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 bitmap 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 “true”.
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 on text cursor blinking. This overrides the cursorBlink
296 resource.
297 +bc turn off 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 X Toolkit sets the WM_CLASS property using the instance name
345 and this class value.
346 -cm This option disables recognition of ANSI color-change escape
348 sequences. It sets the colorMode resource to “false”.
349 +cm This option enables recognition of ANSI color-change escape
351 sequences. This is the same as the vt100 resource colorMode.
352 -cn This option indicates that newlines should not be cut in line-
354 mode selections. It sets the cutNewline resource to “false”.
355 +cn This option indicates that newlines should be cut in line-mode
357 selections. It sets the cutNewline resource to “true”.
358 -cr color
360 This option specifies the color to use for text cursor. The
361 default is to use the same foreground color that is used for
362 text. It sets the cursorColor resource according to the
363 parameter.
364 -cu This option indicates that xterm should work around a bug in
366 the more(1) program that causes it to incorrectly display lines
367 that are exactly the width of the window and are followed by a
368 line beginning with a tab (the leading tabs are not displayed).
369 This option is so named because it was originally thought to be
370 a bug in the curses(3x) cursor motion package.
371 +cu This option indicates that xterm should not work around the
373 more(1) bug mentioned above.
374 -dc This option disables the escape sequence to change dynamic
376 colors: the vt100 foreground and background colors, its text
377 cursor color, the pointer cursor foreground and background
378 colors, the Tektronix emulator foreground and background
379 colors, its text cursor color and highlight color. The option
380 sets the dynamicColors option to “false”.
381 +dc This option enables the escape sequence to change dynamic
383 colors. The option sets the dynamicColors option to “true”.
384 -e program [ arguments ... ]
386 This option specifies the program (and its command line
387 arguments) to be run in the xterm window. It also sets the
388 window title and icon name to be the basename of the program
389 being executed if neither -T nor -n are given on the command
390 line.
391 NOTE: This must be the last option on the command line.
393 -en encoding
395 This option determines the encoding on which xterm runs. It
396 sets the locale resource. Encodings other than UTF-8 are
397 supported by using luit. The -lc option should be used instead
398 of -en for systems with locale support.
399 -fa pattern
401 This option sets the pattern for fonts selected from the
402 FreeType library if support for that library was compiled into
403 xterm. This corresponds to the faceName resource. When a CJK
404 double-width font is specified, you also need to turn on the
405 cjkWidth resource.
406 If you specify both -fa and the X Toolkit option -fn, the -fa
408 setting overrides the latter.
409 See also the renderFont resource, which combines with this to
411 determine whether FreeType fonts are initially active.
412 -fb font
414 This option specifies a font to be used when displaying bold
415 text. It sets the boldFont resource.
416 This font must be the same height and width as the normal font,
418 otherwise it is ignored. If only one of the normal or bold
419 fonts is specified, it will be used as the normal font and the
420 bold font will be produced by overstriking this font.
421 See also the discussion of boldMode and alwaysBoldMode
423 resources.
424 -fbb This option indicates that xterm should compare normal and bold
426 fonts bounding boxes to ensure they are compatible. It sets
427 the freeBoldBox resource to “false”.
428 +fbb This option indicates that xterm should not compare normal and
430 bold fonts bounding boxes to ensure they are compatible. It
431 sets the freeBoldBox resource to “true”.
432 -fbx This option indicates that xterm should not assume that the
434 normal and bold fonts have VT100 line-drawing characters. If
435 any are missing, xterm will draw the characters directly. It
436 sets the forceBoxChars resource to “false”.
437 +fbx This option indicates that xterm should assume that the normal
439 and bold fonts have VT100 line-drawing characters. It sets the
440 forceBoxChars resource to “true”.
441 -fc fontchoice
443 Specify the initial font chosen from the font menu. The option
444 value corresponds to the initialFont resource.
445 -fd pattern
447 This option sets the pattern for double-width fonts selected
448 from the FreeType library if support for that library was
449 compiled into xterm. This corresponds to the
450 faceNameDoublesize resource.
451 -fi font
453 This option sets the font for active icons if that feature was
454 compiled into xterm.
455 See also the discussion of the iconFont resource.
457 -fs size
459 This option sets the pointsize for fonts selected from the
460 FreeType library if support for that library was compiled into
461 xterm. This corresponds to the faceSize resource.
462 -fullscreen
464 This option indicates that xterm should ask the window manager
465 to let it use the full-screen for display, e.g., without window
466 decorations. It sets the fullscreen resource to “true”.
467 +fullscreen
469 This option indicates that xterm should not ask the window
470 manager to let it use the full-screen for display. It sets the
471 fullscreen resource to “false”.
472 -fw font
474 This option specifies the font to be used for displaying wide
475 text. By default, it will attempt to use a font twice as wide
476 as the font that will be used to draw normal text. If no
477 double-width font is found, it will improvise, by stretching
478 the normal font. This corresponds to the wideFont resource.
479 -fwb font
481 This option specifies the font to be used for displaying bold
482 wide text. By default, it will attempt to use a font twice as
483 wide as the font that will be used to draw bold text. If no
484 double-width font is found, it will improvise, by stretching
485 the bold font. This corresponds to the wideBoldFont resource.
486 -fx font
488 This option specifies the font to be used for displaying the
489 preedit string in the “OverTheSpot” input method.
490 See also the discussion of the ximFont resource.
492 -hc color
494 (see -selbg).
495 -hf This option indicates that HP function key escape codes should
497 be generated for function keys. It sets the hpFunctionKeys
498 resource to “true”.
499 +hf This option indicates that HP function key escape codes should
501 not be generated for function keys. It sets the hpFunctionKeys
502 resource to “false”.
503 -hm Tells xterm to use highlightTextColor and highlightColor to
505 override the reversed foreground/background colors in a
506 selection. It sets the highlightColorMode resource to “true”.
507 +hm Tells xterm not to use highlightTextColor and highlightColor to
509 override the reversed foreground/background colors in a
510 selection. It sets the highlightColorMode resource to “false”.
511 -hold Turn on the hold resource, i.e., xterm will not immediately
513 destroy its window when the shell command completes. It will
514 wait until you use the window manager to destroy/kill the
515 window, or if you use the menu entries that send a signal,
516 e.g., HUP or KILL.
517 +hold Turn off the hold resource, i.e., xterm will immediately
519 destroy its window when the shell command completes.
520 -ie Turn on the ptyInitialErase resource, i.e., use the pseudo-
522 terminal's sense of the stty erase value.
523 +ie Turn off the ptyInitialErase resource, i.e., set the stty erase
525 value using the kb string from the termcap entry as a
526 reference, if available.
527 -im Turn on the useInsertMode resource, which forces use of insert
529 mode by adding appropriate entries to the TERMCAP environment
530 variable. (This option is ignored on most systems, because
531 TERMCAP is not used).
532 +im Turn off the useInsertMode resource.
534 -into windowId
536 Given an X window identifier (an integer, which can be
537 hexadecimal, octal or decimal according to whether it begins
538 with "0x", "0" or neither), xterm will reparent its top-level
539 shell widget to that window. This is used to embed xterm
540 within other applications.
541 For instance, there are scripts for Tcl/Tk and Gtk which can be
543 used to demonstrate the feature. When using Gtk, there is a
544 limitation of that toolkit which requires that xterm's
545 allowSendEvents resource is enabled.
546 -itc Set the vt100 resource colorITMode to “false”, disabling the
548 display of characters with italic attribute as color.
549 +itc Set the vt100 resource colorITMode to “true”, enabling the
551 display of characters with italic attribute as color rather
552 than italic.
553 -j This option indicates that xterm should do jump scrolling. It
555 corresponds to the jumpScroll resource. Normally, text is
556 scrolled one line at a time; this option allows xterm to move
557 multiple lines at a time so that it does not fall as far
558 behind. Its use is strongly recommended since it makes xterm
559 much faster when scanning through large amounts of text. The
560 VT100 escape sequences for enabling and disabling smooth scroll
561 as well as the VT Options menu can be used to turn this feature
562 on or off.
563 +j This option indicates that xterm should not do jump scrolling.
565 -k8 This option sets the allowC1Printable resource. When
567 allowC1Printable is set, xterm overrides the mapping of C1
568 control characters (code 128–159) to treat them as printable.
569 +k8 This option resets the allowC1Printable resource.
571 -kt keyboardtype
573 This option sets the keyboardType resource. Possible values
574 include: “unknown”, “default”, “legacy”, “hp”, “sco”, “sun”,
575 “tcap” and “vt220”.
576 The value “unknown”, causes the corresponding resource to be
578 ignored.
579 The value “default”, suppresses the associated resources
581 hpFunctionKeys,
583 scoFunctionKeys,
584 sunFunctionKeys,
585 tcapFunctionKeys,
586 oldXtermFKeys and
587 sunKeyboard,
588 using the Sun/PC keyboard layout.
590 -l Turn logging on, unless disabled by the logInhibit resource.
592 Some versions of xterm may have logging enabled. However,
594 normally logging is not supported, due to security concerns in
595 the early 1990s. That was a problem in X11R4 xterm (1989)
596 which was addressed by a patch to X11R5 late in 1993. X11R6
597 included these fixes. The older version (when running with
598 root privilege) would create the log file using root privilege.
599 The reason why xterm ran with root privileges was to open
600 pseudo-terminals. Those privileges are now needed only on very
601 old systems: Unix98 pseudo-terminals made the BSD scheme
602 unnecessary.
603 Unless overridden by the -lf option or the logFile resource:
605 • If the filename is “-”, then logging is sent to the
607 standard output.
608 • Otherwise a filename is generated, and the log file is
610 written to the directory from which xterm is invoked.
611 • The generated filename is of the form
613 XtermLog.XXXXXX
615 or
617 Xterm.log.hostname.yyyy.mm.dd.hh.mm.ss.XXXXXX
619 depending on how xterm was built.
621 +l Turn logging off.
623 -lc Turn on support of various encodings according to the users'
625 locale setting, i.e., LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, or LANG environment
626 variables. This is achieved by turning on UTF-8 mode and by
627 invoking luit for conversion between locale encodings and
628 UTF-8. (luit is not invoked in UTF-8 locales.) This
629 corresponds to the locale resource.
630 The actual list of encodings which are supported is determined
632 by luit. Consult the luit manual page for further details.
633 See also the discussion of the -u8 option which supports UTF-8
635 locales.
636 +lc Turn off support of automatic selection of locale encodings.
638 Conventional 8bit mode or, in UTF-8 locales or with -u8 option,
639 UTF-8 mode will be used.
640 -lcc path
642 File name for the encoding converter from/to locale encodings
643 and UTF-8 which is used with -lc option or locale resource.
644 This corresponds to the localeFilter resource.
645 -leftbar
647 Force scrollbar to the left side of VT100 screen. This is the
648 default, unless you have set the rightScrollBar resource.
649 -lf filename
651 Specify the log filename. This sets the logFile resource. If
652 set to “-”, xterm writes its log to the standard output. See
653 the -l option.
654 -ls This option indicates that the shell that is started in the
656 xterm window will be a login shell (i.e., the first character
657 of argv[0] will be a dash, indicating to the shell that it
658 should read the user's .login or .profile).
659 The -ls flag and the loginShell resource are ignored if -e is
661 also given, because xterm does not know how to make the shell
662 start the given command after whatever it does when it is a
663 login shell - the user's shell of choice need not be a Bourne
664 shell after all. Also, xterm -e is supposed to provide a
665 consistent functionality for other applications that need to
666 start text-mode programs in a window, and if loginShell were
667 not ignored, the result of ~/.profile might interfere with
668 that.
669 If you do want the effect of -ls and -e simultaneously, you may
671 get away with something like
672 xterm -e /bin/bash -l -c "my command here"
674 Finally, -ls is not completely ignored, because xterm -ls -e
676 does write a /etc/wtmp entry (if configured to do so), whereas
677 xterm -e does not.
678 +ls This option indicates that the shell that is started should not
680 be a login shell (i.e., it will be a normal “subshell”).
681 -maximized
683 This option indicates that xterm should ask the window manager
684 to maximize its layout on startup. This corresponds to the
685 maximized resource.
686 Maximizing is not the reverse of iconifying; it is possible to
688 do both with certain window managers.
689 +maximized
691 This option indicates that xterm should ask the window manager
692 to not maximize its layout on startup.
693 -mb This option indicates that xterm should ring a margin bell when
695 the user types near the right end of a line.
696 +mb This option indicates that margin bell should not be rung.
698 -mc milliseconds
700 This option specifies the maximum time between multi-click
701 selections.
702 -mesg Turn off the messages resource, i.e., disallow write access to
704 the terminal.
705 +mesg Turn on the messages resource, i.e., allow write access to the
707 terminal.
708 -mk_width
710 Set the mkWidth resource to “true”. This makes xterm use a
711 built-in version of the wide-character width calculation. The
712 default is “false”
713 +mk_width
715 Reset the mkWidth resource.
716 -ms color
718 This option specifies the color to be used for the pointer
719 cursor. The default is to use the foreground color. This sets
720 the pointerColor resource.
721 -nb number
723 This option specifies the number of characters from the right
724 end of a line at which the margin bell, if enabled, will ring.
725 The default is “10”.
726 -nul This option disables the display of underlining.
728 +nul This option enables the display of underlining.
730 -pc This option enables the PC-style use of bold colors (see
732 boldColors resource).
733 +pc This option disables the PC-style use of bold colors.
735 -pf font
737 This option specifies the font to be used for the pointer. The
738 corresponding resource name is pointerFont. The resource value
739 default is cursor.
740 -pob This option indicates that the window should be raised whenever
742 a Control-G is received.
743 +pob This option indicates that the window should not be raised
745 whenever a Control-G is received.
746 -report-charclass
748 Print a report to the standard output showing information about
749 the character-classes which can be altered using the charClass
750 resource.
751 -report-colors
753 Print a report to the standard output showing information about
754 colors as xterm allocates them. This corresponds to the
755 reportColors resource.
756 -report-fonts
758 Print a report to the standard output showing information about
759 fonts which are loaded. This corresponds to the reportFonts
760 resource.
761 -report-icons
763 Print a report to the standard output showing information about
764 pixmap-icons which are loaded. This corresponds to the
765 reportIcons resource.
766 -report-xres
768 Print a report to the standard output showing the values of
769 boolean, numeric or string X resources for the VT100 widget
770 when initialization is complete. This corresponds to the
771 reportXRes resource.
772 -rightbar
774 Force scrollbar to the right side of VT100 screen.
775 -rvc This option disables the display of characters with reverse
777 attribute as color.
778 +rvc This option enables the display of characters with reverse
780 attribute as color.
781 -rw This option indicates that reverse-wraparound should be
783 allowed. This allows the cursor to back up from the leftmost
784 column of one line to the rightmost column of the previous
785 line. This is very useful for editing long shell command lines
786 and is encouraged. This option can be turned on and off from
787 the VT Options menu.
788 +rw This option indicates that reverse-wraparound should not be
790 allowed.
791 -s This option indicates that xterm may scroll asynchronously,
793 meaning that the screen does not have to be kept completely up
794 to date while scrolling. This allows xterm to run faster when
795 network latencies are very high and is typically useful when
796 running across a very large internet or many gateways.
797 +s This option indicates that xterm should scroll synchronously.
799 -samename
801 Does not send title and icon name change requests when the
802 request would have no effect: the name is not changed. This
803 has the advantage of preventing flicker and the disadvantage of
804 requiring an extra round trip to the server to find out the
805 previous value. In practice this should never be a problem.
806 +samename
808 Always send title and icon name change requests.
809 -sb This option indicates that some number of lines that are
811 scrolled off the top of the window should be saved and that a
812 scrollbar should be displayed so that those lines can be
813 viewed. This option may be turned on and off from the VT
814 Options menu.
815 +sb This option indicates that a scrollbar should not be displayed.
817 -selbg color
819 This option specifies the color to use for the background of
820 selected text. If not specified, reverse video is used. See
821 the discussion of the highlightColor resource.
822 -selfg color
824 This option specifies the color to use for selected text. If
825 not specified, reverse video is used. See the discussion of
826 the highlightTextColor resource.
827 -sf This option indicates that Sun function key escape codes should
829 be generated for function keys.
830 +sf This option indicates that the standard escape codes should be
832 generated for function keys.
833 -sh number
835 scale line-height values by the given number. See the
836 discussion of the scaleHeight resource.
837 -si This option indicates that output to a window should not
839 automatically reposition the screen to the bottom of the
840 scrolling region. This option can be turned on and off from
841 the VT Options menu.
842 +si This option indicates that output to a window should cause it
844 to scroll to the bottom.
845 -sk This option indicates that pressing a key while using the
847 scrollbar to review previous lines of text should cause the
848 window to be repositioned automatically in the normal position
849 at the bottom of the scroll region.
850 +sk This option indicates that pressing a key while using the
852 scrollbar should not cause the window to be repositioned.
853 -sl number
855 This option specifies the number of lines to save that have
856 been scrolled off the top of the screen. This corresponds to
857 the saveLines resource. The default is “1024”.
858 -sm This option, corresponding to the sessionMgt resource,
860 indicates that xterm should set up session manager callbacks.
861 +sm This option indicates that xterm should not set up session
863 manager callbacks.
864 -sp This option indicates that Sun/PC keyboard should be assumed,
866 providing mapping for keypad “+” to “,”, and CTRL-F1 to F13,
867 CTRL-F2 to F14, etc.
868 +sp This option indicates that the standard escape codes should be
870 generated for keypad and function keys.
871 -t This option indicates that xterm should start in Tektronix
873 mode, rather than in VTxxx mode. Switching between the two
874 windows is done using the “Options” menus.
875 Terminal database (terminfo (5) or termcap (5)) entries that
877 work with xterm are:
878 “tek4014”,
880 “tek4015”,
881 “tek4012”,
882 “tek4013”,
883 “tek4010”, and
884 “dumb”.
885 Xterm automatically searches the terminal database in this
887 order for these entries and then sets the “TERM” variable (and
888 the “TERMCAP” environment variable, if relevant).
889 +t This option indicates that xterm should start in VTxxx mode.
891 -tb This option, corresponding to the toolBar resource, indicates
893 that xterm should display a toolbar (or menubar) at the top of
894 its window. The buttons in the toolbar correspond to the popup
895 menus, e.g., control/left/mouse for Main Options.
896 +tb This option indicates that xterm should not set up a toolbar.
898 -ti term_id
900 Specify the name used by xterm to select the correct response
901 to terminal ID queries. It also specifies the emulation level,
902 used to determine the type of response to a DA control
903 sequence. Valid values include vt52, vt100, vt101, vt102,
904 vt220, and vt240 (the “vt” is optional). The default is
905 “vt420”. The term_id argument specifies the terminal ID to
906 use. (This is the same as the decTerminalID resource).
907 -tm string
909 This option specifies a series of terminal setting keywords
910 followed by the characters that should be bound to those
911 functions, similar to the stty program. The keywords and their
912 values are described in detail in the ttyModes resource.
913 -tn name
915 This option specifies the name of the terminal type to be set
916 in the TERM environment variable. It corresponds to the
917 termName resource. This terminal type must exist in the
918 terminal database (termcap or terminfo, depending on how xterm
919 is built) and should have li# and co# entries. If the terminal
920 type is not found, xterm uses the built-in list “xterm”,
921 “vt102”, etc.
922 -u8 This option sets the utf8 resource. When utf8 is set, xterm
924 interprets incoming data as UTF-8. This sets the wideChars
925 resource as a side-effect, but the UTF-8 mode set by this
926 option prevents it from being turned off. If you must turn
927 UTF-8 encoding on and off, use the -wc option or the
928 corresponding wideChars resource, rather than the -u8 option.
929 This option and the utf8 resource are overridden by the -lc and
931 -en options and locale resource. That is, if xterm has been
932 compiled to support luit, and the locale resource is not
933 “false” this option is ignored. We recommend using the -lc
934 option or the “locale: true” resource in UTF-8 locales when
935 your operating system supports locale, or -en UTF-8 option or
936 the “locale: UTF-8” resource when your operating system does
937 not support locale.
938 +u8 This option resets the utf8 resource.
940 -uc This option makes the cursor underlined instead of a box.
942 +uc This option makes the cursor a box instead of underlined.
944 -ulc This option disables the display of characters with underline
946 attribute as color rather than with underlining.
947 +ulc This option enables the display of characters with underline
949 attribute as color rather than with underlining.
950 -ulit This option, corresponding to the italicULMode resource,
952 disables the display of characters with underline attribute as
953 italics rather than with underlining.
954 +ulit This option, corresponding to the italicULMode resource,
956 enables the display of characters with underline attribute as
957 italics rather than with underlining.
958 -ut This option indicates that xterm should not write a record into
960 the system utmp log file.
961 +ut This option indicates that xterm should write a record into the
963 system utmp log file.
964 -vb This option indicates that a visual bell is preferred over an
966 audible one. Instead of ringing the terminal bell whenever a
967 Control-G is received, the window will be flashed.
968 +vb This option indicates that a visual bell should not be used.
970 -wc This option sets the wideChars resource.
972 When wideChars is set, xterm maintains internal structures for
974 16-bit characters. If xterm is not started in UTF-8 mode (or
975 if this resource is not set), initially it maintains those
976 structures to support 8-bit characters. Xterm can later be
977 switched, using a menu entry or control sequence, causing it to
978 reallocate those structures to support 16-bit characters.
979 The default is “false”.
981 +wc This option resets the wideChars resource.
983 -wf This option indicates that xterm should wait for the window to
985 be mapped the first time before starting the subprocess so that
986 the initial terminal size settings and environment variables
987 are correct. It is the application's responsibility to catch
988 subsequent terminal size changes.
989 +wf This option indicates that xterm should not wait before
991 starting the subprocess.
992 -ziconbeep percent
994 Same as zIconBeep resource. If percent is non-zero, xterms
995 that produce output while iconified will cause an XBell sound
996 at the given volume and have “***” prepended to their icon
997 titles. Most window managers will detect this change
998 immediately, showing you which window has the output. (A
999 similar feature was in x10 xterm.)
1000 -C This option indicates that this window should receive console
1002 output. This is not supported on all systems. To obtain
1003 console output, you must be the owner of the console device,
1004 and you must have read and write permission for it. If you are
1005 running X under xdm on the console screen you may need to have
1006 the session startup and reset programs explicitly change the
1007 ownership of the console device in order to get this option to
1008 work.
1009 -Sccn This option allows xterm to be used as an input and output
1011 channel for an existing program and is sometimes used in
1012 specialized applications. The option value specifies the last
1013 few letters of the name of a pseudo-terminal to use in slave
1014 mode, plus the number of the inherited file descriptor. If the
1015 option contains a “/” character, that delimits the characters
1016 used for the pseudo-terminal name from the file descriptor.
1017 Otherwise, exactly two characters are used from the option for
1018 the pseudo-terminal name, the remainder is the file descriptor.
1019 Examples (the first two are equivalent since the descriptor
1020 follows the last “/”):
1021 -S/dev/pts/123/45
1023 -S123/45
1024 -Sab34
1025 Note that xterm does not close any file descriptor which it did
1027 not open for its own use. It is possible (though probably not
1028 portable) to have an application which passes an open file
1029 descriptor down to xterm past the initialization or the -S
1030 option to a process running in the xterm.
1031 Old Options
1033 The following command line arguments are provided for compatibility
1034 with older versions. They may not be supported in the next release as
1035 the X Toolkit provides standard options that accomplish the same task.
1036 %geom This option specifies the preferred size and position of the
1038 Tektronix window. It is shorthand for specifying the
1039 “tekGeometry” resource.
1040 #geom This option specifies the preferred position of the icon
1042 window. It is shorthand for specifying the “iconGeometry”
1043 resource.
1044 -T string
1046 This option specifies the title for xterm's windows. It is
1047 equivalent to -title.
1048 -n string
1050 This option specifies the icon name for xterm's windows. It is
1051 shorthand for specifying the “iconName” resource. Note that
1052 this is not the same as the toolkit option -name. The default
1053 icon name is the application name.
1054 If no suitable icon is found, xterm provides a compiled-in
1056 pixmap.
1057 X Toolkit sets the WM_ICON_NAME property using this value.
1059 -r This option indicates that reverse video should be simulated by
1061 swapping the foreground and background colors. It is
1062 equivalent to -rv.
1063 -w number
1065 This option specifies the width in pixels of the border
1066 surrounding the window. It is equivalent to -borderwidth or
1067 -bw.
1068 X Toolkit Options
1070 The following standard X Toolkit command line arguments are commonly
1071 used with xterm:
1072 -bd color
1074 This option specifies the color to use for the border of the
1075 window. The corresponding resource name is borderColor. Xterm
1076 uses the X Toolkit default, which is “XtDefaultForeground”.
1077 Xterm's VT100 window has two borders: the inner border
1079 internalBorder and the outer border borderWidth, managed by the
1080 X Toolkit.
1081 Normally xterm fills the inner border using the VT100 window's
1083 background color. If the colorInnerBorder resource is enabled,
1084 then xterm may fill the inner border using the borderColor
1085 resource.
1086 -bg color
1088 This option specifies the color to use for the background of
1089 the window. The corresponding resource name is background.
1090 The default is “XtDefaultBackground”.
1091 -bw number
1093 This option specifies the width in pixels of the border
1094 surrounding the window.
1095 This appears to be a legacy of older X releases. It sets the
1097 borderWidth resource of the shell widget, and may provide
1098 advice to your window manager to set the thickness of the
1099 window frame. Most window managers do not use this
1100 information. See the -b option, which controls the inner
1101 border of the xterm window.
1102 -display display
1104 This option specifies the X server to contact; see X(7).
1105 -fg color
1107 This option specifies the color to use for displaying text.
1108 The corresponding resource name is foreground. The default is
1109 “XtDefaultForeground”.
1110 -fn font
1112 This option specifies the font to be used for displaying normal
1113 text. The corresponding resource name is font. The resource
1114 value default is fixed.
1115 -font font
1117 This is the same as -fn.
1118 -geometry geometry
1120 This option specifies the preferred size and position of the
1121 VTxxx window; see X(7).
1122 The normal geometry specification can be suffixed with @
1124 followed by a Xinerama screen specification; it can be either g
1125 for the global screen (default), c for the current screen or a
1126 screen number.
1127 -iconic
1129 This option indicates that xterm should ask the window manager
1130 to start it as an icon rather than as the normal window. The
1131 corresponding resource name is iconic.
1132 -name name
1134 This option specifies the application name under which
1135 resources are to be obtained, rather than the default
1136 executable file name. Name should not contain “.” or “*”
1137 characters.
1138 -rv This option indicates that reverse video should be simulated by
1140 swapping the foreground and background colors. The
1141 corresponding resource name is reverseVideo.
1142 +rv Disable the simulation of reverse video by swapping foreground
1144 and background colors.
1145 -title string
1147 This option specifies the window title string, which may be
1148 displayed by window managers if the user so chooses. It is
1149 shorthand for specifying the “title” resource. The default
1150 title is the command line specified after the -e option, if
1151 any, otherwise the application name.
1152 X Toolkit sets the WM_NAME property using this value.
1154 -xrm resourcestring
1156 This option specifies a resource string to be used. This is
1157 especially useful for setting resources that do not have
1158 separate command line options.
1159 X Toolkit accepts alternate names for a few of these options, e.g.,
1161 • “-background” for “-bg”
1163 • “-font” for “-fn”
1165 • “-foreground” for “-fg”
1167 Abbreviated options also are supported, e.g., “-v” for “-version.”
1169
1171 Xterm understands all of the core X Toolkit resource names and classes.
1172 It also uses the X Toolkit resource types (such as booleans, colors,
1173 fonts, integers, and strings) along with their respective converters.
1174 Those resource types are not always sufficient:
1175 • Xterm's resource values may be lists of names. X Toolkit resource
1177 types do not include lists. Xterm uses a string for the resource,
1178 and parses it.
1179 Comma-separated lists of names ignore case.
1181 • Xterm may defer processing a resource until it is needed. For
1183 example, font2 through font7 are loaded as needed, to start faster.
1184 Again, the actual resource type is a string, parsed and used when
1185 needed.
1186 Application specific resources (e.g., “XTerm.NAME”) follow:
1188 Application Resources
1190 backarrowKeyIsErase (class BackarrowKeyIsErase)
1191 Tie the VTxxx backarrowKey and ptyInitialErase resources
1192 together by setting the DECBKM state according to whether the
1193 initial erase character is a backspace (8) or delete (127)
1194 character. A “false” value disables this feature. The default
1195 is “False”.
1196 Here are tables showing how the initial settings for
1198 • backarrowKeyIsErase (BKIE),
1200 • backarrowKey (BK), and
1202 • ptyInitialErase (PIE), along with the
1204 • stty erase character (^H for backspace, ^? for delete)
1206 will affect DECBKM. First, xterm obtains the initial erase
1208 character:
1209 • xterm's internal value is ^H
1211 • xterm asks the operating system for the value which stty
1213 shows
1214 • the ttyModes resource may override erase
1216 • if ptyInitialErase is false, xterm will look in the
1218 terminal database
1219 Summarizing that as a table:
1221 PIE stty termcap erase
1223 ───────────────────────────────
1225 false ^H ^H ^H
1226 false ^H ^? ^?
1227 false ^? ^H ^H
1228 false ^? ^? ^?
1229 true ^H ^H ^H
1230 true ^H ^? ^H
1231 true ^? ^H ^?
1232 true ^? ^? ^?
1233 Using that erase character, xterm allows further choices:
1235 • if backarrowKeyIsErase is true, xterm uses the erase
1237 character for the initial state of DECBKM
1238 • if backarrowKeyIsErase is false, xterm sets DECBKM to 2
1240 (internal). This ties together backarrowKey and the
1241 control sequence for DECBKM.
1242 • applications can send a control sequence to set/reset
1244 DECBKM control set
1245 • the “Backarrow Key (BS/DEL)” menu entry toggles DECBKM
1247 Summarizing the initialization details:
1249 erase BKIE BK DECBKM result
1251 ────────────────────────────────────────
1252 ^? false false 2 ^H
1253 ^? false true 2 ^?
1254 ^? true false 0 ^?
1255 ^? true true 1 ^?
1256 ^H false false 2 ^H
1257 ^H false true 2 ^?
1258 ^H true false 0 ^H
1259 ^H true true 1 ^H
1260 buffered (class Buffered)
1262 Normally xterm is built with double-buffer support. This
1263 resource can be used to turn it on or off. Setting the
1264 resource to “true” turns double-buffering on. The default
1265 value is “False”.
1266 bufferedFPS (class BufferedFPS)
1268 When xterm is built with double-buffer support, this gives the
1269 maximum number of frames/second. The default is “40” and is
1270 limited to the range 1 through 100.
1271 cursorTheme (class CursorTheme)
1273 The Xcursor(7) library provides a way to change the pointer
1274 shape and size. The X11 library uses this library to extend
1275 the font- and glyph-cursor calls used by applications such as
1276 xterm to substitute external files for the built-in “core”
1277 cursors provided by X.
1278 Xterm uses the pointerShape resource to select the X cursor
1280 shape. Most of the available sets of cursor themes provide an
1281 incomplete set of “core” cursors (while possibly adding other
1282 cursors). Because of this limitation, xterm disables the
1283 feature by default.
1284 The cursor theme feature can be useful because X cursors are
1286 not scalable and on a high-resolution display, the cursors are
1287 hard to find. Some of the cursor themes include larger cursors
1288 to work around this limitation:
1289 • The default core cursors are 8x8 pixels;
1291 • Some cursor themes include cursors up to the X server limit
1293 of 64x64 pixels.
1294 At startup, xterm sets the XCURSOR_THEME environment variable
1296 to enable or disable the cursor theme feature. The default
1297 value is “none”. Other values (including “default”) are passed
1298 to the Xcursor library to select a cursor theme.
1299 fullscreen (class Fullscreen)
1301 Specifies whether or not xterm should ask the window manager to
1302 use a fullscreen layout on startup. Xterm accepts either a
1303 keyword (ignoring case) or the number shown in parentheses:
1304 false (0)
1306 Fullscreen layout is not used initially, but may be later
1307 via menu-selection or control sequence.
1308 true (1)
1310 Fullscreen layout is used initially, but may be disabled
1311 later via menu-selection or control sequence.
1312 always (2)
1314 Fullscreen layout is used initially, and cannot be disabled
1315 later via menu-selection or control sequence.
1316 never (3)
1318 Fullscreen layout is not used, and cannot be enabled later
1319 via menu-selection or control sequence.
1320 The default is “false”.
1322 hold (class Hold)
1324 If true, xterm will not immediately destroy its window when the
1325 shell command completes. It will wait until you use the window
1326 manager to destroy/kill the window, or if you use the menu
1327 entries that send a signal, e.g., HUP or KILL. You may scroll
1328 back, select text, etc., to perform most graphical operations.
1329 Resizing the display will lose data, however, since this
1330 involves interaction with the shell which is no longer running.
