XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
NAME
xterm - terminal emulator for X
SYNOPSIS
xterm [-toolkitoption ...] [-option ...]
DESCRIPTION
xterm is a terminal emulator for GSE. It provides DEC
VT102 and Tektronix 4014 compatible terminals for
programs that cannot use the window system directly.
If the underlying operating system supports terminal
resizing capabilities (e.g., the SIGWINCH signal in
systems derived from 4.3BSD), xterm uses the facilities
to notify programs running in the window whenever it is
resized.
The VT102 and Tektronix 4014 terminals each have their
own window so you can edit text in one and look at
graphics in the other simultaneously. To maintain the
correct aspect ratio (height/width), Tektronix graphics
is restricted to the largest box with a 4014's aspect
ratio that fits in the window. This box is located in
the upper left area of the window.
Although both windows may be displayed at the same
time, one of them is considered the active window for
receiving keyboard input and terminal output. This is
the window that contains the text cursor and whose
border highlights whenever the pointer is in either
window. The active window can be chosen through escape
sequences, the Modes menu in the VT102 window, and the
Tektronix menu in the 4014 window.
OPTIONS
xterm accepts all the standard X Toolkit command line
options with the following additional options (if the
option begins with a + instead of a -, the option is
restored to its default value):
-help
causes xterm to print out a verbose message
describing its options.
-132
normally, the VT102 DECCOLM escape sequence that
switches between 80 and 132 column mode is ignored.
This option causes the DECCOLM escape sequence to
be recognized, and the xterm window resizes
appropriately.
-ah
indicates that xterm should always highlight the
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
text cursor and borders. By default, xterm will
display a hollow text cursor whenever the focus is
lost or the pointer leaves the window.
+ah
indicates that xterm should do text cursor
highlighting.
-b number
specifies the size of the inner border (the
distance between the outer edge of the characters
and the window border) in pixels. The default is
2.
-cc characterclassrange:value[,...]
sets classes indicated by the given ranges for use
in selecting words. Refer to the section
specifying character classes.
-cn
indicates that newlines should not be cut in line-
mode selections.
+cn
indicates that newlines should be cut in line-mode
selections.
-cr color
specifies the color to use for text cursor. The
default is black.
-cu
indicates that xterm should work around a bug in
the curses(3x) cursor motion package that causes
the more(1) program to display lines that are
exactly the width of the window and are followed by
a line beginning with a tab to be displayed
incorrectly (the leading tabs are not displayed).
+cu
indicates that xterm should not work around the
curses(3x) bug mentioned above.
-e program [arguments ...]
specifies the program (and its command line
arguments) to be run in the xterm window. It also
sets the window title and icon name to be the
basename of the program being executed if neither
-T nor -n are given on the command line. This must
be the last option on the command line.
-fb font
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
specifies a font to use when displaying bold text.
This font must be the same height and width as the
normal font. If only one of the normal or bold
fonts is specified, it is used as the normal font
and the bold font is produced by overstriking this
font. The default is to do overstriking of the
normal font.
+j
indicates that xterm should not do jump scrolling.
-j
indicates that xterm should do jump scrolling.
Normally, text is scrolled one line at a time; this
option allows xterm to move multiple lines at a
time so that it does not fall as far behind. Its
use is strongly recommended because it makes xterm
faster when scanning through large amounts of text.
You can use the VT100 escape sequences for enabling
and disabling smooth scroll as well as the Modes
menu to turn this feature on or off.
-l
indicates that xterm should send all terminal
output to a log file and to the screen. You can
enable or disable this option using the xterm X11
menu.
+l
indicates that xterm should not do logging.
-lf filename
specifies the name of the file to which the output
log described above is written. If file begins
with a pipe symbol (|), the rest of the string is
assumed to be a command to be used as the endpoint
of a pipe. The default filename is XtermLog.XXXXX
(where XXXXX is the process id of xterm) and is
created in the directory from which xterm was
started (or the user's home directory in the case
of a login window).
-ls
indicates the shell that is started in the xterm
window is a login shell (i.e., the first character
of argv[0] will be a dash, indicating to the shell
that it should read the user's .login or .profile).
+ls
indicates that the shell that is started should not
be a login shell (i.e., it will be normal subshell.
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
-mb
indicates that xterm should ring a margin bell when
the user types near the right end of a line. You
can turn this option on and off from the Modes
menu.
+mb
indicates not to ring the margin bell.
-mc milliseconds
specifies the maximum time between multi-click
selections.
-ms color
specifies the color to use for the pointer cursor.
The default is to use the foreground color.
-nb number
specifies the number of characters from the right
end of a line at which the margin bell, if enabled,
will ring. The default is 10.
-rw
indicates to allow reverse-wraparound, which allows
the cursor to back up from the leftmost column of
one line to the rightmost column of the previous
line. This is useful for editing long shell
command lines and is encouraged. You can turn this
option on and off from the Modes menu.
+rw
indicates not to allow reverse-wraparound.
-aw
indicates to allow auto-wraparound which allows the
cursor to automatically wrap to the beginning of
the next line when it is at the rightmost position
of a line and text is output.
+aw
indicates not to allow auto-wraparound.
-s
indicates that xterm may scroll asynchronously,
meaning that the screen does not have to be kept
completely up-to-date while scrolling. This allows
xterm to run faster when network latencies are high
and is useful when running across a large internet
or many gateways.
+s
indicates that xterm should scroll synchronously.
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
-sb
indicates to save some number of lines that are
scrolled off the top of the window and display a
scrollbar so that those lines can be viewed. You
can turn this option on and off from the Modes
menu.
