Name

dxterm − DECwindows terminal emulator

Syntax

dxterm [ options]

Description

The dxterm command displays a window that provides Digital VT320 terminal emulation and a standard terminal type for programs not aware of the X Window System directly.  The terminal emulator also supports the ReGIS and sixel graphics protocols. 

Options

−customization string
Specifies a value for a dxterm resource that overrides a default setting.  The string has the form resource:value.  You can specify this option multiple times to change multiple resources.  See X DEFAULTS for a list of resources that can be changed.  You can specify both dxterm and shell resources as *resource. 

−d dispname Specifies the display screen on which dxterm displays its window.  If the display option is not specified, dxterm uses the display screen specified by your DISPLAY environment variable.  The display option has the format hostname:number.  Using two colons (::) instead of one (:) indicates that DECnet is to be used for transport.  The default is :0.  For more information, see X(.).

−display dispname Is the same as the −d option. 

−e command [ options ]
Specifies that the named command, and any of its specified options, be executed in the dxterm window when the window is first created.  This option must appear last on the dxterm command line. 

−geometry Specifies the width, length, and location of the dxterm window, in pixels.  If this option is not specified, dxterm positions the window at a default location and sizes the window according to the number of rows and columns and the size of the characters.  To specify the window size in rows and columns, use the -size option, which does not require knowledge of character size.  The geometry option has the format [width][xlength][x][y].  For more information about the screen coordinate system, see X(.).

−ls Specifies that dxterm create a login shell rather than a subshell. 

−setup file Specifies the setup file or files that provide parameters that control the terminal’s initial settings.  This must be a file saved by the Customize/Save function in dxterm.  The default is ~/default.DECterm. Specify -setup "" to prevent default.DECterm from being read. 

−size CxR Specifies the size of the dxterm window in columns (C) and rows (R). 

−xrm stringIs the same as the  -customization option. 

Menus

The menu bar contains the following items:

Commands
Edit
Customize

Commands Menu

The Commands menu contains the following items:

Clear Lines Off TopErases data recorded by dxterm from the top of the scrolling area. 

Clear displayClears the display and positions the cursor at the first column and first line of the display. 

Resize windowChanges the size of the window to match the display so that all characters in the display are visible. 

Clear CommClears the communication buffers. 

Reset TerminalResets the emulator to the original settings; for example, sets the keyboard action mode to unlocked and the keypad mode to numeric. 

Clear CommunicationsClears the communication buffers. 

QuitShuts down the terminal emulator application (removes all its windows, stops the process running the emulator, and ends any applications). 

Edit Menu

The Edit menu contains the following items:

CopyCopies the text selected from the dxterm window onto the clipboard. 

PastePastes text selected from the clipboard into the dxterm window, as if it had been typed. 

Select AllSelects all displayed text. 

Customize Menu

The dxterm setup features are grouped into a number of related categories.  The Customize menu lets you access the dialog box for each of these categories (these correspond to VT320 Set-Up screens). 

The Customize menu contains the following items:

Window...Displays the Window Customize dialog box, which contains controls that affect the window features. 

Display...Displays the Display Customize dialog box, which contains controls that affect the format of the user’s current window. 

General...Displays the General Customize dialog box, which contains controls for commonly changed Customize features. 

Keyboard...Displays the Keyboard Customize dialog box, which contains controls for keyboard operating features. 

7-Bit NRCS Selection...Allows you to specify a 7-bit National Replacement Character Set (NRCS). 

Graphics...Displays the Graphics Customize dialog box that contains controls for ReGIS and sixel graphics. 

Use Last Saved SettingsRestores the setup configuration from the most recently read or written saved setup file (corresponds to NVR recall on a VT320 terminal). 

Use System DefaultsReinitializes the terminal emulator with the system default characteristics defined by your system. 

Use Saved Settings From...Opens a different saved setup configuration.  The standard DECwindows file selection dialog box appears, showing a list of saved setup files in the current directory.  Selecting one of these files and clicking on OK (or double-clicking on the file) reinitializes the terminal emulator with the configuration stored in that file. 

Save Current SettingsSaves the current setting.  If you do not specify a file, dxterm writes to the file ~/default.DECterm. 

Save Current Settings As...Saves the current settings in the file you specify. 

