4.3BSD-UWisc/man/catn/xterm.n
XTERM(1) UNIX Programmer's Manual XTERM(1)
NAME
xterm - X window system terminal emulator
SYNOPSIS
xterm [ option ] ...
DESCRIPTION
_X_t_e_r_m is the _X window system terminal emulator. It attempts
to emulate a DEC VT102 terminal (not yet completely imple-
mented) to provide a standard terminal type for programs not
aware of the window system directly. Under 4.3BSD and
Ultrix 1.2, _x_t_e_r_m supports the terminal resizing facilities
built into the system.
When started, _x_t_e_r_m pops a small window onto the upper left
corner, with the size in characters and rows of the window
as you size it. Once the window is created, a pseudo termi-
nal is allocated and a shell is started on the slave side of
the pty pair.
_X_t_e_r_m understands the following options:
-j _X_t_e_r_m will `jump scroll'; when _x_t_e_r_m falls behind
scrolling the screen, it will move multiple lines up
at once. This option is disabled by Tektronix mode.
The VT100 escape sequences for smooth scroll can be
used to enable/disable this feature from a program,
or the `Mode Menu' can be used to set it interac-
tively.
-fn _f_o_n_t
The specified _f_o_n_t will be used instead of the
default font (which is vtsingle). Any fixed width
font may be used.
-fb _f_o_n_t
The specified _f_o_n_t will be used instead of the
default bold font (which is vtbold). This font must
be the same height and width as the normal font.
=_g_e_o_m_e_t_r_y
_X_t_e_r_m will take a normal X geometry specification.
This takes the form of ``=_w_i_d_t_hx_h_e_i_g_h_t+_x_o_f_f+_y_o_f_f''.
See _X(_1) for details of this specification.
_h_o_s_t:_d_i_s_p_l_a_y
Normally, _x_t_e_r_m gets the host and display number to
use from the environment variable ``DISPLAY''. One
can, however specify them explicitly. The _h_o_s_t
specifies which machine to create the window on, and
the _d_i_s_p_l_a_y argument specifies the display number.
For example, ``orpheus:1'' creates a shell window on
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display one on the machine orpheus.
-n _w_i_n_d_o_w_n_a_m_e
Allows you to set the name of the window for use by
a window manager.
-bw _b_o_r_d_e_r_w_i_d_t_h
Allows you to specify the width of the window border
in pixels.
-b _b_o_r_d_e_r
_X_t_e_r_m maintains an inner border (distance between
characters and the window's border) of one pixel.
The -b option allows you to set the size of this
border to _b_o_r_d_e_r.
-rv The screen will be displayed with white characters
on a black background, rather than the default black
on white.
-fg _c_o_l_o_r
On color displays, determines the color of the text.
-bg _c_o_l_o_r
On color displays, determines the color of the back-
ground.
-bd _c_o_l_o_r
On color displays, determines the color of the
border.
-cr _c_o_l_o_r
On color displays, determines the color of the text
cursor; default is the text color.
-ms _c_o_l_o_r
On color displays, determines the color of the mouse
cursor; default is the text cursor color.
-i asks _x_t_e_r_m to maintain a bitmap icon, rather than
relying on a window manager for an icon (see
_x_w_m(_1)).
-t selects _T_e_k_t_r_o_n_i_x _4_0_1_0 emulation in addition to nor-
mal vt102 emulation. In this mode, the default font
is 6x10 and the default window size is 39x85. If a
key is hit during Tektronix graphics output, the
display may become garbled (just like a real Tek-
tronix). The default screen size using the default
font is one-fourth the resolution of a Tektronix
4010; therefore, some graphics may have discontinui-
ties or may be suppressed entirely. Furthermore,
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the font initially selected approximately represents
the standard Tektronix font, at best. If the window
is subsequently enlarged or reduced, the font
appears to shrink or grow, respectively. Resizing
the window also affects resolution, and if the
aspect ratio (height/width) is altered, Tektronix
graphics will be restricted to the largest box with
a 4010's aspect ratio that will fit in the window.
This box is located in the upper left area of the
window. Text which is part of Tektronix graphics
output may not be cut (see MOUSE USAGE).
-e command arguments
The specified _c_o_m_m_a_n_d will be executed in the win-
dow, rather than starting a shell. The command and
and optional arguments must appear last on the xterm
command line.
-s When this option is specified, xterm no longer
scrolls synchronously with the display. _X_t_e_r_m no
longer attempts to keep the screen completely up to
date while scrolling, but can then run faster when
network latencies are very high. This is typically
useful when using _x_t_e_r_m across a very large internet
or many hops.
-L indicates that _x_t_e_r_m is being called by _i_n_i_t(_8), and
should presume that its file descriptors are already
open on a slave pseudo-tty, and that _g_e_t_t_y should be
run rather than the user's shell. This option
should only be used by _i_n_i_t.
MOUSE USAGE
When using the mouse to create the window, a cursor and a
rubber banding box will outline where the window will be
created on the display. If the left button is pressed, a
HEIGHTxWIDTH (default 24x80) size window will be created.
