Provided by: eterm_0.9.6-6build1_amd64 
NAME
Eterm - the Enlightened terminal emulator for the X Window System
SYNOPSIS
Eterm [options]
DESCRIPTION
Eterm — version 0.9.6 — is a color vt102 terminal emulator intended as an xterm(1) replacement. It is
designed with a Freedom of Choice philosophy, leaving as much power, flexibility, and freedom as possible
in the hands of the user. It is designed to look good and work well, but takes a feature-rich approach
rather than one of minimalism. Eterm uses Imlib for advanced graphic abilities. See below for details.
OPTIONS
The Eterm options are listed below. In keeping with the freedom-of-choice philosophy, options may be
eliminated or default values chosen at compile-time, so options and defaults listed may not accurately
reflect the version installed on your system.
Options that do not take a parameter (besides -h and --help) are boolean. If you use the POSIX (short)
option, you are forcing the parameter to "true". If you use the long option, you can use any of the
accepted boolean values, which are "yes", "on", "1", and "true" to turn the option on, or "no", "off",
"0", or "false" to turn the option off. The same is true for boolean values in the configuration file.
-t theme, --theme theme
Load specified theme. Consult the FAQ for more details on what constitutes an Eterm theme.
-X conffile, --config-file conffile
Use an alternative user config file name. Otherwise Eterm uses the default, which is user.cfg.
The theme config file is always theme.cfg.
-d displayname, --display displayname
Attempt to open a window on the named X display displayname. In the absence of this option, the
display specified by the DISPLAY environment variable is used.
--debug level
Show debugging output. level is an integer between 0 and 5 which determines how verbose the
debugging output is.
--install
Tells Eterm to install its own colormap rather than using the default one.
-h, --help
Print out a message describing available options.
--version
Print Eterm version and compile-time configuration.
-r, --reverse-video
Reverse video, swaps the foreground and background colors.
-b color, --background-color color
Set color as the background color. NOTE: this will actually be the foreground color if reverse
video is also selected.
-f color, --foreground-color color
Set color as the foreground (text) color. NOTE: this will actually be the background color if
reverse video is also selected.
--color0 color
...
--color15 color
Use color as color X.
--colorBD color
Use color as the bold color.
--colorUL color
Use color as the underline color.
--pointer-color color
Use color as the pointer color.
-c color, --cursor-color color
Use color as the cursor color.
--cursor-text-color color
Use color as the cursor text color.
-g geom, --geometry geom
Window geometry as Width x Height+X coord+Y coord, i.e 100x200+0+100
-i,--iconic
Start in iconified state (only if the window manager supports iconification).
-n name, --name name
Sets name of current instance to name. This will affect the icon title and the window title
string unless they are otherwise explicitly set.
-T title, --title title
Sets window's title text to title.
--icon-name text
Sets the icon title text to text.
-B type, --scrollbar-type type
Specifies the type scrollbar style should be used. type can be any of motif, xterm, or next.
--scrollbar-width width
Set the width of the scrollbar, in pixels, to width. Eterm does not impose any restrictions on
this value, but it should be reasonable.
-D desktop, --desktop desktop
Starts the Eterm on the specified desktop. desktop should be an integer between 0 and your
highest-numbered desktop. NOTE: You must have a GNOME-compliant window manager for this feature
to work. Please see http://www.gnome.org/devel/gnomewm/ for more information on the
_WIN_WORKSPACE property and how to support it.
--line-space num
Size of the extra gap, in pixels, to provide between lines in the terminal window.
--bold-font font
Sets the bold text font to font.
-F font, --font font
Sets the normal text font to font.
--default-font-index num
Specifies the index of the default (normal) text font.
--font1 font
...
--font4 font
Sets the font at the specified index (1-4) to font.
--proportional
Specifies that the font in use is proportional and requests standard deviation-based character
cell spacing. Terminals must use fixed-width character cells to maintain proper columnal
alignment, even when proportionally-spaced fonts are in use. Some proportionally-spaced fonts
vary greatly between the minimum and maximum character widths. This option chooses a character
cell size which is up to two standard deviations above the average character width but will not
exceed the maximum width of the largest glyph. Note that characters larger than the chosen cell
width will overwrite (or be overwritten by) other characters and may tend to leave pixel
droppings. This behavior is an expected side-effect of an imperfect scenario. If you object to
this behavior, do not use this option.
--font-fx effects
Specifies the effects to apply to the terminal window font. The value of effects is a single
string containing a series of corner/color pairs. These pairs define toward which corner a drop
shadow of each character should be made, and what color that shadow will be. The corner is
specified first using the following keywords: top_left or tl, top_right or tr, bottom_left or bl,
and bottom_right or br. Each corner specifier is then followed by a color.
There are also several shortcuts for doing common effects. You can get a single-color outline by
using the keyword outline followed by a color. A single-color drop shadow is also available using
the keyword shadow followed by an optional corner specifier (bottom_right being the default) and a
color. For a 3-D embossed look, use emboss dark_color light_color. The opposite effect, a
carved-out look, can be obtained with carved dark_color light_color. (Of course, with those last
two, the 3-D look will only work if you choose the light and dark colors wisely.)
Finally, for no font effects at all, simply specify the keyword none.
The default value is bottom_right black which yields a black drop shadow, greatly improving the
visibility of lightly-colored fonts on top of light spots in a background image. Note that font
effects are not active in solid color mode.
-P pic, --background-pixmap pic
Use pic as the background image. pic can be in any format that Imlib understands. Currently this
means just about anything, including JPG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, PPM, etc. The image is tiled by
default. To specify alternate geometry, follow the filename with an @ sign and the geometry
string. Image geometry is specified as @wxh+x+y:ops where w and h are the horizontal/vertical
scaling percentages, x and y are the horizontal/vertical alignment percentages, and ops is a
colon-delimited list of operations: tiled (to tile the image), propscaled (for proportional
scaling). Note that these operations can be combined for various effects.
-I pic, --icon pic
Sets the icon pixmap file to pic. Works similarly to the -P option above.
--up-arrow-pixmap pic
As above, except the scrollbar's up-arrow is set.
--down-arrow-pixmap pic
As above, except the scrollbar's down-arrow is set.
