QTERM

Section: User Commands (1)
Updated: 29 April 1987
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NAME

qterm - Query Terminal  

SYNOPSIS

qterm [ -a ] [ -f ] [ -F ] [ -s ] [ -q ]  

DESCRIPTION

Qterm is used to query a terminal to determine its name. This is done by sending a special sequence to the terminal, reading in a response, and comparing it against a master table of possible responses. The ``name'' printed to standard output should be one found in the termcap(5) database.

For csh(1) users, putting a line in your .login file such as:

setenv TERM `qterm`

should automagically set your terminal type. For sh(1) users, putting these lines in your .profile file should set your terminal type:

TERM=`qterm`
export TERM

 

OPTIONS

-a
Use the alternate string ``<ESCAPE>[c'' when asking the terminal to identify itself. This string is recognized by most ANSI compatible terminals.
-f
If the file $HOME/.qterm is present, it's contents are scanned to produce information for querying terminals. In this way, a user may setup different values for certain terminals. After the contents of this file have been scanned, qterm proceeds to query the terminal with the information provided. If an un-intelligable response is received (or non at all), qterm will proceed to use its own information to determine the terminal type.
-F
Same as -f except that the standard qterm table is not scanned; only the user's $HOME/.qterm file is used.
-s
Display the response received from the terminal in a ``nice'' fashion.
-q
Be ``quiet'' and only print the terminal name to standard output.
 

QTERMTAB

The format of the file $HOME/.qterm and qterm's master file /usr/public/lib/qtermtab, consists of four fields each seperated by white space (tabs and/or spaces). The first field is the string that should be used to query the terminal. The second field is the string to expect in response to the query. The third field is the terminal name (compatible with termcap(5)) to print to standard output. The fourth field is optional and may contain a description of the exact manufacturer and model name of the terminal to be used in a message printed to standard error.

Blank lines or lines starting with the character ``#'' are ignored and may be used as comment lines. A character preceeded by a ``^'' is taken to mean the control character. (i.e. ``^['' is interpretted as an <ESCAPE>).

Below is a sample file: 

        #
        # QTerm File
        #
        ^[Z     ^[[?1;1c     vt100     A vt100 with STP
        ^[Z     ^[[?1;2c     vt100     ANSI/VT100 Clone
        ^[Z     ^[[?1;3c     vt100     A vt100 with AVO and STP
        ^[Z     ^[[?1;4c     vt100     A vt100 with GPO
        ^[Z     ^[iBO        z29       Zenith in Zenith Mode

 

AUTHOR

Michael A. Cooper,
University Computing Services,
University of Southern California.  

FILES

/usr/public/lib/qtermtab   - Master table

$HOME/.qterm              - User's table

/etc/termcap              - termcap(5) database
 

SEE ALSO

csh(1), sh(1), termcap(5)  

DIAGNOSTICS

Terminal not recognized - defaults to dumb.
QTerm did not receive a response from the terminal, or the response did not match any that qterm has stored internally. Use the -s option to check to see which is the case.
 

BUGS

Many terminals do not send a response at all.

 

Index

NAME
SYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
OPTIONS
QTERMTAB
AUTHOR
FILES
SEE ALSO
DIAGNOSTICS
BUGS
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Time: 06:31:21 GMT, December 12, 2024