3 RXVT REFERENCE - FAQ, command sequences and other background information
5 =head1 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
9 =item How do I know which rxvt-unicode version I'm using?
11 The version number is displayed with the usage (-h). Also the escape
12 sequence C<ESC[8n> sets the window title to the version number.
14 =item When I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data?
16 The terminal description used by rxvt-unicode is not as widely available
17 as that for xterm, or even rxvt (for which the same problem often arises).
19 The correct solution for this problem is to install the terminfo, this can
20 be done like this (with ncurses' infocmp):
22 REMOTE=remotesystem.domain
23 infocmp rxvt-unicode | ssh $REMOTE "cat >/tmp/ti && tic /tmp/ti"
25 ... or by installing rxvt-unicode normally on the remote system,
27 If you cannot or do not want to do this, then you can simply set
28 C<TERM=rxvt> or even C<TERM=xterm>, and live with the small number of
29 problems arising, which includes wrong keymapping, less and different
30 colours and some refresh errors in fullscreen applications. It's a nice
31 quick-and-dirty workaround for rare cases, though.
33 If you always want to do this you can either recompile rxvt-unicode with
34 the desired TERM value or use a resource to set it:
38 If you don't plan to use B<rxvt> (quite common...) you could also replace
39 the rxvt terminfo file with the rxvt-unicode one.
41 =item I need a termcap file entry.
43 You could use rxvt's termcap entry with resonable results in many cases.
44 You can also create a termcap entry by using terminfo's infocmp program
47 infocmp -C rxvt-unicode
49 OR you could this termcap entry:
51 rxvt-unicode|rxvt-unicode terminal (X Window System):\
52 :am:bw:eo:km:mi:ms:xn:xo:\
54 :AL=\E[%dL:DC=\E[%dP:DL=\E[%dM:DO=\E[%dB:IC=\E[%d@:\
55 :K1=\EOw:K2=\EOu:K3=\EOy:K4=\EOq:K5=\EOs:LE=\E[%dD:\
56 :RI=\E[%dC:SF=\E[%dS:SR=\E[%dT:UP=\E[%dA:ae=^O:al=\E[L:\
57 :as=^N:bl=^G:cd=\E[J:ce=\E[K:cl=\E[H\E[2J:cm=\E[%i%d;%dH:\
58 :cr=^M:cs=\E[%i%d;%dr:ct=\E[3g:dc=\E[P:dl=\E[M:do=^J:\
59 :ec=\E[%dX:ei=\E[4l:ho=\E[H:i1=\E[?47l\E=\E[?1l:ic=\E[@:\
60 :im=\E[4h:is=\E[r\E[m\E[2J\E[H\E[?7h\E[?1;3;4;6l\E[4l:\
61 :k0=\E[21~:k1=\E[11~:k2=\E[12~:k3=\E[13~:k4=\E[14~:\
62 :k5=\E[15~:k6=\E[17~:k7=\E[18~:k8=\E[19~:k9=\E[20~:\
63 :kD=\E[3~:kI=\E[2~:kN=\E[6~:kP=\E[5~:kb=\177:kd=\EOB:\
64 :ke=\E[?1l\E>:kh=\E[7~:kl=\EOD:kr=\EOC:ks=\E[?1h\E=:\
65 :ku=\EOA:le=^H:mb=\E[5m:md=\E[1m:me=\E[m\017:mr=\E[7m:\
66 :nd=\E[C:rc=\E8:sc=\E7:se=\E[27m:sf=^J:so=\E[7m:sr=\EM:\
67 :st=\EH:ta=^I:te=\E[r\E[?1049l:ti=\E[?1049h:ue=\E[24m:\
68 :up=\E[A:us=\E[4m:vb=\E[?5h\E[?5l:ve=\E[?25h:vi=\E[?25l:\
71 =item Why does C<ls> no longer have coloured output?
73 The C<ls> in the GNU coreutils unfortunately doesn't use terminfo to
74 decide wether a terminal has colour, but uses it's own configuration
75 file. Needless to say, C<rxvt-unicode> is not in it's default file (among
76 with most other terminals supporting colour). Either add:
80 to C</etc/DIR_COLORS> or simply add:
82 alias ls='ls --color=auto'
84 to your C<.profile> or C<.bashrc>.
86 =item Why doesn't vim/emacs etc. use the 88 colour mode?
88 =item Why doesn't vim/emacs etc. make use of italic?
90 =item Why are the secondary screen-related options not working properly?
92 Make sure you are using C<TERM=rxvt-unicode>. Some pre-packaged
93 distributions (most notably Debian GNU/Linux) break rxvt-unicode
94 by setting C<TERM> to C<rxvt>, which doesn't have these extra
95 features. Unfortunately, some of these (most notably, again, Debian
96 GNU/Linux) furthermore fail to even install the C<rxvt-unicode> terminfo
97 file, so you will need to install it on your own (See the question B<When
98 I log-in to another system it tells me about missing terminfo data?> on
101 =item Rxvt-unicode does not seem to understand the selected encoding?
103 =item Unicode does not seem to work?
105 If you encounter strange problems like typing an accented character but
106 getting two unrelated other characters or similar, or if program output is
107 subtly garbled, then you should check your locale settings.
109 Rxvt-unicode must be started with the same C<LC_CTYPE> setting as the
110 programs. Often rxvt-unicode is started in the C<C> locale, while the
111 login script running within the rxvt-unicode window changes the locale to
112 sth. else, e.h. C<en_GB.UTF-8>. Needless to say, this is not going to work.
114 The best thing is to fix your startup environment, as you will likely run
115 into other problems. If nothing works you can try this in your .profile.
117 printf '\e]701;%s\007' "$LC_CTYPE"
119 If this doesn't work, then maybe you use a C<LC_CTYPE> specification not
120 supported on your systems. Some systems have a C<locale> command which
121 displays this. If it displays sth. like:
123 locale: Cannot set LC_CTYPE to default locale: ...
125 Then the locale you specified is not supported on your system.
127 If nothing works and you are sure that everything is set correctly then
128 you will need to remember a little known fact: Some programs just don't
131 =item Why do some characters look so much different than others?
133 =item How does rxvt-unicode choose fonts?
135 Most fonts do not contain the full range of Unicode, which is
136 fine. Chances are that the font you (or the admin/package maintainer of
137 your system/os) have specified does not cover all the characters you want
140 B<rxvt-unicode> makes a best-effort try at finding a replacement
141 font. Often the result is fine, but sometimes the chosen font looks
142 bad. Many fonts have totally strange characters that don't resemble the
143 correct glyph at all, and rxvt-unicode lacks the artificial intelligence
144 to detect that a specific glyph is wrong: it has to believe the font that
145 the characters it contains indeed look correct.
147 In that case, select a font of your taste and add it to the font list,
150 @@RXVT_NAME@@ -fn basefont,font2,font3...
152 When rxvt-unicode sees a character, it will first look at the base
153 font. If the base font does not contain the character, it will go to the
154 next font, and so on. Specifying your own fonts will also speed up this
155 search and use less resources within rxvt-unicode and the X-server.
157 The only limitation is that all the fonts must not be larger than the base
158 font, as the base font defines the principal cell size, which must be the
159 same due to the way terminals work.
161 =item Why do some chinese characters look so different than others?
163 This is because there is a difference between script and language --
164 rxvt-unicode does not know which language the text that is output
165 is, as it only knows the unicode character codes. If rxvt-unicode
166 first sees a japanese character, it might choose a japanese font for
167 it. Subsequent japanese characters will take that font. Now, many chinese
168 characters aren't represented in japanese fonts, so when the first
169 non-japanese character comes up, rxvt-unicode will look for a chinese font
170 -- unfortunately at this point, it will still use the japanese font for
171 japanese characters that are also chinese.
173 The workaround is easy: just tag a chinese font at the end of your font
174 list (see the previous question). The key is to view the font list as
175 a preference list: If you expect more japanese, list a japanese font
176 first. If you expect more chinese, put a chinese font first.
178 In the future it might be possible to switch preferences at runtime (the
179 internal data structure has no problem with using different fonts for
180 the same character at the same time, but no interface for this has been
183 =item Why does rxvt-unicode sometimes leave pixel droppings?
185 Most fonts were not designed for terminal use, which means that character
186 size varies a lot. A font that is otherwise fine for terminal use might
187 contain some characters that are simply too wide. Rxvt-unicode will avoid
188 these characters. For characters that are just "a bit" too wide a special
189 "careful" rendering mode is used that redraws adjacent characters.
191 All of this requires that fonts do not lie about character sizes,
192 however: Xft fonts often draw glyphs larger than their acclaimed bounding
193 box, and rxvt-unicode has no way of detecting this (the correct way is to
194 ask for the character bounding box, which unfortunately is wrong in these
197 It's not clear (to me at least), wether this is a bug in Xft, freetype,
198 or the respective font. If you encounter this problem you might try using
199 the C<-lsp> option to give the font more height. If that doesn't work, you
200 might be forced to use a different font.
