3 rxvt-unicode (ouR XVT, unicode) - (a VT102 emulator for the X window system)
7 B<@@RXVT_NAME@@> [options] [-e command [ args ]]
11 B<rxvt-unicode>, version B<@@RXVT_VERSION@@>, is a colour vt102 terminal
12 emulator intended as an I<xterm>(1) replacement for users who do not
13 require features such as Tektronix 4014 emulation and toolkit-style
14 configurability. As a result, B<rxvt-unicode> uses much less swap space --
15 a significant advantage on a machine serving many X sessions.
17 =head1 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
19 See @@RXVT_NAME@@(7) (try C<man 7 @@RXVT_NAME@@>) for a list of frequently
20 asked questions and answer to them and some common problems.
22 =head1 RXVT-UNICODE VS. RXVT
24 Unlike the original rxvt, B<rxvt-unicode> stores all text in Unicode
25 internally. That means it can store and display most scripts in the
26 world. Being a terminal emulator, however, some things are very difficult,
27 especially cursive scripts such as arabic, vertically written scripts
28 like mongolian or scripts requiring extremely complex combining rules,
29 like tibetan or devenagari. Don't expect pretty output when using these
30 scripts. Most other scripts, latin, cyrillic, kanji, thai etc. should work
31 fine, though. A somewhat difficult case are left-to-right scripts, such
32 as hebrew: B<rxvt-unicode> adopts the view that bidirectional algorithms
33 belong into the application, not the terminal emulator (too many things --
34 such as cursor-movement while editing -- break otherwise), but that might
37 If you are looking for a terminal that supports more exotic scripts, let
38 me recommend C<mlterm>, which is a very userfriendly, lean and clean
39 terminal emulator. In fact, the reason rxvt-unicode was born was solely
40 because the author couldn't get C<mlterm> to use one font for latin1 and
43 Therefore another design rationale was the use of multiple fonts to
44 display characters: The idea of a single unicode font which many other
45 programs force onto it's users never made sense to me: You should be able
46 to choose any font for any script freely.
48 Apart from that, rxvt-unicode is also much better internationalised than
49 it's predecessor, supports things such as XFT and ISO 14755 that are handy
50 in i18n-environments, is faster, and has a lot less bugs than the original
51 rxvt. This all in addition to dozens of other small improvements.
53 It is still faithfully following the original rxvt idea of being lean
54 and nice on resources: for example, you can still configure rxvt-unicode
55 without most of it's features to get a lean binary. It also comes with
56 a client/daemon pair that lets you open any number of terminal windows
57 from within a single process, which makes startup time very fast and
58 drastically reduces memory usage. See @@RXVT_NAME@@d(1) (daemon) and
59 @@RXVT_NAME@@c(1) (client).
61 It also makes technical information about escape sequences (which have
62 been extended) easier accessible: see @@RXVT_NAME@@(7) for technical
63 reference documentation (escape sequences etc.).
67 The B<@@RXVT_NAME@@> options (mostly a subset of I<xterm>'s) are listed
68 below. In keeping with the smaller-is-better philosophy, options may be
69 eliminated or default values chosen at compile-time, so options and
70 defaults listed may not accurately reflect the version installed on
71 your system. `@@RXVT_NAME@@ -h' gives a list of major compile-time options on
72 the I<Options> line. Option descriptions may be prefixed with which
73 compile option each is dependent upon. e.g. `Compile I<XIM>:' requires
74 I<XIM> on the I<Options> line. Note: `@@RXVT_NAME@@ -help' gives a list of all
75 command-line options compiled into your version.
77 Note that B<@@RXVT_NAME@@> permits the resource name to be used as a
78 long-option (--/++ option) so the potential command-line options are
79 far greater than those listed. For example: `@@RXVT_NAME@@ --loginShell --color1
82 The following options are available:
86 =item B<-help>, B<--help>
88 Print out a message describing available options.
90 =item B<-display> I<displayname>
92 Attempt to open a window on the named X display (B<-d> still
93 respected). In the absence of this option, the display specified by the
94 B<DISPLAY> environment variable is used.
96 =item B<-geometry> I<geom>
98 Window geometry (B<-g> still respected); resource B<geometry>.
102 Turn on/off simulated reverse video; resource B<reverseVideo>.
106 Turn on/off jump scrolling; resource B<jumpScroll>.
110 Turn on/off inheriting parent window's pixmap. Alternative form is
111 B<-tr>; resource B<inheritPixmap>.
113 =item B<-fade> I<number>
115 Fade the text by the given percentage when focus is lost.
117 =item B<-tint> I<colour>
119 Tint the transparent background pixmap with the given colour when
120 transparency is enabled with B<-tr> or B<-ip>. See also the B<-sh>
121 option that can be used to brighten or darken the image in addition to
126 I<number> Darken (0 .. 100) or lighten (-1 .. -100) the transparent
127 background image in addition to tinting it (i.e. B<-tint> must be
130 =item B<-bg> I<colour>
132 Window background colour; resource B<background>.
134 =item B<-fg> I<colour>
136 Window foreground colour; resource B<foreground>.
138 =item B<-pixmap> I<file[;geom]>
140 Compile I<XPM>: Specify XPM file for the background and also optionally
141 specify its scaling with a geometry string. Note you may need to add
142 quotes to avoid special shell interpretation of the `;' in the
143 command-line; resource B<backgroundPixmap>.