--trough-pixmap pic
As above, except the scrollbar's background (trough) is set.
--anchor-pixmap pic
As above, except the scrollbar's anchor image is set.
--menu-pixmap pic
As above, except the menu background image is set.
-O, --trans
This gives a pseudo-transparent Eterm. The image is taken directly from the root window, so any
requests for changing the pixmap are ignored. If you do not use Enlightenment
(http://www.enlightenment.org/) as your window manager (or another compliant window manager...I
have been told that WindowMaker works also), you will need to use the Esetroot program (found in
the utils/ directory) to set your root background image.
-0, --itrans
Activate the immotile transparency optimization for transparent Eterm windows. Note that this
does NOT activate transparency; you must still include the -O or --trans option. This option
should be used on transparent windows which are shaded or tinted and which do not move around on
the desktop much. See the Mon Mar 6 21:11:13 PST 2000 ChangeLog entry for a more detailed
explanation.
--viewport-mode
This activates a special Eterm mode which is hard to describe in words. Basically, imagine the
effect you get with pseudo-transparency, where the desktop background moves through the Eterm
window as you move the window, so that it always aligns with the desktop image. Now, imagine the
same effect, but the image used isn't the desktop image but any pixmap you choose. The image is
scaled or tiled up to the size of the desktop, and dragging the Eterm around the screen reveals
different portions of the image as you move, much like a small viewport window in a ship or
submarine does. The effect is especially keen if you open several Eterms in this mode with the
same image.
--shade percentage
Shade the background image/transparency by a specified percentage.
--tint mask
--tint color
Tints the background pixmap (either an image file or the transparent portion can be shaded). The
mask is an integer, usually specified in hexadecimal in the form 0xRRGGBB, where RR, GG, and BB
are hexadecimal numbers between 00 and ff (0 and 255 decimal) which represent the brightness of
the image's red, green, and blue values, respectively. A value of 00 will mask that color out
entirely, while a value of ff will not change that color at all.
You may also specify an X color such as grey75 or MidnightBlue or #babb7f instead of a mask.
--cmod brightness [ contrast [ gamma ] ]
Specifies a color modifier to apply to the image overall. Each of the three values is a number
greater than or equal to 0. The numbers can be specified as decimal, octal (if preceded by "0"),
or hexadecimal (if preceded by "0x"). A value of 256 (0x100) represents 100%, or "leave that
value unchanged." 0 represents 0%, 512 (0x200) is 200%, etc. However, be aware that overflow can
occur with excessively high values. Only the brightness value is required for this option. Keep
in mind, though, that you must specify brightness with contrast, and both of these with gamma.
--cmod-red brightness [ contrast [ gamma ] ]
Same as above, except that the modifier applies to the red values of the image.
--cmod-green brightness [ contrast [ gamma ] ]
Same as above, except that the modifier applies to the green values of the image.
--cmod-blue brightness [ contrast [ gamma ] ]
Same as above, except that the modifier applies to the blue values of the image.
-p newpath, --path newpath
Sets the pic search path. When the --background-pixmap or other pixmap options are used, this
path will be used to find the image.
--cache size
Specify the size in bytes for the Imlib2 cache.
-N list, --anim list
Specifies an animation list to be use in cycling the background pixmap. The list consists of two
or more words. The first word defines the delay, in seconds, between updates of the background.
This should be set to a reasonable value to insure that Eterm doesn't spend all its time rendering
backgrounds. All remaining words specify background images and have the same syntax as the -P
option above, including the optional geometry string.
-M font, --mfont font
Sets the normal multibyte text font to font.
--mfont1 font
...
--mfont4 font
Sets multibyte font X to font.
--mencoding encoding
Sets multichar encoding mode (eucj or sjis or euckr)
--input-method method
Sets XIM input method
--preedit-type type
Sets XIM preedit type
-l, --login-shell
Makes the new shell a login shell.
-s, --scrollbar
Enables the scrollbar. (Default)
-u, --utmp-logging
Tries to enable proper utmp logging. For this to work, Eterm probably needs to run setuid or
setgid, usually setuid root.
-v, --visual-bell
Enables the "visual bell". Means the window will flash or blink rather than beep.
-H, --home-on-output
Jump to bottom on output.
--home-on-input
Jump to bottom on input.
-q, --no-input
Keeps Eterm from accepting keyboard input, and keeps the window manager from focusing it. Useful
for log tailers and such.
--scrollbar-right
Display scrollbar on the right hand side.
--scrollbar-floating
Display the scrollbar without a trough.
--scrollbar-popup
Display the scrollbar only when the Eterm window is focused.
-x, --borderless
This option forces Eterm to have no borders.
-S, --sticky
Start Eterm as a sticky window (shows on all desktops)
-m, --map-alert
Un-iconify on beep.
-8, --meta8
Causes the Meta key to set the 8th bit in the char.
--double-buffer
Rather than drawing text directly onto the window, this option causes Eterm to allocate an
additional pixmap the size of the terminal window into which the background *and* the text are
rendered. This pixmap is then set as the window background. Double-buffering uses additional
memory in the X server, but it allows Eterm to ignore expose events so redraws are faster.
--no-cursor
Disables the text cursor.
--pause
After the child process terminates, Eterm will wait for a keypress before exiting.
--xterm-select
Duplicate's xterm's treatment of cutchars. The only real difference is what happens when you
double click on a single cutchar between two words. If this option is on, only that single
character gets selected. If it is off, that character is selected along with the two words. The
latter behavior is useful for double-clicking on the space between someone's first and last names,
or the @ sign in an e-mail address, etc.
--select-line
If activated, this option causes a triple click to select the entire line from beginning to end.
If off, a triple-click selects just from the current word to the end of the line.
--select-trailing-spaces
Determines whether or not trailing spaces in a selection are maintained (on) or discarded (off).
--report-as-keysyms
Reports certain keystrokes as keysyms and modifiers rather than escape sequences. NOTE: This
option is intended for use only with programs that support this special Eterm mode. Do not enable
it unless you are executing a program which uses this mode.
--buttonbar
Toggle the display of all buttonbars.
--resize-gravity
If true, Eterm will automatically detect the nearest corner, and font-change resizes will cause
the Eterm window to gravitate toward that corner.
