RXVT TECHNICAL REFERENCE - command sequences and background information
# set a new font set printf '\33]50;%s\007' 9x15,xft:Kochi" Mincho"
# change the locale and tell rxvt-unicode about it export LC_CTYPE=ja_JP.EUC-JP; printf "\33]701;$LC_CTYPE\007"
# set window title printf '\33]2;%s\007' "new window title"
The rest of this document describes various technical aspects of
rxvt-unicode. First the description of supported command sequences,
followed by menu and pixmap support and last by a description of all
features selectable at configure
time.
c
>C
>Ps
>Pm
>;
character(s).
Pt
>
ENQ
>ESC [ Ps c
>.
BEL
>BS
>TAB
>LF
>VT
>LF
>
FF
>LF
>
CR
>SO
>SI
>SPC
>
ESC # 8
>ESC 7
>ESC 8
>ESC =
>ESC
>>Note: If the numeric keypad is activated, eg, Num_Lock has been pressed, numbers or control functions are generated by the numeric keypad (see Key Codes).
ESC D
>ESC E
>ESC H
>ESC M
>ESC N
>ESC O
>ESC Z
>ESC[?1;2C
> rxvt-unicode compile-time option
ESC c
>ESC n
>ESC o
>ESC
( C >>C
.
ESC
) C >>C
.
ESC * C
>C
.
ESC + C
>C
.
ESC $ C
>Where C
> is one of:
C = 0 | DEC Special Character and Line Drawing Set |
C = A | United Kingdom (UK) |
C = B | United States (USASCII) |
C = < | Multinational character set unimplemented |
C = 5 | Finnish character set unimplemented |
C = C | Finnish character set unimplemented |
C = K | German character set unimplemented |
ESC [ Ps @
>Ps
> (Blank) Character(s)
[default: 1] (ICH)
ESC [ Ps A
>Ps
> Times [default: 1] (CUU)
ESC [ Ps B
>Ps
> Times [default: 1] (CUD)
ESC [ Ps C
>Ps
> Times [default: 1] (CUF)
ESC [ Ps D
>Ps
> Times [default: 1] (CUB)
ESC [ Ps E
>Ps
> Times [default: 1] and to first column
ESC [ Ps F
>Ps
> Times [default: 1] and to first column
ESC [ Ps G
>Ps
> (HPA)
ESC [ Ps;Ps H
>ESC [ Ps I
>Ps
> tab stops [default: 1]
ESC [ Ps J
>Ps = 0 | Clear Below (default) |
Ps = 1 | Clear Above |
Ps = 2 | Clear All |
ESC [ Ps K
>Ps = 0 | Clear to Right (default) |
Ps = 1 | Clear to Left |
Ps = 2 | Clear All |
ESC [ Ps L
>Ps
> Line(s)
[default: 1] (IL)
ESC [ Ps M
>Ps
> Line(s)
[default: 1] (DL)
ESC [ Ps P
>Ps
> Character(s)
[default: 1] (DCH)
ESC [ Ps;Ps;Ps;Ps;Ps T
>ESC [ Ps W
>Ps = 0 | Tab Set (HTS) |
Ps = 2 | Tab Clear (TBC), Clear Current Column (default) |
Ps = 5 | Tab Clear (TBC), Clear All |
ESC [ Ps X
>Ps
> Character(s)
[default: 1] (ECH)
ESC [ Ps Z
>Ps
> [default: 1] tab stops
ESC [ Ps '
>ESC [ Ps G
>
ESC [ Ps a
>ESC [ Ps C
>
ESC [ Ps c
>Ps = 0
> (or omitted): request attributes from terminal
returns: ESC[?1;2c
> (``I am a VT100 with Advanced Video
Option'')
ESC [ Ps d
>Ps
> (VPA)
ESC [ Ps e
>ESC [ Ps A
>
ESC [ Ps;Ps f
>ESC [ Ps g
>Ps = 0 | Clear Current Column (default) |
Ps = 3 | Clear All (TBC) |
ESC [ Pm h
>ESC [ Pm l
> sequence for description of Pm
.