+sb
indicates not to display a scrollbar.
-sf
indicates to generate Sun Function Key escape codes
generated for function keys.
+sf
indicates to generate the standard escape codes for
function keys.
-si
indicates that output to a window should not
automatically reposition the screen to the bottom
of the scrolling region. You can turn this option
on and off from the Modes menu.
+si
indicates that output to a window should cause it
to scroll to the bottom.
-sk
indicates that pressing a key while using the
scrollbar to review previous lines of text should
cause the window to be repositioned automatically
in the normal position at the bottom of the scroll
region.
+sk
indicates that pressing a key while using the
scrollbar should not cause the window to be
repositioned.
-sl number
specifies the number of lines to save that have
scrolled off the top of the screen. The default is
64.
-t
indicates that xterm should start in Tektronix
mode, rather than in VT102 mode. Switching between
the two windows is done using the Modes menus.
+t
indicates that xterm should start in VT102 mode.
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
-tm string
specifies a series of terminal setting keywords
followed by the characters that should be bound to
those functions, similar to the stty program.
Allowable keywords include: intr, quit, erase,
kill, eof, eol, swtch, start, stop, brk, susp,
dsusp, rprnt, flush, weras, and lnext. Control
characters may be specified as ^char (e.g., ^c or
^u) and ^? may be used to indicate delete.
-tn name
specifies the name of the terminal type to be set
in the TERM environment variable. This terminal
type must exist in the termcap(5) database and
should have li# and co# entries.
-ut
indicates that xterm should not write a record into
the system log file /etc/utmp.
+ut
indicates that xterm should write a record into the
system log file /etc/utmp.
-vb
indicates that a visual bell is preferred over an
audible one. Instead of ringing the terminal bell
whenever a <CTRL-G> is received, the window will be
flashed.
+vb
indicates not to use a visual bell.
-CE
specifies to reroute output from ROM console
emulator to this xterm; you can only use this
option on one xterm. The server for this xterm
must be connected to the first port of the
MVME792-A or MVME795-2 transition board to which
the console port is routed. With this option,
xterm emulates a VT52 to match the ROM console
emulator; set the TERM environment variable to
VT52.
-D ttydevice
indicates xterm should connect directly to the
given tty device instead of a pty. To exit this
xterm, type <CARRIAGE RETURN> followed by a tilde (
) and a period (.). The group and owner of the
~
tty device are set to the real group and owner of
the user starting the xterm.
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-IFLAGS value
directly sets the c_iflag field of the termio
structure for the tty device selected with -D.
This field controls the input modes of the tty
device; only parsed when -D option is present (see
TERMIO(7)).
-OFLAGS value
directly sets the c_oflag field of the termio
structure for the tty device selected with -D.
This field controls the output modes of the tty
device; only parsed when -D option is present (see
TERMIO(7)).
-CFLAGS value
directly sets the c_cflag field of the termio
structure for the tty device selected with -D.
This field controls the control modes of the tty
device; only parsed when -D option is present (see
TERMIO(7)).
-LFLAGS value
directly sets the c_lflag field of the termio
structure for the tty device selected with -D.
This field controls the local modes of the tty
device; only parsed when -D option is present (see
TERMIO(7)).
-wf
indicates that xterm should wait for the window to
be mapped the first time before starting the
subprocess so that the initial terminal size
settings and environment variables are correct. It
is the application's responsibility to catch
subsequent terminal size changes.
+wf
indicates that xterm show not wait before starting
the subprocess.
-C
indicates that this window should receive console
output. This option is not supported on all
systems.
-Sccn
specifies the last two letters of the name of a
pseudoterminal to use in slave mode, plus the
number of the inherited file descriptor. The
option is parsed %c%c%d. This allows xterm to be
used as an input and output channel for an existing
program and is sometimes used in specialized
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
applications.
The following standard X Toolkit command line arguments
are commonly used with xterm:
-bg color
specifies the color to use for the background of
the window. The default is white.
-bd color
specifies the color to use for the border of the
window. The default is black.
-bw number
specifies the width in pixels of the border
surrounding the window.
-fg color
specifies the color to use for displaying text.
The default is black.
-fn font
specifies the font to use for displaying normal
text. The default is fixed.
-name name
specifies the application name under which
resources are to be obtained, instead of the
default executable filename. name should not
contain . or * characters.
-title string
specifies the window title string which may be
displayed by window managers if the user so
chooses. The default title is the command line
specified after the -e option, if any, otherwise
the application name.
-rv
indicates to simulate reverse video by swapping the
foreground and background colors.
-geometry geometry
specifies the preferred size and position of the
VT102 window; see X(1).
-display display
specifies the X server to contact; see X(1).
-xrm resourcestring
Specifies a resource string to use. This is useful
for setting resources that do not have separate
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
command line options.
-iconic
indicates to xterm to ask the window manager to
start it as an icon rather than as the normal
window.
RESOURCES
The program understands all of the core X Toolkit
resource names and classes as well as:
iconGeometry (class IconGeometry)
specifies the preferred size and position of the
application when iconified. It is not necessarily
obeyed by all window managers.
termName (class TermName)
specifies the terminal type name to be set in the
TERM environment variable.
title (class Title)
specifies a string that may be used by the window
manager when displaying this application.
ttyModes (class TtyModes)
specifies a string containing terminal setting
keywords and the characters to which they may be
bound. Allowable keywords include: intr, quit,
erase, kill, eof, eol, swtch, start, stop, brk,
susp, dsusp, rprnt, flush, weras, and lnext.