1331 hpFunctionKeys (class HpFunctionKeys)
1333 Specifies whether or not HP function key escape codes should be
1334 generated for function keys. The default is “false”, i.e.,
1335 this feature is disabled.
1336 The keyboardType resource is the preferred mechanism for
1338 selecting this mode.
1339 iconGeometry (class IconGeometry)
1341 Specifies the preferred size and position of the application
1342 when iconified. It is not necessarily obeyed by all window
1343 managers.
1344 iconHint (class IconHint)
1346 Specifies an icon which will be added to the window manager
1347 hints. Xterm provides no default value.
1348 Set this resource to “none” to omit the hint entirely, using
1350 whatever the window manager may decide.
1351 If the iconHint resource is given (or is set via the -n option)
1353 xterm searches for a pixmap file with that name, in the current
1354 directory as well as in /usr/share/pixmaps. if the resource
1355 does not specify an absolute pathname. In each case, xterm
1356 adds “_48x48” and/or “.xpm” to the filename after trying
1357 without those suffixes. If it is able to load the file, xterm
1358 sets the window manager hint for the icon-pixmap. These
1359 pixmaps are distributed with xterm, and can optionally be
1360 compiled-in:
1361 • mini.xterm_16x16, mini.xterm_32x32, mini.xterm_48x48
1363 • filled-xterm_16x16, filled-xterm_32x32, filled-xterm_48x48
1365 • xterm_16x16, xterm_32x32, xterm_48x48
1367 • xterm-color_16x16, xterm-color_32x32, xterm-color_48x48
1369 In either case, xterm allows for adding a “_48x48” to specify
1371 the largest of the pixmaps as a default. That is, “mini.xterm”
1372 is the same as “mini.xterm_48x48”.
1373 If no explicit iconHint resource is given (or if none of the
1375 compiled-in names matches), xterm uses “mini.xterm” (which is
1376 always compiled-in).
1377 The iconHint resource has no effect on “desktop” files,
1379 including “panel” and “menu”. Those are typically set via a
1380 “.desktop” file; xterm provides samples for itself (and the
1381 uxterm script). The more capable desktop systems allow
1382 changing the icon on a per-user basis.
1383 iconName (class IconName)
1385 Specifies a label for xterm when iconified. Xterm provides no
1386 default value; some window managers may assume the application
1387 name, e.g., “xterm”.
1388 Setting the iconName resource sets the icon label unless
1390 overridden by zIconBeep or the control sequences which change
1391 the window and icon labels.
1392 keyboardType (class KeyboardType)
1394 Enables one (or none) of the various keyboard-type resources:
1395 hpFunctionKeys, scoFunctionKeys, sunFunctionKeys,
1396 tcapFunctionKeys, oldXtermFKeys and sunKeyboard.
1397 The resource's value should be one of the corresponding strings
1399 “hp”, “sco”, “sun”, “tcap”, “legacy” or “vt220”, respectively.
1400 The individual resources are provided for legacy support; this
1402 resource is simpler to use. Xterm will use only one keyboard-
1403 type, but if multiple resources are set, it warns and uses the
1404 last one it checks.
1405 The default is “unknown”, i.e., none of the associated
1407 resources are set via this resource.
1408 maxBufSize (class MaxBufSize)
1410 Specify the maximum size of the input buffer. The default is
1411 “32768”. You cannot set this to a value less than the
1412 minBufSize resource. It will be increased as needed to make
1413 that value evenly divide this one.
1414 On some systems you may want to increase one or both of the
1416 maxBufSize and minBufSize resource values to achieve better
1417 performance if the operating system prefers larger buffer
1418 sizes.
1419 maximized (class Maximized)
1421 Specifies whether or not xterm should ask the window manager to
1422 maximize its layout on startup. The default is “false”.
1423 menuHeight (class MenuHeight)
1425 Specifies the height of the toolbar, which may be increased by
1426 the X toolkit layout widget depending upon the fontsize used.
1427 The default is “25”.
1428 menuLocale (class MenuLocale)
1430 Specify the locale used for character-set computations when
1431 loading the popup menus. Use this to improve initialization
1432 performance of the Athena popup menus, which may load
1433 unnecessary (and very large) fonts, e.g., in a locale having
1434 UTF-8 encoding. The default is “C” (POSIX).
1435 To use the current locale (only useful if you have localized
1437 the resource settings for the menu entries), set the resource
1438 to an empty string.
1439 messages (class Messages)
1441 Specifies whether write access to the terminal is allowed
1442 initially. See mesg(1). The default is “true”.
1443 minBufSize (class MinBufSize)
1445 Specify the minimum size of the input buffer, i.e., the amount
1446 of data that xterm requests on each read. The default is
1447 “4096”. You cannot set this to a value less than 64.
1448 omitTranslation (class OmitTranslation)
1450 Selectively omit one or more parts of xterm's default
1451 translations at startup. The resource value is a comma-
1452 separated list of keywords, which may be abbreviated:
1453 default
1455 ignore (mouse) button-down events which were not handled
1456 by other translations
1457 fullscreen
1459 assigns a key-binding to the fullscreen() action.
1460 keypress
1462 assigns keypresses by default to the insert-seven-bit()
1463 and insert-eight-bit() actions.
1464 paging assigns key bindings to the scroll-back() and
1466 scroll-forw() actions.
1467 pointer
1469 assigns pointer motion and button events to the
1470 pointer-motion() and pointer-button() actions
1471 respectively.
1472 popup-menu
1474 assigns mouse-buttons with the control modifier to the
1475 popup-menus.
1476 reset assigns mouse-button 2 with the meta modifier to the
1478 clear-saved-lines action.
1479 scroll-lock
1481 assigns a key-binding to the scroll-lock() action.
1482 select assigns mouse- and keypress-combinations to actions
1484 which manipulate the selection.
1485 Xterm also uses these actions to capture mouse button
1487 and motion events which can be manipulated with the
1488 mouse protocol control sequences. If the select
1489 translations are omitted, then the pointer-motion and
1490 pointer-button handle these mouse protocol control
1491 sequences instead.
1492 shift-fonts
1494 assigns key-bindings to larger-vt-font() and
1495 smaller-vt-font() actions.
1496 wheel-mouse
1498 assigns buttons 4 and 5 with different modifiers to the
1499 scroll-back() and scroll-forw() actions.
1500 ptyHandshake (class PtyHandshake)
1502 If “true”, xterm will perform handshaking during initialization
1503 to ensure that the parent and child processes update the utmp
1504 and stty state.
1505 See also waitForMap which waits for the pseudo-terminal's
1507 notion of the screen size, and ptySttySize which resets the
1508 screen size after other terminal initialization is complete.
1509 The default is “true”.
1510 ptyInitialErase (class PtyInitialErase)
1512 If “true”, xterm will use the pseudo-terminal's sense of the
1513 stty erase value. If “false”, xterm will set the stty erase
1514 value to match its own configuration, using the kb string from
1515 the termcap entry as a reference, if available.
1516 In either case, the result is applied to the TERMCAP variable
1518 which xterm sets, if the system uses TERMCAP.
1519 See also the ttyModes resource, which may override this. The
1521 default is “False”.
1522 ptySttySize (class PtySttySize)
1524 If “true”, xterm will reset the screen size after terminal
1525 initialization is complete. This is needed for some systems
1526 whose pseudo-terminals cannot propagate terminal
1527 characteristics. Where it is not needed, it can interfere with
1528 other methods for setting the initial screen size, e.g., via
1529 window manager interaction.
1530 See also waitForMap which waits for a handshake-message giving
1532 the pseudo-terminal's notion of the screen size. The default
1533 is “false” on Linux and macOS systems, “true” otherwise.
1534 reportColors (class ReportColors)
1536 If true, xterm will print to the standard output a summary of
1537 colors as it allocates them. The default is “false”.
1538 reportFonts (class ReportFonts)
1540 If true, xterm will print to the standard output a summary of
1541 each font's metrics (size, number of glyphs, etc.), as it loads
1542 them. The default is “false”.
1543 reportIcons (class ReportIcons)
1545 If true, xterm will print to the standard output a summary of
1546 each pixmap icon as it loads them. The default is “false”.
1547 reportXRes (class ReportXRes)
1549 If true, xterm will print to the standard output a list of the
1550 boolean, numeric and string X resources for the VT100 widget
1551 after initialization. The default is “false”.
1552 sameName (class SameName)
1554 If the value of this resource is “true”, xterm does not send
1555 title and icon name change requests when the request would have
1556 no effect: the name is not changed. This has the advantage of
1557 preventing flicker and the disadvantage of requiring an extra
1558 round trip to the server to find out the previous value. In
1559 practice this should never be a problem. The default is
1560 “true”.
1561 scaleHeight (class ScaleHeight)
1563 Scale line-height values by the resource value, which is
1564 limited to “0.9” to “1.5”. The default value is “1.0”,
1565 While this resource applies to either bitmap or TrueType fonts,
1567 its main purpose is to help work around incompatible changes in
1568 the Xft library's font metrics. Xterm checks the font metrics
1569 to find what the library claims are the bounding boxes for each
1570 glyph (character). However, some of Xft's features (such as
1571 the autohinter) can cause the glyphs to be scaled larger than
1572 the bounding boxes, and be partly overwritten by the next row.
1573 See useClipping for a related resource.
1575 scoFunctionKeys (class ScoFunctionKeys)
1577 Specifies whether or not SCO function key escape codes should
1578 be generated for function keys. The default is “false”, i.e.,
1579 this feature is disabled.
1580 The keyboardType resource is the preferred mechanism for
1582 selecting this mode.
1583 sessionMgt (class SessionMgt)
1585 If the value of this resource is “true”, xterm sets up session
1586 manager callbacks for XtNdieCallback and XtNsaveCallback. The
1587 default is “true”.
1588 sunFunctionKeys (class SunFunctionKeys)
1590 Specifies whether or not Sun function key escape codes should
1591 be generated for function keys. The default is “false”, i.e.,
1592 this feature is disabled.
1593 The keyboardType resource is the preferred mechanism for
1595 selecting this mode.
1596 sunKeyboard (class SunKeyboard)
1598 Xterm translates certain key symbols based on its assumptions
1599 about your keyboard. This resource specifies whether or not
1600 Sun/PC keyboard layout (i.e., the PC keyboard's numeric keypad
1601 together with 12 function keys) should be assumed rather than
1602 DEC VT220. This causes the keypad “+” to be mapped to “,”.
1603 and CTRL F1-F10 to F11-F20, depending on the setting of the
1604 ctrlFKeys resource, so xterm emulates a DEC VT220 more
1605 accurately. Otherwise (the default, with sunKeyboard set to
1606 “false”), xterm uses PC-style bindings for the function keys
1607 and keypad.
1608 PC-style bindings use the Shift, Alt, Control and Meta keys as
1610 modifiers for function-keys and keypad (see Xterm Control
1611 Sequences for details). The PC-style bindings are analogous to
1612 PCTerm, but not the same thing. Normally these bindings do not
1613 conflict with the use of the Meta key as described for the
1614 eightBitInput resource. If they do, note that the PC-style
1615 bindings are evaluated first.
1616 See also the keyboardType resource.
1618 tcapFunctionKeys (class TcapFunctionKeys)
1620 Specifies whether or not function key escape codes read from
1621 the termcap/terminfo entry corresponding to the TERM
1622 environment variable should be generated for function keys
1623 instead of those configured using sunKeyboard and keyboardType.
1624 The default is “false”, i.e., this feature is disabled.
1625 The keyboardType resource is the preferred mechanism for
1627 selecting this mode.
1628 termName (class TermName)
1630 Specifies the terminal type name to be set in the TERM
1631 environment variable.
1632 title (class Title)
1634 Specifies a string that may be used by the window manager when
1635 displaying this application.
1636 toolBar (class ToolBar)
1638 Specifies whether or not the toolbar should be displayed. The
1639 default is “true”.
1640 ttyModes (class TtyModes)
1642 Specifies a string containing terminal setting keywords.
1643 Except where noted, they may be bound to characters. Other
1644 keywords set modes. Not all keywords are supported on a given
1645 system. Allowable keywords include:
1646 Keyword POSIX? Notes
1648 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
1649 brk no CHAR may send an “interrupt” signal, as well
1650 as ending the input-line.
1651 dsusp no CHAR will send a terminal “stop” signal
1652 after input is flushed.
1653 eof yes CHAR will terminate input (i.e., an end of
1654 file).
1655 eol yes CHAR will end the line.
1656 eol2 no alternate CHAR for ending the line.
1657 erase yes CHAR will erase the last character typed.
1658 erase2 no alternate CHAR for erasing the last input-
1659 character.
1660 flush no CHAR will cause output to be discarded until
1661 another flush character is typed.
1662 intr yes CHAR will send an “interrupt” signal.
1663 kill yes CHAR will erase the current line.
1664 lnext no CHAR will enter the next character quoted.
1665 quit yes CHAR will send a “quit” signal.
1666 rprnt no CHAR will redraw the current line.
1667 start yes CHAR will restart the output after stopping
1668 it.
1669 status no CHAR will cause a system-generated status
1670 line to be printed.
1671 stop yes CHAR will stop the output.
1672 susp yes CHAR will send a terminal “stop” signal
1673 swtch no CHAR will switch to a different shell layer.
1674 tabs yes Mode disables tab-expansion.
1675 -tabs yes Mode enables tab-expansion.
1676 weras no CHAR will erase the last word typed.
1677 Control characters may be specified as ^char (e.g., ^c or ^u)
1679 and ^? may be used to indicate delete (127). Use ^- to denote
1680 undef. Use \034 to represent ^\, since a literal backslash in
1681 an X resource escapes the next character.
1682 This is very useful for overriding the default terminal
1684 settings without having to run stty every time an xterm is
1685 started. Note, however, that the stty program on a given host
1686 may use different keywords; xterm's table is built in. The
1687 POSIX column in the table indicates which keywords are
1688 supported by a standard stty program.
1689 If the ttyModes resource specifies a value for erase, that
1691 overrides the ptyInitialErase resource setting, i.e., xterm
1692 initializes the terminal to match that value.
1693 useInsertMode (class UseInsertMode)
1695 Force use of insert mode by adding appropriate entries to the
1696 TERMCAP environment variable. This is useful if the system
1697 termcap is broken. (This resource is ignored on most systems,
1698 because TERMCAP is not used). The default is “false”.
1699 utmpDisplayId (class UtmpDisplayId)
1701 Specifies whether or not xterm should try to record the display
1702 identifier (display number and screen number) as well as the
1703 hostname in the system utmp log file. The default is “true”.
1704 utmpInhibit (class UtmpInhibit)
1706 Specifies whether or not xterm should try to record the user's
1707 terminal in the system utmp log file. If true, xterm will not
1708 try. The default is “false”.
1709 validShells (class ValidShells)
1711 Augment (add to) the system's /etc/shells, when determining
1712 whether to set the “SHELL” environment variable when running a
1713 given program.
1714 The resource value is a list of lines (separated by newlines).
1716 Each line holds one pathname. Xterm ignores any line beginning
1717 with “#” after trimming leading/trailing whitespace from each
1718 line.
1719 The default is an empty string.
1721 waitForMap (class WaitForMap)
1723 Specifies whether or not xterm should wait for the initial
1724 window map before starting the subprocess. This is part of the
1725 ptyHandshake logic. When xterm is directed to wait in this
1726 fashion, it passes the terminal size from the display end of
1727 the pseudo-terminal to the terminal I/O connection, e.g., using
1728 the size according to the window manager. Otherwise, it uses
1729 the size as given in resource values or command-line option
1730 -geometry. The default is “false”.
1731 zIconBeep (class ZIconBeep)
1733 Same as -ziconbeep command line argument. If the value of this
1734 resource is non-zero, xterms that produce output while
1735 iconified will cause an XBell sound at the given volume and
1736 have “*** ” prepended to their icon titles. Most window
1737 managers will detect this change immediately, showing you which
1738 window has the output. (A similar feature was in x10 xterm.)
1739 The default is “false”.
1740 zIconTitleFormat (class ZIconTitleFormat)
1742 Allow customization of the string used in the zIconBeep
1743 feature. The default value is “*** %s”.
1744 If the resource value contains a “%s”, then xterm inserts the
1746 icon title at that point rather than prepending the string to
1747 the icon title. (Only the first “%s” is used).
1748 VT100 Widget Resources
1750 The following resources are specified as part of the vt100 widget
1751 (class VT100). They are specified by patterns such as
1752 “XTerm.vt100.NAME”.
1753 If your xterm is configured to support the “toolbar”, then those
1755 patterns need an extra level for the form-widget which holds the
1756 toolbar and vt100 widget. A wildcard between the top-level “XTerm” and
1757 the “vt100” widget makes the resource settings work for either, e.g.,
1758 “XTerm*vt100.NAME”.
1759 activeIcon (class ActiveIcon)
1761 Specifies whether or not active icon windows are to be used
1762 when the xterm window is iconified, if this feature is compiled
1763 into xterm. The active icon is a miniature representation of
1764 the content of the window and will update as the content
1765 changes. Not all window managers necessarily support
1766 application icon windows. Some window managers will allow you
1767 to enter keystrokes into the active icon window. The default
1768 is “default”.
1769 Xterm accepts either a keyword (ignoring case) or the number
1771 shown in parentheses:
1772 false (0)
1774 No active icon is shown.
1775 true (1)
1777 The active icon is shown. If you are using twm, use
1778 this setting to enable active-icons.
1779 default (2)
1781 Xterm checks at startup, and shows an active icon only
1782 for window managers which it can identify and which are
1783 known to support the feature. These are fvwm (full
1784 support), and window maker (limited). A few other
1785 windows managers (such as twm and ctwm) support active
1786 icons, but do not support the extensions which allow
1787 xterm to identify the window manager.
1788 allowBoldFonts (class AllowBoldFonts)
1790 When set to “false”, xterm will not use bold fonts. This
1791 overrides both the alwaysBoldMode and the boldMode resources.
1792 allowC1Printable (class AllowC1Printable)
1794 If true, overrides the mapping of C1 controls (codes 128–159)
1795 to make them be treated as if they were printable characters.
1796 Although this corresponds to no particular standard, some users
1797 insist it is a VT100. The default is “false”.
1798 allowColorOps (class AllowColorOps)
1800 Specifies whether control sequences that set/query the dynamic
1801 colors should be allowed. ANSI colors are unaffected by this
1802 resource setting. The default is “true”.
1803 allowFontOps (class AllowFontOps)
1805 Specifies whether control sequences that set/query the font
1806 should be allowed. The default is “true”.
1807 allowMouseOps (class AllowMouseOps)
1809 Specifies whether control sequences that enable xterm to send
1810 escape sequences to the host on mouse-clicks and movement. The
1811 default is “true”.
1812 allowPasteControls (class AllowPasteControls)
1814 If true, allow control characters such as BEL and CAN to be
1815 pasted. Formatting characters (tab, newline) are always
1816 allowed. Other C0 control characters are suppressed unless
1817 this resource is enabled. The exact set of control characters
1818 (C0 and C1) depends upon whether UTF-8 encoding is used, as
1819 well as the allowC1Printable resource. The default is “false”.
1820 allowScrollLock (class AllowScrollLock)
1822 Specifies whether control sequences that set/query the Scroll
1823 Lock key should be allowed, as well as whether the Scroll Lock
1824 key responds to user's keypress. The default is “false”.
1825 When this feature is enabled, xterm will sense the state of the
1827 Scroll Lock key each time it acquires focus. Pressing the
1828 Scroll Lock key toggles xterm's internal state, as well as
1829 toggling the associated LED. While the Scroll Lock is active,
1830 xterm attempts to keep a viewport on the same set of lines. If
1831 the current viewport is scrolled past the limit set by the
1832 saveLines resource, then Scroll Lock has no further effect.
1833 The reason for setting the default to “false” is to avoid user
1835 surprise. This key is generally unused in keyboard
1836 configurations, and has not acquired a standard meaning even
1837 when it is used in that manner. Consequently, users have
1838 assigned it for ad hoc purposes.
1839 See also the autoScrollLock resource.
1841 allowSendEvents (class AllowSendEvents)
1843 Specifies whether or not synthetic key and button events
1844 (generated using the X protocol SendEvent request) should be
1845 interpreted or discarded. The default is “false” meaning they
1846 are discarded. Note that allowing such events would create a
1847 very large security hole, therefore enabling this resource
1848 forcefully disables the allowXXXOps resources. The default is
1849 “false”.
1850 allowTcapOps (class AllowTcapOps)
1852 Specifies whether control sequences that query the terminal's
1853 notion of its function-key strings, as termcap or terminfo
1854 capabilities should be allowed. The default is “true”.
1855 A few programs, e.g., vim, use this feature to get an accurate
1857 description of the terminal's capabilities, independent of the
1858 termcap/terminfo setting:
1859 • Xterm can tell the querying program how many colors it
1861 supports. This is a constant, depending on how it is
1862 compiled, typically 16. It does not change if you alter
1863 resource settings, e.g., the boldColors resource.
1864 • Xterm can tell the querying program what strings are sent
1866 by modified (shift-, control-, alt-) function- and keypad-
1867 keys. Reporting control- and alt-modifiers is a feature
1868 that relies on the ncurses extended naming.
1869 allowTitleOps (class AllowTitleOps)
1871 Specifies whether control sequences that modify the window
1872 title or icon name should be allowed. The default is “true”.
1873 allowWindowOps (class AllowWindowOps)
1875 Specifies whether extended window control sequences (as used in
1876 dtterm) should be allowed. These include several control
1877 sequences which manipulate the window size or position, as well
1878 as reporting these values and the title or icon name. Each of
1879 these can be abused in a script; curiously enough most terminal
1880 emulators that implement these restrict only a small part of
1881 the repertoire. For fine-tuning, see disallowedWindowOps. The
1882 default is “false”.
1883 altIsNotMeta (class AltIsNotMeta)
1885 If “true”, treat the Alt-key as if it were the Meta-key. Your
1886 keyboard may happen to be configured so they are the same. But
1887 if they are not, this allows you to use the same prefix- and
1888 shifting operations with the Alt-key as with the Meta-key. See
1889 altSendsEscape and metaSendsEscape. The default is “false”.
1890 altSendsEscape (class AltSendsEscape)
1892 This is an additional keyboard operation that may be processed
1893 after the logic for metaSendsEscape. It is only available if
1894 the altIsNotMeta resource is set.
1895 • If “true”, Alt characters (a character combined with the
1897 modifier associated with left/right Alt-keys) are converted
1898 into a two-character sequence with the character itself
1899 preceded by ESC. This applies as well to function key
1900 control sequences, unless xterm sees that Alt is used in
1901 your key translations.
1902 • If “false”, Alt characters input from the keyboard cause a
1904 shift to 8-bit characters (just like metaSendsEscape). By
1905 combining the Alt- and Meta-modifiers, you can create
1906 corresponding combinations of ESC-prefix and 8-bit
1907 characters.
1908 The default is “False”. Xterm provides a menu option for
1910 toggling this resource.
1911 alternateScroll (class ScrollCond)
1913 If “true”, the scroll-back and scroll-forw actions send
1914 cursor-up and -down keys when xterm is displaying the alternate
1915 screen. The default is “false”.
1916 The alternateScroll state can also be set using a control
1918 sequence.
1919 alwaysBoldMode (class AlwaysBoldMode)
1921 Specifies whether xterm should check if the normal and bold
1922 fonts are distinct before deciding whether to use overstriking
1923 to simulate bold fonts. If this resource is true, xterm does
1924 not make the check for distinct fonts when deciding how to
1925 handle the boldMode resource. The default is “false”.
1926 boldMode alwaysBoldMode Comparison Action
1928 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
1929 false false ignored use font
1930 false true ignored use font
1931 true false same overstrike
1932 true false different use font
1933 true true ignored overstrike
1934 This resource is used only for bitmap fonts:
1936 • When using bitmap fonts, it is possible that the font
1938 server will approximate the bold font by rescaling it from
1939 a different font size than expected. The alwaysBoldMode
1940 resource allows the user to override the (sometimes poor)
1941 resulting bold font with overstriking (which is at least
1942 consistent).
1943 • The problem does not occur with TrueType fonts (though
1945 there can be other unnecessary issues such as different
1946 coverage of the normal and bold fonts).
1947 As an alternative, setting the allowBoldFonts resource to false
1949 overrides both the alwaysBoldMode and the boldMode resources.
1950 alwaysHighlight (class AlwaysHighlight)
1952 Specifies whether or not xterm should always display a
1953 highlighted text cursor. By default (if this resource is
1954 false), a hollow text cursor is displayed whenever the pointer
1955 moves out of the window or the window loses the input focus.
1956 The default is “false”.
1957 alwaysUseMods (class AlwaysUseMods)
1959 Override the numLock resource, telling xterm to use the Alt and
1960 Meta modifiers to construct parameters for function key
1961 sequences even if those modifiers appear in the translations
1962 resource. Normally xterm checks if Alt or Meta is used in a
1963 translation that would conflict with function key modifiers,
1964 and will ignore these modifiers in that special case. The
1965 default is “false”.
1966 answerbackString (class AnswerbackString)
1968 Specifies the string that xterm sends in response to an ENQ
1969 (control/E) character from the host. The default is a blank
1970 string, i.e., “”. A hardware VT100 implements this feature as
1971 a setup option.
1972 appcursorDefault (class AppcursorDefault)
1974 If “true”, the cursor keys are initially in application mode.
1975 This is the same as the VT102 private DECCKM mode, The default
1976 is “false”.
1977 appkeypadDefault (class AppkeypadDefault)
1979 If “true”, the keypad keys are initially in application mode.
1980 The default is “false”.
1981 assumeAllChars (class AssumeAllChars)
1983 If “true”, this enables a special case in bitmap fonts to allow
1984 the font server to choose how to display missing glyphs. The
1985 default is “true”.
1986 The reason for this resource is to help with certain quasi-
1988 automatically generated fonts (such as the ISO-10646-1 encoding
1989 of Terminus) which have incorrect font-metrics.
1990 autoScrollLock (class AutoScrollLock)
1992 If “true”, xterm will maintain its viewport of displayed lines
1993 whenever displaying scrollback, as if allowScrollLock were
1994 enabled and the Scroll Lock key had been pressed. The default
1995 is “false”. This feature is only useful if the scrollTtyOutput
1996 resource is set to “false”.
1997 autoWrap (class AutoWrap)
1999 Specifies whether or not auto-wraparound should be enabled.
2000 This is the same as the VT102 DECAWM. The default is “true”.
2001 awaitInput (class AwaitInput)
2003 Specifies whether or not xterm uses a 50 millisecond timeout to
2004 await input (i.e., to support the Xaw3d arrow scrollbar). The
2005 default is “false”.
2006 backarrowKey (class BackarrowKey)
2008 Specifies whether the backarrow key transmits a backspace (8)
2009 or delete (127) character. This corresponds to the DECBKM
2010 control sequence. A “true” value specifies backspace. The
2011 default is “False”. Pressing the control key toggles this
2012 behavior.
2013 background (class Background)
2015 Specifies the color to use for the background of the window.
2016 The default is “XtDefaultBackground”.
2017 bellIsUrgent (class BellIsUrgent)
2019 Specifies whether to set the Urgency hint for the window
2020 manager when making a bell sound. The default is “false”.
2021 bellOnReset (class BellOnReset)
2023 Specifies whether to sound a bell when doing a hard reset. The
2024 default is “true”.
2025 bellSuppressTime (class BellSuppressTime)
2027 Number of milliseconds after a bell command is sent during
2028 which additional bells will be suppressed. Default is 200. If
2029 set non-zero, additional bells will also be suppressed until
2030 the server reports that processing of the first bell has been
2031 completed; this feature is most useful with the visible bell.
2032 boldColors (class ColorMode)
2034 Specifies whether to combine bold attribute with colors like
2035 the IBM PC, i.e., map colors 0 through 7 to colors 8 through
2036 15. These normally are the brighter versions of the first 8
2037 colors, hence bold. The default is “true”.
2038 boldFont (class BoldFont)
2040 Specifies the name of the bold font to use instead of
2041 overstriking. There is no default for this resource.
2042 This font must be the same height and width as the normal font,
2044 otherwise it is ignored. If only one of the normal or bold
2045 fonts is specified, it will be used as the normal font and the
2046 bold font will be produced by overstriking this font.
2047 See also the discussion of boldMode and alwaysBoldMode
2049 resources.
2050 boldMode (class BoldMode)
2052 This specifies whether or not text with the bold attribute
2053 should be overstruck to simulate bold fonts if the resolved
2054 bold font is the same as the normal font. It may be desirable
2055 to disable bold fonts when color is being used for the bold
2056 attribute.
2057 Note that xterm has one bold font which you may set explicitly.
2059 Xterm attempts to derive a bold font for the other font
2060 selections (font1 through font7). If it cannot find a bold
2061 font, it will use the normal font. In each case (whether the
2062 explicit resource or the derived font), if the normal and bold
2063 fonts are distinct, this resource has no effect. The default
2064 is “true”.
2065 See the alwaysBoldMode resource which can modify the behavior
2067 of this resource.
2068 Although xterm attempts to derive a bold font for other font
2070 selections, the font server may not cooperate. Since X11R6,
2071 bitmap fonts have been scaled. The font server claims to
2072 provide the bold font that xterm requests, but the result is
2073 not always readable. XFree86 introduced a feature which can be
2074 used to suppress the scaling. In the X server's configuration
2075 file (e.g., “/etc/X11/xorg.conf”), you can add “:unscaled” to
2076 the end of the directory specification for the “misc” fonts,
2077 which comprise the fixed-pitch fonts that are used by xterm.
2078 For example
2079 FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/misc/"
2081 would become
2083 FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/misc/:unscaled"
2085 Depending on your configuration, the font server may have its
2087 own configuration file. The same “:unscaled” can be added to
2088 its configuration file at the end of the directory
2089 specification for “misc”.
2090 The bitmap scaling feature is also used by xterm to implement
2092 VT102 double-width and double-height characters.
2093 brokenLinuxOSC (class BrokenLinuxOSC)
2095 If true, xterm applies a workaround to ignore malformed control
2096 sequences that a Linux script might send. Compare the palette
2097 control sequences documented in console_codes with ECMA-48.
2098 The default is “true”.
2099 brokenSelections (class BrokenSelections)
2101 If true, xterm in 8-bit mode will interpret STRING selections
2102 as carrying text in the current locale's encoding. Normally
2103 STRING selections carry ISO-8859-1 encoded text. Setting this
2104 resource to “true” violates the ICCCM; it may, however, be
2105 useful for interacting with some broken X clients. The default
2106 is “false”.
2107 brokenStringTerm (class BrokenStringTerm)
2109 provides a work-around for some ISDN routers which start an
2110 application control string without completing it. Set this to
2111 “true” if xterm appears to freeze when connecting. The default
2112 is “false”.
2113 Xterm's state parser recognizes several types of control
2115 strings which can contain text, e.g.,
2116 APC (Application Program Command),
2118 DCS (Device Control String),
2119 OSC (Operating System Command),
2120 PM (Privacy Message), and
2121 SOS (Start of String),
2122 Each should end with a string-terminator (a special character
2124 which cannot appear in these strings). Ordinary control
2125 characters found within the string are not ignored; they are
2126 processed without interfering with the process of accumulating
2127 the control string's content. Xterm recognizes these controls
2128 in all modes, although some of the functions may be suppressed
2129 after parsing the control.
2130 When enabled, this feature allows the user to exit from an
2132 unterminated control string when any of these ordinary control
2133 characters are found:
2134 control/D (used as an end of file in many shells),
2136 control/H (backspace),
2137 control/I (tab-feed),
2138 control/J (line feed aka newline),
2139 control/K (vertical tab),
2140 control/L (form feed),
2141 control/M (carriage return),
2142 control/N (shift-out),
2143 control/O (shift-in),
2144 control/Q (XOFF),
2145 control/X (cancel)
2146 c132 (class C132)
2148 Specifies whether or not the VT102 DECCOLM escape sequence,
2149 used to switch between 80 and 132 columns, should be honored.
2150 The default is “false”.
2151 cacheDoublesize (class CacheDoublesize)
2153 Tells whether to cache double-sized fonts by xterm. Set this
2154 to zero to disable double-sized fonts altogether.
2155 cdXtraScroll (class CdXtraScroll)
2157 Specifies whether xterm should scroll to a new page when
2158 clearing the whole screen. Like tiXtraScroll, the intent of
2159 this option is to provide a picture of the full-screen
2160 application's display on the scrollback before wiping out the
2161 text.
2162 Xterm accepts either a keyword (ignoring case) or the number
2164 shown in parentheses:
2165 false (0)
2167 nothing is added to the scrollback.
2168 true (1)
2170 the current screen is added to the scrollback.
2171 trim (2)
2173 the current screen is added to the scrollback, but
2174 repeated blank lines are trimmed (reduced to a single
2175 blank line).