145 =item B<-cr> I<colour>
147 The cursor colour; resource B<cursorColor>.
149 =item B<-pr> I<colour>
151 The mouse pointer foreground colour; resource B<pointerColor>.
153 =item B<-pr2> I<colour>
155 The mouse pointer background colour; resource B<pointerColor2>.
157 =item B<-bd> I<colour>
159 The colour of the border around the text area and between the scrollbar and the text;
160 resource B<borderColor>.
162 =item B<-fn> I<fontlist>
164 Select the fonts to be used. This is a comma separated list of font names
165 that are used in turn when trying to display Unicode characters. The
166 first font defines the cell size for characters; other fonts might be
167 smaller, but not (in general) larger. A (hopefully) reasonable default
168 font list is always appended to it. See resource B<font> for more details.
170 In short, to specify an X11 core font, just specify it's name or prefix it
171 with C<x:>. To specify an XFT-font, you need to prefix it with C<xft:>,
174 @@RXVT_NAME@@ -fn "xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:pixelsize=15"
175 @@RXVT_NAME@@ -fn "9x15bold,xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono"
177 See also the question "How does rxvt-unicode choose fonts?" in the FAQ
178 section of @@RXVT_NAME@@(7).
180 =item B<-fb> I<fontlist>
182 Compile font-styles: The bold font list to use when bold characters are to
183 be printed. See resource B<boldFont> for details.
185 =item B<-fi> I<fontlist>
187 Compile font-styles: The italic font list to use when bold characters are to
188 be printed. See resource B<italicFont> for details.
190 =item B<-fbi> I<fontlist>
192 Compile font-styles: The bold italic font list to use when bold characters are to
193 be printed. See resource B<boldItalicFont> for details.
195 =item B<-name> I<name>
197 Specify the application name under which resources are to be obtained,
198 rather than the default executable file name. Name should not contain
199 `.' or `*' characters. Also sets the icon and title name.
203 Start as a login-shell/sub-shell; resource B<loginShell>.
207 Compile I<utmp>: Inhibit/enable writing a utmp entry; resource
212 Turn on/off visual bell on receipt of a bell character; resource
217 Turn on/off scrollbar; resource B<scrollBar>.
221 Turn on/off scroll-to-bottom on TTY output inhibit; resource
222 B<scrollTtyOutput> has opposite effect.
226 Turn on/off scroll-to-bottom on keypress; resource
227 B<scrollTtyKeypress>.
231 Turn on/off scrolling with the scrollback buffer as new lines appear.
232 This only takes effect if B<-si> is also given; resource
237 Put scrollbar on right/left; resource B<scrollBar_right>.
241 Display normal (non XTerm/NeXT) scrollbar without/with a trough;
242 resource B<scrollBar_floating>.
244 =item B<-ptab>|B<+ptab>
246 If enabled (default), "Horizontal Tab" characters are being stored as
247 actual wide characters in the screen buffer, which makes it possible to
248 select and paste them. Since a horizontal tab is a cursor movement and
249 not an actual glyph, this can sometimes be visually annoying as the cursor
250 on a tab character is displayed as a wide cursor; resource B<pastableTabs>.
254 Blink the cursor; resource B<cursorBlink>.
258 Start iconified, if the window manager supports that option.
259 Alternative form is B<-ic>.
261 =item B<-sl> I<number>
263 Save I<number> lines in the scrollback buffer. See resource entry for
264 limits; resource B<saveLines>.
266 =item B<-b> I<number>
268 Compile I<frills>: Internal border of I<number> pixels. See resource
269 entry for limits; resource B<internalBorder>.
271 =item B<-w> I<number>
273 Compile I<frills>: External border of I<number> pixels. Also, B<-bw>
274 and B<-borderwidth>. See resource entry for limits; resource
279 Compile I<frills>: Set MWM hints to request a borderless window, i.e.
280 if honoured by the WM, the rxvt-unicode window will not have window
281 decorations; resource B<borderLess>.
283 =item B<-lsp> I<number>
285 Compile I<linespace>: Lines (pixel height) to insert between each row
286 of the display; resource B<linespace>.
288 =item B<-tn> I<termname>
290 This option specifies the name of the terminal type to be set in the
291 B<TERM> environment variable. This terminal type must exist in the
292 I<termcap(5)> database and should have I<li#> and I<co#> entries;
293 resource B<termName>.