Control characters may be specified as ^char (e.g.,
^c or ^u) and ^? may be used to indicate delete.
This is very useful for overriding the default
terminal settings without having to do an stty
every time an xterm is started.
utmpInhibit (class UtmpInhibit)
specifies whether xterm should try to record the
user's terminal in /etc/utmp.
sunFunctionKeys (class SunFunctionKeys)
specifies whether to generate Sun Function Key
escape codes for function keys instead of standard
escape sequences.
The following resources are specified as part of the
vt100 widget (class VT100):
allowSendEvents (class AllowSendEvents)
specifies whether to interpret or discard the
synthetic key and button events (generated using
the X protocol SendEvent request). The default is
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
false, meaning they are discarded. Note that
allowing such events creates a large security hole.
alwaysHighlight (class AlwaysHighlight)
specifies whether xterm should always display a
highlighted text cursor. By default, a hollow text
cursor is displayed whenever the pointer moves out
of the window or the window loses the input focus.
boldFont (class Font)
specifies the name of the bold font to use instead
of overstriking.
c132 (class C132)
specifies whether to honor the VT102 DECCOLM escape
sequence. The default is false.
charClass (class CharClass)
specifies comma-separated lists of character class
bindings of the form [low-]high:value. These are
used in determining which sets of characters should
be treated the same when doing cut and paste.
Refer to the section on specifying character
classes.
curses (class Curses)
specifies whether to work around the last column
bug in curses(3x). The default is false.
background (class Background)
specifies the color to use for the background of
the window. The default is white.
foreground (class Foreground)
Specifies the color to use for displaying text in
the window. Setting the slass name instead of the
instance name is an easy way to have everything
that would normally appear in the text color change
color. The default is black.
cursorColor (class Foreground)
specifies the color to use for the text cursor.
The default is black.
eightBitInput (class EightBitInput)
specifies whether to accept eight-bit characters.
The default is true.
font (class Font)
specifies the name of the normal font. The default
is fixed.
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
font1 (class Font1)
specifies the name of the first alternate font.
font2 (class Font2)
specifies the name of the second alternate font.
font3 (class Font3)
specifies the name of the third alternate font.
font4 (class Font4)
specifies the name of the fourth alternate font.
geometry (class Geometry)
specifies the preferred size and position of the
VT102 window.
internalBorder (class BorderWidth)
specifies the number of pixels between the
characters and the window border. The default is
2.
jumpScroll (class JumpScroll)
specifies whether to use jump scroll. The default
is true.
logFile (class Logfile)
specifies the name of the file to which a terminal
session is logged. The default is XtermLog.XXXXX
(where XXXXX is the process ID of xterm).
logging (class Logging)
specifies whether to log a terminal session. The
default is false.
logInhibit (class LogInhibit)
specifies whether to inhibit terminal session
logging. The default is false.
loginShell (class LoginShell)
specifies whether to start the shell to be run in
the window as a login shell. The default is false.
marginBell (class MarginBell)
specifies whether to ring the bell when the user
types near the right margin. The default is false.
multiScroll (class MultiScroll)
specifies whether to allow asynchronous scrolling.
The default is false.
multiClickTime (class MultiClickTime)
specifies the maximum time in milliseconds between
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
multi-clock select events. The default is 250
milliseconds.
nMarginBell (class Column)
specifies the number of characters from the right
margin at which to ring the margin bell when
enabled.
pointerColor (class Foreground)
specifies the foreground color of the pointer. The
default is XtDefaultForeground.
pointerColorBackground (class Background)
specifies the background color of the pointer. The
default is XtDefaultBackground.
pointerShape (class Cursor)
specifies the name of the shape of the pointer.
The default is xterm.
reverseVideo (class ReverseVideo)
specifies whether to simulate reverse video. The
default is false.
reverseWrap (class ReverseWrap)
specifies whether to enable reverse-wraparound.
The default is false.
autoWrap (class AutoWrap)
specifies whether to enable auto-wraparound. The
default is true.
saveLines (class SaveLines)
specifies the number of lines to save beyond the
top of the screen when a scrollbar is turned on.
The default is 64.
scrollBar (class ScrollBar)
specifies whether to display the scrollbar. The
default is false.
scrollTtyOutput (class ScrollCond)
specifies whether output to the terminal should
automatically cause the scrollbar to go to the
bottom of the scrolling region. The default is
true.
scrollKey (class ScrollCond)
specifies whether pressing a key should
automatically cause the scrollbar to go to the
bottom of the scrolling region. The default is
false.
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
scrollLines (class ScrollLines)
specifies the number of lines that the scroll-back
and scroll-forw actions should use as a default.
The default value is 1.
signalInhibit (class SignalInhibit)
specifies whether to allow the entries in the xterm
X11 menu for sending signals to xterm. The default
is false.
tekGeometry (class Geometry)
specifies the preferred size and position of the
Tektronix window.
tekInhibit (class TekInhibit)
specifies whether to allow Tektronix mode. The
default is false.
tekSmall (class TekSmall)
specifies whether to start the Tektronix mode
window in its smallest size if no explicit geometry
is given. This is useful when running xterm on
displays with small screens. The default is false.
tekStartup (class TekStartup)
specifies whether to start xterm in Tektronix mode.
