 xterm).
117 Not all of the features described in this manual are necessarily
119 available in this version of xterm. Some (e.g., the non-VT220
120 extensions) are available only if they were compiled in, though the
121 most commonly-used are in the default configuration.
122
124 Xterm automatically highlights the text cursor when the pointer enters
125 the window (selected) and unhighlights it when the pointer leaves the
126 window (unselected). If the window is the focus window, then the text
127 cursor is highlighted no matter where the pointer is.
128 In VTxxx mode, there are escape sequences to activate and deactivate an
130 alternate screen buffer, which is the same size as the display area of
131 the window. When activated, the current screen is saved and replaced
132 with the alternate screen. Saving of lines scrolled off the top of the
133 window is disabled until the normal screen is restored. The usual
134 terminal description for xterm allows the visual editor vi(1) to switch
135 to the alternate screen for editing and to restore the screen on exit.
136 A popup menu entry makes it simple to switch between the normal and
137 alternate screens for cut and paste.
138 In either VTxxx or Tektronix mode, there are escape sequences to change
140 the name of the windows. Additionally, in VTxxx mode, xterm implements
141 the window-manipulation control sequences from dtterm, such as resizing
142 the window, setting its location on the screen.
143 Xterm allows character-based applications to receive mouse events
145 (currently button-press and release events, and button-motion events)
146 as keyboard control sequences. See Xterm Control Sequences for
147 details.
148
150 Because xterm uses the X Toolkit library, it accepts the standard X
151 Toolkit command line options. Xterm also accepts many application-
152 specific options.
153 By convention, if an option begins with a “+” instead of a “-”, the
155 option is restored to its default value.
156 Most of the xterm options are actually parsed by the X Toolkit, which
158 sets resource values, and overrides corresponding resource-settings in
159 your X resource files. Xterm provides the X Toolkit with a table of
160 options. A few of these are marked, telling the X Toolkit to ignore
161 them (-help, -version, -class, -e, and -into). After the X Toolkit has
162 parsed the command-line parameters, it removes those which it handles,
163 leaving the specially-marked parameters for xterm to handle.
164 These options do not set a resource value, and are handled specially:
166 -version
168 This causes xterm to print a version number to the standard
169 output, and then exit.
170 -help This causes xterm to print out a verbose message describing its
172 options, one per line. The message is written to the standard
173 output. After printing the message, xterm exits. Xterm
174 generates this message, sorting it and noting whether a
175 “-option” or a “+option” turns the feature on or off, since
176 some features historically have been one or the other. Xterm
177 generates a concise help message (multiple options per line)
178 when an unknown option is used, e.g.,
179 xterm -z
181 If the logic for a particular option such as logging is not
183 compiled into xterm, the help text for that option also is not
184 displayed by the -help option.
185 The -version and -help options are interpreted even if xterm cannot
187 open the display, and are useful for testing and configuration scripts.
188 Along with -class, they are checked before other options. To do this,
189 xterm has its own (much simpler) argument parser, along with a table of
190 the X Toolkit's built-in list of options.
191 Relying upon the X Toolkit to parse the options and associated values
193 has the advantages of simplicity and good integration with the X
194 resource mechanism. There are a few drawbacks
195 · Xterm cannot tell easily whether a resource value was set by one of
197 the external resource- or application-defaults files, whether it
198 was set using xrdb(1), or if it was set through the -xrm option or
199 via some directly relevant command-line option. Xterm sees only
200 the end-result: a value supplied when creating its widgets.
201 · Xterm does not know the order in which particular options and items
203 in resource files are evaluated. Rather, it sees all of the values
204 for a given widget at the same time. In the design of these
205 options, some are deemed more important, and can override other
206 options.
207 The X Toolkit uses patterns (constants and wildcards) to match
209 resources. Once a particular pattern has been used, it will not
210 modify it. To override a given setting, a more-specific pattern
211 must be used, e.g., replacing “*” with “.”. Some poorly-designed
212 resource files are too specific to allow the command-line options
213 to affect the relevant widget values.
214 · In a few cases, the X Toolkit combines its standard options in ways
216 which do not work well with xterm. This happens with the color
217 (-fg, -bg) and reverse (-rv) options. Xterm makes a special case
218 of these and adjusts its sense of “reverse” to lessen user
219 surprise.
220 One parameter (after all options) may be given. That overrides xterm's
222 built-in choice of shell program:
223 · If the parameter is not a relative path, i.e., beginning with “./”
225 or “../”, xterm looks for the file in the user's PATH. In either
226 case, this check fails if xterm cannot construct an absolute path.
227 · If that check fails (or if no such parameter is given), xterm next
229 checks the “SHELL” variable. If that specifies an executable file,
230 xterm will attempt to start that. However, xterm additionally
231 checks if it is a valid shell, and will unset “SHELL” if it is not.
232 · If “SHELL” is not set to an executable file, xterm tries to use the
234 shell program specified in the user's password file entry. As
235 before, xterm verifies if this is a valid shell.
236 · Finally, if the password file entry does not specify a valid shell,
238 xterm uses /bin/sh.
239 The -e option cannot be used with this parameter since it uses all
241 parameters following the option.
242 Xterm validates shell programs by finding their pathname in the text
244 file /etc/shells. It treats the environment variable “SHELL” specially
245 because (like “TERM”), xterm both reads and updates the variable, and
246 because the program started by xterm is not necessarily a shell.
247 The other options are used to control the appearance and behavior. Not
249 all options are necessarily configured into your copy of xterm:
250 -132 Normally, the VT102 DECCOLM escape sequence that switches
252 between 80 and 132 column mode is ignored. This option causes
253 the DECCOLM escape sequence to be recognized, and the xterm
254 window will resize appropriately.
255 -ah This option indicates that xterm should always highlight the
257 text cursor. By default, xterm will display a hollow text
258 cursor whenever the focus is lost or the pointer leaves the
259 window.
260 +ah This option indicates that xterm should do text cursor
262 highlighting based on focus.
263 -ai This option disables active icon support if that feature was
265 compiled into xterm. This is equivalent to setting the vt100
266 resource activeIcon to “false”.
267 +ai This option enables active icon support if that feature was
269 compiled into xterm. This is equivalent to setting the vt100
270 resource activeIcon to “true”.
271 -aw This option indicates that auto-wraparound should be allowed,
273 and is equivalent to setting the vt100 resource autoWrap to
274 “false”.
275 Auto-wraparound allows the cursor to automatically wrap to the
277 beginning of the next line when it is at the rightmost position
278 of a line and text is output.
279 +aw This option indicates that auto-wraparound should not be
281 allowed, and is equivalent to setting the vt100 resource
282 autoWrap to “false”.
283 -b number
285 This option specifies the size of the inner border (the
286 distance between the outer edge of the characters and the
287 window border) in pixels. That is the vt100 internalBorder
288 resource. The default is “2”.
289 -baudrate number
291 Set the line-speed, used to test the behavior of applications
292 that use the line-speed when optimizing their output to the
293 screen. The default is “38400”.
294 +bc turn off text cursor blinking. This overrides the cursorBlink
296 resource.
297 -bc turn on text cursor blinking. This overrides the cursorBlink
299 resource.
300 -bcf milliseconds
302 set the amount of time text cursor is off when blinking via the
303 cursorOffTime resource.
304 -bcn milliseconds
306 set the amount of time text cursor is on when blinking via the
307 cursorOnTime resource.
308 -bdc Set the vt100 resource colorBDMode to “false”, disabling the
310 display of characters with bold attribute as color.
311 +bdc Set the vt100 resource colorBDMode to “true”, enabling the
313 display of characters with bold attribute as color rather than
314 bold.
315 -cb Set the vt100 resource cutToBeginningOfLine to “false”.
317 +cb Set the vt100 resource cutToBeginningOfLine to “true”.
319 -cc characterclassrange:value[, ...]
321 This sets classes indicated by the given ranges for using in
322 selecting by words (see CHARACTER CLASSES and the charClass
323 resource).
324 -cjk_width
326 Set the cjkWidth resource to “true”. When turned on,
327 characters with East Asian Ambiguous (A) category in UTR 11
328 have a column width of 2. Otherwise, they have a column width
329 of 1. This may be useful for some legacy CJK text terminal-
330 based programs assuming box drawings and others to have a
331 column width of 2. It also should be turned on when you
332 specify a TrueType CJK double-width (bi-width/monospace) font
333 either with -fa at the command line or faceName resource. The
334 default is “false”
335 +cjk_width
337 Reset the cjkWidth resource.
338 -class string
340 This option allows you to override xterm's resource class.
341 Normally it is “XTerm”, but can be set to another class such as
342 “UXTerm” to override selected resources.
343 -cm This option disables recognition of ANSI color-change escape
345 sequences. It sets the colorMode resource to “false”.
346 +cm This option enables recognition of ANSI color-change escape
348 sequences. This is the same as the vt100 resource colorMode.
349 -cn This option indicates that newlines should not be cut in line-
351 mode selections. It sets the cutNewline resource to “false”.
352 +cn This option indicates that newlines should be cut in line-mode
354 selections. It sets the cutNewline resource to “true”.
355 -cr color
357 This option specifies the color to use for text cursor. The
358 default is to use the same foreground color that is used for
359 text. It sets the cursorColor resource according to the
360 parameter.
361 -cu This option indicates that xterm should work around a bug in
363 the more(1) program that causes it to incorrectly display lines
364 that are exactly the width of the window and are followed by a
365 line beginning with a tab (the leading tabs are not displayed).
366 This option is so named because it was originally thought to be
367 a bug in the curses(3x) cursor motion package.
368 +cu This option indicates that xterm should not work around the
370 more(1) bug mentioned above.
371 -dc This option disables the escape sequence to change dynamic
373 colors: the vt100 foreground and background colors, its text
374 cursor color, the pointer cursor foreground and background
375 colors, the Tektronix emulator foreground and background
376 colors, its text cursor color and highlight color. The option
377 sets the dynamicColors option to “false”.
378 +dc This option enables the escape sequence to change dynamic
380 colors. The option sets the dynamicColors option to “true”.
381 -e program [ arguments ... ]
383 This option specifies the program (and its command line
384 arguments) to be run in the xterm window. It also sets the
385 window title and icon name to be the basename of the program
386 being executed if neither -T nor -n are given on the command
387 line.
388 NOTE: This must be the last option on the command line.
390 -en encoding
392 This option determines the encoding on which xterm runs. It
393 sets the locale resource. Encodings other than UTF-8 are
394 supported by using luit. The -lc option should be used instead
395 of -en for systems with locale support.
396 -fb font
398 This option specifies a font to be used when displaying bold
399 text. It sets the boldFont resource.
400 This font must be the same height and width as the normal font,
402 otherwise it is ignored. If only one of the normal or bold
403 fonts is specified, it will be used as the normal font and the
404 bold font will be produced by overstriking this font.
405 See also the discussion of boldMode and alwaysBoldMode
407 resources.
408 -fa pattern
410 This option sets the pattern for fonts selected from the
411 FreeType library if support for that library was compiled into
412 xterm. This corresponds to the faceName resource. When a CJK
413 double-width font is specified, you also need to turn on the
414 cjkWidth resource.
415 If you specify both -fa and the X Toolkit option -fn, the -fa
417 setting overrides the latter.
418 See also the renderFont resource, which combines with this to
420 determine whether FreeType fonts are initially active.
421 -fbb This option indicates that xterm should compare normal and bold
423 fonts bounding boxes to ensure they are compatible. It sets
424 the freeBoldBox resource to “false”.
425 +fbb This option indicates that xterm should not compare normal and
427 bold fonts bounding boxes to ensure they are compatible. It
428 sets the freeBoldBox resource to “true”.
429 -fbx This option indicates that xterm should not assume that the
431 normal and bold fonts have VT100 line-drawing characters. If
432 any are missing, xterm will draw the characters directly. It
433 sets the forceBoxChars resource to “false”.
434 +fbx This option indicates that xterm should assume that the normal
436 and bold fonts have VT100 line-drawing characters. It sets the
437 forceBoxChars resource to “true”.
438 -fd pattern
440 This option sets the pattern for double-width fonts selected
441 from the FreeType library if support for that library was
442 compiled into xterm. This corresponds to the
443 faceNameDoublesize resource.
444 -fi font
446 This option sets the font for active icons if that feature was
447 compiled into xterm.
448 See also the discussion of the iconFont resource.
450 -fs size
452 This option sets the pointsize for fonts selected from the
453 FreeType library if support for that library was compiled into
454 xterm. This corresponds to the faceSize resource.
455 -fullscreen
457 This option indicates that xterm should ask the window manager
458 to let it use the full-screen for display, e.g., without window
459 decorations. It sets the fullscreen resource to “true”.
460 +fullscreen
462 This option indicates that xterm should not ask the window
463 manager to let it use the full-screen for display. It sets the
464 fullscreen resource to “false”.
465 -fw font
467 This option specifies the font to be used for displaying wide
468 text. By default, it will attempt to use a font twice as wide
469 as the font that will be used to draw normal text. If no
470 double-width font is found, it will improvise, by stretching
471 the normal font. This corresponds to the wideFont resource.
472 -fwb font
474 This option specifies the font to be used for displaying bold
475 wide text. By default, it will attempt to use a font twice as
476 wide as the font that will be used to draw bold text. If no
477 double-width font is found, it will improvise, by stretching
478 the bold font. This corresponds to the wideBoldFont resource.
479 -fx font
481 This option specifies the font to be used for displaying the
482 preedit string in the “OverTheSpot” input method.
483 See also the discussion of the ximFont resource.
485 -hc color
487 (see -selbg).
488 -hf This option indicates that HP function key escape codes should
490 be generated for function keys. It sets the hpFunctionKeys
491 resource to “true”.
492 +hf This option indicates that HP function key escape codes should
494 not be generated for function keys. It sets the hpFunctionKeys
495 resource to “false”.
496 -hm Tells xterm to use highlightTextColor and highlightColor to
498 override the reversed foreground/background colors in a
499 selection. It sets the highlightColorMode resource to “true”.
500 +hm Tells xterm not to use highlightTextColor and highlightColor to
502 override the reversed foreground/background colors in a
503 selection. It sets the highlightColorMode resource to “false”.
504 -hold Turn on the hold resource, i.e., xterm will not immediately
506 destroy its window when the shell command completes. It will
507 wait until you use the window manager to destroy/kill the
508 window, or if you use the menu entries that send a signal,
509 e.g., HUP or KILL.
510 +hold Turn off the hold resource, i.e., xterm will immediately
512 destroy its window when the shell command completes.
513 -ie Turn on the ptyInitialErase resource, i.e., use the pseudo-
515 terminal's sense of the stty erase value.
516 +ie Turn off the ptyInitialErase resource, i.e., set the stty erase
518 value using the kb string from the termcap entry as a
519 reference, if available.
520 -im Turn on the useInsertMode resource, which forces use of insert
522 mode by adding appropriate entries to the TERMCAP environment
523 variable. (This option is ignored on most systems, because
524 TERMCAP is not used).
525 +im Turn off the useInsertMode resource.
527 -into windowId
529 Given an X window identifier (an integer, which can be
530 hexadecimal, octal or decimal according to whether it begins
531 with "0x", "0" or neither), xterm will reparent its top-level
532 shell widget to that window. This is used to embed xterm
533 within other applications.
534 For instance, there are scripts for Tcl/Tk and Gtk which can be
536 used to demonstrate the feature. When using Gtk, there is a
537 limitation of that toolkit which requires that xterm's
538 allowSendEvents resource is enabled.
539 -itc Set the vt100 resource colorITMode to “false”, disabling the
541 display of characters with italic attribute as color.
542 +itc Set the vt100 resource colorITMode to “true”, enabling the
544 display of characters with italic attribute as color rather
545 than italic.
546 -j This option indicates that xterm should do jump scrolling. It
548 corresponds to the jumpScroll resource. Normally, text is
549 scrolled one line at a time; this option allows xterm to move
550 multiple lines at a time so that it does not fall as far
551 behind. Its use is strongly recommended since it makes xterm
552 much faster when scanning through large amounts of text. The
553 VT100 escape sequences for enabling and disabling smooth scroll
554 as well as the VT Options menu can be used to turn this feature
555 on or off.
556 +j This option indicates that xterm should not do jump scrolling.
558 -k8 This option sets the allowC1Printable resource. When
560 allowC1Printable is set, xterm overrides the mapping of C1
561 control characters (code 128–159) to treat them as printable.
562 +k8 This option resets the allowC1Printable resource.
564 -kt keyboardtype
566 This option sets the keyboardType resource. Possible values
567 include: “unknown”, “default”, “legacy”, “hp”, “sco”, “sun”,
568 “tcap” and “vt220”.
569 The value “unknown”, causes the corresponding resource to be
571 ignored.
572 The value “default”, suppresses the associated resources
574 hpFunctionKeys,
576 scoFunctionKeys,
577 sunFunctionKeys,
578 tcapFunctionKeys,
579 oldXtermFKeys and
580 sunKeyboard,
581 using the Sun/PC keyboard layout.
583 -l Turn logging on, unless disabled by the logInhibit resource.
585 Some versions of xterm may have logging enabled. However,
587 normally logging is not supported, due to security concerns in
588 the early 1990s. That was a problem in X11R4 xterm (1989)
589 which was addressed by a patch to X11R5 late in 1993. X11R6
590 included these fixes. The older version (when running with
591 root privilege) would create the log-file using root privilege.
592 The reason why xterm ran with root privileges was to open
593 pseudo-terminals. Those privileges are now needed only on very
594 old systems: Unix98 pseudo-terminals made the BSD scheme
595 unnecessary.
596 Unless overridden by the -lf option or the logFile resource:
598 · The logfile is written to the directory from which xterm is
600 invoked.
601 · The filename is generated, of the form
603 XtermLog.XXXXXX
605 or
607 Xterm.log.hostname.yyyy.mm.dd.hh.mm.ss.XXXXXX
609 depending on how xterm was built.
611 +l Turn logging off.
613 -lc Turn on support of various encodings according to the users'
615 locale setting, i.e., LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, or LANG environment
616 variables. This is achieved by turning on UTF-8 mode and by
617 invoking luit for conversion between locale encodings and
618 UTF-8. (luit is not invoked in UTF-8 locales.) This
619 corresponds to the locale resource.
620 The actual list of encodings which are supported is determined
622 by luit. Consult the luit manual page for further details.
623 See also the discussion of the -u8 option which supports UTF-8
625 locales.
626 +lc Turn off support of automatic selection of locale encodings.
628 Conventional 8bit mode or, in UTF-8 locales or with -u8 option,
629 UTF-8 mode will be used.
630 -lcc path
632 File name for the encoding converter from/to locale encodings
633 and UTF-8 which is used with -lc option or locale resource.
634 This corresponds to the localeFilter resource.
635 -leftbar
637 Force scrollbar to the left side of VT100 screen. This is the
638 default, unless you have set the rightScrollBar resource.
639 -lf filename
641 Specify the log-filename. This sets the logFile resource. See
642 the -l option.
643 -ls This option indicates that the shell that is started in the
645 xterm window will be a login shell (i.e., the first character
646 of argv[0] will be a dash, indicating to the shell that it
647 should read the user's .login or .profile).
648 The -ls flag and the loginShell resource are ignored if -e is
650 also given, because xterm does not know how to make the shell
651 start the given command after whatever it does when it is a
652 login shell - the user's shell of choice need not be a Bourne
653 shell after all. Also, xterm -e is supposed to provide a
654 consistent functionality for other applications that need to
655 start text-mode programs in a window, and if loginShell were
656 not ignored, the result of ~/.profile might interfere with
657 that.
658 If you do want the effect of -ls and -e simultaneously, you may
660 get away with something like
661 xterm -e /bin/bash -l -c "my command here"
663 Finally, -ls is not completely ignored, because xterm -ls -e
665 does write a /etc/wtmp entry (if configured to do so), whereas
666 xterm -e does not.
667 -maximized
669 This option indicates that xterm should ask the window manager
670 to maximize its layout on startup. This corresponds to the
671 maximized resource.
672 Maximizing is not the reverse of iconifying; it is possible to
674 do both with certain window managers.
675 +maximized
677 This option indicates that xterm should ask the window manager
678 to not maximize its layout on startup.
679 +ls This option indicates that the shell that is started should not
681 be a login shell (i.e., it will be a normal “subshell”).
682 -mb This option indicates that xterm should ring a margin bell when
684 the user types near the right end of a line.
685 +mb This option indicates that margin bell should not be rung.
687 -mc milliseconds
689 This option specifies the maximum time between multi-click
690 selections.
691 -mesg Turn off the messages resource, i.e., disallow write access to
693 the terminal.
694 +mesg Turn on the messages resource, i.e., allow write access to the
696 terminal.
697 -mk_width
699 Set the mkWidth resource to “true”. This makes xterm use a
700 built-in version of the wide-character width calculation. The
701 default is “false”
702 +mk_width
704 Reset the mkWidth resource.
705 -ms color
707 This option specifies the color to be used for the pointer
708 cursor. The default is to use the foreground color. This sets
709 the pointerColor resource.
710 -nb number
712 This option specifies the number of characters from the right
713 end of a line at which the margin bell, if enabled, will ring.
714 The default is “10”.
715 -nul This option disables the display of underlining.
717 +nul This option enables the display of underlining.
719 -pc This option enables the PC-style use of bold colors (see
721 boldColors resource).
722 +pc This option disables the PC-style use of bold colors.
724 -pob This option indicates that the window should be raised whenever
726 a Control-G is received.
727 +pob This option indicates that the window should not be raised
729 whenever a Control-G is received.
730 -report-charclass
732 Print a report to the standard output showing information about
733 the character-classes which can be altered using the charClass
734 resource.
735 -report-colors
737 Print a report to the standard output showing information about
738 colors as xterm allocates them. This corresponds to the
739 reportColors resource.
740 -report-fonts
742 Print a report to the standard output showing information about
743 fonts which are loaded. This corresponds to the reportFonts
744 resource.
745 -rightbar
747 Force scrollbar to the right side of VT100 screen.
748 -rvc This option disables the display of characters with reverse
750 attribute as color.
751 +rvc This option enables the display of characters with reverse
753 attribute as color.
754 -rw This option indicates that reverse-wraparound should be
756 allowed. This allows the cursor to back up from the leftmost
757 column of one line to the rightmost column of the previous
758 line. This is very useful for editing long shell command lines
759 and is encouraged. This option can be turned on and off from
760 the VT Options menu.
761 +rw This option indicates that reverse-wraparound should not be
763 allowed.
764 -s This option indicates that xterm may scroll asynchronously,
766 meaning that the screen does not have to be kept completely up
767 to date while scrolling. This allows xterm to run faster when
768 network latencies are very high and is typically useful when
769 running across a very large internet or many gateways.
770 +s This option indicates that xterm should scroll synchronously.
772 -samename
774 Does not send title and icon name change requests when the
775 request would have no effect: the name is not changed. This
776 has the advantage of preventing flicker and the disadvantage of
777 requiring an extra round trip to the server to find out the
778 previous value. In practice this should never be a problem.
779 +samename
781 Always send title and icon name change requests.
782 -sb This option indicates that some number of lines that are
784 scrolled off the top of the window should be saved and that a
785 scrollbar should be displayed so that those lines can be
786 viewed. This option may be turned on and off from the VT
787 Options menu.
788 +sb This option indicates that a scrollbar should not be displayed.
790 -selbg color
792 This option specifies the color to use for the background of
793 selected text. If not specified, reverse video is used. See
794 the discussion of the highlightColor resource.
795 -selfg color
797 This option specifies the color to use for selected text. If
798 not specified, reverse video is used. See the discussion of
799 the highlightTextColor resource.
800 -sf This option indicates that Sun function key escape codes should
802 be generated for function keys.
803 +sf This option indicates that the standard escape codes should be
805 generated for function keys.
806 -sh number
808 scale line-height values by the given number. See the
809 discussion of the scaleHeight resource.
810 -si This option indicates that output to a window should not
812 automatically reposition the screen to the bottom of the
813 scrolling region. This option can be turned on and off from
814 the VT Options menu.
815 +si This option indicates that output to a window should cause it
817 to scroll to the bottom.
818 -sk This option indicates that pressing a key while using the
820 scrollbar to review previous lines of text should cause the
821 window to be repositioned automatically in the normal position
822 at the bottom of the scroll region.
823 +sk This option indicates that pressing a key while using the
825 scrollbar should not cause the window to be repositioned.
826 -sl number
828 This option specifies the number of lines to save that have
829 been scrolled off the top of the screen. This corresponds to
830 the saveLines resource. The default is “64”.
831 -sm This option, corresponding to the sessionMgt resource,
833 indicates that xterm should set up session manager callbacks.
834 +sm This option indicates that xterm should not set up session
836 manager callbacks.
837 -sp This option indicates that Sun/PC keyboard should be assumed,
839 providing mapping for keypad “+” to “,”, and CTRL-F1 to F13,
840 CTRL-F2 to F14, etc.
841 +sp This option indicates that the standard escape codes should be
843 generated for keypad and function keys.
844 -t This option indicates that xterm should start in Tektronix
846 mode, rather than in VTxxx mode. Switching between the two
847 windows is done using the “Options” menus.
848 Terminal database (terminfo (5) or termcap (5)) entries that
850 work with xterm are:
851 “tek4014”,
853 “tek4015”,
854 “tek4012”,
855 “tek4013”,
856 “tek4010”, and
857 “dumb”.
858 xterm automatically searches the terminal database in this
860 order for these entries and then sets the “TERM” variable (and
861 the “TERMCAP” environment variable, if relevant).
862 +t This option indicates that xterm should start in VTxxx mode.
864 -tb This option, corresponding to the toolBar resource, indicates
866 that xterm should display a toolbar (or menubar) at the top of
867 its window. The buttons in the toolbar correspond to the popup
868 menus, e.g., control/left/mouse for Main Options.
869 +tb This option indicates that xterm should not set up a toolbar.
871 -ti term_id
873 Specify the name used by xterm to select the correct response
874 to terminal ID queries. It also specifies the emulation level,
875 used to determine the type of response to a DA control
876 sequence. Valid values include vt52, vt100, vt101, vt102,
877 vt220, and vt240 (the “vt” is optional). The default is
878 “vt420”. The term_id argument specifies the terminal ID to
879 use. (This is the same as the decTerminalID resource).
880 -tm string
882 This option specifies a series of terminal setting keywords
883 followed by the characters that should be bound to those
884 functions, similar to the stty program. The keywords and their
885 values are described in detail in the ttyModes resource.
886 -tn name
888 This option specifies the name of the terminal type to be set
889 in the TERM environment variable. It corresponds to the
890 termName resource. This terminal type must exist in the
891 terminal database (termcap or terminfo, depending on how xterm
892 is built) and should have li# and co# entries. If the terminal
893 type is not found, xterm uses the built-in list “xterm”,
894 “vt102”, etc.
895 -u8 This option sets the utf8 resource. When utf8 is set, xterm
897 interprets incoming data as UTF-8. This sets the wideChars
898 resource as a side-effect, but the UTF-8 mode set by this
899 option prevents it from being turned off. If you must turn
900 UTF-8 encoding on and off, use the -wc option or the
901 corresponding wideChars resource, rather than the -u8 option.
902 This option and the utf8 resource are overridden by the -lc and
904 -en options and locale resource. That is, if xterm has been
905 compiled to support luit, and the locale resource is not
906 “false” this option is ignored. We recommend using the -lc
907 option or the “locale: true” resource in UTF-8 locales when
908 your operating system supports locale, or -en UTF-8 option or
909 the “locale: UTF-8” resource when your operating system does
910 not support locale.
911 +u8 This option resets the utf8 resource.
913 -uc This option makes the cursor underlined instead of a box.
915 +uc This option makes the cursor a box instead of underlined.
917 -ulc This option disables the display of characters with underline
919 attribute as color rather than with underlining.
920 +ulc This option enables the display of characters with underline
922 attribute as color rather than with underlining.
923 -ulit This option, corresponding to the italicULMode resource,
925 disables the display of characters with underline attribute as
926 italics rather than with underlining.
927 +ulit This option, corresponding to the italicULMode resource,
929 enables the display of characters with underline attribute as
930 italics rather than with underlining.
931 -ut This option indicates that xterm should not write a record into
933 the system utmp log file.
934 +ut This option indicates that xterm should write a record into the
936 system utmp log file.
937 -vb This option indicates that a visual bell is preferred over an
939 audible one. Instead of ringing the terminal bell whenever a
940 Control-G is received, the window will be flashed.
941 +vb This option indicates that a visual bell should not be used.
943 -wc This option sets the wideChars resource.
945 When wideChars is set, xterm maintains internal structures for
947 16-bit characters. If xterm is not started in UTF-8 mode (or
948 if this resource is not set), initially it maintains those
949 structures to support 8-bit characters. Xterm can later be
950 switched, using a menu entry or control sequence, causing it to
951 reallocate those structures to support 16-bit characters.
952 The default is “false”.
954 +wc This option resets the wideChars resource.
956 -wf This option indicates that xterm should wait for the window to
958 be mapped the first time before starting the subprocess so that
959 the initial terminal size settings and environment variables
960 are correct. It is the application's responsibility to catch
961 subsequent terminal size changes.
962 +wf This option indicates that xterm should not wait before
964 starting the subprocess.
965 -ziconbeep percent
967 Same as zIconBeep resource. If percent is non-zero, xterms
968 that produce output while iconified will cause an XBell sound
969 at the given volume and have “***” prepended to their icon
970 titles. Most window managers will detect this change
971 immediately, showing you which window has the output. (A
972 similar feature was in x10 xterm.)
973 -C This option indicates that this window should receive console
975 output. This is not supported on all systems. To obtain
976 console output, you must be the owner of the console device,
977 and you must have read and write permission for it. If you are
978 running X under xdm on the console screen you may need to have
979 the session startup and reset programs explicitly change the
980 ownership of the console device in order to get this option to
981 work.
982 -Sccn This option allows xterm to be used as an input and output
984 channel for an existing program and is sometimes used in
985 specialized applications. The option value specifies the last
986 few letters of the name of a pseudo-terminal to use in slave
987 mode, plus the number of the inherited file descriptor. If the
988 option contains a “/” character, that delimits the characters
989 used for the pseudo-terminal name from the file descriptor.