2176 The default for this resource is “false”.
2178 charClass (class CharClass)
2180 Specifies comma-separated lists of character class bindings of
2181 the form
2182 low[-high][:value].
2184 These are used in determining which sets of characters should
2186 be treated the same when doing cut and paste. See the
2187 CHARACTER CLASSES section.
2188 checksumExtension (class ChecksumExtension)
2190 DEC VT420 and up support a control sequence DECRQCRA which
2191 reports the checksum of the characters in a rectangle. Xterm
2192 supports this, with extensions that can be configured with bits
2193 of the checksumExtension:
2194 0 do not negate the result.
2196 1 do not report the VT100 video attributes.
2198 2 do not omit checksum for blanks.
2200 3 omit checksum for cells not explicitly initialized.
2202 4 do not mask cell value to 8 bits or ignore combining
2204 characters.
2205 5 do not mask cell value to 7 bits.
2207 With the default value (0), xterm matches the behavior of DEC's
2209 terminals. To use all extensions, set all bits, “-1” for
2210 example.
2211 cjkWidth (class CjkWidth)
2213 Specifies whether xterm should follow the traditional East
2214 Asian width convention. When turned on, characters with East
2215 Asian Ambiguous (A) category in UTR 11 have a column width of
2216 2. You may have to set this option to “true” if you have some
2217 old East Asian terminal based programs that assume that line-
2218 drawing characters have a column width of 2. If this resource
2219 is false, the mkWidth resource controls the choice between the
2220 system's wcwidth and xterm's built-in tables. The default is
2221 “false”.
2222 color0 (class Color0)
2224 color1 (class Color1)
2226 color2 (class Color2)
2228 color3 (class Color3)
2230 color4 (class Color4)
2232 color5 (class Color5)
2234 color6 (class Color6)
2236 color7 (class Color7)
2238 These specify the colors for the ISO-6429 extension. The
2239 defaults are, respectively, black, red3, green3, yellow3, a
2240 customizable dark blue, magenta3, cyan3, and gray90. The
2241 default shades of color are chosen to allow the colors 8–15 to
2242 be used as brighter versions.
2243 color8 (class Color8)
2245 color9 (class Color9)
2247 color10 (class Color10)
2249 color11 (class Color11)
2251 color12 (class Color12)
2253 color13 (class Color13)
2255 color14 (class Color14)
2257 color15 (class Color15)
2259 These specify the colors for the ISO-6429 extension if the bold
2260 attribute is also enabled. The default resource values are
2261 respectively, gray50, red, green, yellow, a customized light
2262 blue, magenta, cyan, and white.
2263 color16 (class Color16)
2265 through
2267 color255 (class Color255)
2269 These specify the colors for the 256-color extension. The
2270 default resource values are for
2271 • colors 16 through 231 to make a 6x6x6 color cube, and
2273 • colors 232 through 255 to make a grayscale ramp.
2275 Resources past color15 are available as a compile-time option.
2277 Due to a hardcoded limit in the X libraries on the total number
2278 of resources (to 400), the resources for 256-colors are omitted
2279 when wide-character support and luit are enabled. Besides
2280 inconsistent behavior if only part of the resources were
2281 allowed, determining the exact cutoff is difficult, and the X
2282 libraries tend to crash if the number of resources exceeds the
2283 limit. The color palette is still initialized to the same
2284 default values, and can be modified via control sequences.
2285 On the other hand, the resource limit does permit including the
2287 entire range for 88-colors.
2288 colorAttrMode (class ColorAttrMode)
2290 Specifies whether colorBD, colorBL, colorRV, and colorUL should
2291 override ANSI colors. If not, these are displayed only when no
2292 ANSI colors have been set for the corresponding position. The
2293 default is “false”.
2294 colorBD (class ColorBD)
2296 This specifies the color to use to display bold characters if
2297 the “colorBDMode” resource is enabled. The default is
2298 “XtDefaultForeground”.
2299 See also the veryBoldColors resource which allows combining
2301 bold and color.
2302 colorBDMode (class ColorAttrMode)
2304 Specifies whether characters with the bold attribute should be
2305 displayed in color or as bold characters. Note that setting
2306 colorMode off disables all colors, including bold. The default
2307 is “false”.
2308 colorBL (class ColorBL)
2310 This specifies the color to use to display blink characters if
2311 the “colorBLMode” resource is enabled. The default is
2312 “XtDefaultForeground”.
2313 See also the veryBoldColors resource which allows combining
2315 underline and color.
2316 colorBLMode (class ColorAttrMode)
2318 Specifies whether characters with the blink attribute should be
2319 displayed in color. Note that setting colorMode off disables
2320 all colors, including this. The default is “false”.
2321 colorIT (class ColorIT)
2323 This specifies the color to use to display italic characters if
2324 the “colorITMode” resource is enabled. The default is
2325 “XtDefaultForeground”.
2326 See also the veryBoldColors resource which allows combining
2328 attributes and color.
2329 colorITMode (class ColorAttrMode)
2331 Specifies whether characters with the italic attribute should
2332 be displayed in color or as italic characters. The default is
2333 “false”.
2334 Note that:
2336 • Setting colorMode off disables all colors, including
2338 italic.
2339 • The italicULMode resource overrides colorITMode.
2341 colorInnerBorder (class ColorInnerBorder)
2343 Normally, xterm fills the VT100 window's inner border using the
2344 background color.
2345 If the colorInnerBorder resource is enabled, at startup xterm
2347 will compare the borderColor and the window's background color.
2348 If those are different, xterm will use the borderColor resource
2349 to fill the inner border. Otherwise, it will use the window's
2350 background color.
2351 The default is “false”.
2353 colorMode (class ColorMode)
2355 Specifies whether or not recognition of ANSI (ISO-6429) color
2356 change escape sequences should be enabled. The default is
2357 “true”.
2358 colorRV (class ColorRV)
2360 This specifies the color to use to display reverse characters
2361 if the “colorRVMode” resource is enabled. The default is
2362 “XtDefaultForeground”.
2363 See also the veryBoldColors resource which allows combining
2365 reverse and color.
2366 colorRVMode (class ColorAttrMode)
2368 Specifies whether characters with the reverse attribute should
2369 be displayed in color. Note that setting colorMode off
2370 disables all colors, including this. The default is “false”.
2371 colorUL (class ColorUL)
2373 This specifies the color to use to display underlined
2374 characters if the “colorULMode” resource is enabled. The
2375 default is “XtDefaultForeground”.
2376 See also the veryBoldColors resource which allows combining
2378 underline and color.
2379 colorULMode (class ColorAttrMode)
2381 Specifies whether characters with the underline attribute
2382 should be displayed in color or as underlined characters. Note
2383 that setting colorMode off disables all colors, including
2384 underlining. The default is “false”.
2385 combiningChars (class CombiningChars)
2387 Specifies the number of wide-characters which can be stored in
2388 a cell to overstrike (combine) with the base character of the
2389 cell. This can be set to values in the range 0 to 5. The
2390 default is “2”.
2391 ctrlFKeys (class CtrlFKeys)
2393 In VT220 keyboard mode (see sunKeyboard resource), specifies
2394 the amount by which to shift F1-F12 given a control modifier
2395 (CTRL). This allows you to generate key symbols for F10-F20 on
2396 a Sun/PC keyboard. The default is “10”, which means that CTRL
2397 F1 generates the key symbol for F11.
2398 curses (class Curses)
2400 Specifies whether or not the last column bug in more(1) should
2401 be worked around. See the -cu option for details. The default
2402 is “false”.
2403 cursorBlink (class CursorBlink)
2405 Specifies whether to make the cursor blink. Xterm accepts
2406 either a keyword (ignoring case) or the number shown in
2407 parentheses:
2408 false (0)
2410 The cursor will not blink, but may be combined with escape
2411 sequences according to the cursorBlinkXOR resource.
2412 true (1)
2414 The cursor will blink, but may be combined with escape
2415 sequences according to the cursorBlinkXOR resource.
2416 always (2)
2418 The cursor will always blink, ignoring escape sequences.
2419 The menu entry will be disabled.
2420 never (3)
2422 The cursor will never blink, ignoring escape sequences. The
2423 menu entry will be disabled.
2424 The default is “false”.
2426 cursorBlinkXOR (class CursorBlinkXOR)
2428 Xterm uses two inputs to determine whether the cursor blinks:
2429 • The cursorBlink resource (which can be altered with a menu
2431 entry).
2432 • Control sequences (private mode 12 and DECSCUSR).
2434 The cursorBlinkXOR resource determines how those inputs are
2436 combined:
2437 false
2439 Xterm uses the logical-OR of the two variables. If either
2440 is set, xterm makes the cursor blink.
2441 true
2443 Xterm uses the logical-XOR of the two variables. If only
2444 one is set, xterm makes the cursor blink.
2445 The default is “true”.
2447 cursorColor (class CursorColor)
2449 Specifies the color to use for the text cursor. The default is
2450 “XtDefaultForeground”. By default, xterm attempts to keep this
2451 color from being the same as the background color, since it
2452 draws the cursor by filling the background of a text cell. The
2453 same restriction applies to control sequences which may change
2454 this color.
2455 Setting this resource overrides most of xterm's adjustments to
2457 cursor color. It will still use reverse-video to disallow some
2458 cases, such as a black cursor on a black background.
2459 cursorOffTime (class CursorOffTime)
2461 Specifies the duration of the “off” part of the cursor blink
2462 cycle-time in milliseconds. The same timer is used for text
2463 blinking. The default is “300”.
2464 cursorOnTime (class CursorOnTime)
2466 Specifies the duration of the “on” part of the cursor blink
2467 cycle-time, in milliseconds. The same timer is used for text
2468 blinking. The default is “600”.
2469 cursorUnderLine (class CursorUnderLine)
2471 Specifies whether to make the cursor underlined or a box. The
2472 default is “false”.
2473 cutNewline (class CutNewline)
2475 If “false”, triple clicking to select a line does not include
2476 the newline at the end of the line. If “true”, the Newline is
2477 selected. The default is “true”.
2478 cutToBeginningOfLine (class CutToBeginningOfLine)
2480 If “false”, triple clicking to select a line selects only from
2481 the current word forward. If “true”, the entire line is
2482 selected. The default is “true”.
2483 decGraphicsID (class DecGraphicsID)
2485 Allows a way to combine the graphics feature from certain DEC
2486 terminals (125, 240, 241, 330, 340 or 382) with other emulation
2487 levels which did not provide the graphics feature. As in
2488 decTerminalID, leading non-digit characters are ignored, e.g.,
2489 “vt340” and “340” are the same.
2490 If the resource value is nonzero, xterm uses that emulation
2492 level when initializing the drawing region and decoding control
2493 sequences to draw graphics.
2494 The default is “0”.
2496 decTerminalID (class DecTerminalID)
2498 Specifies the emulation level (100=VT100, 220=VT220, etc.),
2499 used to determine the type of response to a DA control
2500 sequence. Leading non-digit characters are ignored, e.g.,
2501 “vt100” and “100” are the same. The default is “420”.
2502 defaultString (class DefaultString)
2504 Specify the character (or string) which xterm will substitute
2505 when pasted text includes a character which cannot be
2506 represented in the current encoding. For instance, pasting
2507 UTF-8 text into a display of ISO-8859-1 characters will only be
2508 able to display codes 0–255, while UTF-8 text can include
2509 Unicode values above 255. The default is “#” (a single pound
2510 sign).
2511 If the undisplayable text would be double-width, xterm will add
2513 a space after the “#” character, to give roughly the same
2514 layout on the screen as the original text.
2515 deleteIsDEL (class DeleteIsDEL)
2517 Specifies what the Delete key on the editing keypad should send
2518 when pressed. The resource value is a string, evaluated as a
2519 boolean after startup. Xterm uses it in conjunction with the
2520 keyboardType resource:
2521 • If the keyboard type is “default”, or “vt220” and the
2523 resource is either “true” or “maybe” send the VT220-style
2524 Remove escape sequence. Otherwise, send DEL (127).
2525 • If the keyboard type is “legacy”, and the resource is
2527 “true” send DEL. Otherwise, send the Remove sequence.
2528 • Otherwise, if the keyboard type is none of these special
2530 cases, send DEL (127).
2531 The default is “Maybe”. The resource is allowed to be a non-
2533 boolean “maybe” so that the popup menu Delete is DEL entry does
2534 not override the keyboard type.
2535 directColor (class DirectColor)
2537 Specifies whether to handle direct-color control sequences
2538 using the X server's available colors, or to approximate those
2539 using a color map with 256 entries. A “true” value enables the
2540 former. The default is “true”.
2541 disallowedColorOps (class DisallowedColorOps)
2543 Specify which features will be disabled if allowColorOps is
2544 false. This is a comma-separated list of names. The default
2545 value is
2546 SetColor,GetColor,GetAnsiColor
2547 The names are listed below. Xterm ignores capitalization, but
2549 they are shown in mixed-case for clarity.
2550 SetColor
2552 Set a specific dynamic color.
2553 GetColor
2555 Report the current setting of a given dynamic color.
2556 GetAnsiColor
2558 Report the current setting of a given ANSI color (actually
2559 any of the colors set via ANSI-style controls).
2560 disallowedFontOps (class DisallowedFontOps)
2562 Specify which features will be disabled if allowFontOps is
2563 false. This is a comma-separated list of names. The default
2564 value is
2565 SetFont,GetFont
2567 The names are listed below. Xterm ignores capitalization, but
2569 they are shown in mixed-case for clarity.
2570 SetFont
2572 Set the specified font.
2573 GetFont
2575 Report the specified font.
2576 disallowedMouseOps (class DisallowedMouseOps)
2578 Specify which features will be disabled if allowMouseOps is
2579 false. This is a comma-separated list of names. The default
2580 value is “*” which matches all names. The names are listed
2581 below. Xterm ignores capitalization, but they are shown in
2582 mixed-case for clarity.
2583 X10 The original X10 mouse protocol.
2585 Locator
2587 DEC locator mode
2588 VT200Click
2590 X11 mouse-clicks only.
2591 VT200Hilite
2593 X11 mouse-clicks and highlighting.
2594 AnyButton
2596 XFree86 xterm any-button mode sends button-clicks as well
2597 as motion events while the button is pressed.
2598 AnyEvent
2600 XFree86 xterm any-event mode sends button-clicks as well
2601 as motion events whether or not a button is pressed.
2602 FocusEvent
2604 Send FocusIn/FocusOut events.
2605 Extended
2607 The first extension beyond X11 mouse protocol, this
2608 encodes the coordinates in UTF-8. It is deprecated in
2609 favor of SGR, but provided for compatibility.
2610 SGR This is the recommended extension for mouse-coordinates
2612 URXVT
2614 Like Extended, this is provided for compatibility.
2615 AlternateScroll
2617 This overrides the alternateScroll resource.
2618 disallowedPasteControls (class DisallowedPasteControls)
2620 The allowPasteControls resource is normally used to prevent
2621 pasting C1 controls, as well as non-formatting C0 controls such
2622 as the ASCII escape character. Those characters are simply
2623 ignored. This resource further extends the set of control
2624 characters which cannot be pasted, converting each into a
2625 space.
2626 The resource value is a comma-separated list of names. Xterm
2628 ignores capitalization. The default value is
2629 BS,DEL,ENQ,EOT,ESC,NUL
2631 The names are listed below:
2633 C0 all ASCII control characters.
2635 Individual C0 characters
2637 NUL, SOH, STX, ETX, EOT, ENQ, ACK, BEL, BS, HT, LF, VT,
2638 FF, CR, SO, SI, DLE, DC1, DC2, DC3, DC4, NAK, SYN, ETB,
2639 CAN, EM, SUB, ESC, FS, GS, RS, US
2640 DEL ASCII delete
2642 NL ASCII line-feed, i.e., “newline” is the same as LF.
2644 disallowedTcapOps (class DisallowedTcapOps)
2646 Specify which features will be disabled if allowTcapOps is
2647 false. This is a comma-separated list of names. The default
2648 value is
2649 SetTcap,GetTcap
2651 The names are listed below. Xterm ignores capitalization, but
2653 they are shown in mixed-case for clarity.
2654 SetTcap
2656 (not implemented)
2657 GetTcap
2659 Report specified function- and other special keys.
2660 disallowedWindowOps (class DisallowedWindowOps)
2662 Specify which features will be disabled if allowWindowOps is
2663 false. This is a comma-separated list of names, or (for the
2664 controls adapted from dtterm the operation number). The
2665 default value is
2666 20,21,SetXprop,SetSelection
2668 (i.e., all except a few “dangerous” operations are allowed).
2669 The names are listed below. Xterm ignores capitalization, but
2671 they are shown in mixed-case for clarity. Where a number can
2672 be used as an alternative, it is given in parentheses after the
2673 name.
2674 GetChecksum
2676 Report checksum of characters in a rectangular region.
2677 GetIconTitle (20)
2679 Report xterm window's icon label as a string.
2680 GetScreenSizeChars (19)
2682 Report the size of the screen in characters as numbers.
2683 GetSelection
2685 Report selection data as a base64 string.
2686 GetWinPosition (13)
2688 Report xterm window position as numbers.
2689 GetWinSizeChars (18)
2691 Report the size of the text area in characters as numbers.
2692 GetWinSizePixels (14)
2694 Report xterm window in pixels as numbers.
2695 GetWinState (11)
2697 Report xterm window state as a number.
2698 GetWinTitle (21)
2700 Report xterm window's title as a string.
2701 LowerWin (6)
2703 Lower the xterm window to the bottom of the stacking
2704 order.
2705 MaximizeWin (9)
2707 Maximize window (i.e., resize to screen size).
2708 FullscreenWin (10)
2710 Use full screen (i.e., resize to screen size, without
2711 window decorations).
2712 MinimizeWin (2)
2714 Iconify window.
2715 PopTitle (23)
2717 Pop title from internal stack.
2718 PushTitle (22)
2720 Push title to internal stack.
2721 RaiseWin (5)
2723 Raise the xterm window to the front of the stacking order.
2724 RefreshWin (7)
2726 Refresh the xterm window.
2727 RestoreWin (1)
2729 De-iconify window.
2730 SetChecksum
2732 Modify algorithm for reporting checksum of characters in a
2733 rectangular region.
2734 SetSelection
2736 Set selection data.
2737 SetWinLines
2739 Resize to a given number of lines, at least 24.
2740 SetWinPosition (3)
2742 Move window to given coordinates.
2743 SetWinSizeChars (8)
2745 Resize the text area to given size in characters.
2746 SetWinSizePixels (4)
2748 Resize the xterm window to given size in pixels.
2749 SetXprop
2751 Set X property on top-level window.
2752 dynamicColors (class DynamicColors)
2754 Specifies whether or not escape sequences to change colors
2755 assigned to different attributes are recognized.
2756 eightBitControl (class EightBitControl)
2758 Specifies whether or not control sequences sent by the terminal
2759 should be eight-bit characters or escape sequences. The
2760 default is “false”.
2761 eightBitInput (class EightBitInput)
2763 If “true”, Meta characters (a single-byte character combined
2764 with the Meta modifier key) input from the keyboard are
2765 presented as a single character, modified according to the
2766 eightBitMeta resource. If “false”, Meta characters are
2767 converted into a two-character sequence with the character
2768 itself preceded by ESC. The default is “true”.
2769 The metaSendsEscape and altSendsEscape resources may override
2771 this feature. Generally keyboards do not have a key labeled
2772 “Meta”, but “Alt” keys are common, and they are conventionally
2773 used for “Meta”. If they were synonymous, it would have been
2774 reasonable to name this resource “altSendsEscape”, reversing
2775 its sense. For more background on this, see the meta(3x)
2776 function in curses.
2777 Note that the Alt key is not necessarily the same as the Meta
2779 modifier. The xmodmap utility lists your key modifiers. X
2780 defines modifiers for shift, (caps) lock and control, as well
2781 as 5 additional modifiers which are generally used to configure
2782 key modifiers. Xterm inspects the same information to find the
2783 modifier associated with either Meta key (left or right), and
2784 uses that key as the Meta modifier. It also looks for the
2785 NumLock key, to recognize the modifier which is associated with
2786 that.
2787 If your xmodmap configuration uses the same keycodes for Alt-
2789 and Meta-keys, xterm will only see the Alt-key definitions,
2790 since those are tested before Meta-keys. NumLock is tested
2791 first. It is important to keep these keys distinct; otherwise
2792 some of xterm's functionality is not available.
2793 The eightBitInput resource is tested at startup time. If
2795 “true”, the xterm tries to put the terminal into 8-bit mode.
2796 If “false”, on startup, xterm tries to put the terminal into
2797 7-bit mode. For some configurations this is unsuccessful;
2798 failure is ignored. After startup, xterm does not change the
2799 terminal between 8-bit and 7-bit mode.
2800 As originally implemented in X11, the resource value did not
2802 change after startup. However (since patch #216 in 2006) xterm
2803 can modify eightBitInput after startup via a control sequence.
2804 The corresponding terminfo capabilities smm (set meta mode) and
2805 rmm (reset meta mode) have been recognized by bash for some
2806 time. Interestingly enough, bash's notion of “meta mode”
2807 differs from the standard definition (in the terminfo manual),
2808 which describes the change to the eighth bit of a character.
2809 It happens that bash views “meta mode” as the ESC character
2810 that xterm puts before a character when a special meta key is
2811 pressed. bash's early documentation talks about the ESC
2812 character and ignores the eighth bit.
2813 eightBitMeta (class EightBitMeta)
2815 This controls the way xterm modifies the eighth bit of a
2816 single-byte key when the eightBitInput resource is set. The
2817 default is “locale”.
2818 The resource value is a string, evaluated as a boolean after
2820 startup.
2821 false
2823 The key is sent unmodified.
2824 locale
2826 The key is modified only if the locale uses eight-bit
2827 encoding.
2828 true The key is sent modified.
2830 never
2832 The key is always sent unmodified.
2833 Except for the never choice, xterm honors the terminfo
2835 capabilities smm (set meta mode) and rmm (reset meta mode),
2836 allowing the feature to be turned on or off dynamically.
2837 If eightBitMeta is enabled when the locale uses UTF-8, xterm
2839 encodes the value as UTF-8 (since patch #183 in 2003).
2840 eightBitOutput (class EightBitOutput)
2842 Specifies whether or not eight-bit characters sent from the
2843 host should be accepted as is or stripped when printed. The
2844 default is “true”, which means that they are accepted as is.
2845 eightBitSelectTypes (class EightBitSelectTypes)
2847 Override xterm's default selection target list (see
2848 SELECT/PASTE) for selections in normal (ISO-8859-1) mode. The
2849 default is an empty string, i.e., “”, which does not override
2850 anything.
2851 eraseSavedLines (class EraseSavedLines)
2853 Specifies whether or not to allow xterm extended ED/DECSED
2854 control sequences to erase the saved-line buffer. The default
2855 is “true”.
2856 faceName (class FaceName)
2858 Specify the pattern for scalable fonts selected from the
2859 FreeType library if support for that library was compiled into
2860 xterm. There is no default value.
2861 One or more fonts can be specified, separated by commas. If
2863 prefixed with “x:” or “x11:” the specification applies to the
2864 XLFD font resource. A “xft:” prefix is accepted but
2865 unnecessary since a missing prefix for faceName means that it
2866 will be used for TrueType. For example,
2867 XTerm*faceName: x:fixed,xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono
2869 If no faceName resource is specified, or if there is no match
2871 for both TrueType normal and bold fonts, xterm uses the XLFD
2872 (bitmap) font and related resources.
2873 It is possible to select suitable bitmap fonts using a script
2875 such as this:
2876 #!/bin/sh
2878 FONT=`xfontsel -print`
2879 test -n "$FONT" && xfd -fn "$FONT"
2880 However (even though xfd accepts a “-fa” option to denote
2882 FreeType fonts), xfontsel has not been similarly extended. As
2883 a workaround, you may try
2884 fc-list :scalable=true:spacing=mono: family
2886 to find a list of scalable fixed-pitch fonts which may be used
2888 for the faceName resource value.
2889 faceNameDoublesize (class FaceNameDoublesize)
2891 Specify a double-width scalable font for cases where an
2892 application requires this, e.g., in CJK applications. There is
2893 no default value.
2894 Like the faceName resource, this allows one or more comma-
2896 separated font specifications to be applied to the wide
2897 TrueType or XLFD fonts.
2898 If the application uses double-wide characters and this
2900 resource is not given, xterm will use a scaled version of the
2901 font given by faceName.
2902 faceSize (class FaceSize)
2904 Specify the pointsize for fonts selected from the FreeType
2905 library if support for that library was compiled into xterm.
2906 The default is “8.0” On the VT Fonts menu, this corresponds to
2907 the Default entry.
2908 Although the default is “8.0”, this may not be the same as the
2910 pointsize for the default bitmap font, i.e., that assigned with
2911 the -fn option, or the font resource. The default value of
2912 faceSize is chosen to match the size of the “fixed” font,
2913 making switching between bitmap and TrueType fonts via the font
2914 menu give comparable sizes for the window. If your -fn option
2915 uses a different pointsize, you might want to adjust the
2916 faceSize resource to match.
2917 You can specify the pointsize for TrueType fonts selected with
2919 the other size-related menu entries such as Medium, Huge, etc.,
2920 by using one of the following resource values. If you do not
2921 specify a value, they default to “0.0”, which causes xterm to
2922 use the ratio of font sizes from the corresponding bitmap font
2923 resources to obtain a TrueType pointsize.
2924 If all of the faceSize resources are set, then xterm will use
2926 this information to determine the next smaller/larger TrueType
2927 font for the larger-vt-font() and smaller-vt-font() actions.
2928 If any are not set, xterm will use only the areas of the bitmap
2929 fonts.
2930 faceSize1 (class FaceSize1)
2932 Specifies the pointsize of the first alternative font.
2933 faceSize2 (class FaceSize2)
2935 Specifies the pointsize of the second alternative font.
2936 faceSize3 (class FaceSize3)
2938 Specifies the pointsize of the third alternative font.
2939 faceSize4 (class FaceSize4)
2941 Specifies the pointsize of the fourth alternative font.
2942 faceSize5 (class FaceSize5)
2944 Specifies the pointsize of the fifth alternative font.
2945 faceSize6 (class FaceSize6)
2947 Specifies the pointsize of the sixth alternative font.
2948 faceSize7 (class FaceSize7)
2950 Specifies the pointsize of the seventh alternative font.
2951 fastScroll (class FastScroll)
2953 Modifies the effect of jump scroll (jumpScroll) by suppressing
2954 screen refreshes for the special case when output to the screen
2955 has completely shifted the contents off-screen. For instance,
2956 cat'ing a large file to the screen does this.
2957 font (class Font)
2959 Specifies the name of the normal font. The default is “fixed”.
2960 See the discussion of the locale resource, which describes how
2962 this font may be overridden.
2963 NOTE: some resource files use patterns such as
2965 *font: fixed
2967 which are overly broad, affecting both
2969 xterm.vt100.font
2971 and
2973 xterm.vt100.utf8Fonts.font
2975 which is probably not what you intended.
2977 font1 (class Font1)
2979 Specifies the name of the first alternative font, corresponding
2980 to “Unreadable” in the standard menu.
2981 font2 (class Font2)
2983 Specifies the name of the second alternative font,
2984 corresponding to “Tiny” in the standard menu.
2985 font3 (class Font3)
2987 Specifies the name of the third alternative font, corresponding
2988 to “Small” in the standard menu.
2989 font4 (class Font4)
2991 Specifies the name of the fourth alternative font,
2992 corresponding to “Medium” in the standard menu.
2993 font5 (class Font5)
2995 Specifies the name of the fifth alternative font, corresponding
2996 to “Large” in the standard menu.
2997 font6 (class Font6)
2999 Specifies the name of the sixth alternative font, corresponding
3000 to “Huge” in the standard menu.
3001 font7 (class Font7)
3003 Specifies the name of the seventh alternative font,
3004 corresponding to “Enormous” in the standard menu.
3005 fontDoublesize (class FontDoublesize)
3007 Specifies whether xterm should attempt to use font scaling to
3008 draw double-sized characters. Some older font servers cannot
3009 do this properly, will return misleading font metrics. The
3010 default is “true”. If disabled, xterm will simulate double-
3011 sized characters by drawing normal characters with spaces
3012 between them.
3013 fontWarnings (class FontWarnings)
3015 Specify whether xterm should report an error if it fails to
3016 load a font:
3017 0 Never report an error (though the X libraries may).
3019 1 Report an error if the font name was given as a resource
3021 setting.
3022 2 Always report an error on failure to load a font.
3024 The default is “1”.
3026 forceBoxChars (class ForceBoxChars)
3028 Specifies whether xterm should assume the normal and bold fonts
3029 have VT100 line-drawing characters:
3030 • The fixed-pitch ISO-8859-*-encoded fonts used by xterm
3032 normally have the VT100 line-drawing glyphs in cells 1–31.
3033 Other fixed-pitch fonts may be more attractive, but lack
3034 these glyphs.
3035 • When using an ISO-10646-1 font and the wideChars resource
3037 is true, xterm uses the Unicode glyphs which match the
3038 VT100 line-drawing glyphs.
3039 If “false”, xterm checks for missing glyphs in the font and
3041 makes line-drawing characters directly as needed. If “true”,
3042 xterm assumes the font does not contain the line-drawing
3043 characters, and draws them directly. The default is “false”.
3044 The VT100 line-drawing character set (also known as the DEC
3046 Special Character and Line Drawing Set) is shown in this table.
3047 It includes a few special characters which are not used for
3048 drawing lines:
3049 Cell Unicode Description
3051 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
3052 0 U+25AE black vertical rectangle
3053 1 U+25C6 black diamond
3054 2 U+2592 medium shade
3055 3 U+2409 symbol for horizontal tabulation
3056 4 U+240C symbol for form feed
3057 5 U+240D symbol for carriage return
3058 6 U+240A symbol for line feed
3059 7 U+00B0 degree sign
3060 8 U+00B1 plus-minus sign
3061 9 U+2424 symbol for newline
3062 10 U+240B symbol for vertical tabulation
3063 11 U+2518 box drawings light up and left
3064 12 U+2510 box drawings light down and left
3065 13 U+250C box drawings light down and right
3066 14 U+2514 box drawings light up and right
3067 15 U+253C box drawings light vertical and horizontal
3068 16 U+23BA box drawings scan 1
3069 17 U+23BB box drawings scan 3
3070 18 U+2500 box drawings light horizontal
3071 19 U+23BC box drawings scan 7
3072 20 U+23BD box drawings scan 9
3073 21 U+251C box drawings light vertical and right
3074 22 U+2524 box drawings light vertical and left
3075 23 U+2534 box drawings light up and horizontal
3076 24 U+252C box drawings light down and horizontal
3077 25 U+2502 box drawings light vertical
3078 26 U+2264 less-than or equal to
3079 27 U+2265 greater-than or equal to
3080 28 U+03C0 greek small letter pi
3081 29 U+2260 not equal to
3082 30 U+00A3 pound sign
3083 31 U+00B7 middle dot
3084 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
3085 forcePackedFont (class ForcePackedFont)
3087 Specifies whether xterm should use the maximum or minimum glyph
3088 width when displaying using a bitmap font. Use the maximum
3089 width to help with proportional fonts. The default is “true”,
3090 denoting the minimum width.
3091 forceXftHeight (class ForceXftHeight)
3093 Specifies whether xterm should use the given font metrics for
3094 TrueType fonts, or amend the ascent/descent to total no more
3095 than the given font-height. This optional feature is used to
3096 work around inconsistencies in FreeType's rounding computation.
3097 The default is “false”, denoting the given metrics.
3098 foreground (class Foreground)
3100 Specifies the color to use for displaying text in the window.
3101 Setting the class name instead of the instance name is an easy
3102 way to have everything that would normally appear in the text
3103 color change color. The default is “XtDefaultForeground”.
3104 formatOtherKeys (class FormatOtherKeys)
3106 Overrides the format of the escape sequence used to report
3107 modified keys with the modifyOtherKeys resource.
3108 0 send modified keys as parameters for function-key 27
3110 (default).
3111 1 send modified keys as parameters for CSI u.
3113 freeBoldBox (class FreeBoldBox)
3115 Specifies whether xterm should assume the bounding boxes for
3116 normal and bold fonts are compatible. If “false”, xterm
3117 compares them and will reject choices of bold fonts that do not
3118 match the size of the normal font. The default is “false”,
3119 which means that the comparison is performed.
3120 geometry (class Geometry)
3122 Specifies the preferred size and position of the VTxxx window.
3123 There is no default for this resource.
3124 highlightColor (class HighlightColor)
3126 Specifies the color to use for the background of selected
3127 (highlighted) text. If not specified (i.e., matching the
3128 default foreground), reverse video is used. The default is
3129 “XtDefaultForeground”.