The default is false.
titeInhibit (class TiteInhibit)
specifies whether xterm should remove ti or te
termcap entries (used to switch between alternate
screens on startup of many screen-oriented
programs) from the TERMCAP string.
translations (class Translations)
specifies the key and button bindings for menus,
selections, programmed strings, etc. Refer to the
Actions section below.
visualBell (class VisualBell)
specifies whether to use a visible bell (i.e.,
flashing) instead of an audible bell when <CTRL-G>
is received. The default is false.
waitForMap (class WaitForMap)
specifies whether xterm should wait for the initial
window map before starting the subprocess. The
default is false.
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
The following resources are specified as part of the
tek4014 widget (class Tek4014):
width (class Width)
specifies the width of the Tektronix window in
pixels.
height (class Height)
specifies the height of the Tektronix window in
pixels.
fontLarge (class Font)
specifies the large font to use in the Tektronix
window.
font2 (class Font)
specifies font number 2 to use in the Tektronix
window.
font3 (class Font)
specifies font number 3 font to use in the
Tektronix window.
fontSmall (class Font)
specifies the small font to use in the Tektronix
window.
The resources that may be specified for the various
menus are described in the documentation for the Athena
SimpleMenu widget. The name and classes of the entries
in each of the menus are listed below.
The mainMenu has the following entries:
securekbd (class SmeBSB)
invokes the secure() action.
allowsends (class SmeBSB)
invokes the allow-send-events(toggle) action.
logging (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-logging(toggle) action.
redraw (class SmeBSB)
invokes the redraw() action.
line1 (class SmeLine)
is a separator.
suspend (class SmeBSB)
invokes the send-signal(suspend) action on systems
that support job control.
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
continue (class SmeBSB)
invokes the send-signal(cont) action on systems
that support job control.
interrupt (class SmeBSB)
invokes the send-signal(int) action.
hangup (class SmeBSB)
invokes the send-signal(hup) action.
terminate (class SmeBSB)
invokes the send-signal(term) action.
kill (class SmeBSB)
invokes the send-signal(kill) action.
line2 (class SmeLine)
is a separator.
quit (class SmeBSB)
invokes the quit() action.
The vtMenu has the following entries:
scrollbar (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-scrollbar(toggle) action.
jumpscroll (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-jumpscroll(toggle) action.
reversevideo (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-reverse-video(toggle) action.
autowrap (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-autowrap(toggle) action.
reversewrap (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-reversewrap(toggle) action.
autolinefeed (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-autolinefeed(toggle) action.
appcursor (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-appcursor(toggle) action.
appkeypad (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-appkeypad(toggle) action.
scrollkey (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-scroll-on-key(toggle) action.
scrollttyoutput (class SmeBSB)
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
invokes the set-scroll-on-tty-output(toggle)
action.
allow132 (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-allow132(toggle) action.
cursesemul (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-cursesemul(toggle) action.
visualbell (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-visualbell(toggle) action.
marginbell (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-marginbell(toggle) action.
altscreen (class SmeBSB)
is currently disabled.
line1 (class SmeLine)
is a separator.
softreset (class SmeBSB)
invokes the soft-reset() action.
hardreset (class SmeBSB)
invokes the hard-reset() action.
line2 (class SmeLine)
is a separator.
tekshow (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-visibility(tek,toggle) action.
tekmode (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-terminal-type(tek) action.
vthide (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-visibility(vt,off) action.
The fontMenu has the following entries:
fontdefault (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-vt-font(d) action.
font1 (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-vt-font(1) action.
font2 (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-vt-font(2) action.
font3 (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-vt-font(3) action.
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
font4 (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-vt-font(4) action.
fontescape (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-vt-font(e) action.
fontsel (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-vt-font(s) action.
The tekMenu has the following entries:
tektextlarge (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-tek-text(l) action.
tektext2 (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-tek-text(2) action.
tektext3 (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-tek-text(3) action.
tektextsmall (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-tek-text(s) action.
line1 (class SmeLine)
is a separator.
tekpage (class SmeBSB)
invokes the tek-page() action.
tekreset (class SmeBSB)
invokes the tek-reset() action.
tekcopy (class SmeBSB)
invokes the tek-copy() action.
line2 (class SmeLine)
is a separator.
vtshow (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-visibility(vt,toggle) action.
vtmode (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-terminal-type(vt) action.
tekhide (class SmeBSB)
invokes the set-visibility(tek,toggle) action.
The following resources are useful when specified for
the Athena Scrollbar widget:
thickness (class Thickness)
specifies the width in pixels of the scrollbar.
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
background (class Background)
specifies the color to use for the background of
the scrollbar.
foreground (class Foreground)
specifies the color to use for the foreground of
the scrollbar. The thumb of the scrollbar is a
simple checkerboard pattern alternating pixels for
foreground and background color.
EMULATIONS
The VT102 emulation does not support the blinking
character attribute nor the double-wide and double-size
character sets. termcap entries that work with xterm
include xterm, vt102, vt100, and ansi. xterm
automatically searches the termcap file in this order
for these entries and then sets the TERM and the
TERMCAP environment variables.
Many of the special xterm features (like logging) may
be modified under program control through a set of
escape sequences different from the standard VT102
escape sequences. (Refer to the Xterm Control Sequences
document.)
The Tektronix 4014 emulation supports four different
font sizes and five different lines types. The
Tektronix text and graphics commands are recorded
internally by xterm and may be written to a file by
sending the COPY escape sequence (or through the
Tektronix menu; see below). The name of the file will
be COPYyy-MM-dd.hh:mm:ss, where yy, MM, dd, hh, mm and
ss are the year, month, day, hour, minute and second
when the COPY was performed (the file is created in the
directory xterm is started in, or the home directory
for a login xterm).
