QTERM(1) QTERM(1)
6 March 1998
NAME
qterm - Query Terminal
SYNOPSIS
qterm [ +|-alt ] [ +|-always ] [ +|-longname ] [ -querystr string ] [
+|-quiet ] [ +|-real ] [ +|-sent ] [ +|-timeout ] [ +|-trycommon ] [
+|-usrtab ] [ +|-watch ] [ +|-systab ] [ -wait interval ] [ -file
tabfile ]
qterm -version
DESCRIPTION
Qterm is used to query a terminal to determine its name. This is done
by sending a special query sequence to the terminal, reading in a
response, and comparing it against a table of possible responses. The
``name'' printed to standard output should be one found in the
termcap(5) (or terminfo(5) for System V systems) database.
Qterm works by first reading all the appropriate qtermtab files. It
then goes through and tries to query the terminal first using all of
the entries that were specified as primary in the qtermtab file(s).
Upon receiving a response to a query for a primary entry, qterm will
then proceed to query the terminal using all entries marked as
secondary which have a termname field which matches the primary's
nextname field. Upon receiving a response to a secondary query, the
secondary's nextname field will be used as the name printed to
standard output. i.e. Given a matching primary entry with a termname
of vt100 and a nextname of ansi, and a secondary entry with a termname
of ansi and a nextname of xterm, qterm will output xterm as the
terminal name to standard output.
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
By default, qterm uses the system tab file /var/local/conf/qtermtab.v6
to obtain information for querying terminals.
OPTIONS
If the environment variable $QTERMOPTIONS is set, it is first parsed
for any of the options listed below. Options specified on the command
line override options from $QTERMOPTIONS.
+alt Use the alternate string ``<ESCAPE>[c'' when asking the terminal
to identify itself. This string is recognized by most ANSI
compatible terminals.
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-alt Don't use the alternate string, but the string found in the
tabfile being used. This is the default.
+always
Always send the terminal query string. Normally the query string
is only sent if it differs from the last string sent.
-always
Only send the terminal query string if it differs from the last
string sent. This is the default.
-file tabfile
Use <tabfile> to find information for querying the terminal.
+longname
Print only the long (verbose) terminal name.
-longname
Don't print the long (verbose) terminal name. This is the
default.
-querystr string
Use string as the string to send to query the terminal. The
default is the query field from qtermtab.
+quiet
Be quiet and only print the terminal name to standard output.
-quiet
Don't be quiet and only print the terminal name to standard
output. This is the default.
+real
Determine the real name of a terminal by using secondary entries
in qtermtab to query for the actual terminal type.
-real
Don't use secondary entries to determine the real type of
terminal. Only primary entries will be used. This is the
default.
+watch
Watch the characters sent and received to the terminal.
-watch
Don't watch the characters sent and received to the terminal.
This is the default.
+timeout
Wait for timeout when listening for response string. This is
useful if the first entry in a qtermtab doesn't have a response
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6 March 1998
string with an ending character that is common with the rest of
the qtermtab entries.
-timeout
Disable waiting for timeout when listening for response string.
This is the default.
+trycommon
Try sending common query sequences. After each sequence is sent,
qterm checks for a response. If a response is received, the
normal terminal information is display. The common answerback
sequences used are those defined by the comseq entry in qtermtab.
-trycommon
Don't try sending common query sequences. Only use those
sequences specified in the qtermtab file(s). This is the
default.
-version
Print version information and exit.
+usrtab
Use $HOME/.qtermtab to find information for querying the
terminal.
-usrtab
Don't use $HOME/.qtermtab to find information for querying the
terminal. This is the default.
+sent
Display the final response sent from the terminal in a ``nice''
fashion.
-sent
Don't display the final response sent from the terminal. This is
the default.
+systab
Use /var/local/conf/qtermtab.v6 to find information for querying
the terminal. This is the default
-systab
Don't use system tab file to find information for querying the
terminal.
-wait interval
Set the wait (timeout) period to interval (in seconds).
QTERMTAB
The format of the file $HOME/.qtermtab and qterm's system tab file
/var/local/conf/qtermtab.v6, consists fields seperated by white space
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(tabs and/or spaces). 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>). Both the query and
response fields may contain octal values preceeded by a `\'. (i.e.
<ESCAPE> can be represented by `\033'.)
The first field contains a keyword which indicates how the rest of the
line should be parsed. Each keyword can be in upper and/or lower case
and most can be appreviated to as few as 3 characters.
primary and secondary
Both primary and secondary lines consist of six fields:
keyword
The keyword primary or secondary.
query
The string to use to query the terminal.
response
The string to expect in response to a query.
termname
The name of the terminal (compatible with termcap(5)
and terminfo(5)) to print to standard output (stdout).
nextname
The name of the next terminal entry to try. A ``-''
(dash) means none.
description
A description of the terminal to be printed to standard
error (stderr). This field may contain white space
(space and/or tab) characters.
comseq
List of common query sequences for use with the +trycommon
option. Each sequence specified should be seperated by
white space.
If the first field does not match one of these keywords, then the
line is assumed to be an old style entry containing four fields.
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. The fourth
field is the description of the terminal.
The response field can be a regular expression denoted by a leading
backslash (`\'). i.e. "^[[123" matches the string "^[[123", whereas
"^[\[123]" matches "^[1" or "^[2" or "^[3". Each character in a
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6 March 1998
regular expression must be prefixed with a leading backslash. See
ed(1) for regular expression information.
Below is a sample file:
#
# Common Send sequences for use with +trycommon
#
comseq ^[Z ^[[c ^[[0c ^[[>c ^[[<0I ^E
#
#
#KEY SEND RECEIVE TERM NEXT DESCRIPTION
prime ^[Z ^[[?1;0c vt100 vt100 DEC VT100
prime ^[Z ^[[?1;1c vt100 vt100 DEC VT100 with STP
prime ^[Z ^[[?1;2c vt100 vt100 ANSI/VT100 Clone
second ^[[>c ^[[?1;20;0c vt100 vt100 Real DEC VT100 or Clone
second ^[[>c ^[[?1;2c vt100 xterm XTerm Workstation Emulator
RETURN VALUES
qterm exits with the following status:
0 Terminal was recognized.
1 General error.
2 Terminal not recognized.
AUTHOR
Michael A. Cooper,
MagniComp Systems
FILES
/var/local/conf/qtermtab.v6 - System table
$HOME/.qtermtab - User's table
/etc/termcap - termcap(5) database
SEE ALSO
csh(1), ed(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 +watch option to check to see which is the case.
BUGS
Many terminals do not send a response at all.
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