295 =item B<-e> I<command [arguments]>
297 Run the command with its command-line arguments in the B<@@RXVT_NAME@@>
298 window; also sets the window title and icon name to be the basename of
299 the program being executed if neither I<-title> (I<-T>) nor I<-n> are
300 given on the command line. If this option is used, it must be the last
301 on the command-line. If there is no B<-e> option then the default is to
302 run the program specified by the B<SHELL> environment variable or,
303 failing that, I<sh(1)>.
305 =item B<-title> I<text>
307 Window title (B<-T> still respected); the default title is the basename
308 of the program specified after the B<-e> option, if any, otherwise the
309 application name; resource B<title>.
313 Icon name; the default name is the basename of the program specified
314 after the B<-e> option, if any, otherwise the application name;
315 resource B<iconName>.
319 Capture system console messages.
321 =item B<-pt> I<style>
323 Compile I<XIM>: input style for input method; B<OverTheSpot>,
324 B<OffTheSpot>, B<Root>; resource B<preeditType>.
328 Compile I<XIM>: input method name. resource B<inputMethod>.
330 =item B<-imlocale> I<string>
332 The locale to use for opening the IM. You can use an LC_CTYPE of e.g.
333 de_DE.UTF-8 for normal text processing but ja_JP.EUC-JP for the input
334 extension to be able to input japanese characters while staying in
339 Enable "insecure" mode, which currently enables most of the escape
340 sequences that echo strings. See the resource B<insecure> for more
343 =item B<-mod> I<modifier>
345 Override detection of Meta modifier with specified key: B<alt>,
346 B<meta>, B<hyper>, B<super>, B<mod1>, B<mod2>, B<mod3>, B<mod4>,
347 B<mod5>; resource I<modifier>.
349 =item B<-ssc>|B<+ssc>
351 Turn on/off secondary screen (default enabled); resource
354 =item B<-ssr>|B<+ssr>
356 Turn on/off secondary screen scroll (default enabled); resource
359 =item B<-xrm> I<resourcestring>
361 No effect on rxvt-unicode. Simply passes through an argument to be made
362 available in the instance's argument list. Appears in I<WM_COMMAND> in
363 some window managers.
367 =head1 RESOURCES (available also as long-options)
369 Note: `@@RXVT_NAME@@ --help' gives a list of all resources (long
370 options) compiled into your version.
372 There are two different methods that @@RXVT_NAME@@ can use to get the
373 Xresource data: using the X libraries (Xrm*-functions) or internal
374 Xresources reader (B<~/.Xdefaults>). For the first method (ie.
375 B<@@RXVT_NAME@@ -h> lists B<XGetDefaults>), you can set and change the
376 resources using X11 tools like B<xset>. Many distribution do also load
377 settings from the B<~/.Xresources> file when X starts.
379 If compiled with internal Xresources support (i.e. B<@@RXVT_NAME@@ -h>
380 lists B<.Xdefaults>) then B<@@RXVT_NAME@@> accepts application defaults
381 set in XAPPLOADDIR/URxvt (compile-time defined: usually
382 B</usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/URxvt>) and resources set in
383 B<~/.Xdefaults>, or B<~/.Xresources> if B<~/.Xdefaults> does not exist.
384 Note that when reading X resources, B<@@RXVT_NAME@@> recognizes two
385 class names: B<XTerm> and B<URxvt>. The class name B<Rxvt> allows
386 resources common to both B<@@RXVT_NAME@@> and the original I<rxvt> to be
387 easily configured, while the class name B<URxvt> allows resources
388 unique to B<@@RXVT_NAME@@>, notably colours and key-handling, to be
389 shared between different B<@@RXVT_NAME@@> configurations. If no
390 resources are specified, suitable defaults will be used. Command-line
391 arguments can be used to override resource settings. The following
392 resources are allowed:
396 =item B<geometry:> I<geom>
398 Create the window with the specified X window geometry [default 80x24];
401 =item B<background:> I<colour>
403 Use the specified colour as the window's background colour [default
404 White]; option B<-bg>.
406 =item B<foreground:> I<colour>
408 Use the specified colour as the window's foreground colour [default
409 Black]; option B<-fg>.
411 =item B<color>I<n>B<:> I<colour>
413 Use the specified colour for the colour value I<n>, where 0-7
414 corresponds to low-intensity (normal) colours and 8-15 corresponds to
415 high-intensity (bold = bright foreground, blink = bright background)
416 colours. The canonical names are as follows: 0=black, 1=red, 2=green,
417 3=yellow, 4=blue, 5=magenta, 6=cyan, 7=white, but the actual colour
418 names used are listed in the B<COLORS AND GRAPHICS> section.