990 Otherwise, exactly two characters are used from the option for
991 the pseudo-terminal name, the remainder is the file descriptor.
992 Examples (the first two are equivalent since the descriptor
993 follows the last “/”):
994 -S/dev/pts/123/45
996 -S123/45
997 -Sab34
998 Note that xterm does not close any file descriptor which it did
1000 not open for its own use. It is possible (though probably not
1001 portable) to have an application which passes an open file
1002 descriptor down to xterm past the initialization or the -S
1003 option to a process running in the xterm.
1004 Old Options
1006 The following command line arguments are provided for compatibility
1007 with older versions. They may not be supported in the next release as
1008 the X Toolkit provides standard options that accomplish the same task.
1009 %geom This option specifies the preferred size and position of the
1011 Tektronix window. It is shorthand for specifying the
1012 “tekGeometry” resource.
1013 #geom This option specifies the preferred position of the icon
1015 window. It is shorthand for specifying the “iconGeometry”
1016 resource.
1017 -T string
1019 This option specifies the title for xterm's windows. It is
1020 equivalent to -title.
1021 -n string
1023 This option specifies the icon name for xterm's windows. It is
1024 shorthand for specifying the “iconName” resource. Note that
1025 this is not the same as the toolkit option -name. The default
1026 icon name is the application name.
1027 If no suitable icon is found, xterm provides a compiled-in
1029 pixmap.
1030 -r This option indicates that reverse video should be simulated by
1032 swapping the foreground and background colors. It is
1033 equivalent to -rv.
1034 -w number
1036 This option specifies the width in pixels of the border
1037 surrounding the window. It is equivalent to -borderwidth or
1038 -bw.
1039 X Toolkit Options
1041 The following standard X Toolkit command line arguments are commonly
1042 used with xterm:
1043 -bd color
1045 This option specifies the color to use for the border of the
1046 window. The corresponding resource name is borderColor. Xterm
1047 uses the X Toolkit default, which is “XtDefaultForeground”.
1048 -bg color
1050 This option specifies the color to use for the background of
1051 the window. The corresponding resource name is background.
1052 The default is “XtDefaultBackground”.
1053 -bw number
1055 This option specifies the width in pixels of the border
1056 surrounding the window.
1057 This appears to be a legacy of older X releases. It sets the
1059 borderWidth resource of the shell widget, and may provide
1060 advice to your window manager to set the thickness of the
1061 window frame. Most window managers do not use this
1062 information. See the -b option, which controls the inner
1063 border of the xterm window.
1064 -display display
1066 This option specifies the X server to contact; see X(7).
1067 -fg color
1069 This option specifies the color to use for displaying text.
1070 The corresponding resource name is foreground. The default is
1071 “XtDefaultForeground”.
1072 -fn font
1074 This option specifies the font to be used for displaying normal
1075 text. The corresponding resource name is font. The resource
1076 value default is fixed.
1077 -font font
1079 This is the same as -fn.
1080 -geometry geometry
1082 This option specifies the preferred size and position of the
1083 VTxxx window; see X(7).
1084 The normal geometry specification can be suffixed with @
1086 followed by a Xinerama screen specification; it can be either g
1087 for the global screen (default), c for the current screen or a
1088 screen number.
1089 -iconic
1091 This option indicates that xterm should ask the window manager
1092 to start it as an icon rather than as the normal window. The
1093 corresponding resource name is iconic.
1094 -name name
1096 This option specifies the application name under which
1097 resources are to be obtained, rather than the default
1098 executable file name. Name should not contain “.” or “*”
1099 characters.
1100 -rv This option indicates that reverse video should be simulated by
1102 swapping the foreground and background colors. The
1103 corresponding resource name is reverseVideo.
1104 +rv Disable the simulation of reverse video by swapping foreground
1106 and background colors.
1107 -title string
1109 This option specifies the window title string, which may be
1110 displayed by window managers if the user so chooses. The
1111 default title is the command line specified after the -e
1112 option, if any, otherwise the application name.
1113 -xrm resourcestring
1115 This option specifies a resource string to be used. This is
1116 especially useful for setting resources that do not have
1117 separate command line options.
1118 X Toolkit accepts alternate names for a few of these options, e.g.,
1120 · “-background” for “-bg”
1122 · “-font” for “-fn”
1124 · “-foreground” for “-fg”
1126 Abbreviated options also are supported, e.g., “-v” for “-verbose.”
1128
1130 Xterm understands all of the core X Toolkit resource names and classes.
1131 Application specific resources (e.g., “XTerm.NAME”) follow:
1132 Application Resources
1134 backarrowKeyIsErase (class BackarrowKeyIsErase)
1135 Tie the VTxxx backarrowKey and ptyInitialErase resources
1136 together by setting the DECBKM state according to whether the
1137 initial erase character is a backspace (8) or delete (127)
1138 character. A “false” value disables this feature. The default
1139 is “False”.
1140 Here are tables showing how the initial settings for
1142 · backarrowKeyIsErase (BKIE),
1144 · backarrowKey (BK), and
1146 · ptyInitialErase (PIE), along with the
1148 · stty erase character (^H for backspace, ^? for delete)
1150 will affect DECBKM. First, xterm obtains the initial erase
1152 character:
1153 · xterm's internal value is ^H
1155 · xterm asks the operating system for the value which stty
1157 shows
1158 · the ttyModes resource may override erase
1160 · if ptyInitialErase is false, xterm will look in the
1162 terminal database
1163 Summarizing that as a table:
1165 PIE stty termcap erase
1167 ───────────────────────────────
1168 false ^H ^H ^H
1169 false ^H ^? ^?
1170 false ^? ^H ^H
1171 false ^? ^? ^?
1172 true ^H ^H ^H
1173 true ^H ^? ^H
1174 true ^? ^H ^?
1175 true ^? ^? ^?
1176 Using that erase character, xterm allows further choices:
1178 · if backarrowKeyIsErase is true, xterm uses the erase
1180 character for the initial state of DECBKM
1181 · if backarrowKeyIsErase is false, xterm sets DECBKM to 2
1183 (internal). This ties together backarrowKey and the
1184 control sequence for DECBKM.
1185 · applications can send a control sequence to set/reset
1187 DECBKM control set
1188 · the “Backarrow Key (BS/DEL)” menu entry toggles DECBKM
1190 Summarizing the initialization details:
1192 erase BKIE BK DECBKM result
1194 ────────────────────────────────────────
1195 ^? false false 2 ^H
1196 ^? false true 2 ^?
1197 ^? true false 0 ^?
1198 ^? true true 1 ^?
1199 ^H false false 2 ^H
1200 ^H false true 2 ^?
1201 ^H true false 0 ^H
1202 ^H true true 1 ^H
1203 fullscreen (class Fullscreen)
1205 Specifies whether or not xterm should ask the window manager to
1206 use a fullscreen layout on startup. Xterm accepts either a
1207 keyword (ignoring case) or the number shown in parentheses:
1208 false (0)
1210 Fullscreen layout is not used initially, but may be later
1211 via menu-selection or control sequence.
1212 true (1)
1214 Fullscreen layout is used initially, but may be disabled
1215 later via menu-selection or control sequence.
1216 always (2)
1218 Fullscreen layout is used initially, and cannot be disabled
1219 later via menu-selection or control sequence.
1220 never (3)
1222 Fullscreen layout is not used, and cannot be enabled later
1223 via menu-selection or control sequence.
1224 The default is “false”.
1226 hold (class Hold)
1228 If true, xterm will not immediately destroy its window when the
1229 shell command completes. It will wait until you use the window
1230 manager to destroy/kill the window, or if you use the menu
1231 entries that send a signal, e.g., HUP or KILL. You may scroll
1232 back, select text, etc., to perform most graphical operations.
1233 Resizing the display will lose data, however, since this
1234 involves interaction with the shell which is no longer running.
1235 hpFunctionKeys (class HpFunctionKeys)
1237 Specifies whether or not HP function key escape codes should be
1238 generated for function keys. The default is “false”, i.e.,
1239 this feature is disabled.
1240 The keyboardType resource is the preferred mechanism for
1242 selecting this mode.
1243 iconGeometry (class IconGeometry)
1245 Specifies the preferred size and position of the application
1246 when iconified. It is not necessarily obeyed by all window
1247 managers.
1248 iconHint (class IconHint)
1250 Specifies an icon which will be added to the window manager
1251 hints. Xterm provides no default value.
1252 Set this resource to “none” to omit the hint entirely, using
1254 whatever the window manager may decide.
1255 If the iconHint resource is given (or is set via the -n option)
1257 xterm searches for a pixmap file with that name, in the current
1258 directory as well as in /usr/share/pixmaps. if the resource
1259 does not specify an absolute pathname. In each case, xterm
1260 adds “_48x48” and/or “.xpm” to the filename after trying
1261 without those suffixes. If it is able to load the file, xterm
1262 sets the window manager hint for the icon-pixmap. These
1263 pixmaps are distributed with xterm, and can optionally be
1264 compiled-in:
1265 · mini.xterm_16x16, mini.xterm_32x32, mini.xterm_48x48
1267 · filled-xterm_16x16, filled-xterm_32x32, filled-xterm_48x48
1269 · xterm_16x16, xterm_32x32, xterm_48x48
1271 · xterm-color_16x16, xterm-color_32x32, xterm-color_48x48
1273 In either case, xterm allows for adding a “_48x48” to specify
1275 the largest of the pixmaps as a default. That is, “mini.xterm”
1276 is the same as “mini.xterm_48x48”.
1277 If no explicit iconHint resource is given (or if none of the
1279 compiled-in names matches), xterm uses “mini.xterm” (which is
1280 always compiled-in).
1281 The iconHint resource has no effect on “desktop” files,
1283 including “panel” and “menu”. Those are typically set via a
1284 “.desktop” file; xterm provides samples for itself (and the
1285 uxterm script). The more capable desktop systems allow
1286 changing the icon on a per-user basis.
1287 iconName (class IconName)
1289 Specifies a label for xterm when iconified. Xterm provides no
1290 default value; some window managers may assume the application
1291 name, e.g., “xterm”.
1292 Setting the iconName resource sets the icon label unless
1294 overridden by zIconBeep or the control sequences which change
1295 the window and icon labels.
1296 keyboardType (class KeyboardType)
1298 Enables one (or none) of the various keyboard-type resources:
1299 hpFunctionKeys, scoFunctionKeys, sunFunctionKeys,
1300 tcapFunctionKeys, oldXtermFKeys and sunKeyboard.
1301 The resource's value should be one of the corresponding strings
1303 “hp”, “sco”, “sun”, “tcap”, “legacy” or “vt220”, respectively.
1304 The individual resources are provided for legacy support; this
1306 resource is simpler to use. Xterm will use only one keyboard-
1307 type, but if multiple resources are set, it warns and uses the
1308 last one it checks.
1309 The default is “unknown”, i.e., none of the associated
1311 resources are set via this resource.
1312 maxBufSize (class MaxBufSize)
1314 Specify the maximum size of the input buffer. The default is
1315 “32768”. You cannot set this to a value less than the
1316 minBufSize resource. It will be increased as needed to make
1317 that value evenly divide this one.
1318 On some systems you may want to increase one or both of the
1320 maxBufSize and minBufSize resource values to achieve better
1321 performance if the operating system prefers larger buffer
1322 sizes.
1323 maximized (class Maximized)
1325 Specifies whether or not xterm should ask the window manager to
1326 maximize its layout on startup. The default is “false”.
1327 menuHeight (class MenuHeight)
1329 Specifies the height of the toolbar, which may be increased by
1330 the X toolkit layout widget depending upon the fontsize used.
1331 The default is “25”.
1332 messages (class Messages)
1334 Specifies whether write access to the terminal is allowed
1335 initially. See mesg(1). The default is “true”.
1336 menuLocale (class MenuLocale)
1338 Specify the locale used for character-set computations when
1339 loading the popup menus. Use this to improve initialization
1340 performance of the Athena popup menus, which may load
1341 unnecessary (and very large) fonts, e.g., in a locale having
1342 UTF-8 encoding. The default is “C” (POSIX).
1343 To use the current locale (only useful if you have localized
1345 the resource settings for the menu entries), set the resource
1346 to an empty string.
1347 minBufSize (class MinBufSize)
1349 Specify the minimum size of the input buffer, i.e., the amount
1350 of data that xterm requests on each read. The default is
1351 “4096”. You cannot set this to a value less than 64.
1352 omitTranslation (class OmitTranslation)
1354 Selectively omit one or more parts of xterm's default
1355 translations at startup. The resource value is a comma-
1356 separated list of keywords, which may be abbreviated:
1357 “fullscreen”, “scroll-lock”, “shift-fonts” or “wheel-mouse”.
1358 Xterm also recognizes “default”, but omitting that will make
1359 the program unusable unless you provide a similar definition in
1360 your resource settings.
1361 ptyHandshake (class PtyHandshake)
1363 If “true”, xterm will perform handshaking during initialization
1364 to ensure that the parent and child processes update the utmp
1365 and stty state.
1366 See also waitForMap which waits for the pseudo-terminal's
1368 notion of the screen size, and ptySttySize which resets the
1369 screen size after other terminal initialization is complete.
1370 The default is “true”.
1371 ptyInitialErase (class PtyInitialErase)
1373 If “true”, xterm will use the pseudo-terminal's sense of the
1374 stty erase value. If “false”, xterm will set the stty erase
1375 value to match its own configuration, using the kb string from
1376 the termcap entry as a reference, if available.
1377 In either case, the result is applied to the TERMCAP variable
1379 which xterm sets, if the system uses TERMCAP.
1380 See also the ttyModes resource, which may override this. The
1382 default is “False”.
1383 ptySttySize (class PtySttySize)
1385 If “true”, xterm will reset the screen size after terminal
1386 initialization is complete. This is needed for some systems
1387 whose pseudo-terminals cannot propagate terminal
1388 characteristics. Where it is not needed, it can interfere with
1389 other methods for setting the initial screen size, e.g., via
1390 window manager interaction.
1391 See also waitForMap which waits for a handshake-message giving
1393 the pseudo-terminal's notion of the screen size. The default
1394 is “false” on Linux and OS X systems, “true” otherwise.
1395 reportColors (class ReportColors)
1397 If true, xterm will print to the standard output a summary of
1398 colors as it allocates them. The default is “false”.
1399 reportFonts (class ReportFonts)
1401 If true, xterm will print to the standard output a summary of
1402 each font's metrics (size, number of glyphs, etc.), as it loads
1403 them. The default is “false”.
1404 sameName (class SameName)
1406 If the value of this resource is “true”, xterm does not send
1407 title and icon name change requests when the request would have
1408 no effect: the name is not changed. This has the advantage of
1409 preventing flicker and the disadvantage of requiring an extra
1410 round trip to the server to find out the previous value. In
1411 practice this should never be a problem. The default is
1412 “true”.
1413 scaleHeight (class ScaleHeight)
1415 Scale line-height values by the resource value, which is
1416 limited to “0.9” to “1.5”. The default value is “1.0”,
1417 While this resource applies to either bitmap or TrueType fonts,
1419 its main purpose is to help work around incompatible changes in
1420 the Xft library's font metrics. Xterm checks the font metrics
1421 to find what the library claims are the bounding boxes for each
1422 glyph (character). However, some of Xft's features (such as
1423 the autohinter) can cause the glyphs to be scaled larger than
1424 the bounding boxes, and be partly overwritten by the next row.
1425 See useClipping for a related resource.
1427 scoFunctionKeys (class ScoFunctionKeys)
1429 Specifies whether or not SCO function key escape codes should
1430 be generated for function keys. The default is “false”, i.e.,
1431 this feature is disabled.
1432 The keyboardType resource is the preferred mechanism for
1434 selecting this mode.
1435 sessionMgt (class SessionMgt)
1437 If the value of this resource is “true”, xterm sets up session
1438 manager callbacks for XtNdieCallback and XtNsaveCallback. The
1439 default is “true”.
1440 sunFunctionKeys (class SunFunctionKeys)
1442 Specifies whether or not Sun function key escape codes should
1443 be generated for function keys. The default is “false”, i.e.,
1444 this feature is disabled.
1445 The keyboardType resource is the preferred mechanism for
1447 selecting this mode.
1448 sunKeyboard (class SunKeyboard)
1450 Xterm translates certain key symbols based on its assumptions
1451 about your keyboard. This resource specifies whether or not
1452 Sun/PC keyboard layout (i.e., the PC keyboard's numeric keypad
1453 together with 12 function keys) should be assumed rather than
1454 DEC VT220. This causes the keypad “+” to be mapped to “,”.
1455 and CTRL F1-F10 to F11-F20, depending on the setting of the
1456 ctrlFKeys resource, so xterm emulates a DEC VT220 more
1457 accurately. Otherwise (the default, with sunKeyboard set to
1458 “false”), xterm uses PC-style bindings for the function keys
1459 and keypad.
1460 PC-style bindings use the Shift, Alt, Control and Meta keys as
1462 modifiers for function-keys and keypad (see Xterm Control
1463 Sequences for details). The PC-style bindings are analogous to
1464 PCTerm, but not the same thing. Normally these bindings do not
1465 conflict with the use of the Meta key as described for the
1466 eightBitInput resource. If they do, note that the PC-style
1467 bindings are evaluated first.
1468 See also the keyboardType resource.
1470 tcapFunctionKeys (class TcapFunctionKeys)
1472 Specifies whether or not function key escape codes read from
1473 the termcap/terminfo entry corresponding to the TERM
1474 environment variable should be generated for function keys
1475 instead of those configured using sunKeyboard and keyboardType.
1476 The default is “false”, i.e., this feature is disabled.
1477 The keyboardType resource is the preferred mechanism for
1479 selecting this mode.
1480 termName (class TermName)
1482 Specifies the terminal type name to be set in the TERM
1483 environment variable.
1484 title (class Title)
1486 Specifies a string that may be used by the window manager when
1487 displaying this application.
1488 toolBar (class ToolBar)
1490 Specifies whether or not the toolbar should be displayed. The
1491 default is “true”.
1492 ttyModes (class TtyModes)
1494 Specifies a string containing terminal setting keywords and the
1495 characters to which they may be bound. Allowable keywords
1496 include: brk, dsusp, eof, eol, eol2, erase, erase2, flush,
1497 intr, kill, lnext, quit, rprnt, start, status, stop, susp,
1498 swtch and weras. Control characters may be specified as ^char
1499 (e.g., ^c or ^u) and ^? may be used to indicate delete (127).
1500 Use ^- to denote undef. Use \034 to represent ^\, since a
1501 literal backslash in an X resource escapes the next character.
1502 This is very useful for overriding the default terminal
1504 settings without having to do an stty every time an xterm is
1505 started. Note, however, that the stty program on a given host
1506 may use different keywords; xterm's table is built in.
1507 If the ttyModes resource specifies a value for erase, that
1509 overrides the ptyInitialErase resource setting, i.e., xterm
1510 initializes the terminal to match that value.
1511 useInsertMode (class UseInsertMode)
1513 Force use of insert mode by adding appropriate entries to the
1514 TERMCAP environment variable. This is useful if the system
1515 termcap is broken. (This resource is ignored on most systems,
1516 because TERMCAP is not used). The default is “false”.
1517 utmpDisplayId (class UtmpDisplayId)
1519 Specifies whether or not xterm should try to record the display
1520 identifier (display number and screen number) as well as the
1521 hostname in the system utmp log file. The default is “true”.
1522 utmpInhibit (class UtmpInhibit)
1524 Specifies whether or not xterm should try to record the user's
1525 terminal in the system utmp log file. If true, xterm will not
1526 try. The default is “false”.
1527 waitForMap (class WaitForMap)
1529 Specifies whether or not xterm should wait for the initial
1530 window map before starting the subprocess. This is part of the
1531 ptyHandshake logic. When xterm is directed to wait in this
1532 fashion, it passes the terminal size from the display end of
1533 the pseudo-terminal to the terminal I/O connection, e.g., using
1534 the size according to the window manager. Otherwise, it uses
1535 the size as given in resource values or command-line option
1536 -geometry. The default is “false”.
1537 zIconBeep (class ZIconBeep)
1539 Same as -ziconbeep command line argument. If the value of this
1540 resource is non-zero, xterms that produce output while
1541 iconified will cause an XBell sound at the given volume and
1542 have “*** ” prepended to their icon titles. Most window
1543 managers will detect this change immediately, showing you which
1544 window has the output. (A similar feature was in x10 xterm.)
1545 The default is “false”.
1546 zIconTitleFormat (class ZIconTitleFormat)
1548 Allow customization of the string used in the zIconBeep
1549 feature. The default value is “*** %s”.
1550 If the resource value contains a “%s”, then xterm inserts the
1552 icon title at that point rather than prepending the string to
1553 the icon title. (Only the first “%s” is used).
1554 VT100 Widget Resources
1556 The following resources are specified as part of the vt100 widget
1557 (class VT100). They are specified by patterns such as
1558 “XTerm.vt100.NAME”.
1559 If your xterm is configured to support the “toolbar”, then those
1561 patterns need an extra level for the form-widget which holds the
1562 toolbar and vt100 widget. A wildcard between the top-level “XTerm” and
1563 the “vt100” widget makes the resource settings work for either, e.g.,
1564 “XTerm*vt100.NAME”.
1565 activeIcon (class ActiveIcon)
1567 Specifies whether or not active icon windows are to be used
1568 when the xterm window is iconified, if this feature is compiled
1569 into xterm. The active icon is a miniature representation of
1570 the content of the window and will update as the content
1571 changes. Not all window managers necessarily support
1572 application icon windows. Some window managers will allow you
1573 to enter keystrokes into the active icon window. The default
1574 is “default”.
1575 Xterm accepts either a keyword (ignoring case) or the number
1577 shown in parentheses:
1578 false (0)
1580 No active icon is shown.
1581 true (1)
1583 The active icon is shown. If you are using twm, use
1584 this setting to enable active-icons.
1585 default (2)
1587 Xterm checks at startup, and shows an active icon only
1588 for window managers which it can identify and which are
1589 known to support the feature. These are fvwm (full
1590 support), and window maker (limited). A few other
1591 windows managers (such as twm and ctwm) support active
1592 icons, but do not support the extensions which allow
1593 xterm to identify the window manager.
1594 allowBoldFonts (class AllowBoldFonts)
1596 When set to “false”, xterm will not use bold fonts. This
1597 overrides both the alwaysBoldMode and the boldMode resources.
1598 allowC1Printable (class AllowC1Printable)
1600 If true, overrides the mapping of C1 controls (codes 128–159)
1601 to make them be treated as if they were printable characters.
1602 Although this corresponds to no particular standard, some users
1603 insist it is a VT100. The default is “false”.
1604 allowColorOps (class AllowColorOps)
1606 Specifies whether control sequences that set/query the dynamic
1607 colors should be allowed. ANSI colors are unaffected by this
1608 resource setting. The default is “true”.
1609 allowFontOps (class AllowFontOps)
1611 Specifies whether control sequences that set/query the font
1612 should be allowed. The default is “true”.
1613 allowMouseOps (class AllowMouseOps)
1615 Specifies whether control sequences that enable xterm to send
1616 escape sequences to the host on mouse-clicks and movement. The
1617 default is “true”.
1618 allowPasteControls (class AllowPasteControls)
1620 If true, allow control characters such as BEL and CAN to be
1621 pasted. Formatting characters (tab, newline) are always
1622 allowed. Other C0 control characters are suppressed unless
1623 this resource is enabled. The exact set of control characters
1624 (C0 and C1) depends upon whether UTF-8 encoding is used, as
1625 well as the allowC1Printable resource. The default is “false”.
1626 allowScrollLock (class AllowScrollLock)
1628 Specifies whether control sequences that set/query the Scroll
1629 Lock key should be allowed, as well as whether the Scroll Lock
1630 key responds to user's keypress. The default is “false”.
1631 When this feature is enabled, xterm will sense the state of the
1633 Scroll Lock key each time it acquires focus. Pressing the
1634 Scroll Lock key toggles xterm's internal state, as well as
1635 toggling the associated LED. While the Scroll Lock is active,
1636 xterm attempts to keep a viewport on the same set of lines. If
1637 the current viewport is scrolled past the limit set by the
1638 saveLines resource, then Scroll Lock has no further effect.
1639 The reason for setting the default to “false” is to avoid user
1641 surprise. This key is generally unused in keyboard
1642 configurations, and has not acquired a standard meaning even
1643 when it is used in that manner. Consequently, users have
1644 assigned it for ad hoc purposes.
1645 allowSendEvents (class AllowSendEvents)
1647 Specifies whether or not synthetic key and button events
1648 (generated using the X protocol SendEvent request) should be
1649 interpreted or discarded. The default is “false” meaning they
1650 are discarded. Note that allowing such events would create a
1651 very large security hole, therefore enabling this resource
1652 forcefully disables the allowXXXOps resources. The default is
1653 “false”.
1654 allowTcapOps (class AllowTcapOps)
1656 Specifies whether control sequences that query the terminal's
1657 notion of its function-key strings, as termcap or terminfo
1658 capabilities should be allowed. The default is “true”.
1659 A few programs, e.g., vim, use this feature to get an accurate
1661 description of the terminal's capabilities, independent of the
1662 termcap/terminfo setting:
1663 · Xterm can tell the querying program how many colors it
1665 supports. This is a constant, depending on how it is
1666 compiled, typically 16. It does not change if you alter
1667 resource settings, e.g., the boldColors resource.
1668 · Xterm can tell the querying program what strings are sent
1670 by modified (shift-, control-, alt-) function- and keypad-
1671 keys. Reporting control- and alt-modifiers is a feature
1672 that relies on the ncurses extended naming.
1673 allowTitleOps (class AllowTitleOps)
1675 Specifies whether control sequences that modify the window
1676 title or icon name should be allowed. The default is “true”.
1677 allowWindowOps (class AllowWindowOps)
1679 Specifies whether extended window control sequences (as used in
1680 dtterm) should be allowed. These include several control
1681 sequences which manipulate the window size or position, as well
1682 as reporting these values and the title or icon name. Each of
1683 these can be abused in a script; curiously enough most terminal
1684 emulators that implement these restrict only a small part of
1685 the repertoire. For fine-tuning, see disallowedWindowOps. The
1686 default is “false”.
1687 altIsNotMeta (class AltIsNotMeta)
1689 If “true”, treat the Alt-key as if it were the Meta-key. Your
1690 keyboard may happen to be configured so they are the same. But
1691 if they are not, this allows you to use the same prefix- and
1692 shifting operations with the Alt-key as with the Meta-key. See
1693 altSendsEscape and metaSendsEscape. The default is “false”.
1694 altSendsEscape (class AltSendsEscape)
1696 This is an additional keyboard operation that may be processed
1697 after the logic for metaSendsEscape. It is only available if
1698 the altIsNotMeta resource is set.
1699 · If “true”, Alt characters (a character combined with the
1701 modifier associated with left/right Alt-keys) are converted
1702 into a two-character sequence with the character itself
1703 preceded by ESC. This applies as well to function key
1704 control sequences, unless xterm sees that Alt is used in
1705 your key translations.
1706 · If “false”, Alt characters input from the keyboard cause a
1708 shift to 8-bit characters (just like metaSendsEscape). By
1709 combining the Alt- and Meta-modifiers, you can create
1710 corresponding combinations of ESC-prefix and 8-bit
1711 characters.
1712 The default is “False”. Xterm provides a menu option for
1714 toggling this resource.
1715 alternateScroll (class ScrollCond)
1717 If “true”, the scroll-back and scroll-forw actions send
1718 cursor-up and -down keys when xterm is displaying the alternate
1719 screen. The default is “false”.
1720 The alternateScroll state can also be set using a control
1722 sequence.
1723 alwaysBoldMode (class AlwaysBoldMode)
1725 Specifies whether xterm should check if the normal and bold
1726 fonts are distinct before deciding whether to use overstriking
1727 to simulate bold fonts. If this resource is true, xterm does
1728 not make the check for distinct fonts when deciding how to
1729 handle the boldMode resource. The default is “false”.
1730 boldMode alwaysBoldMode Comparison Action
1732 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
1733 false false ignored use font
1734 false true ignored use font
1735 true false same overstrike
1736 true false different use font
1737 true true ignored overstrike
1738 This resource is used only for bitmap fonts:
1740 · When using bitmap fonts, it is possible that the font
1742 server will approximate the bold font by rescaling it from
1743 a different font size than expected. The alwaysBoldMode
1744 resource allows the user to override the (sometimes poor)
1745 resulting bold font with overstriking (which is at least
1746 consistent).
1747 · The problem does not occur with TrueType fonts (though
1749 there can be other unnecessary issues such as different
1750 coverage of the normal and bold fonts).
1751 As an alternative, setting the allowBoldFonts resource to false
1753 overrides both the alwaysBoldMode and the boldMode resources.
1754 alwaysHighlight (class AlwaysHighlight)
1756 Specifies whether or not xterm should always display a
1757 highlighted text cursor. By default (if this resource is
1758 false), a hollow text cursor is displayed whenever the pointer
1759 moves out of the window or the window loses the input focus.
1760 The default is “false”.
1761 alwaysUseMods (class AlwaysUseMods)
1763 Override the numLock resource, telling xterm to use the Alt and
1764 Meta modifiers to construct parameters for function key
1765 sequences even if those modifiers appear in the translations
1766 resource. Normally xterm checks if Alt or Meta is used in a
1767 translation that would conflict with function key modifiers,
1768 and will ignore these modifiers in that special case. The
1769 default is “false”.
1770 answerbackString (class AnswerbackString)
1772 Specifies the string that xterm sends in response to an ENQ
1773 (control/E) character from the host. The default is a blank
1774 string, i.e., “”. A hardware VT100 implements this feature as
1775 a setup option.
1776 appcursorDefault (class AppcursorDefault)
1778 If “true”, the cursor keys are initially in application mode.
1779 This is the same as the VT102 private DECCKM mode, The default
1780 is “false”.