--overstrike-bold
If true (default), Eterm will simulate a bold font by printing each character twice, offsetting
the second pass by one pixel. This makes the characters seem thicker without the need for a
special font. You may wish to disable this if you use a specific color for bold.
--bold-brightens-foreground
If true (default), Eterm will use the "bold" ANSI color attribute to brighten the foreground color
by using the high-intensity colors (8 through 15) rather than the low-intensity colors (0 through
7). Note that having a specific color selected for bold will override this.
--blink-brightens-background
If true (default), Eterm will use the "blink" ANSI color attribute to brighten the background
color by using the high-intensity colors (8 through 15) rather than the low-intensity colors (0
through 7).
--colors-suppress-bold
If true (default), any colored text (that is, any text not rendered using the default foreground
color) will not be given any other special treatment for bolding (e.g., bold font or bold
overstrike).
--big-font-key keysym
Specify a keysym to increase the font size. Default is Shift and the + key on the keypad. Ctrl->
or Meta-> may also work (if you #define one of the hotkeys in src/feature.h).
--small-font-key keysym
Specify a keysym to decrease the font size. Default is Shift and the - key on the keypad. Ctrl-<
or Meta-< may also work (if you #define one of the hotkeys in src/feature.h).
--meta-mod num
Specify which X modifier (1-5) to treat as the Meta key. See xmodmap(1) and the output of xmodmap
-pm for more details.
--alt-mod num
Same as --meta-mod, but for the Alt key.
--numlock-mod num
Same as --meta-mod, but for the NumLock key.
--greek-keyboard mode
Use Greek keyboard mapping (iso or ibm).
--app-keypad
Start Eterm in application keypad mode (as opposed to normal keypad mode).
--app-cursor
Start Eterm in application cursor key mode (as opposed to normal cursor key mode).
-L num, --save-lines num
Set the number of lines in the scrollback buffer to num.
-a size, --min-anchor-size size
Specifies the minimum size, in pixels high, of the scrollbar anchor. NOTE: This causes abnormal
scrolling behavior when combined with large scrollback buffers!
-w width, --border-width width
Set the window's border width to width. The border this controls is the gap between the edge of
the X window and the edge of the terminal window; this has nothing to do with the window border's
your window manager supplies.
--print-pipe pipe
The pipe for the PrintScreen function.
--cut-chars separators
The separators for double-click selection.
--finished-title title
Specifies the string Eterm should add to its title bar if --pause is specified and the child
process completes.
--finished-text text
Same as above, but displays text in the terminal window.
--term-name TERM
Use TERM for the value $TERM.
--pipe-name pipe
Specifies a named pipe from which to display output. This is useful for systems where syslog
output goes to a named pipe, like /dev/xconsole on Debian.
-a line, --attribute line
This option is used to pass config file attributes on the command line. line should be a single
string, so you will almost certainly have to quote it. The first word of line must be the context
(see config file section below) which should parse the rest of the line. So, for example, you
could specify the foreground color like so: -a 'color foreground blue'. Or you could add a
binding: -a 'actions bind anymod button1 to script exit'. Note that this option may only be used
with config file attributes that are not context-sensitive; i.e., menus and imageclasses cannot be
specified using this option.
-C, --console
Grab console messages. Depending on your system, Eterm may need to be setuid root to do this.
-e command, --exec command
Execute command rather than a shell. Forces Eterm mode.
-U URL, --url URL
Pick up a "screen" session at URL rather than a local (-U "") one. URLs look like so
(screen://user@host.dom:port/screen_options), with all parts optional, defaulting to
"screen://current_user@localhost:22/-RDD". Forces Escreen mode, overrides --exec. Note that only
screen-options (see "man screen") are allowed; do not pass a command (with or without arguments)
here: to pass a command to the screen-session, use screen [<options>] <command> [<args>] instead.
-Z lclport:fw:fwport,delay, --fw lclport:fw:fwport,delay
The URL given to -U is in an intranet behind firewall fw so we'll build an SSH-tunnel to that
firewall (to port 22/SSH, or fwport if given) from our local machine (using any available port-
number, or lclport if given). Then, after delay seconds (or a sensible default if not given), we
will try to open a screen session on the host behind the firewall using ssh -p localport ...
localhost screen cf. ssh -L
THEMES
Eterm is built on the philosophy of Freedom of Choice. Each user should be able to choose the
environment in which he or she wishes to exist, and the tools used should support that. In accordance
with that philosophy, Eterm is extremely configurable. Eterm supports a concept called "themes," which
should be familiar to users of Enlightenment, icewm, or Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT. The general concept
of a theme is a collection of resources that change as many aspects of a programs look and feel as
possible. For example, an Enlightenment theme allows you to customize menus, window borders, desktops,
icons, iconbars, and everything else about how E looks and feels.
An Eterm theme consists of a primary configuration file, always called "theme.cfg", residing in a
directory bearing the same name as the theme. This directory must be a child of one of the directories
specified by CONFIG_SEARCH_PATH in src/feature.h. The theme may also contain additional configuration
files referenced by the primary theme.cfg file, as well as pixmaps, menu files, documentation, etc.,
which are allowable as extensions to the minimum requirement of an Eterm theme.
By convention and default, Eterm themes should be stored under ~/.Eterm/themes/<theme_name>/ or
/usr/share/Eterm/themes/<theme_name>.
Eterm now supports the existence of a user configuration file as a supplement to the theme configuration
file. The default name for this file is user.cfg, and it follows the exact same syntax as any other
configuration file. It is searched for using the same algorithm used for the theme.cfg file, and any
settings in the user.cfg will override any previous values for those settings defined by the theme.
Thus, it is recommended that any user.cfg files not be complete config files, but rather only contain
those values which the user wishes to explicitly override.
NOTE: If you have a user.cfg file in the Eterm theme directory or in ~/.Eterm/, it will override any
previous settings, even if you are running a different theme. For example, if you run the trans theme,
but ~/.Eterm/themes/Eterm/user.cfg has a mode line which sets the image mode to "image" rather than
"trans," you will not get transparency. This is why user.cfg files should be kept small and only
override settings that you know you want to enforce. If, on the other hand, you were running the trans
theme and had a user.cfg file in the trans theme (or in ~/.Eterm/themes/trans/), that user.cfg would be
found before the one in the Eterm theme.