202 All of this is not a problem when using X11 core fonts, as their bounding
205 =item My Compose (Multi_key) key is no longer working.
207 The most common causes for this are that either your locale is not set
208 correctly, or you specified a B<preeditStyle> that is not supported by
209 your input method. For example, if you specified B<OverTheSpot> and
210 your input method (e.g. the default input method handling Compose keys)
211 does not support this (for instance because it is not visual), then
212 rxvt-unicode will continue without an input method.
214 In this case either do not specify a B<preeditStyle> or specify more than
215 one pre-edit style, such as B<OverTheSpot,Root,None>.
217 =item I cannot type C<Ctrl-Shift-2> to get an ASCII NUL character due to ISO 14755
219 Either try C<Ctrl-2> alone (it often is mapped to ASCII NUL even on
220 international keyboards) or simply use ISO 14755 support to your
221 advantage, typing <Ctrl-Shift-0> to get a ASCII NUL. This works for other
222 codes, too, such as C<Ctrl-Shift-1-d> to type the default telnet escape
225 =item How can I keep rxvt-unicode from using reverse video so much?
227 First of all, make sure you are running with the right terminfo
228 (C<urxvt>), which will get rid of most of these effects. Then make sure
229 you have specified colours for italic and bold, as otherwise rxvt-unicode
230 might use reverse video to simulate the effect:
235 =item Some programs assume totally weird colours (red instead of blue), how can I fix that?
237 For some unexplainable reason, some programs (i.e. irssi) assume a very
238 weird colour palette when confronted with a terminal with more than the
239 standard 8 colours (rxvt-unicode supports 88). The right fix is, of
240 course, to fix these programs not to assume non-ISO colours without very
243 In the meantime, you can either edit your C<urxvt> terminfo definition to
244 only claim 8 colour support or use C<TERM=rxvt>, which will fix colours
245 but keep you from using other rxvt-unicode features.
247 =item I am on FreeBSD and rxvt-unicode does not seem to work at all.
249 Rxvt-unicode requires the symbol C<__STDC_ISO_10646__> to be defined
250 in your compile environment, or an implementation that implements it,
251 wether it defines the symbol or not. C<__STDC_ISO_10646__> requires that
252 B<wchar_t> is represented as unicode.
254 As you might have guessed, FreeBSD does neither define this symobl nor
255 does it support it. Instead, it uses it's own internal representation of
256 B<wchar_t>. This is, of course, completely legal.
258 However, C<__STDC_ISO_10646__> is the only sane way to support
259 multi-language apps in an OS, as using a locale-dependent (and
260 non-standardized) representation of B<wchar_t> makes it impossible to
261 convert between B<wchar_t> (as used by X11 and your applications) and any
262 other encoding without implementing OS-specific-wrappers for each and
263 every locale. There simply are no APIs to convert B<wchar_t> into anything
264 except the current locale encoding.
266 Some applications (such as the formidable B<mlterm>) work around this
267 by carrying their own replacement functions for character set handling
268 with them, and either implementing OS-dependent hacks or doing multiple
269 conversions (which is slow and unreliable in case the OS implements
270 encodings slightly different than the terminal emulator).
272 The rxvt-unicode author insists that the right way to fix this is in the
273 system libraries once and for all, instead of forcing every app to carry
274 complete replacements.
276 =item How does rxvt-unicode determine the encoding to use?
278 =item Is there an option to switch encodings?
280 Unlike some other terminals, rxvt-unicode has no encoding switch, and no
281 specific "utf-8" mode, such as xterm. In fact, it doesn't even know about
282 UTF-8 or any other encodings with respect to terminal I/O.
284 The reasons is that there exists a perfectly fine mechanism for selecting
285 the encoding, doing I/O and (most important) communicating this to all
286 applications so everybody agrees on character properties such as width and
287 code number. This mechanism is the I<locale>.
289 Rxvt-unicode uses the C<LC_CTYPE> locale category to select encoding. All
290 programs doing the same (that is, most) will automatically agree in the
291 interpretation of characters.
293 Unfortunately, there is no system-independent way to select locales, nor
294 is there a standard on how locale specifiers will look like.
296 On most systems, the content of the C<LC_CTYPE> environment variable
297 contains an arbitrary string which corresponds to an already-installed
298 locale. Common names for locales are C<en_US.UTF-8>, C<de_DE.ISO-8859-15>,
299 C<ja_JP.EUC-JP>, i.e. C<language_country.encoding>, but other forms
300 (i.e. C<de> or C<german>) are also common.
302 Rxvt-unicode ignores all other locale categories, and except for
303 the encoding, ignores country or language-specific settings,
304 i.e. C<de_DE.UTF-8> and C<ja_JP.UTF-8> are the same for rxvt-unicode.
306 If you want to use a specific encoding you have to make sure you start
307 rxvt-unicode with the correct C<LC_CTYPE> category.
309 =item Can I switch locales at runtime?
311 Yes, using an escape sequence. Try sth. like this, which sets
312 rxvt-unicode's idea of C<LC_CTYPE>.
314 printf '\e]701;%s\007' ja_JP.SJIS
316 See also the previous question.
318 Sometimes this capability is rather handy when you want to work in one
319 locale (e.g. C<de_DE.UTF-8>) but some programs don't support UTF-8. For
320 example, I use this script to start C<xjdic>, which first switches to a
321 locale supported by xjdic and back later:
323 printf '\e]701;%s\007' ja_JP.SJIS
325 printf '\e]701;%s\007' de_DE.UTF-8
327 =item Can I switch the fonts at runtime?
329 Yes, using an escape sequence. Try sth. like this, which has the same
330 effect as using the C<-fn> switch, and takes effect immediately:
332 printf '\e]50;%s\007' "9x15bold,xft:Kochi Gothic"
334 This is useful if you e.g. work primarily with japanese (and prefer a
335 japanese font), but you have to switch to chinese temporarily, where
336 japanese fonts would only be in your way.
338 You can think of this as a kind of manual ISO-2022 switching.
340 =item Why do italic characters look as if clipped?
342 Many fonts have difficulties with italic characters and hinting. For
343 example, the otherwise very nicely hinted font C<xft:Bitstream Vera Sans
344 Mono> completely fails in it's italic face. A workaround is to enable
345 freetype autohinting, i.e. like this:
347 URxvt*italicFont: xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:italic:autohint=true
348 URxvt*boldItalicFont: xft:Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:bold:italic:autohint=true
350 =item My input method wants <some encoding> but I want UTF-8, what can I do?
352 You can specify separate locales for the input method and the rest of the
353 terminal, using the resource C<imlocale>:
355 URxvt*imlocale: ja_JP.EUC-JP
357 Now you can start your terminal with C<LC_CTYPE=ja_JP.UTF-8> and still
358 use your input method. Please note, however, that you will not be able to
359 input characters outside C<EUC-JP> in a normal way then, as your input
362 =item Rxvt-unicode uses gobs of memory, how can I reduce that?
364 Rxvt-unicode tries to obey the rule of not charging you for sth. you
365 don't use. One thing you should try is to configure out all settings that
366 you don't need, for example, Xft support is a resource hog by design,
367 when used. Compiling it out ensures that no Xft font will be loaded
368 accidentally when rxvt-unicode tries to find a font for your characters.
370 Also, many people (me included) like large windows and even larger
371 scrollback buffers: Without C<--enable-unicode3>, rxvt-unicode will use
372 6 bytes per screen cell. For a 160x?? window this amounts to almost a
373 kilobyte per line. A scrollback buffer of 10000 lines will then (if full)
374 use 10 Megabytes of memory. With C<--enable-unicode3> it gets worse, as
375 rxvt-unicode then uses 8 bytes per screen cell.
377 =item Can I speed up Xft rendering somehow?
379 Yes, the most obvious way to speed it up is to avoid Xft entirely, as
380 it is simply slow. If you still want Xft fonts you might try to disable
381 antialiasing (by appending C<:antialiasing=false>), which saves lots of
382 memory and also speeds up rendering considerably.
384 =item Rxvt-unicode doesn't seem to anti-alias its fonts, what is wrong?
386 Rxvt-unicode will use whatever you specify as a font. If it needs to
387 fall back to it's default font search list it will prefer X11 core
388 fonts, because they are small and fast, and then use Xft fonts. It has
389 antialiasing disabled for most of them, because the author thinks they
392 If you want antialiasing, you have to specify the fonts manually.
394 =item Mouse cut/paste suddenly no longer works.
396 Make sure that mouse reporting is actually turned off since killing
397 some editors prematurely may leave the mouse in mouse report mode. I've
398 heard that tcsh may use mouse reporting unless it otherwise specified. A
399 quick check is to see if cut/paste works when the Alt or Shift keys are
400 depressed. See @@RXVT_NAME@@(7)
402 =item What's with this bold/blink stuff?