Customize Dialog Boxes

The Customize dialog boxes represent the state of the terminal.  At application startup, the previously saved state of most terminal features is read from a saved set-up file (which corresponds to VT320 NVR); these feature settings remain constant until you explicitly change them.  You can change terminal operating features directly by means of the Customize dialog boxes.  You can also change some of these features indirectly by means of control functions from the host. 

There are a few terminal features whose state is not stored in a saved setup file.  These features are restored to their factory default values at application startup, or when you reset the terminal (with Reset Terminal or DECSTR). 

Window Customize Dialog Box

The Window Customize dialog box lets you change the following display attributes:

Auto Resize TerminalChanges the terminal size to match the window size automatically whenever the window size changes. 

Auto Resize WindowChanges the window size to match the terminal size automatically whenever the terminal size changes. 

Terminal Driver ResizeChanges the terminal size to match the size known to the terminal driver whenever the size changes in the terminal driver, and vice versa. 

Big FontDisplays an 18-point font. 

Little FontDisplays a 14-point font. 

Normal Font (80 Columns)Sets a font to a column width of 80 characters. 

Condensed Font (132 Columns)Sets a font to a column width of 132 characters. 

Normal/80, Condensed/132Adjusts the font to match the width of the terminal automatically. 

Window TitleChanges the title displayed in the title bar. 

Icon NameChanges the title displayed in the icon box. 

Terminal SizeSets the number of rows and columns that are displayed.  You can select 24, 48, or 72 rows and 80 or 132 columns, or enter a custom size in the numeric entry fields. 

Display Customize Dialog Box

The Display Customize dialog box lets you change the following display attributes:

Record Lines Off TopSaves lines that are scrolled off the top of the display.  When you choose Record Lines Off Top, a filled-in button appears to the left of the menu selection. 

Vertical Scroll BarDisplays a vertical scroll bar along the right side of the dxterm window. 

Horizontal Scroll BarDisplays a horizontal scroll bar along the bottom of the dxterm window. 

Vertical Cursor CouplingSpecifies that the window scrolls vertically so that the cursor is visible. 

Horizontal Cursor CouplingSpecifies that the window scrolls horizontally so that the cursor is visible. 

Auto WrapSpecifies that when the cursor reaches the right margin, new characters are displayed on the next line.  If you do not automatically wrap text, when the cursor reaches the right margin each new character deletes the previous character. 

Display CursorSpecifies whether the cursor is displayed.  The default is to display the cursor. 

Cursor BlinkSpecifies whether the cursor blinks.  The default is to have the cursor blink. 

Batch Scroll nnn LinesSpecifies how many lines scroll at the same time.  Increasing the Batch Scroll count improves performance but makes it harder to read text while it is scrolling. 

Record nnn Lines Off TopSpecifies how many lines to save when they scroll off the top of the display (when the Record Lines Off Top item is enabled). 

Dark Text, Light BackgroundSets dark text on a light background display. 

Light Text, Dark BackgroundSets light text on a dark background display. 

No Status DisplaySuppresses the status line at the bottom of the window. 

Host Status DisplaySpecifies that a host-writable status line appears at the bottom of the window. 

Block CursorSpecifies that the text cursor is a block that covers the character cell. 

Underline CursorSpecifies that the text cursor is an underline at the bottom of the character cell. 

General Customize Dialog Box

The General Customize dialog box lets you change the following general attributes:

NewlineTurns on new line mode (NLM), which causes the Return key to send a line feed as well as a carriage return.  A line feed character moves the cursor to the start of the line as well as advancing it to the next line. 

Lock UDKsLocks the user-defined keys so that the host system cannot change these definitions. 

Lock User FeaturesStops the host from changing your customized settings for the Auto Repeat key and the Foreground and Background display. 

Normal Cursor KeysSpecifies that the arrow keys are set to the characters labeled on the keycaps.  The keys are not mapped to any other functions. 

Appl Cursor KeysSpecifies that the arrow keys are mapped to application-specific functions. 

Terminal IDSpecifies the device attributes response (Terminal ID).  The device attributes response lets the host system know specific operating attributes of the terminal.  The Terminal ID can be one of the following:

VT100
VT101
VT102
VT125
VT220
VT240
VT 320
VT 330
VT 340
DECterm ID

The default is DECterm ID. 

Numeric KeypadSpecifies that the numeric keypad is set to the characters labeled on the keycaps. 

Application KeypadSpecifies that the application keypad is set to function as user-defined keys. 