420 Colours higher than 15 cannot be set using resources (yet), but can be
421 changed using an escape command (see @@RXVT_NAME@@(7)).
423 Colours 16-79 form a standard 4x4x4 colour cube (the same as xterm with
424 88 colour support). Colours 80-87 are evenly spaces grey steps.
426 =item B<colorBD:> I<colour>
428 =item B<colorIT:> I<colour>
430 Use the specified colour to display bold or italic characters when the
431 foreground colour is the default. If font styles are not available
432 (Compile styles) and this option is unset, reverse video is used instead.
434 =item B<colorUL:> I<colour>
436 Use the specified colour to display underlined characters when the
437 foreground colour is the default.
439 =item B<colorRV:> I<colour>
441 Use the specified colour as the background for reverse video
444 =item B<cursorColor:> I<colour>
446 Use the specified colour for the cursor. The default is to use the
447 foreground colour; option B<-cr>.
449 =item B<cursorColor2:> I<colour>
451 Use the specified colour for the colour of the cursor text. For this to
452 take effect, B<cursorColor> must also be specified. The default is to
453 use the background colour.
455 =item B<reverseVideo:> I<boolean>
457 B<True>: simulate reverse video by foreground and background colours;
458 option B<-rv>. B<False>: regular screen colours [default]; option
459 B<+rv>. See note in B<COLORS AND GRAPHICS> section.
461 =item B<jumpScroll:> I<boolean>
463 B<True>: specify that jump scrolling should be used. When scrolling
464 quickly, fewer screen updates are performed [default]; option B<-j>.
465 B<False>: specify that smooth scrolling should be used; option B<+j>.
467 =item B<inheritPixmap:> I<boolean>
469 B<True>: make the background inherit the parent windows' pixmap, giving
470 artificial transparency. B<False>: do not inherit the parent windows'
473 =item B<fading:> I<number>
475 Fade the text by the given percentage when focus is lost.
477 =item B<tintColor:> I<colour>
479 Tint the transparent background pixmap with the given colour.
481 =item B<shading:> I<number>
483 Darken (0 .. 100) or lighten (-1 .. -100) the transparent background
484 image in addition to tinting it.
486 =item B<scrollColor:> I<colour>
488 Use the specified colour for the scrollbar [default #B2B2B2].
490 =item B<troughColor:> I<colour>
492 Use the specified colour for the scrollbar's trough area [default
493 #969696]. Only relevant for normal (non XTerm/NeXT) scrollbar.
495 =item B<borderColor:> I<colour>
497 The colour of the border around the text area and between the scrollbar
500 =item B<backgroundPixmap:> I<file[;geom]>
502 Use the specified XPM file (note the `.xpm' extension is optional) for
503 the background and also optionally specify its scaling with a geometry
504 string B<WxH+X+Y>, in which B<"W" / "H"> specify the
505 horizontal/vertical scale (percent) and B<"X" / "Y"> locate the image
506 centre (percent). A scale of 0 displays the image with tiling. A scale
507 of 1 displays the image without any scaling. A scale of 2 to 9
508 specifies an integer number of images in that direction. No image will
509 be magnified beyond 10 times its original size. The maximum permitted
510 scale is 1000. [default 0x0+50+50]
512 =item B<menu:> I<file[;tag]>
514 Read in the specified menu file (note the `.menu' extension is
515 optional) and also optionally specify a starting tag to find. See the
516 reference documentation for details on the syntax for the menuBar.
518 =item B<path:> I<path>
520 Specify the colon-delimited search path for finding files (XPM and
521 menus), in addition to the paths specified by the B<RXVTPATH> and
522 B<PATH> environment variables.
524 =item B<font:> I<fontlist>
526 Select the fonts to be used. This is a comma separated list of font
527 names that are used in turn when trying to display Unicode characters.
528 The first font defines the cell size for characters; other fonts might
529 be smaller, but not larger. A reasonable default font list is always
530 appended to it. option B<-fn>.
532 Each font can either be a standard X11 core font (XLFD) name, with
533 optional prefix C<x:> or a Xft font (Compile xft), prefixed with C<xft:>.
535 In addition, each font can be prefixed with additional hints and
536 specifications enclosed in square brackets (C<[]>). The only available
537 hint currently is C<codeset=codeset-name>, and this is only used for Xft
540 For example, this font resource
542 URxvt*font: 9x15bold,\
543 -misc-fixed-bold-r-normal--15-140-75-75-c-90-iso10646-1,\
544 -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--15-140-75-75-c-90-iso10646-1, \
545 [codeset=JISX0208]xft:Kochi Gothic:antialias=false, \
546 xft:Code2000:antialias=false
548 specifies five fonts to be used. The first one is C<9x15bold> (actually
549 the iso8859-1 version of the second font), which is the base font (because
550 it is named first) and thus defines the character cell grid to be 9 pixels
551 wide and 15 pixels high.