1781 appkeypadDefault (class AppkeypadDefault)
1783 If “true”, the keypad keys are initially in application mode.
1784 The default is “false”.
1785 assumeAllChars (class AssumeAllChars)
1787 If “true”, this enables a special case in bitmap fonts to allow
1788 the font server to choose how to display missing glyphs. The
1789 default is “true”.
1790 The reason for this resource is to help with certain quasi-
1792 automatically generated fonts (such as the ISO-10646-1 encoding
1793 of Terminus) which have incorrect font-metrics.
1794 autoWrap (class AutoWrap)
1796 Specifies whether or not auto-wraparound should be enabled.
1797 This is the same as the VT102 DECAWM. The default is “true”.
1798 awaitInput (class AwaitInput)
1800 Specifies whether or not xterm uses a 50 millisecond timeout to
1801 await input (i.e., to support the Xaw3d arrow scrollbar). The
1802 default is “false”.
1803 backarrowKey (class BackarrowKey)
1805 Specifies whether the backarrow key transmits a backspace (8)
1806 or delete (127) character. This corresponds to the DECBKM
1807 control sequence. A “true” value specifies backspace. The
1808 default is “False”. Pressing the control key toggles this
1809 behavior.
1810 background (class Background)
1812 Specifies the color to use for the background of the window.
1813 The default is “XtDefaultBackground”.
1814 bellIsUrgent (class BellIsUrgent)
1816 Specifies whether to set the Urgency hint for the window
1817 manager when making a bell sound. The default is “false”.
1818 bellOnReset (class BellOnReset)
1820 Specifies whether to sound a bell when doing a hard reset. The
1821 default is “true”.
1822 bellSuppressTime (class BellSuppressTime)
1824 Number of milliseconds after a bell command is sent during
1825 which additional bells will be suppressed. Default is 200. If
1826 set non-zero, additional bells will also be suppressed until
1827 the server reports that processing of the first bell has been
1828 completed; this feature is most useful with the visible bell.
1829 boldColors (class ColorMode)
1831 Specifies whether to combine bold attribute with colors like
1832 the IBM PC, i.e., map colors 0 through 7 to colors 8 through
1833 15. These normally are the brighter versions of the first 8
1834 colors, hence bold. The default is “true”.
1835 boldFont (class BoldFont)
1837 Specifies the name of the bold font to use instead of
1838 overstriking. There is no default for this resource.
1839 This font must be the same height and width as the normal font,
1841 otherwise it is ignored. If only one of the normal or bold
1842 fonts is specified, it will be used as the normal font and the
1843 bold font will be produced by overstriking this font.
1844 See also the discussion of boldMode and alwaysBoldMode
1846 resources.
1847 boldMode (class BoldMode)
1849 This specifies whether or not text with the bold attribute
1850 should be overstruck to simulate bold fonts if the resolved
1851 bold font is the same as the normal font. It may be desirable
1852 to disable bold fonts when color is being used for the bold
1853 attribute.
1854 Note that xterm has one bold font which you may set explicitly.
1856 Xterm attempts to derive a bold font for the other font
1857 selections (font1 through font6). If it cannot find a bold
1858 font, it will use the normal font. In each case (whether the
1859 explicit resource or the derived font), if the normal and bold
1860 fonts are distinct, this resource has no effect. The default
1861 is “true”.
1862 See the alwaysBoldMode resource which can modify the behavior
1864 of this resource.
1865 Although xterm attempts to derive a bold font for other font
1867 selections, the font server may not cooperate. Since X11R6,
1868 bitmap fonts have been scaled. The font server claims to
1869 provide the bold font that xterm requests, but the result is
1870 not always readable. XFree86 introduced a feature which can be
1871 used to suppress the scaling. In the X server's configuration
1872 file (e.g., “/etc/X11/xorg.conf”), you can add “:unscaled” to
1873 the end of the directory specification for the “misc” fonts,
1874 which comprise the fixed-pitch fonts that are used by xterm.
1875 For example
1876 FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/misc/"
1878 would become
1880 FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/misc/:unscaled"
1882 Depending on your configuration, the font server may have its
1884 own configuration file. The same “:unscaled” can be added to
1885 its configuration file at the end of the directory
1886 specification for “misc”.
1887 The bitmap scaling feature is also used by xterm to implement
1889 VT102 double-width and double-height characters.
1890 brokenLinuxOSC (class BrokenLinuxOSC)
1892 If true, xterm applies a workaround to ignore malformed control
1893 sequences that a Linux script might send. Compare the palette
1894 control sequences documented in console_codes with ECMA-48.
1895 The default is “true”.
1896 brokenSelections (class BrokenSelections)
1898 If true, xterm in 8-bit mode will interpret STRING selections
1899 as carrying text in the current locale's encoding. Normally
1900 STRING selections carry ISO-8859-1 encoded text. Setting this
1901 resource to “true” violates the ICCCM; it may, however, be
1902 useful for interacting with some broken X clients. The default
1903 is “false”.
1904 brokenStringTerm (class BrokenStringTerm)
1906 provides a work-around for some ISDN routers which start an
1907 application control string without completing it. Set this to
1908 “true” if xterm appears to freeze when connecting. The default
1909 is “false”.
1910 Xterm's state parser recognizes several types of control
1912 strings which can contain text, e.g.,
1913 APC (Application Program Command),
1915 DCS (Device Control String),
1916 OSC (Operating System Command),
1917 PM (Privacy Message), and
1918 SOS (Start of String),
1919 Each should end with a string-terminator (a special character
1921 which cannot appear in these strings). Ordinary control
1922 characters found within the string are not ignored; they are
1923 processed without interfering with the process of accumulating
1924 the control string's content. Xterm recognizes these controls
1925 in all modes, although some of the functions may be suppressed
1926 after parsing the control.
1927 When enabled, this feature allows the user to exit from an
1929 unterminated control string when any of these ordinary control
1930 characters are found:
1931 control/D (used as an end of file in many shells),
1933 control/H (backspace),
1934 control/I (tab-feed),
1935 control/J (line feed aka newline),
1936 control/K (vertical tab),
1937 control/L (form feed),
1938 control/M (carriage return),
1939 control/N (shift-out),
1940 control/O (shift-in),
1941 control/Q (XOFF),
1942 control/X (cancel)
1943 c132 (class C132)
1945 Specifies whether or not the VT102 DECCOLM escape sequence,
1946 used to switch between 80 and 132 columns, should be honored.
1947 The default is “false”.
1948 cacheDoublesize (class CacheDoublesize)
1950 Tells whether to cache double-sized fonts by xterm. Set this
1951 to zero to disable double-sized fonts altogether.
1952 cdXtraScroll (class CdXtraScroll)
1954 Specifies whether xterm should scroll to a new page when
1955 clearing the whole screen. Like tiXtraScroll, the intent of
1956 this option is to provide a picture of the full-screen
1957 application's display on the scrollback before wiping out the
1958 text. The default for this resource is “false”.
1959 charClass (class CharClass)
1961 Specifies comma-separated lists of character class bindings of
1962 the form
1963 low[-high][:value].
1965 These are used in determining which sets of characters should
1967 be treated the same when doing cut and paste. See the
1968 CHARACTER CLASSES section.
1969 cjkWidth (class CjkWidth)
1971 Specifies whether xterm should follow the traditional East
1972 Asian width convention. When turned on, characters with East
1973 Asian Ambiguous (A) category in UTR 11 have a column width of
1974 2. You may have to set this option to “true” if you have some
1975 old East Asian terminal based programs that assume that line-
1976 drawing characters have a column width of 2. If this resource
1977 is false, the mkWidth resource controls the choice between the
1978 system's wcwidth and xterm's built-in tables. The default is
1979 “false”.
1980 color0 (class Color0)
1982 color1 (class Color1)
1984 color2 (class Color2)
1986 color3 (class Color3)
1988 color4 (class Color4)
1990 color5 (class Color5)
1992 color6 (class Color6)
1994 color7 (class Color7)
1996 These specify the colors for the ISO-6429 extension. The
1997 defaults are, respectively, black, red3, green3, yellow3, a
1998 customizable dark blue, magenta3, cyan3, and gray90. The
1999 default shades of color are chosen to allow the colors 8–15 to
2000 be used as brighter versions.
2001 color8 (class Color8)
2003 color9 (class Color9)
2005 color10 (class Color10)
2007 color11 (class Color11)
2009 color12 (class Color12)
2011 color13 (class Color13)
2013 color14 (class Color14)
2015 color15 (class Color15)
2017 These specify the colors for the ISO-6429 extension if the bold
2018 attribute is also enabled. The default resource values are
2019 respectively, gray30, red, green, yellow, a customizable light
2020 blue, magenta, cyan, and white.
2021 color16 (class Color16)
2023 through
2025 color255 (class Color255)
2027 These specify the colors for the 256-color extension. The
2028 default resource values are for colors 16 through 231 to make a
2029 6x6x6 color cube, and colors 232 through 255 to make a
2030 grayscale ramp.
2031 Resources past color15 are available as a compile-time option.
2033 Due to a hardcoded limit in the X libraries on the total number
2034 of resources (to 400), the resources for 256-colors are omitted
2035 when wide-character support and luit are enabled. Besides
2036 inconsistent behavior if only part of the resources were
2037 allowed, determining the exact cutoff is difficult, and the X
2038 libraries tend to crash if the number of resources exceeds the
2039 limit. The color palette is still initialized to the same
2040 default values, and can be modified via control sequences.
2041 On the other hand, the resource limit does permit including the
2043 entire range for 88-colors.
2044 colorAttrMode (class ColorAttrMode)
2046 Specifies whether colorBD, colorBL, colorRV, and colorUL should
2047 override ANSI colors. If not, these are displayed only when no
2048 ANSI colors have been set for the corresponding position. The
2049 default is “false”.
2050 colorBD (class ColorBD)
2052 This specifies the color to use to display bold characters if
2053 the “colorBDMode” resource is enabled. The default is
2054 “XtDefaultForeground”.
2055 See also the veryBoldColors resource which allows combining
2057 bold and color.
2058 colorBDMode (class ColorAttrMode)
2060 Specifies whether characters with the bold attribute should be
2061 displayed in color or as bold characters. Note that setting
2062 colorMode off disables all colors, including bold. The default
2063 is “false”.
2064 colorBL (class ColorBL)
2066 This specifies the color to use to display blink characters if
2067 the “colorBLMode” resource is enabled. The default is
2068 “XtDefaultForeground”.
2069 See also the veryBoldColors resource which allows combining
2071 underline and color.
2072 colorBLMode (class ColorAttrMode)
2074 Specifies whether characters with the blink attribute should be
2075 displayed in color. Note that setting colorMode off disables
2076 all colors, including this. The default is “false”.
2077 colorIT (class ColorIT)
2079 This specifies the color to use to display italic characters if
2080 the “colorITMode” resource is enabled. The default is
2081 “XtDefaultForeground”.
2082 See also the veryBoldColors resource which allows combining
2084 attributes and color.
2085 colorITMode (class ColorAttrMode)
2087 Specifies whether characters with the italic attribute should
2088 be displayed in color or as italic characters. The default is
2089 “false”.
2090 Note that:
2092 · Setting colorMode off disables all colors, including
2094 italic.
2095 · The italicULMode resource overrides colorITMode.
2097 colorMode (class ColorMode)
2099 Specifies whether or not recognition of ANSI (ISO-6429) color
2100 change escape sequences should be enabled. The default is
2101 “true”.
2102 colorRV (class ColorRV)
2104 This specifies the color to use to display reverse characters
2105 if the “colorRVMode” resource is enabled. The default is
2106 “XtDefaultForeground”.
2107 See also the veryBoldColors resource which allows combining
2109 reverse and color.
2110 colorRVMode (class ColorAttrMode)
2112 Specifies whether characters with the reverse attribute should
2113 be displayed in color. Note that setting colorMode off
2114 disables all colors, including this. The default is “false”.
2115 colorUL (class ColorUL)
2117 This specifies the color to use to display underlined
2118 characters if the “colorULMode” resource is enabled. The
2119 default is “XtDefaultForeground”.
2120 See also the veryBoldColors resource which allows combining
2122 underline and color.
2123 colorULMode (class ColorAttrMode)
2125 Specifies whether characters with the underline attribute
2126 should be displayed in color or as underlined characters. Note
2127 that setting colorMode off disables all colors, including
2128 underlining. The default is “false”.
2129 combiningChars (class CombiningChars)
2131 Specifies the number of wide-characters which can be stored in
2132 a cell to overstrike (combine) with the base character of the
2133 cell. This can be set to values in the range 0 to 5. The
2134 default is “2”.
2135 ctrlFKeys (class CtrlFKeys)
2137 In VT220 keyboard mode (see sunKeyboard resource), specifies
2138 the amount by which to shift F1-F12 given a control modifier
2139 (CTRL). This allows you to generate key symbols for F10-F20 on
2140 a Sun/PC keyboard. The default is “10”, which means that CTRL
2141 F1 generates the key symbol for F11.
2142 curses (class Curses)
2144 Specifies whether or not the last column bug in more(1) should
2145 be worked around. See the -cu option for details. The default
2146 is “false”.
2147 cursorBlink (class CursorBlink)
2149 Specifies whether to make the cursor blink. Xterm accepts
2150 either a keyword (ignoring case) or the number shown in
2151 parentheses:
2152 false (0)
2154 The cursor will not blink, but may be combined with escape
2155 sequences according to the cursorBlinkXOR resource.
2156 true (1)
2158 The cursor will blink, but may be combined with escape
2159 sequences according to the cursorBlinkXOR resource.
2160 always (2)
2162 The cursor will always blink, ignoring escape sequences.
2163 The menu entry will be disabled.
2164 never (3)
2166 The cursor will never blink, ignoring escape sequences. The
2167 menu entry will be disabled.
2168 The default is “false”.
2170 cursorBlinkXOR (class CursorBlinkXOR)
2172 Xterm uses two inputs to determine whether the cursor blinks:
2173 · The cursorBlink resource (which can be altered with a menu
2175 entry).
2176 · Control sequences (private mode 12 and DECSCUSR).
2178 The cursorBlinkXOR resource determines how those inputs are
2180 combined:
2181 false
2183 Xterm uses the logical-OR of the two variables. If either
2184 is set, xterm makes the cursor blink.
2185 true
2187 Xterm uses the logical-XOR of the two variables. If only
2188 one is set, xterm makes the cursor blink.
2189 The default is “true”.
2191 cursorColor (class CursorColor)
2193 Specifies the color to use for the text cursor. The default is
2194 “XtDefaultForeground”. By default, xterm attempts to keep this
2195 color from being the same as the background color, since it
2196 draws the cursor by filling the background of a text cell. The
2197 same restriction applies to control sequences which may change
2198 this color.
2199 Setting this resource overrides most of xterm's adjustments to
2201 cursor color. It will still use reverse-video to disallow some
2202 cases, such as a black cursor on a black background.
2203 cursorOffTime (class CursorOffTime)
2205 Specifies the duration of the “off” part of the cursor blink
2206 cycle-time in milliseconds. The same timer is used for text
2207 blinking. The default is “300”.
2208 cursorOnTime (class CursorOnTime)
2210 Specifies the duration of the “on” part of the cursor blink
2211 cycle-time, in milliseconds. The same timer is used for text
2212 blinking. The default is “600”.
2213 cursorUnderLine (class CursorUnderLine)
2215 Specifies whether to make the cursor underlined or a box. The
2216 default is “false”.
2217 cutNewline (class CutNewline)
2219 If “false”, triple clicking to select a line does not include
2220 the Newline at the end of the line. If “true”, the Newline is
2221 selected. The default is “true”.
2222 cutToBeginningOfLine (class CutToBeginningOfLine)
2224 If “false”, triple clicking to select a line selects only from
2225 the current word forward. If “true”, the entire line is
2226 selected. The default is “true”.
2227 decTerminalID (class DecTerminalID)
2229 Specifies the emulation level (100=VT100, 220=VT220, etc.),
2230 used to determine the type of response to a DA control
2231 sequence. Leading non-digit characters are ignored, e.g.,
2232 “vt100” and “100” are the same. The default is “420”.
2233 defaultString (class DefaultString)
2235 Specify the character (or string) which xterm will substitute
2236 when pasted text includes a character which cannot be
2237 represented in the current encoding. For instance, pasting
2238 UTF-8 text into a display of ISO-8859-1 characters will only be
2239 able to display codes 0–255, while UTF-8 text can include
2240 Unicode values above 255. The default is “#” (a single pound
2241 sign).
2242 If the undisplayable text would be double-width, xterm will add
2244 a space after the “#” character, to give roughly the same
2245 layout on the screen as the original text.
2246 deleteIsDEL (class DeleteIsDEL)
2248 Specifies whether the Delete key on the editing keypad should
2249 send DEL (127) or the VT220-style Remove escape sequence. A
2250 “false” value enables the latter. The default is “Maybe”.
2251 directColor (class DirectColor)
2253 Specifies whether to handle direct-color control sequences
2254 using the X server's available colors, or to approximate those
2255 using a color map with 256 entries. A “true” value enables the
2256 former. The default is “true”.
2257 disallowedColorOps (class DisallowedColorOps)
2259 Specify which features will be disabled if allowColorOps is
2260 false. This is a comma-separated list of names. The default
2261 value is
2262 SetColor,GetColor,GetAnsiColor
2263 The names are listed below. Xterm ignores capitalization, but
2265 they are shown in mixed-case for clarity.
2266 SetColor
2268 Set a specific dynamic color.
2269 GetColor
2271 Report the current setting of a given dynamic color.
2272 GetAnsiColor
2274 Report the current setting of a given ANSI color (actually
2275 any of the colors set via ANSI-style controls).
2276 disallowedFontOps (class DisallowedFontOps)
2278 Specify which features will be disabled if allowFontOps is
2279 false. This is a comma-separated list of names. The default
2280 value is
2281 SetFont,GetFont
2283 The names are listed below. Xterm ignores capitalization, but
2285 they are shown in mixed-case for clarity.
2286 SetFont
2288 Set the specified font.
2289 GetFont
2291 Report the specified font.
2292 disallowedMouseOps (class DisallowedMouseOps)
2294 Specify which features will be disabled if allowMouseOps is
2295 false. This is a comma-separated list of names. The default
2296 value is “*” which matches all names. The names are listed
2297 below. Xterm ignores capitalization, but they are shown in
2298 mixed-case for clarity.
2299 X10 The original X10 mouse protocol.
2301 Locator
2303 DEC locator mode
2304 VT200Click
2306 X11 mouse-clicks only.
2307 VT200Hilite
2309 X11 mouse-clicks and highlighting.
2310 AnyButton
2312 XFree86 xterm any-button mode sends button-clicks as well
2313 as motion events while the button is pressed.
2314 AnyEvent
2316 XFree86 xterm any-event mode sends button-clicks as well
2317 as motion events whether or not a button is pressed.
2318 FocusEvent
2320 Send FocusIn/FocusOut events.
2321 Extended
2323 The first extension beyond X11 mouse protocol, this
2324 encodes the coordinates in UTF-8. It is deprecated in
2325 favor of SGR, but provided for compatibility.
2326 SGR This is the recommended extension for mouse-coordinates
2328 URXVT
2330 Like Extended, this is provided for compatibility.
2331 AlternateScroll
2333 This overrides the alternateScroll resource.
2334 disallowedTcapOps (class DisallowedTcapOps)
2336 Specify which features will be disabled if allowTcapOps is
2337 false. This is a comma-separated list of names. The default
2338 value is
2339 SetTcap,GetTcap
2341 The names are listed below. Xterm ignores capitalization, but
2343 they are shown in mixed-case for clarity.
2344 SetTcap
2346 (not implemented)
2347 GetTcap
2349 Report specified function- and other special keys.
2350 disallowedWindowOps (class DisallowedWindowOps)
2352 Specify which features will be disabled if allowWindowOps is
2353 false. This is a comma-separated list of names, or (for the
2354 controls adapted from dtterm the operation number). The
2355 default value is
2356 20,21,SetXprop,SetSelection
2358 (i.e. no operations are allowed).
2359 The names are listed below. Xterm ignores capitalization, but
2361 they are shown in mixed-case for clarity. Where a number can
2362 be used as an alternative, it is given in parentheses after the
2363 name.
2364 GetIconTitle (20)
2366 Report xterm window's icon label as a string.
2367 GetScreenSizeChars (19)
2369 Report the size of the screen in characters as numbers.
2370 GetSelection
2372 Report selection data as a base64 string.
2373 GetWinPosition (13)
2375 Report xterm window position as numbers.
2376 GetWinSizeChars (18)
2378 Report the size of the text area in characters as numbers.
2379 GetWinSizePixels (14)
2381 Report xterm window in pixels as numbers.
2382 GetWinState (11)
2384 Report xterm window state as a number.
2385 GetWinTitle (21)
2387 Report xterm window's title as a string.
2388 LowerWin (6)
2390 Lower the xterm window to the bottom of the stacking
2391 order.
2392 MaximizeWin (9)
2394 Maximize window (i.e., resize to screen size).
2395 FullscreenWin (10)
2397 Use full screen (i.e., resize to screen size, without
2398 window decorations).
2399 MinimizeWin (2)
2401 Iconify window.
2402 PopTitle (23)
2404 Pop title from internal stack.
2405 PushTitle (22)
2407 Push title to internal stack.
2408 RaiseWin (5)
2410 Raise the xterm window to the front of the stacking order.
2411 RefreshWin (7)
2413 Refresh the xterm window.
2414 RestoreWin (1)
2416 De-iconify window.
2417 SetSelection
2419 Set selection data.
2420 SetWinLines
2422 Resize to a given number of lines, at least 24.
2423 SetWinPosition (3)
2425 Move window to given coordinates.
2426 SetWinSizeChars (8)
2428 Resize the text area to given size in characters.
2429 SetWinSizePixels (4)
2431 Resize the xterm window to given size in pixels.
2432 SetXprop
2434 Set X property on top-level window.
2435 dynamicColors (class DynamicColors)
2437 Specifies whether or not escape sequences to change colors
2438 assigned to different attributes are recognized.
2439 eightBitControl (class EightBitControl)
2441 Specifies whether or not control sequences sent by the terminal
2442 should be eight-bit characters or escape sequences. The
2443 default is “false”.
2444 eightBitInput (class EightBitInput)
2446 If “true”, Meta characters (a single-byte character combined
2447 with the Meta modifier key) input from the keyboard are
2448 presented as a single character, modified according to the
2449 eightBitMeta resource. If “false”, Meta characters are
2450 converted into a two-character sequence with the character
2451 itself preceded by ESC. The default is “true”.
2452 The metaSendsEscape and altSendsEscape resources may override
2454 this feature. Generally keyboards do not have a key labeled
2455 “Meta”, but “Alt” keys are common, and they are conventionally
2456 used for “Meta”. If they were synonymous, it would have been
2457 reasonable to name this resource “altSendsEscape”, reversing
2458 its sense. For more background on this, see the meta(3x)
2459 function in curses.
2460 Note that the Alt key is not necessarily the same as the Meta
2462 modifier. The xmodmap utility lists your key modifiers. X
2463 defines modifiers for shift, (caps) lock and control, as well
2464 as 5 additional modifiers which are generally used to configure
2465 key modifiers. Xterm inspects the same information to find the
2466 modifier associated with either Meta key (left or right), and
2467 uses that key as the Meta modifier. It also looks for the
2468 NumLock key, to recognize the modifier which is associated with
2469 that.
2470 If your xmodmap configuration uses the same keycodes for Alt-
2472 and Meta-keys, xterm will only see the Alt-key definitions,
2473 since those are tested before Meta-keys. NumLock is tested
2474 first. It is important to keep these keys distinct; otherwise
2475 some of xterm's functionality is not available.
2476 The eightBitInput resource is tested at startup time. If
2478 “true”, the xterm tries to put the terminal into 8-bit mode.
2479 If “false”, on startup, xterm tries to put the terminal into
2480 7-bit mode. For some configurations this is unsuccessful;
2481 failure is ignored. After startup, xterm does not change the
2482 terminal between 8-bit and 7-bit mode.
2483 As originally implemented in X11, the resource value did not
2485 change after startup. However (since patch #216 in 2006) xterm
2486 can modify eightBitInput after startup via a control sequence.
2487 The corresponding terminfo capabilities smm (set meta mode) and
2488 rmm (reset meta mode) have been recognized by bash for some
2489 time. Interestingly enough, bash's notion of “meta mode”
2490 differs from the standard definition (in the terminfo manual),
2491 which describes the change to the eighth bit of a character.
2492 It happens that bash views “meta mode” as the ESC character
2493 that xterm puts before a character when a special meta key is
2494 pressed. bash's early documentation talks about the ESC
2495 character and ignores the eighth bit.
2496 eightBitMeta (class EightBitMeta)
2498 This controls the way xterm modifies the eighth bit of a
2499 single-byte key when the eightBitInput resource is set. The
2500 default is “locale”.
2501 The resource value is a string, evaluated as a boolean after
2503 startup.
2504 false
2506 The key is sent unmodified.
2507 locale
2509 The key is modified only if the locale uses eight-bit
2510 encoding.
2511 true The key is sent modified.
2513 never
2515 The key is always sent unmodified.
2516 Except for the never choice, xterm honors the terminfo
2518 capabilities smm (set meta mode) and rmm (reset meta mode),
2519 allowing the feature to be turned on or off dynamically.
2520 If eightBitMeta is enabled when the locale uses UTF-8, xterm
2522 encodes the value as UTF-8 (since patch #183 in 2003).
2523 eightBitOutput (class EightBitOutput)
2525 Specifies whether or not eight-bit characters sent from the
2526 host should be accepted as is or stripped when printed. The
2527 default is “true”, which means that they are accepted as is.
2528 eightBitSelectTypes (class EightBitSelectTypes)
2530 Override xterm's default selection target list (see
2531 SELECT/PASTE) for selections in normal (ISO-8859-1) mode. The
2532 default is an empty string, i.e., “”, which does not override
2533 anything.
2534 eraseSavedLines (class EraseSavedLines)
2536 Specifies whether or not to allow xterm extended ED/DECSED
2537 control sequences to erase the saved-line buffer. The default
2538 is “true”.
2539 faceName (class FaceName)
2541 Specify the pattern for scalable fonts selected from the
2542 FreeType library if support for that library was compiled into
2543 xterm. There is no default value.
2544 One or more fonts can be specified, separated by commas. If
2546 prefixed with “x:” or “x11:” the specification applies to the
2547 XLFD font resource. A “xft:” prefix is accepted but
2548 unnecessary since a missing prefix for faceName means that it
2549 will be used for TrueType. For example,
2550 XTerm*faceName: x:fixed,xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono
2552 If no faceName resource is specified, or if there is no match
2554 for both TrueType normal and bold fonts, xterm uses the XLFD
2555 (bitmap) font and related resources.
2556 It is possible to select suitable bitmap fonts using a script
2558 such as this:
2559 #!/bin/sh
2561 FONT=`xfontsel -print`
2562 test -n "$FONT" && xfd -fn "$FONT"
2563 However (even though xfd accepts a “-fa” option to denote
2565 FreeType fonts), xfontsel has not been similarly extended. As
2566 a workaround, you may try
2567 fc-list :scalable=true:spacing=mono: family
2569 to find a list of scalable fixed-pitch fonts which may be used
2571 for the faceName resource value.
2572 faceNameDoublesize (class FaceNameDoublesize)
2574 Specify a double-width scalable font for cases where an
2575 application requires this, e.g., in CJK applications. There is
2576 no default value.
2577 Like the faceName resource, this allows one or more comma-
2579 separated font specifications to be applied to the wide
2580 TrueType or XLFD fonts.
2581 If the application uses double-wide characters and this
2583 resource is not given, xterm will use a scaled version of the
2584 font given by faceName.
2585 faceSize (class FaceSize)
2587 Specify the pointsize for fonts selected from the FreeType
2588 library if support for that library was compiled into xterm.
2589 The default is “14.0” On the VT Fonts menu, this corresponds to
2590 the Default entry.
2591 Although the default is “14.0”, this may not be the same as the
2593 pointsize for the default bitmap font, i.e., that assigned with
2594 the -fn option, or the font resource. For example, the “fixed”
2595 font usually has a pointsize of “8.0”. If you set faceSize to
2596 match the size of the bitmap font, then switching between
2597 bitmap and TrueType fonts via the font menu will give
2598 comparable sizes for the window.
2599 You can specify the pointsize for TrueType fonts selected with
2601 the other size-related menu entries such as Medium, Huge, etc.,
2602 by using one of the following resource values. If you do not
2603 specify a value, they default to “0.0”, which causes xterm to
2604 use the ratio of font sizes from the corresponding bitmap font
2605 resources to obtain a TrueType pointsize.
2606 If all of the faceSize resources are set, then xterm will use
2608 this information to determine the next smaller/larger TrueType
2609 font for the larger-vt-font() and smaller-vt-font() actions.
2610 If any are not set, xterm will use only the areas of the bitmap
2611 fonts.
2612 faceSize1 (class FaceSize1)
2614 Specifies the pointsize of the first alternative font.
2615 faceSize2 (class FaceSize2)
2617 Specifies the pointsize of the second alternative font.
2618 faceSize3 (class FaceSize3)
2620 Specifies the pointsize of the third alternative font.
2621 faceSize4 (class FaceSize4)
2623 Specifies the pointsize of the fourth alternative font.
2624 faceSize5 (class FaceSize5)
2626 Specifies the pointsize of the fifth alternative font.
2627 faceSize6 (class FaceSize6)
2629 Specifies the pointsize of the sixth alternative font.
2630 font (class Font)
2632 Specifies the name of the normal font. The default is “fixed”.
2633 See the discussion of the locale resource, which describes how
2635 this font may be overridden.
2636 NOTE: some resource files use patterns such as
2638 *font: fixed
2640 which are overly broad, affecting both
2642 xterm.vt100.font
2644 and
2646 xterm.vt100.utf8Fonts.font
2648 which is probably not what you intended.
2650 fastScroll (class FastScroll)
2652 Modifies the effect of jump scroll (jumpScroll) by suppressing
2653 screen refreshes for the special case when output to the screen
2654 has completely shifted the contents off-screen. For instance,
2655 cat'ing a large file to the screen does this.