404 If no bold colour is set via C<colorBD:>, bold will invert text using the
405 standard foreground colour.
407 For the standard background colour, blinking will actually make the
408 text blink when compiled with C<--enable-blinking>. with standard
409 colours. Without C<--enable-blinking>, the blink attribute will be
412 On ANSI colours, bold/blink attributes are used to set high-intensity
413 foreground/background colors.
415 color0-7 are the low-intensity colors.
417 color8-15 are the corresponding high-intensity colors.
419 =item I don't like the screen colors. How do I change them?
421 You can change the screen colors at run-time using F<~/.Xdefaults>
422 resources (or as long-options).
424 Here are values that are supposed to resemble a VGA screen,
425 including the murky brown that passes for low-intensity yellow:
427 URxvt*color0: #000000
428 URxvt*color1: #A80000
429 URxvt*color2: #00A800
430 URxvt*color3: #A8A800
431 URxvt*color4: #0000A8
432 URxvt*color5: #A800A8
433 URxvt*color6: #00A8A8
434 URxvt*color7: #A8A8A8
436 URxvt*color8: #000054
437 URxvt*color9: #FF0054
438 URxvt*color10: #00FF54
439 URxvt*color11: #FFFF54
440 URxvt*color12: #0000FF
441 URxvt*color13: #FF00FF
442 URxvt*color14: #00FFFF
443 URxvt*color15: #FFFFFF
445 And here is a more complete set of non-standard colors described as
448 URxvt.cursorColor: #dc74d1
449 URxvt.pointerColor: #dc74d1
450 URxvt.background: #0e0e0e
451 URxvt.foreground: #4ad5e1
452 URxvt.color0: #000000
453 URxvt.color8: #8b8f93
454 URxvt.color1: #dc74d1
455 URxvt.color9: #dc74d1
456 URxvt.color2: #0eb8c7
457 URxvt.color10: #0eb8c7
458 URxvt.color3: #dfe37e
459 URxvt.color11: #dfe37e
460 URxvt.color5: #9e88f0
461 URxvt.color13: #9e88f0
462 URxvt.color6: #73f7ff
463 URxvt.color14: #73f7ff
464 URxvt.color7: #e1dddd
465 URxvt.color15: #e1dddd
467 =item What's with the strange Backspace/Delete key behaviour?
469 Assuming that the physical Backspace key corresponds to the
470 BackSpace keysym (not likely for Linux ... see the following
471 question) there are two standard values that can be used for
472 Backspace: C<^H> and C<^?>.
474 Historically, either value is correct, but rxvt-unicode adopts the debian
475 policy of using C<^?> when unsure, because it's the one only only correct
478 Rxvt-unicode tries to inherit the current stty settings and uses the value
479 of `erase' to guess the value for backspace. If rxvt-unicode wasn't
480 started from a terminal (say, from a menu or by remote shell), then the
481 system value of `erase', which corresponds to CERASE in <termios.h>, will
482 be used (which may not be the same as your stty setting).
484 For starting a new rxvt-unicode:
494 Toggle with "ESC[36h" / "ESC[36l" as documented in @@RXVT_NAME@@(7).
496 For an existing rxvt-unicode:
506 This helps satisfy some of the Backspace discrepancies that occur, but
507 if you use Backspace = C<^H>, make sure that the termcap/terminfo value
508 properly reflects that.
510 The Delete key is a another casualty of the ill-defined Backspace problem.
511 To avoid confusion between the Backspace and Delete keys, the Delete
512 key has been assigned an escape sequence to match the vt100 for Execute
513 (ESC[3~) and is in the supplied termcap/terminfo.
515 Some other Backspace problems:
517 some editors use termcap/terminfo,
518 some editors (vim I'm told) expect Backspace = ^H,
519 GNU Emacs (and Emacs-like editors) use ^H for help.
521 Perhaps someday this will all be resolved in a consistent manner.
523 =item I don't like the key-bindings. How do I change them?
525 There are some compile-time selections available via configure. Unless
526 you have run "configure" with the C<--disable-resources> option you can
527 use the `keysym' resource to alter the keystrings associated with keysyms.
529 Here's an example for a URxvt session started using `@@RXVT_NAME@@ -name URxvt'
531 URxvt*keysym.Home: \e[1~
532 URxvt*keysym.End: \e[4~
533 URxvt*keysym.C-apostrophe: \e<C-'>
534 URxvt*keysym.C-slash: \e<C-/>
535 URxvt*keysym.C-semicolon: \e<C-;>
536 URxvt*keysym.C-grave: \e<C-`>
537 URxvt*keysym.C-comma: \e<C-,>
538 URxvt*keysym.C-period: \e<C-.>
539 URxvt*keysym.C-0x60: \e<C-`>
540 URxvt*keysym.C-Tab: \e<C-Tab>
541 URxvt*keysym.C-Return: \e<C-Return>
542 URxvt*keysym.S-Return: \e<S-Return>
543 URxvt*keysym.S-space: \e<S-Space>
544 URxvt*keysym.M-Up: \e<M-Up>
545 URxvt*keysym.M-Down: \e<M-Down>
546 URxvt*keysym.M-Left: \e<M-Left>
547 URxvt*keysym.M-Right: \e<M-Right>
548 URxvt*keysym.M-C-0: list.0123456789.\e<M-C-.>
549 URxvt*keysym.M-C-a: list.abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz.\033<M-C-.>
550 URxvt*keysym.F12: proto:\033]701;zh_CN.GBK\007
552 =item I'm using keyboard model XXX that has extra Prior/Next/Insert keys.
553 How do I make use of them? For example, the Sun Keyboard type 4
554 has the following mappings that rxvt-unicode doesn't recognize.
563 Rather than have rxvt-unicode try to accommodate all the various possible keyboard
564 mappings, it is better to use `xmodmap' to remap the keys as required for
565 your particular machine.
567 =item How do I distinguish if I'm running rxvt-unicode or a regular xterm?
568 I need this to decide about setting colors etc.
570 rxvt and rxvt-unicode always export the variable "COLORTERM", so you can
571 check and see if that is set. Note that several programs, JED, slrn,
572 Midnight Commander automatically check this variable to decide whether or
575 =item How do I set the correct, full IP address for the DISPLAY variable?
577 If you've compiled rxvt-unicode with DISPLAY_IS_IP and have enabled
578 insecure mode then it is possible to use the following shell script
579 snippets to correctly set the display. If your version of rxvt-unicode
580 wasn't also compiled with ESCZ_ANSWER (as assumed in these snippets) then
581 the COLORTERM variable can be used to distinguish rxvt-unicode from a
584 Courtesy of Chuck Blake <cblake@BBN.COM> with the following shell script
587 # Bourne/Korn/POSIX family of shells:
588 [ ${TERM:-foo} = foo ] && TERM=xterm # assume an xterm if we don't know
589 if [ ${TERM:-foo} = xterm ]; then
590 stty -icanon -echo min 0 time 15 # see if enhanced rxvt or not
594 if [ ""${term_id} = '^[[?1;2C' -a ${DISPLAY:-foo} = foo ]; then
595 echo -n '^[[7n' # query the rxvt we are in for the DISPLAY string
596 read DISPLAY # set it in our local shell
600 =item How do I compile the manual pages for myself?
602 You need to have a recent version of perl installed as F</usr/bin/perl>,
603 one that comes with F<pod2man>, F<pod2text> and F<pod2html>. Then go to
604 the doc subdirectory and enter C<make alldoc>.
606 =item My question isn't answered here, can I ask a human?
608 Before sending me mail, you could go to IRC: C<irc.freenode.net>,
609 channel C<#rxvt-unicode> has some rxvt-unicode enthusiasts that might be
610 interested in learning about new and exciting problems (but not FAQs :).
617 printf '\33]50;%s\007' 9x15,xft:Kochi" Mincho"
619 # change the locale and tell rxvt-unicode about it
620 export LC_CTYPE=ja_JP.EUC-JP; printf "\33]701;$LC_CTYPE\007"
623 printf '\33]2;%s\007' "new window title"
627 The rest of this document describes various technical aspects of
628 B<rxvt-unicode>. First the description of supported command sequences,
629 followed by menu and pixmap support and last by a description of all
630 features selectable at C<configure> time.
632 =head1 RXVT TECHNICAL REFERENCE
640 The literal character c.
644 A single (required) character.
648 A single (usually optional) numeric parameter, composed of one or more
653 A multiple numeric parameter composed of any number of single numeric
654 parameters, separated by C<;> character(s).
658 A text parameter composed of printable characters.
668 Enquiry (Ctrl-E) = Send Device Attributes (DA)
669 request attributes from terminal. See B<< C<ESC [ Ps c> >>.