553 The second font is just used to add additional unicode characters not in
554 the base font, likewise the third, which is unfortunately non-bold, but
555 the bold version of the font does contain less characters, so this is a
558 The third font is an Xft font with aliasing turned off, and the characters
559 are limited to the B<JIS 0208> codeset (i.e. japanese kanji). The font
560 contains other characters, but we are not interested in them.
562 The last font is a useful catch-all font that supplies most of the
563 remaining unicode characters.
565 =item B<boldFont:> I<fontlist>
567 =item B<italicFont:> I<fontlist>
569 =item B<boldItalicFont:> I<fontlist>
571 The font list to use for displaying B<bold>, I<italic> or B<< I<bold
572 italic> >> characters, respectively.
574 If specified and non-empty, then the syntax is the same as for the
575 B<font>-resource, and the given font list will be used as is, which makes
576 it possible to substitute completely different font styles for bold and
579 If unset (the default), a suitable font list will be synthesized by
580 "morphing" the normal text font list into the desired shape. If that is
581 not possible, replacement fonts of the desired shape will be tried.
583 If set, but empty, then this specific style is disabled and the normal
584 text font will being used for the given style.
586 =item B<selectstyle:> I<mode>
588 Set mouse selection style to B<old> which is 2.20, B<oldword> which is
589 xterm style with 2.20 old word selection, or anything else which gives
590 xterm style selection.
592 =item B<scrollstyle:> I<mode>
594 Set scrollbar style to B<rxvt>, B<plain>, B<next> or B<xterm>. B<plain> is
595 the author's favourite..
597 =item B<title:> I<string>
599 Set window title string, the default title is the command-line
600 specified after the B<-e> option, if any, otherwise the application
601 name; option B<-title>.
603 =item B<iconName:> I<string>
605 Set the name used to label the window's icon or displayed in an icon
606 manager window, it also sets the window's title unless it is explicitly
609 =item B<mapAlert:> I<boolean>
611 B<True>: de-iconify (map) on receipt of a bell character. B<False>: no
612 de-iconify (map) on receipt of a bell character [default].
614 =item B<visualBell:> I<boolean>
616 B<True>: use visual bell on receipt of a bell character; option B<-vb>.
617 B<False>: no visual bell [default]; option B<+vb>.
619 =item B<loginShell:> I<boolean>
621 B<True>: start as a login shell by prepending a `-' to B<argv[0]> of
622 the shell; option B<-ls>. B<False>: start as a normal sub-shell
623 [default]; option B<+ls>.
625 =item B<utmpInhibit:> I<boolean>
627 B<True>: inhibit writing record into the system log file B<utmp>;
628 option B<-ut>. B<False>: write record into the system log file B<utmp>
629 [default]; option B<+ut>.
631 =item B<print-pipe:> I<string>
633 Specify a command pipe for vt100 printer [default I<lpr(1)>]. Use
634 B<Print> to initiate a screen dump to the printer and B<Ctrl-Print> or
635 B<Shift-Print> to include the scrollback as well.
637 =item B<scrollBar:> I<boolean>
639 B<True>: enable the scrollbar [default]; option B<-sb>. B<False>:
640 disable the scrollbar; option B<+sb>.
642 =item B<scrollBar_right:> I<boolean>
644 B<True>: place the scrollbar on the right of the window; option B<-sr>.
645 B<False>: place the scrollbar on the left of the window; option B<+sr>.
647 =item B<scrollBar_floating:> I<boolean>
649 B<True>: display an rxvt scrollbar without a trough; option B<-st>.
650 B<False>: display an rxvt scrollbar with a trough; option B<+st>.
652 =item B<scrollBar_align:> I<mode>
654 Align the B<top>, B<bottom> or B<centre> [default] of the scrollbar
655 thumb with the pointer on middle button press/drag.
657 =item B<scrollTtyOutput:> I<boolean>
659 B<True>: scroll to bottom when tty receives output; option B<-si>.
660 B<False>: do not scroll to bottom when tty receives output; option
663 =item B<scrollWithBuffer:> I<boolean>
665 B<True>: scroll with scrollback buffer when tty receives new lines (and
666 B<scrollTtyOutput> is False); option B<+sw>. B<False>: do not scroll
667 with scrollback buffer when tty recieves new lines; option B<-sw>.
669 =item B<scrollTtyKeypress:> I<boolean>
671 B<True>: scroll to bottom when a non-special key is pressed. Special keys
672 are those which are intercepted by rxvt-unicode for special handling and
673 are not passed onto the shell; option B<-sk>. B<False>: do not scroll to
674 bottom when a non-special key is pressed; option B<+sk>.
676 =item B<saveLines:> I<number>
678 Save I<number> lines in the scrollback buffer [default 64]. This
679 resource is limited on most machines to 65535; option B<-sl>.