3130 highlightColorMode (class HighlightColorMode)
3132 Specifies whether xterm should use highlightTextColor and
3133 highlightColor to override the reversed foreground/background
3134 colors in a selection. The default is unspecified: at startup,
3135 xterm checks if those resources are set to something other than
3136 the default foreground and background colors. Setting this
3137 resource disables the check.
3138 The following table shows the interaction of the highlighting
3140 resources, abbreviated as shown to fit in this page:
3141 HCM
3143 highlightColorMode
3144 HR highlightReverse
3146 HBG
3148 highlightColor
3149 HFG
3151 highlightTextColor
3152 HCM HR HBG HFG Highlight
3154 ────────────────────────────────────────────────
3155 false false default default bg/fg
3156 false false default set bg/fg
3157 false false set default fg/HBG
3158 false false set set fg/HBG
3159 ────────────────────────────────────────────────
3160 false true default default bg/fg
3161 false true default set bg/fg
3162 false true set default fg/HBG
3163 false true set set fg/HBG
3164 ────────────────────────────────────────────────
3165 true false default default bg/fg
3166 true false default set HFG/fg
3167 true false set default bg/HBG
3168 true false set set HFG/HBG
3169 ────────────────────────────────────────────────
3170 true true default default bg/fg
3171 true true default set HFG/fg
3172 true true set default fg/HBG
3173 true true set set HFG/HBG
3174 ────────────────────────────────────────────────
3175 default false default default bg/fg
3176 default false default set bg/fg
3177 default false set default fg/HBG
3178 default false set set HFG/HBG
3179 ────────────────────────────────────────────────
3180 default true default default bg/fg
3181 default true default set bg/fg
3182 default true set default fg/HBG
3183 default true set set HFG/HBG
3184 ────────────────────────────────────────────────
3185 highlightReverse (class HighlightReverse)
3187 Specifies whether xterm should reverse the selection foreground
3188 and background colors when selecting text with reverse-video
3189 attribute. This applies only to the highlightColor and
3190 highlightTextColor resources, e.g., to match the color scheme
3191 of xwsh. If “true”, xterm reverses the colors, If “false”,
3192 xterm does not reverse colors, The default is “true”.
3193 highlightSelection (class HighlightSelection)
3195 Tells xterm whether to highlight all of the selected positions,
3196 or only the selected text:
3197 • If “false”, selecting with the mouse highlights all
3199 positions on the screen between the beginning of the
3200 selection and the current position.
3201 • If “true”, xterm highlights only the positions that contain
3203 text that can be selected.
3204 The default is “false”.
3206 Depending on the way your applications write to the screen,
3208 there may be trailing blanks on a line. Xterm stores data as
3209 it is shown on the screen. Erasing the display changes the
3210 internal state of each cell so it is not considered a blank for
3211 the purpose of selection. Blanks written since the last erase
3212 are selectable. If you do not wish to have trailing blanks in
3213 a selection, use the trimSelection resource.
3214 highlightTextColor (class HighlightTextColor)
3216 Specifies the color to use for the foreground of selected
3217 (highlighted) text. If not specified (i.e., matching the
3218 default background), reverse video is used. The default is
3219 “XtDefaultBackground”.
3220 hpLowerleftBugCompat (class HpLowerleftBugCompat)
3222 Specifies whether to work around a bug in HP's xdb, which
3223 ignores termcap and always sends ESC F to move to the lower
3224 left corner. “true” causes xterm to interpret ESC F as a
3225 request to move to the lower left corner of the screen. The
3226 default is “false”.
3227 i18nSelections (class I18nSelections)
3229 If false, xterm will not request the targets COMPOUND_TEXT or
3230 TEXT. The default is “true”. It may be set to false in order
3231 to work around ICCCM violations by other X clients.
3232 iconBorderColor (class BorderColor)
3234 Specifies the border color for the active icon window if this
3235 feature is compiled into xterm. Not all window managers will
3236 make the icon border visible.
3237 iconBorderWidth (class BorderWidth)
3239 Specifies the border width for the active icon window if this
3240 feature is compiled into xterm. The default is “2”. Not all
3241 window managers will make the border visible.
3242 iconFont (class IconFont)
3244 Specifies the font for the miniature active icon window, if
3245 this feature is compiled into xterm. The default is “nil2”.
3246 indicatorFormat (class IndicatorFormat)
3248 When displaying the status line using the indicator mode (i.e.,
3249 selecting DECSSDT line type 1), format the status using this
3250 resource.
3251 The default value of the resource displays the version of
3253 xterm, the cursor position and the time/date:
3254 “%{version%} %{position%} %{unixtime%}”
3256 If a “%” marker does not match any of the three special tokens
3258 used in the default resource setting, xterm uses strftime to
3259 interpret it.
3260 initialFont (class InitialFont)
3262 Specifies which of the VT100 fonts to use initially. Values
3263 are the same as for the set-vt-font action. The default is
3264 “d”, i.e., “default”.
3265 inputMethod (class InputMethod)
3267 Tells xterm which type of input method to use. There is no
3268 default method.
3269 internalBorder (class BorderWidth)
3271 Specifies the number of pixels between the characters and the
3272 window border. The default is “2”.
3273 italicULMode (class ColorAttrMode)
3275 Specifies whether characters with the underline attribute
3276 should be displayed in an italic font or as underlined
3277 characters. It is implemented only for TrueType fonts.
3278 jumpScroll (class JumpScroll)
3280 Specifies whether or not jump scroll should be used. This
3281 corresponds to the VT102 DECSCLM private mode. The default is
3282 “true”. See fastScroll for a variation.
3283 keepClipboard (class KeepClipboard)
3285 Specifies whether xterm will reuse the selection data which it
3286 copied to the clipboard rather than asking the clipboard for
3287 its current contents when told to provide the selection. The
3288 default is “false”.
3289 If compiled into xterm, the menu entry Keep Clipboard allows
3291 you to change this at runtime.
3292 keepSelection (class KeepSelection)
3294 Specifies whether xterm will keep the selection even after the
3295 selected area was touched by some output to the terminal. The
3296 default is “true”.
3297 The menu entry Keep Selection allows you to change this at
3299 runtime.
3300 keyboardDialect (class KeyboardDialect)
3302 Specifies the initial keyboard dialect, as well as the default
3303 value when the terminal is reset. The value given is the same
3304 as the final character in the control sequences which change
3305 character sets. The default is “B”, which corresponds to US
3306 ASCII.
3307 limitFontsets (class LimitFontsets)
3309 Limits the number of TrueType fallback fonts (i.e., fontset)
3310 which can be used. The default is “50”.
3311 This limits the number of fallback fonts which xterm uses to
3313 display characters. Because TrueType fonts typically are
3314 small, xterm may open several fonts for good coverage, and may
3315 open additional fonts to obtain information. You can see which
3316 font-files xterm opens by setting the environment variable
3317 XFT_DEBUG to 3. The Xft library and xterm write this debugging
3318 trace to the standard output.
3319 Set this to “0” to disable fallbacks entirely.
3321 limitResize (class LimitResize)
3323 Limits resizing of the screen via control sequence to a given
3324 multiple of the display dimensions. The default is “1”.
3325 limitResponse (class LimitResponse)
3327 Limits the buffer-size used when xterm replies to various
3328 control sequences. The default is “1024”. The minimum value
3329 is “256”.
3330 locale (class Locale)
3332 Specifies how to use luit, an encoding converter between UTF-8
3333 and locale encodings. The resource value (ignoring case) may
3334 be:
3335 true
3337 Xterm will use the encoding specified by the users'
3338 LC_CTYPE locale (i.e., LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, or LANG variables)
3339 as far as possible. This is realized by always enabling
3340 UTF-8 mode and invoking luit in non-UTF-8 locales.
3341 medium
3343 Xterm will follow users' LC_CTYPE locale only for UTF-8,
3344 east Asian, and Thai locales, where the encodings were not
3345 supported by conventional 8bit mode with changing fonts.
3346 For other locales, xterm will use conventional 8bit mode.
3347 checkfont
3349 If mini-luit is compiled-in, xterm will check if a Unicode
3350 font has been specified. If so, it checks if the character
3351 encoding for the current locale is POSIX, Latin-1 or
3352 Latin-9, uses the appropriate mapping to support those with
3353 the Unicode font. For other encodings, xterm assumes that
3354 UTF-8 encoding is required.
3355 false
3357 Xterm will use conventional 8bit mode or UTF-8 mode
3358 according to utf8 resource or -u8 option.
3359 Any other value, e.g., “UTF-8” or “ISO8859-2”, is assumed to be
3361 an encoding name; luit will be invoked to support the encoding.
3362 The actual list of supported encodings depends on luit. The
3363 default is “medium”.
3364 Regardless of your locale and encoding, you need an ISO-10646-1
3366 font to display the result. Your configuration may not include
3367 this font, or locale-support by xterm may not be needed.
3368 At startup, xterm uses a mechanism equivalent to the
3370 load-vt-fonts(utf8Fonts, Utf8Fonts) action to load font name
3371 subresources of the VT100 widget. That is, resource patterns
3372 such as “*vt100.utf8Fonts.font” will be loaded, and (if this
3373 resource is enabled), override the normal fonts. If no
3374 subresources are found, the normal fonts such as “*vt100.font”,
3375 etc., are used.
3376 For instance, you could have this in your resource file:
3378 *VT100.font: 12x24
3380 *VT100.utf8Fonts.font:9x15
3381 When started with a UTF-8 locale, xterm would use 9x15, but
3383 allow you to switch to the 12x24 font using the menu entry
3384 “UTF-8 Fonts”.
3385 The resource files distributed with xterm use ISO-10646-1
3387 fonts, but do not rely on them unless you are using the locale
3388 mechanism.
3389 localeFilter (class LocaleFilter)
3391 Specifies the file name for the encoding converter from/to
3392 locale encodings and UTF-8 which is used with the -lc option or
3393 locale resource. The help message shown by “xterm -help” lists
3394 the default value, which depends on your system configuration.
3395 If the encoding converter requires command-line parameters, you
3397 can add those after the command, e.g.,
3398 *localeFilter: xterm-filter -p
3400 Alternatively, you may put those parameter within a shell
3402 script to execute the converter, and set this resource to point
3403 to the shell script.
3404 When using a locale-filter, e.g., with the -e option, or the
3406 shell, xterm first tries passing control via that filter. If
3407 it fails, xterm will retry without the locale-filter. Xterm
3408 warns about the failure before retrying.
3409 logFile (class Logfile)
3411 Specify the name for xterm's log file. If no name is
3412 specified, xterm will generate a name when logging is enabled,
3413 as described in the -l option.
3414 logInhibit (class LogInhibit)
3416 If “true”, prevent the logging feature from being enabled,
3417 whether by the command-line option -l, or the menu entry Log to
3418 File. The default is “false”.
3419 logging (class Logging)
3421 If “true”, (and if logInhibit is not set) enable the logging
3422 feature. This resource is set/updated by the -l option and the
3423 menu entry Log to File. The default is “false”.
3424 loginShell (class LoginShell)
3426 Specifies whether or not the shell to be run in the window
3427 should be started as a login shell. The default is “false”.
3428 marginBell (class MarginBell)
3430 Specifies whether or not the bell should be rung when the user
3431 types near the right margin. The default is “false”.
3432 maxGraphicSize (class MaxGraphicSize)
3434 If xterm is configured to support ReGIS or SIXEL graphics, this
3435 resource controls the maximum size of a graph which can be
3436 displayed.
3437 The default is “1000x1000” (given as width by height).
3439 If the resource is “auto” then xterm will use the decGraphicsID
3441 resource (or decTerminalID if that is not set):
3442 Result decGraphicsID
3444 ────────────────────────
3445 768x400 125
3446 800x460 240
3447 800x460 241
3448 800x480 330
3449 800x480 340
3450 860x750 382
3451 800x480 other
3452 metaSendsEscape (class MetaSendsEscape)
3454 Tells xterm what to do with input-characters modified by Meta:
3455 • If “true”, Meta characters (a character combined with the
3457 Meta modifier key) are converted into a two-character
3458 sequence with the character itself preceded by ESC. This
3459 applies as well to function key control sequences, unless
3460 xterm sees that Meta is used in your key translations.
3461 • If “false”, Meta characters input from the keyboard are
3463 handled according to the eightBitInput resource.
3464 The default is “True”.
3466 mkSamplePass (class MkSamplePass)
3468 If mkSampleSize is nonzero, and mkWidth (and cjkWidth) are
3469 false, on startup xterm compares its built-in tables to the
3470 system's wide character width data to decide if it will use the
3471 system's data. It tests the first mkSampleSize character
3472 values, and allows up to mkSamplePass mismatches before the
3473 test fails. The default (for the allowed number of mismatches)
3474 is 655 (one percent of the default value for mkSampleSize).
3475 mkSampleSize (class MkSampleSize)
3477 With mkSamplePass, this specifies a startup test used for
3478 initializing wide character width calculations. The default
3479 (number of characters to check) is 65536.
3480 mkWidth (class MkWidth)
3482 Specifies whether xterm should use a built-in version of the
3483 wide character width calculation. See also the cjkWidth
3484 resource which can override this. The default is “false”.
3485 Here is a summary of the resources which control the choice of
3487 wide character width calculation:
3488 cjkWidth mkWidth Action
3490 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
3491 false false use system tables subject to mkSamplePass
3492 false true use built-in tables
3493 true false use built-in CJK tables
3494 true true use built-in CJK tables
3495 To disable mkWidth, and use the system's tables, set both
3497 mkSampleSize and mkSamplePass to “0”. Doing that may make
3498 xterm more consistent with applications running in xterm, but
3499 may omit some font glyphs whose width correctly differs from
3500 the system's character tables.
3501 modifyCursorKeys (class ModifyCursorKeys)
3503 Tells how to handle the special case where Control-, Shift-,
3504 Alt- or Meta-modifiers are used to add a parameter to the
3505 escape sequence returned by a cursor-key. The default is “2”:
3506 -1 disables the feature.
3508 0 uses the old/obsolete behavior, i.e., the modifier is the
3510 first parameter.
3511 1 prefixes modified sequences with CSI.
3513 2 forces the modifier to be the second parameter if it would
3515 otherwise be the first.
3516 3 marks the sequence with a “>” to hint that it is private.
3518 modifyFunctionKeys (class ModifyFunctionKeys)
3520 Tells how to handle the special case where Control-, Shift-,
3521 Alt- or Meta-modifiers are used to add a parameter to the
3522 escape sequence returned by a (numbered) function-key. The
3523 default is “2”. The resource values are similar to
3524 modifyCursorKeys:
3525 -1 permits the user to use shift- and control-modifiers to
3527 construct function-key strings using the normal encoding
3528 scheme.
3529 0 uses the old/obsolete behavior, i.e., the modifier is the
3531 first parameter.
3532 1 prefixes modified sequences with CSI.
3534 2 forces the modifier to be the second parameter if it would
3536 otherwise be the first.
3537 3 marks the sequence with a “>” to hint that it is private.
3539 If modifyFunctionKeys is zero, xterm uses Control- and Shift-
3541 modifiers to allow the user to construct numbered function-keys
3542 beyond the set provided by the keyboard:
3543 Control
3545 adds the value given by the ctrlFKeys resource.
3546 Shift
3548 adds twice the value given by the ctrlFKeys resource.
3549 Control/Shift
3551 adds three times the value given by the ctrlFKeys
3552 resource.
3553 modifyKeyboard (class ModifyKeyboard)
3555 Normally xterm makes a special case regarding modifiers (shift,
3556 control, etc.) to handle special keyboard layouts (legacy and
3557 vt220). This is done to provide compatible keyboards for DEC
3558 VT220 and related terminals that implement user-defined keys
3559 (UDK).
3560 The bits of the resource value selectively enable modification
3562 of the given category when these keyboards are selected. The
3563 default is “0”:
3564 0 The legacy/vt220 keyboards interpret only the Control-
3566 modifier when constructing numbered function-keys. Other
3567 special keys are not modified.
3568 1 allows modification of the numeric keypad
3570 2 allows modification of the editing keypad
3572 4 allows modification of function-keys, overrides use of
3574 Shift-modifier for UDK.
3575 8 allows modification of other special keys
3577 modifyOtherKeys (class ModifyOtherKeys)
3579 Like modifyCursorKeys, tells xterm to construct an escape
3580 sequence for ordinary (i.e., “other”) keys (such as “2”) when
3581 modified by Shift-, Control-, Alt- or Meta-modifiers. This
3582 feature does not apply to special keys, i.e., cursor-, keypad-,
3583 function- or control-keys which are labeled on your keyboard.
3584 Those have key symbols which XKB identifies uniquely.
3585 For example, this feature does not apply to special control-
3587 keys (e.g., Escape, Tab, Enter, Backspace) Other control keys
3588 (e.g., Control-I, Control-M, Control-H) may send escape
3589 sequences when this feature is enabled.
3590 The default is “0”:
3592 0 disables this feature.
3594 1 enables this feature for keys except for those with well-
3596 known behavior, e.g., Tab, Backarrow and some special
3597 control character cases which are built into the X11
3598 library, e.g., Control-Space to make a NUL, or Control-3
3599 to make an Escape character.
3600 Except for those special cases built into the X11 library,
3602 the Shift- and Control- modifiers are treated normally.
3603 The Alt- and Meta- modifiers do not cause xterm to send
3604 escape sequences. Those modifier keys are interpreted
3605 according to other resources, e.g., the metaSendsEscape
3606 resource.
3607 2 enables this feature for keys including the exceptions
3609 listed. Xterm ignores the special cases built into the
3610 X11 library. Any shifted (modified) ordinary key sends an
3611 escape sequence. The Alt- and Meta- modifiers cause xterm
3612 to send escape sequences.
3613 The Xterm FAQ has an extended discussion of this feature, with
3615 examples:
3616 https://invisible-island.net/xterm/modified-keys.html
3618 multiClickTime (class MultiClickTime)
3620 Specifies the maximum time in milliseconds between multi-click
3621 select events. The default is “250” milliseconds.
3622 multiScroll (class MultiScroll)
3624 Specifies whether or not scrolling should be done
3625 asynchronously. The default is “false”.
3626 nMarginBell (class Column)
3628 Specifies the number of characters from the right margin at
3629 which the margin bell should be rung, when enabled by the
3630 marginBell resource. The default is “10”.
3631 nameKeymap (class NameKeymap)
3633 See the discussion of the keymap() action.
3634 nextEventDelay (class NextEventDelay)
3636 Specifies a delay time in milliseconds before checking for new
3637 X events. The default is “1”.
3638 numColorRegisters (class NumColorRegisters)
3640 If xterm is configured to support ReGIS or SIXEL graphics, this
3641 specifies the number of color-registers which are available.
3642 If this resource is not specified, xterm uses a value
3644 determined by the decTerminalID resource:
3645 Result decTerminalID
3647 ───────────────────────
3648 4 125
3649 4 240
3650 4 241
3651 4 330
3652 16 340
3653 2 382
3654 1024 other
3655 numLock (class NumLock)
3657 If “true”, xterm checks if NumLock is used as a modifier (see
3658 xmodmap(1)). If so, this modifier is used to simplify the
3659 logic when implementing special NumLock for the sunKeyboard
3660 resource. Also (when sunKeyboard is false), similar logic is
3661 used to find the modifier associated with the left and right
3662 Alt keys. The default is “true”.
3663 oldXtermFKeys (class OldXtermFKeys)
3665 If “true”, xterm will use old-style (X11R5) escape sequences
3666 for function keys F1 to F4, for compatibility with X Consortium
3667 xterm. Otherwise, it uses the VT100 codes for PF1 to PF4. The
3668 default is “false”.
3669 Setting this resource has the same effect as setting the
3671 keyboardType to legacy. The keyboardType resource is the
3672 preferred mechanism for selecting this mode.
3673 The old-style escape sequences resemble VT220 keys, but appear
3675 to have been invented for xterm in X11R4.
3676 on2Clicks (class On2Clicks)
3678 on3Clicks (class On3Clicks)
3680 on4Clicks (class On4Clicks)
3682 on5Clicks (class On5Clicks)
3684 Specify selection behavior in response to multiple mouse
3685 clicks. A single mouse click is always interpreted as
3686 described in the Selection Functions section (see POINTER
3687 USAGE). Multiple mouse clicks (using the button which
3688 activates the select-start action) are interpreted according to
3689 the resource values of on2Clicks, etc. The resource value can
3690 be one of these:
3691 word
3693 Select a “word” as determined by the charClass resource.
3694 See the CHARACTER CLASSES section.
3695 If the pointer is on a “word” then xterm searches back to
3697 the beginning of the word, and then to the end.
3698 If the pointer is not on a “word” then the result depends on
3700 whether it is on whitespace (including a newline), or past
3701 the end of the line. In the latter case xterm may select a
3702 “word” beginning after the newline, if there is no
3703 additional whitespace.
3704 line
3706 Select a line (counting wrapping).
3707 group
3709 Select a group of adjacent lines (counting wrapping). The
3710 selection stops on a blank line, and does not extend outside
3711 the current page.
3712 page
3714 Select all visible lines, i.e., the page.
3715 all
3717 Select all lines, i.e., including the saved lines.
3718 regex
3720 Select the best match for the POSIX extended regular
3721 expression (ERE) which follows in the resource value:
3722 • Xterm matches the regular expression against a byte
3724 array for the entire (possibly wrapped) line. That byte
3725 array may be UTF-8 or ISO-8859-1, depending on the mode
3726 in which xterm is running.
3727 • Xterm steps through each byte-offset in this array,
3729 keeping track of the best (longest) match. If more than
3730 one match ties for the longest length, the first is
3731 used.
3732 Xterm does this to make it convenient to click anywhere
3734 in the area of interest and cause the regular expression
3735 to match the entire word, etc.
3736 • The “^” and “$” anchors in a regular expression denote
3738 the ends of the entire line.
3739 • If the regular expression contains backslashes “\” those
3741 should be escaped “\\” because the X libraries interpret
3742 backslashes in resource strings.
3743 none
3745 No selection action is associated with this resource. Xterm
3746 interprets it as the end of the list. For example, you may
3747 use it to disable triple (and higher) clicking by setting
3748 on3Clicks to “none”.
3749 The default values for on2Clicks and on3Clicks are “word” and
3751 “line”, respectively. There is no default value for on4Clicks
3752 or on5Clicks, making those inactive. On startup, xterm
3753 determines the maximum number of clicks by the onXClicks
3754 resource values which are set.
3755 openIm (class OpenIm)
3757 Tells xterm whether to open the input method at startup. The
3758 default is “true”.
3759 pointerColor (class PointerColor)
3761 Specifies the foreground color of the pointer. The default is
3762 “XtDefaultForeground”.
3763 pointerColorBackground (class PointerColorBackground)
3765 Specifies the background color of the pointer. The default is
3766 “XtDefaultBackground”.
3767 pointerFont (class PointerFont)
3769 Specifies the font to be used for the pointer. The shapes
3770 specified by pointerShape are glyphs in this font. The
3771 resource value default is cursor.
3772 pointerMode (class PointerMode)
3774 Specifies when the pointer may be hidden as the user types. It
3775 will be redisplayed if the user moves the mouse, or clicks one
3776 of its buttons.
3777 0 never
3779 1 the application running in xterm has not activated mouse
3781 mode. This is the default.
3782 2 always.
3784 pointerShape (class Cursor)
3786 Specifies the name of the shape of the pointer. The default is
3787 “xterm”.
3788 Other shapes can be selected. Here is a list of the “core”
3790 (i.e., standard) names extracted from <X11/cursorfont.h>:
3791 X_cursor, arrow, based_arrow_down, based_arrow_up, boat,
3793 bogosity, bottom_left_corner, bottom_right_corner,
3794 bottom_side, bottom_tee, box_spiral, center_ptr, circle,
3795 clock, coffee_mug, cross, cross_reverse, crosshair,
3796 diamond_cross, dot, dotbox, double_arrow, draft_large,
3797 draft_small, draped_box, exchange, fleur, gobbler, gumby,
3798 hand1, hand2, heart, icon, iron_cross, left_ptr, left_side,
3799 left_tee, leftbutton, ll_angle, lr_angle, man,
3800 middlebutton, mouse, pencil, pirate, plus, question_arrow,
3801 right_ptr, right_side, right_tee, rightbutton, rtl_logo,
3802 sailboat, sb_down_arrow, sb_h_double_arrow, sb_left_arrow,
3803 sb_right_arrow, sb_up_arrow, sb_v_double_arrow, shuttle,
3804 sizing, spider, spraycan, star, target, tcross,
3805 top_left_arrow, top_left_corner, top_right_corner,
3806 top_side, top_tee, trek, ul_angle, umbrella, ur_angle,
3807 watch, xterm
3808 If you are using a cursor theme, expect it to provide about a
3810 third of those names, while adding others.
3811 popOnBell (class PopOnBell)
3813 Specifies whether the window would be raised when Control-G is
3814 received. The default is “false”.
3815 If the window is iconified, this has no effect. However, the
3817 zIconBeep resource provides you with the ability to see which
3818 iconified windows have sounded a bell.
3819 precompose (class Precompose)
3821 Tells xterm whether to precompose UTF-8 data into Normalization
3822 Form C, which combines commonly-used accents onto base
3823 characters. If it does not do this, accents are left as
3824 separate characters. The default is “true”.
3825 preeditType (class PreeditType)
3827 Tells xterm which types of preedit (preconversion) string to
3828 display. The default is “OverTheSpot,Root”.
3829 printAttributes (class PrintAttributes)
3831 Specifies whether to print graphic attributes along with the
3832 text. A real DEC VTxxx terminal will print the underline,
3833 highlighting codes but your printer may not handle these.
3834 • “0” disables the attributes.
3836 • “1” prints the normal set of attributes (bold, underline,
3838 inverse and blink) as VT100-style control sequences.
3839 • “2” prints ANSI color attributes as well.
3841 The default is “1”.
3843 printFileImmediate (class PrintFileImmediate)
3845 When the print-immediate action is invoked, xterm prints the
3846 screen contents directly to a file. Set this resource to the
3847 prefix of the filename (a timestamp will be appended to the
3848 actual name).
3849 The default is an empty string, i.e., “”, However, when the
3851 print-immediate action is invoked, if the string is empty, then
3852 “XTerm” is used.
3853 printFileOnXError (class PrintFileOnXError)
3855 If xterm exits with an X error, e.g., your connection is broken
3856 when the server crashes, it can be told to write the contents
3857 of the screen to a file. To enable the feature, set this
3858 resource to the prefix of the filename (a timestamp will be
3859 appended to the actual name).
3860 The default is an empty string, i.e., “”, which disables this
3862 feature. However, when the print-on-error action is invoked,
3863 if the string is empty, then “XTermError” is used.
3864 These error codes are handled: ERROR_XERROR, ERROR_XIOERROR and
3866 ERROR_ICEERROR.
3867 printModeImmediate (class PrintModeImmediate)
3869 When the print-immediate action is invoked, xterm prints the
3870 screen contents directly to a file. You can use the
3871 printModeImmediate resource to tell it to use escape sequences
3872 to reconstruct the video attributes and colors. This uses the
3873 same values as the printAttributes resource. The default is
3874 “0”.
3875 printModeOnXError (class PrintModeOnXError)
3877 Xterm implements the printFileOnXError feature using the
3878 printer feature, although the output is written directly to a
3879 file. You can use the printModeOnXError resource to tell it to
3880 use escape sequences to reconstruct the video attributes and
3881 colors. This uses the same values as the printAttributes
3882 resource. The default is “0”.
3883 printOptsImmediate (class PrintOptsImmediate)
3885 Specify the range of text which is printed to a file when the
3886 print-immediate action is invoked.
3887 • If zero (0), then this selects the current (visible screen)
3889 plus the saved lines, except if the alternate screen is
3890 being used. In that case, only the alternate screen is
3891 selected.
3892 • If nonzero, the bits of this resource value (checked in
3894 descending order) select the range:
3895 8 selects the saved lines.
3897 4 selects the alternate screen.
3899 2 selects the normal screen.
3901 1 selects the current screen, which can be either the
3903 normal or alternate screen.
3904 The default is “9”, which selects the current visible screen
3906 plus saved lines, with no special case for the alternated
3907 screen.
3908 printOptsOnXError (class PrintOptsOnXError)
3910 Specify the range of text which is printed to a file when the
3911 print-on-error action is invoked. The resource value is
3912 interpreted the same as in printOptsImmediate.
3913 The default is “9”, which selects the current visible screen
3915 plus saved lines, with no special case for the alternated
3916 screen.
3917 printerAutoClose (class PrinterAutoClose)
3919 If “true”, xterm will close the printer (a pipe) when the
3920 application switches the printer offline with a Media Copy
3921 command. The default is “false”.
3922 printerCommand (class PrinterCommand)
3924 Specifies a shell command to which xterm will open a pipe when
3925 the first MC (Media Copy) command is initiated. The default is
3926 an empty string, i.e., “”. If the resource value is given as
3927 an empty string, the printer is disabled.
3928 printerControlMode (class PrinterControlMode)
3930 Specifies the printer control mode. A “1” selects autoprint
3931 mode, which causes xterm to print a line from the screen when
3932 • you move the cursor off that line with a line feed, form
3934 feed or vertical tab character, or
3935 • an autowrap occurs.
3937 Autoprint mode is overridden by printer controller mode (a
3939 “2”), which causes all of the output to be directed to the
3940 printer. The default is “0”.
3941 printerExtent (class PrinterExtent)
3943 Controls whether a print page function will print the entire
3944 page (true), or only the portion within the scrolling margins
3945 (false). The default is “false”.
3946 printerFormFeed (class PrinterFormFeed)
3948 Controls whether a form feed is sent to the printer at the end
3949 of a print page function. The default is “false”.
3950 printerNewLine (class PrinterNewLine)
3952 Controls whether a newline is sent to the printer at the end of
3953 a print page function. The default is “true”.
3954 privateColorRegisters (class PrivateColorRegisters)
3956 If xterm is configured to support ReGIS or SIXEL graphics, this
3957 controls whether xterm allocates separate color registers for
3958 each sixel device control string, e.g., for DECGCI. If not
3959 true, color registers are allocated only once, when the
3960 terminal is reset, and color changes in any graphic affect
3961 all graphics. The default is “true”.
3962 quietGrab (class QuietGrab)
3964 Controls whether the cursor is repainted when NotifyGrab and
3965 NotifyUngrab event types are received during change of focus.
3966 The default is “false”.
3967 regisDefaultFont (class RegisDefaultFont)
3969 If xterm is configured to support ReGIS graphics, this resource
3970 tells xterm which font to use if the ReGIS data does not
3971 specify one. No default value is specified; xterm accepts a
3972 TrueType font specification as in the faceName resource.
3973 If no value is specified, xterm draws a bitmap indicating a
3975 missing character.
3976 regisScreenSize (class RegisScreenSize)
3978 If xterm is configured to support ReGIS graphics, this resource
3979 tells xterm the default size (in pixels) for these graphics,
3980 which also sets the default coordinate space to [0,0] (upper-
3981 left) and [width,height] (lower-right).
3982 The application using ReGIS may use the “A” option of the “S”
3984 command to adjust the coordinate space or change the
3985 addressable portion of the screen.
3986 Xterm accepts a special resource value “auto”, which tells
3988 xterm to use the decGraphicsID and decTerminalID resources to
3989 set the default size based on the hardware terminal's limits.
3990 Those limits are the same as for the maxGraphicSize resource.
3991 The default is “auto”.
3993 renderFont (class RenderFont)
3995 If xterm is built with the Xft library, this controls whether
3996 the faceName resource is used. The default is “default”.
3997 The resource values are strings, evaluated as booleans after
3999 startup.
4000 false
4002 disable the feature and use the normal (bitmap) font.
4003 true
4005 startup using the TrueType font specified by the faceName
4006 and faceSize resource settings. If there is no value for
4007 faceName, disable the feature and use the normal (bitmap)
4008 font.
4009 After startup, you can still switch to/from the bitmap
4011 font using the “TrueType Fonts” menu entry.
4012 default
4014 Enable the “TrueType Fonts” menu entry to allow runtime
4015 switching to/from TrueType fonts. The initial font used
4016 depends upon whether the faceName resource is set:
4017 • If the faceName resource is not set, start by using
4019 the normal (bitmap) font. Xterm has a separate
4020 compiled-in value for faceName for this special case.
4021 That is normally “mono”.
4022 • If the faceName resource is set, then start by using
4024 the TrueType font rather than the bitmap font.
4025 defaultOff
4027 Enable the “TrueType Fonts” menu entry to allow runtime
4028 switching to/from TrueType fonts, but allow it to be
4029 initially unselected if no faceName resource was given.
4030 resizeByPixel (class ResizeByPixel)
4032 Set this “true” to disable hints to the window manager that
4033 request resizing by character rather than pixels.
4034 Most window managers provide visual feedback showing the size
4036 of a window as you resize it, using these hints. When you
4037 maximize xterm, it disables those hints to allow the window
4038 manager to make better use of fractional rows or columns.