2656 font1 (class Font1)
2658 Specifies the name of the first alternative font, corresponding
2659 to “Unreadable” in the standard menu.
2660 font2 (class Font2)
2662 Specifies the name of the second alternative font,
2663 corresponding to “Tiny” in the standard menu.
2664 font3 (class Font3)
2666 Specifies the name of the third alternative font, corresponding
2667 to “Small” in the standard menu.
2668 font4 (class Font4)
2670 Specifies the name of the fourth alternative font,
2671 corresponding to “Medium” in the standard menu.
2672 font5 (class Font5)
2674 Specifies the name of the fifth alternative font, corresponding
2675 to “Large” in the standard menu.
2676 font6 (class Font6)
2678 Specifies the name of the sixth alternative font, corresponding
2679 to “Huge” in the standard menu.
2680 fontDoublesize (class FontDoublesize)
2682 Specifies whether xterm should attempt to use font scaling to
2683 draw double-sized characters. Some older font servers cannot
2684 do this properly, will return misleading font metrics. The
2685 default is “true”. If disabled, xterm will simulate double-
2686 sized characters by drawing normal characters with spaces
2687 between them.
2688 fontWarnings (class FontWarnings)
2690 Specify whether xterm should report an error if it fails to
2691 load a font:
2692 0 Never report an error (though the X libraries may).
2694 1 Report an error if the font name was given as a resource
2696 setting.
2697 2 Always report an error on failure to load a font.
2699 The default is “1”.
2701 forceBoxChars (class ForceBoxChars)
2703 Specifies whether xterm should assume the normal and bold fonts
2704 have VT100 line-drawing characters:
2705 · The fixed-pitch ISO-8859-*-encoded fonts used by xterm
2707 normally have the VT100 line-drawing glyphs in cells 1–31.
2708 Other fixed-pitch fonts may be more attractive, but lack
2709 these glyphs.
2710 · When using an ISO-10646-1 font and the wideChars resource
2712 is true, xterm uses the Unicode glyphs which match the
2713 VT100 line-drawing glyphs.
2714 If “false”, xterm checks for missing glyphs in the font and
2716 makes line-drawing characters directly as needed. If “true”,
2717 xterm assumes the font does not contain the line-drawing
2718 characters, and draws them directly. The default is “false”.
2719 forcePackedFont (class ForcePackedFont)
2721 Specifies whether xterm should use the maximum or minimum glyph
2722 width when displaying using a bitmap font. Use the maximum
2723 width to help with proportional fonts. The default is “true”,
2724 denoting the minimum width.
2725 foreground (class Foreground)
2727 Specifies the color to use for displaying text in the window.
2728 Setting the class name instead of the instance name is an easy
2729 way to have everything that would normally appear in the text
2730 color change color. The default is “XtDefaultForeground”.
2731 formatOtherKeys (class FormatOtherKeys)
2733 Overrides the format of the escape sequence used to report
2734 modified keys with the modifyOtherKeys resource.
2735 0 send modified keys as parameters for function-key 27
2737 (default).
2738 1 send modified keys as parameters for CSI u.
2740 freeBoldBox (class FreeBoldBox)
2742 Specifies whether xterm should assume the bounding boxes for
2743 normal and bold fonts are compatible. If “false”, xterm
2744 compares them and will reject choices of bold fonts that do not
2745 match the size of the normal font. The default is “false”,
2746 which means that the comparison is performed.
2747 geometry (class Geometry)
2749 Specifies the preferred size and position of the VTxxx window.
2750 There is no default for this resource.
2751 highlightColor (class HighlightColor)
2753 Specifies the color to use for the background of selected
2754 (highlighted) text. If not specified (i.e., matching the
2755 default foreground), reverse video is used. The default is
2756 “XtDefaultForeground”.
2757 highlightColorMode (class HighlightColorMode)
2759 Specifies whether xterm should use highlightTextColor and
2760 highlightColor to override the reversed foreground/background
2761 colors in a selection. The default is unspecified: at startup,
2762 xterm checks if those resources are set to something other than
2763 the default foreground and background colors. Setting this
2764 resource disables the check.
2765 The following table shows the interaction of the highlighting
2767 resources, abbreviated as shown to fit in this page:
2768 HCM
2770 highlightColorMode
2771 HR highlightReverse
2773 HBG
2775 highlightColor
2776 HFG
2778 highlightTextColor
2779 HCM HR HBG HFG Highlight
2781 ────────────────────────────────────────────────
2782 false false default default bg/fg
2783 false false default set bg/fg
2784 false false set default fg/HBG
2785 false false set set fg/HBG
2786 ────────────────────────────────────────────────
2787 false true default default bg/fg
2788 false true default set bg/fg
2789 false true set default fg/HBG
2790 false true set set fg/HBG
2791 ────────────────────────────────────────────────
2792 true false default default bg/fg
2793 true false default set HFG/fg
2794 true false set default bg/HBG
2795 true false set set HFG/HBG
2796 ────────────────────────────────────────────────
2797 true true default default bg/fg
2798 true true default set HFG/fg
2799 true true set default fg/HBG
2800 true true set set HFG/HBG
2801 ────────────────────────────────────────────────
2802 default false default default bg/fg
2803 default false default set bg/fg
2804 default false set default fg/HBG
2805 default false set set HFG/HBG
2806 ────────────────────────────────────────────────
2807 default true default default bg/fg
2808 default true default set bg/fg
2809 default true set default fg/HBG
2810 default true set set HFG/HBG
2811 ────────────────────────────────────────────────
2812 highlightReverse (class HighlightReverse)
2814 Specifies whether xterm should reverse the selection foreground
2815 and background colors when selecting text with reverse-video
2816 attribute. This applies only to the highlightColor and
2817 highlightTextColor resources, e.g., to match the color scheme
2818 of xwsh. If “true”, xterm reverses the colors, If “false”,
2819 xterm does not reverse colors, The default is “true”.
2820 highlightSelection (class HighlightSelection)
2822 If “false”, selecting with the mouse highlights all positions
2823 on the screen between the beginning of the selection and the
2824 current position. If “true”, xterm highlights only the
2825 positions that contain text that can be selected. The default
2826 is “false”.
2827 Depending on the way your applications write to the screen,
2829 there may be trailing blanks on a line. Xterm stores data as
2830 it is shown on the screen. Erasing the display changes the
2831 internal state of each cell so it is not considered a blank for
2832 the purpose of selection. Blanks written since the last erase
2833 are selectable. If you do not wish to have trailing blanks in
2834 a selection, use the trimSelection resource.
2835 highlightTextColor (class HighlightTextColor)
2837 Specifies the color to use for the foreground of selected
2838 (highlighted) text. If not specified (i.e., matching the
2839 default background), reverse video is used. The default is
2840 “XtDefaultBackground”.
2841 hpLowerleftBugCompat (class HpLowerleftBugCompat)
2843 Specifies whether to work around a bug in HP's xdb, which
2844 ignores termcap and always sends ESC F to move to the lower
2845 left corner. “true” causes xterm to interpret ESC F as a
2846 request to move to the lower left corner of the screen. The
2847 default is “false”.
2848 i18nSelections (class I18nSelections)
2850 If false, xterm will not request the targets COMPOUND_TEXT or
2851 TEXT. The default is “true”. It may be set to false in order
2852 to work around ICCCM violations by other X clients.
2853 iconBorderColor (class BorderColor)
2855 Specifies the border color for the active icon window if this
2856 feature is compiled into xterm. Not all window managers will
2857 make the icon border visible.
2858 iconBorderWidth (class BorderWidth)
2860 Specifies the border width for the active icon window if this
2861 feature is compiled into xterm. The default is “2”. Not all
2862 window managers will make the border visible.
2863 iconFont (class IconFont)
2865 Specifies the font for the miniature active icon window, if
2866 this feature is compiled into xterm. The default is “nil2”.
2867 initialFont (class InitialFont)
2869 Specifies which of the VT100 fonts to use initially. Values
2870 are the same as for the set-vt-font action. The default is
2871 “d”, i.e., “default”.
2872 inputMethod (class InputMethod)
2874 Tells xterm which type of input method to use. There is no
2875 default method.
2876 internalBorder (class BorderWidth)
2878 Specifies the number of pixels between the characters and the
2879 window border. The default is “2”.
2880 italicULMode (class ColorAttrMode)
2882 Specifies whether characters with the underline attribute
2883 should be displayed in an italic font or as underlined
2884 characters. It is implemented only for TrueType fonts.
2885 jumpScroll (class JumpScroll)
2887 Specifies whether or not jump scroll should be used. This
2888 corresponds to the VT102 DECSCLM private mode. The default is
2889 “true”. See fastScroll for a variation.
2890 keepClipboard (class KeepClipboard)
2892 Specifies whether xterm will reuse the selection data which it
2893 copied to the keyboard rather than asking the clipboard for its
2894 current contents when told to provide the selection. The
2895 default is “false”.
2896 keepSelection (class KeepSelection)
2898 Specifies whether xterm will keep the selection even after the
2899 selected area was touched by some output to the terminal. The
2900 default is “true”.
2901 keyboardDialect (class KeyboardDialect)
2903 Specifies the initial keyboard dialect, as well as the default
2904 value when the terminal is reset. The value given is the same
2905 as the final character in the control sequences which change
2906 character sets. The default is “B”, which corresponds to US
2907 ASCII.
2908 nameKeymap (class NameKeymap)
2910 See the discussion of the keymap() action.
2911 limitResize (class LimitResize)
2913 Limits resizing of the screen via control sequence to a given
2914 multiple of the display dimensions. The default is “1”.
2915 locale (class Locale)
2917 Specifies how to use luit, an encoding converter between UTF-8
2918 and locale encodings. The resource value (ignoring case) may
2919 be:
2920 true
2922 Xterm will use the encoding specified by the users'
2923 LC_CTYPE locale (i.e., LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, or LANG variables)
2924 as far as possible. This is realized by always enabling
2925 UTF-8 mode and invoking luit in non-UTF-8 locales.
2926 medium
2928 Xterm will follow users' LC_CTYPE locale only for UTF-8,
2929 east Asian, and Thai locales, where the encodings were not
2930 supported by conventional 8bit mode with changing fonts.
2931 For other locales, xterm will use conventional 8bit mode.
2932 checkfont
2934 If mini-luit is compiled-in, xterm will check if a Unicode
2935 font has been specified. If so, it checks if the character
2936 encoding for the current locale is POSIX, Latin-1 or
2937 Latin-9, uses the appropriate mapping to support those with
2938 the Unicode font. For other encodings, xterm assumes that
2939 UTF-8 encoding is required.
2940 false
2942 Xterm will use conventional 8bit mode or UTF-8 mode
2943 according to utf8 resource or -u8 option.
2944 Any other value, e.g., “UTF-8” or “ISO8859-2”, is assumed to be
2946 an encoding name; luit will be invoked to support the encoding.
2947 The actual list of supported encodings depends on luit. The
2948 default is “medium”.
2949 Regardless of your locale and encoding, you need an ISO-10646-1
2951 font to display the result. Your configuration may not include
2952 this font, or locale-support by xterm may not be needed.
2953 At startup, xterm uses a mechanism equivalent to the load-vt-
2955 fonts(utf8Fonts, Utf8Fonts) action to load font name
2956 subresources of the VT100 widget. That is, resource patterns
2957 such as “*vt100.utf8Fonts.font” will be loaded, and (if this
2958 resource is enabled), override the normal fonts. If no
2959 subresources are found, the normal fonts such as “*vt100.font”,
2960 etc., are used.
2961 For instance, you could have this in your resource file:
2963 *VT100.font: 12x24
2965 *VT100.utf8Fonts.font:9x15
2966 When started with a UTF-8 locale, xterm would use 9x15, but
2968 allow you to switch to the 12x24 font using the menu entry
2969 “UTF-8 Fonts”.
2970 The resource files distributed with xterm use ISO-10646-1
2972 fonts, but do not rely on them unless you are using the locale
2973 mechanism.
2974 localeFilter (class LocaleFilter)
2976 Specifies the file name for the encoding converter from/to
2977 locale encodings and UTF-8 which is used with the -lc option or
2978 locale resource. The help message shown by “xterm -help” lists
2979 the default value, which depends on your system configuration.
2980 If the encoding converter requires command-line parameters, you
2982 can add those after the command, e.g.,
2983 *localeFilter: xterm-filter -p
2985 Alternatively, you may put those parameter within a shell
2987 script to execute the converter, and set this resource to point
2988 to the shell script.
2989 When using a locale-filter, e.g., with the -e option, or the
2991 shell, xterm first tries passing control via that filter. If
2992 it fails, xterm will retry without the locale-filter. Xterm
2993 warns about the failure before retrying.
2994 loginShell (class LoginShell)
2996 Specifies whether or not the shell to be run in the window
2997 should be started as a login shell. The default is “false”.
2998 logFile (class Logfile)
3000 Specify the name for xterm's log-file. If no name is
3001 specified, xterm will generate a name when logging is enabled,
3002 as described in the -l option.
3003 logInhibit (class LogInhibit)
3005 If “true”, prevent the logging feature from being enabled,
3006 whether by the command-line option -l, or the menu entry Log to
3007 File. The default is “false”.
3008 logging (class Logging)
3010 If “true”, (and if logInhibit is not set) enable the logging
3011 feature. This resource is set/updated by the -l option and the
3012 menu entry Log to File. The default is “false”.
3013 marginBell (class MarginBell)
3015 Specifies whether or not the bell should be rung when the user
3016 types near the right margin. The default is “false”.
3017 maxGraphicSize (class MaxGraphicSize)
3019 If xterm is configured to support ReGIS or SIXEL graphics, this
3020 resource controls the maximum size of a graph which can be
3021 displayed.
3022 The default is “1000x1000” (given as width by height).
3024 If the resource is “auto” then xterm will use the decTerminalID
3026 resource:
3027 Result decTerminalID
3029 ────────────────────────
3030 768x400 125
3031 800x460 240
3032 800x460 241
3033 800x480 330
3034 800x480 340
3035 860x750 382
3036 800x480 other
3037 metaSendsEscape (class MetaSendsEscape)
3039 If “true”, Meta characters (a character combined with the Meta
3040 modifier key) are converted into a two-character sequence with
3041 the character itself preceded by ESC. This applies as well to
3042 function key control sequences, unless xterm sees that Meta is
3043 used in your key translations. If “false”, Meta characters
3044 input from the keyboard are handled according to the
3045 eightBitInput resource. The default is “True”.
3046 mkSamplePass (class MkSamplePass)
3048 If mkSampleSize is nonzero, and mkWidth (and cjkWidth) are
3049 false, on startup xterm compares its built-in tables to the
3050 system's wide character width data to decide if it will use the
3051 system's data. It tests the first mkSampleSize character
3052 values, and allows up to mkSamplePass mismatches before the
3053 test fails. The default (for the allowed number of mismatches)
3054 is 655 (one percent of the default value for mkSampleSize).
3055 mkSampleSize (class MkSampleSize)
3057 With mkSamplePass, this specifies a startup test used for
3058 initializing wide character width calculations. The default
3059 (number of characters to check) is 65536.
3060 mkWidth (class MkWidth)
3062 Specifies whether xterm should use a built-in version of the
3063 wide character width calculation. See also the cjkWidth
3064 resource which can override this. The default is “false”.
3065 Here is a summary of the resources which control the choice of
3067 wide character width calculation:
3068 cjkWidth mkWidth Action
3070 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
3071 false false use system tables subject to mkSamplePass
3072 false true use built-in tables
3073 true false use built-in CJK tables
3074 true true use built-in CJK tables
3075 modifyCursorKeys (class ModifyCursorKeys)
3077 Tells how to handle the special case where Control-, Shift-,
3078 Alt- or Meta-modifiers are used to add a parameter to the
3079 escape sequence returned by a cursor-key. The default is “2”:
3080 -1 disables the feature.
3082 0 uses the old/obsolete behavior, i.e., the modifier is the
3084 first parameter.
3085 1 prefixes modified sequences with CSI.
3087 2 forces the modifier to be the second parameter if it would
3089 otherwise be the first.
3090 3 marks the sequence with a “>” to hint that it is private.
3092 modifyFunctionKeys (class ModifyFunctionKeys)
3094 Tells how to handle the special case where Control-, Shift-,
3095 Alt- or Meta-modifiers are used to add a parameter to the
3096 escape sequence returned by a (numbered) function-key. The
3097 default is “2”. The resource values are similar to
3098 modifyCursorKeys:
3099 -1 permits the user to use shift- and control-modifiers to
3101 construct function-key strings using the normal encoding
3102 scheme.
3103 0 uses the old/obsolete behavior, i.e., the modifier is the
3105 first parameter.
3106 1 prefixes modified sequences with CSI.
3108 2 forces the modifier to be the second parameter if it would
3110 otherwise be the first.
3111 3 marks the sequence with a “>” to hint that it is private.
3113 If modifyFunctionKeys is zero, xterm uses Control- and Shift-
3115 modifiers to allow the user to construct numbered function-keys
3116 beyond the set provided by the keyboard:
3117 Control
3119 adds the value given by the ctrlFKeys resource.
3120 Shift
3122 adds twice the value given by the ctrlFKeys resource.
3123 Control/Shift
3125 adds three times the value given by the ctrlFKeys
3126 resource.
3127 modifyKeyboard (class ModifyKeyboard)
3129 Normally xterm makes a special case regarding modifiers (shift,
3130 control, etc.) to handle special keyboard layouts (legacy and
3131 vt220). This is done to provide compatible keyboards for DEC
3132 VT220 and related terminals that implement user-defined keys
3133 (UDK).
3134 The bits of the resource value selectively enable modification
3136 of the given category when these keyboards are selected. The
3137 default is “0”:
3138 0 The legacy/vt220 keyboards interpret only the Control-
3140 modifier when constructing numbered function-keys. Other
3141 special keys are not modified.
3142 1 allows modification of the numeric keypad
3144 2 allows modification of the editing keypad
3146 4 allows modification of function-keys, overrides use of
3148 Shift-modifier for UDK.
3149 8 allows modification of other special keys
3151 modifyOtherKeys (class ModifyOtherKeys)
3153 Like modifyCursorKeys, tells xterm to construct an escape
3154 sequence for other keys (such as “2”) when modified by
3155 Control-, Alt- or Meta-modifiers. This feature does not apply
3156 to function keys and well-defined keys such as ESC or the
3157 control keys. The default is “0”:
3158 0 disables this feature.
3160 1 enables this feature for keys except for those with well-
3162 known behavior, e.g., Tab, Backarrow and some special
3163 control character cases, e.g., Control-Space to make a
3164 NUL.
3165 2 enables this feature for keys including the exceptions
3167 listed.
3168 multiClickTime (class MultiClickTime)
3170 Specifies the maximum time in milliseconds between multi-click
3171 select events. The default is “250” milliseconds.
3172 multiScroll (class MultiScroll)
3174 Specifies whether or not scrolling should be done
3175 asynchronously. The default is “false”.
3176 nMarginBell (class Column)
3178 Specifies the number of characters from the right margin at
3179 which the margin bell should be rung, when enabled by the
3180 marginBell resource. The default is “10”.
3181 nextEventDelay (class NextEventDelay)
3183 Specifies a delay time in milliseconds before checking for new
3184 X events. The default is “1”.
3185 numColorRegisters (class NumColorRegisters)
3187 If xterm is configured to support ReGIS or SIXEL graphics, this
3188 specifies the number of color-registers which are available.
3189 If this resource is not specified, xterm uses a value
3191 determined by the decTerminalID resource:
3192 Result decTerminalID
3194 ───────────────────────
3195 4 125
3196 4 240
3197 4 241
3198 4 330
3199 16 340
3200 2 382
3201 1024 other
3202 numLock (class NumLock)
3204 If “true”, xterm checks if NumLock is used as a modifier (see
3205 xmodmap(1)). If so, this modifier is used to simplify the
3206 logic when implementing special NumLock for the sunKeyboard
3207 resource. Also (when sunKeyboard is false), similar logic is
3208 used to find the modifier associated with the left and right
3209 Alt keys. The default is “true”.
3210 oldXtermFKeys (class OldXtermFKeys)
3212 If “true”, xterm will use old-style (X11R5) escape sequences
3213 for function keys F1 to F4, for compatibility with X Consortium
3214 xterm. Otherwise, it uses the VT100 codes for PF1 to PF4. The
3215 default is “false”.
3216 Setting this resource has the same effect as setting the
3218 keyboardType to legacy. The keyboardType resource is the
3219 preferred mechanism for selecting this mode.
3220 The old-style escape sequences resemble VT220 keys, but appear
3222 to have been invented for xterm in X11R4.
3223 on2Clicks (class On2Clicks)
3225 on3Clicks (class On3Clicks)
3227 on4Clicks (class On4Clicks)
3229 on5Clicks (class On5Clicks)
3231 Specify selection behavior in response to multiple mouse
3232 clicks. A single mouse click is always interpreted as
3233 described in the Selection Functions section (see POINTER
3234 USAGE). Multiple mouse clicks (using the button which
3235 activates the select-start action) are interpreted according to
3236 the resource values of on2Clicks, etc. The resource value can
3237 be one of these:
3238 word
3240 Select a “word” as determined by the charClass resource.
3241 See the CHARACTER CLASSES section.
3242 line
3244 Select a line (counting wrapping).
3245 group
3247 Select a group of adjacent lines (counting wrapping). The
3248 selection stops on a blank line, and does not extend outside
3249 the current page.
3250 page
3252 Select all visible lines, i.e., the page.
3253 all
3255 Select all lines, i.e., including the saved lines.
3256 regex
3258 Select the best match for the POSIX extended regular
3259 expression (ERE) which follows in the resource value:
3260 · Xterm matches the regular expression against a byte
3262 array for the entire (possibly wrapped) line. That byte
3263 array may be UTF-8 or ISO-8859-1, depending on the mode
3264 in which xterm is running.
3265 · Xterm steps through each byte-offset in this array,
3267 keeping track of the best (longest) match. If more than
3268 one match ties for the longest length, the first is
3269 used.
3270 Xterm does this to make it convenient to click anywhere
3272 in the area of interest and cause the regular expression
3273 to match the entire word, etc.
3274 · The “^” and “$” anchors in a regular expression denote
3276 the ends of the entire line.
3277 · If the regular expression contains backslashes “\” those
3279 should be escaped “\\” because the X libraries interpret
3280 backslashes in resource strings.
3281 none
3283 No selection action is associated with this resource. Xterm
3284 interprets it as the end of the list. For example, you may
3285 use it to disable triple (and higher) clicking by setting
3286 on3Clicks to “none”.
3287 The default values for on2Clicks and on3Clicks are “word” and
3289 “line”, respectively. There is no default value for on4Clicks
3290 or on5Clicks, making those inactive. On startup, xterm
3291 determines the maximum number of clicks by the onXClicks
3292 resource values which are set.
3293 openIm (class OpenIm)
3295 Tells xterm whether to open the input method at startup. The
3296 default is “true”.
3297 pointerColor (class PointerColor)
3299 Specifies the foreground color of the pointer. The default is
3300 “XtDefaultForeground”.
3301 pointerColorBackground (class PointerColorBackground)
3303 Specifies the background color of the pointer. The default is
3304 “XtDefaultBackground”.
3305 pointerMode (class PointerMode)
3307 Specifies when the pointer may be hidden as the user types. It
3308 will be redisplayed if the user moves the mouse, or clicks one
3309 of its buttons.
3310 0 never
3312 1 the application running in xterm has not activated mouse
3314 mode. This is the default.
3315 2 always.
3317 pointerShape (class Cursor)
3319 Specifies the name of the shape of the pointer. The default is
3320 “xterm”.
3321 popOnBell (class PopOnBell)
3323 Specifies whether the window would be raised when Control-G is
3324 received. The default is “false”.
3325 If the window is iconified, this has no effect. However, the
3327 zIconBeep resource provides you with the ability to see which
3328 iconified windows have sounded a bell.
3329 precompose (class Precompose)
3331 Tells xterm whether to precompose UTF-8 data into Normalization
3332 Form C, which combines commonly-used accents onto base
3333 characters. If it does not do this, accents are left as
3334 separatate characters. The default is “true”.
3335 preeditType (class PreeditType)
3337 Tells xterm which types of preedit (preconversion) string to
3338 display. The default is “OverTheSpot,Root”.
3339 printAttributes (class PrintAttributes)
3341 Specifies whether to print graphic attributes along with the
3342 text. A real DEC VTxxx terminal will print the underline,
3343 highlighting codes but your printer may not handle these.
3344 · “0” disables the attributes.
3346 · “1” prints the normal set of attributes (bold, underline,
3348 inverse and blink) as VT100-style control sequences.
3349 · “2” prints ANSI color attributes as well.
3351 The default is “1”.
3353 printFileImmediate (class PrintFileImmediate)
3355 When the print-immediate action is invoked, xterm prints the
3356 screen contents directly to a file. Set this resource to the
3357 prefix of the filename (a timestamp will be appended to the
3358 actual name).
3359 The default is an empty string, i.e., “”, However, when the
3361 print-immediate action is invoked, if the string is empty, then
3362 “XTerm” is used.
3363 printFileOnXError (class PrintFileOnXError)
3365 If xterm exits with an X error, e.g., your connection is broken
3366 when the server crashes, it can be told to write the contents
3367 of the screen to a file. To enable the feature, set this
3368 resource to the prefix of the filename (a timestamp will be
3369 appended to the actual name).
3370 The default is an empty string, i.e., “”, which disables this
3372 feature. However, when the print-on-error action is invoked,
3373 if the string is empty, then “XTermError” is used.
3374 These error codes are handled: ERROR_XERROR, ERROR_XIOERROR and
3376 ERROR_ICEERROR.
3377 printModeImmediate (class PrintModeImmediate)
3379 When the print-immediate action is invoked, xterm prints the
3380 screen contents directly to a file. You can use the
3381 printModeImmediate resource to tell it to use escape sequences
3382 to reconstruct the video attributes and colors. This uses the
3383 same values as the printAttributes resource. The default is
3384 “0”.
3385 printModeOnXError (class PrintModeOnXError)
3387 Xterm implements the printFileOnXError feature using the
3388 printer feature, although the output is written directly to a
3389 file. You can use the printModeOnXError resource to tell it to
3390 use escape sequences to reconstruct the video attributes and
3391 colors. This uses the same values as the printAttributes
3392 resource. The default is “0”.
3393 printOptsImmediate (class PrintOptsImmediate)
3395 Specify the range of text which is printed to a file when the
3396 print-immediate action is invoked.
3397 · If zero (0), then this selects the current (visible screen)
3399 plus the saved lines, except if the alternate screen is
3400 being used. In that case, only the alternate screen is
3401 selected.
3402 · If nonzero, the bits of this resource value (checked in
3404 descending order) select the range:
3405 8 selects the saved lines.
3407 4 selects the alternate screen.
3409 2 selects the normal screen.
3411 1 selects the current screen, which can be either the
3413 normal or alternate screen.
3414 The default is “9”, which selects the current visible screen
3416 plus saved lines, with no special case for the alternated
3417 screen.
3418 printOptsOnXError (class PrintOptsOnXError)
3420 Specify the range of text which is printed to a file when the
3421 print-on-error action is invoked. The resource value is
3422 interpreted the same as in printOptsImmediate.
3423 The default is “9”, which selects the current visible screen
3425 plus saved lines, with no special case for the alternated
3426 screen.
3427 printerAutoClose (class PrinterAutoClose)
3429 If “true”, xterm will close the printer (a pipe) when the
3430 application switches the printer offline with a Media Copy
3431 command. The default is “false”.
3432 printerCommand (class PrinterCommand)
3434 Specifies a shell command to which xterm will open a pipe when
3435 the first MC (Media Copy) command is initiated. The default is
3436 an empty string, i.e., “”. If the resource value is given as
3437 an empty string, the printer is disabled.
3438 printerControlMode (class PrinterControlMode)
3440 Specifies the printer control mode. A “1” selects autoprint
3441 mode, which causes xterm to print a line from the screen when
3442 you move the cursor off that line with a line feed, form feed
3443 or vertical tab character, or an autowrap occurs. Autoprint
3444 mode is overridden by printer controller mode (a “2”), which
3445 causes all of the output to be directed to the printer. The
3446 default is “0”.
3447 printerExtent (class PrinterExtent)
3449 Controls whether a print page function will print the entire
3450 page (true), or only the portion within the scrolling margins
3451 (false). The default is “false”.
3452 printerFormFeed (class PrinterFormFeed)
3454 Controls whether a form feed is sent to the printer at the end
3455 of a print page function. The default is “false”.
3456 printerNewLine (class PrinterNewLine)
3458 Controls whether a newline is sent to the printer at the end of
3459 a print page function. The default is “true”.
3460 privateColorRegisters (class PrivateColorRegisters)
3462 If xterm is configured to support ReGIS or SIXEL graphics, this
3463 controls whether xterm allocates separate color registers for
3464 each sixel device control string, e.g., for DECGCI. If not
3465 true, color registers are allocated only once, when the
3466 terminal is reset, and color changes in any graphic affect
3467 all graphics. The default is “true”.
3468 quietGrab (class QuietGrab)
3470 Controls whether the cursor is repainted when NotifyGrab and
3471 NotifyUngrab event types are received during change of focus.
3472 The default is “false”.
3473 regisDefaultFont (class RegisDefaultFont)
3475 If xterm is configured to support ReGIS graphics, this resource
3476 tells xterm which font to use if the ReGIS data does not
3477 specify one. No default value is specified; xterm accepts a
3478 TrueType font specification as in the faceName resource.
3479 If no value is specified, xterm draws a bitmap indicating a
3481 missing character.
3482 regisScreenSize (class RegisScreenSize)
3484 If xterm is configured to support ReGIS graphics, this resource
3485 tells xterm the default size (in pixels) for these graphics,
3486 which also sets the default coordinate space to [0,0] (upper-
3487 left) and [width,height] (lower-right).