POINTER USAGE
Once the VT102 window is created, xterm allows you to
select text and copy it within the same or other
windows. The selection functions are invoked when the
pointer buttons are used with no modifiers and with the
<SHIFT> key. The assignment of the functions described
below to keys and buttons may be changed through the
resource database; refer to the Actions section below.
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Pointer button one (left) is used to save text into the
cut buffer. Move the cursor to the beginning of the
text, then hold the button down while moving the cursor
to the end of the region and releasing the button. The
selected text is highlighted and saved in the global
cut buffer and made the PRIMARY selection when the
button is released. Double-clicking selects by words;
triple-clicking selects by lines; quadruple-clicking
goes back to characters. Multiple-click is determined
by the time from button-up to button-down, so you can
change the selection unit in the middle of a selection.
If the key/button bindings specify that an X selection
is to be made, xterm will leave the selected text
highlighted for as long as it is the selection owner.
Pointer button two (middle) types (pastes) the text
from the PRIMARY selection, if any, otherwise from the
cut buffer, inserting it as keyboard input.
Pointer button three (right) extends the current
selection (right and left are interchangeable in the
rest of this paragraph). If pressed while closer to
the right edge of the selection than the left, it
extends/contracts the right edge of the selection. If
you contract the selection past the left edge of the
selection, xterm assumes you really meant the left
edge, restores the original selection, then
extends/contracts the left edge of the selection.
Extension starts in the selection unit mode that the
last selection or extension was performed in; you can
multiple-click to cycle through them.
By cutting and pasting pieces of text without trailing
new lines, you can take text from several places in
different windows and form a command to the shell, for
example, or take output from a program and insert it
into your editor. Since the cut buffer is globally
shared among different applications, you should regard
it as a file whose contents you know. The terminal
emulator and other text programs should treat the cut
buffer as if it were a text file, i.e., the text is
delimited by new lines.
The scroll region displays the position and amount of
text currently showing in the window (highlighted)
relative to the amount of text actually saved. As more
text is saved (up to the maximum), the size of the
highlighted area decreases.
Clicking button one with the pointer in the scroll
region moves the adjacent line to the top of the
display window.
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
Clicking button three moves the top line of the display
window down to the pointer position.
Clicking button two moves the display to a position in
the saved text that corresponds to the pointer's
position in the scrollbar.
Unlike the VT102 window, the Tektronix window does not
allow the copying of text. It does allow Tektronix GIN
mode, and in this mode the cursor will change from an
arrow to a cross. Pressing any key will send that key
and the current coordinate of the cross cursor.
Pressing button one, two, or three will return the
letters l, m, and r, respectively. If the <SHIFT> key
is pressed when a pointer button is pressed, the
corresponding upper case letter is sent. To
distinguish a pointer button from a key, the high bit
of the character is set (but this bit is normally
stripped unless the terminal mode is RAW; see tty(4)
for details).
MENUS
xterm has four menus: mainMenu, vtMenu, fontMenu, and
tekMenu. Each menu pops up under the correct
combination of key and button presses. Most menus are
divided into two section, separated by a horizontal
line. The top portion contains various modes that can
be altered. A check mark appears next to a mode that
is currently active. Selecting one of these modes
toggles its state. At the bottom portion of the menu
are command entries; selecting one of these performs
the indicated function.
The xterm menu pops up when the <CTRL> key and pointer
button one are pressed in a window. mainMenu contains
items that apply to both the VT102 and Tektronix
windows. Secure Keyboard mode is used when typing in
passwords or other sensitive data in an unsecure
environment; refer to the Security section below.
Notable entries in the command section of the menu are
Continue, Suspend, Interrupt, Hangup, Terminate, and
Kill which send the SIGCONT, SIGTSTP, SIGINT, SIGHUP,
SIGTERM and SIGKILL signals, respectively, to the
process group of the process running under xterm
(usually the shell). The Continue function is useful
if the user has accidentally typed <CTRL-Z>, suspending
the process.
- 20 -
XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
vtMenu sets various modes in the VT102 emulation, and
is popped up when the <CTRL> key and pointer button two
are pressed in the VT102 window. In the command
section of this menu, the soft reset entry will reset
scroll regions. This is convenient when some program
has left the scroll regions set incorrectly (often a
problem when using VMS or TOPS-20). The full reset
entry will clear the screen, reset tabs to every eight
columns, and reset the terminal modes (such as wrap and
smooth scroll) to their initial states just after xterm
has finished processing the command line options.
fontMenu sets the font used in the VT102 window.
tekMenu sets various modes in the Tektronix emulation
and is popped up when the <CTRL> key and pointer button
two are pressed in the Tektronix window. The current
font size is checked in the modes section of the menu.
The PAGE entry in the command section clears the
Tektronix window.
SECURITY
X environments differ in their security consciousness.
MIT servers, run under xdm, are capable of using an
authorization scheme that provides a certain level of
security. If your server is only using a host-based
mechanism to control access to the server (see
xhost(1)), and if you enable access for a host and
other users are also permitted to run clients on that
same host, there is every possibility that someone can
run an application that will use the basic services of
the X protocol to monitor your activities, potentially
capturing a transcript of everything you type at the
keyboard. This is of particular concern when you want
to type in a password or other sensitive data. The
best solution to this problem is to use a better
authorization mechanism than host-based control, but a
simple mechanism exists for protecting keyboard input
in xterm.
