rxvt(1)

NAME

xiterm -- VT102 emulator for the X window system

SYNOPSIS

xiterm [options] [-e command [args]]

DESCRIPTION

xiterm -- version 1.06 -- is a color vt102 terminal emula

tor intended as an xterm(1) replacement for users who do not re

quire features such as Tektronix 4014 emulation and toolkit-style

configurability. As a result, xiterm uses much less swap space

-- a significant advantage on a machine serving many X sessions.

OPTIONS

The xiterm options (mostly a subset of xterm's) are listed

below. In keeping with the smaller-is-better philosophy, options

may be eliminated or default values chosen at compile-time, so

options and defaults listed may not accurately reflect the ver

sion installed on your system.

Note that xiterm permits the resource name to be used as a

long-option (--/++ option) so the potential command-line options

are far greater than those listed.
For example: `xiterm --loginShell --color1 Orange'.

-help,--help

Print out a message describing available options.

-display displayname

Attempt to open a window on the named X display (-d

still respected). In the absence of this option, the display

specified by the DISPLAY environment variable is used.

-geometry geom

Window geometry (-g still respected); resource

geometry.

-rv|+rv

Turn on/off simulated reverse video; resource

reverseVideo.

-bg color

Window background color; resource background.

-fg color

Window foreground color; resource foreground.

-pixmap: file[;geom]

Specify XPM file for the background and also op

tionally specify its scaling with a geometry string; resource

backgroundPixmap.

-cr color

The cursor color; resource cursorColor.

-fn fontname

Main normal text font; resource font.

-fb fontname

Main bold text font; resource boldFont.

-fk fontname

Main Kanji font; resource kfont.

-km mode

Kanji encoding mode; eucj: EUC Japanese encoding.

sjis: Shift JIS encoding; resource kanji_encoding.

-grk mode

Greek keyboard translation; iso: ISO-8859 mapping.

ibm: IBM-437 mapping; resource greek_keyboard.

-name name

Specify the application name under which resources

are to be obtained, rather than the default executable file name.

Name should not contain `.' or `*' characters. Also sets the

icon and title name.

-ls|+ls

Start as a login-shell/sub-shell; resource

loginShell.

-ut|+ut

Inhibit/enable writing a utmp entry; resource

utmpInhibit.

-vb|+vb

Turn on/off visual bell on receipt of a bell char

acter; resource visualBell.

-sb|+sb

Turn on/off scrollbar; resource scrollBar.

-iconic

Start iconified, if the window manager supports

that option.

-sl number

Save number lines in the scrollback buffer; re

source saveLines.

-e command [arguments]

Run the command with its command-line arguments in

the xiterm window. If this option is used, it must be the last

on the command-line. If there is no -e option then the default

is to run the program specified by the SHELL environment variable

or, failing that, sh(1).

-title text

Window title (-T still respected); resource title.

-n text

Icon name; resource iconName.

-C Capture system console messages.

RESOURCES (available also as long-options)

xiterm accepts application defaults set in XAPPLOAD

DIR/Xiterm (compile-time defined: usually

/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/Xiterm) and resources set in

~/.Xdefaults or ~/.Xresources. Note that when reading X re

sources, xiterm recognizes two class names: XTerm and Xiterm.

The class name XTerm allows resources common to both xiterm and

xterm to be easily configured, while the class name Xiterm allows

resources unique to xiterm, notably colors and key-handling, to

be shared between different xiterm configurations. If no re

sources are specified, suitable defaults will be used. Command

line arguments can be used to override resource settings. The

following resources are allowed:

geometry: geom

Create the window with the specified X window geom

etry [default 80x24]; option -geometry.

background: color

Use the specified color as the window's background

color [default White]; option -bg.

foreground: color

Use the specified color as the window's foreground

color [default Black]; option -fg.

colorn: color

Use the specified color for the color value n,

where 0-7 corresponds to low-intensity (normal) colors and 8-15

corresponds to high-intensity (bold = bright foreground, blink =

bright background) colors. The canonical names are as follows:

0=black, 1=red, 2=green, 3=yellow, 4=blue, 5=magenta, 6=cyan,

7=white, but the actual color names used are listed in the COLORS

AND GRAPHICS

colorBD: color

Use the specified color to display bold characters

when the foreground color is the default.

colorUL: color

Use the specified color to display underlined char

acters when the foreground color is the default.

cursorColor: color

Use the specified color for the cursor. The de

fault is to use the foreground color; option -cr.

cursorColor2: color

Use the specified color for the color of the cursor

text. For this to take effect, cursorColor must also be speci

fied. The default is to use the background color.

reverseVideo: boolean

True: simulate reverse video by foreground and

background colors; option -rv, False: regular screen colors [de

fault]; option +rv. See note in COLORS AND GRAPHICS section.

scrollColor: color

Use the specified color for the scrollbar [default

#B2B2B2].

backgroundPixmap: file[;geom]

Use the specified XPM file (note the `.xpm' exten

sion is optional) for the background and also optionally specify

its scaling with a geometry string WxH+X+Y, in which W/H specify

the horizontal/vertical scale (percent) and X/Y locate the image

centre (percent). A scale of 0 displays the image with tiling.