4039 Setting this resource disables the hints all the time.
4040 The default is “false”.
4042 resizeGravity (class ResizeGravity)
4044 Affects the behavior when the window is resized to be taller or
4045 shorter. NorthWest specifies that the top line of text on the
4046 screen stay fixed. If the window is made shorter, lines are
4047 dropped from the bottom; if the window is made taller, blank
4048 lines are added at the bottom. This is compatible with the
4049 behavior in X11R4. SouthWest (the default) specifies that the
4050 bottom line of text on the screen stay fixed. If the window is
4051 made taller, additional saved lines will be scrolled down onto
4052 the screen; if the window is made shorter, lines will be
4053 scrolled off the top of the screen, and the top saved lines
4054 will be dropped.
4055 retryInputMethod (class RetryInputMethod)
4057 Tells xterm how many times to retry, in case the input-method
4058 server is not responding. This is a different issue than
4059 unsupported preedit type, etc. You may encounter retries if
4060 your X configuration (and its libraries) are missing pieces.
4061 Setting this resource to zero “0” will cancel the retrying.
4062 The default is “3”.
4063 reverseVideo (class ReverseVideo)
4065 Specifies whether or not reverse video should be simulated.
4066 The default is “false”.
4067 There are several aspects to reverse video in xterm:
4069 • The command-line -rv option tells the X libraries to
4071 reverse the foreground and background colors. Xterm's
4072 command-line options set resource values. In particular,
4073 the X Toolkit sets the reverseVideo resource when the -rv
4074 option is used.
4075 • If the user has also used command-line options -fg or -bg
4077 to set the foreground and background colors, xterm does not
4078 see these options directly. Instead, it examines the
4079 resource values to reconstruct the command-line options,
4080 and determine which of the colors is the user's intended
4081 foreground, etc. Their actual values are irrelevant to the
4082 reverse video function; some users prefer the X defaults
4083 (black text on a white background), others prefer white
4084 text on a black background.
4085 • After startup, the user can toggle the “Enable Reverse
4087 Video” menu entry. This exchanges the current foreground
4088 and background colors of the VT100 widget, and repaints the
4089 screen. Because of the X resource hierarchy, the
4090 reverseVideo resource applies to more than the VT100
4091 widget.
4092 Programs running in an xterm can also use control sequences to
4094 enable the VT100 reverse video mode. These are independent of
4095 the reverseVideo resource and the menu entry. Xterm exchanges
4096 the current foreground and background colors when drawing text
4097 affected by these control sequences.
4098 Other control sequences can alter the foreground and background
4100 colors which are used:
4101 • Programs can also use the ANSI color control sequences to
4103 set the foreground and background colors.
4104 • Extensions to the ANSI color controls (such as 16-, 88- or
4106 256-colors) are treated similarly to the ANSI control.
4107 • Using other control sequences (the “dynamic colors”
4109 feature), a program can change the foreground and
4110 background colors.
4111 reverseWrap (class ReverseWrap)
4113 Specifies whether or not reverse-wraparound should be enabled.
4114 This corresponds to xterm's private mode 45. The default is
4115 “false”.
4116 rightScrollBar (class RightScrollBar)
4118 Specifies whether or not the scrollbar should be displayed on
4119 the right rather than the left. The default is “false”.
4120 saveLines (class SaveLines)
4122 Specifies the number of lines to save beyond the top of the
4123 screen when a scrollbar is turned on. The default is “1024”.
4124 scrollBar (class ScrollBar)
4126 Specifies whether or not the scrollbar should be displayed.
4127 The default is “false”.
4128 scrollBarBorder (class ScrollBarBorder)
4130 Specifies the width of the scrollbar border. Note that this is
4131 drawn to overlap the border of the xterm window. Modifying the
4132 scrollbar's border affects only the line between the VT100
4133 widget and the scrollbar. The default value is 1.
4134 scrollKey (class ScrollCond)
4136 Specifies whether or not pressing a key should automatically
4137 cause the scrollbar to go to the bottom of the scrolling
4138 region. This corresponds to xterm's private mode 1011. The
4139 default is “false”.
4140 scrollLines (class ScrollLines)
4142 Specifies the number of lines that the scroll-back and
4143 scroll-forw actions should use as a default. The default value
4144 is 1.
4145 scrollTtyOutput (class ScrollCond)
4147 Specifies whether or not output to the terminal should
4148 automatically cause the scrollbar to go to the bottom of the
4149 scrolling region. The default is “true”.
4150 selectToClipboard (class SelectToClipboard)
4152 Tells xterm whether to use the PRIMARY or CLIPBOARD for SELECT
4153 tokens in the selection mechanism. The set-select action can
4154 change this at runtime, allowing the user to work with programs
4155 that handle only one of these mechanisms. The default is
4156 “false”, which tells it to use PRIMARY.
4157 shiftEscape (class ShiftEscape)
4159 Xterm uses the translations resource to determine how to invoke
4160 actions for selecting and copying text using the pointer (e.g.,
4161 a mouse). It also provides a mouse protocol which can be used
4162 by applications running in an xterm to detect mouse button
4163 clicks.
4164 The mouse protocol causes xterm to send special escape
4166 sequences which allow an application to determine if modifiers
4167 (i.e., one or more of shift, control, alt, and meta) were used.
4168 Xterm provides this mouse protocol by interpreting button- and
4170 motion-events in the functions which the translations resource
4171 calls for selecting and copying text:
4172 insert-selection
4174 select-end
4175 select-extend
4176 select-start
4177 start-extend
4178 While the mouse protocol is active, xterm reserves most of the
4180 mouse button events for sending special escape sequences to the
4181 application. Xterm normally allows you to use the shift-key to
4182 temporarily override this mouse protocol, permitting the
4183 selection and copying actions to be used.
4184 The shiftEscape resource setting allows you to tell xterm
4186 whether to use the shift-key in this way (i.e., overriding the
4187 mouse protocol). Xterm accepts either a keyword (ignoring
4188 case) or the number shown in parentheses:
4189 false (0)
4191 Mouse protocol does not send special escapes when shift-key
4192 is used.
4193 true (1)
4195 Mouse protocol may send special escapes when shift-key is
4196 used.
4197 At startup, xterm analyzes the translations to see which
4199 buttons are used in the (mouse) button-related bindings for
4200 selection and copying text. If the shift-key is not
4201 mentioned explicitly in a button's binding, xterm allows
4202 that button with shift-key for overriding the mouse
4203 protocol.
4204 always (2)
4206 Mouse protocol can always send special escapes when shift-
4207 key is used.
4208 never (3)
4210 Mouse protocol will never send special escapes when shift-
4211 key is used.
4212 Xterm interprets a control sequence which can change this
4214 setting between “true” and “false”. The default is “false”.
4215 shiftFonts (class ShiftFonts)
4217 Specifies whether to enable the actions larger-vt-font() and
4218 smaller-vt-font(), which are normally bound to the shifted
4219 KP_Add and KP_Subtract. The default is “true”.
4220 showBlinkAsBold (class ShowBlinkAsBold)
4222 Tells xterm whether to display text with blink-attribute the
4223 same as bold. If xterm has not been configured to support
4224 blinking text, the default is “true”, which corresponds to
4225 older versions of xterm, otherwise the default is “false”.
4226 showMissingGlyphs (class ShowMissingGlyphs)
4228 Tells xterm whether to display a box outlining places where a
4229 character has been used that the font does not represent. The
4230 default is “false”.
4231 showWrapMarks (class ShowWrapMarks)
4233 For debugging xterm and applications that may manipulate the
4234 wrapped-line flag by writing text at the right margin, show a
4235 mark on the right inner-border of the window. The mark shows
4236 which lines have the flag set.
4237 signalInhibit (class SignalInhibit)
4239 Specifies whether or not the entries in the Main Options menu
4240 for sending signals to xterm should be disallowed. The default
4241 is “false”.
4242 sixelScrolling (class SixelScrolling)
4244 If xterm is configured to support SIXEL graphics, this resource
4245 tells it whether to scroll up one line at a time when sixels
4246 would be written past the bottom line on the window. The
4247 default is “false” which enables scrolling.
4248 sixelScrollsRight (class SixelScrollsRight)
4250 If xterm is configured to support SIXEL graphics, this resource
4251 tells it whether to scroll to the right as needed to keep the
4252 current position visible rather than truncate the plot on the
4253 on the right. The default is “false” which disables scrolling.
4254 tekGeometry (class Geometry)
4256 Specifies the preferred size and position of the Tektronix
4257 window. There is no default for this resource.
4258 tekInhibit (class TekInhibit)
4260 Specifies whether or not the escape sequence to enter Tektronix
4261 mode should be ignored. The default is “false”.
4262 tekSmall (class TekSmall)
4264 Specifies whether or not the Tektronix mode window should start
4265 in its smallest size if no explicit geometry is given. This is
4266 useful when running xterm on displays with small screens. The
4267 default is “false”.
4268 tekStartup (class TekStartup)
4270 Specifies whether or not xterm should start up in Tektronix
4271 mode. The default is “false”.
4272 tiXtraScroll (class TiXtraScroll)
4274 Specifies whether xterm should scroll to a new page when
4275 processing the ti or te termcap strings, i.e., the private
4276 modes 47, 1047 or 1049. This is only in effect if titeInhibit
4277 is “true”, because the intent of this option is to provide a
4278 picture of the full-screen application's display on the
4279 scrollback without wiping out the text that would be shown
4280 before the application was initialized.
4281 Xterm accepts either a keyword (ignoring case) or the number
4283 shown in parentheses:
4284 false (0)
4286 nothing is added to the scrollback.
4287 true (1)
4289 the current screen is added to the scrollback.
4290 trim (2)
4292 the current screen is added to the scrollback, but
4293 repeated blank lines are trimmed (reduced to a single
4294 blank line).
4295 The default for this resource is “false”.
4297 titeInhibit (class TiteInhibit)
4299 Originally specified whether or not xterm should remove ti and
4300 te termcap entries (used to switch between alternate screens on
4301 startup of many screen-oriented programs) from the TERMCAP
4302 string.
4303 TERMCAP is used rarely now, but xterm supports the feature on
4305 modern systems:
4306 • If set, xterm also ignores the escape sequence to switch to
4308 the alternate screen.
4309 • Xterm supports terminfo in a different way, supporting
4311 composite control sequences (also known as private modes)
4312 1047, 1048 and 1049 which have the same effect as the
4313 original 47 control sequence.
4314 The default for this resource is “false”.
4316 titleModes (class TitleModes)
4318 Tells xterm whether to accept or return window- and icon-labels
4319 in ISO-8859-1 (the default) or UTF-8. Either can be encoded in
4320 hexadecimal:
4321 • UTF-8 titles require special treatment, because they may
4323 contain bytes which can be mistaken for control characters.
4324 Hexadecimal-encoding is supported to eliminate that
4325 possibility.
4326 • As an alternative, you could use the allowC1Printable
4328 resource, which suppresses xterm's parsing of the relevant
4329 control characters (and as a result, treats those bytes as
4330 data).
4331 The default for this resource is “0”.
4333 Each bit (bit “0” is 1, bit “1” is 2, etc.) corresponds to one
4335 of the parameters set by the title modes control sequence:
4336 0 Set window/icon labels using hexadecimal
4338 1 Query window/icon labels using hexadecimal
4340 2 Set window/icon labels using UTF-8 (gives the same effect
4342 as the utf8Title resource).
4343 3 Query window/icon labels using UTF-8
4345 translations (class Translations)
4347 Specifies the key and button bindings for menus, selections,
4348 “programmed strings”, etc. The translations resource, which
4349 provides much of xterm's configurability, is a feature of the X
4350 Toolkit Intrinsics library (Xt). See the Actions section.
4351 trimSelection (class TrimSelection)
4353 If you set highlightSelection, you can see the text which is
4354 selected, including any trailing spaces. Clearing the screen
4355 (or a line) resets it to a state containing no spaces. Some
4356 lines may contain trailing spaces when an application writes
4357 them to the screen. However, you may not wish to paste lines
4358 with trailing spaces. If this resource is true, xterm will
4359 trim trailing spaces from text which is selected. It does not
4360 affect spaces which result in a wrapped line, nor will it trim
4361 the trailing newline from your selection. The default is
4362 “false”.
4363 underLine (class UnderLine)
4365 This specifies whether or not text with the underline attribute
4366 should be underlined. It may be desirable to disable
4367 underlining when color is being used for the underline
4368 attribute. The default is “true”.
4369 useBorderClipping (class UseBorderClipping)
4371 Tell xterm whether to apply clipping when useClipping is false.
4372 Unlike useClipping, this simply limits text to keep it within
4373 the window borders, e.g., as a refinement to the scaleHeight
4374 workaround. The default is “false”.
4375 useClipping (class UseClipping)
4377 Tell xterm whether to use clipping to keep from producing dots
4378 outside the text drawing area. Originally used to work around
4379 for overstriking effects, this is also needed to work with some
4380 incorrectly-sized fonts. The default is “true”.
4381 utf8 (class Utf8)
4383 This specifies whether xterm will run in UTF-8 mode. If you
4384 set this resource, xterm also sets the wideChars resource as a
4385 side-effect. The resource can be set via the menu entry “UTF-8
4386 Encoding”. The default is “default”.
4387 Xterm accepts either a keyword (ignoring case) or the number
4389 shown in parentheses:
4390 false (0)
4392 UTF-8 mode is initially off. The command-line option +u8
4393 sets the resource to this value. Escape sequences for
4394 turning UTF-8 mode on/off are allowed.
4395 true (1)
4397 UTF-8 mode is initially on. Escape sequences for turning
4398 UTF-8 mode on/off are allowed.
4399 always (2)
4401 The command-line option -u8 sets the resource to this value.
4402 Escape sequences for turning UTF-8 mode on/off are ignored.
4403 default (3)
4405 This is the default value of the resource. It is changed
4406 during initialization depending on whether the locale
4407 resource was set, to false (0) or always (2). See the
4408 locale resource for additional discussion of non-UTF-8
4409 locales.
4410 If you want to set the value of utf8, it should be in this
4412 range. Other nonzero values are treated the same as “1”, i.e.,
4413 UTF-8 mode is initially on, and escape sequences for turning
4414 UTF-8 mode on/off are allowed.
4415 utf8Fonts (class Utf8Fonts)
4417 See the discussion of the locale resource. This specifies
4418 whether xterm will use UTF-8 fonts specified via resource
4419 patterns such as “*vt100.utf8Fonts.font” or normal (ISO-8859-1)
4420 fonts via patterns such as “*vt100.font”. The resource can be
4421 set via the menu entry “UTF-8 Fonts”. The default is
4422 “default”.
4423 Xterm accepts either a keyword (ignoring case) or the number
4425 shown in parentheses:
4426 false (0)
4428 Use the ISO-8859-1 fonts. The menu entry is enabled,
4429 allowing the choice of fonts to be changed at runtime.
4430 true (1)
4432 Use the UTF-8 fonts. The menu entry is enabled,
4433 allowing the choice of fonts to be changed at runtime.
4434 always (2)
4436 Always use the UTF-8 fonts. This also disables the menu
4437 entry.
4438 default (3)
4440 At startup, the resource is set to true or false,
4441 according to the effective value of the utf8 resource.
4442 utf8Latin1 (class Utf8Latin1)
4444 If true, allow an ISO-8859-1 normal font to be combined with an
4445 ISO-10646-1 font if the latter is given via the -fw option or
4446 its corresponding resource value. The default is “false”.
4447 utf8SelectTypes (class Utf8SelectTypes)
4449 Override xterm's default selection target list (see
4450 SELECT/PASTE) for selections in wide-character (UTF-8) mode.
4451 The default is an empty string, i.e., “”, which does not
4452 override anything.
4453 utf8Title (class Utf8Title)
4455 Applications can set xterm's title by writing a control
4456 sequence. Normally this control sequence follows the VT220
4457 convention, which encodes the string in ISO-8859-1 and allows
4458 for an 8-bit string terminator. If xterm is started in a UTF-8
4459 locale, it translates the ISO-8859-1 string to UTF-8 to work
4460 with the X libraries which assume the string is UTF-8.
4461 However, some users may wish to write a title string encoded in
4463 UTF-8. The window manager is responsible for drawing window
4464 titles. Some window managers (not all) support UTF-8 encoding
4465 of window titles. Set this resource to “true” to also set
4466 UTF-8 encoded title strings using the EWMH properties.
4467 This feature is available as a menu entry, since it is related
4469 to the particular applications you are running within xterm.
4470 You can also use a control sequence (see the discussion of
4471 “Title Modes” in Xterm Control Sequences), to set an equivalent
4472 flag (which can also be set using the titleModes resource).
4473 Xterm accepts either a keyword (ignoring case) or the number
4475 shown in parentheses:
4476 false (0)
4478 Set only ISO-8859-1 title strings, e.g., using the ICCCM
4479 WM_NAME STRING property. The menu entry is enabled,
4480 allowing the choice of title-strings to be changed at
4481 runtime.
4482 true (1)
4484 Set both the EWMH (UTF-8 strings) and the ICCCM WM_NAME,
4485 etc. The menu entry is enabled, allowing the choice to
4486 be changed at runtime.
4487 always (2)
4489 Always set both the EWMH (UTF-8 strings) and the ICCCM
4490 WM_NAME, etc. This also disables the menu entry.
4491 default (3)
4493 At startup, the resource is set to true or false,
4494 according to the effective value of the utf8 resource.
4495 The default is “default”.
4497 utf8Weblike (class Utf8Weblike)
4499 Provide an alternate error-handling scheme for ill-formed UTF-8
4500 as recommended in a W3C document. The Unicode standard does
4501 not require this for conformance. Some additional information
4502 can be found here:
4503 https://invisible-island.net/xterm/bad-utf8/
4505 The default is “false”.
4507 veryBoldColors (class VeryBoldColors)
4509 Specifies whether to combine video attributes with colors
4510 specified by colorBD, colorBL, colorIT, colorRV, and colorUL.
4511 The resource value is the sum of values for each attribute:
4512 1 for reverse,
4513 2 for underline,
4514 4 for bold,
4515 8 for blink, and
4516 512 for italic
4517 The default is “0”.
4519 visualBell (class VisualBell)
4521 Specifies whether or not a visible bell (i.e., flashing) should
4522 be used instead of an audible bell when Control-G is received.
4523 The default is “false”, which tells xterm to use an audible
4524 bell.
4525 visualBellDelay (class VisualBellDelay)
4527 Number of milliseconds to delay when displaying a visual bell.
4528 Default is 100. If set to zero, no visual bell is displayed.
4529 This is useful for very slow displays, e.g., an LCD display on
4530 a laptop.
4531 visualBellLine (class VisualBellLine)
4533 Specifies whether to flash only the current line when
4534 displaying a visual bell rather than flashing the entire
4535 screen: The default is “false”, which tells xterm to flash the
4536 entire screen.
4537 vt100Graphics (class VT100Graphics)
4539 This specifies whether xterm will interpret VT100 graphic
4540 character escape sequences while in UTF-8 mode. This feature
4541 also applies to code-pages (e.g., for VT320 and VT520) and
4542 National Replacement Character Sets (VT220 and up), but not US-
4543 ASCII (the initially selected character set), to avoid conflict
4544 with UTF-8. The default is “true”, to provide support for
4545 various legacy applications.
4546 wideBoldFont (class WideBoldFont)
4548 This option specifies the font to be used for displaying bold
4549 wide text. By default, it will attempt to use a font twice as
4550 wide as the font that will be used to draw bold text. If no
4551 double-width font is found, it will improvise, by stretching
4552 the bold font.
4553 wideChars (class WideChars)
4555 Specifies if xterm should respond to control sequences that
4556 process 16-bit characters. The default is “false”.
4557 wideFont (class WideFont)
4559 This option specifies the font to be used for displaying wide
4560 text. By default, it will attempt to use a font twice as wide
4561 as the font that will be used to draw normal text. If no
4562 double-width font is found, it will improvise, by stretching
4563 the normal font.
4564 ximFont (class XimFont)
4566 This option specifies the font to be used for displaying the
4567 preedit string in the “OverTheSpot” input method.
4568 In “OverTheSpot” preedit type, the preedit (preconversion)
4570 string is displayed at the position of the cursor. It is the
4571 XIM server's responsibility to display the preedit string. The
4572 XIM client must inform the XIM server of the cursor position.
4573 For best results, the preedit string must be displayed with a
4574 proper font. Therefore, xterm informs the XIM server of the
4575 proper font. The font is be supplied by a "fontset", whose
4576 default value is “*”. This matches every font, the X library
4577 automatically chooses fonts with proper charsets. The ximFont
4578 resource is provided to override this default font setting.
4579 Tek4014 Widget Resources
4581 The following resources are specified as part of the tek4014 widget
4582 (class Tek4014). These are specified by patterns such as
4583 “XTerm.tek4014.NAME”:
4584 font2 (class Font)
4586 Specifies font number 2 to use in the Tektronix window.
4587 font3 (class Font)
4589 Specifies font number 3 to use in the Tektronix window.
4590 fontLarge (class Font)
4592 Specifies the large font to use in the Tektronix window.
4593 fontSmall (class Font)
4595 Specifies the small font to use in the Tektronix window.
4596 ginTerminator (class GinTerminator)
4598 Specifies what character(s) should follow a GIN report or
4599 status report. The possibilities are “none”, which sends no
4600 terminating characters, “CRonly”, which sends CR, and “CR&EOT”,
4601 which sends both CR and EOT. The default is “none”.
4602 height (class Height)
4604 Specifies the height of the Tektronix window in pixels.
4605 initialFont (class InitialFont)
4607 Specifies which of the four Tektronix fonts to use initially.
4608 Values are the same as for the set-tek-text action. The
4609 default is “large”.
4610 width (class Width)
4612 Specifies the width of the Tektronix window in pixels.
4613 Menu Resources
4615 The resources that may be specified for the various menus are described
4616 in the documentation for the Athena SimpleMenu widget. The name and
4617 classes of the entries in each of the menus are listed below.
4618 Resources named “lineN” where N is a number are separators with class
4619 SmeLine.
4620 As with all X resource-based widgets, the labels mentioned are
4622 customary defaults for the application.
4623 The Main Options menu (widget name mainMenu) has the following entries:
4625 toolbar (class SmeBSB)
4627 This entry invokes the set-toolbar(toggle) action.
4628 securekbd (class SmeBSB)
4630 This entry invokes the secure() action.
4631 allowsends (class SmeBSB)
4633 This entry invokes the allow-send-events(toggle) action.
4634 redraw (class SmeBSB)
4636 This entry invokes the redraw() action.
4637 logging (class SmeBSB)
4639 This entry invokes the logging(toggle) action.
4640 print-immediate (class SmeBSB)
4642 This entry invokes the print-immediate() action.
4643 print-on-error (class SmeBSB)
4645 This entry invokes the print-on-error() action.
4646 print (class SmeBSB)
4648 This entry invokes the print() action.
4649 print-redir (class SmeBSB)
4651 This entry invokes the print-redir() action.
4652 dump-html (class SmeBSB)
4654 This entry invokes the dump-html() action.
4655 dump-svg (class SmeBSB)
4657 This entry invokes the dump-svg() action.
4658 8-bit-control (class SmeBSB)
4660 This entry invokes the set-8-bit-control(toggle) action.
4661 backarrow key (class SmeBSB)
4663 This entry invokes the set-backarrow(toggle) action.
4664 num-lock (class SmeBSB)
4666 This entry invokes the set-num-lock(toggle) action.
4667 alt-esc (class SmeBSB)
4669 This entry invokes the alt-sends-escape(toggle) action.
4670 meta-esc (class SmeBSB)
4672 This entry invokes the meta-sends-escape(toggle) action.
4673 delete-is-del (class SmeBSB)
4675 This entry invokes the delete-is-del(toggle) action.
4676 oldFunctionKeys (class SmeBSB)
4678 This entry invokes the set-old-function-keys(toggle) action.
4679 hpFunctionKeys (class SmeBSB)
4681 This entry invokes the set-hp-function-keys(toggle) action.
4682 scoFunctionKeys (class SmeBSB)
4684 This entry invokes the set-sco-function-keys(toggle) action.
4685 sunFunctionKeys (class SmeBSB)
4687 This entry invokes the set-sun-function-keys(toggle) action.
4688 sunKeyboard (class SmeBSB)
4690 This entry invokes the sunKeyboard(toggle) action.
4691 suspend (class SmeBSB)
4693 This entry invokes the send-signal(tstp) action on systems that
4694 support job control.
4695 continue (class SmeBSB)
4697 This entry invokes the send-signal(cont) action on systems that
4698 support job control.
4699 interrupt (class SmeBSB)
4701 This entry invokes the send-signal(int) action.
4702 hangup (class SmeBSB)
4704 This entry invokes the send-signal(hup) action.
4705 terminate (class SmeBSB)
4707 This entry invokes the send-signal(term) action.
4708 kill (class SmeBSB)
4710 This entry invokes the send-signal(kill) action.
4711 quit (class SmeBSB)
4713 This entry invokes the quit() action.
4714 The VT Options menu (widget name vtMenu) has the following entries:
4716 scrollbar (class SmeBSB)
4718 This entry invokes the set-scrollbar(toggle) action.
4719 jumpscroll (class SmeBSB)
4721 This entry invokes the set-jumpscroll(toggle) action.
4722 reversevideo (class SmeBSB)
4724 This entry invokes the set-reverse-video(toggle) action.
4725 autowrap (class SmeBSB)
4727 This entry invokes the set-autowrap(toggle) action.
4728 reversewrap (class SmeBSB)
4730 This entry invokes the set-reversewrap(toggle) action.
4731 autolinefeed (class SmeBSB)
4733 This entry invokes the set-autolinefeed(toggle) action.
4734 appcursor (class SmeBSB)
4736 This entry invokes the set-appcursor(toggle) action.
4737 appkeypad (class SmeBSB)
4739 This entry invokes the set-appkeypad(toggle) action.
4740 scrollkey (class SmeBSB)
4742 This entry invokes the set-scroll-on-key(toggle) action.
4743 scrollttyoutput (class SmeBSB)
4745 This entry invokes the set-scroll-on-tty-output(toggle) action.
4746 allow132 (class SmeBSB)
4748 This entry invokes the set-allow132(toggle) action.
4749 cursesemul (class SmeBSB)
4751 This entry invokes the set-cursesemul(toggle) action.
4752 keepSelection (class SmeBSB)
4754 This entry invokes the set-keep-selection(toggle) action.
4755 selectToClipboard (class SmeBSB)
4757 This entry invokes the set-keep-clipboard(toggle) action.
4758 visualbell (class SmeBSB)
4760 This entry invokes the set-visual-bell(toggle) action.
4761 bellIsUrgent (class SmeBSB)
4763 This entry invokes the set-bellIsUrgent(toggle) action.
4764 poponbell (class SmeBSB)
4766 This entry invokes the set-pop-on-bell(toggle) action.
4767 cursorblink (class SmeBSB)
4769 This entry invokes the set-cursorblink(toggle) action.
4770 titeInhibit (class SmeBSB)
4772 This entry invokes the set-titeInhibit(toggle) action.
4773 activeicon (class SmeBSB)
4775 This entry toggles active icons on and off if this feature was
4776 compiled into xterm. It is enabled only if xterm was started
4777 with the command line option +ai or the activeIcon resource is
4778 set to “true”.
4779 softreset (class SmeBSB)
4781 This entry invokes the soft-reset() action.
4782 hardreset (class SmeBSB)
4784 This entry invokes the hard-reset() action.
4785 clearsavedlines (class SmeBSB)
4787 This entry invokes the clear-saved-lines() action.
4788 tekshow (class SmeBSB)
4790 This entry invokes the set-visibility(tek,toggle) action.
4791 tekmode (class SmeBSB)
4793 This entry invokes the set-terminal-type(tek) action.
4794 vthide (class SmeBSB)
4796 This entry invokes the set-visibility(vt,off) action.
4797 altscreen (class SmeBSB)
4799 This entry invokes the set-altscreen(toggle) action.
4800 sixelScrolling (class SmeBSB)
4802 This entry invokes the set-sixel-scrolling(toggle) action.
4803 privateColorRegisters (class SmeBSB)
4805 This entry invokes the set-private-colors(toggle) action.
4806 The VT Fonts menu (widget name fontMenu) has the following entries:
4808 fontdefault (class SmeBSB)
4810 This entry invokes the set-vt-font(d) action, setting the font
4811 using the font (default) resource, e.g., “Default” in the menu.
4812 font1 (class SmeBSB)
4814 This entry invokes the set-vt-font(1) action, setting the font
4815 using the font1 resource, e.g., “Unreadable” in the menu.
4816 font2 (class SmeBSB)
4818 This entry invokes the set-vt-font(2) action, setting the font
4819 using the font2 resource, e.g., “Tiny” in the menu.
4820 font3 (class SmeBSB)
4822 This entry invokes the set-vt-font(3) action, setting the font
4823 using the font3 resource, e.g., “Small” in the menu.
4824 font4 (class SmeBSB)
4826 This entry invokes the set-vt-font(4) action, letting the font
4827 using the font4 resource, e.g., “Medium” in the menu.
4828 font5 (class SmeBSB)
4830 This entry invokes the set-vt-font(5) action, letting the font
4831 using the font5 resource, e.g., “Large” in the menu.
4832 font6 (class SmeBSB)
4834 This entry invokes the set-vt-font(6) action, letting the font
4835 using the font6 resource, e.g., “Huge” in the menu.
4836 font7 (class SmeBSB)
4838 This entry invokes the set-vt-font(7) action, letting the font
4839 using the font7 resource, e.g., “Enormous” in the menu.
4840 fontescape (class SmeBSB)
4842 This entry invokes the set-vt-font(e) action.
4843 fontsel (class SmeBSB)
4845 This entry invokes the set-vt-font(s) action.
4846 allow-bold-fonts (class SmeBSB)
4848 This entry invokes the allow-bold-fonts(toggle) action.
4849 font-linedrawing (class SmeBSB)
4851 This entry invokes the set-font-linedrawing(s) action.
4852 font-packed (class SmeBSB)
4854 This entry invokes the set-font-packed(s) action.
4855 font-doublesize (class SmeBSB)
4857 This entry invokes the set-font-doublesize(s) action.
4858 render-font (class SmeBSB)
4860 This entry invokes the set-render-font(s) action.
4861 utf8-fonts (class SmeBSB)
4863 This entry invokes the set-utf8-fonts(s) action.
4864 utf8-mode (class SmeBSB)
4866 This entry invokes the set-utf8-mode(s) action.
4867 utf8-title (class SmeBSB)
4869 This entry invokes the set-utf8-title(s) action.
4870 allow-color-ops (class SmeBSB)
4872 This entry invokes the allow-color-ops(toggle) action.
4873 allow-font-ops (class SmeBSB)
4875 This entry invokes the allow-fonts-ops(toggle) action.
4876 allow-tcap-ops (class SmeBSB)
4878 This entry invokes the allow-tcap-ops(toggle) action.
4879 allow-title-ops (class SmeBSB)
4881 This entry invokes the allow-title-ops(toggle) action.
4882 allow-window-ops (class SmeBSB)
4884 This entry invokes the allow-window-ops(toggle) action.
4885 The Tek Options menu (widget name tekMenu) has the following entries:
4887 tektextlarge (class SmeBSB)
4889 This entry invokes the set-tek-text(large) action.
4890 tektext2 (class SmeBSB)
4892 This entry invokes the set-tek-text(2) action.
4893 tektext3 (class SmeBSB)
4895 This entry invokes the set-tek-text(3) action.
4896 tektextsmall (class SmeBSB)
4898 This entry invokes the set-tek-text(small) action.
4899 tekpage (class SmeBSB)
4901 This entry invokes the tek-page() action.
4902 tekreset (class SmeBSB)
4904 This entry invokes the tek-reset() action.
4905 tekcopy (class SmeBSB)
4907 This entry invokes the tek-copy() action.
4908 vtshow (class SmeBSB)
4910 This entry invokes the set-visibility(vt,toggle) action.
4911 vtmode (class SmeBSB)
4913 This entry invokes the set-terminal-type(vt) action.
4914 tekhide (class SmeBSB)
4916 This entry invokes the set-visibility(tek,toggle) action.
4917 Scrollbar Resources
4919 The following resources are useful when specified for the Athena
4920 Scrollbar widget:
4921 background (class Background)
4923 Specifies the color to use for the background of the scrollbar.
4924 foreground (class Foreground)
4926 Specifies the color to use for the foreground of the scrollbar.
4927 thickness (class Thickness)
4929 Specifies the width in pixels of the scrollbar (default: 14).
4930 This may be overridden by the width resource.
4932 thumb (class Thumb)
4934 The default “thumb” pixmap used for the scrollbar is a simple
4935 checkerboard pattern alternating pixels for foreground and
4936 background color.
4937 width (class Width)
4939 Specifies the width in pixels of the scrollbar (default: 0).
4940 The widget checks the width resource first, using the thickness
4942 value if the width is zero.