Almost all command line options can be enabled/disabled in the theme's configuration file (the default is
/usr/share/Eterm/themes/Eterm/theme.cfg). The next section contains details on the format and usage of
the configuration file.
CONFIGURATION
Since Eterm 0.9.6 is based on the concept of themes, it is vital that you have a thorough understanding
of the previous section before taking on this one. The previous section and this one were written by the
same person who wrote the Eterm code which handles options, config files, and themes, so it's probably
the most authoritative documentation on the subject you're going to find.
From here on out, I will assume you've read the above text and know how to change the default value for
the theme. It is highly recommended that you have a copy of the Eterm theme config file that comes with
Eterm handy while you read this documentation.
Okay, first the general idea. The theme.cfg file is composed of comments and non-comments. Comments
begin with a pound sign and continue to the end of the line. Lines of whitespace are also ignored. The
rest of the file is the config stuff, which is divided into sections (called "contexts") and variables
(called "attributes"). There are several contexts which are listed below in sections. Each attribute
must be inside a certain context to be valid. For instance, while the "foreground" attribute is
perfectly acceptable in the color context, it would be rejected if found in, say, the toggles context.
This allows for better organization of the config file as well as for multiple contexts to have
attributes of the same name (like the scrollbar attributes in the color and toggles section).
Each context must be enclosed in a begin...end pair that specifies the type of section. The statement
"begin toggles" starts the toggles context, and the next "end" statement would terminate it. (You'll
notice that some "end" statements have the context name after them. This is for readability only; any
text after the word "end" is ignored.)
The rest of this section will contain a step-by-step analysis of the config file, including what can go
in each section. Note that some attributes (and even entire contexts) may not be available depending on
what support was compiled into Eterm by the person who built it.
MAGIC NUMBER
The first line of the config file must contain a "magic number" type line that lets Eterm verify
that it's reading an Eterm config file and not something else (like an Enlightenment 0.13 and
earlier config file). The line should look like this:
<Eterm-VERSION>
where VERSION is the Eterm version for which the config file is intended. For example, config
files written for Eterm 0.9 should have "<Eterm-0.9>" as their first line, followed immediately by
a newline.
COLOR CONTEXT
This context contains color specifications. With the exception of the terminal colors 0-15, all
colors should be either a valid color name or an RGB string as outlined in the X11(7) man page.
foreground color
Use color for the foreground (text) color.
background color
Use color for the background color.
cursor color
Use color for the cursor color.
cursor_text color
Use color for the cursor text color.
pointer color
Use color for the mouse pointer color.
video { normal | reverse }
normal will not reverse the foreground and background colors. reverse (meaning reverse video)
will.
color num color
Set terminal color num (0-15) to the color name, string, or set of 3 decimal/hex/octal RGB
values specified by color.
color { bd | ul } color
Set terminal bold (bd) or underline (ul) color to the color name, string, or set of 3
decimal/hex/octal RGB values specified by color.
ATTRIBUTES CONTEXT
This context contains X11 attributes. Most of these are dependent upon the cooperation of the
window manager.
geometry geom
Use the geometry string geom to specify the startup geometry. geom should be in the format
WxH+X+Y where W is the width, H is the height, and +X and +Y are the X and Y offsets. If the
signs on X and Y are positive, the coordinates are offsets (in pixels) from the left and top,
respectively, of the screen. If the signs are negative, the offsets are relative to the right
and bottom of the screen, respectively.
title title
Use title as the text in the title bar of the Eterm window.
name name
Use name as the resource name of the Eterm window.
iconname name
Use name as the icon name of the Eterm window icon.
desktop num
Start Eterm on desktop num. NOTE: This requires a GNOME-compliant Window Manager. Please see
http://www.gnome.org/devel/gnomewm/ for more information on the _WIN_WORKSPACE property and how
to support it.
scrollbar_type type
Use a scrollbar with the type style. type can be any of motif, xterm, or next.
scrollbar_width num
Use a scrollbar that is num pixels wide.
font num font
font bold font
Set the numth font, or the bold font, to font.
font default num
Specifies that the numth font should be considered the "default" font.
font proportional boolean
Specifies that the font in use is proportional and requests standard deviation-based character
cell spacing. Terminals must use fixed-width character cells to maintain proper columnal
alignment, even when proportionally-spaced fonts are in use. Some proportionally-spaced fonts
vary greatly between the minimum and maximum character widths. This option chooses a character
cell size which is up to two standard deviations above the average character width but will not
exceed the maximum width of the largest glyph. Note that characters larger than the chosen
cell width will overwrite (or be overwritten by) other characters and may tend to leave pixel
droppings. This behavior is an expected side-effect of an imperfect scenario. If you object
to this behavior, do not use this option.
font fx effects
Specifies the effects to apply to the terminal window font. The value of effects is a single
string containing a series of corner/color pairs. These pairs define toward which corner a
drop shadow of each character should be made, and what color that shadow will be. The corner
is specified first using the following keywords: top_left or tl, top_right or tr, bottom_left
or bl, and bottom_right or br. Each corner specifier is then followed by a color.
There are also several shortcuts for doing common effects. You can get a single-color outline
by using the keyword outline followed by a color. A single-color drop shadow is also available
using the keyword shadow followed by an optional corner specifier (bottom_right being the
default) and a color. For a 3-D embossed look, use emboss dark_color light_color. The
opposite effect, a carved-out look, can be obtained with carved dark_color light_color. (Of
course, with those last two, the 3-D look will only work if you choose the light and dark
colors wisely.)
Finally, for no font effects at all, simply specify the keyword none.
The default value is bottom_right black which yields a black drop shadow, greatly improving the
visibility of lightly-colored fonts on top of light spots in a background image. Note that
font effects are not active in solid color mode.
