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12dc447f 1Copyright (C) 1993, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
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2 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3See the end of the file for license conditions.
4
5
9789a4be 6 This directory contains files of elisp that customize Emacs for certain
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7terminal types.
8
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9 When Emacs opens a new terminal, it checks the TERM environment variable to
10see what type of terminal the user is running on, searches for an elisp file
11named "term/${TERM}.el", and if one exists, loads it. If Emacs finds no
12suitable file, then it strips the last hyphen and what follows it from TERM,
13and tries again. If that still doesn't yield a file, then the previous hyphen
14is stripped, and so on until all hyphens are gone. For example, if the
15terminal type is `aaa-48-foo', Emacs will try first `term/aaa-48-foo.el', then
16`term/aaa-48.el' and finally `term/aaa.el'. Emacs stops searching at the
17first file found, and will not load more than one file for any terminal. Note
18that it is not an error if Emacs is unable to find a terminal initialization
19file; in that case, it will simply proceed with the next step without loading
20any files.
21
22 Once the file has been loaded (or the search failed), Emacs tries to call a
23function named `terminal-init-TERMINALNAME' (eg `terminal-init-aaa-48' for the
24`aaa-48' terminal) in order to initialize the terminal. Once again, if the
25function is not found, Emacs strips the last component of the name and tries
26again using the shorter name. This search is independent of the previous file
27search, so that you can have terminal initialization functions for a family of
28terminals collected in a single file named after the family name, and users
29may put terminal initialization functions directly in their .emacs files.
30
31 Note that an individual terminal file is loaded only once in an Emacs
32session; if the same terminal type is opened again, Emacs will simply call the
33initialization function without reloading the file. Therefore, all the actual
34initialization actions should be collected in terminal-init-* functions; the
35file should not contain any top-level form that is not a function or variable
36declaration. Simply loading the file should not have any side effect.
37
38 Similarly, the terminal initialization function is called only once on any
39given terminal, when the first frame is created on it. The function is not
40called for subsequent frames on the same terminal. Therefore, terminal-init-*
41functions should only modify terminal-local variables (such as
42`local-function-key-map') and terminal parameters. For example, it is not
43correct to modify frame parameters, since the modifications will only be
44applied for the first frame opened on the terminal.
45
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46
47 When writing terminal packages, there are some things it is good to keep in
48mind.
49
50 First, about keycap names. Your terminal package can create any keycap
51cookies it likes, but there are good reasons to stick to the set recognized by
01d7b937 52the X-windows code whenever possible. The key symbols recognized by Emacs
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53are listed in src/term.c; look for the string `keys' in that file.
54
55 For one thing, it means that you'll have the same Emacs key bindings on in
56terminal mode as on an X console. If there are differences, you can bet
57they'll frustrate you after you've forgotten about them.
58
59 For another, the X keysms provide a standard set of names that Emacs knows
60about. It tries to bind many of them to useful things at startup, before your
61.emacs is read (so you can override them). In some ways, the X keysym standard
62is a admittedly poor one; it's incomplete, and not well matched to the set of
63`virtual keys' that UNIX terminfo(3) provides. But, trust us, the alternatives
64were worse.
65
66 This doesn't mean that if your terminal has a "Cokebottle" key you shouldn't
67define a [cokebottle] keycap. But if you must define cookies that aren't in
68that set, try to pattern them on the standard terminfo variable names for
69clarity; also, for a fighting chance that your binding may be useful to someone
70else someday.
71
72 For example, if your terminal has a `find' key, observe that terminfo
3e209d8d 73supports a key_find capability and call your cookie [find].
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74
75Here is a complete list, with corresponding X keysyms.
76
77-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
78Variable name cap X Keysym Description
79-------------- --- ------------ -------------------------------------
80key_down kd down Sent by terminal down arrow key
81key_up ku up Sent by terminal up arrow key
82key_left kl left Sent by terminal left arrow key
83key_right kr right Sent by terminal right arrow key
84key_home kh home Sent by home key.
85key_backspace kb Sent by backspace key
86key_dl kd deleteline Sent by delete line key.
87key_il kA insertline Sent by insert line.
88key_dc kD Sent by delete character key.
89key_ic kI insertchar (1) Sent by ins char/enter ins mode key.
90key_eic KM Sent by rmir or smir in insert mode.
91key_clear kC Sent by clear screen or erase key.
92key_eos kS Sent by clear-to-end-of-screen key.
93key_eol kE Sent by clear-to-end-of-line key.
94key_sf kF Sent by scroll-forward/down key
95key_sr kR Sent by scroll-backward/up key
96key_npage kN next (2) Sent by next-page key
97key_ppage kP prior (2) Sent by previous-page key
98key_stab kT Sent by set-tab key
99key_ctab kt Sent by clear-tab key
100key_catab ka Sent by clear-all-tabs key.