4943
4945 Once the VTxxx window is created, xterm allows you to select text and
4946 copy it within the same or other windows using the pointer or the
4947 keyboard.
4948 A “pointer” could be a mouse, touchpad or similar device. X
4950 applications generally do not care, since they see only button events
4951 which have
4952 • position and
4954 • button up/down state
4956 Xterm can see these events as long as it has focus.
4958 The keyboard also supplies events, but it is less flexible than the
4960 pointer for selecting/copying text.
4961 Events are applied to actions using the translations resource. See
4963 Actions for a complete list, and Default Key Bindings for the built-in
4964 set of translations resources.
4965 Selection Functions
4967 By default, the selection functions are invoked when the pointer
4968 buttons are used with no modifiers, and when they are used with the
4969 “shift” key. The “shift” key is special, because xterm uses that to
4970 ensure that selection functions are still available when it is
4971 programmed to send escape sequences in one of the mouse modes (see
4972 Xterm Control Sequences, as well as the resource disallowedMouseOps).
4973 At startup, xterm inspects the translations resource to see which
4975 pointer buttons may be used in this way, and remembers these buttons
4976 when deciding whether to send escape sequences or perform selection
4977 when those buttons are used with the “shift” modifier. Other pointer
4978 buttons, e.g., typically those sent for wheel mouse events, are not
4979 affected.
4980 The assignment of the functions described below to keys and buttons may
4982 be changed through the resource database; see Actions below.
4983 Pointer button one (usually left)
4985 is used to save text into the cut buffer:
4986 ~Meta <Btn1Down>:select-start()
4988 Move the cursor to beginning of the text, and then hold the button
4990 down while moving the cursor to the end of the region and
4991 releasing the button. The selected text is highlighted and is
4992 saved in the global cut buffer and made the selection when the
4993 button is released:
4994 <BtnUp>:select-end(SELECT, CUT_BUFFER0) \n
4996 Normally (but see the discussion of on2Clicks, etc):
4998 • Double-clicking selects by words.
5000 • Triple-clicking selects by lines.
5002 • Quadruple-clicking goes back to characters, etc.
5004 Multiple-click is determined by the time from button up to button
5006 down, so you can change the selection unit in the middle of a
5007 selection. Logical words and lines selected by double- or triple-
5008 clicking may wrap across more than one screen line if lines were
5009 wrapped by xterm itself rather than by the application running in
5010 the window. If the key/button bindings specify that an X
5011 selection is to be made, xterm will leave the selected text
5012 highlighted for as long as it is the selection owner.
5013 Pointer button two (usually middle)
5015 “types” (pastes) the text from the given selection, if any,
5016 otherwise from the cut buffer, inserting it as keyboard input:
5017 ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn2Up>:insert-selection(SELECT, CUT_BUFFER0)
5019 Pointer button three (usually right)
5021 extends the current selection.
5022 ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn3Down>:start-extend()
5024 (Without loss of generality, you can swap “right” and “left”
5026 everywhere in the rest of this paragraph.) If pressed while
5027 closer to the right edge of the selection than the left, it
5028 extends/contracts the right edge of the selection. If you
5029 contract the selection past the left edge of the selection, xterm
5030 assumes you really meant the left edge, restores the original
5031 selection, then extends/contracts the left edge of the selection.
5032 Extension starts in the selection unit mode that the last
5033 selection or extension was performed in; you can multiple-click to
5034 cycle through them.
5035 By cutting and pasting pieces of text without trailing new lines, you
5037 can take text from several places in different windows and form a
5038 command to the shell, for example, or take output from a program and
5039 insert it into your favorite editor. Since cut buffers are globally
5040 shared among different applications, you may regard each as a “file”
5041 whose contents you know. The terminal emulator and other text programs
5042 should be treating it as if it were a text file, i.e., the text is
5043 delimited by new lines.
5044 Scrolling
5046 The scroll region displays the position and amount of text currently
5047 showing in the window (highlighted) relative to the amount of text
5048 actually saved. As more text is saved (up to the maximum), the size of
5049 the highlighted area decreases.
5050 Clicking button one with the pointer in the scroll region moves the
5052 adjacent line to the top of the display window.
5053 Clicking button three moves the top line of the display window down to
5055 the pointer position.
5056 Clicking button two moves the display to a position in the saved text
5058 that corresponds to the pointer's position in the scrollbar.
5059 Tektronix Pointer
5061 Unlike the VTxxx window, the Tektronix window does not allow the
5062 copying of text. It does allow Tektronix GIN mode, and in this mode
5063 the cursor will change from an arrow to a cross. Pressing any key will
5064 send that key and the current coordinate of the cross cursor. Pressing
5065 button one, two, or three will return the letters “l”, “m”, and “r”,
5066 respectively. If the “shift” key is pressed when a pointer button is
5067 pressed, the corresponding upper case letter is sent. To distinguish a
5068 pointer button from a key, the high bit of the character is set (but
5069 this is bit is normally stripped unless the terminal mode is RAW; see
5070 tty(4) for details).
5071
5073 X clients provide select and paste support by responding to requests
5074 conveyed by the X server. The X server holds data in “atoms” which
5075 correspond to the different types of selection (PRIMARY, SECONDARY,
5076 CLIPBOARD) as well as the similar cut buffer mechanism (CUT_BUFFER0 to
5077 CUT_BUFFER7). Those are documented in the ICCCM.
5078 The ICCCM deals with the underlying mechanism for select/paste. It
5080 does not mention highlighting. The selection is not the same as
5081 highlighting. Xterm (like many applications) uses highlighting to show
5082 you the currently selected text. An X application may own a selection,
5083 which allows it to be the source of data copied using a given selection
5084 atom Xterm may continue owning a selection after it stops highlighting
5085 (see keepSelection).
5086 PRIMARY
5088 When configured to use the primary selection (the default), xterm can
5089 provide the selection data in ways which help to retain character
5090 encoding information as it is pasted.
5091 The PRIMARY token is a standard X feature, documented in the ICCCM
5093 (Inter-Client Communication Conventions Manual), which states
5094 The selection named by the atom PRIMARY is used for all commands
5096 that take only a single argument and is the principal means of
5097 communication between clients that use the selection mechanism.
5098 A user “selects” text on xterm, which highlights the selected text. A
5100 subsequent “paste” to another client forwards a request to the client
5101 owning the selection. If xterm owns the primary selection, it makes
5102 the data available in the form of one or more “selection targets”. If
5103 it does not own the primary selection, e.g., if it has released it or
5104 another client has asserted ownership, it relies on cut-buffers to pass
5105 the data. But cut-buffers handle only ISO-8859-1 data (officially -
5106 some clients ignore the rules).
5107 CLIPBOARD
5109 When configured to use the clipboard (using the selectToClipboard
5110 resource), the problem with persistence of ownership is bypassed.
5111 Otherwise, there is no difference regarding the data which can be
5112 passed via selection.
5113 The selectToClipboard resource is a compromise, allowing CLIPBOARD to
5115 be treated almost like PRIMARY, unlike the ICCCM, which describes
5116 CLIPBOARD in different terms than PRIMARY or SECONDARY. Its lengthy
5117 explanation begins with the essential points:
5118 The selection named by the atom CLIPBOARD is used to hold data that
5120 is being transferred between clients, that is, data that usually is
5121 being cut and then pasted or copied and then pasted. Whenever a
5122 client wants to transfer data to the clipboard:
5123 • It should assert ownership of the CLIPBOARD.
5125 • If it succeeds in acquiring ownership, it should be prepared to
5127 respond to a request for the contents of the CLIPBOARD in the
5128 usual way (retaining the data to be able to return it). The
5129 request may be generated by the clipboard client described
5130 below.
5131 SELECT
5133 However, many applications use CLIPBOARD in imitation of other
5134 windowing systems. The selectToClipboard resource (and corresponding
5135 menu entry Select to Clipboard) introduce the SELECT token (known only
5136 to xterm) which chooses between the PRIMARY and CLIPBOARD tokens.
5137 Without using this feature, one can use workarounds such as the xclip
5139 program to show the contents of the X clipboard within an xterm window.
5140 SECONDARY
5142 This is used less often than PRIMARY or CLIPBOARD. According to the
5143 ICCCM, it is used
5144 • As the second argument to commands taking two arguments (for
5146 example, “exchange primary and secondary selections”)
5147 • As a means of obtaining data when there is a primary selection and
5149 the user does not want to disturb it
5150 Selection Targets
5152 The different types of data which are passed depend on what the
5153 receiving client asks for. These are termed selection targets.
5154 When asking for the selection data, xterm tries the following types in
5156 this order:
5157 UTF8_STRING
5159 This is an XFree86 extension, which denotes that the data is
5160 encoded in UTF-8. When xterm is built with wide-character
5161 support, it both accepts and provides this type.
5162 TEXT the text is in the encoding which corresponds to your current
5164 locale.
5165 COMPOUND_TEXT
5167 this is a format for multiple character set data, such as
5168 multi-lingual text. It can store UTF-8 data as a special
5169 case.
5170 STRING
5172 This is Latin 1 (ISO-8859-1) data.
5173 The middle two (TEXT and COMPOUND_TEXT) are added if xterm is
5175 configured with the i18nSelections resource set to “true”.
5176 UTF8_STRING is preferred (therefore first in the list) since xterm
5178 stores text as Unicode data when running in wide-character mode, and no
5179 translation is needed. On the other hand, TEXT and COMPOUND_TEXT may
5180 require translation. If the translation is incomplete, they will
5181 insert X's “defaultString” whose value cannot be set, and may simply be
5182 empty. Xterm's defaultString resource specifies the string to use for
5183 incomplete translations of the UTF8_STRING.
5184 You can alter the types which xterm tries using the eightBitSelectTypes
5186 or utf8SelectTypes resources. For instance, you might have some
5187 specific locale setting which does not use UTF-8 encoding. The
5188 resource value is a comma-separated list of the selection targets,
5189 which consist of the names shown. You can use the special name I18N to
5190 denote the optional inclusion of TEXT and COMPOUND_TEXT. The names are
5191 matched ignoring case, and can be abbreviated. The default list can be
5192 expressed in several ways, e.g.,
5193 UTF8_STRING,I18N,STRING
5195 utf8,i18n,string
5196 u,i,s
5197 Mouse Protocol
5199 Applications can send escape sequences to xterm to cause it to send
5200 escape sequences back to the computer when you press a pointer button,
5201 or even (depending on which escape sequence) send escape sequences back
5202 to the computer as you move the pointer.
5203 These escape sequences and the responses, called the mouse protocol,
5205 are documented in XTerm Control Sequences. They do not appear in the
5206 actions invoked by the translations resource because the resource does
5207 not change while you run xterm, whereas applications can change the
5208 mouse prototol (i.e., enable, disable, use different modes).
5209 However, the mouse protocol is interpreted within the actions that are
5211 usually associated with the pointer buttons. Xterm ignores the mouse
5212 protocol in the insert-selection action if the shift-key is pressed at
5213 the same time. It also modifies a few other actions if the shift-key
5214 is pressed, e.g., suppressing the response with the pointer position,
5215 though not eliminating changes to the selected text.
5216
5218 Xterm has four menus, named mainMenu, vtMenu, fontMenu, and tekMenu.
5219 Each menu pops up under the correct combinations of key and button
5220 presses. Each menu is divided into sections, separated by a horizontal
5221 line. Some menu entries correspond to modes that can be altered. A
5222 check mark appears next to a mode that is currently active. Selecting
5223 one of these modes toggles its state. Other menu entries are commands;
5224 selecting one of these performs the indicated function.
5225 All of the menu entries correspond to X actions. In the list below,
5227 the menu label is shown followed by the action's name in parenthesis.
5228 Main Options
5230 The xterm mainMenu pops up when the “control” key and pointer button
5231 one are pressed in a window. This menu contains items that apply to
5232 both the VTxxx and Tektronix windows. There are several sections:
5233 Commands for managing X events:
5235 Toolbar (resource toolbar)
5237 Clicking on the “Toolbar” menu entry hides the toolbar if
5238 it is visible, and shows it if it is not.
5239 Secure Keyboard (resource securekbd)
5241 The Secure Keyboard mode is helpful when typing in
5242 passwords or other sensitive data in an unsecure
5243 environment (see SECURITY below, but read the limitations
5244 carefully).
5245 Allow SendEvents (resource allowsends)
5247 Specifies whether or not synthetic key and button events
5248 generated using the X protocol SendEvent request should
5249 be interpreted or discarded. This corresponds to the
5250 allowSendEvents resource.
5251 Redraw Window (resource redraw)
5253 Forces the X display to repaint; useful in some
5254 environments.
5255 Commands for capturing output:
5257 Log to File (resource logging)
5259 Captures text sent to the screen in a log file, as in the
5260 -l logging option.
5261 Print-All Immediately (resource print-immediate)
5263 Invokes the print-immediate action, sending the text of
5264 the current window directly to a file, as specified by
5265 the printFileImmediate, printModeImmediate and
5266 printOptsImmediate resources.
5267 Print-All on Error (resource print-on-error)
5269 Invokes the print-on-error action, which toggles a flag
5270 telling xterm that if it exits with an X error, to send
5271 the text of the current window directly to a file, as
5272 specified by the printFileOnXError, printModeOnXError and
5273 printOptsOnXError resources.
5274 Print Window (resource print)
5276 Sends the text of the current window to the program given
5277 in the printerCommand resource.
5278 Redirect to Printer (resource print-redir)
5280 This sets the printerControlMode to 0 or 2. You can use
5281 this to turn the printer on as if an application had sent
5282 the appropriate control sequence. It is also useful for
5283 switching the printer off if an application turns it on
5284 without resetting the print control mode.
5285 XHTML Screen Dump (resource dump-html)
5287 Available only when compiled with screen dump support.
5288 Invokes the dump-html action. This creates an XHTML file
5289 matching the contents of the current screen, including
5290 the border, internal border, colors and most attributes:
5291 bold, italic, underline, faint, strikeout, reverse; blink
5292 is rendered as white-on-red; double underline is rendered
5293 the same as underline since there is no portable
5294 equivalent in CSS 2.2.
5295 The font is whatever your browser uses for preformatted
5297 (<pre>) elements. The XHTML file references a cascading
5298 style sheet (CSS) named “xterm.css” that you can create
5299 to select a font or override properties.
5300 The following CSS selectors are used with the expected
5302 default behavior in the XHTML file:
5303 .ul for underline,
5305 .bd for bold,
5306 .it for italic,
5307 .st for strikeout,
5308 .lu for strikeout combined with underline.
5309 In addition you may use
5311 .ev to affect even numbered lines and
5313 .od to affect odd numbered lines.
5314 Attributes faint, reverse and blink are implemented as
5316 style attributes setting color properties. All colors
5317 are specified as RGB percentages in order to support
5318 displays with 10 bits per RGB.
5319 The name of the file will be
5321 xterm.yyyy.MM.dd.hh.mm.ss.xhtml
5323 where yyyy, MM, dd, hh, mm and ss are the year, month,
5325 day, hour, minute and second when the screen dump was
5326 performed (the file is created in the directory xterm is
5327 started in, or the home directory for a login xterm).
5328 The dump-html action can also be triggered using the
5330 Media Copy control sequence CSI 1 0 i, for example from a
5331 shell script with
5332 printf '\033[10i'
5334 Only the UTF-8 encoding is supported.
5336 SVG Screen Dump (resource dump-svg)
5338 Available only when compiled with screen dump support.
5339 Invokes the dump-svg action. This creates a Scalable
5340 Vector Graphics (SVG) file matching the contents of the
5341 current screen, including the border, internal border,
5342 colors and most attributes: bold, italic, underline,
5343 double underline, faint, strikeout, reverse; blink is
5344 rendered as white-on-red. The font is whatever your
5345 renderer uses for the monospace font-family. All colors
5346 are specified as RGB percentages in order to support
5347 displays with 10 bits per RGB.
5348 The name of the file will be
5350 xterm.yyyy.MM.dd.hh.mm.ss.svg
5352 where yyyy, MM, dd, hh, mm and ss are the year, month,
5354 day, hour, minute and second when the screen dump was
5355 performed (the file is created in the directory xterm is
5356 started in, or the home directory for a login xterm).
5357 The dump-svg action can also be triggered using the Media
5359 Copy control sequence CSI 1 1 i, for example from a shell
5360 script with
5361 printf '\033[11i'
5363 Only the UTF-8 encoding is supported.
5365 Modes for setting keyboard style:
5367 8-Bit Controls (resource 8-bit-control)
5369 Enabled for VT220 emulation, this controls whether xterm
5370 will send 8-bit control sequences rather than using 7-bit
5371 (ASCII) controls, e.g., sending a byte in the range
5372 128–159 rather than the escape character followed by a
5373 second byte. Xterm always interprets both 8-bit and
5374 7-bit control sequences (see Xterm Control Sequences).
5375 This corresponds to the eightBitControl resource.
5376 Backarrow Key (BS/DEL) (resource backarrow key)
5378 Modifies the behavior of the backarrow key, making it
5379 transmit either a backspace (8) or delete (127)
5380 character. This corresponds to the backarrowKey
5381 resource.
5382 Alt/NumLock Modifiers (resource num-lock)
5384 Controls the treatment of Alt- and NumLock-key modifiers.
5385 This corresponds to the numLock resource.
5386 Meta Sends Escape (resource meta-esc)
5388 Controls whether Meta keys are converted into a two-
5389 character sequence with the character itself preceded by
5390 ESC. This corresponds to the metaSendsEscape resource.
5391 Delete is DEL (resource delete-is-del)
5393 Controls whether the Delete key on the editing keypad
5394 should send DEL (127) or the VT220-style Remove escape
5395 sequence. This corresponds to the deleteIsDEL resource.
5396 Old Function-Keys (resource oldFunctionKeys)
5398 HP Function-Keys (resource hpFunctionKeys)
5400 SCO Function-Keys (resource scoFunctionKeys)
5402 Sun Function-Keys (resource sunFunctionKeys)
5404 VT220 Keyboard (resource sunKeyboard)
5406 These act as a radio-button, selecting one style for the
5407 keyboard layout. The layout corresponds to more than one
5408 resource setting: sunKeyboard, sunFunctionKeys,
5409 scoFunctionKeys and hpFunctionKeys.
5410 Commands for process signalling:
5412 Send STOP Signal (resource suspend)
5414 Send CONT Signal (resource continue)
5416 Send INT Signal (resource interrupt)
5418 Send HUP Signal (resource hangup)
5420 Send TERM Signal (resource terminate)
5422 Send KILL Signal (resource kill)
5424 These send the SIGTSTP, SIGCONT, SIGINT, SIGHUP, SIGTERM
5425 and SIGKILL signals respectively, to the process group of
5426 the process running under xterm (usually the shell). The
5427 SIGCONT function is especially useful if the user has
5428 accidentally typed CTRL-Z, suspending the process.
5429 Quit (resource quit)
5431 Stop processing X events except to support the -hold
5432 option, and then send a SIGHUP signal to the process
5433 group of the process running under xterm (usually the
5434 shell).
5435 VT Options
5437 The xterm vtMenu sets various modes in the VTxxx emulation, and is
5438 popped up when the “control” key and pointer button two are pressed in
5439 the VTxxx window.
5440 VTxxx Modes:
5442 Enable Scrollbar (resource scrollbar)
5444 Enable (or disable) the scrollbar. This corresponds to
5445 the -sb option and the scrollBar resource.
5446 Enable Jump Scroll (resource jumpscroll)
5448 Enable (or disable) jump scrolling. This corresponds to
5449 the -j option and the jumpScroll resource.
5450 Enable Reverse Video (resource reversevideo)
5452 Enable (or disable) reverse-video. This corresponds to
5453 the -rv option and the reverseVideo resource.
5454 Enable Auto Wraparound (resource autowrap)
5456 Enable (or disable) auto-wraparound. This corresponds to
5457 the -aw option and the autoWrap resource.
5458 Enable Reverse Wraparound (resource reversewrap)
5460 Enable (or disable) reverse wraparound. This corresponds
5461 to the -rw option and the reverseWrap resource.
5462 Enable Auto Linefeed (resource autolinefeed)
5464 Enable (or disable) auto-linefeed. This is the VT102 NEL
5465 function, which causes the emulator to emit a line feed
5466 after each carriage return. There is no corresponding
5467 command-line option or resource setting.
5468 Enable Application Cursor Keys (resource appcursor)
5470 Enable (or disable) application cursor keys. This
5471 corresponds to the appcursorDefault resource. There is
5472 no corresponding command-line option.
5473 Enable Application Keypad (resource appkeypad)
5475 Enable (or disable) application keypad keys. This
5476 corresponds to the appkeypadDefault resource. There is
5477 no corresponding command-line option.
5478 Scroll to Bottom on Key Press (resource scrollkey)
5480 Enable (or disable) scrolling to the bottom of the
5481 scrolling region on a keypress. This corresponds to the
5482 -sk option and the scrollKey resource.
5483 As a special case, the XON / XOFF keys (control/S and
5485 control/Q) are ignored.
5486 Scroll to Bottom on Tty Output (resource scrollttyoutput)
5488 Enable (or disable) scrolling to the bottom of the
5489 scrolling region on output to the terminal. This
5490 corresponds to the -si option and the scrollTtyOutput
5491 resource.
5492 Allow 80/132 Column Switching (resource allow132)
5494 Enable (or disable) switching between 80 and 132 columns.
5495 This corresponds to the -132 option and the c132
5496 resource.
5497 Keep Selection (resource keepSelection)
5499 Tell xterm whether to disown the selection when it stops
5500 highlighting it, e.g., when an application modifies the
5501 display so that it no longer matches the text which has
5502 been highlighted. As long as xterm continues to own the
5503 selection for a given atom, it can provide the
5504 corresponding text to other clients which request the
5505 selection using that atom.
5506 This corresponds to the keepSelection resource. There is
5508 no corresponding command-line option.
5509 Telling xterm to not disown the selection does not
5511 prevent other applications from taking ownership of the
5512 selection. When that happens, xterm receives
5513 notification that this has happened, and removes its
5514 highlighting.
5515 See SELECT/PASTE for more information.
5517 Select to Clipboard (resource selectToClipboard)
5519 Tell xterm whether to use the PRIMARY or CLIPBOARD for
5520 SELECT tokens in the translations resource which maps
5521 keyboard and mouse actions to select/paste actions.
5522 This corresponds to the selectToClipboard resource.
5524 There is no corresponding command-line option.
5525 The keepSelection resource setting applies to CLIPBOARD
5527 selections just as it does for PRIMARY selections.
5528 However some window managers treat the clipboard
5529 specially. For instance, XQuartz's synchronization
5530 between the OSX pasteboard and the X11 clipboard causes
5531 applications to lose the selection ownership for that
5532 atom when a selection is copied to the clipboard.
5533 See SELECT/PASTE for more information.
5535 Enable Visual Bell (resource visualbell)
5537 Enable (or disable) visible bell (i.e., flashing) instead
5538 of an audible bell. This corresponds to the -vb option
5539 and the visualBell resource.
5540 Enable Bell Urgency (resource bellIsUrgent)
5542 Enable (or disable) Urgency window manager hint when
5543 Control-G is received. This corresponds to the
5544 bellIsUrgent resource.
5545 Enable Pop on Bell (resource poponbell)
5547 Enable (or disable) raising of the window when Control-G
5548 is received. This corresponds to the -pop option and the
5549 popOnBell resource.
5550 Enable Blinking Cursor (resource cursorblink)
5552 Enable (or disable) the blinking-cursor feature. This
5553 corresponds to the -bc option and the cursorBlink
5554 resource. There are also escape sequences (see Xterm
5555 Control Sequences):
5556 • If the cursorBlinkXOR resource is set, the menu entry
5558 and the escape sequence states will be XOR'd: if both
5559 are enabled, the cursor will not blink, if only one
5560 is enabled, the cursor will blink.
5561 • If the cursorBlinkXOR is not set; if either the menu
5563 entry or the escape sequence states are set, the
5564 cursor will blink.
5565 In either case, the checkbox for the menu shows the state
5567 of the cursorBlink resource, which may not correspond to
5568 what the cursor is actually doing.
5569 Enable Alternate Screen Switching (resource titeInhibit)
5571 Enable (or disable) switching between the normal and
5572 alternate screens. This corresponds to the titeInhibit
5573 resource. There is no corresponding command-line option.
5574 Enable Active Icon (resource activeicon)
5576 Enable (or disable) the active-icon feature. This
5577 corresponds to the -ai option and the activeIcon
5578 resource.
5579 Sixel Scrolling (resource sixelScrolling)
5581 When enabled, sixel graphics are positioned at the
5582 current text cursor location, scroll the image vertically
5583 if larger than the screen, and leave the text cursor at
5584 the start of the next complete line after the image when
5585 returning to text mode (this is the default). When
5586 disabled, sixel graphics are positioned at the upper left
5587 of the screen, are cropped to fit the screen, and do not
5588 affect the text cursor location. This corresponds to the
5589 sixelScrolling resource. There is no corresponding
5590 command-line option.
5591 Private Color Registers (resource privateColorRegisters)
5593 If xterm is configured to support ReGIS graphics, this
5594 controls whether a private color palette can be used.
5595 When enabled, each graphic image uses a separate set of
5597 color registers, so that it essentially has a private
5598 palette (this is the default). If it is not set, all
5599 graphics images share a common set of registers which is
5600 how sixel and ReGIS graphics worked on actual hardware.
5601 The default is likely a more useful mode on modern
5602 TrueColor hardware.
5603 This corresponds to the privateColorRegisters resource.
5605 There is no corresponding command-line option.
5606 VTxxx Commands:
5608 Do Soft Reset (resource softreset)
5610 Reset scroll regions. This can be convenient when some
5611 program has left the scroll regions set incorrectly
5612 (often a problem when using VMS or TOPS-20). This
5613 corresponds to the VT220 DECSTR control sequence.
5614 Do Full Reset (resource hardreset)
5616 The full reset entry will clear the screen, reset tabs to
5617 every eight columns, and reset the terminal modes (such
5618 as wrap and smooth scroll) to their initial states just
5619 after xterm has finished processing the command line
5620 options. This corresponds to the VT102 RIS control
5621 sequence, with a few obvious differences. For example,
5622 your session is not disconnected as a real VT102 would
5623 do.
5624 Reset and Clear Saved Lines (resource clearsavedlines)
5626 Perform a full reset, and also clear the saved lines.
5627 Commands for setting the current screen:
5629 Show Tek Window (resource tekshow)
5631 When enabled, pops the Tektronix 4014 window up (makes it
5632 visible). When disabled, hides the Tektronix 4014
5633 window.
5634 Switch to Tek Mode (resource tekmode)
5636 When enabled, pops the Tektronix 4014 window up if it is
5637 not already visible, and switches the input stream to
5638 that window. When disabled, hides the Tektronix 4014
5639 window and switches input back to the VTxxx window.
5640 Hide VT Window (resource vthide)
5642 When enabled, hides the VTxxx window, shows the Tektronix
5643 4014 window if it was not already visible and switches
5644 the input stream to that window. When disabled, shows
5645 the VTxxx window, and switches the input stream to that
5646 window.
5647 Show Alternate Screen (resource altscreen)
5649 When enabled, shows the alternate screen. When disabled,
5650 shows the normal screen. Note that the normal screen may
5651 have saved lines; the alternate screen does not.
5652 VT Fonts
5654 The xterm fontMenu pops up when the “control” key and pointer button
5655 three are pressed in a window. It sets the font used in the VTxxx
5656 window, or modifies the way the font is specified or displayed. There
5657 are several sections.
5658 The first section allows you to select the font from a set of
5660 alternatives:
5661 Default (resource fontdefault)
5663 Set the font to the default, i.e., that given by the
5664 *VT100.font resource.
5665 Unreadable (resource font1)
5667 Set the font to that given by the *VT100.font1 resource.
5668 Tiny (resource font2)
5670 Set the font to that given by the *VT100.font2 resource.
5671 Small (resource font3)
5673 Set the font to that given by the *VT100.font3 resource.
5674 Medium (resource font4)
5676 Set the font to that given by the *VT100.font4 resource.
5677 Large (resource font5)
5679 Set the font to that given by the *VT100.font5 resource.
5680 Huge (resource font6)
5682 Set the font to that given by the *VT100.font6 resource.
5683 Enormous (resource font7)
5685 Set the font to that given by the *VT100.font7 resource.
5686 Escape Sequence (resource fontescape)
5688 This allows you to set the font last specified by the Set
5689 Font escape sequence (see Xterm Control Sequences).
5690 Selection (resource fontsel)
5692 This allows you to set the font specified the current
5693 selection as a font name (if the PRIMARY selection is
5694 owned).
5695 The second section allows you to modify the way it is displayed:
5697 Bold Fonts (resource allow-bold-fonts)
5699 This is normally checked (enabled). When unchecked,
5700 xterm will not use bold fonts. The setting corresponds
5701 to the allowBoldFonts resource.
5702 Line-Drawing Characters (resource font-linedrawing)
5704 When set, tells xterm to draw its own line-drawing
5705 characters. Otherwise it relies on the font containing
5706 these. Compare to the forceBoxChars resource.
5707 Packed Font (resource font-packed)
5709 When set, tells xterm to use the minimum glyph-width from
5710 a font when displaying characters. Use the maximum width
5711 (unchecked) to help display proportional fonts. Compare
5712 to the forcePackedFont resource.
5713 Doublesized Characters (resource font-doublesize)
5715 When set, xterm may ask the font server to produce scaled
5716 versions of the normal font, for VT102 double-size
5717 characters.
5718 The third section allows you to modify the way it is specified:
5720 TrueType Fonts (resource render-font)
5722 If the renderFont and corresponding resources were set,
5723 this is a further control whether xterm will actually use
5724 the Xft library calls to obtain a font.
5725 UTF-8 Encoding (resource utf8-mode)
5727 This controls whether xterm uses UTF-8 encoding of
5728 input/output. It is useful for temporarily switching
5729 xterm to display text from an application which does not
5730 follow the locale settings. It corresponds to the utf8
5731 resource.
5732 UTF-8 Fonts (resource utf8-fonts)
5734 This controls whether xterm uses UTF-8 fonts for display.
5735 It is useful for temporarily switching xterm to display
5736 text from an application which does not follow the locale
5737 settings. It combines the utf8 and utf8Fonts resources,
5738 subject to the locale resource.
5739 UTF-8 Titles (resource utf8-title)
5741 This controls whether xterm accepts UTF-8 encoding for
5742 title control sequences. It corresponds to the utf8Fonts
5743 resource.
5744 Initially the checkmark is set according to both the utf8
5746 and utf8Fonts resource values. If the latter is set to
5747 “always”, the checkmark is disabled. Likewise, if there
5748 are no fonts given in the utf8Fonts subresources, then
5749 the checkmark also is disabled.
5750 The standard XTerm app-defaults file defines both sets of
5752 fonts, while the UXTerm app-defaults file defines only
5753 one set. Assuming the standard app-defaults files, this
5754 command will launch xterm able to switch between UTF-8
5755 and ISO-8859-1 encoded fonts:
5756 uxterm -class XTerm
5758 The fourth section allows you to enable or disable special operations
5760 which can be controlled by writing escape sequences to the terminal.
5761 These are disabled if the SendEvents feature is enabled:
5762 Allow Color Ops (resource allow-font-ops)
5764 This corresponds to the allowColorOps resource. Enable
5765 or disable control sequences that set/query the colors.
5766 Allow Font Ops (resource allow-font-ops)
5768 This corresponds to the allowFontOps resource. Enable or
5769 disable control sequences that set/query the font.
5770 Allow Mouse Ops (resource allow-mouse-ops)
5772 Enable or disable control sequences that cause the
5773 terminal to send escape sequences on pointer-clicks and
5774 movement. This corresponds to the allowMouseOps
5775 resource.
5776 Allow Tcap Ops (resource allow-tcap-ops)
5778 Enable or disable control sequences that query the
5779 terminal's notion of its function-key strings, as termcap
5780 or terminfo capabilities. This corresponds to the
5781 allowTcapOps resource.
5782 Allow Title Ops (resource allow-title-ops)
5784 Enable or disable control sequences that modify the
5785 window title or icon name. This corresponds to the
5786 allowTitleOps resource.
5787 Allow Window Ops (resource allow-window-ops)
5789 Enable or disable extended window control sequences (as
5790 used in dtterm). This corresponds to the allowWindowOps
5791 resource.
5792 Tek Options
5794 The xterm tekMenu sets various modes in the Tektronix emulation, and is
5795 popped up when the “control” key and pointer button two are pressed in
5796 the Tektronix window. The current font size is checked in the modes
5797 section of the menu.
5798 Large Characters (resource tektextlarge)
5800 #2 Size Characters (resource tektext2)
5802 #3 Size Characters (resource tektext3)
5804 Small Characters (resource tektextsmall)
5806 Commands:
5808 PAGE (resource tekpage)
5810 Simulates the Tektronix “PAGE” button by
5811 • clearing the window,
5813 • cancelling the graphics input-mode, and
5815 • moving the cursor to the home position.