IMAGECLASSES CONTEXT
This context contains global image attributes. It also provides the parent context for defining
images via the "image" context.
icon filename
Use filename as the icon image for the Eterm window. filename can be an absolute path,
relative to the current theme, or relative to one of the directories in the path attribute
listed below.
cache num
Sets the Imlib2 cache size to num bytes. The default is 0.
path directory_list
Specifies a colon-delimited list of directories relative to which Eterm should search for image
and menu files. The syntax for directory_list is precisely the same as that of the $PATH
environment variable in UNIX shells.
anim interval images ...
Specifies an animation list to be use in cycling the background pixmap. The interval defines
the delay, in seconds, between updates of the background. This should be set to a reasonable
value to insure that Eterm doesn't spend all its time rendering backgrounds. All the images
specify background images and have the same syntax as the -P option above, including the
optional geometry string.
IMAGE CONTEXT
This context defines all the attributes of a particular image. There can be (and usually are)
several image contexts per theme, one for each class of image.
type class
Specifies the type, or class, of the image that is going to be defined in that context. This
MUST be the first attribute defined in the image context. Valid classes are: background,
trough, anchor, up_arrow, down_arrow, left_arrow, right_arrow, menu, menuitem, submenu, button,
and buttonbar. Note that the left and right arrows, while valid, don't do anything just yet.
All the subsequent attributes up to the next type definition will be applied to that image
class.
mode initial_mode [ allow allowed_modes ]
Specifies the initial mode for this image class as well as the modes which the image class is
allowed to use. initial_mode is the mode that the image will have on startup (unless
overridden by command-line options. allowed_modes is a list of one or more modes. The image
will be prevented from switching to any mode not listed in the allow section. If the allow
section is omitted entirely, the image will never be permitted to change from the initial_mode.
If no mode line is specified for an image class, the default is equivalent to mode solid allow
solid. Valid mode names are image (to use an image), trans (for transparency), viewport (for
viewport mode), auto (for auto mode, which requires Enlightenment 0.16 or better), and solid
(which is a solid color only).
state { normal | selected | clicked | disabled }
This sets the state of the image you are about to define. Up until the next state attribute
that is encountered (or until you change types), all attributes will apply to that particular
state of the image. You should at minimum define the normal state of the image. It will be
used as the default if the attributes for the other states are not specified. However, each
image state has self-contained options. Therefore, if you define multiple states for an image
class, you must define ALL attributes needed by that state. The sample themes supplied with
Eterm demonstrate how to define 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-state images.
The above attributes affect the image class as a whole. All remaining attributes in this context
affect only the current state of the image class.
color fg bg
Sets the foreground and background colors for this imageclass. The foreground color is used
for text, and the background color is used for the object itself. If an invalid color is
specified, the default value for fg is white, and the default for bg is black.
file filename
Sets the filename from which to load the image file. This is used for the image mode. If you
allow the image mode for your image, don't forget to supply an image file! Note that you can
also supply an image geometry string here by adding an @ symbol and the geometry string to the
end of the filename. See below for the syntax of the geometry string. filename must be an
absolute path or a path relative to one of the directories in the path attribute. Note that
the image is verified and loaded when this attribute is encountered during parsing.
geom image_geometry
Specifies the geometry and geometry-related operations which are to be applied to the image.
This attribute only applies to image classes using the image mode. Image geometry is specified
as wxh+x+y:ops where w and h are the horizontal/vertical scaling percentages, x and y are the
horizontal/vertical alignment percentages, and ops is a colon-delimited list of operations:
tiled (to tile the image), propscaled (for proportional scaling). Note that these operations
can be combined for various effects.
cmod { image | red | green | blue } brightness [ contrast [ gamma ] ]
colormod { image | red | green | blue } brightness [ contrast [ gamma ] ]
Specifies a color modifier to apply to the image. The second keyword determines whether the
modifier will be applied to the image overall, the red values, the green values, or the blue
values. Each of the three parameters is a number greater than or equal to 0. The numbers can
be specified as decimal, octal (if preceded by "0"), or hexadecimal (if preceded by "0x"). A
value of 256 (0x100) represents 100%, or "leave that value unchanged." 0 represents 0%, 512
(0x200) is 200%, etc. However, be aware that overflow can occur with excessively high values.
Only the brightness value is required for this option. Keep in mind, though, that you must
specify brightness with contrast, and both of these with gamma.
border left right top bottom
Specifies that the image has borders which should not be scaled with the rest of the image.
This is primarily used for images that have a beveled look, so that the bevel will not end up
getting scaled and lose the bevel effect. All four parameter values are in pixels, just like
the equivalent options for E themes and Gtk+ pixmap themes.
bevel { up | down } left right top bottom
Adds a bevel to an image class. This can be done to any image class using the image or trans
modes. The parameters are pixel values which represent the width of each edge of the bevel.
This is especially useful if you want to use tiled images or transparency for the arrow or
anchor scrollbar widgets, or for menus.
padding left right top bottom
This is used only for the submenu image class. It defines the amount of pixels on each side to
reserve so that the text will not overwrite part of the image. Works just like the same option
in Enlightenment themes.
MENU CONTEXT
This context is used to create a menu. There is one instance of this context per menu, and the
menus should be defined in submenu-menu order; i.e., any menu that refers to another menu (as its
submenu) should be defined after the submenu is defined. Within the menu context, there should be
a menuitem subcontext for each menu item (with the exception of the shorthand for separators).
title menu_title
This specifies the title for the menu to be defined. This MUST be the first attribute given
after the "begin menu". The title must be unique amongst all the menus. It may contain
spaces, but don't forget to enclose it in single or double quotes if it does. Any future
references to the menu will use the title.
font font_name
Tells Eterm to use font_name as the font for this menu. If not given, the default terminal
font is used.
sep or -
These symbols can be used as shorthand to insert a separator into the menu.
MENUITEM CONTEXT
This is a subcontext of the menu context which creates a single item for a menu. There can be
(and usually are) several menuitem contexts per menu.
text label
This is the text that is displayed for this menuitem. It is left-justified in the menu window.