The xterm menu (refer to the Menus section above)
contains a Secure Keyboard entry which, when enabled,
ensures that all keyboard input is directed only to
xterm (using the GrabKeyboard protocol request). When
an application prompts you for a password (or other
sensitive data), you can enable Secure Keyboard using
the menu, type in the data, and then disable Secure
Keyboard using the menu again. Only one X client at a
time can secure the keyboard, so when you attempt to
enable Secure Keyboard it may fail. In this case, the
bell will sound. If the Secure Keyboard succeeds, the
foreground and background colors will be exchanged (as
- 21 -
XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
if you selected the Reverse Video entry in the Modes
menu); they will be exchanged again when you exit
secure mode. You should be suspicious if the colors do
not switch. If the application you are running
displays a prompt before asking for the password, it is
safest to enter secure mode before the prompt gets
displayed, and to make sure that the prompt gets
displayed correctly (in the new colors). You can also
bring up the menu again and make sure that a check mark
appears next to the entry.
Secure Keyboard mode will be disabled automatically if
your xterm window becomes iconified (or otherwise
unmapped), or if you start up a reparenting window
manager (that places a title bar or other decoration
around the window) while in Secure Keyboard mode. (This
is a feature of the X protocol that is not easily
overcome.) When this happens, the foreground and
background colors will be switched back and the bell
will sound.
CHARACTER CLASSES
Clicking the middle mouse button twice in rapid
succession will cause all characters of the same class
(e.g., letters, white space, punctuation) to be
selected. Since there are various preferences for what
is selected (e.g., filenames selected as a whole or as
separate subnames), the default mapping can be
overridden through the use of the charClass (class
CharClass) resource.
This resource is simply a list of range:value pairs
where the range is either a single number or low-high
in the range of 0 to 255, corresponding to the ASCII
code for the character or characters to be set. The
value is arbitrary, although the default table uses the
character number of the first character occurring in
the set.
The default table is:
static int charClass[256] = {
/* NUL SOH STX ETX EOT ENQ ACK BEL */
32, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
/* BS HT NL VT NP CR SO SI */
1, 32, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
/* DLE DC1 DC2 DC3 DC4 NAK SYN ETB */
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
/* CAN EM SUB ESC FS GS RS US */
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
/* SP ! " # $ % & ' */
32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39,
- 22 -
XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
/* ( ) * + , - . / */
40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47,
/* 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
/* 8 9 : ; < = > ? */
48, 48, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63,
/* @ A B C D E F G */
64, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
/* H I J K L M N O */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
/* P Q R S T U V W */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
/* X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _ */
48, 48, 48, 91, 92, 93, 94, 48,
/* ` a b c d e f g */
96, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
/* h i j k l m n o */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
/* p q r s t u v w */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
/* x y z { | } ~ DEL */
48, 48, 48, 123, 124, 125, 126, 1,
/* x80 x81 x82 x83 IND NEL SSA ESA */
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
/* HTS HTJ VTS PLD PLU RI SS2 SS3 */
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
/* DCS PU1 PU2 STS CCH MW SPA EPA */
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
/* x98 x99 x9A CSI ST OSC PM APC */
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
/* - i c/ L ox Y- | So */
160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167,
/* .. c0 ip << _ R0 - */
168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175,
/* o +- 2 3 ' u q| . */
176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183,
/* , 1 2 >> 1/4 1/2 3/4 ? */
184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191,
/* A` A' A^ A~ A: Ao AE C, */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
/* E` E' E^ E: I` I' I^ I: */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
/* D- N~ O` O' O^ O~ O: X */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 216,
/* O/ U` U' U^ U: Y' P B */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
/* a` a' a^ a~ a: ao ae c, */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
/* e` e' e^ e: i` i' i^ i: */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
/* d n~ o` o' o^ o~ o: -: */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 248,
- 23 -
XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
/* o/ u` u' u^ u: y' P y: */
48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48};
For example, the string 33:48,37:48,45-47:48,64:48
indicates that the exclamation mark, percent sign,
dash, period, slash, and ampersand characters should be
treated the same way as characters and numbers. This
is useful for cutting and pasting electronic mailing
addresses and filenames.
ACTIONS
It is possible to rebind keys (or sequences of keys) to
arbitrary strings for input by changing the
translations for the vt100 or tek4014 widgets.
Changing the translations for events other than key and
button events is not expected and will cause
unpredictable behavior. The following actions are
provided for use within the vt100 or tek4014
translations resources:
bell([percent])
rings the keyboard bell at the specified percentage
above or below the base volume.
ignore()
ignores the event but checks for special pointer
position escape sequences.
insert()
synonymous with insert-seven-bit().
insert-seven-bit()
inserts the 7-bit USASCII character or string
associated with the keysym pressed.
insert-eight-bit()
inserts the 8-bit ISO Latin-1 character or string
associated with the keysym pressed.
insert-selection(sourcename [, ...])
inserts the string found in the selection or cut
buffer indicated by sourcename. Sources are checked
in the order given (case is significant) until one is
found. Commonly-used selections include: PRIMARY,
SECONDARY, and CLIPBOARD. Cut buffers are typically
named CUT_BUFFER0 through CUT_BUFFER7.
keymap(name)
defines a new translation table whose resource name
is name with the suffix Keymap (case is significant).
none restores the original translation table.