5817 RESET (resource tekreset)
5819 Unlike the similarly-named Tektronix “RESET” button, this
5820 does everything that PAGE does as well as resetting the
5821 line-type and font-size to their default values.
5822 COPY (resource tekcopy)
5824 Simulates the Tektronix “COPY” button (which makes a
5825 hard-copy of the screen) by writing the information to a
5826 text file.
5827 Windows:
5829 Show VT Window (resource vtshow)
5831 Switch to VT Mode (resource vtmode)
5833 Hide Tek Window (resource tekhide)
5835
5837 X environments differ in their security consciousness.
5838 • Most servers, run under xdm, are capable of using a “magic cookie”
5840 authorization scheme that can provide a reasonable level of
5841 security for many people. If your server is only using a host-
5842 based mechanism to control access to the server (see xhost(1)),
5843 then if you enable access for a host and other users are also
5844 permitted to run clients on that same host, it is possible that
5845 someone can run an application which uses the basic services of the
5846 X protocol to snoop on your activities, potentially capturing a
5847 transcript of everything you type at the keyboard.
5848 • Any process which has access to your X display can manipulate it in
5850 ways that you might not anticipate, even redirecting your keyboard
5851 to itself and sending events to your application's windows. This
5852 is true even with the “magic cookie” authorization scheme. While
5853 the allowSendEvents provides some protection against rogue
5854 applications tampering with your programs, guarding against a
5855 snooper is harder.
5856 • The X input extension for instance allows an application to bypass
5858 all of the other (limited) authorization and security features,
5859 including the GrabKeyboard protocol.
5860 • The possibility of an application spying on your keystrokes is of
5862 particular concern when you want to type in a password or other
5863 sensitive data. The best solution to this problem is to use a
5864 better authorization mechanism than is provided by X.
5865 Subject to all of these caveats, a simple mechanism exists for
5867 protecting keyboard input in xterm.
5868 The xterm menu (see MENUS above) contains a Secure Keyboard entry
5870 which, when enabled, attempts to ensure that all keyboard input is
5871 directed only to xterm (using the GrabKeyboard protocol request). When
5872 an application prompts you for a password (or other sensitive data),
5873 you can enable Secure Keyboard using the menu, type in the data, and
5874 then disable Secure Keyboard using the menu again.
5875 • This ensures that you know which window is accepting your
5877 keystrokes.
5878 • It cannot ensure that there are no processes which have access to
5880 your X display that might be observing the keystrokes as well.
5881 Only one X client at a time can grab the keyboard, so when you attempt
5883 to enable Secure Keyboard it may fail. In this case, the bell will
5884 sound. If the Secure Keyboard succeeds, the foreground and background
5885 colors will be exchanged (as if you selected the Enable Reverse Video
5886 entry in the Modes menu); they will be exchanged again when you exit
5887 secure mode. If the colors do not switch, then you should be very
5888 suspicious that you are being spoofed. If the application you are
5889 running displays a prompt before asking for the password, it is safest
5890 to enter secure mode before the prompt gets displayed, and to make sure
5891 that the prompt gets displayed correctly (in the new colors), to
5892 minimize the probability of spoofing. You can also bring up the menu
5893 again and make sure that a check mark appears next to the entry.
5894 Secure Keyboard mode will be disabled automatically if your xterm
5896 window becomes iconified (or otherwise unmapped), or if you start up a
5897 reparenting window manager (that places a title bar or other decoration
5898 around the window) while in Secure Keyboard mode. (This is a feature
5899 of the X protocol not easily overcome.) When this happens, the
5900 foreground and background colors will be switched back and the bell
5901 will sound in warning.
5902
5904 Clicking the left pointer button twice in rapid succession (double-
5905 clicking) causes all characters of the same class (e.g., letters, white
5906 space, punctuation) to be selected as a “word”. Since different people
5907 have different preferences for what should be selected (for example,
5908 should filenames be selected as a whole or only the separate subnames),
5909 the default mapping can be overridden through the use of the charClass
5910 (class CharClass) resource.
5911 This resource is a series of comma-separated range:value pairs.
5913 • The range is either a single number or low-high in the range of 0
5915 to 65535, corresponding to the code for the character or characters
5916 to be set.
5917 • The value is arbitrary. For example, the default table uses the
5919 character number of the first character occurring in the set. When
5920 not in UTF-8 mode, only the first 256 entries of this table will be
5921 used.
5922 The default table starts as follows -
5924 static int charClass[256] = {
5926 /* NUL SOH STX ETX EOT ENQ ACK BEL */
5927 32, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
5928 /* BS HT NL VT NP CR SO SI */
5929 1, 32, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
5930 /* DLE DC1 DC2 DC3 DC4 NAK SYN ETB */
5931 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
5932 /* CAN EM SUB ESC FS GS RS US */
5933 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
5934 /* SP ! " # $ % & ' */
5935 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39,
5936 /* ( ) * + , - . / */
5937 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47,
5938 /* 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 */
5939 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5940 /* 8 9 : ; < = > ? */
5941 48, 48, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63,
5942 /* @ A B C D E F G */
5943 64, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5944 /* H I J K L M N O */
5945 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5946 /* P Q R S T U V W */
5947 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5948 /* X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _ */
5949 48, 48, 48, 91, 92, 93, 94, 48,
5950 /* ` a b c d e f g */
5951 96, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5952 /* h i j k l m n o */
5953 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5954 /* p q r s t u v w */
5955 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5956 /* x y z { | } ~ DEL */
5957 48, 48, 48, 123, 124, 125, 126, 1,
5958 /* x80 x81 x82 x83 IND NEL SSA ESA */
5959 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
5960 /* HTS HTJ VTS PLD PLU RI SS2 SS3 */
5961 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
5962 /* DCS PU1 PU2 STS CCH MW SPA EPA */
5963 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
5964 /* x98 x99 x9A CSI ST OSC PM APC */
5965 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
5966 /* - i c/ L ox Y- | So */
5967 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167,
5968 /* .. c0 ip << _ R0 - */
5969 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175,
5970 /* o +- 2 3 ' u q| . */
5971 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183,
5972 /* , 1 2 >> 1/4 1/2 3/4 ? */
5973 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191,
5974 /* A` A' A^ A~ A: Ao AE C, */
5975 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5976 /* E` E' E^ E: I` I' I^ I: */
5977 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5978 /* D- N~ O` O' O^ O~ O: X */
5979 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 215,
5980 /* O/ U` U' U^ U: Y' P B */
5981 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5982 /* a` a' a^ a~ a: ao ae c, */
5983 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5984 /* e` e' e^ e: i` i' i^ i: */
5985 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
5986 /* d n~ o` o' o^ o~ o: -: */
5987 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 247,
5988 /* o/ u` u' u^ u: y' P y: */
5989 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48};
5990 For example, the string “33:48,37:48,45-47:48,38:48” indicates
5992 that the exclamation mark, percent sign, dash, period, slash,
5993 and ampersand characters should be treated the same way as
5994 characters and numbers. This is useful for cutting and pasting
5995 electronic mailing addresses and filenames.
5996
5998 It is possible to rebind keys (or sequences of keys) to arbitrary
5999 strings for input, by changing the translations resources for the vt100
6000 or tek4014 widgets. Changing the translations resource for events
6001 other than key and button events is not expected, and will cause
6002 unpredictable behavior.
6003 Actions
6005 The following actions are provided for use within the vt100 or tek4014
6006 translations resources:
6007 allow-bold-fonts(on/off/toggle)
6009 This action sets, unsets or toggles the allowBoldFonts resource
6010 and is also invoked by the allow-bold-fonts entry in fontMenu.
6011 allow-color-ops(on/off/toggle)
6013 This action sets, unsets or toggles the allowColorOps resource
6014 and is also invoked by the allow-color-ops entry in fontMenu.
6015 allow-font-ops(on/off/toggle)
6017 This action sets, unsets or toggles the allowFontOps resource
6018 and is also invoked by the allow-font-ops entry in fontMenu.
6019 allow-mouse-ops(on/off/toggle)
6021 This action sets, unsets or toggles the allowMousepOps resource
6022 and is also invoked by the allow-mouse-ops entry in fontMenu.
6023 allow-send-events(on/off/toggle)
6025 This action sets, unsets or toggles the allowSendEvents
6026 resource and is also invoked by the allowsends entry in
6027 mainMenu.
6028 allow-tcap-ops(on/off/toggle)
6030 This action sets, unsets or toggles the allowTcapOps resource
6031 and is also invoked by the allow-tcap-ops entry in fontMenu.
6032 allow-title-ops(on/off/toggle)
6034 This action sets, unsets or toggles the allowTitleOps resource
6035 and is also invoked by the allow-title-ops entry in fontMenu.
6036 allow-window-ops(on/off/toggle)
6038 This action sets, unsets or toggles the allowWindowOps resource
6039 and is also invoked by the allow-window-ops entry in fontMenu.
6040 alt-sends-escape()
6042 This action toggles the state of the altSendsEscape resource.
6043 bell([percent])
6045 This action rings the keyboard bell at the specified percentage
6046 above or below the base volume.
6047 clear-saved-lines()
6049 This action does hard-reset() and also clears the history of
6050 lines saved off the top of the screen. It is also invoked from
6051 the clearsavedlines entry in vtMenu. The effect is identical
6052 to a hardware reset (RIS) control sequence.
6053 copy-selection(destname [, ...])
6055 This action puts the currently selected text into all of the
6056 selections or cutbuffers specified by destname. Unlike
6057 select-end, it does not send a mouse position or otherwise
6058 modify the internal selection state.
6059 create-menu(m/v/f/t)
6061 This action creates one of the menus used by xterm, if it has
6062 not been previously created. The parameter values are the menu
6063 names: mainMenu, vtMenu, fontMenu, tekMenu, respectively.
6064 dabbrev-expand()
6066 Expands the word before cursor by searching in the preceding
6067 text on the screen and in the scrollback buffer for words
6068 starting with that abbreviation. Repeating dabbrev-expand()
6069 several times in sequence searches for an alternative expansion
6070 by looking farther back. Lack of more matches is signaled by a
6071 bell. Attempts to expand an empty word (i.e., when cursor is
6072 preceded by a space) yield successively all previous words.
6073 Consecutive identical expansions are ignored. The word here is
6074 defined as a sequence of non-whitespace characters. This
6075 feature partially emulates the behavior of “dynamic
6076 abbreviation” expansion in Emacs (bound there to M-/). Here is
6077 a resource setting for xterm which will do the same thing:
6078 *VT100*translations: #override \n\
6080 Meta <KeyPress> /:dabbrev-expand()
6081 deiconify()
6083 Changes the window state back to normal, if it was iconified.
6084 delete-is-del()
6086 This action toggles the state of the deleteIsDEL resource.
6087 dired-button()
6089 Handles a button event (other than press and release) by
6090 echoing the event's position (i.e., character line and column)
6091 in the following format:
6092 ^X ESC G <line+“ ”> <col+“ ”>
6094 dump-html()
6096 Invokes the XHTML Screen Dump feature.
6097 dump-svg()
6099 Invokes the SVG Screen Dump feature.
6100 exec-formatted(format, sourcename [, ...])
6102 Execute an external command, using the current selection for
6103 part of the command's parameters. The first parameter, format
6104 gives the basic command. Succeeding parameters specify the
6105 selection source as in insert-selection.
6106 The format parameter allows these substitutions:
6108 %% inserts a "%".
6110 %P the screen-position at the beginning of the highlighted
6112 region, as a semicolon-separated pair of integers using
6113 the values that the CUP control sequence would use.
6114 %p the screen-position after the beginning of the highlighted
6116 region, using the same convention as “%P”.
6117 %S the length of the string that “%s” would insert.
6119 %s the content of the selection, unmodified.
6121 %T the length of the string that “%t” would insert.
6123 %t the selection, trimmed of leading/trailing whitespace.
6125 Embedded spaces (and newlines) are copied as is.
6126 %R the length of the string that “%r” would insert.
6128 %r the selection, trimmed of trailing whitespace.
6130 %V the video attributes at the beginning of the highlighted
6132 region, as a semicolon-separated list of integers using
6133 the values that the SGR control sequence would use.
6134 %v the video attributes after the end of the highlighted
6136 region, using the same convention as “%V”.
6137 After constructing the command-string, xterm forks a subprocess
6139 and executes the command, which completes independently of
6140 xterm.
6141 For example, this translation would invoke a new xterm process
6143 to view a file whose name is selected while holding the shift
6144 key down. The new process is started when the mouse button is
6145 released:
6146 *VT100*translations: #override Shift \
6148 <Btn1Up>:exec-formatted("xterm -e view '%t'", SELECT)
6149 exec-selectable(format, onClicks)
6151 Execute an external command, using data copied from the screen
6152 for part of the command's parameters. The first parameter,
6153 format gives the basic command as in exec-formatted. The
6154 second parameter specifies the method for copying the data as
6155 in the on2Clicks resource.
6156 fullscreen(on/off/toggle)
6158 This action sets, unsets or toggles the fullscreen resource.
6159 hard-reset()
6161 This action resets the scrolling region, tabs, window size, and
6162 cursor keys and clears the screen. It is also invoked from the
6163 hardreset entry in vtMenu.
6164 iconify()
6166 Iconifies the window.
6167 ignore()
6169 This action ignores the event but checks for special pointer
6170 position escape sequences.
6171 insert()
6173 This action inserts the character or string associated with the
6174 key that was pressed.
6175 insert-eight-bit()
6177 This action inserts an eight-bit (Meta) version of the
6178 character or string associated with the key that was pressed.
6179 Only single-byte values are treated specially. The exact
6180 action depends on the value of the altSendsEscape and the
6181 metaSendsEscape and the eightBitInput resources. The
6182 metaSendsEscape resource is tested first. See the
6183 eightBitInput resource for a full discussion.
6184 The term “eight-bit” is misleading: xterm checks if the key is
6186 in the range 128 to 255 (the eighth bit is set). If the value
6187 is in that range, depending on the resource values, xterm may
6188 then do one of the following:
6189 • add 128 to the value, setting its eighth bit,
6191 • send an ESC byte before the key, or
6193 • send the key unaltered.
6195 insert-formatted(format, sourcename [, ...])
6197 Insert the current selection or data related to it, formatted.
6198 The first parameter, format gives the template for the data as
6199 in exec-formatted. Succeeding parameters specify the selection
6200 source as in insert-selection.
6201 insert-selectable(format, onClicks)
6203 Insert data copied from the screen, formatted. The first
6204 parameter, format gives the template for the data as in
6205 exec-formatted. The second parameter specifies the method for
6206 copying the data as in the on2Clicks resource.
6207 insert-selection(sourcename [, ...])
6209 This action inserts the string found in the selection or
6210 cutbuffer indicated by sourcename. Sources are checked in the
6211 order given (case is significant) until one is found.
6212 Commonly-used selections include: PRIMARY, SECONDARY, and
6213 CLIPBOARD. Cut buffers are typically named CUT_BUFFER0 through
6214 CUT_BUFFER7.
6215 insert-seven-bit()
6217 This action is a synonym for insert(). The term “seven-bit” is
6218 misleading: it only implies that xterm does not try to add 128
6219 to the key's value as in insert-eight-bit().
6220 interpret(control-sequence)
6222 Interpret the given control sequence locally, i.e., without
6223 passing it to the host. This works by inserting the control
6224 sequence at the front of the input buffer. Use “\” to escape
6225 octal digits in the string. Xt does not allow you to put a
6226 null character (i.e., “\000”) in the string.
6227 keymap(name)
6229 This action dynamically defines a new translation table whose
6230 resource name is name with the suffix “Keymap” (i.e.,
6231 nameKeymap, where case is significant). The name None restores
6232 the original translation table.
6233 larger-vt-font()
6235 Set the font to the next larger one, based on the font
6236 dimensions. See also set-vt-font().
6237 load-vt-fonts(name[,class])
6239 Load fontnames from the given subresource name and class. That
6240 is, load the “*VT100.name.font”, resource as “*VT100.font” etc.
6241 If no name is given, the original set of fontnames is restored.
6242 Unlike set-vt-font(), this does not affect the escape- and
6244 select-fonts, since those are not based on resource values. It
6245 does affect the fonts loosely organized under the “Default”
6246 menu entry, including font, boldFont, wideFont and
6247 wideBoldFont.
6248 maximize()
6250 Resizes the window to fill the screen.
6251 meta-sends-escape()
6253 This action toggles the state of the metaSendsEscape resource.
6254 pointer-button()
6256 Use this action as a fall-back to handle button press- and
6257 release-events for the mouse control sequence protocol when the
6258 selection-related translations are suppressed with the
6259 omitTranslation resource.
6260 pointer-motion()
6262 Use this action as a fall-back to handle motion-events for the
6263 mouse control sequence protocol when the selection-related
6264 translations are suppressed with the omitTranslation resource.
6265 popup-menu(menuname)
6267 This action displays the specified popup menu. Valid names
6268 (case is significant) include: mainMenu, vtMenu, fontMenu, and
6269 tekMenu.
6270 print(printer-flags)
6272 This action prints the window. It is also invoked by the print
6273 entry in mainMenu.
6274 The action accepts optional parameters, which temporarily
6276 override resource settings. The parameter values are matched
6277 ignoring case:
6278 noFormFeed
6280 no form feed will be sent at the end of the last line
6281 printed (i.e., printerFormFeed is “false”).
6282 FormFeed
6284 a form feed will be sent at the end of the last line
6285 printed (i.e., printerFormFeed is “true”).
6286 noNewLine
6288 no newline will be sent at the end of the last line
6289 printed, and wrapped lines will be combined into long
6290 lines (i.e., printerNewLine is “false”).
6291 NewLine
6293 a newline will be sent at the end of the last line
6294 printed, and each line will be limited (by adding a
6295 newline) to the screen width (i.e., printerNewLine is
6296 “true”).
6297 noAttrs
6299 the page is printed without attributes (i.e.,
6300 printAttributes is “0”).
6301 monoAttrs
6303 the page is printed with monochrome (vt220) attributes
6304 (i.e., printAttributes is “1”).
6305 colorAttrs
6307 the page is printed with ANSI color attributes (i.e.,
6308 printAttributes is “2”).
6309 print-everything(printer-flags)
6311 This action sends the entire text history, in addition to the
6312 text currently visible, to the program given in the
6313 printerCommand resource. It allows the same optional
6314 parameters as the print action. With a suitable printer
6315 command, the action can be used to load the text history in an
6316 editor.
6317 print-immediate()
6319 Sends the text of the current window directly to a file, as
6320 specified by the printFileImmediate, printModeImmediate and
6321 printOptsImmediate resources.
6322 print-on-error()
6324 Toggles a flag telling xterm that if it exits with an X error,
6325 to send the text of the current window directly to a file, as
6326 specified by the printFileOnXError, printModeOnXError and
6327 printOptsOnXError resources.
6328 print-redir()
6330 This action toggles the printerControlMode between 0 and 2.
6331 The corresponding popup menu entry is useful for switching the
6332 printer off if you happen to change your mind after deciding to
6333 print random binary files on the terminal.
6334 quit()
6336 This action sends a SIGHUP to the subprogram and exits. It is
6337 also invoked by the quit entry in mainMenu.
6338 readline-button()
6340 Supports the optional readline feature by echoing repeated
6341 cursor forward or backward control sequences on button release
6342 event, to request that the host application update its notion
6343 of the cursor's position to match the button event.
6344 redraw()
6346 This action redraws the window. It is also invoked by the
6347 redraw entry in mainMenu.
6348 restore()
6350 Restores the window to the size before it was last maximized.
6351 scroll-back(count [,units [,mouse] ])
6353 This action scrolls the text window backward so that text that
6354 had previously scrolled off the top of the screen is now
6355 visible.
6356 The count argument indicates the number of units (which may be
6358 page, halfpage, pixel, or line) by which to scroll. If no
6359 count parameter is given, xterm uses the number of lines given
6360 by the scrollLines resource.
6361 An adjustment can be specified for the page or halfpage units
6363 by appending a “+” or “-” sign followed by a number, e.g.,
6364 page-2 to specify 2 lines less than a page.
6365 If the second parameter is omitted “lines” is used.
6367 If the third parameter mouse is given, the action is ignored
6369 when mouse reporting is enabled.
6370 scroll-forw(count [,units [,mouse] ])
6372 This action is similar to scroll-back except that it scrolls in
6373 the other direction.
6374 scroll-lock(on/off/toggle)
6376 This action sets, unsets or toggles internal state which tells
6377 xterm whether Scroll Lock is active, subject to the
6378 allowScrollLock resource.
6379 scroll-to(count)
6381 Scroll to the given line relative to the beginning of the
6382 saved-lines. For instance, “scroll-to(0)” would scroll to the
6383 beginning. Two special nonnumeric parameters are recognized:
6384 scroll-to(begin)
6386 Scroll to the beginning of the saved lines.
6387 scroll-to(end)
6389 Scroll to the end of the saved lines, i.e., to the
6390 currently active page.
6391 secure()
6393 This action toggles the Secure Keyboard mode (see SECURITY),
6394 and is invoked from the securekbd entry in mainMenu.
6395 select-cursor-end(destname [, ...])
6397 This action is similar to select-end except that it should be
6398 used with select-cursor-start.
6399 select-cursor-extend()
6401 This action is similar to select-extend except that it should
6402 be used with select-cursor-start.
6403 select-cursor-start()
6405 This action is similar to select-start except that it begins
6406 the selection at the current text cursor position.
6407 select-end(destname [, ...])
6409 This action puts the currently selected text into all of the
6410 selections or cutbuffers specified by destname. It also sends
6411 a mouse position and updates the internal selection state to
6412 reflect the end of the selection process.
6413 select-extend()
6415 This action tracks the pointer and extends the selection. It
6416 should only be bound to Motion events.
6417 select-set()
6419 This action stores text that corresponds to the current
6420 selection, without affecting the selection mode.
6421 select-start()
6423 This action begins text selection at the current pointer
6424 location. See the section on POINTER USAGE for information on
6425 making selections.
6426 send-signal(signame)
6428 This action sends the signal named by signame to the xterm
6429 subprocess (the shell or program specified with the -e command
6430 line option). It is also invoked by the suspend, continue,
6431 interrupt, hangup, terminate, and kill entries in mainMenu.
6432 Allowable signal names are (case is not significant): tstp (if
6433 supported by the operating system), suspend (same as tstp),
6434 cont (if supported by the operating system), int, hup, term,
6435 quit, alrm, alarm (same as alrm) and kill.
6436 set-8-bit-control(on/off/toggle)
6438 This action sets, unsets or toggles the eightBitControl
6439 resource. It is also invoked from the 8-bit-control entry in
6440 vtMenu.
6441 set-allow132(on/off/toggle)
6443 This action sets, unsets or toggles the c132 resource. It is
6444 also invoked from the allow132 entry in vtMenu.
6445 set-altscreen(on/off/toggle)
6447 This action sets, unsets or toggles between the alternate and
6448 current screens.
6449 set-appcursor(on/off/toggle)
6451 This action sets, unsets or toggles the handling Application
6452 Cursor Key mode and is also invoked by the appcursor entry in
6453 vtMenu.
6454 set-appkeypad(on/off/toggle)
6456 This action sets, unsets or toggles the handling of Application
6457 Keypad mode and is also invoked by the appkeypad entry in
6458 vtMenu.
6459 set-autolinefeed(on/off/toggle)
6461 This action sets, unsets or toggles automatic insertion of line
6462 feeds. It is also invoked by the autolinefeed entry in vtMenu.
6463 set-autowrap(on/off/toggle)
6465 This action sets, unsets or toggles automatic wrapping of long
6466 lines. It is also invoked by the autowrap entry in vtMenu.
6467 set-backarrow(on/off/toggle)
6469 This action sets, unsets or toggles the backarrowKey resource.
6470 It is also invoked from the backarrow key entry in vtMenu.
6471 set-bellIsUrgent(on/off/toggle)
6473 This action sets, unsets or toggles the bellIsUrgent resource.
6474 It is also invoked by the bellIsUrgent entry in vtMenu.
6475 set-cursesemul(on/off/toggle)
6477 This action sets, unsets or toggles the curses resource. It is
6478 also invoked from the cursesemul entry in vtMenu.
6479 set-cursorblink(on/off/toggle)
6481 This action sets, unsets or toggles the cursorBlink resource.
6482 It is also invoked from the cursorblink entry in vtMenu.
6483 set-font-doublesize(on/off/toggle)
6485 This action sets, unsets or toggles the fontDoublesize
6486 resource. It is also invoked by the font-doublesize entry in
6487 fontMenu.
6488 set-font-linedrawing(on/off/toggle)
6490 This action sets, unsets or toggles the xterm's state regarding
6491 whether the current font has line-drawing characters and
6492 whether it should draw them directly. It is also invoked by
6493 the font-linedrawing entry in fontMenu.
6494 set-font-packed(on/off/toggle)
6496 This action sets, unsets or toggles the forcePackedFont
6497 resource which controls use of the font's minimum or maximum
6498 glyph width. It is also invoked by the font-packed entry in
6499 fontMenu.
6500 set-hp-function-keys(on/off/toggle)
6502 This action sets, unsets or toggles the hpFunctionKeys
6503 resource. It is also invoked by the hpFunctionKeys entry in
6504 mainMenu.
6505 set-jumpscroll(on/off/toggle)
6507 This action sets, unsets or toggles the jumpscroll resource.
6508 It is also invoked by the jumpscroll entry in vtMenu.
6509 set-keep-clipboard(on/off/toggle)
6511 This action sets, unsets or toggles the keepClipboard resource.
6512 set-keep-selection(on/off/toggle)
6514 This action sets, unsets or toggles the keepSelection resource.
6515 It is also invoked by the keepSelection entry in vtMenu.
6516 set-logging(on/off/toggle)
6518 This action sets, unsets or toggles the state of the logging
6519 option.
6520 set-marginbell(on/off/toggle)
6522 This action sets, unsets or toggles the marginBell resource.
6523 set-num-lock(on/off/toggle)
6525 This action toggles the state of the numLock resource.
6526 set-old-function-keys(on/off/toggle)
6528 This action sets, unsets or toggles the state of legacy
6529 function keys. It is also invoked by the oldFunctionKeys entry
6530 in mainMenu.
6531 set-pop-on-bell(on/off/toggle)
6533 This action sets, unsets or toggles the popOnBell resource. It
6534 is also invoked by the poponbell entry in vtMenu.
6535 set-private-colors(on/off/toggle)
6537 This action sets, unsets or toggles the privateColorRegisters
6538 resource.
6539 set-render-font(on/off/toggle)
6541 This action sets, unsets or toggles the renderFont resource.
6542 It is also invoked by the render-font entry in fontMenu.
6543 set-reverse-video(on/off/toggle)
6545 This action sets, unsets or toggles the reverseVideo resource.
6546 It is also invoked by the reversevideo entry in vtMenu.
6547 set-reversewrap(on/off/toggle)
6549 This action sets, unsets or toggles the reverseWrap resource.
6550 It is also invoked by the reversewrap entry in vtMenu.
6551 set-sco-function-keys(on/off/toggle)
6553 This action sets, unsets or toggles the scoFunctionKeys
6554 resource. It is also invoked by the scoFunctionKeys entry in
6555 mainMenu.
6556 set-scroll-on-key(on/off/toggle)
6558 This action sets, unsets or toggles the scrollKey resource. It
6559 is also invoked from the scrollkey entry in vtMenu.
6560 set-scroll-on-tty-output(on/off/toggle)
6562 This action sets, unsets or toggles the scrollTtyOutput
6563 resource. It is also invoked from the scrollttyoutput entry in
6564 vtMenu.
6565 set-scrollbar(on/off/toggle)
6567 This action sets, unsets or toggles the scrollbar resource. It
6568 is also invoked by the scrollbar entry in vtMenu.
6569 set-select(on/off/toggle)
6571 This action sets, unsets or toggles the selectToClipboard
6572 resource. It is also invoked by the selectToClipboard entry in
6573 vtMenu.
6574 set-sixel-scrolling(on/off/toggle)
6576 This action toggles between inline (sixel scrolling) and
6577 absolute positioning. It can also be controlled via DEC
6578 private mode 80 (DECSDM) or from the sixelScrolling entry in
6579 the btMenu.
6580 set-sun-function-keys(on/off/toggle)
6582 This action sets, unsets or toggles the sunFunctionKeys
6583 resource. It is also invoked by the sunFunctionKeys entry in
6584 mainMenu.
6585 set-sun-keyboard(on/off/toggle)
6587 This action sets, unsets or toggles the sunKeyboard resource.
6588 It is also invoked by the sunKeyboard entry in mainMenu.
6589 set-tek-text(large/2/3/small)
6591 This action sets the font used in the Tektronix window to the
6592 value of the selected resource according to the argument. The
6593 argument can be either a keyword or single-letter alias, as
6594 shown in parentheses:
6595 large (l)
6597 Use resource fontLarge, same as menu entry tektextlarge.
6598 two (2)
6600 Use resource font2, same as menu entry tektext2.
6601 three (3)
6603 Use resource font3, same as menu entry tektext3.
6604 small (s)
6606 Use resource fontSmall, same as menu entry tektextsmall.
6607 set-terminal-type(type)
6609 This action directs output to either the vt or tek windows,
6610 according to the type string. It is also invoked by the
6611 tekmode entry in vtMenu and the vtmode entry in tekMenu.
6612 set-titeInhibit(on/off/toggle)
6614 This action sets, unsets or toggles the titeInhibit resource,
6615 which controls switching between the alternate and current
6616 screens.
6617 set-toolbar(on/off/toggle)
6619 This action sets, unsets or toggles the toolbar feature. It is
6620 also invoked by the toolbar entry in mainMenu.
6621 set-utf8-fonts(on/off/toggle)
6623 This action sets, unsets or toggles the utf8Fonts resource. It
6624 is also invoked by the utf8-fonts entry in fontMenu.
6625 set-utf8-mode(on/off/toggle)
6627 This action sets, unsets or toggles the utf8 resource. It is
6628 also invoked by the utf8-mode entry in fontMenu.
6629 set-utf8-title(on/off/toggle)
6631 This action sets, unsets or toggles the utf8Title resource. It
6632 is also invoked by the utf8-title entry in fontMenu.
6633 set-visibility(vt/tek,on/off/toggle)
6635 This action sets, unsets or toggles whether or not the vt or
6636 tek windows are visible. It is also invoked from the tekshow
6637 and vthide entries in vtMenu and the vtshow and tekhide entries
6638 in tekMenu.
6639 set-visual-bell(on/off/toggle)
6641 This action sets, unsets or toggles the visualBell resource.
6642 It is also invoked by the visualbell entry in vtMenu.
6643 set-vt-font(d/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/e/s [,normalfont [, boldfont]])
6645 This action sets the font or fonts currently being used in the
6646 VTxxx window. The first argument is a single character that
6647 specifies the font to be used:
6648 d or D indicate the default font (the font initially used when
6650 xterm was started),
6651 1 through 7 indicate the fonts specified by the font1 through
6653 font7 resources,
6654 e or E indicate the normal and bold fonts that have been set
6656 through escape codes (or specified as the second and
6657 third action arguments, respectively), and
6658 s or S indicate the font selection (as made by programs such as
6660 xfontsel(1)) indicated by the second action argument.
6661 If xterm is configured to support wide characters, an
6663 additional two optional parameters are recognized for the e
6664 argument: wide font and wide bold font.
6665 smaller-vt-font()
6667 Set the font to the next smaller one, based on the font
6668 dimensions. See also set-vt-font().
6669 soft-reset()
6671 This action resets the scrolling region. It is also invoked
6672 from the softreset entry in vtMenu. The effect is identical to
6673 a soft reset (DECSTR) control sequence.
6674 spawn-new-terminal(params)
6676 Spawn a new xterm process. This is available on systems which
6677 have a modern version of the process filesystem, e.g., “/proc”,
6678 which xterm can read.
6679 Use the “cwd” process entry, e.g., /proc/12345/cwd to obtain
6681 the working directory of the process which is running in the
6682 current xterm.
6683 On systems which have the “exe” process entry, e.g.,
6685 /proc/12345/exe, use this to obtain the actual executable.
6686 Otherwise, use the $PATH variable to find xterm.
6687 If parameters are given in the action, pass them to the new
6689 xterm process.
6690 start-cursor-extend()
6692 This action is similar to select-extend except that the
6693 selection is extended to the current text cursor position.
6694 start-extend()
6696 This action is similar to select-start except that the
6697 selection is extended to the current pointer location.
6698 string(string)
6700 This action inserts the specified text string as if it had been
6701 typed. Quotation is necessary if the string contains
6702 whitespace or non-alphanumeric characters. If the string
6703 argument begins with the characters “0x”, it is interpreted as
6704 a hex character constant.