It can have spaces, but enclose label in quotes if it does.
rtext label
This is text which is right-justified next to the menuitem text. This is generally used to
show what keystrokes correspond to a particular menu item, like "C-x C-c" for the "Exit"
menuitem in an Emacs menu.
action { string | echo | submenu | script } param
action separator
Specifies the action to occur when the menuitem is chosen. If you specify separator, nothing
else is needed. The other action types require a parameter, param. string specifies a string
to be sent to Eterm for handling (escape codes, for example). echo specifies a string to be
sent to the client program (for sending commands to a shell, or keystrokes to an application
like emacs or mutt). If you use either of these action types, param will be parsed for escape
codes (\a, C-, and the like) before being sent. submenu specifies a submenu which should be
displayed when this item is selected, and param is the title of the submenu to show. The
submenu must have already been defined. The script action type executes the Eterm-builtin
script contained in param. See the section below for more details on the builtin Eterm
functions allowed for this action type.
ACTION CONTEXT
Actions are key or mouse button bindings which activate certain behaviors. Any action that can be
triggered through an escape code can be bound to a key or mouse button, with or without modifiers.
You can also bind menus to keystrokes or mouse buttons.
bind [ modifiers ] { keysym | button } to { string | echo | menu | script } param
Binds a keysym or a mouse button to an action. The action syntax follows the keyword to and is
identical to the syntax used for menus (see above). There can be any number of modifiers (so
long as the combination is reasonable) but only one keysym or button. Valid modifiers are
ctrl, shift, lock, mod1 through mod5, alt, meta, and anymod (which allows any modifier). If
none are given, the keypress must not have modifier keys in use or the action will not be
triggered. Use anymod to allow any arbitrary modifier key to be used. The keysym can be given
in text (case-sensitive) or as a hex number. buttons should be specified as button1 through
button5. Also note that alt and meta will be equivalent to one or more of mod1 through mod5,
as well as perhaps each other, based on your modifier settings. You can view these settings
using xmodmap -pm. See also the alt_mod and meta_mod options below.
BUTTON_BAR CONTEXT
The buttonbar is an addition to Eterm 0.9.1 which allows users to have a fully-customizeable
buttonbar at the top or bottom of each terminal window. Buttons on the buttonbar can be used just
like menuitems; they can popup menus (like a menubar), or they can activate any other action a
menuitem can.
font font
Specifies the font in which button labels will be displayed.
dock { top | bottom | no }
Specify whether or not to dock the buttonbar, and if so, whether to dock it at the top or the
bottom of the Eterm window. Note that only top and bottom are currently enabled.
visible boolean
Toggle whether or not this particular buttonbar will be visible on startup.
button [ text ] [ icon filename ] action { string | echo | menu | script } param
Binds an action to a button. The usage of param and the action types work the same here as
they do for menuitems. Also note that you may specify some text or an icon or both, but you
cannot omit both.
MULTICHAR CONTEXT
Behavior for multi-byte fonts and encodings are defined here. This context does not exist by
default.
encoding { eucj | sjis | euckr | big5 | gb | iso-10646 }
Specifies the encoding method. Patches to support other encoding methods are encouraged.
font num font
Set the numth multichar font to font.
XIM CONTEXT
This context controls locale-based behavior.
input_method input_method
Specify your input method program of choice.
preedit_type { OverTheSpot | OffTheSpot | Root }
Specify your preedit type of choice.
ESCREEN CONTEXT
This context allows for customizations specific to Escreen mode. See the Escreen section below
for more details.
url protocol://user@host:port/params
Connect to (or create) a particular screen session via a URL-type construct. Standard URL
rules apply. The protocol should be either screen (the default) or twin. If user, host,
and/or port are specified, an ssh connection is made to the remote server using the given login
information. The default is to create/attach to a local session.
Any params that are given are passed directly to the underlying protocol and are separated from
each other by a plus sign (+).
firewall localport:firewall:remoteport
Bounce the connection through a firewall via ssh.
delay secs
Specify the amount of time to wait before sending the screen/twin initialization sequence.
This is required to insure that the remote session has been established prior to sending the
init sequence.
bbar_font font
Font to use for the Escreen buttonbar. The default is -*-helvetica-medium-r-
normal--10-*-*-*-p-*-iso8859-1.
bbar_dock { top | bottom | no }
Dock the Escreen buttonbar as specified. Note that only top and bottom are currently enabled.
TOGGLES CONTEXT
This context contains boolean variables which can be toggled on or off. Valid values for the
attributes in this section are "yes", "on", "1", and "true" to turn the option on, or "no", "off",
"0", or "false" to turn the option off. These values are denoted by boolean. They all default to
false unless otherwise noted.
map_alert boolean
If true, Eterm will un-iconify itself when it receives a beep (ASCII 0x07).
visual_bell boolean
If true, Eterm will flash rather than sending a beep.
login_shell boolean
If true, Eterm will prepend '-' to the shell name when calling it. Depending on your shell,
this may modify its startup behavior.
scrollbar boolean
This turns on and off the display of the scrollbar. Default is on.
utmp_logging boolean
If true, Eterm will attempt to make an entry in the utmp file to record the login information.
Eterm may need to run privileged to do this.
meta8 boolean
Toggles the interpretation of the Meta key setting the 8th bit in a character.
iconic boolean
If true, Eterm will launch as an icon.
home_on_output boolean
Zoom to the bottom of the scrollback buffer on output.
home_on_input boolean
Zoom to the bottom of the scrollback buffer on input.
no_input boolean
If true, Eterm will not accept any keyboard input and will ask the window manager to not allow
it to be focused.
scrollbar_floating boolean
If true, the scrollbar will have no trough.
scrollbar_right boolean
If true, Eterm will put the scrollbar on the right of the window (default is left).
scrollbar_popup boolean
If true, Eterm will hide the scrollbar when the Eterm window loses focus and restore it when
focus is regained. Default is to not change the scrollbar state based on focus.
borderless boolean
If true, Eterm will run with no window borders. This also means that the window can not be
moved or resized. You will want to specify a geometry with this attribute.
double_buffer boolean
Rather than drawing text directly onto the window, this causes Eterm to allocate an additional
pixmap the size of the terminal window into which the background *and* the text are rendered.
This pixmap is then set as the window background. Double-buffering uses additional memory in
the X server, but it allows Eterm to ignore expose events so redraws are faster.
no_cursor boolean
If true, Eterm will not display a text cursor.
pause boolean
After the child process terminates, Eterm will wait for a keypress before exiting.
xterm_select boolean
Duplicate's xterm's treatment of cutchars. The only real difference is what happens when you
double click on a single cutchar between two words. If this option is on, only that single
character gets selected. If it is off, that character is selected along with the two words.