A scale of 1 displays the image without any scaling. A scale of

2 to 9 specifies the number of images in that direction. No im

age will be magnified beyond 10 times its original size. The

maximum permitted scale is 1000. [default 100x100+50+50]

path: path

Specify the colon-delimited search path for finding

XPM files, in addition to the paths specified by the RXVTPATH and

PATH

font: fontname

Select the main text font used [default 7x14]; op

tion -fn.

fontn: fontname

Specify the alternative font n. The default font

values:

font: 7x14
font1: 6x10
font2: 6x13
font3: 8x13
font4: 9x15

boldFont: fontname

Specify the name of the bold font to use if colorBD

has not been specified and it is not possible to map the default

foreground color to color 8-15 [default NONE]. This font must be

the same height and width as the normal font; option -fb.

kfont: fontname

Select the main Kanji text font used [default k14];

option -fk.

kfontn: fontname

Specify the alternative Kanji font n. If compiled

for Kanji, the Roman and Kanji font sizes should match. The de

fault font values:

font: 7x14
font1: 8x16
font2: 9x18
font3: 12x24
font4: 13x26

kfont: k14
kfont1: jiskan16
kfont2: jiskan18
kfont3: jiskan24
kfont4: jiskan26

kanji_encoding: mode

Set the Kanji encoding mode to be used; eucj: EUC

Japanese encoding [default]. sjis: Shift JIS encoding; option

-km.

greek_keyboard: mode

Set the Greek keyboard translation mode to be used;

iso: ISO-8859 mapping (elot-928) [default]. ibm: IBM-437 mapping

(DOS codepage 737); option -grk. Use Mode_switch to toggle key

board input. For more details, see the distributed file

README.greek

title: text

Set window title string, the default title is the

command-line specified after the -e option, if any, otherwise the

application name; option -title.

iconName: text

Set the name used to label the window's icon or

displayed in an icon manager window, it also sets the window's

title unless it is explicitly set; option -n.

mapAlert: boolean

True: de-iconify (map) on receipt of a bell charac

ter. False: no de-iconify (map) on receipt of a bell character

[default].

visualBell: boolean

True: use visual bell on receipt of a bell charac

ter; option -vb. False: no visual bell [default]; option +vb.

loginShell: boolean

True: start as a login shell by prepending a `-' to

argv[0] of the shell; option -ls. False: start as a normal sub

shell [default]; option +ls.

utmpInhibit: boolean

True: inhibit writing record into the system log

file utmp; option -ut. False: write record into the system log

file utmp [default]; option +ut.

print-pipe: string

Specify a command pipe for vt100 printer [default

lpr(1)]. Use Print to initiate a screen dump to the printer and

Ctrl-Print

scrollBar: boolean

True: enable the scrollbar [default]; option -sb.

False

bar position (left/right) and its type (with/without arrows) is
compile-time selected.
smallfont_key: keysym

If enabled, use Alt-keysym to toggle to a smaller

font [default Alt-<].

bigfont_key: keysym

If enabled, use Alt-keysym to toggle to a bigger

font [default Alt->].

saveLines: number

k

Save number lines in the scrollback buffer [default

64]; option -sl. s

p

meta8: boolean

a

True: handle Meta (Alt) + keypress to set the 8th

bit. False: handle Meta (Alt) + keypresscas an escape prefix

[default].

e

cutchars: string

,

The characters used as delimiters for double-click

word selection. The built-in default: TAB SPACE

BACKSLASH `"'&()*,;<=>?@[]{|}

,
e

keysym.sym: string

s

Associate string with keysym sym (0xFF00 - 0xFFFF).

It may contain escape values (: bell, c return, : tab, 00: octal

number) or control characters (^?: delete, ^@: null, ^A ...) and

may enclosed with double quotes so that it can start or end with

whitespace. The intervening resource name keysym. cannot be

omitted. This resource is only available when compiled with

FAKE_RESOURCES

a

THE SCROLLBAR

p
Lines of text that scroll off the top of the xiterm window

(resource: saveLines) and can be scrolled back using the scroll

bar or by keystrokes. The normal xiterm scrollbar has arrows and

its behaviour is fairly intuitive. The xterm-scrollbar is with

out arrows and its behaviour mimics that of xterm.

,

Scroll down with Button1 (xterm-scrollbar) or Shift-Next.