101key_enter @8 kp-enter Enter/send (unreliable)
102key_print %9 print print or copy
103key_ll kH Sent by home-down key
104key_a1 K1 kp-1 Upper left of keypad
105key_a3 K3 kp-3 Upper right of keypad
106key_b2 K2 kp-5 Center of keypad
107key_c1 K4 kp-7 Lower left of keypad
108key_c3 K5 kp-9 Lower right of keypad
109key_btab kB backtab Back tab key
110key_beg @1 begin beg(inning) key
111key_cancel @2 cancel cancel key
112key_close @3 close key
113key_command @4 execute (3) cmd (command) key
114key_copy @5 copy key
115key_create @6 create key
116key_end @7 end end key
117key_exit @9 exit key
118key_find @0 find key
119key_help %1 help key
120key_mark %2 mark key
121key_message %3 message key
122key_move %4 move key
123key_next %5 next (2) next object key
124key_open %6 open key
125key_options %7 menu (3) options key
126key_previous %8 previous (2) previous object key
127key_redo %0 redo redo key
128key_reference &1 ref(erence) key
129key_refresh &2 refresh key
130key_replace &3 replace key
131key_restart &4 reset (3) restart key
132key_resume &5 resume key
133key_save &6 save key
134key_sbeg &9 shifted beginning key
135key_select *6 select select key
136key_suspend &7 suspend key
137key_undo &8 undo undo key
138
139key_scancel &0 shifted cancel key
140key_scommand *1 shifted command key
141key_scopy *2 shifted copy key
142key_screate *3 shifted create key
143key_sdc *4 shifted delete char key
144key_sdl *5 shifted delete line key
145key_send *7 shifted end key
146key_seol *8 shifted clear line key
147key_sexit *9 shifted exit key
148key_sf kF shifted find key
149key_shelp #1 shifted help key
150key_shome #2 shifted home key
151key_sic #3 shifted input key
152key_sleft #4 shifted left arrow key
153key_smessage %a shifted message key
154key_smove %b shifted move key
155key_snext %c shifted next key
156key_soptions %d shifted options key
157key_sprevious %e shifted prev key
158key_sprint %f shifted print key
159key_sredo %g shifted redo key
160key_sreplace %h shifted replace key
161key_sright %i shifted right arrow
162key_sresume %j shifted resume key
163key_ssave !1 shifted save key
164key_suspend !2 shifted suspend key
165key_sundo !3 shifted undo key
166
167key_f0 k0 f0 (4) function key 0
168key_f1 k1 f1 function key 1
169key_f2 k2 f2 function key 2
170key_f3 k3 f3 function key 3
171key_f4 k4 f4 function key 4
172key_f5 k5 f5 function key 5
173key_f6 k6 f6 function key 6
174key_f7 k7 f7 function key 7
175key_f8 k8 f8 function key 8
176key_f9 k9 f9 function key 9
177key_f10 k; f10 (4) function key 10
178key_f11 F1 f11 function key 11
179 : : : :
180key_f35 FP f35 function key 35
181key_f36 FQ function key 36
182 : : : :
183key_f64 k1 function key 64
184
185(1) The terminfo documentation says this may be the 'insert character' or
186 `enter insert mode' key. Accordingly, key_ic is mapped to the `insertchar'
187 keysym if there is also a key_dc key; otherwise it's mapped to `insert'.
188 The presumption is that keyboards with `insert character' keys usually
189 have `delete character' keys paired with them.
190
191(2) If there is no key_next key but there is a key_npage key, key_npage
192 will be bound to the `next' keysym. If there is no key_previous key but
193 there is a key_ppage key, key_ppage will be bound to the `previous' keysym.
194
195(3) Sorry, these are not exact but they're the best we can do.
196
197(4) The uses of the "k0" capability are inconsistent; sometimes it
198 describes F10, whereas othertimes it describes F0 and "k;" describes F10.
eb8c3be9 199 Emacs attempts to politely accommodate both systems by testing for
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200 "k;", and if it is present, assuming that "k0" denotes F0, otherwise F10.
201-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
202
203 The following X keysyms do *not* have terminfo equivalents. These are
204the cookies your terminal package will have to set up itself, if you want them:
205
206 break
207 system
208 user
209 kp-backtab
210 kp-space
211 kp-tab
212 kp-f1
213 kp-f2
214 kp-f3
215 kp-f4
216 kp-multiply
217 kp-add
218 kp-separator
219 kp-subtract
220 kp-decimal
221 kp-divide
222 kp-0
223 kp-2
224 kp-4
225 kp-6
226 kp-8
227 kp-equal
228
229 In general, you should not bind any of the standard keysym names to
230functions in a terminal package. There's code in loaddefs.el that does that;
231the less people make exceptions to that, the more consistent an interface Emacs
232will have across different keyboards. Those exceptions should go in your
233.emacs file.
234
235 Finally, if you're using a USL UNIX or a Sun box or anything else with the
236USL version of curses(3) on it, bear in mind that the original curses(3) had
237(and still has) a very much smaller set of keycaps. In fact, the reliable
238ones were just the arrow keys and the first ten function keys. If you care
239about making your package portable to older Berkeley machines, don't count on
240the setup code to bind anything else.
241
242 If your terminal's arrow key sequences are so funky that they conflict with
243normal Emacs key bindings, the package should set up a function called
244(enable-foo-arrow-keys), where `foo' becomes the terminal name, and leave
245it up to the user's .emacs file whether to call it.
246
247 Before writing a terminal-support package, it's a good idea to read the
248existing ones and learn the common conventions.
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249
250\f
251This file is part of GNU Emacs.
252
1fecc8fe 253GNU Emacs is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
1452f27e 254it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
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255the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
256(at your option) any later version.
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257
258GNU Emacs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
259but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
260MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
261GNU General Public License for more details.
262
263You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
1fecc8fe 264along with GNU Emacs. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.