The latter behavior is useful for double-clicking on the space between someone's first and last
names, or the @ sign in an e-mail address, etc.
select_line boolean
If true, this attribute causes a triple click to select the entire line from beginning to end.
If false (default), a triple-click selects from the current word to the end of the line.
select_trailing_spaces boolean
If true, this attribute causes spaces at the end of a line to be included as part of the
selection text when selecting. The default is to strip these trailing spaces.
report_as_keysyms boolean
Reports certain keystrokes as keysyms and modifiers rather than escape sequences. NOTE: This
option is intended for use only with programs that support this special Eterm mode. Do not
enable it unless you are executing a program which uses this mode.
itrans boolean
immotile_trans boolean
Toggles the immotile transparency optimization for transparent Eterm windows. Note that this
does NOT activate transparency; you must still activate "trans" mode for the background image.
This option should be used on transparent windows which are shaded or tinted and which do not
move around on the desktop much. See the Mon Mar 6 21:11:13 PST 2000 ChangeLog entry for a
more detailed explanation.
buttonbar boolean
Toggle the display of all buttonbars.
resize_gravity boolean
If true, Eterm will automatically detect the nearest corner, and font-change resizes will cause
the Eterm window to gravitate toward that corner.
overstrike_bold boolean
If true (default), Eterm will simulate a bold font by printing each character twice, offsetting
the second pass by one pixel. This makes the characters seem thicker without the need for a
special font. You may wish to disable this if you use a specific color for bold.
bold_brightens_foreground boolean
If true (default), Eterm will use the "bold" ANSI color attribute to brighten the foreground
color by using the high-intensity colors (8 through 15) rather than the low-intensity colors (0
through 7). Note that having a specific color selected for bold will override this.
blink_brightens_background boolean
If true (default), Eterm will use the "blink" ANSI color attribute to brighten the background
color by using the high-intensity colors (8 through 15) rather than the low-intensity colors (0
through 7).
colors_suppress_bold boolean
If true (default), any colored text (that is, any text not rendered using the default
foreground color) will not be given any other special treatment for bolding (e.g., bold font or
bold overstrike).
sticky boolean
If true, Eterm will make its window sticky (shows on all desktops).
KEYBOARD CONTEXT
This context contains keyboard-related configuration options.
smallfont_key keysym
Specify a keysym to decrease the font size. Default is Shift and the - key on the keypad.
Ctrl-< or Meta-< may also work (if you #define one of the hotkeys in src/feature.h).
bigfont_key keysym
Specify a keysym to increase the font size. Default is Shift and the + key on the keypad.
Ctrl-> or Meta-> may also work (if you #define one of the hotkeys in src/feature.h).
keysym keysym string
Define keysym keysym to send string instead of its default. keysym must be between 0xff00 and
0xffff or Eterm will complain.
meta_mod num
Specify which X modifier (1-5) to treat as the Meta key. See xmodmap(1) and the output of
xmodmap -pm for more details.
alt_mod num
Same as meta_mod, but for the Alt key.
numlock_mod num
Same as meta_mod, but for the NumLock key.
greek boolean { iso | ibm }
Turn on/off greek keyboard support, and set which greek mode to use.
app_keypad boolean
Turn on/off application keypad mode on startup.
app_cursor boolean
Turn on/off application cursor key mode on startup.
MISC CONTEXT
This context contains miscellaneous attributes that really didn't belong anywhere else.
print_pipe command
Set the command to which to pipe print requests (printscreen) to command.
save_lines num
Set the number of lines in the scrollback buffer to num.
cut_chars string
Define the characters used as word delimiters to the characters contained in string.
min_anchor_size num
Sets the minimum size, in pixels, of the scrollbar anchor (the part your mouse grabs onto and
moves around) to num.
border_width num
Sets the width of the border between the text window and the X window to num.
line_space num
Put num pixels' worth of space between each row of the terminal window.
finished_title title
Specifies that title should be displayed in the title bar of a paused Eterm when the child
process has completed.
finished_text text
Specifies that text should be displayed in the terminal window of a paused Eterm when the child
process has completed.
term_name name
Use name as the $TERM environment variable, which controls which termcap/terminfo entry gets
used. The default is Eterm.
exec command
Rather than executing a shell, this will cause Eterm to spawn command as its child process.
You can only have one of these!
BUILT-IN FUNCTIONS
Eterm has a set of built-in functions which are available in config files. Each one accepts zero
or more parameters and outputs a series of zero or more words. "Words" are defined in shell
terms; i.e., words are separated by whitespace, and single or double quotes can be used to
encapsulate words which contain whitespace themselves. You also employ backquotes to execute a
command whose output can become part of the config file itself or can be passed to a built-in
function as its parameter list. Built-in functions and backquotes may be used anywhere their
output would be valid. Built-in functions are prefixed with the % character.
%appname()
Returns the application name, a hyphen, and the version number. Currently this is the string
Eterm-0.9.6.
%exec(command)
Executes command and returns the result. Basically it's exactly like using backquotes.
%get(variable)
Retrieve the value of a config file variable. Refer to the %put() function below.
%put(variable value)
Create a config variable named variable and assign it the value of value. The value can then
subsequently be retrieved using %get(variable)
%random(params)
This function randomly chooses one of the words which compose params and returns that. The
default themes that come with Eterm use this function to choose random backgrounds, but
backgrounds aren't the only things that can be randomized with this function. You can
randomize anything...colors, toggles, fonts, tinting, etc.
%version()
Returns the version number. Currently this is the string 0.9.6.
PREPROCESSING
Eterm supports the %include file directive to allow for separation of the configuration
information into multiple files. Eterm will load and parse file just like any other config file,
but will treat its contents as if they replaced the directive itself.
You may also request that the config file be run through an external preprocessor (such as m4 or
cpp) before Eterm reads it. This is done via the %preproc command directive. You may specify
anything you like for command so long as it accepts input on STDIN and sends output to STDOUT.
See the menus.cfg file in the default chooser theme for an example.