UPSS DEC SupplementalSpecifies that dxterm use the DEC Multinational Character Set.  To use this character set, set the Character Set mode menu item to 8-bit Characters.  The default is the DEC Multinational Character Set. 

UPSS ISO Latin-1Specifies that dxterm use the International Standards Organization (ISO) Character Set.  To use this character set, set the Character Set mode menu item to 8-bit Characters. 

8-bit Multinational CharactersSpecifies the character set mode to be 8 bits for use with the DEC Supplemental or ISO Latin-1 Character Set.  The default is 8-bit character mode. 

7-bit NRCS CharactersSpecifies the character set mode to be 7 bits for use with the National Replacement Character Sets.  The default is 8-bit character mode. 

VT300 Mode, 8-bit ControlsSpecifies that the terminal operates in VT300 mode and transmits 8-bit control characters. 

VT300 Mode, 7-bit ControlsSpecifies that the terminal operates in VT300 mode and transmits 7-bit control characters. 

VT100 ModeSpecifies that the terminal operates in VT100 mode, using 7-bit characters for both input and output. 

VT52 ModeSpecifies that the terminal operates in VT52 mode, using 7-bit characters for both input and output. 

Keyboard Customize Dialog Box

The Keyboard Customize dialog box lets you change the following display attributes:

Warning bellSpecifies whether the warning bell sounds when dxterm receives a BEL character (ASCII 7).  The default is that the bell sounds. 

Margin BellSpecifies whether the warning bell sounds when the cursor reaches the right margin. The default is that the bell does not sound. 

Auto RepeatSpecifies whether a character repeats or does not repeat when you hold the key down.  If you set the Lock User Feature menu item, the host system cannot change this setting. 

Ctrl−Q, Ctrl−S = HoldSpecifies that the Ctrl−S and Ctrl−Q keys freeze and unfreeze the display.  If this is not specified, the Ctrl−S and Ctrl−Q keys are transmitted to the host as data characters. 

<X] DeleteSpecifies that the back arrow key sends a delete (ASCII 127) character.  Depending on your terminal settings, this usually deletes the previous character.  The default back arrow operation sends a delete character. 

<X] BackspaceSpecifies that the back arrow key sends a backspace (ASCII 8, Ctrl/H).  The effect of this character depends on your terminal settings.  The default back arrow operation sends a delete character. 

Comma Key Sends ,,Specifies that a comma is displayed when you press the Shift key and comma key on a keyboard using the North American or Dutch keyboard dialect.  This is the default. 

Comma Key Sends ,<Specifies that a comma is displayed when you press the Shift key and comma key, and that a left angle bracket (<) is displayed when you press just the comma key on a keyboard using the North American or Dutch keyboard dialect.  The default is to display a comma. 

Tilde Key Sends ‘~Specifies that a  left single quotation mark (‘) is displayed when you press the ‘~ key and that a tilde (~) is displayed when you press the Shift key and ‘~ key on a keyboard using the North American or Dutch keyboard dialect.   This is the default. 

Tilde Key Sends ESCSpecifies that the ‘~ key functions as an escape character (ESC) on a keyboard using the North American or Dutch keyboard dialect.  The default is to display the characters as labeled on the keyboard. 

Angle Brackets Key Sends (<>)
Specifies that a left angle bracket (<) is displayed when you press the angle bracket key, and that a right angle bracket (>) is displayed when you press the Shift key and angle bracket key. This is the default.

Angle Brackets Key Sends ‘~Specifies that a left single quotation mark (‘) is displayed when you press the angle brackets key and that a tilde (~) is displayed when you press the Shift key and angle brackets key.  The default is to display the characters as labeled on the keyboard. 

7-bit Nrcs Selection Dialog Box

The 7-bit NRCS Selection dialog box lets you select a National Replacement Character Set (NRCS) for use when the terminal is in 7-bit mode.  This selection affects output to the terminal, but not keyboard input. To select the keyboard dialect, which does affect input, use the Keyboard dialog box from the Session Manager’s Customize menu.  For example, to use the Spanish NRCS, select the keyboard in the Session Manager and also select the Spanish NRCS in DECterm. 

To select a character set, click MB1 on the desired entry.  The choices are:

North American
Flemish
Canadian (French)
British
Danish
Finnish
Austrian/German
Dutch
Italian
Swiss (French)
Swiss (German)
Swedish
Norwegian
Belgian/French
Spanish
Portugese

The default character set is North American. The Dutch NRCS is no longer supported; selecting Dutch is equivalent to selecting North American. 