681 =item B<internalBorder:> I<number>
683 Internal border of I<number> pixels. This resource is limited to 100;
686 =item B<externalBorder:> I<number>
688 External border of I<number> pixels. This resource is limited to 100;
689 option B<-w>, B<-bw>, B<-borderwidth>.
691 =item B<borderLess:> I<boolean>
693 Set MWM hints to request a borderless window, i.e. if honoured by the
694 WM, the rxvt-unicode window will not have window decorations; option B<-bl>.
696 =item B<termName:> I<termname>
698 Specifies the terminal type name to be set in the B<TERM> environment
699 variable; option B<-tn>.
701 =item B<linespace:> I<number>
703 Specifies number of lines (pixel height) to insert between each row of
704 the display [default 0]; option B<-lsp>.
706 =item B<meta8:> I<boolean>
708 B<True>: handle Meta (Alt) + keypress to set the 8th bit. B<False>:
709 handle Meta (Alt) + keypress as an escape prefix [default].
711 =item B<mouseWheelScrollPage:> I<boolean>
713 B<True>: the mouse wheel scrolls a page full. B<False>: the mouse wheel
714 scrolls five lines [default].
716 =item B<pastableTabs:> I<boolean>
718 B<True>: store tabs as wide characters. B<False>: interpret tabs as cursor
719 movement only; option C<-ptab>.
721 =item B<cursorBlink:> I<boolean>
723 B<True>: blink the cursor. B<False>: do not blink the cursor [default];
726 =item B<pointerBlank:> I<boolean>
728 B<True>: blank the pointer when a key is pressed or after a set number
729 of seconds of inactivity. B<False>: the pointer is always visible
732 =item B<pointerColor:> I<colour>
734 Mouse pointer foreground colour.
736 =item B<pointerColor2:> I<colour>
738 Mouse pointer background colour.
740 =item B<pointerBlankDelay:> I<number>
742 Specifies number of seconds before blanking the pointer [default 2].
744 =item B<backspacekey:> I<string>
746 The string to send when the backspace key is pressed. If set to B<DEC>
747 or unset it will send B<Delete> (code 127) or, if shifted, B<Backspace>
748 (code 8) - which can be reversed with the appropriate DEC private mode
751 =item B<deletekey:> I<string>
753 The string to send when the delete key (not the keypad delete key) is
754 pressed. If unset it will send the sequence traditionally associated
755 with the B<Execute> key.
757 =item B<cutchars:> I<string>
759 The characters used as delimiters for double-click word selection. The
762 B<< BACKSLASH `"'&()*,;<=>?@[]{|} >>
764 =item B<preeditType:> I<style>
766 B<OverTheSpot>, B<OffTheSpot>, B<Root>; option B<-pt>.
768 =item B<inputMethod:> I<name>
770 I<name> of inputMethod to use; option B<-im>.
772 =item B<imLocale:> I<name>
774 The locale to use for opening the IM. You can use an LC_CTYPE of e.g.
775 de_DE.UTF-8 for normal text processing but ja_JP.EUC-JP for the input
776 extension to be able to input japanese characters while staying in
777 another locale. option B<-imlocale>.
779 =item B<insecure:> I<boolean>
781 Enables "insecure" mode. Rxvt-unicode offers some escape sequences that
782 echo arbitrary strings like the icon name or the locale. This could be
783 abused if somebody gets 8-bit-clean access to your display, whether
784 throuh a mail client displaying mail bodies unfiltered or though
785 write(1). Therefore, these sequences are disabled by default. (Note
786 that other terminals, including xterm, have these sequences
787 enabled by default). You can enable them by setting this boolean
788 resource or specifying B<-insecure> as an option. At the moment, this
789 enabled display-answer, locale, findfont, icon label and window title
790 requests as well as dynamic menubar dispatch.
792 =item B<modifier:> I<modifier>
794 Set the key to be interpreted as the Meta key to: B<alt>, B<meta>,
795 B<hyper>, B<super>, B<mod1>, B<mod2>, B<mod3>, B<mod4>, B<mod5>; option
798 =item B<answerbackString:> I<string>
800 Specify the reply rxvt-unicode sends to the shell when an ENQ (control-E)
801 character is passed through. It may contain escape values as described
802 in the entry on B<keysym> following.
804 =item B<secondaryScreen:> I<bool>
806 Turn on/off secondary screen (default enabled).
808 =item B<secondaryScroll:> I<bool>
810 Turn on/off secondary screen scroll (default enabled). If the this
811 option is enabled, scrolls on the secondary screen will change the
812 scrollback buffer and switching to/from the secondary screen will
813 instead scroll the screen up.