681 Horizontal Tab (HT) (Ctrl-I)
685 Line Feed or New Line (NL) (Ctrl-J)
689 Vertical Tab (Ctrl-K) same as B<< C<LF> >>
693 Form Feed or New Page (NP) (Ctrl-L) same as B<< C<LF> >>
697 Carriage Return (Ctrl-M)
701 Shift Out (Ctrl-N), invokes the G1 character set.
702 Switch to Alternate Character Set
706 Shift In (Ctrl-O), invokes the G0 character set (the default).
707 Switch to Standard Character Set
715 =head1 Escape Sequences
719 =item B<< C<ESC # 8> >>
721 DEC Screen Alignment Test (DECALN)
723 =item B<< C<ESC 7> >>
727 =item B<< C<ESC 8> >>
731 =item B<< C<ESC => >>
733 Application Keypad (SMKX). See also next sequence.
735 =item B<<< C<< ESC >> >>>
739 B<Note:> If the numeric keypad is activated, eg, B<Num_Lock> has been
740 pressed, numbers or control functions are generated by the numeric keypad
743 =item B<< C<ESC D> >>
747 =item B<< C<ESC E> >>
751 =item B<< C<ESC H> >>
755 =item B<< C<ESC M> >>
759 =item B<< C<ESC N> >>
761 Single Shift Select of G2 Character Set (SS2): affects next character
762 only I<unimplemented>
764 =item B<< C<ESC O> >>
766 Single Shift Select of G3 Character Set (SS3): affects next character
767 only I<unimplemented>
769 =item B<< C<ESC Z> >>
771 Obsolete form of returns: B<< C<ESC[?1;2C> >> I<rxvt-unicode compile-time option>
773 =item B<< C<ESC c> >>
777 =item B<< C<ESC n> >>
779 Invoke the G2 Character Set (LS2)
781 =item B<< C<ESC o> >>
783 Invoke the G3 Character Set (LS3)
785 =item B<< C<ESC> ( C> >>
787 Designate G0 Character Set (ISO 2022), see below for values of C<C>.
789 =item B<< C<ESC> ) C> >>
791 Designate G1 Character Set (ISO 2022), see below for values of C<C>.
793 =item B<< C<ESC * C> >>
795 Designate G2 Character Set (ISO 2022), see below for values of C<C>.
797 =item B<< C<ESC + C> >>
799 Designate G3 Character Set (ISO 2022), see below for values of C<C>.
801 =item B<< C<ESC $ C> >>
803 Designate Kanji Character Set
805 Where B<< C<C> >> is one of:
809 C = C<0> DEC Special Character and Line Drawing Set
810 C = C<A> United Kingdom (UK)
811 C = C<B> United States (USASCII)
812 C = C<< < >> Multinational character set I<unimplemented>
813 C = C<5> Finnish character set I<unimplemented>
814 C = C<C> Finnish character set I<unimplemented>
815 C = C<K> German character set I<unimplemented>
823 =head1 CSI (Command Sequence Introducer) Sequences
827 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps @> >>
829 Insert B<< C<Ps> >> (Blank) Character(s) [default: 1] (ICH)X<ESCOBPsA>
831 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps A> >>
833 Cursor Up B<< C<Ps> >> Times [default: 1] (CUU)
835 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps B> >>
837 Cursor Down B<< C<Ps> >> Times [default: 1] (CUD)X<ESCOBPsC>
839 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps C> >>
841 Cursor Forward B<< C<Ps> >> Times [default: 1] (CUF)
843 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps D> >>
845 Cursor Backward B<< C<Ps> >> Times [default: 1] (CUB)
847 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps E> >>
849 Cursor Down B<< C<Ps> >> Times [default: 1] and to first column
851 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps F> >>
853 Cursor Up B<< C<Ps> >> Times [default: 1] and to first columnX<ESCOBPsG>
855 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps G> >>
857 Cursor to Column B<< C<Ps> >> (HPA)
859 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps;Ps H> >>
861 Cursor Position [row;column] [default: 1;1] (CUP)
863 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps I> >>
865 Move forward B<< C<Ps> >> tab stops [default: 1]
867 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps J> >>
869 Erase in Display (ED)
873 B<< C<Ps = 0> >> Clear Below (default)
874 B<< C<Ps = 1> >> Clear Above
875 B<< C<Ps = 2> >> Clear All
879 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps K> >>
885 B<< C<Ps = 0> >> Clear to Right (default)
886 B<< C<Ps = 1> >> Clear to Left
887 B<< C<Ps = 2> >> Clear All
891 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps L> >>
893 Insert B<< C<Ps> >> Line(s) [default: 1] (IL)
895 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps M> >>
897 Delete B<< C<Ps> >> Line(s) [default: 1] (DL)
899 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps P> >>
901 Delete B<< C<Ps> >> Character(s) [default: 1] (DCH)
903 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps;Ps;Ps;Ps;Ps T> >>
905 Initiate . I<unimplemented> Parameters are
906 [func;startx;starty;firstrow;lastrow].
908 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps W> >>
914 B<< C<Ps = 0> >> Tab Set (HTS)
915 B<< C<Ps = 2> >> Tab Clear (TBC), Clear Current Column (default)
916 B<< C<Ps = 5> >> Tab Clear (TBC), Clear All
920 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps X> >>
922 Erase B<< C<Ps> >> Character(s) [default: 1] (ECH)
924 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps Z> >>
926 Move backward B<< C<Ps> >> [default: 1] tab stops
928 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps '> >>
930 See B<< C<ESC [ Ps G> >>
932 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps a> >>
934 See B<< C<ESC [ Ps C> >>
936 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps c> >>
938 Send Device Attributes (DA)
939 B<< C<Ps = 0> >> (or omitted): request attributes from terminal
940 returns: B<< C<ESC[?1;2c> >> (``I am a VT100 with Advanced Video
943 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps d> >>
945 Cursor to Line B<< C<Ps> >> (VPA)
947 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps e> >>
949 See B<< C<ESC [ Ps A> >>
951 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps;Ps f> >>
953 Horizontal and Vertical Position [row;column] (HVP) [default: 1;1]
955 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps g> >>
961 B<< C<Ps = 0> >> Clear Current Column (default)
962 B<< C<Ps = 3> >> Clear All (TBC)
966 =item B<< C<ESC [ Pm h> >>
968 Set Mode (SM). See B<< C<ESC [ Pm l> >> sequence for description of C<Pm>.
970 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps i> >>
972 Printing. See also the C<print-pipe> resource.
976 B<< C<Ps = 0> >> print screen (MC0)
977 B<< C<Ps = 4> >> disable transparent print mode (MC4)
978 B<< C<Ps = 5> >> enable transparent print mode (MC5)
982 =item B<< C<ESC [ Pm l> >>
988 =item B<< C<Ps = 4> >>
992 B<< C<h> >> Insert Mode (SMIR)
993 B<< C<l> >> Replace Mode (RMIR)
997 =item B<< C<Ps = 20> >> (partially implemented)
1001 B<< C<h> >> Automatic Newline (LNM)
1002 B<< C<l> >> Normal Linefeed (LNM)
1008 =item B<< C<ESC [ Pm m> >>
1010 Character Attributes (SGR)
1014 B<< C<Ps = 0> >> Normal (default)
1015 B<< C<Ps = 1 / 21> >> On / Off Bold (bright fg)
1016 B<< C<Ps = 3 / 23> >> On / Off Italic
1017 B<< C<Ps = 4 / 24> >> On / Off Underline
1018 B<< C<Ps = 5 / 25> >> On / Off Slow Blink (bright bg)
1019 B<< C<Ps = 6 / 26> >> On / Off Rapid Blink (bright bg)
1020 B<< C<Ps = 7 / 27> >> On / Off Inverse
1021 B<< C<Ps = 8 / 27> >> On / Off Invisible (NYI)
1022 B<< C<Ps = 30 / 40> >> fg/bg Black
1023 B<< C<Ps = 31 / 41> >> fg/bg Red
1024 B<< C<Ps = 32 / 42> >> fg/bg Green
1025 B<< C<Ps = 33 / 43> >> fg/bg Yellow
1026 B<< C<Ps = 34 / 44> >> fg/bg Blue
1027 B<< C<Ps = 35 / 45> >> fg/bg Magenta
1028 B<< C<Ps = 36 / 46> >> fg/bg Cyan
1029 B<< C<Ps = 38;5 / 48;5> >> set fg/bg to color #m (ISO 8613-6)
1030 B<< C<Ps = 37 / 47> >> fg/bg White
1031 B<< C<Ps = 39 / 49> >> fg/bg Default
1032 B<< C<Ps = 90 / 100> >> fg/bg Bright Black
1033 B<< C<Ps = 91 / 101> >> fg/bg Bright Red
1034 B<< C<Ps = 92 / 102> >> fg/bg Bright Green
1035 B<< C<Ps = 93 / 103> >> fg/bg Bright Yellow
1036 B<< C<Ps = 94 / 104> >> fg/bg Bright Blue
1037 B<< C<Ps = 95 / 105> >> fg/bg Bright Magenta
1038 B<< C<Ps = 96 / 106> >> fg/bg Bright Cyan
1039 B<< C<Ps = 97 / 107> >> fg/bg Bright White
1040 B<< C<Ps = 99 / 109> >> fg/bg Bright Default
1044 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps n> >>
1046 Device Status Report (DSR)
1050 B<< C<Ps = 5> >> Status Report B<< C<ESC [ 0 n> >> (``OK'')
1051 B<< C<Ps = 6> >> Report Cursor Position (CPR) [row;column] as B<< C<ESC [ r ; c R> >>
1052 B<< C<Ps = 7> >> Request Display Name
1053 B<< C<Ps = 8> >> Request Version Number (place in window title)
1057 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps;Ps r> >>
1059 Set Scrolling Region [top;bottom]
1060 [default: full size of window] (CSR)