- 24 -
XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
popup-menu(menuname)
displays the specified popup menu. Valid names (case
is significant) include: mainMenu, vtMenu, fontMenu,
and tekMenu.
secure()
toggles the Secure Keyboard mode described in the
Security section, and is invoked from the securekbd
entry in mainMenu.
select-start()
begins text selection at the current pointer
location. Refer to the section Pointer Usage for
information on making selections.
select-extend()
tracks the pointer and extends the selection. It
should only be bound to Motion events.
select-end(destname [, ...])
puts the currently selected text into all of the
selections or cutbuffers specified by destname.
select-cursor-start()
similar to select-start except that it begins the
selection at the current text cursor position.
select-cursor-end(destname [, ...])
similar to select-end except that it should be used
with select-cursor-start.
set-vt-font(d/1/2/3/4/e/s [,normalfont [, boldfont]])
sets the font or fonts currently being used in the
VT102 window. The first argument is a single
character that specifies the font to be used: d or D
indicate the default font (the font initially used
when xterm was started); 1 through 4 indicate the
fonts specified by the font1 through font4 resources;
e or E indicate the normal and bold fonts that may be
set through escape codes (or specified as the second
and third action arguments, respectively); and i or I
indicate the font selection (as made by programs such
as xfontsel(1)) indicated by the second action
argument.
start-extend()
similar to select-start except that the selection is
extended to the current pointer location.
start-cursor-extend()
similar to select-extend except that the selection is
extended to the current text cursor position.
- 25 -
XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
string(string)
inserts the specified text string as if it had been
typed. Quotation is necessary if the string contains
white space or non-alphanumeric characters. If the
string argument begins with the characters 0x, it is
interpreted as a hex character constant.
scroll-back(count [,units])
scrolls the text window backward so that text that
had previously scrolled off the top of the screen is
now visible. The count argument indicates the number
of units (which may be page, halfpage, pixel, or
line) by which to scroll.
scroll-forw(count [,units])
similar to scroll-back except that it scrolls the
other direction.
allow-send-events(on/off/toggle)
sets or toggles the allowSendEvents resource and is
also invoked by the allowsends entry in mainMenu.
set-logging(on/off/toggle)
toggles the logging resource and is also invoked by
the logging entry in mainMenu.
redraw()
redraws the window and is also invoked by the redraw
entry in mainMenu.
send-signal(signame)
sends the signal named by signame (which may also be
a number) to the xterm subprocess (the shell or
program specified with the -e command line option)
and is also invoked by the suspend, continue,
interrupt, hangup, terminate, and kill entries in
mainMenu. Allowable signal names are (case is not
significant): suspend, tstp (if supported by the
operating system), cont (if supported by the
operating system), int, hup, term, and kill.
quit()
sends a SIGHUP to the subprogram and exits. It is
also invoked by the quit entry in mainMenu.
set-scrollbar(on/off/toggle)
toggles the scrollbar resource and is also invoked by
the scrollbar entry in vtMenu.
set-jumpscroll(on/off/toggle)
toggles the jumpscroll resource and is also invoked
by the jumpscroll entry in vtMenu.
- 26 -
XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
set-reverse-video(on/off/toggle)
toggles the reverseVideo resource and is also invoked
by the reversevideo entry in vtMenu.
set-autowrap(on/off/toggle)
toggles automatic wrapping of long lines and is also
invoked by the autowrap entry in vtMenu.
set-reversewrap(on/off/toggle)
toggles the reverseWrap resource and is also invoked
by the reversewrap entry in vtMenu.
set-autolinefeed(on/off/toggle)
toggles automatic insertion of linefeeds and is also
invoked by the autolinefeed entry in vtMenu.
set-appcursor(on/off/toggle)
toggles the handling Application Cursor Key mode and
is also invoked by the appcursor entry in vtMenu.
set-appkeypad(on/off/toggle)
toggles the handling of Application Keypad mode and
is also invoked by the appkeypad entry in vtMenu.
set-scroll-on-key(on/off/toggle)
toggles the scrollKey resource and is also invoked
from the scrollkey entry in vtMenu.
set-scroll-on-tty-output(on/off/toggle)
toggles the scrollTtyOutput resource and is also
invoked from the scrollttyoutput entry in vtMenu.
set-allow132(on/off/toggle)
toggles the c132 resource and is also invoked from
the allow132 entry in vtMenu.
set-cursesemul(on/off/toggle)
toggles the curses resource and is also invoked from
the cursesemul entry in vtMenu.
set-visual-bell(on/off/toggle)
toggles the visualBell resource and is also invoked
by the visualbell entry in vtMenu.
set-marginbell(on/off/toggle)
toggles the marginBell resource and is also invoked
from the marginbell entry in vtMenu.
set-altscreen(on/off/toggle)
toggles between the alternative and current screens.
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XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
soft-reset()
resets the scrolling region and is also invoked from
the softreset entry in vtMenu.
hard-reset()
resets the scrolling region, tabs, window size, and
cursor keys and clears the screen. It is also
invoked from the hardreset entry in vtMenu.
set-terminal-type(type)
directs output to either the vt or tek windows,
according to the type string. It is also invoked by
the tekmode entry in vtMenu and the vtmode entry in
tekMenu.
set-visibility(vt/tek,on/off/toggle)
controls whether the vt or tek windows are visible.
It is also invoked from the tekshow and vthide
entries in vtMenu and the vtshow and tekhide entries
in tekMenu.
set-tek-text(large/2/3/small)
sets fonts used in the Tektronix window to the value
of the resources tektextlarge, tektext2, tektext3,
and tektextsmall according to the argument. It is
also set by the entries of the same names as the
resources in tekMenu.
tek-page()
clears the Tektronix window and is also invoked by
the tekpage entry in tekMenu.
tek-reset()
resets the Tektronix window and is also invoked by
the tekreset entry in tekMenu.
tek-copy()
copies the escape codes used to generate the current
window contents to a file in the current directory
beginning with the name COPY. It is also invoked
from the tekcopy entry in tekMenu.