Graphics Dialog Box

Share Color Map EntriesControls whether dxterm uses shared, read-only colors for graphics.  The default is Off, but the option is forced to On if the hardware color map is read-only. 

Enable Backing StoreSpecifies whether dxterm creates a pixmap to allow graphics to be redrawn when the window is exposed. The default is On. 

Report Macrograph ContentsEnables the ReGIS macrograph report command.  The default is Off. 

NN Bit PlanesControls the number of bit planes used for graphics.  VT240 emulation requires 2 planes; VT340 emulation requires 4 planes.  On systems with fewer than 8 hardware planes, the default is 2 planes; on systems with 8 or more hardware planes, the default is 4 planes. 

X Defaults

The dxterm application uses the values in the .Xdefaults file when you logged in and uses the appropriate resource specification to customize the appearance or characteristics of its displayed dxterm window.  The format for a resource specification in the .Xdefaults file is: [name.]resource:  value

nameSpecifies the application name or the name string that restricts the resource assignment to that application or to a component of an application.  If this argument is not specified, the resource assignment is globally available to all X applications. 

resourceSpecifies the X resource. 

valueSpecifies the value that is to be assigned to the resource. 

In most cases, the period (.) delimiter should be replaced by an asterisk (*).  For more information, see X(.).

Because each toolkit-based application can consist of a combination of widgets (for example, push buttons and a scroll bar), you can form the name string by adding widget class and name identifiers to the string. 

For dxterm, the application class is DXterm and the application name is the name that was specified on the command line (usually dxterm). 

For dxterm, the available name identifier is terminal.  This name identifier specifies the work area of the dxterm window. 

In addition to the general resources listed in X(,), the resources available for the dxterm work area are:

adjustFontSizesSpecifies that dxterm selects the normal or condensed font based on the number of columns selected.  The default is On. 

allowShellResizeIf On, the program can change the size of the dxterm window.  If Off, you can specify a fixed size with the geometry specification. However, DECterm always turns on this resource even if you have turned it off, because DECterm resizes its window according to the font, the number of rows, and the number of columns. 

angleBracketsKeySpecifies the mapping of the angle brackets (<>) key.  Zero maps the key to AngleBrackets (0); 1 maps it to OpenQuoteTilde (1).  The default is 0. 

applicationKeypadModeSpecifies that the application running in the window take control of the keypad.  The default is false. 

autoRepeatEnableSpecifies that autorepeat be enabled.  The default is On. 

autoResizeTerminalSpecifies that dxterm changes the logical display size to match the window size when the user changes the window size. The default is Off. 

autoResizeWindowSpecifies that the dxterm window automatically resize itself to match the logical display size whenever the logical display size changes.  Note that this may interfere with other windows on the display. 

autoWrapEnableSpecifies that autowrap mode be enabled. The default is Off. 

backArrowKeySpecifies the back arrow key code.  This code can be delete (0) or backspace (1). The default is 0. 

backingStoreEnableSpecifies whether dxterm should create a pixmap to allow graphics to be redrawn when the window is exposed.  The default is On. 

batchScrollCountSpecifies how many lines can be scrolled at once.  The dxterm application never scrolls more than the total number of lines on the screen at once.  The default is 1000. 

bigFontSetNameSpecifies the font used for the "big" font set.  The default is -*-Terminal-*-*-*--18-*-*-*-*-*-*-*. 

bitPlanesControls the number of bit planes used for graphics; 2 planes are needed for VT240 emulation and 4 planes for VT340 emulation.  The default is 0, which means to use 2 planes on systems with fewer than 8 hardware planes, and 4 planes on systems with 8 or more hardware planes. 

columnsSpecifies the width of the logical display in columns.  The default is 80. 

condensedFontSpecifies that the condensed font should be used.  The default is to display the normal font (Off). 

controlQSHoldSpecifies that the Ctrl−S and the Ctrl−Q keys hold and release the display.  The default is On. 

couplingHorizontalSpecifies whether the window moves horizontally to follow the text cursor when the cursor moves outside the window.  In this way, the cursor is always contained in the window. The default is Off. 

couplingVerticalSpecifies whether the window moves vertically to follow the text cursor when the cursor moves outside the window.  In this way, the cursor is always contained in the window. 