Scroll up with Button3 (xterm-scrollbar) or Shift-Prior.

n
Continuous scroll with Button2.

e

w

MOUSE REPORTING

l
To temporarily override mouse reporting, for either the

scrollbar or the normal text selection/insertion, hold either the

Shift or the Meta (Alt) key while performing the desired mouse

action.

n

If mouse reporting mode is active, the normal scrollbar

actions are disabled -- on the assumption that we are using a

fullscreen application. Instead, pressing Button1 and Button3

sends ESC[6~ (Next) and ESC[5~ (Prior), respectively. Similarly,

clicking on the up and down arrows sends ESC[A (Up) and ESC[B

(Down), respectively.

,

TEXT SELECTION AND INSERTION

The behaviour of text selection and insertion mechanism is

similar to xterm.

Selection:

Left click at the beginning of the region, drag to

the end of the region and release; Right click to extend the

marked region; Left double-click to select a word; Left triple

click to select the entire line.

Insertion:

Pressing and releasing the Middle mouse button (or

Shift-Insert

tion to be inserted as if it had been typed on the keyboard.

CHANGING FONTS

You can change fonts on-the-fly, which is to say cycle

through the default font and others of various sizes, by using

Shift-KP_Add

abled) with Alt-> and Alt-<, where the actual key can be selected using resources smallfont_key/bigfont_key.

LOGIN STAMP

xiterm tries to write an entry into the utmp file (usually

/etc/utmp), so that it can be seen via the who(1) command, and

can accept messages. To allow this feature, xiterm must be in

stalled setuid root.

COLORS AND GRAPHICS

If graphics support was enabled at compile-time, xiterm

can be queried with ANSI escape sequences and can address indi

vidual pixels instead of text characters. Note the graphics sup

port is still considered beta code.

In addition to the default foreground and background col

ors, xiterm can display up to 16 colors (8 ANSI colors plus high

intensity bold/blink versions of the same). Here is a list of

the colors with their rgb.txt names.

color0 (black) = Black
color1 (red) = Red3
color2 (green) = Green3
color3 (yellow) = Yellow3
color4 (blue) = Blue3
color5 (magenta) = Magenta3
color6 (cyan) = Cyan3
color7 (white) = AntiqueWhite

color8 (bright black) = Grey25
color9 (bright red) = Red
color10 (bright green) = Green
color11 (bright yellow) = Yellow
color12 (bright blue) = Blue
color13 (bright magenta) = Magenta
color14 (bright cyan) = Cyan
color15 (bright white) = White

foreground = Black
background = White

It is also possible to specify the color values of

foreground, background, cursorColor, cursorColor2, colorBD,

colorUL as a number 0-15, as a convenient shorthand to reference

the color name of color0-color15.

Note that -rv (reverseVideo: True) simulates reverse video

by always swapping the foreground/background colors. This is in

contrast to xterm where the colors are only swapped if they have

not otherwise been specified. For example,

xiterm -fg Black -bg White -rv

would yield White on Black, while on xterm it would

yield Black on White.

ENVIRONMENT

xiterm sets the environment variables TERM, COLORTERM and

COLORFGBG

window id number of the xiterm window and it also uses and sets the environment variable DISPLAY to specify which display terminal to use. xiterm uses the environment variables RXVTPATH and

PATH

FILES

/etc/utmp System file for login records.

/usr/lib/X11/rgb.txt

Color names.

SEE ALSO

xterm(1), sh(1), resize(1), X(1), pty(4), tty(4), utmp(5)

BUGS

Selecting/pasting very large chunks of text is a problem.

But as is the case for xterm, it is a bug of the pseudo terminal

driver of those systems.

xiterm 1.0 has the utmp support cleaned-up and supports

utmpx (i.e. Solaris 2.x) but there are still some problems.

Please inform the maintainer of the correct solutions to utmp

problems since he doesn't have root access of his own to test

utmp.

Cursor change support is not yet implemented.

Click-and-drag doesn't work with X11 mouse report overrid

ing.

Graphics support is fairly crude.

For some fonts there are problems with pixel-droppings be

ing left behind when simulated bold (overstrike) precedes a space

character. Fixing xiterm to handle these cases requires a lot of

energy. So the easiest course by far is to specify a boldFont,

specify colorBD or, if it was compiled without NO_BRIGHTCOLOR, to

select a foreground color that matches the pixel values of color

0-7 so that overstrike bold won't be used.

Like xterm, xiterm handles mono-space fonts only.

AUTHOR

John Bovey, University of Kent, 1992.

Very very very heavily modified by Rob Nation <na

tion@rocket.sanders.lockheed.com>

Greek keyboard input: Angelo Haritsis <ah@doc.ic.ac.uk>

Utmpx addition (Solaris 2.x) and extensive reworking of

pseudo-tty handling and addition of BSD sgtty terminal handling

support by Raul Garcia Garcia <rgg@tid.es> 16/10/95.

mj olesen <olesen@me.QueensU.CA> (changes.txt 2.11 to

2.20)

CURRENT MAINTAINER

Theppitak Karoonboonyanan <thep@linux.thai.net>

LOCATION

<www.linux-france.com>

3rd Berkeley Distribution 6

RXVT(1)