The Tektronix window also has the following action:
gin-press(l/L/m/M/r/R)
sends the indicated graphics input code.
- 28 -
XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
The default bindings in the VT102 window are:
Shift <KeyPress> Prior:scroll-back(1,halfpage) \n\
Shift <KeyPress> Next:scroll-forw(1,halfpage) \n\
Shift <KeyPress> Select:select-cursor-start() \
select-cursor-end(PRIMARY, CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
Shift <KeyPress> Insert:insert-selection(PRIMARY, CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
~Meta<KeyPress>: insert-seven-bit() \n\
Meta<KeyPress>: insert-eight-bit() \n\
Ctrl ~Meta<Btn1Down>:popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
~Meta <Btn1Down>: select-start() \n\
~Meta <Btn1Motion>: select-extend() \n\
Ctrl ~Meta <Btn2Down>:popup-menu(vtMenu) \n\
~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn2Down>:ignore() \n\
~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn2Up>:insert-selection(PRIMARY, CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
Ctrl ~Meta <Btn3Down>:popup-menu(fontMenu) \n\
~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn3Down>:start-extend() \n\
~Meta <Btn3Motion>: select-extend() \n\
~Ctrl ~Meta <BtnUp>:select-end(PRIMARY, CUT_BUFFER0) \n\
<BtnDown>: bell(0)
The default bindings in the Tektronix window are:
~Meta<KeyPress>: insert-seven-bit() \n\
Meta<KeyPress>: insert-eight-bit()\n\
Ctrl ~Meta<Btn1Down>:popup-menu(mainMenu) \n\
Ctrl ~Meta <Btn2Down>:popup-menu(tekMenu) \n\
Shift ~Meta<Btn1Down>:gin-press(L) \n\
~Meta<Btn1Down>: gin-press(l) \n\
Shift ~Meta<Btn2Down>:gin-press(M) \n\
~Meta<Btn2Down>: gin-press(m) \n\
Shift ~Meta<Btn3Down>:gin-press(R) \n\
~Meta<Btn3Down>: gin-press(r)
Below is a sample of the keymap() action used to add
special keys for entering commonly-typed words:
*VT100.Translations: #override <Key>F13: keymap(dbx)
*VT100.dbxKeymap.translations: \
<Key>F14: keymap(None) \n\
<Key>F17: string("next") string(0x0d) \n\
<Key>F18: string("step") string(0x0d) \n\
<Key>F19: string("continue") string(0x0d) \n\
<Key>F20: string("print ") insert-selection(PRIMARY, CUT_BUFFER0)
OTHER FEATURES
xterm automatically highlights the text cursor when the
pointer enters the window (selected), and unhighlights
it when the pointer leaves the window (unselected). If
the window is the focus window, the window is
highlighted no matter where the pointer is located.
- 29 -
XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
In VT102 mode, there are escape sequences to activate
and deactivate an alternate screen buffer, which is the
same size as the display area of the window. When
activated, the current screen is saved and replaced
with the alternate screen. Saving lines scrolled off
the top of the window is disabled until the normal
screen is restored. The termcap entry for xterm allows
the visual editor vi(1) to switch to the alternate
screen for editing, and restore the screen on exit.
In either VT102 or Tektronix mode, there are escape
sequences to change the name of the windows and to
specify a new log filename.
ENVIRONMENT
xterm sets the environment variables TERM and TERMCAP
properly for the size window you have created. It also
uses and sets the environment variable DISPLAY to
specify which bit map display terminal to use. The
environment variable WINDOWID is set to the X window id
number of the xterm window.
SEE ALSO
resize(1), X(1), pty(4), tty(4)
Xterm Control Sequences
BUGS
The Xterm Control Sequences document has yet to be
converted from X10. The old version, along with a
first stab at an update, are available in the source.
The class name is XTerm instead of Xterm.
xterm will hang forever if you try to paste too much
text at one time. It is both producer and consumer for
the pty and can deadlock.
Variable-width fonts are not handled.
This program still needs to be rewritten. It should be
split into very modular sections, with the various
emulators being completely separate widgets that don't
know about each other. Ideally, you'd like to be able
to pick and choose emulator widgets and stick them into
a single control widget.
The focus is considered lost if some other client
(e.g., the window manager) grabs the pointer; it is
difficult to do better without an addition to the
protocol.
- 30 -
XTERM(1) XTERM(1)
There needs to be a dialog box to allow entry of log
filename and the COPY filename.
Many of the options are not resettable after xterm
starts.
NOTE
If any of the keys used within xterm are bound by the
window manager (uwm) without keyboard modifiers (e.g.,
<ALT>, <SHIFT>, <CTRL>), the key functions are
unavailable to xterm.
AUTHORS
Loretta Guarino Reid, DEC-UEG-WSL
Joel McCormack, DEC-UEG-WSL
Terry Weissman, DEC-UEG-WSL
Edward Moy, Berkeley
Ralph R. Swick, MIT-Athena
Mark Vandevoorde, MIT-Athena
Bob McNamara, DEC-MAD
Jim Gettys, MIT-Athena
Bob Scheifler, MIT X Consortium
Doug Mink, SAO
Steve Pitschke, Stellar
Ron Newman, MIT-Athena
Jim Fulton, MIT X Consortium
et. al.
- 31 -