1062 =item B<< C<ESC [ s> >>
1066 =item B<< C<ESC [ Ps x> >>
1068 Request Terminal Parameters (DECREQTPARM)
1070 =item B<< C<ESC [ u> >>
1078 =head1 DEC Private Modes
1082 =item B<< C<ESC [ ? Pm h> >>
1084 DEC Private Mode Set (DECSET)
1086 =item B<< C<ESC [ ? Pm l> >>
1088 DEC Private Mode Reset (DECRST)
1090 =item B<< C<ESC [ ? Pm r> >>
1092 Restore previously saved DEC Private Mode Values.
1094 =item B<< C<ESC [ ? Pm s> >>
1096 Save DEC Private Mode Values.
1098 =item B<< C<ESC [ ? Pm t> >>
1100 Toggle DEC Private Mode Values (rxvt extension). I<where>
1104 =item B<< C<Ps = 1> >> (DECCKM)
1108 B<< C<h> >> Application Cursor Keys
1109 B<< C<l> >> Normal Cursor Keys
1113 =item B<< C<Ps = 2> >> (ANSI/VT52 mode)
1117 B<< C<h> >> Enter VT52 mode
1118 B<< C<l> >> Enter VT52 mode
1122 =item B<< C<Ps = 3> >>
1126 B<< C<h> >> 132 Column Mode (DECCOLM)
1127 B<< C<l> >> 80 Column Mode (DECCOLM)
1131 =item B<< C<Ps = 4> >>
1135 B<< C<h> >> Smooth (Slow) Scroll (DECSCLM)
1136 B<< C<l> >> Jump (Fast) Scroll (DECSCLM)
1140 =item B<< C<Ps = 5> >>
1144 B<< C<h> >> Reverse Video (DECSCNM)
1145 B<< C<l> >> Normal Video (DECSCNM)
1149 =item B<< C<Ps = 6> >>
1153 B<< C<h> >> Origin Mode (DECOM)
1154 B<< C<l> >> Normal Cursor Mode (DECOM)
1158 =item B<< C<Ps = 7> >>
1162 B<< C<h> >> Wraparound Mode (DECAWM)
1163 B<< C<l> >> No Wraparound Mode (DECAWM)
1167 =item B<< C<Ps = 8> >> I<unimplemented>
1171 B<< C<h> >> Auto-repeat Keys (DECARM)
1172 B<< C<l> >> No Auto-repeat Keys (DECARM)
1176 =item B<< C<Ps = 9> >> X10 XTerm
1180 B<< C<h> >> Send Mouse X & Y on button press.
1181 B<< C<l> >> No mouse reporting.
1185 =item B<< C<Ps = 10> >> (B<rxvt>)
1189 B<< C<h> >> menuBar visible
1190 B<< C<l> >> menuBar invisible
1194 =item B<< C<Ps = 25> >>
1198 B<< C<h> >> Visible cursor {cnorm/cvvis}
1199 B<< C<l> >> Invisible cursor {civis}
1203 =item B<< C<Ps = 30> >>
1207 B<< C<h> >> scrollBar visisble
1208 B<< C<l> >> scrollBar invisisble
1212 =item B<< C<Ps = 35> >> (B<rxvt>)
1216 B<< C<h> >> Allow XTerm Shift+key sequences
1217 B<< C<l> >> Disallow XTerm Shift+key sequences
1221 =item B<< C<Ps = 38> >> I<unimplemented>
1223 Enter Tektronix Mode (DECTEK)
1225 =item B<< C<Ps = 40> >>
1229 B<< C<h> >> Allow 80/132 Mode
1230 B<< C<l> >> Disallow 80/132 Mode
1234 =item B<< C<Ps = 44> >> I<unimplemented>
1238 B<< C<h> >> Turn On Margin Bell
1239 B<< C<l> >> Turn Off Margin Bell
1243 =item B<< C<Ps = 45> >> I<unimplemented>
1247 B<< C<h> >> Reverse-wraparound Mode
1248 B<< C<l> >> No Reverse-wraparound Mode
1252 =item B<< C<Ps = 46> >> I<unimplemented>
1254 =item B<< C<Ps = 47> >>
1258 B<< C<h> >> Use Alternate Screen Buffer
1259 B<< C<l> >> Use Normal Screen Buffer
1265 =item B<< C<Ps = 66> >>
1269 B<< C<h> >> Application Keypad (DECPAM) == C<ESC =>
1270 B<< C<l> >> Normal Keypad (DECPNM) == C<< ESC > >>
1274 =item B<< C<Ps = 67> >>
1278 B<< C<h> >> Backspace key sends B<< C<BS> (DECBKM) >>
1279 B<< C<l> >> Backspace key sends B<< C<DEL> >>
1283 =item B<< C<Ps = 1000> >> (X11 XTerm)
1287 B<< C<h> >> Send Mouse X & Y on button press and release.
1288 B<< C<l> >> No mouse reporting.
1292 =item B<< C<Ps = 1001> >> (X11 XTerm) I<unimplemented>
1296 B<< C<h> >> Use Hilite Mouse Tracking.
1297 B<< C<l> >> No mouse reporting.
1301 =item B<< C<Ps = 1010> >> (B<rxvt>)
1305 B<< C<h> >> Don't scroll to bottom on TTY output
1306 B<< C<l> >> Scroll to bottom on TTY output
1310 =item B<< C<Ps = 1011> >> (B<rxvt>)
1314 B<< C<h> >> Scroll to bottom when a key is pressed
1315 B<< C<l> >> Don't scroll to bottom when a key is pressed
1319 =item B<< C<Ps = 1047> >>
1323 B<< C<h> >> Use Alternate Screen Buffer
1324 B<< C<l> >> Use Normal Screen Buffer - clear Alternate Screen Buffer if returning from it
1328 =item B<< C<Ps = 1048> >>
1332 B<< C<h> >> Save cursor position
1333 B<< C<l> >> Restore cursor position
1337 =item B<< C<Ps = 1049> >>
1341 B<< C<h> >> Use Alternate Screen Buffer - clear Alternate Screen Buffer if switching to it
1342 B<< C<l> >> Use Normal Screen Buffer
1352 =head1 XTerm Operating System Commands
1356 =item B<< C<ESC ] Ps;Pt ST> >>
1358 Set XTerm Parameters. 8-bit ST: 0x9c, 7-bit ST sequence: ESC \ (0x1b,
1359 0x5c), backwards compatible terminator BEL (0x07) is also accepted. any
1360 B<octet> can be escaped by prefixing it with SYN (0x16, ^V).
1364 B<< C<Ps = 0> >> Change Icon Name and Window Title to B<< C<Pt> >>
1365 B<< C<Ps = 1> >> Change Icon Name to B<< C<Pt> >>
1366 B<< C<Ps = 2> >> Change Window Title to B<< C<Pt> >>
1367 B<< C<Ps = 3> >> If B<< C<Pt> >> starts with a B<< C<?> >>, query the (STRING) property of the window and return it. If B<< C<Pt> >> contains a B<< C<=> >>, set the named property to the given value, else delete the specified property.