ESC [ Ps i
>print-pipe
resource.
Ps = 0 | print screen (MC0) |
Ps = 4 | disable transparent print mode (MC4) |
Ps = 5 | enable transparent print mode (MC5) |
ESC [ Pm l
>Ps = 4
>h | Insert Mode (SMIR) |
l | Replace Mode (RMIR) |
Ps = 20
> (partially implemented)h | Automatic Newline (LNM) |
l | Normal Linefeed (LNM) |
ESC [ Pm m
>Ps = 0 | Normal (default) |
Ps = 1 / 21 | On / Off Bold (bright fg) |
Ps = 3 / 23 | On / Off Italic |
Ps = 4 / 24 | On / Off Underline |
Ps = 5 / 25 | On / Off Slow Blink (bright bg) |
Ps = 6 / 26 | On / Off Rapid Blink (bright bg) |
Ps = 7 / 27 | On / Off Inverse |
Ps = 8 / 27 | On / Off Invisible (NYI) |
Ps = 30 / 40 | fg/bg Black |
Ps = 31 / 41 | fg/bg Red |
Ps = 32 / 42 | fg/bg Green |
Ps = 33 / 43 | fg/bg Yellow |
Ps = 34 / 44 | fg/bg Blue |
Ps = 35 / 45 | fg/bg Magenta |
Ps = 36 / 46 | fg/bg Cyan |
Ps = 38;5 / 48;5 | set fg/bg to color #m (ISO 8613-6) |
Ps = 37 / 47 | fg/bg White |
Ps = 39 / 49 | fg/bg Default |
Ps = 90 / 100 | fg/bg Bright Black |
Ps = 91 / 101 | fg/bg Bright Red |
Ps = 92 / 102 | fg/bg Bright Green |
Ps = 93 / 103 | fg/bg Bright Yellow |
Ps = 94 / 104 | fg/bg Bright Blue |
Ps = 95 / 105 | fg/bg Bright Magenta |
Ps = 96 / 106 | fg/bg Bright Cyan |
Ps = 97 / 107 | fg/bg Bright White |
Ps = 99 / 109 | fg/bg Bright Default |
ESC [ Ps n
>Ps = 5 | Status Report ESC [ 0 n (``OK'') |
Ps = 6 | Report Cursor Position (CPR) [row;column] as ESC [ r ; c R |
Ps = 7 | Request Display Name |
Ps = 8 | Request Version Number (place in window title) |
ESC [ Ps;Ps r
>ESC [ s
>ESC [ Ps x
>ESC [ u
>
ESC [ ? Pm h
>ESC [ ? Pm l
>ESC [ ? Pm r
>ESC [ ? Pm s
>ESC [ ? Pm t
>Ps = 1
> (DECCKM)h | Application Cursor Keys |
l | Normal Cursor Keys |
Ps = 2
> (ANSI/VT52 mode)h | Enter VT52 mode |
l | Enter VT52 mode |
Ps = 3
>h | 132 Column Mode (DECCOLM) |
l | 80 Column Mode (DECCOLM) |
Ps = 4
>h | Smooth (Slow) Scroll (DECSCLM) |
l | Jump (Fast) Scroll (DECSCLM) |
Ps = 5
>h | Reverse Video (DECSCNM) |
l | Normal Video (DECSCNM) |
Ps = 6
>h | Origin Mode (DECOM) |
l | Normal Cursor Mode (DECOM) |
Ps = 7
>h | Wraparound Mode (DECAWM) |
l | No Wraparound Mode (DECAWM) |
Ps = 8
> unimplementedh | Auto-repeat Keys (DECARM) |
l | No Auto-repeat Keys (DECARM) |
Ps = 9
> X10 XTermh | Send Mouse X & Y on button press. |
l | No mouse reporting. |
Ps = 10
> (rxvt)h | menuBar visible |
l | menuBar invisible |
Ps = 25
>h | Visible cursor {cnorm/cvvis} |
l | Invisible cursor {civis} |
Ps = 30
>h | scrollBar visisble |
l | scrollBar invisisble |
Ps = 35
> (rxvt)h | Allow XTerm Shift+key sequences |
l | Disallow XTerm Shift+key sequences |
Ps = 38
> unimplementedPs = 40
>h | Allow 80/132 Mode |
l | Disallow 80/132 Mode |
Ps = 44
> unimplementedh | Turn On Margin Bell |
l | Turn Off Margin Bell |
Ps = 45
> unimplementedh | Reverse-wraparound Mode |
l | No Reverse-wraparound Mode |
Ps = 46
> unimplementedPs = 47
>h | Use Alternate Screen Buffer |
l | Use Normal Screen Buffer |
Ps = 66
>h | Application Keypad (DECPAM) == ESC = |
l | Normal Keypad (DECPNM) == ESC > |