3488 The application using ReGIS may use the “A” option of the “S”
3490 command to adjust the coordinate space or change the
3491 addressable portion of the screen.
3492 The default is “1000x1000” (given as width by height).
3494 Xterm accepts a special resource value “auto”, which tells
3496 xterm to use the decTerminalID resource to set the default size
3497 based on the hardware terminal's limits. Those limits are the
3498 same as for the maxGraphicSize resource.
3499 renderFont (class RenderFont)
3501 If xterm is built with the Xft library, this controls whether
3502 the faceName resource is used. The default is “default”.
3503 The resource values are strings, evaluated as booleans after
3505 startup.
3506 false
3508 disable the feature and use the normal (bitmap) font.
3509 true
3511 startup using the TrueType font specified by the faceName
3512 and faceSize resource settings. If there is no value for
3513 faceName, disable the feature and use the normal (bitmap)
3514 font.
3515 After startup, you can still switch to/from the bitmap
3517 font using the “TrueType Fonts” menu entry.
3518 default
3520 startup using the normal (bitmap) font, but enable the
3521 “TrueType Fonts” menu entry to allow runtime switching
3522 to/from TrueType fonts.
3523 If there is no faceName resource set, then runtime
3525 switching to TrueType fonts is disabled. Xterm has a
3526 separate compiled-in value for faceName for the special
3527 case where renderFont is “default”. That is normally
3528 “mono”.
3529 resizeGravity (class ResizeGravity)
3531 Affects the behavior when the window is resized to be taller or
3532 shorter. NorthWest specifies that the top line of text on the
3533 screen stay fixed. If the window is made shorter, lines are
3534 dropped from the bottom; if the window is made taller, blank
3535 lines are added at the bottom. This is compatible with the
3536 behavior in R4. SouthWest (the default) specifies that the
3537 bottom line of text on the screen stay fixed. If the window is
3538 made taller, additional saved lines will be scrolled down onto
3539 the screen; if the window is made shorter, lines will be
3540 scrolled off the top of the screen, and the top saved lines
3541 will be dropped.
3542 retryInputMethod (class RetryInputMethod)
3544 Tells xterm how many times to retry, in case the input-method
3545 server is not responding. This is a different issue than
3546 unsupported preedit type, etc. You may encounter retries if
3547 your X configuration (and its libraries) are missing pieces.
3548 Setting this resource to zero “0” will cancel the retrying.
3549 The default is “3”.
3550 reverseVideo (class ReverseVideo)
3552 Specifies whether or not reverse video should be simulated.
3553 The default is “false”.
3554 There are several aspects to reverse video in xterm:
3556 · The command-line -rv option tells the X libraries to
3558 reverse the foreground and background colors. Xterm's
3559 command-line options set resource values. In particular,
3560 the X Toolkit sets the reverseVideo resource when the -rv
3561 option is used.
3562 · If the user has also used command-line options -fg or -bg
3564 to set the foreground and background colors, xterm does not
3565 see these options directly. Instead, it examines the
3566 resource values to reconstruct the command-line options,
3567 and determine which of the colors is the user's intended
3568 foreground, etc. Their actual values are irrelevant to the
3569 reverse video function; some users prefer the X defaults
3570 (black text on a white background), others prefer white
3571 text on a black background.
3572 · After startup, the user can toggle the “Enable Reverse
3574 Video” menu entry. This exchanges the current foreground
3575 and background colors of the VT100 widget, and repaints the
3576 screen. Because of the X resource hierarchy, the
3577 reverseVideo resource applies to more than the VT100
3578 widget.
3579 Programs running in an xterm can also use control sequences to
3581 enable the VT100 reverse video mode. These are independent of
3582 the reverseVideo resource and the menu entry. Xterm exchanges
3583 the current foreground and background colors when drawing text
3584 affected by these control sequences.
3585 Other control sequences can alter the foreground and background
3587 colors which are used:
3588 · Programs can also use the ANSI color control sequences to
3590 set the foreground and background colors.
3591 · Extensions to the ANSI color controls (such as 16-, 88- or
3593 256-colors) are treated similarly to the ANSI control.
3594 · Using other control sequences (the “dynamic colors”
3596 feature), a program can change the foreground and
3597 background colors.
3598 reverseWrap (class ReverseWrap)
3600 Specifies whether or not reverse-wraparound should be enabled.
3601 This corresponds to xterm's private mode 45. The default is
3602 “false”.
3603 rightScrollBar (class RightScrollBar)
3605 Specifies whether or not the scrollbar should be displayed on
3606 the right rather than the left. The default is “false”.
3607 saveLines (class SaveLines)
3609 Specifies the number of lines to save beyond the top of the
3610 screen when a scrollbar is turned on. The default is “64”.
3611 scrollBar (class ScrollBar)
3613 Specifies whether or not the scrollbar should be displayed.
3614 The default is “false”.
3615 scrollBarBorder (class ScrollBarBorder)
3617 Specifies the width of the scrollbar border. Note that this is
3618 drawn to overlap the border of the xterm window. Modifying the
3619 scrollbar's border affects only the line between the VT100
3620 widget and the scrollbar. The default value is 1.
3621 scrollKey (class ScrollCond)
3623 Specifies whether or not pressing a key should automatically
3624 cause the scrollbar to go to the bottom of the scrolling
3625 region. This corresponds to xterm's private mode 1011. The
3626 default is “false”.
3627 scrollLines (class ScrollLines)
3629 Specifies the number of lines that the scroll-back and scroll-
3630 forw actions should use as a default. The default value is 1.
3631 scrollTtyOutput (class ScrollCond)
3633 Specifies whether or not output to the terminal should
3634 automatically cause the scrollbar to go to the bottom of the
3635 scrolling region. The default is “true”.
3636 selectToClipboard (class SelectToClipboard)
3638 Tells xterm whether to use the PRIMARY or CLIPBOARD for SELECT
3639 tokens in the selection mechanism. The set-select action can
3640 change this at runtime, allowing the user to work with programs
3641 that handle only one of these mechanisms. The default is
3642 “false”, which tells it to use PRIMARY.
3643 shiftFonts (class ShiftFonts)
3645 Specifies whether to enable the actions larger-vt-font() and
3646 smaller-vt-font(), which are normally bound to the shifted
3647 KP_Add and KP_Subtract. The default is “true”.
3648 showBlinkAsBold (class ShowBlinkAsBold)
3650 Tells xterm whether to display text with blink-attribute the
3651 same as bold. If xterm has not been configured to support
3652 blinking text, the default is “true”, which corresponds to
3653 older versions of xterm, otherwise the default is “false”.
3654 showMissingGlyphs (class ShowMissingGlyphs)
3656 Tells xterm whether to display a box outlining places where a
3657 character has been used that the font does not represent. The
3658 default is “false”.
3659 showWrapMarks (class ShowWrapMarks)
3661 For debugging xterm and applications that may manipulate the
3662 wrapped-line flag by writing text at the right margin, show a
3663 mark on the right inner-border of the window. The mark shows
3664 which lines have the flag set.
3665 signalInhibit (class SignalInhibit)
3667 Specifies whether or not the entries in the Main Options menu
3668 for sending signals to xterm should be disallowed. The default
3669 is “false”.
3670 sixelScrolling (class SixelScrolling)
3672 If xterm is configured to support SIXEL graphics, this resource
3673 tells it whether to scroll up one line at a time when sixels
3674 would be written past the bottom line on the window. The
3675 default is “false”.
3676 sixelScrollsRight (class SixelScrollsRight)
3678 If xterm is configured to support SIXEL graphics, this resource
3679 tells it whether to scroll to the right as needed to keep the
3680 current position visible rather than truncate the plot on the
3681 on the right. The default is “false”.
3682 tekGeometry (class Geometry)
3684 Specifies the preferred size and position of the Tektronix
3685 window. There is no default for this resource.
3686 tekInhibit (class TekInhibit)
3688 Specifies whether or not the escape sequence to enter Tektronix
3689 mode should be ignored. The default is “false”.
3690 tekSmall (class TekSmall)
3692 Specifies whether or not the Tektronix mode window should start
3693 in its smallest size if no explicit geometry is given. This is
3694 useful when running xterm on displays with small screens. The
3695 default is “false”.
3696 tekStartup (class TekStartup)
3698 Specifies whether or not xterm should start up in Tektronix
3699 mode. The default is “false”.
3700 tiXtraScroll (class TiXtraScroll)
3702 Specifies whether xterm should scroll to a new page when
3703 processing the ti termcap entry, i.e., the private modes 47,
3704 1047 or 1049. This is only in effect if titeInhibit is “true”,
3705 because the intent of this option is to provide a picture of
3706 the full-screen application's display on the scrollback without
3707 wiping out the text that would be shown before the application
3708 was initialized. The default for this resource is “false”.
3709 titeInhibit (class TiteInhibit)
3711 Originally specified whether or not xterm should remove ti and
3712 te termcap entries (used to switch between alternate screens on
3713 startup of many screen-oriented programs) from the TERMCAP
3714 string.
3715 TERMCAP is used rarely now, but xterm supports the feature on
3717 modern systems:
3718 · If set, xterm also ignores the escape sequence to switch to
3720 the alternate screen.
3721 · Xterm supports terminfo in a different way, supporting
3723 composite control sequences (also known as private modes)
3724 1047, 1048 and 1049 which have the same effect as the
3725 original 47 control sequence.
3726 The default for this resource is “false”.
3728 titleModes (class TitleModes)
3730 Tells xterm whether to accept or return window- and icon-labels
3731 in ISO-8859-1 (the default) or UTF-8. Either can be encoded in
3732 hexadecimal. The default for this resource is “0”.
3733 Each bit (bit “0” is 1, bit “1” is 2, etc.) corresponds to one
3735 of the parameters set by the title modes control sequence:
3736 0 Set window/icon labels using hexadecimal
3738 1 Query window/icon labels using hexadecimal
3740 2 Set window/icon labels using UTF-8 (overrides utf8Title
3742 resource).
3743 3 Query window/icon labels using UTF-8
3745 translations (class Translations)
3747 Specifies the key and button bindings for menus, selections,
3748 “programmed strings”, etc. The translations resource, which
3749 provides much of xterm's configurability, is a feature of the X
3750 Toolkit Intrinsics library (Xt). See the Actions section.
3751 trimSelection (class TrimSelection)
3753 If you set highlightSelection, you can see the text which is
3754 selected, including any trailing spaces. Clearing the screen
3755 (or a line) resets it to a state containing no spaces. Some
3756 lines may contain trailing spaces when an application writes
3757 them to the screen. However, you may not wish to paste lines
3758 with trailing spaces. If this resource is true, xterm will
3759 trim trailing spaces from text which is selected. It does not
3760 affect spaces which result in a wrapped line, nor will it trim
3761 the trailing newline from your selection. The default is
3762 “false”.
3763 underLine (class UnderLine)
3765 This specifies whether or not text with the underline attribute
3766 should be underlined. It may be desirable to disable
3767 underlining when color is being used for the underline
3768 attribute. The default is “true”.
3769 useClipping (class UseClipping)
3771 Tell xterm whether to use clipping to keep from producing dots
3772 outside the text drawing area. Originally used to work around
3773 for overstriking effects, this is also needed to work with some
3774 incorrectly-sized fonts. The default is “true”.
3775 utf8 (class Utf8)
3777 This specifies whether xterm will run in UTF-8 mode. If you
3778 set this resource, xterm also sets the wideChars resource as a
3779 side-effect. The resource can be set via the menu entry “UTF-8
3780 Encoding”. The default is “default”.
3781 Xterm accepts either a keyword (ignoring case) or the number
3783 shown in parentheses:
3784 false (0)
3786 UTF-8 mode is initially off. The command-line option +u8
3787 sets the resource to this value. Escape sequences for
3788 turning UTF-8 mode on/off are allowed.
3789 true (1)
3791 UTF-8 mode is initially on. Escape sequences for turning
3792 UTF-8 mode on/off are allowed.
3793 always (2)
3795 The command-line option -u8 sets the resource to this value.
3796 Escape sequences for turning UTF-8 mode on/off are ignored.
3797 default (3)
3799 This is the default value of the resource. It is changed
3800 during initialization depending on whether the locale
3801 resource was set, to false (0) or always (2). See the
3802 locale resource for additional discussion of non-UTF-8
3803 locales.
3804 If you want to set the value of utf8, it should be in this
3806 range. Other nonzero values are treated the same as “1”, i.e.,
3807 UTF-8 mode is initially on, and escape sequences for turning
3808 UTF-8 mode on/off are allowed.
3809 utf8Fonts (class Utf8Fonts)
3811 See the discussion of the locale resource. This specifies
3812 whether xterm will use UTF-8 fonts specified via resource
3813 patterns such as “*vt100.utf8Fonts.font” or normal (ISO-8859-1)
3814 fonts via patterns such as “*vt100.font”. The resource can be
3815 set via the menu entry “UTF-8 Fonts”. The default is
3816 “default”.
3817 Xterm accepts either a keyword (ignoring case) or the number
3819 shown in parentheses:
3820 false (0)
3822 Use the ISO-8859-1 fonts. The menu entry is enabled,
3823 allowing the choice of fonts to be changed at runtime.
3824 true (1)
3826 Use the UTF-8 fonts. The menu entry is enabled,
3827 allowing the choice of fonts to be changed at runtime.
3828 always (2)
3830 Always use the UTF-8 fonts. This also disables the menu
3831 entry.
3832 default (3)
3834 At startup, the resource is set to true or false,
3835 according to the effective value of the utf8 resource.
3836 utf8Latin1 (class Utf8Latin1)
3838 If true, allow an ISO-8859-1 normal font to be combined with an
3839 ISO-10646-1 font if the latter is given via the -fw option or
3840 its corresponding resource value. The default is “false”.
3841 utf8SelectTypes (class Utf8SelectTypes)
3843 Override xterm's default selection target list (see
3844 SELECT/PASTE) for selections in wide-character (UTF-8) mode.
3845 The default is an empty string, i.e., “”, which does not
3846 override anything.
3847 utf8Title (class Utf8Title)
3849 Applications can set xterm's title by writing a control
3850 sequence. Normally this control sequence follows the VT220
3851 convention, which encodes the string in ISO-8859-1 and allows
3852 for an 8-bit string terminator. If xterm is started in a UTF-8
3853 locale, it translates the ISO-8859-1 string to UTF-8 to work
3854 with the X libraries which assume the string is UTF-8.
3855 However, some users may wish to write a title string encoded in
3857 UTF-8. The window manager is responsible for drawing window
3858 titles. Some window managers (not all) support UTF-8 encoding
3859 of window titles. Set this resource to “true” to allow UTF-8
3860 encoded title strings. That cancels the translation to UTF-8,
3861 allowing UTF-8 strings to be displayed as is.
3862 This feature is available as a menu entry, since it is related
3864 to the particular applications you are running within xterm.
3865 You can also use a control sequence (see the discussion of
3866 “Title Modes” in Xterm Control Sequences), to set an equivalent
3867 flag. The titleModes resource sets the same value, which
3868 overrides this resource.
3869 The default is “false”.
3871 veryBoldColors (class VeryBoldColors)
3873 Specifies whether to combine video attributes with colors
3874 specified by colorBD, colorBL, colorIT, colorRV, and colorUL.
3875 The resource value is the sum of values for each attribute:
3876 1 for reverse,
3877 2 for underline,
3878 4 for bold,
3879 8 for blink, and
3880 512 for italic
3881 The default is “0”.
3883 visualBell (class VisualBell)
3885 Specifies whether or not a visible bell (i.e., flashing) should
3886 be used instead of an audible bell when Control-G is received.
3887 The default is “false”, which tells xterm to use an audible
3888 bell.
3889 visualBellDelay (class VisualBellDelay)
3891 Number of milliseconds to delay when displaying a visual bell.
3892 Default is 100. If set to zero, no visual bell is displayed.
3893 This is useful for very slow displays, e.g., an LCD display on
3894 a laptop.
3895 visualBellLine (class VisualBellLine)
3897 Specifies whether to flash only the current line when
3898 displaying a visual bell rather than flashing the entire
3899 screen: The default is “false”, which tells xterm to flash the
3900 entire screen.
3901 vt100Graphics (class VT100Graphics)
3903 This specifies whether xterm will interpret VT100 graphic
3904 character escape sequences while in UTF-8 mode. The default is
3905 “true”, to provide support for various legacy applications.
3906 wideBoldFont (class WideBoldFont)
3908 This option specifies the font to be used for displaying bold
3909 wide text. By default, it will attempt to use a font twice as
3910 wide as the font that will be used to draw bold text. If no
3911 double-width font is found, it will improvise, by stretching
3912 the bold font.
3913 wideChars (class WideChars)
3915 Specifies if xterm should respond to control sequences that
3916 process 16-bit characters. The default is “false”.
3917 wideFont (class WideFont)
3919 This option specifies the font to be used for displaying wide
3920 text. By default, it will attempt to use a font twice as wide
3921 as the font that will be used to draw normal text. If no
3922 double-width font is found, it will improvise, by stretching
3923 the normal font.
3924 ximFont (class XimFont)
3926 This option specifies the font to be used for displaying the
3927 preedit string in the “OverTheSpot” input method.
3928 In “OverTheSpot” preedit type, the preedit (preconversion)
3930 string is displayed at the position of the cursor. It is the
3931 XIM server's responsibility to display the preedit string. The
3932 XIM client must inform the XIM server of the cursor position.
3933 For best results, the preedit string must be displayed with a
3934 proper font. Therefore, xterm informs the XIM server of the
3935 proper font. The font is be supplied by a "fontset", whose
3936 default value is “*”. This matches every font, the X library
3937 automatically chooses fonts with proper charsets. The ximFont
3938 resource is provided to override this default font setting.
3939 Tek4014 Widget Resources
3941 The following resources are specified as part of the tek4014 widget
3942 (class Tek4014). These are specified by patterns such as
3943 “XTerm.tek4014.NAME”:
3944 font2 (class Font)
3946 Specifies font number 2 to use in the Tektronix window.
3947 font3 (class Font)
3949 Specifies font number 3 to use in the Tektronix window.
3950 fontLarge (class Font)
3952 Specifies the large font to use in the Tektronix window.
3953 fontSmall (class Font)
3955 Specifies the small font to use in the Tektronix window.
3956 ginTerminator (class GinTerminator)
3958 Specifies what character(s) should follow a GIN report or
3959 status report. The possibilities are “none”, which sends no
3960 terminating characters, “CRonly”, which sends CR, and “CR&EOT”,
3961 which sends both CR and EOT. The default is “none”.
3962 height (class Height)
3964 Specifies the height of the Tektronix window in pixels.
3965 initialFont (class InitialFont)
3967 Specifies which of the four Tektronix fonts to use initially.
3968 Values are the same as for the set-tek-text action. The
3969 default is “large”.
3970 width (class Width)
3972 Specifies the width of the Tektronix window in pixels.
3973 Menu Resources
3975 The resources that may be specified for the various menus are described
3976 in the documentation for the Athena SimpleMenu widget. The name and
3977 classes of the entries in each of the menus are listed below.
3978 Resources named “lineN” where N is a number are separators with class
3979 SmeLine.
3980 As with all X resource-based widgets, the labels mentioned are
3982 customary defaults for the application.
3983 The Main Options menu (widget name mainMenu) has the following entries:
3985 toolbar (class SmeBSB)
3987 This entry invokes the set-toolbar(toggle) action.
3988 securekbd (class SmeBSB)
3990 This entry invokes the secure() action.
3991 allowsends (class SmeBSB)
3993 This entry invokes the allow-send-events(toggle) action.
3994 redraw (class SmeBSB)
3996 This entry invokes the redraw() action.
3997 logging (class SmeBSB)
3999 This entry invokes the logging(toggle) action.
4000 print-immediate (class SmeBSB)
4002 This entry invokes the print-immediate() action.
4003 print-on-error (class SmeBSB)
4005 This entry invokes the print-on-error() action.
4006 print (class SmeBSB)
4008 This entry invokes the print() action.
4009 print-redir (class SmeBSB)
4011 This entry invokes the print-redir() action.
4012 dump-html (class SmeBSB)
4014 This entry invokes the dump-html() action.
4015 dump-svg (class SmeBSB)
4017 This entry invokes the dump-svg() action.
4018 8-bit-control (class SmeBSB)
4020 This entry invokes the set-8-bit-control(toggle) action.
4021 backarrow key (class SmeBSB)
4023 This entry invokes the set-backarrow(toggle) action.
4024 num-lock (class SmeBSB)
4026 This entry invokes the set-num-lock(toggle) action.
4027 alt-esc (class SmeBSB)
4029 This entry invokes the alt-sends-escape(toggle) action.
4030 meta-esc (class SmeBSB)
4032 This entry invokes the meta-sends-escape(toggle) action.
4033 delete-is-del (class SmeBSB)
4035 This entry invokes the delete-is-del(toggle) action.
4036 oldFunctionKeys (class SmeBSB)
4038 This entry invokes the set-old-function-keys(toggle) action.
4039 hpFunctionKeys (class SmeBSB)
4041 This entry invokes the set-hp-function-keys(toggle) action.
4042 scoFunctionKeys (class SmeBSB)
4044 This entry invokes the set-sco-function-keys(toggle) action.
4045 sunFunctionKeys (class SmeBSB)
4047 This entry invokes the set-sun-function-keys(toggle) action.
4048 sunKeyboard (class SmeBSB)
4050 This entry invokes the sunKeyboard(toggle) action.
4051 suspend (class SmeBSB)
4053 This entry invokes the send-signal(tstp) action on systems that
4054 support job control.
4055 continue (class SmeBSB)
4057 This entry invokes the send-signal(cont) action on systems that
4058 support job control.
4059 interrupt (class SmeBSB)
4061 This entry invokes the send-signal(int) action.
4062 hangup (class SmeBSB)
4064 This entry invokes the send-signal(hup) action.
4065 terminate (class SmeBSB)
4067 This entry invokes the send-signal(term) action.
4068 kill (class SmeBSB)
4070 This entry invokes the send-signal(kill) action.
4071 quit (class SmeBSB)
4073 This entry invokes the quit() action.
4074 The VT Options menu (widget name vtMenu) has the following entries:
4076 scrollbar (class SmeBSB)
4078 This entry invokes the set-scrollbar(toggle) action.
4079 jumpscroll (class SmeBSB)
4081 This entry invokes the set-jumpscroll(toggle) action.
4082 reversevideo (class SmeBSB)
4084 This entry invokes the set-reverse-video(toggle) action.
4085 autowrap (class SmeBSB)
4087 This entry invokes the set-autowrap(toggle) action.
4088 reversewrap (class SmeBSB)
4090 This entry invokes the set-reversewrap(toggle) action.
4091 autolinefeed (class SmeBSB)
4093 This entry invokes the set-autolinefeed(toggle) action.
4094 appcursor (class SmeBSB)
4096 This entry invokes the set-appcursor(toggle) action.
4097 appkeypad (class SmeBSB)
4099 This entry invokes the set-appkeypad(toggle) action.
4100 scrollkey (class SmeBSB)
4102 This entry invokes the set-scroll-on-key(toggle) action.
4103 scrollttyoutput (class SmeBSB)
4105 This entry invokes the set-scroll-on-tty-output(toggle) action.
4106 allow132 (class SmeBSB)
4108 This entry invokes the set-allow132(toggle) action.
4109 cursesemul (class SmeBSB)
4111 This entry invokes the set-cursesemul(toggle) action.
4112 keepSelection (class SmeBSB)
4114 This entry invokes the set-keep-selection(toggle) action.
4115 selectToClipboard (class SmeBSB)
4117 This entry invokes the set-keep-clipboard(toggle) action.
4118 visualbell (class SmeBSB)
4120 This entry invokes the set-visual-bell(toggle) action.
4121 bellIsUrgent (class SmeBSB)
4123 This entry invokes the set-bellIsUrgent(toggle) action.
4124 poponbell (class SmeBSB)
4126 This entry invokes the set-pop-on-bell(toggle) action.
4127 cursorblink (class SmeBSB)
4129 This entry invokes the set-cursorblink(toggle) action.
4130 titeInhibit (class SmeBSB)
4132 This entry invokes the set-titeInhibit(toggle) action.
4133 activeicon (class SmeBSB)
4135 This entry toggles active icons on and off if this feature was
4136 compiled into xterm. It is enabled only if xterm was started
4137 with the command line option +ai or the activeIcon resource is
4138 set to “true”.
4139 softreset (class SmeBSB)
4141 This entry invokes the soft-reset() action.
4142 hardreset (class SmeBSB)
4144 This entry invokes the hard-reset() action.
4145 clearsavedlines (class SmeBSB)
4147 This entry invokes the clear-saved-lines() action.
4148 tekshow (class SmeBSB)
4150 This entry invokes the set-visibility(tek,toggle) action.
4151 tekmode (class SmeBSB)
4153 This entry invokes the set-terminal-type(tek) action.
4154 vthide (class SmeBSB)
4156 This entry invokes the set-visibility(vt,off) action.
4157 altscreen (class SmeBSB)
4159 This entry invokes the set-altscreen(toggle) action.
4160 sixelScrolling (class SmeBSB)
4162 This entry invokes the set-sixel-scrolling(toggle) action.
4163 privateColorRegisters (class SmeBSB)
4165 This entry invokes the set-private-colors(toggle) action.
4166 The VT Fonts menu (widget name fontMenu) has the following entries:
4168 fontdefault (class SmeBSB)
4170 This entry invokes the set-vt-font(d) action, setting the font
4171 using the font (default) resource, e.g., “Default” in the menu.
4172 font1 (class SmeBSB)
4174 This entry invokes the set-vt-font(1) action, setting the font
4175 using the font1 resource, e.g., “Unreadable” in the menu.
4176 font2 (class SmeBSB)
4178 This entry invokes the set-vt-font(2) action, setting the font
4179 using the font2 resource, e.g., “Tiny” in the menu.
4180 font3 (class SmeBSB)
4182 This entry invokes the set-vt-font(3) action, setting the font
4183 using the font3 resource, e.g., “Small” in the menu.
4184 font4 (class SmeBSB)
4186 This entry invokes the set-vt-font(4) action, letting the font
4187 using the font4 resource, e.g., “Medium” in the menu.
4188 font5 (class SmeBSB)
4190 This entry invokes the set-vt-font(5) action, letting the font
4191 using the font5 resource, e.g., “Large” in the menu.
4192 font6 (class SmeBSB)
4194 This entry invokes the set-vt-font(6) action, letting the font
4195 using the font6 resource, e.g., “Huge” in the menu.
4196 fontescape (class SmeBSB)
4198 This entry invokes the set-vt-font(e) action.
4199 fontsel (class SmeBSB)
4201 This entry invokes the set-vt-font(s) action.
4202 allow-bold-fonts (class SmeBSB)
4204 This entry invokes the allow-bold-fonts(toggle) action.
4205 font-linedrawing (class SmeBSB)
4207 This entry invokes the set-font-linedrawing(s) action.
4208 font-packed (class SmeBSB)
4210 This entry invokes the set-font-packed(s) action.
4211 font-doublesize (class SmeBSB)
4213 This entry invokes the set-font-doublesize(s) action.
4214 render-font (class SmeBSB)
4216 This entry invokes the set-render-font(s) action.
4217 utf8-fonts (class SmeBSB)
4219 This entry invokes the set-utf8-fonts(s) action.
4220 utf8-mode (class SmeBSB)
4222 This entry invokes the set-utf8-mode(s) action.
4223 utf8-title (class SmeBSB)
4225 This entry invokes the set-utf8-title(s) action.
4226 allow-color-ops (class SmeBSB)
4228 This entry invokes the allow-color-ops(toggle) action.
4229 allow-font-ops (class SmeBSB)
4231 This entry invokes the allow-fonts-ops(toggle) action.
4232 allow-tcap-ops (class SmeBSB)
4234 This entry invokes the allow-tcap-ops(toggle) action.
4235 allow-title-ops (class SmeBSB)
4237 This entry invokes the allow-title-ops(toggle) action.
4238 allow-window-ops (class SmeBSB)
4240 This entry invokes the allow-window-ops(toggle) action.
4241 The Tek Options menu (widget name tekMenu) has the following entries:
4243 tektextlarge (class SmeBSB)
4245 This entry invokes the set-tek-text(large) action.
4246 tektext2 (class SmeBSB)
4248 This entry invokes the set-tek-text(2) action.
4249 tektext3 (class SmeBSB)
4251 This entry invokes the set-tek-text(3) action.
4252 tektextsmall (class SmeBSB)
4254 This entry invokes the set-tek-text(small) action.
4255 tekpage (class SmeBSB)
4257 This entry invokes the tek-page() action.
4258 tekreset (class SmeBSB)
4260 This entry invokes the tek-reset() action.
4261 tekcopy (class SmeBSB)
4263 This entry invokes the tek-copy() action.
4264 vtshow (class SmeBSB)
4266 This entry invokes the set-visibility(vt,toggle) action.
4267 vtmode (class SmeBSB)
4269 This entry invokes the set-terminal-type(vt) action.
4270 tekhide (class SmeBSB)
4272 This entry invokes the set-visibility(tek,toggle) action.
4273 Scrollbar Resources
4275 The following resources are useful when specified for the Athena
4276 Scrollbar widget:
4277 thickness (class Thickness)
4279 Specifies the width in pixels of the scrollbar.
4280 background (class Background)
4282 Specifies the color to use for the background of the scrollbar.
4283 foreground (class Foreground)
4285 Specifies the color to use for the foreground of the scrollbar.
4286 The “thumb” of the scrollbar is a simple checkerboard pattern
4287 alternating pixels for foreground and background color.
4288
4290 Once the VTxxx window is created, xterm allows you to select text and
4291 copy it within the same or other windows using the pointer or the
4292 keyboard.
4293 A “pointer” could be a mouse, touchpad or similar device. X
4295 applications generally do not care, since they see only button events
4296 which have
4297 · position and
4299 · button up/down state
4301 Xterm can see these events as long as it has focus.
4303 The keyboard also supplies events, but it is less flexible than the
4305 pointer for selecting/copying text.
4306 Events are applied to actions using the translations resource. See
4308 Actions for a complete list, and Default Key Bindings for the built-in
4309 set of translations resources.