1368 B<< C<Ps = 4> >> B<< C<Pt> >> is a semi-colon separated sequence of one or more semi-colon separated B<number>/B<name> pairs, where B<number> is an index to a colour and B<name> is the name of a colour. Each pair causes the B<number>ed colour to be changed to B<name>. Numbers 0-7 corresponds to low-intensity (normal) colours and 8-15 corresponds to high-intensity colours. 0=black, 1=red, 2=green, 3=yellow, 4=blue, 5=magenta, 6=cyan, 7=white
1369 B<< C<Ps = 10> >> Change colour of text foreground to B<< C<Pt> >> B<(NB: may change in future)>
1370 B<< C<Ps = 11> >> Change colour of text background to B<< C<Pt> >> B<(NB: may change in future)>
1371 B<< C<Ps = 12> >> Change colour of text cursor foreground to B<< C<Pt> >>
1372 B<< C<Ps = 13> >> Change colour of mouse foreground to B<< C<Pt> >>
1373 B<< C<Ps = 17> >> Change colour of highlight characters to B<< C<Pt> >>
1374 B<< C<Ps = 18> >> Change colour of bold characters to B<< C<Pt> >>
1375 B<< C<Ps = 19> >> Change colour of underlined characters to B<< C<Pt> >>
1376 B<< C<Ps = 20> >> Change default background to B<< C<Pt> >>
1377 B<< C<Ps = 39> >> Change default foreground colour to B<< C<Pt> >> I<rxvt compile-time option>
1378 B<< C<Ps = 46> >> Change Log File to B<< C<Pt> >> I<unimplemented>
1379 B<< C<Ps = 49> >> Change default background colour to B<< C<Pt> >> I<rxvt compile-time option>
1380 B<< C<Ps = 50> >> Set fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>, with the following special values of B<< C<Pt> >> (B<rxvt>) B<< C<#+n> >> change up B<< C<n> >> B<< C<#-n> >> change down B<< C<n> >> if B<< C<n> >> is missing of 0, a value of 1 is used I<empty> change to font0 B<< C<n> >> change to font B<< C<n> >>
1381 B<< C<Ps = 55> >> Log all scrollback buffer and all of screen to B<< C<Pt> >>
1382 B<< C<Ps = 701> >> Change current locale to B<< C<Pt> >>, or, if B<< C<Pt> >> is B<< C<?> >>, return the current locale (@@RXVT_NAME@@ extension)
1383 B<< C<Ps = 703> >> Menubar command B<< C<Pt> >> I<rxvt compile-time option> (rxvt-unicode extension)
1384 B<< C<Ps = 704> >> Change colour of italic characters to B<< C<Pt> >>
1385 B<< C<Ps = 705> >> Change background pixmap tint colour to B<< C<Pt> >>
1386 B<< C<Ps = 710> >> Set normal fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Same as C<Ps = 50>.
1387 B<< C<Ps = 711> >> Set bold fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50>.
1388 B<< C<Ps = 712> >> Set italic fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50>.
1389 B<< C<Ps = 713> >> Set bold-italic fontset to B<< C<Pt> >>. Similar to C<Ps = 50>.
1399 B<< The exact syntax used is I<almost> solidified. >>
1400 In the menus, B<DON'T> try to use menuBar commands that add or remove a
1403 Note that in all of the commands, the B<< I</path/> >> I<cannot> be
1404 omitted: use B<./> to specify a menu relative to the current menu.
1406 =head2 Overview of menuBar operation
1408 For the menuBar XTerm escape sequence C<ESC ] 703 ; Pt ST>, the syntax
1409 of C<Pt> can be used for a variety of tasks:
1411 At the top level is the current menuBar which is a member of a circular
1412 linked-list of other such menuBars.
1414 The menuBar acts as a parent for the various drop-down menus, which in
1415 turn, may have labels, separator lines, menuItems and subMenus.
1417 The menuItems are the useful bits: you can use them to mimic keyboard
1418 input or even to send text or escape sequences back to rxvt.
1420 The menuBar syntax is intended to provide a simple yet robust method of
1421 constructing and manipulating menus and navigating through the
1424 The first step is to use the tag B<< [menu:I<name>] >> which creates
1425 the menuBar called I<name> and allows access. You may now or menus,
1426 subMenus, and menuItems. Finally, use the tag B<[done]> to set the
1427 menuBar access as B<readonly> to prevent accidental corruption of the
1428 menus. To re-access the current menuBar for alterations, use the tag
1429 B<[menu]>, make the alterations and then use B<[done]>
1437 =item B<< [menu:+I<name>] >>
1439 access the named menuBar for creation or alteration. If a new menuBar
1440 is created, it is called I<name> (max of 15 chars) and the current
1441 menuBar is pushed onto the stack
1445 access the current menuBar for alteration
1447 =item B<< [title:+I<string>] >>
1449 set the current menuBar's title to I<string>, which may contain the
1450 following format specifiers:
1451 B<%%> : literal B<%> character
1452 B<%n> : rxvt name (as per the B<-name> command-line option)
1453 B<%v> : rxvt version
1457 set menuBar access as B<readonly>.
1458 End-of-file tag for B<< [read:+I<file>] >> operations.
1460 =item B<< [read:+I<file>] >>
1462 read menu commands directly from I<file> (extension ".menu" will be
1463 appended if required.) Start reading at a line with B<[menu]> or B<<
1464 [menu:+I<name> >> and continuing until B<[done]> is encountered.
1466 Blank and comment lines (starting with B<#>) are ignored. Actually,
1467 since any invalid menu commands are also ignored, almost anything could
1468 be construed as a comment line, but this may be tightened up in the
1469 future ... so don't count on it!.
1471 =item B<< [read:+I<file>;+I<name>] >>
1473 The same as B<< [read:+I<file>] >>, but start reading at a line with
1474 B<< [menu:+I<name>] >> and continuing until B<< [done:+I<name>] >> or
1475 B<[done]> is encountered.
1479 dump all menuBars to the file B</tmp/rxvt-PID> in a format suitable for
1484 remove the named menuBar
1488 remove the current menuBar
1490 =item B<[rm*] [rm:*]>
1496 swap the top two menuBars
1500 access the previous menuBar
1504 access the next menuBar
1508 Enable display of the menuBar
1512 Disable display of the menuBar
1514 =item B<< [pixmap:+I<name>] >>
1516 =item B<< [pixmap:+I<name>;I<scaling>] >>
1518 (set the background pixmap globally
1520 B<< A Future implementation I<may> make this local to the menubar >>)
1522 =item B<< [:+I<command>:] >>
1524 ignore the menu readonly status and issue a I<command> to or a menu or
1525 menuitem or change the ; a useful shortcut for setting the quick arrows
1532 =head2 Adding and accessing menus
1534 The following commands may also be B<+> prefixed.
1540 access menuBar top level
1544 access current menu level
1548 access parent menu (1 level up)
1552 access parent menu (multiple levels up)
1554 =item B<< I</path/>menu >>
1558 =item B<< I</path/>menu/* >>
1560 add/access menu and clear it if it exists
1562 =item B<< I</path/>{-} >>
1566 =item B<< I</path/>{item} >>
1568 add B<item> as a label
1570 =item B<< I</path/>{item} action >>
1572 add/alter I<menuitem> with an associated I<action>
1574 =item B<< I</path/>{item}{right-text} >>
1576 add/alter I<menuitem> with B<right-text> as the right-justified text
1577 and as the associated I<action>
1579 =item B<< I</path/>{item}{rtext} action >>
1581 add/alter I<menuitem> with an associated I<action> and with B<rtext> as
1582 the right-justified text.
1588 =item Special characters in I<action> must be backslash-escaped:
1590 B<\a \b \E \e \n \r \t \octal>
1592 =item or in control-character notation:
1594 B<^@, ^A .. ^Z .. ^_, ^?>
1598 To send a string starting with a B<NUL> (B<^@>) character to the
1599 program, start I<action> with a pair of B<NUL> characters (B<^@^@>),
1600 the first of which will be stripped off and the balance directed to the
1601 program. Otherwise if I<action> begins with B<NUL> followed by
1602 non-+B<NUL> characters, the leading B<NUL> is stripped off and the
1603 balance is sent back to rxvt.
1605 As a convenience for the many Emacs-type editors, I<action> may start
1606 with B<M-> (eg, B<M-$> is equivalent to B<\E$>) and a B<CR> will be
1607 appended if missed from B<M-x> commands.
1609 As a convenience for issuing XTerm B<ESC]> sequences from a menubar (or
1610 quick arrow), a B<BEL> (B<^G>) will be appended if needed.
1616 B<M-xapropos> is equivalent to B<\Exapropos\r>
1620 B<\E]703;mona;100> is equivalent to B<\E]703;mona;100\a>
1624 The option B<< {I<right-rtext>} >> will be right-justified. In the
1625 absence of a specified action, this text will be used as the I<action>
1632 B</File/{Open}{^X^F}> is equivalent to B</File/{Open}{^X^F} ^X^F>
1636 The left label I<is> necessary, since it's used for matching, but
1637 implicitly hiding the left label (by using same name for both left and
1638 right labels), or explicitly hiding the left label (by preceeding it
1639 with a dot), makes it possible to have right-justified text only.
