TSET(1) GENIX Programmer's Manual TSET(1)
NAME
tset - set terminal modes
SYNOPSIS
tset [ options ] [ -m [ident][test baudrate]:type ... ] [ type ]
DESCRIPTION
Tset causes terminal dependent processing such as setting erase and
kill characters, setting or resetting delays, and the like. It
first determines the type of terminal involved, names for which are
specified by the /etc/termcap data base, and then does necessary
initializations and mode settings. In the case where no argument
types are specified, tset simply reads the terminal type out of the
environment variable TERM and re-initializes the terminal. The rest
of this manual concerns itself with type initialization, done typi-
cally once at login, and options used at initialization time to
determine the terminal type and set up terminal modes.
When used in a startup script .profile (for sh(1) users) or .login
(for csh(1) users) it is desirable to give information about the
types of terminal usually used on terminals which are not hardwired.
These ports are initially identified as being dialup or plugboard or
arpanet etc. To specify what terminal type is usually used on these
ports -m is followed by the appropriate port type identifier, an
optional baud-rate specification, and the terminal type to be used
if the mapping conditions are satisfied. If more than one mapping
is specified, the first applicable mapping prevails. A missing type
identifier matches all identifiers.
Baud rates are specified as with stty(1), and are compared with the
speed of the diagnostic output (which is almost always the control
terminal). The baud rate test may be any combination of: >, =, <,
@, and !; @ is a synonym for = and ! inverts the sense of the test.
To avoid problems with metacharacters, it is best to place the
entire argument to -m within ``''' characters; users of csh(1) must
also put a ``\'' before any ``!'' used here.
Thus
tset -m 'dialup>300:adm3a' -m dialup:dw2 -m
'plugboard:?adm3a'
causes the terminal type to be set to an adm3a if the port in use is
a dialup at a speed greater than 300 baud; to a dw2 if the port is
(otherwise) a dialup (i.e. at 300 baud or less). If the type above
begins with a question mark, the user is asked if s/he really wants
that type. A null response means to use that type; otherwise,
another type can be entered which will be used instead. Thus, in
this case, the user will be queried on a plugboard port as to
whether they are using an adm3a. For other ports the port type will
be taken from the /etc/ttytype file or a final, default type option
may be given on the command line not preceded by a -m.
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TSET(1) GENIX Programmer's Manual TSET(1)
It is often desirable to return the terminal type, as specified by
the -m options, and information about the terminal to a shell's
environment. This can be done using the -s option; using the Bourne
shell, sh(1):
eval `tset -s options...`
or using the C shell, csh(1):
set noglob; eval `tset -s options...`
These commands cause tset to generate as output a sequence of shell
commands which place the variables TERM and TERMCAP in the environ-
ment; see environ(5).
Once the terminal type is known, tset engages in terminal mode set-
ting. This normally involves sending an initialization sequence to
the terminal and setting the single character erase (and optionally
the line-kill (full line erase)) characters.
On terminals that can backspace but not overstrike (such as a CRT),
and when the erase character is the default erase character (`#' on
standard systems), the erase character is changed to a Control-H
(backspace).
The options are:
-e set the erase character to be the named character c on all ter-
minals, the default being the backspace character on the termi-
nal, usually ^H.
-k is similar to -e but for the line kill character rather than
the erase character; c defaults to ^X (for purely historical
reasons); ^U is the preferred setting. No kill processing is
done if -k is not specified.
-I supresses outputting terminal initialization strings.
-Q supresses printing the ``Erase set to'' and ``Kill set to''
messages.
-S Outputs the strings to be assigned to TERM and TERMCAP in the
environment rather than commands for a shell.
FILES
/etc/ttytype terminal id to type map database
/etc/termcap terminal capability database
SEE ALSO
csh(1), setenv(1), sh(1), stty(1), environ(5), ttytype(5),
termcap(5)
Printed 11/16/83 2
TSET(1) GENIX Programmer's Manual TSET(1)
AUTHOR
Eric Allman
BUGS
Should be merged with stty(1).
NOTES
For compatibility with earlier versions of tset a number of flags
are accepted whose use is discouraged:
-d type equivalent to -m dialup:type
-p type equivalent to -m plugboard:type
-a type equivalent to -m arpanet:type
-E c Sets the erase character to c only if the terminal can
backspace.
- prints the terminal type on the standard output
-r prints the terminal type on the diagnostic output.
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