If the right button is pressed, a window the height of the
display and WIDTH (default 80) characters wide will be
created. If the center button is pressed and held down, the
upper left hand corner of the window will be set to that
point on the display, and (while continuing to depress the
center button) an outline of the window will be displayed
and the pop up window in the upper left corner of the screen
will display the size in characters of the window.
Once the window is created, _x_t_e_r_m allows you to save text
and restore it within the same or other windows. The button
functions are enabled when holding down the ``shift'' key.
The left hand button takes the text from the cursor (at but-
ton release) through the end of line (including the new
line), saves it in the global cut buffer, and immediately
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`retypes' the line, inserting it as keyboard input. This
provides a history mechanism. The center button is used to
save text into the cut buffer. Move the cursor to beginning
of the text, and then hold the button down while moving the
cursor to the end of the region and releasing the button.
The saved text will not include the character pointed by the
mouse. Furthermore, it is not possible to cut text which
was part of Tektronix graphics output. The right hand but-
ton `types' the text from the cut buffer, inserting it as
keyboard input. By cutting and pasting pieces of text
without trailing new lines, you can take text from several
places in different windows and form a command to the shell,
for example, or take output from a program and insert it
into your favorite editor. Since the cut buffer is globally
shared among different applications, you should regard it as
a `file' whose contents you know. The terminal emulator and
other text programs should be treating it as if it were a
text file, i.e. the text is delimited by new lines.
X DEFAULTS
_X_t_e_r_m allows you to preset defaults in a customization file
in your home directory, called ._X_d_e_f_a_u_l_t_s. The format of
the file is ``programname.keyword:string''. See _X(_1) for
more details. _X_t_e_r_m obeys the convention for `MakeWindow'
defaults. Keywords recognized by _x_t_e_r_m are listed below.
JumpScroll
If ``on'' jump scroll is enabled.
BodyFont
Set the default font.
InternalBorder
Set the space between the text and window border.
This is called padding above.
BorderWidth
Set the border width of the window.
ReverseVideo
If `on', reverse the definition of foreground and
background color.
Foreground
Set the text color.
Background
Set the background color.
Border Set the border color.
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Cursor Set the text cursor color.
Mouse Set the mouse cursor color.
BitmapIcon
If `on', use a bitmap icon for this window.
BoldFont
Specify a default bold font.
MODE MENU
_X_t_e_r_m has a menu for changing the modes of the terminal.
The appearance of the menu is controlled by the defaults
defined in the _X_M_e_n_u(_3_x) manual page. If you hold the
``control'' key down and press the middle mouse button, a
pop-up menu appears. When you let up on the mouse button,
the operation will be invoked. You can set the following
modes of the emulator: ``Smooth Scroll'' vs. ``Jump
Scroll'', ``Reverse Video'' vs. ``Normal Video'', ``no
wrap'' vs. ``auto wrap'', ``auto linefeed'' vs. ``normal
linefeed'', ``application cursors'' vs. ``normal cursors'',
``application pad'' vs. ``numeric pad'', and you can either
``soft reset'' or ``hard reset'' the emulator.
The scroll entry lets you control the scrolling behavior of
the emulator as defined above. The video entry lets you
change from normal to reverse video and back. The wrap
entry lets you change to wrap at end of line or truncate at
end of line. The linefeed entry lets you determine whether
the emulator should provide a linefeed when the line wraps.
The cursors entry lets you determine which escape sequences
are generated by the cursor keys. The pad entry lets you
determine if the numeric keypad should generate escape
sequences or if it should generate numbers. The soft reset
entry will reset scroll regions. This can be convenient
when some program has left the scroll regions set
incorrectly (often a problem when using VMS or TOPS-20).
The full reset entry will clear the screen, reset tabs to
every eight columns, and reset the terminal modes to wrap
and smooth scroll.
ENVIRONMENT
_X_t_e_r_m sets the environment variables ``TERM'' and
``TERMCAP'' properly for the size window you have created.
It also uses and sets the environment variable ``DISPLAY''
to specify which bit map display terminal to use.
SEE ALSO
resize(1), xwm(1), X(1), pty(4), XMenu(3x)
DIAGNOSTICS
The -d flag turns on reporting of not understood escape
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sequences.
BUGS
Does not perfectly emulate a VT102 (though it is pretty
close). While the 4010 emulation is as complete as we wish
to make it, the Tektronix 4014 emulation is incomplete.
Many applications will run. The display list for the Tek-
tronix emulator needs more work.
AUTHORS
Mark Vandevoorde (MIT-Athena), Bob McNamara (DEC-MAD), Jim
Gettys (MIT-Athena), Bob Scheifler (MIT-LCS), Doug Mink
(SAO), Jordan Hubbard (Berkeley).
VMS and TOPS-20 are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corpora-
tion.
Copyright (c) 1984, 1985, 1986 by Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
See _X(_1) for a full copyright notice.
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