Ps = 67
>h | Backspace key sends BS (DECBKM) |
l | Backspace key sends DEL |
Ps = 1000
> (X11 XTerm)h | Send Mouse X & Y on button press and release. |
l | No mouse reporting. |
Ps = 1001
> (X11 XTerm) unimplementedh | Use Hilite Mouse Tracking. |
l | No mouse reporting. |
Ps = 1010
> (rxvt)h | Don't scroll to bottom on TTY output |
l | Scroll to bottom on TTY output |
Ps = 1011
> (rxvt)h | Scroll to bottom when a key is pressed |
l | Don't scroll to bottom when a key is pressed |
Ps = 1047
>h | Use Alternate Screen Buffer |
l | Use Normal Screen Buffer - clear Alternate Screen Buffer if returning from it |
Ps = 1048
>h | Save cursor position |
l | Restore cursor position |
Ps = 1049
>h | Use Alternate Screen Buffer - clear Alternate Screen Buffer if switching to it |
l | Use Normal Screen Buffer |
ESC ] Ps;Pt ST
>Ps = 0 | Change Icon Name and Window Title to Pt |
Ps = 1 | Change Icon Name to Pt |
Ps = 2 | Change Window Title to Pt |
Ps = 3 | If Pt starts with a ?, query the (STRING) property of the window and return it. If Pt contains a =, set the named property to the given value, else delete the specified property. |
Ps = 4 | Pt is a semi-colon separated sequence of one or more semi-colon separated number/name pairs, where number is an index to a colour and name is the name of a colour. Each pair causes the numbered colour to be changed to 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 |
Ps = 10 | Change colour of text foreground to Pt (NB: may change in future) |
Ps = 11 | Change colour of text background to Pt (NB: may change in future) |
Ps = 12 | Change colour of text cursor foreground to Pt |
Ps = 13 | Change colour of mouse foreground to Pt |
Ps = 17 | Change colour of highlight characters to Pt |
Ps = 18 | Change colour of bold characters to Pt |
Ps = 19 | Change colour of underlined characters to Pt |
Ps = 20 | Change default background to Pt |
Ps = 39 | Change default foreground colour to Pt rxvt compile-time option |
Ps = 46 | Change Log File to Pt unimplemented |
Ps = 49 | Change default background colour to Pt rxvt compile-time option |
Ps = 50 | Set fontset to Pt, with the following special values of Pt (rxvt) #+n change up n #-n change down n if n is missing of 0, a value of 1 is used empty change to font0 n change to font n |
Ps = 55 | Log all scrollback buffer and all of screen to Pt |
Ps = 701 | Change current locale to Pt, or, if Pt is ?, return the current locale (rxvt extension) |
Ps = 703 | Menubar command Pt rxvt compile-time option (rxvt-unicode extension) |
Ps = 704 | Change colour of italic characters to Pt |
Ps = 705 | Change background pixmap tint colour to Pt |
Ps = 710 | Set normal fontset to Pt. Same as Ps = 50. |
Ps = 711 | Set bold fontset to Pt. Similar to Ps = 50. |
Ps = 712 | Set italic fontset to Pt. Similar to Ps = 50. |
Ps = 713 | Set bold-italic fontset to Pt. Similar to Ps = 50. |
The exact syntax used is almost solidified. > In the menus, DON'T try to use menuBar commands that add or remove a menuBar.