6705 tek-copy()
6707 This action copies the escape codes used to generate the
6708 current window contents to a file in the current directory
6709 beginning with the name COPY. It is also invoked from the
6710 tekcopy entry in tekMenu.
6711 tek-page()
6713 This action clears the Tektronix window. It is also invoked by
6714 the tekpage entry in tekMenu.
6715 tek-reset()
6717 This action resets the Tektronix window. It is also invoked by
6718 the tekreset entry in tekMenu.
6719 vi-button()
6721 Handles a button event (other than press and release) by
6722 echoing a control sequence computed from the event's line
6723 number in the screen relative to the current line:
6724 ESC ^P
6726 or
6728 ESC ^N
6730 according to whether the event is before, or after the current
6732 line, respectively. The ^N (or ^P) is repeated once for each
6733 line that the event differs from the current line. The control
6734 sequence is omitted altogether if the button event is on the
6735 current line.
6736 visual-bell()
6738 This action flashes the window quickly.
6739 The Tektronix window also has the following action:
6741 gin-press(l/L/m/M/r/R)
6743 This action sends the indicated graphics input code.
6744 Default Key Bindings
6746 The default bindings in the VTxxx window use the SELECT token, which is
6747 set by the selectToClipboard resource. These are for the vt100 widget:
6748 Shift <KeyPress> Prior:scroll-back(1,halfpage) \n\
6750 Shift <KeyPress> Next:scroll-forw(1,halfpage) \n\
6751 Shift <KeyPress> Select:select-cursor-start() \
6752 select-cursor-end(SELECT, CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
6753 Shift <KeyPress> Insert:insert-selection(SELECT, CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
6754 Alt <Key>Return:fullscreen() \n\
6755 <KeyRelease> Scroll_Lock:scroll-lock() \n\
6756 Shift~Ctrl <KeyPress> KP_Add:larger-vt-font() \n\
6757 Shift Ctrl <KeyPress> KP_Add:smaller-vt-font() \n\
6758 Shift <KeyPress> KP_Subtract:smaller-vt-font() \n\
6759 ~Meta <KeyPress>:insert-seven-bit() \n\
6760 Meta <KeyPress>:insert-eight-bit() \n\
6761 !Ctrl <Btn1Down>:popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
6762 !Lock Ctrl <Btn1Down>:popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
6763 !Lock Ctrl @Num_Lock <Btn1Down>:popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
6764 ! @Num_Lock Ctrl <Btn1Down>:popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
6765 ~Meta <Btn1Down>:select-start() \n\
6766 ~Meta <Btn1Motion>:select-extend() \n\
6767 !Ctrl <Btn2Down>:popup-menu(vtMenu) \n\
6768 !Lock Ctrl <Btn2Down>:popup-menu(vtMenu) \n\
6769 !Lock Ctrl @Num_Lock <Btn2Down>:popup-menu(vtMenu) \n\
6770 ! @Num_Lock Ctrl <Btn2Down>:popup-menu(vtMenu) \n\
6771 ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn2Down>:ignore() \n\
6772 Meta <Btn2Down>:clear-saved-lines() \n\
6773 ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn2Up>:insert-selection(SELECT, CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
6774 !Ctrl <Btn3Down>:popup-menu(fontMenu) \n\
6775 !Lock Ctrl <Btn3Down>:popup-menu(fontMenu) \n\
6776 !Lock Ctrl @Num_Lock <Btn3Down>:popup-menu(fontMenu) \n\
6777 ! @Num_Lock Ctrl <Btn3Down>:popup-menu(fontMenu) \n\
6778 ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn3Down>:start-extend() \n\
6779 ~Meta <Btn3Motion>:select-extend() \n\
6780 Ctrl <Btn4Down>:scroll-back(1,halfpage,m) \n\
6781 Lock Ctrl <Btn4Down>:scroll-back(1,halfpage,m) \n\
6782 Lock @Num_Lock Ctrl <Btn4Down>:scroll-back(1,halfpage,m) \n\
6783 @Num_Lock Ctrl <Btn4Down>:scroll-back(1,halfpage,m) \n\
6784 <Btn4Down>:scroll-back(5,line,m) \n\
6785 Ctrl <Btn5Down>:scroll-forw(1,halfpage,m) \n\
6786 Lock Ctrl <Btn5Down>:scroll-forw(1,halfpage,m) \n\
6787 Lock @Num_Lock Ctrl <Btn5Down>:scroll-forw(1,halfpage,m) \n\
6788 @Num_Lock Ctrl <Btn5Down>:scroll-forw(1,halfpage,m) \n\
6789 <Btn5Down>:scroll-forw(5,line,m) \n\
6790 <BtnUp>:select-end(SELECT, CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
6791 <BtnMotion>:pointer-motion() \n\
6792 <BtnDown>:pointer-button() \n\
6793 <BtnUp>:pointer-button() \n\
6794 <BtnDown>:ignore()
6795 The default bindings in the Tektronix window are analogous but less
6797 extensive. These are for the tek4014 widget:
6798 ~Meta<KeyPress>: insert-seven-bit() \n\
6800 Meta<KeyPress>: insert-eight-bit() \n\
6801 !Ctrl <Btn1Down>: popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
6802 !Lock Ctrl <Btn1Down>: popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
6803 !Lock Ctrl @Num_Lock <Btn1Down>: popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
6804 !Ctrl @Num_Lock <Btn1Down>: popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
6805 !Ctrl <Btn2Down>: popup-menu(tekMenu) \n\
6806 !Lock Ctrl <Btn2Down>: popup-menu(tekMenu) \n\
6807 !Lock Ctrl @Num_Lock <Btn2Down>: popup-menu(tekMenu) \n\
6808 !Ctrl @Num_Lock <Btn2Down>: popup-menu(tekMenu) \n\
6809 Shift ~Meta<Btn1Down>: gin-press(L) \n\
6810 ~Meta<Btn1Down>: gin-press(l) \n\
6811 Shift ~Meta<Btn2Down>: gin-press(M) \n\
6812 ~Meta<Btn2Down>: gin-press(m) \n\
6813 Shift ~Meta<Btn3Down>: gin-press(R) \n\
6814 ~Meta<Btn3Down>: gin-press(r)
6815 Custom Key Bindings
6817 You can modify the translations resource by overriding parts of it, or
6818 merging your resources with it.
6819 Here is an example which uses shifted select/paste to copy to the
6821 clipboard, and unshifted select/paste for the primary selection. In
6822 each case, a (different) cut buffer is also a target or source of the
6823 select/paste operation. It is important to remember however, that cut
6824 buffers store data in ISO-8859-1 encoding, while selections can store
6825 data in a variety of formats and encodings. While xterm owns the
6826 selection, it highlights it. When it loses the selection, it removes
6827 the corresponding highlight. But you can still paste from the
6828 corresponding cut buffer.
6829 *VT100*translations: #override \n\
6831 ~Shift~Ctrl<Btn2Up>: insert-selection(PRIMARY, CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
6832 Shift~Ctrl<Btn2Up>: insert-selection(CLIPBOARD, CUT_BUFFER1) \n\
6833 ~Shift <BtnUp> : select-end(PRIMARY, CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
6834 Shift <BtnUp> : select-end(CLIPBOARD, CUT_BUFFER1)
6835 In the example, the class name VT100 is used rather than the widget
6837 name. These are different; a class name could apply to more than one
6838 widget. A leading “*” is used because the widget hierarchy above the
6839 vt100 widget depends on whether the toolbar support is compiled into
6840 xterm.
6841 Most of the predefined translations are related to the mouse, with a
6843 few that use some of the special keys on the keyboard. Applications
6844 use special keys (function-keys, cursor-keys, keypad-keys) with
6845 modifiers (shift, control, alt). If xterm defines a translation for a
6846 given combination of special key and modifier, that makes it
6847 unavailable for use by applications within the terminal. For instance,
6848 one might extend the use of Page Up and Page Down keys seen here:
6849 Shift <KeyPress> Prior : scroll-back(1,halfpage) \n\
6851 Shift <KeyPress> Next : scroll-forw(1,halfpage) \n\
6852 to the Home and End keys:
6854 Shift <KeyPress> Home : scroll-to(begin) \n\
6856 Shift <KeyPress> End : scroll-to(end)
6857 but then shift-Home and shift-End would then be unavailable to
6859 applications.
6860 Not everyone finds the three-button mouse bindings easy to use. In a
6862 wheel mouse, the middle button might be the wheel. As an alternative,
6863 you could add a binding using shifted keys:
6864 *VT100*translations: #override \n\
6866 Shift <Key>Home: copy-selection(SELECT) \n\
6867 Shift <Key>Insert: copy-selection(SELECT) \n\
6868 Ctrl Shift <Key>C: copy-selection(SELECT) \n\
6869 Ctrl Shift <Key>V: insert-selection(SELECT)
6870 You would still use the left- and right-mouse buttons (typically 1 and
6872 3) for beginning and extending selections.
6873 Besides mouse problems, there are also keyboards with inconvenient
6875 layouts. Some lack a numeric keypad, making it hard to use the shifted
6876 keypad plus and minus bindings for switching between font sizes. You
6877 can work around that by assigning the actions to more readily accessed
6878 keys:
6879 *VT100*translations: #override \n\
6881 Ctrl <Key> +: larger-vt-font() \n\
6882 Ctrl <Key> -: smaller-vt-font()
6883 The keymap feature allows you to switch between sets of translations.
6885 The sample below shows how the keymap() action may be used to add
6886 special keys for entering commonly-typed words:
6887 *VT100.Translations: #override <Key>F13: keymap(dbx)
6889 *VT100.dbxKeymap.translations: \
6890 <Key>F14: keymap(None) \n\
6891 <Key>F17: string("next") \n\
6892 string(0x0d) \n\
6893 <Key>F18: string("step") \n\
6894 string(0x0d) \n\
6895 <Key>F19: string("continue") \n\
6896 string(0x0d) \n\
6897 <Key>F20: string("print ") \n\
6898 insert-selection(PRIMARY, CUT_BUFFER0)
6899 Default Scrollbar Bindings
6901 Key bindings are normally associated with the vt100 or tek4014 widgets
6902 which act as terminal emulators. Xterm's scrollbar (and toolbar if it
6903 is configured) are separate widgets. Because all of these use the X
6904 Toolkit, they have corresponding translations resources. Those
6905 resources are distinct, and match different patterns, e.g., the
6906 differences in widget-name and number of levels of widgets which they
6907 may contain.
6908 The scrollbar widget is a child of the vt100 widget. It is positioned
6910 on top of the vt100 widget. Toggling the scrollbar on and off causes
6911 the vt100 widget to resize.
6912 The default bindings for the scrollbar widget use only mouse-button
6914 events:
6915 <Btn5Down>: StartScroll(Forward) \n\
6917 <Btn1Down>: StartScroll(Forward) \n\
6918 <Btn2Down>: StartScroll(Continuous) MoveThumb() NotifyThumb() \n\
6919 <Btn3Down>: StartScroll(Backward) \n\
6920 <Btn4Down>: StartScroll(Backward) \n\
6921 <Btn2Motion>: MoveThumb() NotifyThumb() \n\
6922 <BtnUp>: NotifyScroll(Proportional) EndScroll()
6923 Events which the scrollbar widget does not recognize at all are lost.
6925 However, at startup, xterm augments these translations with the default
6927 translations used for the vt100 widget, together with the resource
6928 “actions” which those translations use. Because the scrollbar (or
6929 menubar) widgets do not recognize these actions (but because it has a
6930 corresponding translation), they are passed on to the vt100 widget.
6931 This augmenting of the scrollbar's translations has a few limitations:
6933 • Xterm knows what the default translations are, but there is no
6935 suitable library interface for determining what customizations a
6936 user may have added to the vt100 widget. All that xterm can do is
6937 augment the scrollbar widget to give it the same starting point for
6938 further customization by the user.
6939 • Events in the gap between the widgets may be lost.
6941 • Compose sequences begun in one widget cannot be completed in the
6943 other, because the input methods for each widget do not share
6944 context information.
6945 Most customizations of the scrollbar translations do not concern key
6947 bindings. Rather, users are generally more interested in changing the
6948 bindings of the mouse buttons. For example, some people prefer using
6949 the left pointer button for dragging the scrollbar thumb. That can be
6950 set up by altering the translations resource, e.g.,
6951 *VT100.scrollbar.translations: #override \n\
6953 <Btn5Down>: StartScroll(Forward) \n\
6954 <Btn1Down>: StartScroll(Continuous) MoveThumb() NotifyThumb() \n\
6955 <Btn4Down>: StartScroll(Backward) \n\
6956 <Btn1Motion>: MoveThumb() NotifyThumb() \n\
6957 <BtnUp>: NotifyScroll(Proportional) EndScroll()
6958
6960 Applications can send sequences of characters to the terminal to change
6961 its behavior. Often they are referred to as “ANSI escape sequences” or
6962 just plain “escape sequences” but both terms are misleading:
6963 • ANSI x3.64 (obsolete) which was replaced by ISO 6429 (ECMA-48) gave
6965 rules for the format of these sequences of characters.
6966 • While the original VT100 was claimed to be ANSI-compatible (against
6968 x3.64), there is no freely available version of the ANSI standard
6969 to show where the VT100 differs. Most of the documents which
6970 mention the ANSI standard have additions not found in the original
6971 (such as those based on ansi.sys). So this discussion focuses on
6972 the ISO standards.
6973 • The standard describes only sequences sent from the host to the
6975 terminal. There is no standard for sequences sent by special keys
6976 from the terminal to the host. By convention (and referring to
6977 existing terminals), the format of those sequences usually conforms
6978 to the host-to-terminal standard.
6979 • Some of xterm's sequences do not fit into the standard scheme.
6981 Technically those are “unspecified”. As an example, DEC Screen
6982 Alignment Test (DECALN) is this three-character sequence:
6983 ESC # 8
6985 • Some sequences fit into the standard format, but are not listed in
6987 the standard. These include the sequences used for setting up
6988 scrolling margins and doing forward/reverse scrolling.
6989 • Some of the sequences (in particular, the single-character
6991 functions such as tab and backspace) do not include the escape
6992 character.
6993 With all of that in mind, the standard refers to these sequences of
6995 characters as “control sequences”.
6996 Xterm Control Sequences lists the control sequences which an
6998 application can send xterm to make it perform various operations. Most
6999 of these operations are standardized, from either the DEC or Tektronix
7000 terminals, or from more widely used standards such as ISO-6429.
7001 A few examples of usage are given in this section.
7003 Window and Icon Titles
7005 Some scripts use echo with options -e and -n to tell the shell to
7006 interpret the string “\e” as the escape character and to suppress a
7007 trailing newline on output. Those are not portable, nor recommended.
7008 Instead, use printf (POSIX).
7009 For example, to set the window title to “Hello world!”, you could use
7011 one of these commands in a script:
7012 printf '\033]2;Hello world!\033\\'
7014 printf '\033]2;Hello world!\007'
7015 printf '\033]2;%s\033\\' "Hello world!"
7016 printf '\033]2;%s\007' "Hello world!"
7017 The printf command interprets the octal value “\033” for escape, and
7019 (since it was not given in the format) omits a trailing newline from
7020 the output.
7021 Some programs (such as screen(1)) set both window- and icon-titles at
7023 the same time, using a slightly different control sequence:
7024 printf '\033]0;Hello world!\033\\'
7026 printf '\033]0;Hello world!\007'
7027 printf '\033]0;%s\033\\' "Hello world!"
7028 printf '\033]0;%s\007' "Hello world!"
7029 The difference is the parameter “0” in each command. Most window
7031 managers will honor either window title or icon title. Some will make
7032 a distinction and allow you to set just the icon title. You can tell
7033 xterm to ask for this with a different parameter in the control
7034 sequence:
7035 printf '\033]1;Hello world!\033\\'
7037 printf '\033]1;Hello world!\007'
7038 printf '\033]1;%s\033\\' "Hello world!"
7039 printf '\033]1;%s\007' "Hello world!"
7040 Special Keys
7042 Xterm, like any VT100-compatible terminal emulator, has two modes for
7043 the special keys (cursor-keys, numeric keypad, and certain function-
7044 keys):
7045 • normal mode, which makes the special keys transmit “useful”
7047 sequences such as the control sequence for cursor-up when pressing
7048 the up-arrow, and
7049 • application mode, which uses a different control sequence that
7051 cannot be mistaken for the “useful” sequences.
7052 The main difference between the two modes is that normal mode sequences
7054 start with CSI (escape [) and application mode sequences start with SS3
7055 (escape O).
7056 The terminal is initialized into one of these two modes (usually the
7058 normal mode), based on the terminal description (termcap or terminfo).
7059 The terminal description also has capabilities (strings) defined for
7060 the keypad mode used in curses applications.
7061 There is a problem in using the terminal description for applications
7063 that are not intended to be full-screen curses applications: the
7064 definitions of special keys are only correct for this keypad mode. For
7065 example, some shells (unlike ksh(1), which appears to be hard-coded,
7066 not even using termcap) allow their users to customize key-bindings,
7067 assigning shell actions to special keys.
7068 • bash(1) allows constant strings to be assigned to functions. This
7070 is only successful if the terminal is initialized to application
7071 mode by default, because bash lacks flexibility in this area. It
7072 uses a (less expressive than bash's) readline scripting language
7073 for setting up key bindings, which relies upon the user to
7074 statically enumerate the possible bindings for given values of
7075 $TERM.
7076 • zsh(1) provides an analogous feature, but it accepts runtime
7078 expressions, as well as providing a $terminfo array for scripts.
7079 In particular, one can use the terminal database, transforming when
7080 defining a key-binding. By transforming the output so that CSI and
7081 SS3 are equated, zsh can use the terminal database to obtain useful
7082 definitions for its command-line use regardless of whether the
7083 terminal uses normal or application mode initially. Here is an
7084 example:
7085 [[ "$terminfo[kcuu1]" == "^[O"* ]] && \
7087 bindkey -M viins "${terminfo[kcuu1]/O/[}" \
7088 vi-up-line-or-history
7089 Changing Colors
7091 A few shell programs provide the ability for users to add color and
7092 other video attributes to the shell prompt strings. Users can do this
7093 by setting $PS1 (the primary prompt string). Again, bash and zsh have
7094 provided features not found in ksh. There is a problem, however: the
7095 prompt's width on the screen will not necessarily be the same as the
7096 number of characters. Because there is no guidance in the POSIX
7097 standard, each shell addresses the problem in a different way:
7098 • bash treats characters within “\[” and “\]” as nonprinting (using
7100 no width on the screen).
7101 • zsh treats characters within “%{” and “%}” as nonprinting.
7103 In addition to the difference in syntax, the shells provide different
7105 methods for obtaining useful escape sequences:
7106 • As noted in Special Keys, zsh initializes the $terminfo array with
7108 the terminal capabilities.
7109 It also provides a function echoti which works like tput(1) to
7111 convert a terminal capability with its parameters into a string
7112 that can be written to the terminal.
7113 • Shells lacking a comparable feature (such as bash) can always use
7115 the program tput to do this transformation.
7116 Hard-coded escape sequences are supported by each shell, but are not
7118 recommended because those rely upon particular configurations and
7119 cannot be easily moved between different user environments.
7120
7122 Xterm sets several environment variables.
7123 System Independent
7125 Some variables are used on every system:
7126 DISPLAY
7128 is the display name, pointing to the X server (see DISPLAY NAMES
7129 in X(7)).
7130 TERM
7132 is set according to the terminfo (or termcap) entry which it is
7133 using as a reference.
7134 On some systems, you may encounter situations where the shell
7136 which you use and xterm are built using libraries with different
7137 terminal databases. In that situation, xterm may choose a
7138 terminal description not known to the shell.
7139 WINDOWID
7141 is set to the X window id number of the xterm window.
7142 XTERM_FILTER
7144 is set if a locale-filter is used. The value is the pathname of
7145 the filter.
7146 XTERM_LOCALE
7148 shows the locale which was used by xterm on startup. Some shell
7149 initialization scripts may set a different locale.
7150 XTERM_SHELL
7152 is set to the pathname of the program which is invoked. Usually
7153 that is a shell program, e.g., /bin/sh. Since it is not
7154 necessarily a shell program however, it is distinct from “SHELL”.
7155 XTERM_VERSION
7157 is set to the string displayed by the -version option. That is
7158 normally an identifier for the X Window libraries used to build
7159 xterm, followed by xterm's patch number in parenthesis. The patch
7160 number is also part of the response to a Secondary Device
7161 Attributes (DA) control sequence (see Xterm Control Sequences).
7162 System Dependent
7164 Depending on your system configuration, xterm may also set the
7165 following:
7166 COLUMNS
7168 the width of the xterm in characters (cf: “stty columns”).
7169 When this variable is set, curses applications (and most terminal
7171 programs) will assume that the terminal has this many columns.
7172 Xterm would do this for systems which have no ability to tell the
7174 size of the terminal. Those are very rare, none newer than the
7175 mid 1990s when SVR4 became prevalent.
7176 HOME
7178 when xterm is configured (at build-time) to update utmp.
7179 LINES
7181 the height of the xterm in characters (cf: “stty rows”).
7182 When this variable is set, curses applications (and most terminal
7184 programs) will assume that the terminal has this many lines
7185 (rows).
7186 Xterm would do this for systems which have no ability to tell the
7188 size of the terminal. Those are very rare, none newer than the
7189 mid 1990s when SVR4 became prevalent.
7190 LOGNAME
7192 when xterm is configured (at build-time) to update utmp.
7193 Your configuration may have set LOGNAME; xterm does not modify
7195 that. If it is unset, xterm will use USER if it is set. Finally,
7196 if neither is set, xterm will use the getlogin(3) function.
7197 SHELL
7199 when xterm is configured (at build-time) to update utmp. It is
7200 also set if you provide a valid shell name as the optional
7201 parameter.
7202 Xterm sets this to an absolute pathname. If you have set the
7204 variable to a relative pathname, xterm may set it to a different
7205 shell pathname.
7206 If you have set this to an pathname which does not correspond to a
7208 valid shell, xterm may unset it, to avoid confusion.
7209 TERMCAP
7211 the contents of the termcap entry corresponding to $TERM, with
7212 lines and columns values substituted for the actual size window
7213 you have created.
7214 This feature is, like LINES and COLUMNS, used rarely. It
7216 addresses the same limitation of a few older systems by providing
7217 a way for termcap-based applications to get the initial screen
7218 size.
7219 TERMINFO
7221 may be defined to a nonstandard location using the configure
7222 script.
7223
7225 In the output from xprop(1), there are several properties.
7226 Properties set by X Toolkit
7228 WM_CLASS
7229 This shows the instance name and the X resource class, passed to X
7230 Toolkit during initialization of xterm, e.g.,
7231 WM_CLASS(STRING) = "xterm", "UXTerm"
7233 WM_CLIENT_LEADER
7235 This shows the window-id which xterm provides with an environment
7236 variable (WINDOWID), e.g.,
7237 WM_CLIENT_LEADER(WINDOW): window id # 0x800023
7239 WM_COMMAND
7241 This shows the command-line arguments for xterm which are passed
7242 to X Toolkit during initialization, e.g.,
7243 WM_COMMAND(STRING) = { "xterm", "-class", "UXTerm", "-title", "uxterm", "-u8" }
7245 WM_ICON_NAME
7247 This holds the icon title, which different window managers handle
7248 in various ways. It is set via the iconName resource.
7249 Applications can change this using control sequences.
7250 WM_LOCALE_NAME
7252 This shows the result from the setlocale(3) function for the
7253 LC_CTYPE category, e.g.,
7254 WM_LOCALE_NAME(STRING) = "en_US.UTF-8"
7256 WM_NAME
7258 This holds the window title, normally at the top of xterm's
7259 window. It is set via the title resource. Applications can
7260 change this using control sequences.
7261 Properties set by Xterm
7263 X Toolkit does not manage EWMH properties. Xterm does this directly.
7264 _NET_WM_ICON_NAME
7266 stores the icon name.
7267 _NET_WM_NAME
7269 stores the title string.
7270 _NET_WM_PID
7272 stores the process identifier for xterm's display.
7273 Properties used by Xterm
7275 _NET_SUPPORTED
7276 Xterm checks this property on the supporting window to decide if
7277 the window manager supports specific maximizing styles. That may
7278 include other window manager hints; xterm uses the X library calls
7279 to manage those.
7280 _NET_SUPPORTING_WM_CHECK
7282 Xterm checks this to ensure that it will only update the EWMH
7283 properties for a window manager which claims EWMH compliance.
7284 _NET_WM_STATE
7286 This tells xterm whether its window has been maximized by the
7287 window manager, and if so, what type of maximizing:
7288 _NET_WM_STATE_FULLSCREEN
7290 _NET_WM_STATE_MAXIMIZED_HORZ
7292 _NET_WM_STATE_MAXIMIZED_VERT
7294
7296 The actual pathnames given may differ on your system.
7297 /etc/shells
7299 contains a list of valid shell programs, used by xterm to decide
7300 if the “SHELL” environment variable should be set for the process
7301 started by xterm.
7302 On systems which have the getusershell function, xterm will use
7304 that function rather than directly reading the file, since the
7305 file may not be present if the system uses default settings.
7306 /etc/utmp
7308 the system log file, which records user logins.
7309 /etc/wtmp
7311 the system log file, which records user logins and logouts.
7312 /usr/share/X11/app-defaults/XTerm
7314 the xterm default application resources.
7315 /usr/share/X11/app-defaults/XTerm-color
7317 the xterm color application resources. If your display supports
7318 color, use this
7319 *customization: -color
7321 in your .Xdefaults file to automatically use this resource file
7323 rather than /usr/share/X11/app-defaults/XTerm. If you do not do
7324 this, xterm uses its compiled-in default resource settings for
7325 colors.
7326 /usr/share/pixmaps
7328 the directory in which xterm's pixmap icon files are installed.
7329
7331 Most of the fatal error messages from xterm use the following format:
7332 xterm: Error XXX, errno YYY: ZZZ
7334 The XXX codes (which are used by xterm as its exit-code) are listed
7336 below, with a brief explanation.
7337 1 is used for miscellaneous errors, usually accompanied by a
7339 specific message,
7340 11 ERROR_FIONBIO
7342 main: ioctl() failed on FIONBIO
7343 12 ERROR_F_GETFL
7345 main: ioctl() failed on F_GETFL
7346 13 ERROR_F_SETFL
7348 main: ioctl() failed on F_SETFL
7349 14 ERROR_OPDEVTTY
7351 spawn: open() failed on /dev/tty
7352 15 ERROR_TIOCGETP
7354 spawn: ioctl() failed on TIOCGETP
7355 17 ERROR_PTSNAME
7357 spawn: ptsname() failed
7358 18 ERROR_OPPTSNAME
7360 spawn: open() failed on ptsname
7361 19 ERROR_PTEM
7363 spawn: ioctl() failed on I_PUSH/"ptem"
7364 20 ERROR_CONSEM
7366 spawn: ioctl() failed on I_PUSH/"consem"
7367 21 ERROR_LDTERM
7369 spawn: ioctl() failed on I_PUSH/"ldterm"
7370 22 ERROR_TTCOMPAT
7372 spawn: ioctl() failed on I_PUSH/"ttcompat"
7373 23 ERROR_TIOCSETP
7375 spawn: ioctl() failed on TIOCSETP
7376 24 ERROR_TIOCSETC
7378 spawn: ioctl() failed on TIOCSETC
7379 25 ERROR_TIOCSETD
7381 spawn: ioctl() failed on TIOCSETD
7382 26 ERROR_TIOCSLTC
7384 spawn: ioctl() failed on TIOCSLTC
7385 27 ERROR_TIOCLSET
7387 spawn: ioctl() failed on TIOCLSET
7388 28 ERROR_INIGROUPS
7390 spawn: initgroups() failed
7391 29 ERROR_FORK
7393 spawn: fork() failed
7394 30 ERROR_EXEC
7396 spawn: exec() failed
7397 32 ERROR_PTYS
7399 get_pty: not enough ptys
7400 34 ERROR_PTY_EXEC
7402 waiting for initial map
7403 35 ERROR_SETUID
7405 spawn: setuid() failed
7406 36 ERROR_INIT
7408 spawn: can't initialize window
7409 46 ERROR_TIOCKSET
7411 spawn: ioctl() failed on TIOCKSET
7412 47 ERROR_TIOCKSETC
7414 spawn: ioctl() failed on TIOCKSETC
7415 49 ERROR_LUMALLOC
7417 luit: command-line malloc failed
7418 50 ERROR_SELECT
7420 in_put: select() failed
7421 54 ERROR_VINIT
7423 VTInit: can't initialize window
7424 57 ERROR_KMMALLOC1
7426 HandleKeymapChange: malloc failed
7427 60 ERROR_TSELECT
7429 Tinput: select() failed
7430 64 ERROR_TINIT
7432 TekInit: can't initialize window
7433 71 ERROR_BMALLOC2
7435 SaltTextAway: malloc() failed
7436 80 ERROR_LOGEXEC
7438 StartLog: exec() failed
7439 83 ERROR_XERROR
7441 xerror: XError event
7442 84 ERROR_XIOERROR
7444 xioerror: X I/O error
7445 85 ERROR_ICEERROR
7447 ICE I/O error
7448 90 ERROR_SCALLOC
7450 Alloc: calloc() failed on base
7451 91 ERROR_SCALLOC2
7453 Alloc: calloc() failed on rows
7454 102 ERROR_SAVE_PTR
7456 ScrnPointers: malloc/realloc() failed
7457
7459 Large pastes do not work on some systems. This is not a bug in xterm;
7460 it is a bug in the pseudo terminal driver of those systems. Xterm
7461 feeds large pastes to the pty only as fast as the pty will accept data,
7462 but some pty drivers do not return enough information to know if the
7463 write has succeeded.
7464 When connected to an input method, it is possible for xterm to hang if
7466 the XIM server is suspended or killed.
7467 Many of the options are not resettable after xterm starts.
7469 This program still needs to be rewritten. It should be split into very
7471 modular sections, with the various emulators being completely separate
7472 widgets that do not know about each other. Ideally, you'd like to be
7473 able to pick and choose emulator widgets and stick them into a single
7474 control widget.
7475 There needs to be a dialog box to allow entry of the Tek COPY file
7477 name.
7478
7480 resize(1), luit(1), uxterm(1), X(7), Xcursor(7), pty(4), tty(4)
7481 Xterm Control Sequences (this is the file ctlseqs.ms).
7483 https://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.html
7485 https://invisible-island.net/xterm/manpage/xterm.html
7486 https://invisible-island.net/xterm/ctlseqs/ctlseqs.html
7487 https://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.faq.html
7488 https://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.log.html
7489 X Toolkit Intrinsics – C Language Interface (Xt),
7491 Joel McCormack, Paul Asente, Ralph R. Swick (1994),
7492 Thomas E. Dickey (2019).
7493 Inter-Client Communication Conventions Manual (ICCCM),
7495 David Rosenthal and Stuart W. Marks (version 2.0, 1994).
7496 Extended Window Manager Hints (EWMH),
7498 X Desktop Group (version 1.3, 2005).
7499 EWMH uses UTF8_STRING pervasively without defining it, but does mention
7501 the ICCCM. Version 2.0 of the ICCCM does not address UTF-8. That is
7502 an extension added in XFree86.
7503 • Markus Kuhn summarized this in UTF-8 and Unicode FAQ for Unix/Linux
7505 (2001), in the section “Is X11 ready for Unicode?”
7506 https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/unicode.html
7508 • Juliusz Chroboczek proposed the UTF8_STRING selection atom in
7510 1999/2000, which became part of the ICCCM in XFree86.
7511 https://www.irif.fr/~jch/software/UTF8_STRING/
7513 An Xorg developer removed that part of the documentation in 2004
7515 when incorporating other work from XFree86 into Xorg. The feature
7516 is still supported in Xorg, though undocumented as of 2019.
7517
7519 Far too many people.
7520 These contributed to the X Consortium: Loretta Guarino Reid (DEC-UEG-
7522 WSL), Joel McCormack (DEC-UEG-WSL), Terry Weissman (DEC-UEG-WSL),
7523 Edward Moy (Berkeley), Ralph R. Swick (MIT-Athena), Mark Vandevoorde
7524 (MIT-Athena), Bob McNamara (DEC-MAD), Jim Gettys (MIT-Athena), Bob
7525 Scheifler (MIT X Consortium), Doug Mink (SAO), Steve Pitschke
7526 (Stellar), Ron Newman (MIT-Athena), Jim Fulton (MIT X Consortium), Dave
7527 Serisky (HP), Jonathan Kamens (MIT-Athena).
7528 Beginning with XFree86, there were far more identifiable contributors.
7530 The THANKS file in xterm's source lists 234 in August 2021. Keep in
7531 mind these: Jason Bacon, Jens Schweikhardt, Ross Combs, Stephen P.
7532 Wall, David Wexelblat, and Thomas Dickey (invisible-island.net).
7533Patch #371 2022-02-24 XTERM(1)