SCRIPT FUNCTIONS
One of the action types which can be bound to keypresses, mouse buttons, menuitems, or buttonbar
buttons is a script. The script must be a single word (i.e., containing no spaces or enclosed in
quotes) and consists of one or more calls to the script functions below. Each call is separated
from the next by a semicolon (;). Function parameters are enclosed in parentheses; the
parentheses are optional if no parameters are to be passed. Commas and/or whitespace separate
parameters from each other.
copy(buffer)
Copies the current selection to the specified clipboard or cut buffer. buffer is either a
number 0-7, in which case the selection is copied to the cut buffer specified, or one of the
words clipboard, primary, or secondary (or any initial substring thereof), in which case the
selection is copied to the specified clipboard. You may omit buffer, in which case the default
buffer is primary (XA_PRIMARY in Xlib-speak).
echo(string)
Send the specified string to the subcommand. Exactly equivalent to the echo action.
es_display(cmd, params)
Aliases: es_disp
This is a master function which permits manipulation of Escreen displays through the use of a
series of subcommands. The specified cmd determines what, if any, params are permitted.
Available subcommands are:
goto - Switch to the specified display (0-9)
prev - Switch to the previous display
next - Switch to the next display
toggle - Toggle display
new - Create a new display. A name for the new display may be passed as a parameter, or
ask to prompt the user for the name.
rename - Change the name of the current display. A name for the new display may be passed
as a parameter, or ask to prompt the user for the name.
kill - Terminate the current (or specified) display.
watch - Toggle monitoring of the current/specified display for activity.
scrollback - View the scrollback for the current/specified display.
es_region(cmd, params)
Aliases: es_reg es_win es_window
This is a master function which permits manipulation of Escreen display regions through the use
of a series of subcommands. The specified cmd determines what, if any, params are permitted.
Available subcommands are:
goto - Switch to the specified region (0-9)
prev - Switch to the previous region
next - Switch to the next region
toggle - Toggle region
new - Create a new region. A name for the new region may be passed as a parameter, or ask
to prompt the user for the name.
rename - Change the name of the current region. A name for the new region may be passed
as a parameter, or ask to prompt the user for the name.
kill - Terminate the current (or specified) region.
only - Maximize the current/specified region to the full display.
watch - Toggle monitoring of the current/specified region for activity.
scrollback - View the scrollback for the current/specified region.
es_statement(statement)
Execute an Escreen (screen/twin) command directly.
es_reset()
Aliases: es_rst
Reset the Escreen session
exec_dialog(command)
The same as exec/spawn, but this function presents the user with a dialog box in which she can
edit/confirm the command to be run and specify additional parameters if needed.
exit(message)
exit(code)
Aliases: die quit
Exit Eterm with an optional message or an integer return code. Either parameter may be
specified, but not both. If neither is specified, a code of 0 (zero) is the default.
kill(signal)
Sends the specified signal to Eterm's primary child process (either your shell, or whatever you
specify for Eterm to execute). For the time being, signal must be numeric. SIGTERM is the
default if signal is omitted.
msgbox(message)
Displays a small dialog box containing message and waits for a keypress before continuing.
nop()
Does absolutely nothing except waste time. :-)
paste(buffer)
Pastes the contents of the specified clipboard or cut buffer into the terminal window. buffer
is either a number 0-7, in which case the selection is pasted from the cut buffer specified, or
one of the words clipboard, primary, or secondary (or any initial substring thereof), in which
case the contents of the specified clipboard are pasted. You may omit buffer, in which case
the default buffer is primary (XA_PRIMARY in Xlib-speak).
save(type, filename)
Save the current theme/user configuration. type can be either user or theme; the default is
user. filename is the file to which the settings should be saved. It may contain a path which
is either absolute or relative to the theme directory. The default filename for user is
user.cfg, and the default filename for theme is theme.cfg.
save_buff(filename)
Dumps the contents of the scrollback buffer to the specified file.
scroll(n)
Scrolls backward or forward in the scrollback buffer. n is a floating point number followed by
an optional unit specifier. The unit specifier is one of: lines or l; pages or p; or buffers
or b. The floating point number may be separated from the unit specifier by whitespace or a
comma, but it is not required. The floating point number should be positive to scroll down
(forward) and negative to scroll up (backward). For example, the key sequence Shift-PgUp is
equivalent to scroll(-1p). You may also specify fractional quantities, such as scroll(0.5p) to
scroll down half a page. The default unit if not specified is lines.
search(str)
Presents a dialog box into which the user may enter a search term. The default value is set to
str. All occurrences of the specified search string are highlighted in the scrollback buffer,
and Eterm jumps back to the most recent one. Searching again with the same keyword will clear
the previous highlighting.
spawn(command)
Aliases: exec
Spawns a secondary child process to execute command, or Eterm if no value is passed.
string(string)
The specified string is parsed via Eterm. This is exactly identical to the string action.
ESCREEN
Escreen is a screen/twin interface layer which allows Eterm to interoperate with GNU screen and with
Massimiliano Ghilardi's twin software. This allows Eterm to support multiple subshell sessions within a
single window. On the surface, this feature works similarly to the "tabbed" sessions offered by programs
like konsole and multi-gnome-terminal. However, Escreen has the advantage of being an interface to
existing software, thus providing additional capabilities like multiple regions per display,
detach/reattach capability, seamless remote session support, firewall support, and more.
Escreen support is still somewhat experimental and is thus not compiled into Eterm by default. To enable
it, you must compile with --enable-escreen and/or --enable-etwin (depending on whether you have screen,
twin, or both). If you installed from a package, you can use Eterm --version and check for either
+ESCREEN (enabled) or -ESCREEN (disabled).
For best results, if you wish to use Escreen mode, do so by invoking Eterm with the Escreen theme (Eterm
-t Escreen). This theme supplies default key bindings, the basic Escreen menu, color definitions, etc.
for use by the Escreen engine. Most importantly, it supplies the required url parameter in order to
invoke Escreen mode.
Consult the README.Escreen file for more in-depth discussion of Escreen mode.
AUTHORS
Michael Jennings (mej@eterm.org)
URL(s)
Eterm Home Page -- http://www.eterm.org/
Author's Home Page -- http://www.kainx.org/