4310 Selection Functions
4312 The selection functions are invoked when the pointer buttons are used
4313 with no modifiers, and when they are used with the “shift” key. The
4314 assignment of the functions described below to keys and buttons may be
4315 changed through the resource database; see Actions below.
4316 Pointer button one (usually left)
4318 is used to save text into the cut buffer:
4319 ~Meta <Btn1Down>:select-start()
4321 Move the cursor to beginning of the text, and then hold the button
4323 down while moving the cursor to the end of the region and
4324 releasing the button. The selected text is highlighted and is
4325 saved in the global cut buffer and made the selection when the
4326 button is released:
4327 <BtnUp>:select-end(SELECT, CUT_BUFFER0) \n
4329 Normally (but see the discussion of on2Clicks, etc):
4331 · Double-clicking selects by words.
4333 · Triple-clicking selects by lines.
4335 · Quadruple-clicking goes back to characters, etc.
4337 Multiple-click is determined by the time from button up to button
4339 down, so you can change the selection unit in the middle of a
4340 selection. Logical words and lines selected by double- or triple-
4341 clicking may wrap across more than one screen line if lines were
4342 wrapped by xterm itself rather than by the application running in
4343 the window. If the key/button bindings specify that an X
4344 selection is to be made, xterm will leave the selected text
4345 highlighted for as long as it is the selection owner.
4346 Pointer button two (usually middle)
4348 “types” (pastes) the text from the given selection, if any,
4349 otherwise from the cut buffer, inserting it as keyboard input:
4350 ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn2Up>:insert-selection(SELECT, CUT_BUFFER0)
4352 Pointer button three (usually right)
4354 extends the current selection.
4355 ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn3Down>:start-extend()
4357 (Without loss of generality, you can swap “right” and “left”
4359 everywhere in the rest of this paragraph.) If pressed while
4360 closer to the right edge of the selection than the left, it
4361 extends/contracts the right edge of the selection. If you
4362 contract the selection past the left edge of the selection, xterm
4363 assumes you really meant the left edge, restores the original
4364 selection, then extends/contracts the left edge of the selection.
4365 Extension starts in the selection unit mode that the last
4366 selection or extension was performed in; you can multiple-click to
4367 cycle through them.
4368 By cutting and pasting pieces of text without trailing new lines, you
4370 can take text from several places in different windows and form a
4371 command to the shell, for example, or take output from a program and
4372 insert it into your favorite editor. Since cut buffers are globally
4373 shared among different applications, you may regard each as a “file”
4374 whose contents you know. The terminal emulator and other text programs
4375 should be treating it as if it were a text file, i.e., the text is
4376 delimited by new lines.
4377 Scrolling
4379 The scroll region displays the position and amount of text currently
4380 showing in the window (highlighted) relative to the amount of text
4381 actually saved. As more text is saved (up to the maximum), the size of
4382 the highlighted area decreases.
4383 Clicking button one with the pointer in the scroll region moves the
4385 adjacent line to the top of the display window.
4386 Clicking button three moves the top line of the display window down to
4388 the pointer position.
4389 Clicking button two moves the display to a position in the saved text
4391 that corresponds to the pointer's position in the scrollbar.
4392 Tektronix Pointer
4394 Unlike the VTxxx window, the Tektronix window does not allow the
4395 copying of text. It does allow Tektronix GIN mode, and in this mode
4396 the cursor will change from an arrow to a cross. Pressing any key will
4397 send that key and the current coordinate of the cross cursor. Pressing
4398 button one, two, or three will return the letters “l”, “m”, and “r”,
4399 respectively. If the “shift” key is pressed when a pointer button is
4400 pressed, the corresponding upper case letter is sent. To distinguish a
4401 pointer button from a key, the high bit of the character is set (but
4402 this is bit is normally stripped unless the terminal mode is RAW; see
4403 tty(4) for details).
4404
4406 X clients provide select and paste support by responding to requests
4407 conveyed by the server.
4408 PRIMARY
4410 When configured to use the primary selection, (the default) xterm can
4411 provide the selection data in ways which help to retain character
4412 encoding information as it is pasted.
4413 A user “selects” text on xterm, which highlights the selected text. A
4415 subsequent “paste” to another client forwards a request to the client
4416 owning the selection. If xterm owns the primary selection, it makes
4417 the data available in the form of one or more “selection targets”. If
4418 it does not own the primary selection, e.g., if it has released it or
4419 another client has asserted ownership, it relies on cut-buffers to pass
4420 the data. But cut-buffers handle only ISO-8859-1 data (officially -
4421 some clients ignore the rules).
4422 CLIPBOARD
4424 When configured to use the clipboard (using the selectToClipboard
4425 resource), the problem with persistence of ownership is bypassed.
4426 Otherwise, there is no difference regarding the data which can be
4427 passed via selection.
4428 The PRIMARY token is a standard X feature, documented in the ICCCM
4430 (Inter-Client Communication Conventions Manual), which states
4431 The selection named by the atom PRIMARY is used for all commands
4433 that take only a single argument and is the principal means of
4434 communication between clients that use the selection mechanism.
4435 SELECT
4437 However, many applications use CLIPBOARD in imitation of other
4438 windowing systems. The selectToClipboard resource (and corresponding
4439 menu entry Select to Clipboard) introduce the SELECT token (known only
4440 to xterm) which chooses between the PRIMARY and CLIPBOARD tokens.
4441 Without using this feature, one can use workarounds such as the xclip
4443 program to show the contents of the X clipboard within an xterm window.
4444 Selection Targets
4446 The different types of data which are passed depend on what the
4447 receiving client asks for. These are termed selection targets.
4448 When asking for the selection data, xterm tries the following types in
4450 this order:
4451 UTF8_STRING
4453 This is an XFree86 extension, which denotes that the data is
4454 encoded in UTF-8. When xterm is built with wide-character
4455 support, it both accepts and provides this type.
4456 TEXT the text is in the encoding which corresponds to your current
4458 locale.
4459 COMPOUND_TEXT
4461 this is a format for multiple character set data, such as
4462 multi-lingual text. It can store UTF-8 data as a special
4463 case.
4464 STRING
4466 This is Latin 1 (ISO-8859-1) data.
4467 The middle two (TEXT and COMPOUND_TEXT) are added if xterm is
4469 configured with the i18nSelections resource set to “true”.
4470 UTF8_STRING is preferred (therefore first in the list) since xterm
4472 stores text as Unicode data when running in wide-character mode, and no
4473 translation is needed. On the other hand, TEXT and COMPOUND_TEXT may
4474 require translation. If the translation is incomplete, they will
4475 insert X's “defaultString” whose value cannot be set, and may simply be
4476 empty. Xterm's defaultString resource specifies the string to use for
4477 incomplete translations of the UTF8_STRING.
4478 You can alter the types which xterm tries using the eightBitSelectTypes
4480 or utf8SelectTypes resources. For instance, you might have some
4481 specific locale setting which does not use UTF-8 encoding. The
4482 resource value is a comma-separated list of the selection targets,
4483 which consist of the names shown. You can use the special name I18N to
4484 denote the optional inclusion of TEXT and COMPOUND_TEXT. The names are
4485 matched ignoring case, and can be abbreviated. The default list can be
4486 expressed in several ways, e.g.,
4487 UTF8_STRING,I18N,STRING
4489 utf8,i18n,string
4490 u,i,s
4491 Mouse Protocol
4493 Applications can send escape sequences to xterm to cause it to send
4494 escape sequences back to the computer when you press a pointer button,
4495 or even (depending on which escape sequence) send escape sequences back
4496 to the computer as you move the pointer.
4497 These escape sequences and the responses, called the mouse protocol,
4499 are documented in XTerm Control Sequences. They do not appear in the
4500 actions invoked by the translations resource because the resource does
4501 not change while you run xterm, whereas applications can change the
4502 mouse prototol (i.e., enable, disable, use different modes).
4503 However, the mouse protocol is interpreted within the actions that are
4505 usually associated with the pointer buttons. Xterm ignores the mouse
4506 protocol in the insert-selection action if the shift-key is pressed at
4507 the same time. It also modifies a few other actions if the shift-key
4508 is pressed, e.g., suppressing the response with the pointer position,
4509 though not eliminating changes to the selected text.
4510
4512 Xterm has four menus, named mainMenu, vtMenu, fontMenu, and tekMenu.
4513 Each menu pops up under the correct combinations of key and button
4514 presses. Each menu is divided into sections, separated by a horizontal
4515 line. Some menu entries correspond to modes that can be altered. A
4516 check mark appears next to a mode that is currently active. Selecting
4517 one of these modes toggles its state. Other menu entries are commands;
4518 selecting one of these performs the indicated function.
4519 All of the menu entries correspond to X actions. In the list below,
4521 the menu label is shown followed by the action's name in parenthesis.
4522 Main Options
4524 The xterm mainMenu pops up when the “control” key and pointer button
4525 one are pressed in a window. This menu contains items that apply to
4526 both the VTxxx and Tektronix windows. There are several sections:
4527 Commands for managing X events:
4529 Toolbar (resource toolbar)
4531 Clicking on the “Toolbar” menu entry hides the toolbar if
4532 it is visible, and shows it if it is not.
4533 Secure Keyboard (resource securekbd)
4535 The Secure Keyboard mode is helpful when typing in
4536 passwords or other sensitive data in an unsecure
4537 environment (see SECURITY below, but read the limitations
4538 carefully).
4539 Allow SendEvents (resource allowsends)
4541 Specifies whether or not synthetic key and button events
4542 generated using the X protocol SendEvent request should
4543 be interpreted or discarded. This corresponds to the
4544 allowSendEvents resource.
4545 Redraw Window (resource redraw)
4547 Forces the X display to repaint; useful in some
4548 environments.
4549 Commands for capturing output:
4551 Log to File (resource logging)
4553 Captures text sent to the screen in a logfile, as in the
4554 -l logging option.
4555 Print-All Immediately (resource print-immediate)
4557 Invokes the print-immediate action, sending the text of
4558 the current window directly to a file, as specified by
4559 the printFileImmediate, printModeImmediate and
4560 printOptsImmediate resources.
4561 Print-All on Error (resource print-on-error)
4563 Invokes the print-on-error action, which toggles a flag
4564 telling xterm that if it exits with an X error, to send
4565 the text of the current window directly to a file, as
4566 specified by the printFileOnXError, printModeOnXError and
4567 printOptsOnXError resources.
4568 Print Window (resource print)
4570 Sends the text of the current window to the program given
4571 in the printerCommand resource.
4572 Redirect to Printer (resource print-redir)
4574 This sets the printerControlMode to 0 or 2. You can use
4575 this to turn the printer on as if an application had sent
4576 the appropriate control sequence. It is also useful for
4577 switching the printer off if an application turns it on
4578 without resetting the print control mode.
4579 XHTML Screen Dump (resource dump-html)
4581 Available only when compiled with screen dump support.
4582 Invokes the dump-html action. This creates an XHTML file
4583 matching the contents of the current screen, including
4584 the border, internal border, colors and most attributes:
4585 bold, italic, underline, faint, strikeout, reverse; blink
4586 is rendered as white-on-red; double underline is rendered
4587 the same as underline since there is no portable
4588 equivalent in CSS 2.2.
4589 The font is whatever your browser uses for preformatted
4591 (<pre>) elements. The XHTML file references a cascading
4592 style sheet (CSS) named “xterm.css” that you can create
4593 to select a font or override properties.
4594 The following CSS selectors are used with the expected
4596 default behavior in the XHTML file:
4597 .ul for underline,
4599 .bd for bold,
4600 .it for italic,
4601 .st for strikeout,
4602 .lu for strikeout combined with underline.
4603 In addition you may use
4605 .ev to affect even numbered lines and
4607 .od to affect odd numbered lines.
4608 Attributes faint, reverse and blink are implemented as
4610 style attributes setting color properties. All colors
4611 are specified as RGB percentages in order to support
4612 displays with 10 bits per RGB.
4613 The name of the file will be
4615 xterm.yyyy.MM.dd.hh.mm.ss.xhtml
4617 where yyyy, MM, dd, hh, mm and ss are the year, month,
4619 day, hour, minute and second when the screen dump was
4620 performed (the file is created in the directory xterm is
4621 started in, or the home directory for a login xterm).
4622 The dump-html action can also be triggered using the
4624 Media Copy control sequence CSI 1 0 i, for example from a
4625 shell script with
4626 printf '\033[10i'
4628 Only the UTF-8 encoding is supported.
4630 SVG Screen Dump (resource dump-svg)
4632 Available only when compiled with screen dump support.
4633 Invokes the dump-svg action. This creates a Scalable
4634 Vector Graphics (SVG) file matching the contents of the
4635 current screen, including the border, internal border,
4636 colors and most attributes: bold, italic, underline,
4637 double underline, faint, strikeout, reverse; blink is
4638 rendered as white-on-red. The font is whatever your
4639 renderer uses for the monospace font-family. All colors
4640 are specified as RGB percentages in order to support
4641 displays with 10 bits per RGB.
4642 The name of the file will be
4644 xterm.yyyy.MM.dd.hh.mm.ss.svg
4646 where yyyy, MM, dd, hh, mm and ss are the year, month,
4648 day, hour, minute and second when the screen dump was
4649 performed (the file is created in the directory xterm is
4650 started in, or the home directory for a login xterm).
4651 The dump-svg action can also be triggered using the Media
4653 Copy control sequence CSI 1 1 i, for example from a shell
4654 script with
4655 printf '\033[11i'
4657 Only the UTF-8 encoding is supported.
4659 Modes for setting keyboard style:
4661 8-Bit Controls (resource 8-bit-control)
4663 Enabled for VT220 emulation, this controls whether xterm
4664 will send 8-bit control sequences rather than using 7-bit
4665 (ASCII) controls, e.g., sending a byte in the range
4666 128–159 rather than the escape character followed by a
4667 second byte. Xterm always interprets both 8-bit and
4668 7-bit control sequences (see Xterm Control Sequences).
4669 This corresponds to the eightBitControl resource.
4670 Backarrow Key (BS/DEL) (resource backarrow key)
4672 Modifies the behavior of the backarrow key, making it
4673 transmit either a backspace (8) or delete (127)
4674 character. This corresponds to the backarrowKey
4675 resource.
4676 Alt/NumLock Modifiers (resource num-lock)
4678 Controls the treatment of Alt- and NumLock-key modifiers.
4679 This corresponds to the numLock resource.
4680 Meta Sends Escape (resource meta-esc)
4682 Controls whether Meta keys are converted into a two-
4683 character sequence with the character itself preceded by
4684 ESC. This corresponds to the metaSendsEscape resource.
4685 Delete is DEL (resource delete-is-del)
4687 Controls whether the Delete key on the editing keypad
4688 should send DEL (127) or the VT220-style Remove escape
4689 sequence. This corresponds to the deleteIsDEL resource.
4690 Old Function-Keys (resource oldFunctionKeys)
4692 HP Function-Keys (resource hpFunctionKeys)
4694 SCO Function-Keys (resource scoFunctionKeys)
4696 Sun Function-Keys (resource sunFunctionKeys)
4698 VT220 Keyboard (resource sunKeyboard)
4700 These act as a radio-button, selecting one style for the
4701 keyboard layout. The layout corresponds to more than one
4702 resource setting: sunKeyboard, sunFunctionKeys,
4703 scoFunctionKeys and hpFunctionKeys.
4704 Commands for process signalling:
4706 Send STOP Signal (resource suspend)
4708 Send CONT Signal (resource continue)
4710 Send INT Signal (resource interrupt)
4712 Send HUP Signal (resource hangup)
4714 Send TERM Signal (resource terminate)
4716 Send KILL Signal (resource kill)
4718 These send the SIGTSTP, SIGCONT, SIGINT, SIGHUP, SIGTERM
4719 and SIGKILL signals respectively, to the process group of
4720 the process running under xterm (usually the shell). The
4721 SIGCONT function is especially useful if the user has
4722 accidentally typed CTRL-Z, suspending the process.
4723 Quit (resource quit)
4725 Stop processing X events except to support the -hold
4726 option, and then send a SIGHUP signal to the process
4727 group of the process running under xterm (usually the
4728 shell).
4729 VT Options
4731 The xterm vtMenu sets various modes in the VTxxx emulation, and is
4732 popped up when the “control” key and pointer button two are pressed in
4733 the VTxxx window.
4734 VTxxx Modes:
4736 Enable Scrollbar (resource scrollbar)
4738 Enable (or disable) the scrollbar. This corresponds to
4739 the -sb option and the scrollBar resource.
4740 Enable Jump Scroll (resource jumpscroll)
4742 Enable (or disable) jump scrolling. This corresponds to
4743 the -j option and the jumpScroll resource.
4744 Enable Reverse Video (resource reversevideo)
4746 Enable (or disable) reverse-video. This corresponds to
4747 the -rv option and the reverseVideo resource.
4748 Enable Auto Wraparound (resource autowrap)
4750 Enable (or disable) auto-wraparound. This corresponds to
4751 the -aw option and the autoWrap resource.
4752 Enable Reverse Wraparound (resource reversewrap)
4754 Enable (or disable) reverse wraparound. This corresponds
4755 to the -rw option and the reverseWrap resource.
4756 Enable Auto Linefeed (resource autolinefeed)
4758 Enable (or disable) auto-linefeed. This is the VT102 NEL
4759 function, which causes the emulator to emit a linefeed
4760 after each carriage return. There is no corresponding
4761 command-line option or resource setting.
4762 Enable Application Cursor Keys (resource appcursor)
4764 Enable (or disable) application cursor keys. This
4765 corresponds to the appcursorDefault resource. There is
4766 no corresponding command-line option.
4767 Enable Application Keypad (resource appkeypad)
4769 Enable (or disable) application keypad keys. This
4770 corresponds to the appkeypadDefault resource. There is
4771 no corresponding command-line option.
4772 Scroll to Bottom on Key Press (resource scrollkey)
4774 Enable (or disable) scrolling to the bottom of the
4775 scrolling region on a keypress. This corresponds to the
4776 -sk option and the scrollKey resource.
4777 As a special case, the XON / XOFF keys (control/S and
4779 control/Q) are ignored.
4780 Scroll to Bottom on Tty Output (resource scrollttyoutput)
4782 Enable (or disable) scrolling to the bottom of the
4783 scrolling region on output to the terminal. This
4784 corresponds to the -si option and the scrollTtyOutput
4785 resource.
4786 Allow 80/132 Column Switching (resource allow132)
4788 Enable (or disable) switching between 80 and 132 columns.
4789 This corresponds to the -132 option and the c132
4790 resource.
4791 Keep Selection (resource keepSelection)
4793 Tell xterm whether to disown the selection when it stops
4794 highlighting it, e.g., when an application modifies the
4795 display so that it no longer matches the text which has
4796 been highlighted. As long as xterm continues to own the
4797 selection, it can provide the corresponding text to other
4798 clients via cut/paste. This corresponds to the
4799 keepSelection resource. There is no corresponding
4800 command-line option.
4801 Select to Clipboard (resource selectToClipboard)
4803 Tell xterm whether to use the PRIMARY or CLIPBOARD for
4804 SELECT tokens in the translations resource which maps
4805 keyboard and mouse actions to select/paste actions. This
4806 corresponds to the selectToClipboard resource. There is
4807 no corresponding command-line option.
4808 Enable Visual Bell (resource visualbell)
4810 Enable (or disable) visible bell (i.e., flashing) instead
4811 of an audible bell. This corresponds to the -vb option
4812 and the visualBell resource.
4813 Enable Bell Urgency (resource bellIsUrgent)
4815 Enable (or disable) Urgency window manager hint when
4816 Control-G is received. This corresponds to the
4817 bellIsUrgent resource.
4818 Enable Pop on Bell (resource poponbell)
4820 Enable (or disable) raising of the window when Control-G
4821 is received. This corresponds to the -pop option and the
4822 popOnBell resource.
4823 Enable Blinking Cursor (resource cursorblink)
4825 Enable (or disable) the blinking-cursor feature. This
4826 corresponds to the -bc option and the cursorBlink
4827 resource. There are also escape sequences (see Xterm
4828 Control Sequences):
4829 · If the cursorBlinkXOR resource is set, the menu entry
4831 and the escape sequence states will be XOR'd: if both
4832 are enabled, the cursor will not blink, if only one
4833 is enabled, the cursor will blink.
4834 · If the cursorBlinkXOR is not set; if either the menu
4836 entry or the escape sequence states are set, the
4837 cursor will blink.
4838 In either case, the checkbox for the menu shows the state
4840 of the cursorBlink resource, which may not correspond to
4841 what the cursor is actually doing.
4842 Enable Alternate Screen Switching (resource titeInhibit)
4844 Enable (or disable) switching between the normal and
4845 alternate screens. This corresponds to the titeInhibit
4846 resource. There is no corresponding command-line option.
4847 Enable Active Icon (resource activeicon)
4849 Enable (or disable) the active-icon feature. This
4850 corresponds to the -ai option and the activeIcon
4851 resource.
4852 Sixel Scrolling (resource sixelScrolling)
4854 When enabled, sixel graphics are positioned at the
4855 current text cursor location, scroll the image vertically
4856 if larger than the screen, and leave the text cursor at
4857 the start of the next complete line after the image when
4858 returning to text mode (this is the default). When
4859 disabled, sixel graphics are positioned at the upper left
4860 of the screen, are cropped to fit the screen, and do not
4861 affect the text cursor location. This corresponds to the
4862 sixelScrolling resource. There is no corresponding
4863 command-line option.
4864 Private Color Registers (resource privateColorRegisters)
4866 If xterm is configured to support ReGIS graphics, this
4867 controls whether a private color palette can be used.
4868 When enabled, each graphic image uses a separate set of
4870 color registers, so that it essentially has a private
4871 palette (this is the default). If it is not set, all
4872 graphics images share a common set of registers which is
4873 how sixel and ReGIS graphics worked on actual hardware.
4874 The default is likely a more useful mode on modern
4875 TrueColor hardware.
4876 This corresponds to the privateColorRegisters resource.
4878 There is no corresponding command-line option.
4879 VTxxx Commands:
4881 Do Soft Reset (resource softreset)
4883 Reset scroll regions. This can be convenient when some
4884 program has left the scroll regions set incorrectly
4885 (often a problem when using VMS or TOPS-20). This
4886 corresponds to the VT220 DECSTR control sequence.
4887 Do Full Reset (resource hardreset)
4889 The full reset entry will clear the screen, reset tabs to
4890 every eight columns, and reset the terminal modes (such
4891 as wrap and smooth scroll) to their initial states just
4892 after xterm has finished processing the command line
4893 options. This corresponds to the VT102 RIS control
4894 sequence, with a few obvious differences. For example,
4895 your session is not disconnected as a real VT102 would
4896 do.
4897 Reset and Clear Saved Lines (resource clearsavedlines)
4899 Perform a full reset, and also clear the saved lines.
4900 Commands for setting the current screen:
4902 Show Tek Window (resource tekshow)
4904 When enabled, pops the Tektronix 4014 window up (makes it
4905 visible). When disabled, hides the Tektronix 4014
4906 window.
4907 Switch to Tek Mode (resource tekmode)
4909 When enabled, pops the Tektronix 4014 window up if it is
4910 not already visible, and switches the input stream to
4911 that window. When disabled, hides the Tektronix 4014
4912 window and switches input back to the VTxxx window.
4913 Hide VT Window (resource vthide)
4915 When enabled, hides the VTxxx window, shows the Tektronix
4916 4014 window if it was not already visible and switches
4917 the input stream to that window. When disabled, shows
4918 the VTxxx window, and switches the input stream to that
4919 window.
4920 Show Alternate Screen (resource altscreen)
4922 When enabled, shows the alternate screen. When disabled,
4923 shows the normal screen. Note that the normal screen may
4924 have saved lines; the alternate screen does not.
4925 VT Fonts
4927 The xterm fontMenu pops up when the “control” key and pointer button
4928 three are pressed in a window. It sets the font used in the VTxxx
4929 window, or modifies the way the font is specified or displayed. There
4930 are several sections.
4931 The first section allows you to select the font from a set of
4933 alternatives:
4934 Default (resource fontdefault)
4936 Set the font to the default, i.e., that given by the
4937 *VT100.font resource.
4938 Unreadable (resource font1)
4940 Set the font to that given by the *VT100.font1 resource.
4941 Tiny (resource font2)
4943 Set the font to that given by the *VT100.font2 resource.
4944 Small (resource font3)
4946 Set the font to that given by the *VT100.font3 resource.
4947 Medium (resource font4)
4949 Set the font to that given by the *VT100.font4 resource.
4950 Large (resource font5)
4952 Set the font to that given by the *VT100.font5 resource.
4953 Huge (resource font6)
4955 Set the font to that given by the *VT100.font6 resource.
4956 Escape Sequence (resource fontescape)
4958 This allows you to set the font last specified by the Set
4959 Font escape sequence (see Xterm Control Sequences).
4960 Selection (resource fontsel)
4962 This allows you to set the font specified the current
4963 selection as a font name (if the PRIMARY selection is
4964 owned).
4965 The second section allows you to modify the way it is displayed:
4967 Bold Fonts (resource allow-bold-fonts)
4969 This is normally checked (enabled). When unchecked,
4970 xterm will not use bold fonts. The setting corresponds
4971 to the allowBoldFonts resource.
4972 Line-Drawing Characters (resource font-linedrawing)
4974 When set, tells xterm to draw its own line-drawing
4975 characters. Otherwise it relies on the font containing
4976 these. Compare to the forceBoxChars resource.
4977 Packed Font (resource font-packed)
4979 When set, tells xterm to use the minimum glyph-width from
4980 a font when displaying characters. Use the maximum width
4981 (unchecked) to help display proportional fonts. Compare
4982 to the forcePackedFont resource.
4983 Doublesized Characters (resource font-doublesize)
4985 When set, xterm may ask the font server to produce scaled
4986 versions of the normal font, for VT102 double-size
4987 characters.
4988 The third section allows you to modify the way it is specified:
4990 TrueType Fonts (resource render-font)
4992 If the renderFont and corresponding resources were set,
4993 this is a further control whether xterm will actually use
4994 the Xft library calls to obtain a font.
4995 UTF-8 Encoding (resource utf8-mode)
4997 This controls whether xterm uses UTF-8 encoding of
4998 input/output. It is useful for temporarily switching
4999 xterm to display text from an application which does not
5000 follow the locale settings. It corresponds to the utf8
5001 resource.
5002 UTF-8 Fonts (resource utf8-fonts)
5004 This controls whether xterm uses UTF-8 fonts for display.
5005 It is useful for temporarily switching xterm to display
5006 text from an application which does not follow the locale
5007 settings. It combines the utf8 and utf8Fonts resources,
5008 subject to the locale resource.
5009 UTF-8 Titles (resource utf8-title)
5011 This controls whether xterm accepts UTF-8 encoding for
5012 title control sequences. It corresponds to the utf8Fonts
5013 resource.
5014 Initially the checkmark is set according to both the utf8
5016 and utf8Fonts resource values. If the latter is set to
5017 “always”, the checkmark is disabled. Likewise, if there
5018 are no fonts given in the utf8Fonts subresources, then
5019 the checkmark also is disabled.
5020 The standard XTerm app-defaults file defines both sets of
5022 fonts, while the UXTerm app-defaults file defines only
5023 one set. Assuming the standard app-defaults files, this
5024 command will launch xterm able to switch between UTF-8
5025 and ISO-8859-1 encoded fonts:
5026 uxterm -class XTerm
5028 The fourth section allows you to enable or disable special operations
5030 which can be controlled by writing escape sequences to the terminal.
5031 These are disabled if the SendEvents feature is enabled:
5032 Allow Color Ops (resource allow-font-ops)
5034 This corresponds to the allowColorOps resource. Enable
5035 or disable control sequences that set/query the colors.
5036 Allow Font Ops (resource allow-font-ops)
5038 This corresponds to the allowFontOps resource. Enable or
5039 disable control sequences that set/query the font.
5040 Allow Mouse Ops (resource allow-mouse-ops)
5042 Enable or disable control sequences that cause the
5043 terminal to send escape sequences on pointer-clicks and
5044 movement. This corresponds to the allowMouseOps
5045 resource.
5046 Allow Tcap Ops (resource allow-tcap-ops)
5048 Enable or disable control sequences that query the
5049 terminal's notion of its function-key strings, as termcap
5050 or terminfo capabilities. This corresponds to the
5051 allowTcapOps resource.
5052 Allow Title Ops (resource allow-title-ops)
5054 Enable or disable control sequences that modify the
5055 window title or icon name. This corresponds to the
5056 allowTitleOps resource.
5057 Allow Window Ops (resource allow-window-ops)
5059 Enable or disable extended window control sequences (as
5060 used in dtterm). This corresponds to the allowWindowOps
5061 resource.
5062 Tek Options
5064 The xterm tekMenu sets various modes in the Tektronix emulation, and is
5065 popped up when the “control” key and pointer button two are pressed in
5066 the Tektronix window. The current font size is checked in the modes
5067 section of the menu.
5068 Large Characters (resource tektextlarge)
5070 #2 Size Characters (resource tektext2)
5072 #3 Size Characters (resource tektext3)
5074 Small Characters (resource tektextsmall)
5076 Commands:
5078 PAGE (resource tekpage)
5080 Clear the Tektronix window.
5081 RESET (resource tekreset)
5083 COPY (resource tekcopy)
5085 Windows:
5087 Show VT Window (resource vtshow)
5089 Switch to VT Mode (resource vtmode)
5091 Hide Tek Window (resource tekhide)
5093
5095 X environments differ in their security consciousness.
5096 · Most servers, run under xdm, are capable of using a “magic cookie”
5098 authorization scheme that can provide a reasonable level of
5099 security for many people. If your server is only using a host-
5100 based mechanism to control access to the server (see xhost(1)),
5101 then if you enable access for a host and other users are also
5102 permitted to run clients on that same host, it is possible that
5103 someone can run an application which uses the basic services of the
5104 X protocol to snoop on your activities, potentially capturing a
5105 transcript of everything you type at the keyboard.