cursorBlinkEnableSpecifies whether the cursor blinks.  Specify on for a blinking cursor or off for one that does not blink.  The default is On. 

cursorStyleSpecifies the cursor style. Specify 0 for a block cursor or 1 for an underline cursor.  The default is 0. 

eightBitCharactersSpecifies that 8-bit characters are used in the VT300 terminal modes.  If not selected, 7-bit NRCS characters are used.  The default is On. 

fontSetSelectionSpecifies which font is used.  Specify 1 for little and 0 for big.  The default is 1. 

geometrySpecifies the width,length, and location of the dxterm window.  This is the same as the −geometry command line option. 

iconNameSpecifies the name in the icon box. 

iconNameWidthSpecifies the width of the name in the icon box. 

iconicSpecifies whether the dxterm window is initialized as an icon. 

keyboardDialectSelects the 7-bit national replacement character set (NRCS).  The choices are: North American (0), Flemish (1), French Canadian (2), British (3), Danish (4), Finnish (5), Austrian/German (6), Dutch (7), Italian (8), Swiss French (9), Swiss German(10), Swedish (11), Norwegian (12), Belgian/French (13), Spanish (14), Portuguese (15).  The default is 0. 

littleFontSetNameSpecifies the font used for the "little" font set.  The default is -*-Terminal-*-*-*--14-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

lockUDKSpecifies that changes to UDK definitions are prevented.  The default is Off. 

lockUserFeaturesSpecifies that changes to user features are prevented.  The default is Off. 

macrographReportEnableSpecifies that the ReGIS macrograph report command is enabled.  The default is Off. 

marginBellEnableSpecifies that the margin bell is turned on.  The default is Off. 

newLineModeSpecifies whether line-feed or newline mode is turned on.  The default is line-feed mode. 

openQuoteTildeKeySpecifies the mapping of the tilde key (‘~).  This mapping can be either ApostropheTilde (0) or Escape (1).  The default is 0. 

periodCommaKeysSpecifies the mapping of the period and comma keys.  This mapping can be either PeriodComma (0) or GreaterLessThan (1).  The default is 0. 

responseDASpecifies the response to a Device Attributes (terminal ID) request.  The terminal ID can be VT100 (0), VT101 (1), VT102 (2), VT125 (3), VT220 (4), VT240 (5), VT320 (6), VT330 (9), VT340 (7), or DECterm (8).  The default is 8. 

reverseVideoSpecifies that dxterm reverse the color values for foreground and background. The default is Off. 

rowsSpecifies the height of the logical display in rows.  The default is 24. 

saveErasedLinesSpecifies whether dxterm should scroll lines into the transcript instead of erasing them.  The default is On. 

saveLinesOffTopSpecifies that a transcript of lines be saved off the top of a scrolled display. The default is On. 

screenModeSpecifies the screen mode.  The screen mode can be dark on light or light on dark.  The default is light on dark. 

scrollHorizontalSpecifies that a horizonal scroll bar be displayed in the dxterm window. 

scrollVerticalSpecifies that a vertical scroll bar be displayed in the dxterm window. 

shareColorMapEntriesControls whether DECterm uses shared, read-only color map entries for graphics. The default is Off, but the option is forced on if the hardware color map is read-only. 

statusDisplayEnableSpecifies that the status line be displayed.  The default is false. 

terminalDriverResizeSpecifies whether  changing the size of the logical display changes the size known to the terminal driver, and vice versa.  The default is On. 

terminalModeSpecifies the terminal operating mode.  The terminal operating mode can be VT52 (0), VT100 (1), VT300_7bit (2), VT300_8bit (3)

textCursorEnableSpecifies that the text cursor be enabled. 

titleSpecifies the name in the title bar. 

transcriptSizeSpecifies the maximum number of lines that can be recorded off the top of the display.  The default is 500. 

userPreferenceSetSpecifies the user preference set to DEC (0) or ISO (1). The default is 0. 

warningBellEnableSpecifies that the warning bell be turned on. The default is On. 

Files

~/.Xdefaults
~/default.DECterm
/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/DXterm
~/.DXterm

See Also

X(1X), dxwm(1X), DECwindows Desktop Applications Guide

For descriptions of VT320, ReGIS and sixel commands, refer to the DECterm Text and Graphics Programming manuals.  These are not part of the UWS documentation set; they must be ordered separately.