815 =item B<keysym.>I<sym>: I<string>
817 Associate I<string> with keysym I<sym> (B<0xFF00 - 0xFFFF>). It may
818 contain escape values (\a: bell, \b: backspace, \e, \E: escape, \n:
819 newline, \r: return, \t:
820 tab, \000: octal number) or control characters (^?: delete, ^@: null,
821 ^A ...) and may enclosed with double quotes so that it can start or end
822 with whitespace. The intervening resource name B<keysym.> cannot be
823 omitted. This resource is only available when compiled with
830 Lines of text that scroll off the top of the B<@@RXVT_NAME@@> window
831 (resource: B<saveLines>) and can be scrolled back using the scrollbar
832 or by keystrokes. The normal B<@@RXVT_NAME@@> scrollbar has arrows and
833 its behaviour is fairly intuitive. The B<xterm-scrollbar> is without
834 arrows and its behaviour mimics that of I<xterm>
836 Scroll down with B<Button1> (B<xterm-scrollbar>) or B<Shift-Next>.
837 Scroll up with B<Button3> (B<xterm-scrollbar>) or B<Shift-Prior>.
838 Continuous scroll with B<Button2>.
840 =head1 MOUSE REPORTING
842 To temporarily override mouse reporting, for either the scrollbar or
843 the normal text selection/insertion, hold either the Shift or the Meta
844 (Alt) key while performing the desired mouse action.
846 If mouse reporting mode is active, the normal scrollbar actions are
847 disabled -- on the assumption that we are using a fullscreen
848 application. Instead, pressing Button1 and Button3 sends B<ESC[6~>
849 (Next) and B<ESC[5~> (Prior), respectively. Similarly, clicking on the
850 up and down arrows sends B<ESC[A> (Up) and B<ESC[B> (Down),
853 =head1 TEXT SELECTION AND INSERTION
855 The behaviour of text selection and insertion mechanism is similar to
862 Left click at the beginning of the region, drag to the end of the
863 region and release; Right click to extend the marked region; Left
864 double-click to select a word; Left triple-click to select the entire
867 Starting a selection while pressing the B<Meta> key (or B<Meta+Ctrl> keys)
868 (Compile: frills) will create a rectangular selection instead of a normal
873 Pressing and releasing the Middle mouse button (or B<Shift-Insert>) in
874 an B<@@RXVT_NAME@@> window causes the current text selection to be
875 inserted as if it had been typed on the keyboard.
879 =head1 CHANGING FONTS
881 Changing fonts (or font sizes, respectively) via the keypad is not yet
882 supported in rxvt-unicode. Bug me if you need this.
884 You can, however, switch fonts at runtime using escape sequences (and
885 therefore using the menubar), e.g.:
887 printf '\e]701;%s\007' "9x15bold,xft:Kochi Gothic"
889 rxvt-unicode will automatically re-apply these fonts to the output so far.
891 =head1 ISO 14755 SUPPORT
893 ISO 14755 is a standard for entering and viewing unicode characters
894 and character codes using the keyboard. It consists of 4 parts. The
895 first part is available rxvt-unicode has been compiled with
896 C<--enable-frills>, the rest is available when rxvt-unicode was compiled
897 with C<--enable-iso14755>.
901 =item 5.1: Basic method
903 This allows you to enter unicode characters using their hexcode.
905 Start by pressing and holding both C<Control> and C<Shift>, then enter
906 hex-digits (between one and six). Releasing C<Control> and C<Shift> will
907 commit the character as if it were typed directly. While holding down
908 C<Control> and C<Shift> you can also enter multiple characters by pressing
909 C<Space>, which will commit the current character and lets you start a new
912 As an example of use, imagine a business card with a japanese e-mail
913 address, which you cannot type. Fortunately, the card has the e-mail
914 address printed as hexcodes, e.g. C<671d 65e5>. You can enter this easily
915 by pressing C<Control> and C<Shift>, followed by C<6-7-1-D-SPACE-6-5-E-5>,
916 followed by releasing the modifier keys.
918 =item 5.2: Keyboard symbols entry method
920 This mode lets you input characters representing the keycap symbols of
921 your keyboard, if representable in the current locale encoding.
923 Start by pressing C<Control> and C<Shift> together, then releasing
924 them. The next special key (cursor keys, home etc.) you enter will not
925 invoke it's usual function but instead will insert the corresponding
926 keycap symbol. The symbol will only be entered when the key has been
927 released, otherwise pressing e.g. C<Shift> would enter the symbol for
928 C<ISO Level 2 Switch>, although your intention might have been to enter a
929 reverse tab (Shift-Tab).
931 =item 5.3: Screen-selection entry method
933 While this is implemented already (it's basically the selection
934 mechanism), it could be extended by displaying a unicode character map.
936 =item 5.4: Feedback method for identifying displayed characters for later input
938 This method lets you display the unicode character code associated with
939 characters already displayed.
941 You enter this mode by holding down C<Control> and C<Shift> together, then
942 pressing and holding the left mouse button and moving around. The unicode
943 hex code(s) (it might be a combining character) of the character under the
944 pointer is displayed until you release C<Control> and C<Shift>.