Note that in all of the commands, the /path/ > cannot be omitted: use ./ to specify a menu relative to the current menu.
For the menuBar XTerm escape sequence ESC ] 703 ; Pt ST
, the syntax
of Pt
can be used for a variety of tasks:
At the top level is the current menuBar which is a member of a circular linked-list of other such menuBars.
The menuBar acts as a parent for the various drop-down menus, which in turn, may have labels, separator lines, menuItems and subMenus.
The menuItems are the useful bits: you can use them to mimic keyboard input or even to send text or escape sequences back to rxvt.
The menuBar syntax is intended to provide a simple yet robust method of constructing and manipulating menus and navigating through the menuBars.
The first step is to use the tag [menu:name] > which creates the menuBar called name and allows access. You may now or menus, subMenus, and menuItems. Finally, use the tag [done] to set the menuBar access as readonly to prevent accidental corruption of the menus. To re-access the current menuBar for alterations, use the tag [menu], make the alterations and then use [done]
Blank and comment lines (starting with #) are ignored. Actually, since any invalid menu commands are also ignored, almost anything could be construed as a comment line, but this may be tightened up in the future ... so don't count on it!.
A Future implementation may make this local to the menubar >)
The following commands may also be + prefixed.
To send a string starting with a NUL (^@) character to the program, start action with a pair of NUL characters (^@^@), the first of which will be stripped off and the balance directed to the program. Otherwise if action begins with NUL followed by non-+NUL characters, the leading NUL is stripped off and the balance is sent back to rxvt.
As a convenience for the many Emacs-type editors, action may start with M- (eg, M-$ is equivalent to \E$) and a CR will be appended if missed from M-x commands.
As a convenience for issuing XTerm ESC] sequences from a menubar (or quick arrow), a BEL (^G) will be appended if needed.
The option {right-rtext} > will be right-justified. In the absence of a specified action, this text will be used as the action as well.
The left label is necessary, since it's used for matching, but implicitly hiding the left label (by using same name for both left and right labels), or explicitly hiding the left label (by preceeding it with a dot), makes it possible to have right-justified text only.
The menus also provide a hook for quick arrows to provide easier user access. If nothing has been explicitly set, the default is to emulate the curror keys. The syntax permits each arrow to be altered individually or all four at once without re-entering their common beginning/end text. For example, to explicitly associate cursor actions with the arrows, any of the following forms could be used:
<u>\E[A
<d>\E[B
<r>\E[C
<l>\E[D
<u>\E[AZ<><d>\E[BZ<><r>\E[CZ<><l>\E[D
<b>\E[<u>AZ<><d>BZ<><r>CZ<><l>D
A short summary of the most common commands:
menuBar(s)
menuBar(s)
For the XPM XTerm escape sequence ESC ] 20 ; Pt ST
> then value
of Pt
> can be the name of the background pixmap followed by a
sequence of scaling/positioning commands separated by semi-colons. The
scaling/positioning commands are as follows:
WxH+X (== WxH+X+X)
WxH (same as WxH+50+50)
W+X+Y (same as WxW+X+Y)
W+X (same as WxW+X+X)
W (same as WxW+50+50)
=+X (same as =+X+Y)
+X (same as +X+Y)
0xH -> H *= (H/100)
For example:
ESC [ M <b> <x> <y>
>The lower 2 bits of <b>
> indicate the button:
(<b> - SPACE) & 3
>0 | Button1 pressed |
1 | Button2 pressed |
2 | Button3 pressed |
3 | button released (X11 mouse report) |
The upper bits of <b>
> indicate the modifiers when the
button was pressed and are added together (X11 mouse report only):
(<b> - SPACE) & 60
>4 | Shift |
8 | Meta |
16 | Control |
32 | Double Click (Rxvt extension) |
Col = <x> - SPACE
>
Row = <y> - SPACE
>
Note: Shift + F1-F10 generates F11-F20
For the keypad, use Shift to temporarily override Application-Keypad setting use Num_Lock to toggle Application-Keypad setting if Num_Lock is off, toggle Application-Keypad setting. Also note that values of Home, End, Delete may have been compiled differently on your system.