5106 · Any process which has access to your X display can manipulate it in
5108 ways that you might not anticipate, even redirecting your keyboard
5109 to itself and sending events to your application's windows. This
5110 is true even with the “magic cookie” authorization scheme. While
5111 the allowSendEvents provides some protection against rogue
5112 applications tampering with your programs, guarding against a
5113 snooper is harder.
5114 · The X input extension for instance allows an application to bypass
5116 all of the other (limited) authorization and security features,
5117 including the GrabKeyboard protocol.
5118 · The possibility of an application spying on your keystrokes is of
5120 particular concern when you want to type in a password or other
5121 sensitive data. The best solution to this problem is to use a
5122 better authorization mechanism than is provided by X.
5123 Subject to all of these caveats, a simple mechanism exists for
5125 protecting keyboard input in xterm.
5126 The xterm menu (see MENUS above) contains a Secure Keyboard entry
5128 which, when enabled, attempts to ensure that all keyboard input is
5129 directed only to xterm (using the GrabKeyboard protocol request). When
5130 an application prompts you for a password (or other sensitive data),
5131 you can enable Secure Keyboard using the menu, type in the data, and
5132 then disable Secure Keyboard using the menu again.
5133 · This ensures that you know which window is accepting your
5135 keystrokes.
5136 · It cannot ensure that there are no processes which have access to
5138 your X display that might be observing the keystrokes as well.
5139 Only one X client at a time can grab the keyboard, so when you attempt
5141 to enable Secure Keyboard it may fail. In this case, the bell will
5142 sound. If the Secure Keyboard succeeds, the foreground and background
5143 colors will be exchanged (as if you selected the Enable Reverse Video
5144 entry in the Modes menu); they will be exchanged again when you exit
5145 secure mode. If the colors do not switch, then you should be very
5146 suspicious that you are being spoofed. If the application you are
5147 running displays a prompt before asking for the password, it is safest
5148 to enter secure mode before the prompt gets displayed, and to make sure
5149 that the prompt gets displayed correctly (in the new colors), to
5150 minimize the probability of spoofing. You can also bring up the menu
5151 again and make sure that a check mark appears next to the entry.
5152 Secure Keyboard mode will be disabled automatically if your xterm
5154 window becomes iconified (or otherwise unmapped), or if you start up a
5155 reparenting window manager (that places a title bar or other decoration
5156 around the window) while in Secure Keyboard mode. (This is a feature
5157 of the X protocol not easily overcome.) When this happens, the
5158 foreground and background colors will be switched back and the bell
5159 will sound in warning.
5160
5162 Clicking the left pointer button twice in rapid succession (double-
5163 clicking) causes all characters of the same class (e.g., letters, white
5164 space, punctuation) to be selected as a “word”. Since different people
5165 have different preferences for what should be selected (for example,
5166 should filenames be selected as a whole or only the separate subnames),
5167 the default mapping can be overridden through the use of the charClass
5168 (class CharClass) resource.
5169 This resource is a series of comma-separated range:value pairs.
5171 · The range is either a single number or low-high in the range of 0
5173 to 65535, corresponding to the code for the character or characters
5174 to be set.
5175 · The value is arbitrary. For example, the default table uses the
5177 character number of the first character occurring in the set. When
5178 not in UTF-8 mode, only the first 256 entries of this table will be
5179 used.
5180 The default table starts as follows -
5182 static int charClass[256] = {
5184 /* NUL SOH STX ETX EOT ENQ ACK BEL */
5185 32, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
5186 /* BS HT NL VT NP CR SO SI */
5187 1, 32, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
5188 /* DLE DC1 DC2 DC3 DC4 NAK SYN ETB */
5189 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
5190 /* CAN EM SUB ESC FS GS RS US */
5191 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
5192 /* SP ! " # $ % & ' */
5193 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39,
5194 /* ( ) * + , - . / */
5195 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47,
5196 /* 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 */
5197 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5198 /* 8 9 : ; < = > ? */
5199 48, 48, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63,
5200 /* @ A B C D E F G */
5201 64, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5202 /* H I J K L M N O */
5203 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5204 /* P Q R S T U V W */
5205 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5206 /* X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _ */
5207 48, 48, 48, 91, 92, 93, 94, 48,
5208 /* ` a b c d e f g */
5209 96, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5210 /* h i j k l m n o */
5211 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5212 /* p q r s t u v w */
5213 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5214 /* x y z { | } ~ DEL */
5215 48, 48, 48, 123, 124, 125, 126, 1,
5216 /* x80 x81 x82 x83 IND NEL SSA ESA */
5217 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
5218 /* HTS HTJ VTS PLD PLU RI SS2 SS3 */
5219 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
5220 /* DCS PU1 PU2 STS CCH MW SPA EPA */
5221 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
5222 /* x98 x99 x9A CSI ST OSC PM APC */
5223 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
5224 /* - i c/ L ox Y- | So */
5225 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167,
5226 /* .. c0 ip << _ R0 - */
5227 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175,
5228 /* o +- 2 3 ' u q| . */
5229 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183,
5230 /* , 1 2 >> 1/4 1/2 3/4 ? */
5231 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191,
5232 /* A` A' A^ A~ A: Ao AE C, */
5233 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5234 /* E` E' E^ E: I` I' I^ I: */
5235 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5236 /* D- N~ O` O' O^ O~ O: X */
5237 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 215,
5238 /* O/ U` U' U^ U: Y' P B */
5239 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5240 /* a` a' a^ a~ a: ao ae c, */
5241 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5242 /* e` e' e^ e: i` i' i^ i: */
5243 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5244 /* d n~ o` o' o^ o~ o: -: */
5245 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 247,
5246 /* o/ u` u' u^ u: y' P y: */
5247 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48};
5248 For example, the string “33:48,37:48,45-47:48,38:48” indicates
5250 that the exclamation mark, percent sign, dash, period, slash,
5251 and ampersand characters should be treated the same way as
5252 characters and numbers. This is useful for cutting and pasting
5253 electronic mailing addresses and filenames.
5254
5256 It is possible to rebind keys (or sequences of keys) to arbitrary
5257 strings for input, by changing the translations resources for the vt100
5258 or tek4014 widgets. Changing the translations resource for events
5259 other than key and button events is not expected, and will cause
5260 unpredictable behavior.
5261 Actions
5263 The following actions are provided for use within the vt100 or tek4014
5264 translations resources:
5265 allow-bold-fonts(on/off/toggle)
5267 This action sets, unsets or toggles the allowBoldFonts resource
5268 and is also invoked by the allow-bold-fonts entry in fontMenu.
5269 allow-color-ops(on/off/toggle)
5271 This action sets, unsets or toggles the allowColorOps resource
5272 and is also invoked by the allow-color-ops entry in fontMenu.
5273 allow-font-ops(on/off/toggle)
5275 This action sets, unsets or toggles the allowFontOps resource
5276 and is also invoked by the allow-font-ops entry in fontMenu.
5277 allow-mouse-ops(on/off/toggle)
5279 This action sets, unsets or toggles the allowMousepOps resource
5280 and is also invoked by the allow-mouse-ops entry in fontMenu.
5281 allow-send-events(on/off/toggle)
5283 This action sets, unsets or toggles the allowSendEvents
5284 resource and is also invoked by the allowsends entry in
5285 mainMenu.
5286 allow-tcap-ops(on/off/toggle)
5288 This action sets, unsets or toggles the allowTcapOps resource
5289 and is also invoked by the allow-tcap-ops entry in fontMenu.
5290 allow-title-ops(on/off/toggle)
5292 This action sets, unsets or toggles the allowTitleOps resource
5293 and is also invoked by the allow-title-ops entry in fontMenu.
5294 allow-window-ops(on/off/toggle)
5296 This action sets, unsets or toggles the allowWindowOps resource
5297 and is also invoked by the allow-window-ops entry in fontMenu.
5298 alt-sends-escape()
5300 This action toggles the state of the altSendsEscape resource.
5301 bell([percent])
5303 This action rings the keyboard bell at the specified percentage
5304 above or below the base volume.
5305 clear-saved-lines()
5307 This action does hard-reset() and also clears the history of
5308 lines saved off the top of the screen. It is also invoked from
5309 the clearsavedlines entry in vtMenu. The effect is identical
5310 to a hardware reset (RIS) control sequence.
5311 copy-selection(destname [, ...])
5313 This action puts the currently selected text into all of the
5314 selections or cutbuffers specified by destname. Unlike select-
5315 end, it does not send a mouse position or otherwise modify the
5316 internal selection state.
5317 create-menu(m/v/f/t)
5319 This action creates one of the menus used by xterm, if it has
5320 not been previously created. The parameter values are the menu
5321 names: mainMenu, vtMenu, fontMenu, tekMenu, respectively.
5322 dabbrev-expand()
5324 Expands the word before cursor by searching in the preceding
5325 text on the screen and in the scrollback buffer for words
5326 starting with that abbreviation. Repeating dabbrev-expand()
5327 several times in sequence searches for an alternative expansion
5328 by looking farther back. Lack of more matches is signaled by a
5329 bell. Attempts to expand an empty word (i.e., when cursor is
5330 preceded by a space) yield successively all previous words.
5331 Consecutive identical expansions are ignored. The word here is
5332 defined as a sequence of non-whitespace characters. This
5333 feature partially emulates the behavior of “dynamic
5334 abbreviation” expansion in Emacs (bound there to M-/). Here is
5335 a resource setting for xterm which will do the same thing:
5336 *VT100*translations: #override \n\
5338 Meta <KeyPress> /:dabbrev-expand()
5339 deiconify()
5341 Changes the window state back to normal, if it was iconified.
5342 delete-is-del()
5344 This action toggles the state of the deleteIsDEL resource.
5345 dired-button()
5347 Handles a button event (other than press and release) by
5348 echoing the event's position (i.e., character line and column)
5349 in the following format:
5350 ^X ESC G <line+“ ”> <col+“ ”>
5352 exec-formatted(format, sourcename [, ...])
5354 Execute an external command, using the current selection for
5355 part of the command's parameters. The first parameter, format
5356 gives the basic command. Succeeding parameters specify the
5357 selection source as in insert-selection.
5358 The format parameter allows these substitutions:
5360 %% inserts a "%".
5362 %P the screen-position at the beginning of the highlighted
5364 region, as a semicolon-separated pair of integers using
5365 the values that the CUP control sequence would use.
5366 %p the screen-position after the beginning of the highlighted
5368 region, using the same convention as “%P”.
5369 %S the length of the string that “%s” would insert.
5371 %s the content of the selection, unmodified.
5373 %T the length of the string that “%t” would insert.
5375 %t the selection, trimmed of leading/trailing whitespace.
5377 Embedded spaces (and newlines) are copied as is.
5378 %R the length of the string that “%r” would insert.
5380 %r the selection, trimmed of trailing whitespace.
5382 %V the video attributes at the beginning of the highlighted
5384 region, as a semicolon-separated list of integers using
5385 the values that the SGR control sequence would use.
5386 %v the video attributes after the end of the highlighted
5388 region, using the same convention as “%V”.
5389 After constructing the command-string, xterm forks a subprocess
5391 and executes the command, which completes independently of
5392 xterm.
5393 For example, this translation would invoke a new xterm process
5395 to view a file whose name is selected while holding the shift
5396 key down. The new process is started when the mouse button is
5397 released:
5398 *VT100*translations: #override Shift \
5400 <Btn1Up>:exec-formatted("xterm -e view '%t'", SELECT)
5401 exec-selectable(format, onClicks)
5403 Execute an external command, using data copied from the screen
5404 for part of the command's parameters. The first parameter,
5405 format gives the basic command as in exec-formatted. The
5406 second parameter specifies the method for copying the data as
5407 in the on2Clicks resource.
5408 fullscreen(on/off/toggle)
5410 This action sets, unsets or toggles the fullscreen resource.
5411 iconify()
5413 Iconifies the window.
5414 hard-reset()
5416 This action resets the scrolling region, tabs, window size, and
5417 cursor keys and clears the screen. It is also invoked from the
5418 hardreset entry in vtMenu.
5419 ignore()
5421 This action ignores the event but checks for special pointer
5422 position escape sequences.
5423 insert()
5425 This action inserts the character or string associated with the
5426 key that was pressed.
5427 insert-eight-bit()
5429 This action inserts an eight-bit (Meta) version of the
5430 character or string associated with the key that was pressed.
5431 Only single-byte values are treated specially. The exact
5432 action depends on the value of the altSendsEscape and the
5433 metaSendsEscape and the eightBitInput resources. The
5434 metaSendsEscape resource is tested first. See the
5435 eightBitInput resource for a full discussion.
5436 The term “eight-bit” is misleading: xterm checks if the key is
5438 in the range 128 to 255 (the eighth bit is set). If the value
5439 is in that range, depending on the resource values, xterm may
5440 then do one of the following:
5441 · add 128 to the value, setting its eighth bit,
5443 · send an ESC byte before the key, or
5445 · send the key unaltered.
5447 insert-formatted(format, sourcename [, ...])
5449 Insert the current selection or data related to it, formatted.
5450 The first parameter, format gives the template for the data as
5451 in exec-formatted. Succeeding parameters specify the selection
5452 source as in insert-selection.
5453 insert-selectable(format, onClicks)
5455 Insert data copied from the screen, formatted. The first
5456 parameter, format gives the template for the data as in exec-
5457 formatted. The second parameter specifies the method for
5458 copying the data as in the on2Clicks resource.
5459 insert-selection(sourcename [, ...])
5461 This action inserts the string found in the selection or
5462 cutbuffer indicated by sourcename. Sources are checked in the
5463 order given (case is significant) until one is found.
5464 Commonly-used selections include: PRIMARY, SECONDARY, and
5465 CLIPBOARD. Cut buffers are typically named CUT_BUFFER0 through
5466 CUT_BUFFER7.
5467 insert-seven-bit()
5469 This action is a synonym for insert(). The term “seven-bit” is
5470 misleading: it only implies that xterm does not try to add 128
5471 to the key's value as in insert-eight-bit().
5472 interpret(control-sequence)
5474 Interpret the given control sequence locally, i.e., without
5475 passing it to the host. This works by inserting the control
5476 sequence at the front of the input buffer. Use “\” to escape
5477 octal digits in the string. Xt does not allow you to put a
5478 null character (i.e., “\000”) in the string.
5479 keymap(name)
5481 This action dynamically defines a new translation table whose
5482 resource name is name with the suffix “Keymap” (i.e.,
5483 nameKeymap, where case is significant). The name None restores
5484 the original translation table.
5485 larger-vt-font()
5487 Set the font to the next larger one, based on the font
5488 dimensions. See also set-vt-font().
5489 load-vt-fonts(name[,class])
5491 Load fontnames from the given subresource name and class. That
5492 is, load the “*VT100.name.font”, resource as “*VT100.font” etc.
5493 If no name is given, the original set of fontnames is restored.
5494 Unlike set-vt-font(), this does not affect the escape- and
5496 select-fonts, since those are not based on resource values. It
5497 does affect the fonts loosely organized under the “Default”
5498 menu entry, including font, boldFont, wideFont and
5499 wideBoldFont.
5500 maximize()
5502 Resizes the window to fill the screen.
5503 meta-sends-escape()
5505 This action toggles the state of the metaSendsEscape resource.
5506 popup-menu(menuname)
5508 This action displays the specified popup menu. Valid names
5509 (case is significant) include: mainMenu, vtMenu, fontMenu, and
5510 tekMenu.
5511 print(printer-flags)
5513 This action prints the window. It is also invoked by the print
5514 entry in mainMenu.
5515 The action accepts optional parameters, which temporarily
5517 override resource settings. The parameter values are matched
5518 ignoring case:
5519 noFormFeed
5521 no form feed will be sent at the end of the last line
5522 printed (i.e., printerFormFeed is “false”).
5523 FormFeed
5525 a form feed will be sent at the end of the last line
5526 printed (i.e., printerFormFeed is “true”).
5527 noNewLine
5529 no newline will be sent at the end of the last line
5530 printed, and wrapped lines will be combined into long
5531 lines (i.e., printerNewLine is “false”).
5532 NewLine
5534 a newline will be sent at the end of the last line
5535 printed, and each line will be limited (by adding a
5536 newline) to the screen width (i.e., printerNewLine is
5537 “true”).
5538 noAttrs
5540 the page is printed without attributes (i.e.,
5541 printAttributes is “0”).
5542 monoAttrs
5544 the page is printed with monochrome (vt220) attributes
5545 (i.e., printAttributes is “1”).
5546 colorAttrs
5548 the page is printed with ANSI color attributes (i.e.,
5549 printAttributes is “2”).
5550 print-everything(printer-flags)
5552 This action sends the entire text history, in addition to the
5553 text currently visible, to the program given in the
5554 printerCommand resource. It allows the same optional
5555 parameters as the print action. With a suitable printer
5556 command, the action can be used to load the text history in an
5557 editor.
5558 print-immediate()
5560 Sends the text of the current window directly to a file, as
5561 specified by the printFileImmediate, printModeImmediate and
5562 printOptsImmediate resources.
5563 print-on-error()
5565 Toggles a flag telling xterm that if it exits with an X error,
5566 to send the text of the current window directly to a file, as
5567 specified by the printFileOnXError, printModeOnXError and
5568 printOptsOnXError resources.
5569 print-redir()
5571 This action toggles the printerControlMode between 0 and 2.
5572 The corresponding popup menu entry is useful for switching the
5573 printer off if you happen to change your mind after deciding to
5574 print random binary files on the terminal.
5575 quit()
5577 This action sends a SIGHUP to the subprogram and exits. It is
5578 also invoked by the quit entry in mainMenu.
5579 readline-button()
5581 Supports the optional readline feature by echoing repeated
5582 cursor forward or backward control sequences on button release
5583 event, to request that the host application update its notion
5584 of the cursor's position to match the button event.
5585 redraw()
5587 This action redraws the window. It is also invoked by the
5588 redraw entry in mainMenu.
5589 restore()
5591 Restores the window to the size before it was last maximized.
5592 scroll-back(count [,units [,mouse] ])
5594 This action scrolls the text window backward so that text that
5595 had previously scrolled off the top of the screen is now
5596 visible.
5597 The count argument indicates the number of units (which may be
5599 page, halfpage, pixel, or line) by which to scroll.
5600 An adjustment can be specified for the page or halfpage units
5602 by appending a “+” or “-” sign followed by a number, e.g.,
5603 page-2 to specify 2 lines less than a page.
5604 If the third parameter mouse is given, the action is ignored
5606 when mouse reporting is enabled.
5607 scroll-forw(count [,units [,mouse] ])
5609 This action is similar to scroll-back except that it scrolls in
5610 the other direction.
5611 secure()
5613 This action toggles the Secure Keyboard mode (see SECURITY),
5614 and is invoked from the securekbd entry in mainMenu.
5615 scroll-lock(on/off/toggle)
5617 This action sets, unsets or toggles internal state which tells
5618 xterm whether Scroll Lock is active, subject to the
5619 allowScrollLock resource.
5620 scroll-to(count)
5622 Scroll to the given line relative to the beginning of the
5623 saved-lines. For instance, “scroll-to(0)” would scroll to the
5624 beginning. Two special nonnumeric parameters are recognized:
5625 scroll-to(begin)
5627 Scroll to the beginning of the saved lines.
5628 scroll-to(end)
5630 Scroll to the end of the saved lines, i.e., to the
5631 currently active page.
5632 select-cursor-end(destname [, ...])
5634 This action is similar to select-end except that it should be
5635 used with select-cursor-start.
5636 select-cursor-extend()
5638 This action is similar to select-extend except that it should
5639 be used with select-cursor-start.
5640 select-cursor-start()
5642 This action is similar to select-start except that it begins
5643 the selection at the current text cursor position.
5644 select-end(destname [, ...])
5646 This action puts the currently selected text into all of the
5647 selections or cutbuffers specified by destname. It also sends
5648 a mouse position and updates the internal selection state to
5649 reflect the end of the selection process.
5650 select-extend()
5652 This action tracks the pointer and extends the selection. It
5653 should only be bound to Motion events.
5654 select-set()
5656 This action stores text that corresponds to the current
5657 selection, without affecting the selection mode.
5658 select-start()
5660 This action begins text selection at the current pointer
5661 location. See the section on POINTER USAGE for information on
5662 making selections.
5663 send-signal(signame)
5665 This action sends the signal named by signame to the xterm
5666 subprocess (the shell or program specified with the -e command
5667 line option). It is also invoked by the suspend, continue,
5668 interrupt, hangup, terminate, and kill entries in mainMenu.
5669 Allowable signal names are (case is not significant): tstp (if
5670 supported by the operating system), suspend (same as tstp),
5671 cont (if supported by the operating system), int, hup, term,
5672 quit, alrm, alarm (same as alrm) and kill.
5673 set-8-bit-control(on/off/toggle)
5675 This action sets, unsets or toggles the eightBitControl
5676 resource. It is also invoked from the 8-bit-control entry in
5677 vtMenu.
5678 set-allow132(on/off/toggle)
5680 This action sets, unsets or toggles the c132 resource. It is
5681 also invoked from the allow132 entry in vtMenu.
5682 set-altscreen(on/off/toggle)
5684 This action sets, unsets or toggles between the alternate and
5685 current screens.
5686 set-appcursor(on/off/toggle)
5688 This action sets, unsets or toggles the handling Application
5689 Cursor Key mode and is also invoked by the appcursor entry in
5690 vtMenu.
5691 set-appkeypad(on/off/toggle)
5693 This action sets, unsets or toggles the handling of Application
5694 Keypad mode and is also invoked by the appkeypad entry in
5695 vtMenu.
5696 set-autolinefeed(on/off/toggle)
5698 This action sets, unsets or toggles automatic insertion of
5699 linefeeds. It is also invoked by the autolinefeed entry in
5700 vtMenu.
5701 set-autowrap(on/off/toggle)
5703 This action sets, unsets or toggles automatic wrapping of long
5704 lines. It is also invoked by the autowrap entry in vtMenu.
5705 set-backarrow(on/off/toggle)
5707 This action sets, unsets or toggles the backarrowKey resource.
5708 It is also invoked from the backarrow key entry in vtMenu.
5709 set-bellIsUrgent(on/off/toggle)
5711 This action sets, unsets or toggles the bellIsUrgent resource.
5712 It is also invoked by the bellIsUrgent entry in vtMenu.
5713 set-cursorblink(on/off/toggle)
5715 This action sets, unsets or toggles the cursorBlink resource.
5716 It is also invoked from the cursorblink entry in vtMenu.
5717 set-cursesemul(on/off/toggle)
5719 This action sets, unsets or toggles the curses resource. It is
5720 also invoked from the cursesemul entry in vtMenu.
5721 set-font-doublesize(on/off/toggle)
5723 This action sets, unsets or toggles the fontDoublesize
5724 resource. It is also invoked by the font-doublesize entry in
5725 fontMenu.
5726 set-hp-function-keys(on/off/toggle)
5728 This action sets, unsets or toggles the hpFunctionKeys
5729 resource. It is also invoked by the hpFunctionKeys entry in
5730 mainMenu.
5731 set-jumpscroll(on/off/toggle)
5733 This action sets, unsets or toggles the jumpscroll resource.
5734 It is also invoked by the jumpscroll entry in vtMenu.
5735 set-font-linedrawing(on/off/toggle)
5737 This action sets, unsets or toggles the xterm's state regarding
5738 whether the current font has line-drawing characters and
5739 whether it should draw them directly. It is also invoked by
5740 the font-linedrawing entry in fontMenu.
5741 set-font-packed(on/off/toggle)
5743 This action sets, unsets or toggles the forcePackedFont
5744 resource which controls use of the font's minimum or maximum
5745 glyph width. It is also invoked by the font-packed entry in
5746 fontMenu.
5747 set-keep-clipboard(on/off/toggle)
5749 This action sets, unsets or toggles the keepClipboard resource.
5750 set-keep-selection(on/off/toggle)
5752 This action sets, unsets or toggles the keepSelection resource.
5753 It is also invoked by the keepSelection entry in vtMenu.
5754 set-logging(on/off/toggle)
5756 This action sets, unsets or toggles the state of the logging
5757 option.
5758 set-old-function-keys(on/off/toggle)
5760 This action sets, unsets or toggles the state of legacy
5761 function keys. It is also invoked by the oldFunctionKeys entry
5762 in mainMenu.
5763 set-marginbell(on/off/toggle)
5765 This action sets, unsets or toggles the marginBell resource.
5766 set-num-lock(on/off/toggle)
5768 This action toggles the state of the numLock resource.
5769 set-pop-on-bell(on/off/toggle)
5771 This action sets, unsets or toggles the popOnBell resource. It
5772 is also invoked by the poponbell entry in vtMenu.
5773 set-private-colors(on/off/toggle)
5775 This action sets, unsets or toggles the privateColorRegisters
5776 resource.
5777 set-render-font(on/off/toggle)
5779 This action sets, unsets or toggles the renderFont resource.
5780 It is also invoked by the render-font entry in fontMenu.
5781 set-reverse-video(on/off/toggle)
5783 This action sets, unsets or toggles the reverseVideo resource.
5784 It is also invoked by the reversevideo entry in vtMenu.
5785 set-reversewrap(on/off/toggle)
5787 This action sets, unsets or toggles the reverseWrap resource.
5788 It is also invoked by the reversewrap entry in vtMenu.
5789 set-scroll-on-key(on/off/toggle)
5791 This action sets, unsets or toggles the scrollKey resource. It
5792 is also invoked from the scrollkey entry in vtMenu.
5793 set-scroll-on-tty-output(on/off/toggle)
5795 This action sets, unsets or toggles the scrollTtyOutput
5796 resource. It is also invoked from the scrollttyoutput entry in
5797 vtMenu.
5798 set-scrollbar(on/off/toggle)
5800 This action sets, unsets or toggles the scrollbar resource. It
5801 is also invoked by the scrollbar entry in vtMenu.
5802 set-sco-function-keys(on/off/toggle)
5804 This action sets, unsets or toggles the scoFunctionKeys
5805 resource. It is also invoked by the scoFunctionKeys entry in
5806 mainMenu.
5807 set-select(on/off/toggle)
5809 This action sets, unsets or toggles the selectToClipboard
5810 resource. It is also invoked by the selectToClipboard entry in
5811 vtMenu.
5812 set-sixel-scrolling(on/off/toggle)
5814 This action toggles between inline (sixel scrolling) and
5815 absolute positioning. It can also be controlled via DEC
5816 private mode 80 (DECSDM) or from the sixelScrolling entry in
5817 the btMenu.
5818 set-sun-function-keys(on/off/toggle)
5820 This action sets, unsets or toggles the sunFunctionKeys
5821 resource. It is also invoked by the sunFunctionKeys entry in
5822 mainMenu.
5823 set-sun-keyboard(on/off/toggle)
5825 This action sets, unsets or toggles the sunKeyboard resource.
5826 It is also invoked by the sunKeyboard entry in mainMenu.
5827 set-tek-text(large/2/3/small)
5829 This action sets the font used in the Tektronix window to the
5830 value of the selected resource according to the argument. The
5831 argument can be either a keyword or single-letter alias, as
5832 shown in parentheses:
5833 large (l)
5835 Use resource fontLarge, same as menu entry tektextlarge.
5836 two (2)
5838 Use resource font2, same as menu entry tektext2.
5839 three (3)
5841 Use resource font3, same as menu entry tektext3.
5842 small (s)
5844 Use resource fontSmall, same as menu entry tektextsmall.
5845 set-terminal-type(type)
5847 This action directs output to either the vt or tek windows,
5848 according to the type string. It is also invoked by the
5849 tekmode entry in vtMenu and the vtmode entry in tekMenu.
5850 set-titeInhibit(on/off/toggle)
5852 This action sets, unsets or toggles the titeInhibit resource,
5853 which controls switching between the alternate and current
5854 screens.
5855 set-toolbar(on/off/toggle)
5857 This action sets, unsets or toggles the toolbar feature. It is
5858 also invoked by the toolbar entry in mainMenu.
5859 set-utf8-fonts(on/off/toggle)
5861 This action sets, unsets or toggles the utf8Fonts resource. It
5862 is also invoked by the utf8-fonts entry in fontMenu.
5863 set-utf8-mode(on/off/toggle)
5865 This action sets, unsets or toggles the utf8 resource. It is
5866 also invoked by the utf8-mode entry in fontMenu.
5867 set-utf8-title(on/off/toggle)
5869 This action sets, unsets or toggles the utf8Title resource. It
5870 is also invoked by the utf8-title entry in fontMenu.
5871 set-visibility(vt/tek,on/off/toggle)
5873 This action sets, unsets or toggles whether or not the vt or
5874 tek windows are visible. It is also invoked from the tekshow
5875 and vthide entries in vtMenu and the vtshow and tekhide entries
5876 in tekMenu.
5877 set-visual-bell(on/off/toggle)
5879 This action sets, unsets or toggles the visualBell resource.
5880 It is also invoked by the visualbell entry in vtMenu.
5881 set-vt-font(d/1/2/3/4/5/6/e/s [,normalfont [, boldfont]])
5883 This action sets the font or fonts currently being used in the
5884 VTxxx window. The first argument is a single character that
5885 specifies the font to be used:
5886 d or D indicate the default font (the font initially used when
5888 xterm was started),
5889 1 through 6 indicate the fonts specified by the font1 through
5891 font6 resources,
5892 e or E indicate the normal and bold fonts that have been set
5894 through escape codes (or specified as the second and
5895 third action arguments, respectively), and
5896 s or S indicate the font selection (as made by programs such as
5898 xfontsel(1)) indicated by the second action argument.
5899 If xterm is configured to support wide characters, an
5901 additional two optional parameters are recognized for the e
5902 argument: wide font and wide bold font.
5903 smaller-vt-font()
5905 Set the font to the next smaller one, based on the font
5906 dimensions. See also set-vt-font().
5907 soft-reset()
5909 This action resets the scrolling region. It is also invoked
5910 from the softreset entry in vtMenu. The effect is identical to
5911 a soft reset (DECSTR) control sequence.