1645 B</File/{Open}{Open} Open-File-Action>
1649 B</File/{.anylabel}{Open} Open-File-Action>
1655 =head2 Removing menus
1661 remove all menus from the menuBar, the same as B<[clear]>
1663 =item B<< -+I</path>menu+ >>
1667 =item B<< -+I</path>{item}+ >>
1671 =item B<< -+I</path>{-} >>
1675 =item B<-/path/menu/*>
1677 remove all items, separators and submenus from menu
1685 The menus also provide a hook for I<quick arrows> to provide easier
1686 user access. If nothing has been explicitly set, the default is to
1687 emulate the curror keys. The syntax permits each arrow to be altered
1688 individually or all four at once without re-entering their common
1689 beginning/end text. For example, to explicitly associate cursor actions
1690 with the arrows, any of the following forms could be used:
1694 =item B<< <r>+I<Right> >>
1696 =item B<< <l>+I<Left> >>
1698 =item B<< <u>+I<Up> >>
1700 =item B<< <d>+I<Down> >>
1702 Define actions for the respective arrow buttons
1704 =item B<< <b>+I<Begin> >>
1706 =item B<< <e>+I<End> >>
1708 Define common beginning/end parts for I<quick arrows> which used in
1709 conjunction with the above <r> <l> <u> <d> constructs
1715 =item For example, define arrows individually,
1725 =item or all at once
1727 <u>\E[AZ<><d>\E[BZ<><r>\E[CZ<><l>\E[D
1729 =item or more compactly (factoring out common parts)
1731 <b>\E[<u>AZ<><d>BZ<><r>CZ<><l>D
1737 =head2 Command Summary
1739 A short summary of the most I<common> commands:
1745 use an existing named menuBar or start a new one
1749 use the current menuBar
1751 =item [title:string]
1757 set menu access to readonly and, if reading from a file, signal EOF
1761 if reading from a file using [read:file;name] signal EOF
1765 remove named menuBar(s)
1769 remove current menuBar
1773 remove all menuBar(s)
1777 swap top two menuBars
1781 access the previous menuBar
1785 access the next menuBar
1797 =item [pixmap;file;scaling]
1799 set a background pixmap
1803 =item [read:file;name]
1805 read in a menu from a file
1809 dump out all menuBars to /tmp/rxvt-PID
1813 access menuBar top level
1821 access current or parent menu level
1831 =item /path/{item}{rtext} action
1837 remove all menus from the menuBar
1841 remove menu items, separators and submenus from menu
1855 =item <b>Begin<r>Right<l>Left<u>Up<d>Down<e>End
1864 For the XPM XTerm escape sequence B<< C<ESC ] 20 ; Pt ST> >> then value
1865 of B<< C<Pt> >> can be the name of the background pixmap followed by a
1866 sequence of scaling/positioning commands separated by semi-colons. The
1867 scaling/positioning commands are as follows:
1871 =item query scale/position
1875 =item change scale and position
1879 B<WxH+X> (== B<WxH+X+X>)
1881 B<WxH> (same as B<WxH+50+50>)
1883 B<W+X+Y> (same as B<WxW+X+Y>)
1885 B<W+X> (same as B<WxW+X+X>)
1887 B<W> (same as B<WxW+50+50>)
1889 =item change position (absolute)
1893 B<=+X> (same as B<=+X+Y>)
1895 =item change position (relative)
1899 B<+X> (same as B<+X+Y>)
1901 =item rescale (relative)
1903 B<Wx0> -> B<W *= (W/100)>
1905 B<0xH> -> B<H *= (H/100)>
1913 =item B<\E]20;funky\a>
1915 load B<funky.xpm> as a tiled image
1917 =item B<\E]20;mona;100\a>
1919 load B<mona.xpm> with a scaling of 100%
1921 =item B<\E]20;;200;?\a>
1923 rescale the current pixmap to 200% and display the image geometry in
1929 =head1 Mouse Reporting
1933 =item B<< C<< ESC [ M <b> <x> <y> >> >>
1935 report mouse position
1939 The lower 2 bits of B<< C<< <b> >> >> indicate the button:
1943 =item Button = B<< C<< (<b> - SPACE) & 3 >> >>
1950 3 button released (X11 mouse report)
1956 The upper bits of B<< C<< <b> >> >> indicate the modifiers when the
1957 button was pressed and are added together (X11 mouse report only):
1961 =item State = B<< C<< (<b> - SPACE) & 60 >> >>
1968 32 Double Click I<(Rxvt extension)>
1972 Col = B<< C<< <x> - SPACE >> >>
1974 Row = B<< C<< <y> - SPACE >> >>
1981 Note: B<Shift> + B<F1>-B<F10> generates B<F11>-B<F20>
1983 For the keypad, use B<Shift> to temporarily override Application-Keypad
1984 setting use B<Num_Lock> to toggle Application-Keypad setting if
1985 B<Num_Lock> is off, toggle Application-Keypad setting. Also note that
1986 values of B<Home>, B<End>, B<Delete> may have been compiled differently on
1991 B<Normal> B<Shift> B<Control> B<Ctrl+Shift>
1992 Tab ^I ESC [ Z ^I ESC [ Z
1993 BackSpace ^H ^? ^? ^?
1994 Find ESC [ 1 ~ ESC [ 1 $ ESC [ 1 ^ ESC [ 1 @
1995 Insert ESC [ 2 ~ I<paste> ESC [ 2 ^ ESC [ 2 @
1996 Execute ESC [ 3 ~ ESC [ 3 $ ESC [ 3 ^ ESC [ 3 @
1997 Select ESC [ 4 ~ ESC [ 4 $ ESC [ 4 ^ ESC [ 4 @
1998 Prior ESC [ 5 ~ I<scroll-up> ESC [ 5 ^ ESC [ 5 @
1999 Next ESC [ 6 ~ I<scroll-down> ESC [ 6 ^ ESC [ 6 @
2000 Home ESC [ 7 ~ ESC [ 7 $ ESC [ 7 ^ ESC [ 7 @
2001 End ESC [ 8 ~ ESC [ 8 $ ESC [ 8 ^ ESC [ 8 @
2002 Delete ESC [ 3 ~ ESC [ 3 $ ESC [ 3 ^ ESC [ 3 @
2003 F1 ESC [ 11 ~ ESC [ 23 ~ ESC [ 11 ^ ESC [ 23 ^
2004 F2 ESC [ 12 ~ ESC [ 24 ~ ESC [ 12 ^ ESC [ 24 ^
2005 F3 ESC [ 13 ~ ESC [ 25 ~ ESC [ 13 ^ ESC [ 25 ^
2006 F4 ESC [ 14 ~ ESC [ 26 ~ ESC [ 14 ^ ESC [ 26 ^
2007 F5 ESC [ 15 ~ ESC [ 28 ~ ESC [ 15 ^ ESC [ 28 ^
2008 F6 ESC [ 17 ~ ESC [ 29 ~ ESC [ 17 ^ ESC [ 29 ^
2009 F7 ESC [ 18 ~ ESC [ 31 ~ ESC [ 18 ^ ESC [ 31 ^
2010 F8 ESC [ 19 ~ ESC [ 32 ~ ESC [ 19 ^ ESC [ 32 ^
2011 F9 ESC [ 20 ~ ESC [ 33 ~ ESC [ 20 ^ ESC [ 33 ^
2012 F10 ESC [ 21 ~ ESC [ 34 ~ ESC [ 21 ^ ESC [ 34 ^
2013 F11 ESC [ 23 ~ ESC [ 23 $ ESC [ 23 ^ ESC [ 23 @
2014 F12 ESC [ 24 ~ ESC [ 24 $ ESC [ 24 ^ ESC [ 24 @
2015 F13 ESC [ 25 ~ ESC [ 25 $ ESC [ 25 ^ ESC [ 25 @
2016 F14 ESC [ 26 ~ ESC [ 26 $ ESC [ 26 ^ ESC [ 26 @
2017 F15 (Help) ESC [ 28 ~ ESC [ 28 $ ESC [ 28 ^ ESC [ 28 @
2018 F16 (Menu) ESC [ 29 ~ ESC [ 29 $ ESC [ 29 ^ ESC [ 29 @
2019 F17 ESC [ 31 ~ ESC [ 31 $ ESC [ 31 ^ ESC [ 31 @
2020 F18 ESC [ 32 ~ ESC [ 32 $ ESC [ 32 ^ ESC [ 32 @
2021 F19 ESC [ 33 ~ ESC [ 33 $ ESC [ 33 ^ ESC [ 33 @
2022 F20 ESC [ 34 ~ ESC [ 34 $ ESC [ 34 ^ ESC [ 34 @
2024 Up ESC [ A ESC [ a ESC O a ESC O A
2025 Down ESC [ B ESC [ b ESC O b ESC O B
2026 Right ESC [ C ESC [ c ESC O c ESC O C
2027 Left ESC [ D ESC [ d ESC O d ESC O D
2029 KP_F1 ESC O P ESC O P
2030 KP_F2 ESC O Q ESC O Q
2031 KP_F3 ESC O R ESC O R
2032 KP_F4 ESC O S ESC O S
2033 XK_KP_Multiply * ESC O j
2035 XK_KP_Separator , ESC O l
2036 XK_KP_Subtract - ESC O m
2037 XK_KP_Decimal . ESC O n
2038 XK_KP_Divide / ESC O o
2052 =head1 CONFIGURE OPTIONS
2054 General hint: if you get compile errors, then likely your configuration
2055 hasn't been tested well. Either try with --enable-everything or use the
2056 ./reconf script as a base for experiments. ./reconf is used by myself,
2057 so it should generally be a working config. Of course, you should always
2058 report when a combination doesn't work, so it can be fixed. Marc Lehmann
2063 =item --enable-everything
2065 Add support for all non-multichoice options listed in "./configure
2066 --help". Note that unlike other enable options this is order dependant.