Normal | Shift | Control | Ctrl+Shift | |
Tab | ^I | ESC [ Z | ^I | ESC [ Z |
BackSpace | ^H | ^? | ^? | ^? |
Find | ESC [ 1 ~ | ESC [ 1 $ | ESC [ 1 ^ | ESC [ 1 @ |
Insert | ESC [ 2 ~ | paste | ESC [ 2 ^ | ESC [ 2 @ |
Execute | ESC [ 3 ~ | ESC [ 3 $ | ESC [ 3 ^ | ESC [ 3 @ |
Select | ESC [ 4 ~ | ESC [ 4 $ | ESC [ 4 ^ | ESC [ 4 @ |
Prior | ESC [ 5 ~ | scroll-up | ESC [ 5 ^ | ESC [ 5 @ |
Next | ESC [ 6 ~ | scroll-down | ESC [ 6 ^ | ESC [ 6 @ |
Home | ESC [ 7 ~ | ESC [ 7 $ | ESC [ 7 ^ | ESC [ 7 @ |
End | ESC [ 8 ~ | ESC [ 8 $ | ESC [ 8 ^ | ESC [ 8 @ |
Delete | ESC [ 3 ~ | ESC [ 3 $ | ESC [ 3 ^ | ESC [ 3 @ |
F1 | ESC [ 11 ~ | ESC [ 23 ~ | ESC [ 11 ^ | ESC [ 23 ^ |
F2 | ESC [ 12 ~ | ESC [ 24 ~ | ESC [ 12 ^ | ESC [ 24 ^ |
F3 | ESC [ 13 ~ | ESC [ 25 ~ | ESC [ 13 ^ | ESC [ 25 ^ |
F4 | ESC [ 14 ~ | ESC [ 26 ~ | ESC [ 14 ^ | ESC [ 26 ^ |
F5 | ESC [ 15 ~ | ESC [ 28 ~ | ESC [ 15 ^ | ESC [ 28 ^ |
F6 | ESC [ 17 ~ | ESC [ 29 ~ | ESC [ 17 ^ | ESC [ 29 ^ |
F7 | ESC [ 18 ~ | ESC [ 31 ~ | ESC [ 18 ^ | ESC [ 31 ^ |
F8 | ESC [ 19 ~ | ESC [ 32 ~ | ESC [ 19 ^ | ESC [ 32 ^ |
F9 | ESC [ 20 ~ | ESC [ 33 ~ | ESC [ 20 ^ | ESC [ 33 ^ |
F10 | ESC [ 21 ~ | ESC [ 34 ~ | ESC [ 21 ^ | ESC [ 34 ^ |
F11 | ESC [ 23 ~ | ESC [ 23 $ | ESC [ 23 ^ | ESC [ 23 @ |
F12 | ESC [ 24 ~ | ESC [ 24 $ | ESC [ 24 ^ | ESC [ 24 @ |
F13 | ESC [ 25 ~ | ESC [ 25 $ | ESC [ 25 ^ | ESC [ 25 @ |
F14 | ESC [ 26 ~ | ESC [ 26 $ | ESC [ 26 ^ | ESC [ 26 @ |
F15 (Help) | ESC [ 28 ~ | ESC [ 28 $ | ESC [ 28 ^ | ESC [ 28 @ |
F16 (Menu) | ESC [ 29 ~ | ESC [ 29 $ | ESC [ 29 ^ | ESC [ 29 @ |
F17 | ESC [ 31 ~ | ESC [ 31 $ | ESC [ 31 ^ | ESC [ 31 @ |
F18 | ESC [ 32 ~ | ESC [ 32 $ | ESC [ 32 ^ | ESC [ 32 @ |
F19 | ESC [ 33 ~ | ESC [ 33 $ | ESC [ 33 ^ | ESC [ 33 @ |
F20 | ESC [ 34 ~ | ESC [ 34 $ | ESC [ 34 ^ | ESC [ 34 @ |
Application | ||||
Up | ESC [ A | ESC [ a | ESC O a | ESC O A |
Down | ESC [ B | ESC [ b | ESC O b | ESC O B |
Right | ESC [ C | ESC [ c | ESC O c | ESC O C |
Left | ESC [ D | ESC [ d | ESC O d | ESC O D |
KP_Enter | ^M | ESC O M | ||
KP_F1 | ESC O P | ESC O P | ||
KP_F2 | ESC O Q | ESC O Q | ||
KP_F3 | ESC O R | ESC O R | ||
KP_F4 | ESC O S | ESC O S | ||
XK_KP_Multiply | * | ESC O j | ||
XK_KP_Add | + | ESC O k | ||
XK_KP_Separator | , | ESC O l | ||
XK_KP_Subtract | - | ESC O m | ||
XK_KP_Decimal | . | ESC O n | ||
XK_KP_Divide | / | ESC O o | ||
XK_KP_0 | 0 | ESC O p | ||