5912 spawn-new-terminal(params)
5914 Spawn a new xterm process. This is available on systems which
5915 have a modern version of the process filesystem, e.g., “/proc”,
5916 which xterm can read.
5917 Use the “cwd” process entry, e.g., /proc/12345/cwd to obtain
5919 the working directory of the process which is running in the
5920 current xterm.
5921 On systems which have the “exe” process entry, e.g.,
5923 /proc/12345/exe, use this to obtain the actual executable.
5924 Otherwise, use the $PATH variable to find xterm.
5925 If parameters are given in the action, pass them to the new
5927 xterm process.
5928 start-extend()
5930 This action is similar to select-start except that the
5931 selection is extended to the current pointer location.
5932 start-cursor-extend()
5934 This action is similar to select-extend except that the
5935 selection is extended to the current text cursor position.
5936 string(string)
5938 This action inserts the specified text string as if it had been
5939 typed. Quotation is necessary if the string contains
5940 whitespace or non-alphanumeric characters. If the string
5941 argument begins with the characters “0x”, it is interpreted as
5942 a hex character constant.
5943 tek-copy()
5945 This action copies the escape codes used to generate the
5946 current window contents to a file in the current directory
5947 beginning with the name COPY. It is also invoked from the
5948 tekcopy entry in tekMenu.
5949 tek-page()
5951 This action clears the Tektronix window. It is also invoked by
5952 the tekpage entry in tekMenu.
5953 tek-reset()
5955 This action resets the Tektronix window. It is also invoked by
5956 the tekreset entry in tekMenu.
5957 vi-button()
5959 Handles a button event (other than press and release) by
5960 echoing a control sequence computed from the event's line
5961 number in the screen relative to the current line:
5962 ESC ^P
5964 or
5965 ESC ^N
5966 according to whether the event is before, or after the current
5968 line, respectively. The ^N (or ^P) is repeated once for each
5969 line that the event differs from the current line. The control
5970 sequence is omitted altogether if the button event is on the
5971 current line.
5972 visual-bell()
5974 This action flashes the window quickly.
5975 The Tektronix window also has the following action:
5977 gin-press(l/L/m/M/r/R)
5979 This action sends the indicated graphics input code.
5980 Default Key Bindings
5982 The default bindings in the VTxxx window use the SELECT token, which is
5983 set by the selectToClipboard resource. These are for the vt100 widget:
5984 Shift <KeyPress> Prior:scroll-back(1,halfpage) \n\
5986 Shift <KeyPress> Next:scroll-forw(1,halfpage) \n\
5987 Shift <KeyPress> Select:select-cursor-start() \
5988 select-cursor-end(SELECT, CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
5989 Shift <KeyPress> Insert:insert-selection(SELECT, CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
5990 Alt <Key>Return:fullscreen() \n\
5991 <KeyRelease> Scroll_Lock:scroll-lock() \n\
5992 Shift~Ctrl <KeyPress> KP_Add:larger-vt-font() \n\
5993 Shift Ctrl <KeyPress> KP_Add:smaller-vt-font() \n\
5994 Shift <KeyPress> KP_Subtract:smaller-vt-font() \n\
5995 ~Meta <KeyPress>:insert-seven-bit() \n\
5996 Meta <KeyPress>:insert-eight-bit() \n\
5997 !Ctrl <Btn1Down>:popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
5998 !Lock Ctrl <Btn1Down>:popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
5999 !Lock Ctrl @Num_Lock <Btn1Down>:popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
6000 ! @Num_Lock Ctrl <Btn1Down>:popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
6001 ~Meta <Btn1Down>:select-start() \n\
6002 ~Meta <Btn1Motion>:select-extend() \n\
6003 !Ctrl <Btn2Down>:popup-menu(vtMenu) \n\
6004 !Lock Ctrl <Btn2Down>:popup-menu(vtMenu) \n\
6005 !Lock Ctrl @Num_Lock <Btn2Down>:popup-menu(vtMenu) \n\
6006 ! @Num_Lock Ctrl <Btn2Down>:popup-menu(vtMenu) \n\
6007 ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn2Down>:ignore() \n\
6008 Meta <Btn2Down>:clear-saved-lines() \n\
6009 ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn2Up>:insert-selection(SELECT, CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
6010 !Ctrl <Btn3Down>:popup-menu(fontMenu) \n\
6011 !Lock Ctrl <Btn3Down>:popup-menu(fontMenu) \n\
6012 !Lock Ctrl @Num_Lock <Btn3Down>:popup-menu(fontMenu) \n\
6013 ! @Num_Lock Ctrl <Btn3Down>:popup-menu(fontMenu) \n\
6014 ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn3Down>:start-extend() \n\
6015 ~Meta <Btn3Motion>:select-extend() \n\
6016 Ctrl <Btn4Down>:scroll-back(1,halfpage,m) \n\
6017 Lock Ctrl <Btn4Down>:scroll-back(1,halfpage,m) \n\
6018 Lock @Num_Lock Ctrl <Btn4Down>:scroll-back(1,halfpage,m) \n\
6019 @Num_Lock Ctrl <Btn4Down>:scroll-back(1,halfpage,m) \n\
6020 <Btn4Down>:scroll-back(5,line,m) \n\
6021 Ctrl <Btn5Down>:scroll-forw(1,halfpage,m) \n\
6022 Lock Ctrl <Btn5Down>:scroll-forw(1,halfpage,m) \n\
6023 Lock @Num_Lock Ctrl <Btn5Down>:scroll-forw(1,halfpage,m) \n\
6024 @Num_Lock Ctrl <Btn5Down>:scroll-forw(1,halfpage,m) \n\
6025 <Btn5Down>:scroll-forw(5,line,m) \n\
6026 <BtnUp>:select-end(SELECT, CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
6027 <BtnDown>:ignore()
6028 The default bindings in the Tektronix window are analogous but less
6030 extensive. These are for the tek4014 widget:
6031 ~Meta<KeyPress>: insert-seven-bit() \n\
6033 Meta<KeyPress>: insert-eight-bit() \n\
6034 !Ctrl <Btn1Down>: popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
6035 !Lock Ctrl <Btn1Down>: popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
6036 !Lock Ctrl @Num_Lock <Btn1Down>: popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
6037 !Ctrl @Num_Lock <Btn1Down>: popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
6038 !Ctrl <Btn2Down>: popup-menu(tekMenu) \n\
6039 !Lock Ctrl <Btn2Down>: popup-menu(tekMenu) \n\
6040 !Lock Ctrl @Num_Lock <Btn2Down>: popup-menu(tekMenu) \n\
6041 !Ctrl @Num_Lock <Btn2Down>: popup-menu(tekMenu) \n\
6042 Shift ~Meta<Btn1Down>: gin-press(L) \n\
6043 ~Meta<Btn1Down>: gin-press(l) \n\
6044 Shift ~Meta<Btn2Down>: gin-press(M) \n\
6045 ~Meta<Btn2Down>: gin-press(m) \n\
6046 Shift ~Meta<Btn3Down>: gin-press(R) \n\
6047 ~Meta<Btn3Down>: gin-press(r)
6048 Custom Key Bindings
6050 You can modify the translations resource by overriding parts of it, or
6051 merging your resources with it.
6052 Here is an example which uses shifted select/paste to copy to the
6054 clipboard, and unshifted select/paste for the primary selection. In
6055 each case, a (different) cut buffer is also a target or source of the
6056 select/paste operation. It is important to remember however, that cut
6057 buffers store data in ISO-8859-1 encoding, while selections can store
6058 data in a variety of formats and encodings. While xterm owns the
6059 selection, it highlights it. When it loses the selection, it removes
6060 the corresponding highlight. But you can still paste from the
6061 corresponding cut buffer.
6062 *VT100*translations: #override \n\
6064 ~Shift~Ctrl<Btn2Up>: insert-selection(PRIMARY, CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
6065 Shift~Ctrl<Btn2Up>: insert-selection(CLIPBOARD, CUT_BUFFER1) \n\
6066 ~Shift <BtnUp> : select-end(PRIMARY, CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
6067 Shift <BtnUp> : select-end(CLIPBOARD, CUT_BUFFER1)
6068 In the example, the class name VT100 is used rather than the widget
6070 name. These are different; a class name could apply to more than one
6071 widget. A leading “*” is used because the widget hierarchy above the
6072 vt100 widget depends on whether the toolbar support is compiled into
6073 xterm.
6074 Most of the predefined translations are related to the mouse, with a
6076 few that use some of the special keys on the keyboard. Applications
6077 use special keys (function-keys, cursor-keys, keypad-keys) with
6078 modifiers (shift, control, alt). If xterm defines a translation for a
6079 given combination of special key and modifier, that makes it
6080 unavailable for use by applications within the terminal. For instance,
6081 one might extend the use of Page Up and Page Down keys seen here:
6082 Shift <KeyPress> Prior : scroll-back(1,halfpage) \n\
6084 Shift <KeyPress> Next : scroll-forw(1,halfpage) \n\
6085 to the Home and End keys:
6087 Shift <KeyPress> Home : scroll-to(begin) \n\
6089 Shift <KeyPress> End : scroll-to(end)
6090 but then shift-Home and shift-End would then be unavailable to
6092 applications.
6093 Not everyone finds the three-button mouse bindings easy to use. In a
6095 wheel mouse, the middle button might be the wheel. As an alternative,
6096 you could add a binding using shifted keys:
6097 *VT100*translations: #override \n\
6099 Shift <Key>Home: copy-selection(SELECT) \n\
6100 Shift <Key>Insert: copy-selection(SELECT) \n\
6101 Ctrl Shift <Key>C: copy-selection(SELECT) \n\
6102 Ctrl Shift <Key>V: insert-selection(SELECT)
6103 You would still use the left- and right-mouse buttons (typically 1 and
6105 3) for beginning and extending selections.
6106 Besides mouse problems, there are also keyboards with inconvenient
6108 layouts. Some lack a numeric keypad, making it hard to use the shifted
6109 keypad plus and minus bindings for switching between font sizes. You
6110 can work around that by assigning the actions to more readily accessed
6111 keys:
6112 *VT100*translations: #override \n\
6114 Ctrl <Key> +: larger-vt-font() \n\
6115 Ctrl <Key> -: smaller-vt-font()
6116 The keymap feature allows you to switch between sets of translations.
6118 The sample below shows how the keymap() action may be used to add
6119 special keys for entering commonly-typed words:
6120 *VT100.Translations: #override <Key>F13: keymap(dbx)
6122 *VT100.dbxKeymap.translations: \
6123 <Key>F14: keymap(None) \n\
6124 <Key>F17: string("next") \n\
6125 string(0x0d) \n\
6126 <Key>F18: string("step") \n\
6127 string(0x0d) \n\
6128 <Key>F19: string("continue") \n\
6129 string(0x0d) \n\
6130 <Key>F20: string("print ") \n\
6131 insert-selection(PRIMARY, CUT_BUFFER0)
6132 Default Scrollbar Bindings
6134 Key bindings are normally associated with the vt100 or tek4014 widgets
6135 which act as terminal emulators. Xterm's scrollbar (and toolbar if it
6136 is configured) are separate widgets. Because all of these use the X
6137 Toolkit, they have corresponding translations resources. Those
6138 resources are distinct, and match different patterns, e.g., the
6139 differences in widget-name and number of levels of widgets which they
6140 may contain.
6141 The scrollbar widget is a child of the vt100 widget. It is positioned
6143 on top of the vt100 widget. Toggling the scrollbar on and off causes
6144 the vt100 widget to resize.
6145 The default bindings for the scrollbar widget use only mouse-button
6147 events:
6148 <Btn5Down>: StartScroll(Forward) \n\
6150 <Btn1Down>: StartScroll(Forward) \n\
6151 <Btn2Down>: StartScroll(Continuous) MoveThumb() NotifyThumb() \n\
6152 <Btn3Down>: StartScroll(Backward) \n\
6153 <Btn4Down>: StartScroll(Backward) \n\
6154 <Btn2Motion>: MoveThumb() NotifyThumb() \n\
6155 <BtnUp>: NotifyScroll(Proportional) EndScroll()
6156 Events which the scrollbar widget does not recognize at all are lost.
6158 However, at startup, xterm augments these translations with the default
6160 translations used for the vt100 widget, together with the resource
6161 “actions” which those translations use. Because the scrollbar (or
6162 menubar) widgets do not recognize these actions (but because it has a
6163 corresponding translation), they are passed on to the vt100 widget.
6164 This augmenting of the scrollbar's translations has a few limitations:
6166 · Xterm knows what the default translations are, but there is no
6168 suitable library interface for determining what customizations a
6169 user may have added to the vt100 widget. All that xterm can do is
6170 augment the scrollbar widget to give it the same starting point for
6171 further customization by the user.
6172 · Events in the gap between the widgets may be lost.
6174 · Compose sequences begun in one widget cannot be completed in the
6176 other, because the input methods for each widget do not share
6177 context information.
6178 Most customizations of the scrollbar translations do not concern key
6180 bindings. Rather, users are generally more interested in changing the
6181 bindings of the mouse buttons. For example, some people prefer using
6182 the left pointer button for dragging the scrollbar thumb. That can be
6183 set up by altering the translations resource, e.g.,
6184 *VT100.scrollbar.translations: #override \n\
6186 <Btn5Down>: StartScroll(Forward) \n\
6187 <Btn1Down>: StartScroll(Continuous) MoveThumb() NotifyThumb() \n\
6188 <Btn4Down>: StartScroll(Backward) \n\
6189 <Btn1Motion>: MoveThumb() NotifyThumb() \n\
6190 <BtnUp>: NotifyScroll(Proportional) EndScroll()
6191
6193 Applications can send sequences of characters to the terminal to change
6194 its behavior. Often they are referred to as “ANSI escape sequences” or
6195 just plain “escape sequences” but both terms are misleading:
6196 · ANSI x3.64 (obsolete) which was replaced by ISO 6429 (ECMA-48) gave
6198 rules for the format of these sequences of characters.
6199 · While the original VT100 was claimed to be ANSI-compatible (against
6201 x3.64), there is no freely available version of the ANSI standard
6202 to show where the VT100 differs. Most of the documents which
6203 mention the ANSI standard have additions not found in the original
6204 (such as those based on ansi.sys). So this discussion focuses on
6205 the ISO standards.
6206 · The standard describes only sequences sent from the host to the
6208 terminal. There is no standard for sequences sent by special keys
6209 from the terminal to the host. By convention (and referring to
6210 existing terminals), the format of those sequences usually conforms
6211 to the host-to-terminal standard.
6212 · Some of xterm's sequences do not fit into the standard scheme.
6214 Technically those are “unspecified”. As an example, DEC Screen
6215 Alignment Test (DECALN) is this three-character sequence:
6216 ESC # 8
6218 · Some sequences fit into the standard format, but are not listed in
6220 the standard. These include the sequences used for setting up
6221 scrolling margins and doing forward/reverse scrolling.
6222 · Some of the sequences (in particular, the single-character
6224 functions such as tab and backspace) do not include the escape
6225 character.
6226 With all of that in mind, the standard refers to these sequences of
6228 characters as “control sequences”.
6229 Xterm Control Sequences lists the control sequences which an
6231 application can send xterm to make it perform various operations. Most
6232 of these operations are standardized, from either the DEC or Tektronix
6233 terminals, or from more widely used standards such as ISO-6429.
6234 A few examples of usage are given in this section.
6236 Window and Icon Titles
6238 Some scripts use echo with options -e and -n to tell the shell to
6239 interpret the string “\e” as the escape character and to suppress a
6240 trailing newline on output. Those are not portable, nor recommended.
6241 Instead, use printf (POSIX).
6242 For example, to set the window title to “Hello world!”, you could use
6244 one of these commands in a script:
6245 printf '\033]2;Hello world!\033\'
6247 printf '\033]2;Hello world!\007'
6248 printf '\033]2;%s\033\' "Hello world!"
6249 printf '\033]2;%s\007' "Hello world!"
6250 The printf command interprets the octal value “\033” for escape, and
6252 (since it was not given in the format) omits a trailing newline from
6253 the output.
6254 Some programs (such as screen(1)) set both window- and icon-titles at
6256 the same time, using a slightly different control sequence:
6257 printf '\033]0;Hello world!\033\'
6259 printf '\033]0;Hello world!\007'
6260 printf '\033]0;%s\033\' "Hello world!"
6261 printf '\033]0;%s\007' "Hello world!"
6262 The difference is the parameter “0” in each command. Most window
6264 managers will honor either window title or icon title. Some will make
6265 a distinction and allow you to set just the icon title. You can tell
6266 xterm to ask for this with a different parameter in the control
6267 sequence:
6268 printf '\033]1;Hello world!\033\'
6270 printf '\033]1;Hello world!\007'
6271 printf '\033]1;%s\033\' "Hello world!"
6272 printf '\033]1;%s\007' "Hello world!"
6273 Special Keys
6275 Xterm, like any VT100-compatible terminal emulator, has two modes for
6276 the special keys (cursor-keys, numeric keypad, and certain function-
6277 keys):
6278 · normal mode, which makes the special keys transmit “useful”
6280 sequences such as the control sequence for cursor-up when pressing
6281 the up-arrow, and
6282 · application mode, which uses a different control sequence that
6284 cannot be mistaken for the “useful” sequences.
6285 The main difference between the two modes is that normal mode sequences
6287 start with CSI (escape [) and application mode sequences start with SS3
6288 (escape O).
6289 The terminal is initialized into one of these two modes (usually the
6291 normal mode), based on the terminal description (termcap or terminfo).
6292 The terminal description also has capabilities (strings) defined for
6293 the keypad mode used in curses applications.
6294 There is a problem in using the terminal description for applications
6296 that are not intended to be full-screen curses applications: the
6297 definitions of special keys are only correct for this keypad mode. For
6298 example, some shells (unlike ksh(1), which appears to be hard-coded,
6299 not even using termcap) allow their users to customize key-bindings,
6300 assigning shell actions to special keys.
6301 · bash(1) allows constant strings to be assigned to functions. This
6303 is only successful if the terminal is initialized to application
6304 mode by default, because bash lacks flexibility in this area. It
6305 uses a (less expressive than bash's) readline scripting language
6306 for setting up key bindings, which relies upon the user to
6307 statically enumerate the possible bindings for given values of
6308 $TERM.
6309 · zsh(1) provides an analogous feature, but it accepts runtime
6311 expressions, as well as providing a $terminfo array for scripts.
6312 In particular, one can use the terminal database, transforming when
6313 defining a key-binding. By transforming the output so that CSI and
6314 SS3 are equated, zsh can use the terminal database to obtain useful
6315 definitions for its command-line use regardless of whether the
6316 terminal uses normal or application mode initially. Here is an
6317 example:
6318 [[ "$terminfo[kcuu1]" == "^[O"* ]] && \
6320 bindkey -M viins "${terminfo[kcuu1]/O/[}" \
6321 vi-up-line-or-history
6322 Changing Colors
6324 A few shell programs provide the ability for users to add color and
6325 other video attributes to the shell prompt strings. Users can do this
6326 by setting $PS1 (the primary prompt string). Again, bash and zsh have
6327 provided features not found in ksh. There is a problem, however: the
6328 prompt's width on the screen will not necessarily be the same as the
6329 number of characters. Because there is no guidance in the POSIX
6330 standard, each shell addresses the problem in a different way:
6331 · bash treats characters within “\[” and “\]” as nonprinting (using
6333 no width on the screen).
6334 · zsh treats characters within “%{” and “%}” as nonprinting.
6336 In addition to the difference in syntax, the shells provide different
6338 methods for obtaining useful escape sequences:
6339 · As noted in Special Keys, zsh initializes the $terminfo array with
6341 the terminal capabilities.
6342 It also provides a function echoti which works like tput(1) to
6344 convert a terminal capability with its parameters into a string
6345 that can be written to the terminal.
6346 · Shells lacking a comparable feature (such as bash) can always use
6348 the program tput to do this transformation.
6349 Hard-coded escape sequences are supported by each shell, but are not
6351 recommended because those rely upon particular configurations and
6352 cannot be easily moved between different user environments.
6353
6355 Xterm sets several environment variables.
6356 System Independent
6358 Some variables are used on every system:
6359 DISPLAY
6361 is the display name, pointing to the X server (see DISPLAY NAMES
6362 in X(7)).
6363 TERM
6365 is set according to the terminfo (or termcap) entry which it is
6366 using as a reference.
6367 On some systems, you may encounter situations where the shell
6369 which you use and xterm are built using libraries with different
6370 terminal databases. In that situation, xterm may choose a
6371 terminal description not known to the shell.
6372 WINDOWID
6374 is set to the X window id number of the xterm window.
6375 XTERM_FILTER
6377 is set if a locale-filter is used. The value is the pathname of
6378 the filter.
6379 XTERM_LOCALE
6381 shows the locale which was used by xterm on startup. Some shell
6382 initialization scripts may set a different locale.
6383 XTERM_SHELL
6385 is set to the pathname of the program which is invoked. Usually
6386 that is a shell program, e.g., /bin/sh. Since it is not
6387 necessarily a shell program however, it is distinct from “SHELL”.
6388 XTERM_VERSION
6390 is set to the string displayed by the -version option. That is
6391 normally an identifier for the X Window libraries used to build
6392 xterm, followed by xterm's patch number in parenthesis. The patch
6393 number is also part of the response to a Secondary Device
6394 Attributes (DA) control sequence (see Xterm Control Sequences).
6395 System Dependent
6397 Depending on your system configuration, xterm may also set the
6398 following:
6399 COLUMNS
6401 the width of the xterm in characters (cf: “stty columns”).
6402 When this variable is set, curses applications (and most terminal
6404 programs) will assume that the terminal has this many columns.
6405 Xterm would do this for systems which have no ability to tell the
6407 size of the terminal. Those are very rare, none newer than the
6408 mid 1990s when SVR4 became prevalent.
6409 HOME
6411 when xterm is configured (at build-time) to update utmp.
6412 LINES
6414 the height of the xterm in characters (cf: “stty rows”).
6415 When this variable is set, curses applications (and most terminal
6417 programs) will assume that the terminal has this many lines
6418 (rows).
6419 Xterm would do this for systems which have no ability to tell the
6421 size of the terminal. Those are very rare, none newer than the
6422 mid 1990s when SVR4 became prevalent.
6423 LOGNAME
6425 when xterm is configured (at build-time) to update utmp.
6426 Your configuration may have set LOGNAME; xterm does not modify
6428 that. If it is unset, xterm will use USER if it is set. Finally,
6429 if neither is set, xterm will use the getlogin(2) function.
6430 SHELL
6432 when xterm is configured (at build-time) to update utmp. It is
6433 also set if you provide a valid shell name as the optional
6434 parameter.
6435 Xterm sets this to an absolute pathname. If you have set the
6437 variable to a relative pathname, xterm may set it to a different
6438 shell pathname.
6439 If you have set this to an pathname which does not correspond to a
6441 valid shell, xterm may unset it, to avoid confusion.
6442 TERMCAP
6444 the contents of the termcap entry corresponding to $TERM, with
6445 lines and columns values substituted for the actual size window
6446 you have created.
6447 This feature is, like LINES and COLUMNS, used rarely. It
6449 addresses the same limitation of a few older systems by providing
6450 a way for termcap-based applications to get the initial
6451 screensize.
6452 TERMINFO
6454 may be defined to a nonstandard location using the configure
6455 script.
6456
6458 The actual pathnames given may differ on your system.
6459 /etc/shells
6461 contains a list of valid shell programs, used by xterm to decide
6462 if the “SHELL” environment variable should be set for the process
6463 started by xterm.
6464 /etc/utmp
6466 the system logfile, which records user logins.
6467 /etc/wtmp
6469 the system logfile, which records user logins and logouts.
6470 /usr/share/X11/app-defaults/XTerm
6472 the xterm default application resources.
6473 /usr/share/X11/app-defaults/XTerm-color
6475 the xterm color application resources. If your display supports
6476 color, use this
6477 *customization: -color
6478 in your .Xdefaults file to automatically use this resource file
6479 rather than /usr/share/X11/app-defaults/XTerm. If you do not do
6480 this, xterm uses its compiled-in default resource settings for
6481 colors.
6482 /usr/share/pixmaps
6484 the directory in which xterm's pixmap icon files are installed.
6485
6487 Most of the fatal error messages from xterm use the following format:
6488 xterm: Error XXX, errno YYY: ZZZ
6490 The XXX codes (which are used by xterm as its exit-code) are listed
6492 below, with a brief explanation.
6493 1 is used for miscellaneous errors, usually accompanied by a
6495 specific message,
6496 11 ERROR_FIONBIO
6498 main: ioctl() failed on FIONBIO
6499 12 ERROR_F_GETFL
6501 main: ioctl() failed on F_GETFL
6502 13 ERROR_F_SETFL
6504 main: ioctl() failed on F_SETFL
6505 14 ERROR_OPDEVTTY
6507 spawn: open() failed on /dev/tty
6508 15 ERROR_TIOCGETP
6510 spawn: ioctl() failed on TIOCGETP
6511 17 ERROR_PTSNAME
6513 spawn: ptsname() failed
6514 18 ERROR_OPPTSNAME
6516 spawn: open() failed on ptsname
6517 19 ERROR_PTEM
6519 spawn: ioctl() failed on I_PUSH/"ptem"
6520 20 ERROR_CONSEM
6522 spawn: ioctl() failed on I_PUSH/"consem"
6523 21 ERROR_LDTERM
6525 spawn: ioctl() failed on I_PUSH/"ldterm"
6526 22 ERROR_TTCOMPAT
6528 spawn: ioctl() failed on I_PUSH/"ttcompat"
6529 23 ERROR_TIOCSETP
6531 spawn: ioctl() failed on TIOCSETP
6532 24 ERROR_TIOCSETC
6534 spawn: ioctl() failed on TIOCSETC
6535 25 ERROR_TIOCSETD
6537 spawn: ioctl() failed on TIOCSETD
6538 26 ERROR_TIOCSLTC
6540 spawn: ioctl() failed on TIOCSLTC
6541 27 ERROR_TIOCLSET
6543 spawn: ioctl() failed on TIOCLSET
6544 28 ERROR_INIGROUPS
6546 spawn: initgroups() failed
6547 29 ERROR_FORK
6549 spawn: fork() failed
6550 30 ERROR_EXEC
6552 spawn: exec() failed
6553 32 ERROR_PTYS
6555 get_pty: not enough ptys
6556 34 ERROR_PTY_EXEC
6558 waiting for initial map
6559 35 ERROR_SETUID
6561 spawn: setuid() failed
6562 36 ERROR_INIT
6564 spawn: can't initialize window
6565 46 ERROR_TIOCKSET
6567 spawn: ioctl() failed on TIOCKSET
6568 47 ERROR_TIOCKSETC
6570 spawn: ioctl() failed on TIOCKSETC
6571 49 ERROR_LUMALLOC
6573 luit: command-line malloc failed
6574 50 ERROR_SELECT
6576 in_put: select() failed
6577 54 ERROR_VINIT
6579 VTInit: can't initialize window
6580 57 ERROR_KMMALLOC1
6582 HandleKeymapChange: malloc failed
6583 60 ERROR_TSELECT
6585 Tinput: select() failed
6586 64 ERROR_TINIT
6588 TekInit: can't initialize window
6589 71 ERROR_BMALLOC2
6591 SaltTextAway: malloc() failed
6592 80 ERROR_LOGEXEC
6594 StartLog: exec() failed
6595 83 ERROR_XERROR
6597 xerror: XError event
6598 84 ERROR_XIOERROR
6600 xioerror: X I/O error
6601 85 ERROR_ICEERROR
6603 ICE I/O error
6604 90 ERROR_SCALLOC
6606 Alloc: calloc() failed on base
6607 91 ERROR_SCALLOC2
6609 Alloc: calloc() failed on rows
6610 102 ERROR_SAVE_PTR
6612 ScrnPointers: malloc/realloc() failed
6613
6615 Large pastes do not work on some systems. This is not a bug in xterm;
6616 it is a bug in the pseudo terminal driver of those systems. Xterm
6617 feeds large pastes to the pty only as fast as the pty will accept data,
6618 but some pty drivers do not return enough information to know if the
6619 write has succeeded.
6620 When connected to an input method, it is possible for xterm to hang if
6622 the XIM server is suspended or killed.
6623 Many of the options are not resettable after xterm starts.
6625 This program still needs to be rewritten. It should be split into very
6627 modular sections, with the various emulators being completely separate
6628 widgets that do not know about each other. Ideally, you'd like to be
6629 able to pick and choose emulator widgets and stick them into a single
6630 control widget.
6631 There needs to be a dialog box to allow entry of the Tek COPY file
6633 name.
6634
6636 resize(1), luit(1), uxterm(1), X(7), pty(4), tty(4)
6637 Xterm Control Sequences (this is the file ctlseqs.ms).
6639 https://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.html
6641 https://invisible-island.net/xterm/manpage/xterm.html
6642 https://invisible-island.net/xterm/ctlseqs/ctlseqs.html
6643 https://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.faq.html
6644 https://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.log.html
6645
6647 Far too many people.
6648 These contributed to the X Consortium: Loretta Guarino Reid (DEC-UEG-
6650 WSL), Joel McCormack (DEC-UEG-WSL), Terry Weissman (DEC-UEG-WSL),
6651 Edward Moy (Berkeley), Ralph R. Swick (MIT-Athena), Mark Vandevoorde
6652 (MIT-Athena), Bob McNamara (DEC-MAD), Jim Gettys (MIT-Athena), Bob
6653 Scheifler (MIT X Consortium), Doug Mink (SAO), Steve Pitschke
6654 (Stellar), Ron Newman (MIT-Athena), Jim Fulton (MIT X Consortium), Dave
6655 Serisky (HP), Jonathan Kamens (MIT-Athena).
6656 Beginning with XFree86, there were far more identifiable contributors.
6658 The THANKS file in xterm's source lists 189 at the end of 2017. Keep
6659 in mind these: Jason Bacon, Jens Schweikhardt, Ross Combs, Stephen P.
6660 Wall, David Wexelblat, and Thomas Dickey (invisible-island.net).
6661Patch #331 2017-12-30 XTERM(1)