946 In addition to the hex codes it will display the font used to draw this
947 character - due to implementation reasons, characters combined with
948 combining characters, line drawing characters and unknown characters will
949 always be drawn using the built-in support font.
953 With respect to conformance, rxvt-unicode is supposed to be compliant to
954 both scenario A and B of ISO 14755, including part 5.2.
958 B<@@RXVT_NAME@@> tries to write an entry into the I<utmp>(5) file so
959 that it can be seen via the I<who(1)> command, and can accept messages.
960 To allow this feature, B<@@RXVT_NAME@@> must be installed setuid root on
963 =head1 COLORS AND GRAPHICS
965 In addition to the default foreground and background colours,
966 B<@@RXVT_NAME@@> can display up to 16 colours (8 ANSI colours plus
967 high-intensity bold/blink versions of the same). Here is a list of the
968 colours with their B<rgb.txt> names.
972 B<color0> (black) = Black
973 B<color1> (red) = Red3
974 B<color2> (green) = Green3
975 B<color3> (yellow) = Yellow3
976 B<color4> (blue) = Blue3
977 B<color5> (magenta) = Magenta3
978 B<color6> (cyan) = Cyan3
979 B<color7> (white) = AntiqueWhite
980 B<color8> (bright black) = Grey25
981 B<color9> (bright red) = Red
982 B<color10> (bright green) = Green
983 B<color11> (bright yellow) = Yellow
984 B<color12> (bright blue) = Blue
985 B<color13> (bright magenta) = Magenta
986 B<color14> (bright cyan) = Cyan
987 B<color15> (bright white) = White
988 B<foreground> = Black
989 B<background> = White
993 It is also possible to specify the colour values of B<foreground>,
994 B<background>, B<cursorColor>, B<cursorColor2>, B<colorBD>, B<colorUL> as
995 a number 0-15, as a convenient shorthand to reference the colour name of
998 Note that B<-rv> (B<"reverseVideo: True">) simulates reverse video by
999 always swapping the foreground/background colours. This is in contrast to
1000 I<xterm>(1) where the colours are only swapped if they have not otherwise
1001 been specified. For example,
1005 =item B<@@RXVT_NAME@@ -fg Black -bg White -rv>
1007 would yield White on Black, while on I<xterm>(1) it would yield Black
1014 B<@@RXVT_NAME@@> sets the environment variables B<TERM>, B<COLORTERM>
1015 and B<COLORFGBG>. The environment variable B<WINDOWID> is set to the X
1016 window id number of the B<@@RXVT_NAME@@> window and it also uses and
1017 sets the environment variable B<DISPLAY> to specify which display
1018 terminal to use. B<@@RXVT_NAME@@> uses the environment variables
1019 B<RXVTPATH> and B<PATH> to find XPM files.
1027 System file for login records.
1029 =item B</usr/lib/X11/rgb.txt>
1037 @@RXVT_NAME@@(7), xterm(1), sh(1), resize(1), X(1), pty(4), tty(4), utmp(5)
1041 Check the BUGS file for an up-to-date list.
1043 Cursor change support is not yet implemented.
1045 Click-and-drag doesn't work with X11 mouse report overriding.
1047 =head1 CURRENT PROJECT COORDINATOR
1051 =item Project Coordinator
1053 @@RXVT_MAINT@@ L<@@RXVT_MAINTEMAIL@@>
1055 =item Web page maintainter
1057 @@RXVT_WEBMAINT@@ L<@@RXVT_WEBMAINTEMAIL@@>
1069 University of Kent, 1992, wrote the original Xvt.
1071 =item Rob Nation L<< <nation@rocket.sanders.lockheed.com> >>
1073 very heavily modified Xvt and came up with Rxvt
1075 =item Angelo Haritsis L<< <ah@doc.ic.ac.uk> >>
1077 wrote the Greek Keyboard Input (no longer in code)
1079 =item mj olesen L<< <olesen@me.QueensU.CA> >>
1081 Wrote the menu system.
1083 Project Coordinator (changes.txt 2.11 to 2.21)
1085 =item Oezguer Kesim L<< <kesim@math.fu-berlin.de> >>
1087 Project Coordinator (changes.txt 2.21a to 2.4.5)
1089 =item Geoff Wing L<< <gcw@pobox.com> >>
1091 Rewrote screen display and text selection routines. Project Coordinator
1092 (changes.txt 2.4.6 - rxvt-unicode)
1094 =item Marc Alexander Lehmann L<< <rxvt@schmorp.de> >>
1096 Forked rxvt-unicode, rewrote most of the display code and internal
1097 character handling to store text in unicode, improve xterm
1098 compatibility and apply numerous other bugfixes and extensions.
1100 Project Coordinator (Changes 1.0 -)