XK_KP_1 | 1 | ESC O q | ||
XK_KP_2 | 2 | ESC O r | ||
XK_KP_3 | 3 | ESC O s | ||
XK_KP_4 | 4 | ESC O t | ||
XK_KP_5 | 5 | ESC O u | ||
XK_KP_6 | 6 | ESC O v | ||
XK_KP_7 | 7 | ESC O w | ||
XK_KP_8 | 8 | ESC O x | ||
XK_KP_9 | 9 | ESC O y |
General hint: if you get compile errors, then likely your configuration hasn't been tested well. Either try with --enable-everything or use the ./reconf script as a base for experiments. ./reconf is used by myself, so it should generally be a working config. Of course, you should always report when a combination doesn't work, so it can be fixed. Marc Lehmann <rxvt@schmorp.de>.
all | all available codeset groups |
cn | common chinese encodings |
cn_ext | rarely used but very big chinese encodigs |
jp | common japanese encodings |
jp_ext | rarely used but big japanese encodings |
kr | korean encodings |
Please note that rxvt-unicode can store unicode code points >65535 even without this flag, but the number of such characters is limited to a view thousand (shared with combining characters, see next switch), and right now rxvt-unicode cannot display them (input/output and cut&paste still work, though).
Without --enable-unicode3, the number of additional precomposed characters is rather limited (2048, if this is full, rxvt will use the private use area, extending the number of combinations to 8448). With --enable-unicode3, no practical limit exists. This will also enable storage of characters >65535.
The combining table also contains entries for arabic presentation forms, but these are not currently used. Bug me if you want these to be used.
XGetDefault()
instead of our small
version which only checks ~/.Xdefaults, or if that doesn't exist
then ~/.Xresources.
memset()
function and other
various routines, overriding your system's versions which may
have been hand-crafted in assembly or may require extra libraries
to link in. (this breaks ANSI-C rules and has problems on many
GNU/Linux systems).
--enable-frills
, while support for 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4 is enabled with
this switch.
You can only use either this option and the following (should you use either) .
Marc Lehmann <rxvt@schmorp.de> converted this document to pod and reworked it from the original Rxvt documentation, which was done by Geoff Wing <gcw@pobox.com>, who in turn used the XTerm documentation and other sources.