2067 You can specify this and then disable options which this enables by
2068 I<following> this with the appropriate commands.
2072 Add support for Xft (anti-aliases, among others) fonts. Xft fonts are
2073 slower and require lots of memory, but as long as you don't use them, you
2076 =item --enable-font-styles
2078 Add support for B<bold>, I<italic> and B<< I<bold italic> >> font
2079 styles. The fonts can be set manually or automatically.
2081 =item --with-codesets=NAME,...
2083 Compile in support for additional codeset (encoding) groups (eu, vn are
2084 always compiled in, which includes most 8-bit character sets). These
2085 codeset tables are currently only used for driving X11 core fonts, they
2086 are not required for Xft fonts. Compiling them in will make your binary
2087 bigger (together about 700kB), but it doesn't increase memory usage unless
2088 you use an X11 font requiring one of these encodings.
2092 all all available codeset groups
2093 zh common chinese encodings
2094 zh_ext rarely used but very big chinese encodigs
2095 jp common japanese encodings
2096 jp_ext rarely used but big japanese encodings
2103 Add support for XIM (X Input Method) protocol. This allows using
2104 alternative input methods (e.g. kinput2) and will also correctly
2105 set up the input for people using dead keys or compose keys.
2107 =item --enable-unicode3
2109 Enable direct support for displaying unicode codepoints above
2110 65535 (the basic multilingual page). This increases storage
2111 requirements per character from 2 to 4 bytes. X11 fonts do not yet
2112 support these extra characters, but Xft does.
2114 Please note that rxvt-unicode can store unicode code points >65535
2115 even without this flag, but the number of such characters is
2116 limited to a view thousand (shared with combining characters,
2117 see next switch), and right now rxvt-unicode cannot display them
2118 (input/output and cut&paste still work, though).
2120 =item --enable-combining
2122 Enable automatic composition of combining characters into
2123 composite characters. This is required for proper viewing of text
2124 where accents are encoded as seperate unicode characters. This is
2125 done by using precomposited characters when available or creating
2126 new pseudo-characters when no precomposed form exists.
2128 Without --enable-unicode3, the number of additional precomposed
2129 characters is rather limited (2048, if this is full, rxvt will use the
2130 private use area, extending the number of combinations to 8448). With
2131 --enable-unicode3, no practical limit exists. This will also enable
2132 storage of characters >65535.
2134 The combining table also contains entries for arabic presentation forms,
2135 but these are not currently used. Bug me if you want these to be used.
2137 =item --enable-fallback(=CLASS)
2139 When reading resource settings, also read settings for class CLASS
2140 (default: Rxvt). To disable resource fallback use --disable-fallback.
2142 =item --with-res-name=NAME
2144 Use the given name (default: urxvt) as default application name when
2145 reading resources. Specify --with-res-name=rxvt to replace rxvt.
2147 =item --with-res-class=CLASS
2149 Use the given class (default: URxvt) as default application class
2150 when reading resources. Specify --with-res-class=Rxvt to replace
2155 Write user and tty to utmp file (used by programs like F<w>) at
2156 start of rxvt execution and delete information when rxvt exits.
2160 Write user and tty to wtmp file (used by programs like F<last>) at
2161 start of rxvt execution and write logout when rxvt exits. This
2162 option requires --enable-utmp to also be specified.
2164 =item --enable-lastlog
2166 Write user and tty to lastlog file (used by programs like
2167 F<lastlogin>) at start of rxvt execution. This option requires
2168 --enable-utmp to also be specified.
2170 =item --enable-xpm-background
2172 Add support for XPM background pixmaps.
2174 =item --enable-transparency
2176 Add support for inheriting parent backgrounds thus giving a fake
2177 transparency to the term.
2179 =item --enable-fading
2181 Add support for fading the text when focus is lost.
2183 =item --enable-tinting
2185 Add support for tinting of transparent backgrounds.
2187 =item --enable-menubar
2189 Add support for our menu bar system (this interacts badly with
2190 dynamic locale switching currently).
2192 =item --enable-rxvt-scroll
2194 Add support for the original rxvt scrollbar.
2196 =item --enable-next-scroll
2198 Add support for a NeXT-like scrollbar.
2200 =item --enable-xterm-scroll
2202 Add support for an Xterm-like scrollbar.
2204 =item --enable-plain-scroll
2206 Add support for a very unobtrusive, plain-looking scrollbar that
2207 is the favourite of the rxvt-unicode author, having used it for
2210 =item --enable-half-shadow
2212 Make shadows on the scrollbar only half the normal width & height.
2213 only applicable to rxvt scrollbars.
2215 =item --enable-ttygid
2217 Change tty device setting to group "tty" - only use this if
2218 your system uses this type of security.
2220 =item --disable-backspace-key
2222 Disable any handling of the backspace key by us - let the X server
2225 =item --disable-delete-key
2227 Disable any handling of the delete key by us - let the X server
2230 =item --disable-resources
2232 Remove all resources checking.
2234 =item --enable-xgetdefault
2236 Make resources checking via XGetDefault() instead of our small
2237 version which only checks ~/.Xdefaults, or if that doesn't exist
2240 =item --enable-strings
2242 Add support for our possibly faster memset() function and other
2243 various routines, overriding your system's versions which may
2244 have been hand-crafted in assembly or may require extra libraries
2245 to link in. (this breaks ANSI-C rules and has problems on many
2248 =item --disable-swapscreen
2250 Remove support for swap screen.
2252 =item --enable-frills
2254 Add support for many small features that are not essential but nice to
2255 have. Normally you want this, but for very small binaries you may want to
2258 A non-exhaustive list of features enabled by C<--enable-frills> (possibly
2259 in combination with other switches) is:
2262 seperate underline colour
2263 settable border widths and borderless switch
2264 settable extra linespacing
2265 extra window properties (e.g. UTF-8 window names and PID)
2266 iso-14755-2 and -3, and visual feedback
2267 backindex and forwardindex escape sequence
2268 window op and locale change escape sequences
2270 settable insecure mode
2272 =item --enable-iso14755
2274 Enable extended ISO 14755 support (see @@RXVT_NAME@@(1), or
2275 F<doc/rxvt.1.txt>). Basic support (section 5.1) is enabled by
2276 C<--enable-frills>, while support for 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4 is enabled with
2279 =item --enable-keepscrolling
2281 Add support for continual scrolling of the display when you hold
2282 the mouse button down on a scrollbar arrow.
2284 =item --enable-mousewheel
2286 Add support for scrolling via mouse wheel or buttons 4 & 5.
2288 =item --enable-slipwheeling
2290 Add support for continual scrolling (using the mouse wheel as an
2291 accelerator) while the control key is held down. This option
2292 requires --enable-mousewheel to also be specified.
2294 =item --disable-new-selection
2296 Remove support for mouse selection style like that of xterm.
2298 =item --enable-dmalloc
2300 Use Gray Watson's malloc - which is good for debugging See
2301 http://www.letters.com/dmalloc/ for details If you use either this or the
2302 next option, you may need to edit src/Makefile after compiling to point
2303 DINCLUDE and DLIB to the right places.
2305 You can only use either this option and the following (should
2308 =item --enable-dlmalloc
2310 Use Doug Lea's malloc - which is good for a production version
2311 See L<http://g.oswego.edu/dl/html/malloc.html> for details.
2313 =item --enable-smart-resize
2315 Add smart growth/shrink behaviour when changing font size via from hot
2316 keys. This should keep in a fixed position the rxvt corner which is
2317 closest to a corner of the screen.
2319 =item --enable-cursor-blink
2321 Add support for a blinking cursor.
2323 =item --enable-pointer-blank
2325 Add support to have the pointer disappear when typing or inactive.
2327 =item --with-name=NAME
2329 Set the basename for the installed binaries (default: C<urxvt>, resulting
2330 in C<urxvt>, C<urxvtd> etc.). Specify C<--with-name=rxvt> to replace with
2333 =item --with-term=NAME
2335 Change the environmental variable for the terminal to NAME (default
2338 =item --with-terminfo=PATH
2340 Change the environmental variable for the path to the terminfo tree to
2345 Use the X Window System (pretty much default, eh?).
2347 =item --with-xpm-includes=DIR
2349 Look for the XPM includes in DIR.
2351 =item --with-xpm-library=DIR
2353 Look for the XPM library in DIR.
2357 Not needed - define via --enable-xpm-background.
2363 Marc Lehmann <rxvt@schmorp.de> converted this document to pod and
2364 reworked it from the original Rxvt documentation, which was done by Geoff
2365 Wing <gcw@pobox.com>, who in turn used the XTerm documentation and other