ttytype(1) General Commands Manual ttytype(1)
NAME
ttytype - terminal identification program
SYNOPSIS
type]
DESCRIPTION
automatically identifies the current terminal type by sending an identification request sequence to the terminal. This method works for
local, modem, and remote terminal connections, as well as for the and terminal emulators.
Once the terminal has been identified, prints the terminal's type to the standard output (see terminfo(4)). This string is usually used as
the value for the environment variable.
If is unable to determine the correct terminal type, it prompts the user for the correct terminal identification string.
Options
recognizes the following options:
Causes to return an ID of "unknown" instead of prompting for the terminal type if auto-identification fails. If this option is
not present, interactively prompts the user for the terminal type if it is unable to determine the correct type automati-
cally.
Causes to prompt for the terminal type before it sends the terminal identification request sequence. If the user responds with
only a carriage return, proceeds with the automatic terminal identification process. Any other response is taken as the
correct terminal type. Note that the and variables are not set if the user manually enters a terminal type.
The option is normally used only for terminals that do not behave well when presented with terminal identification request
sequence. It gives the user a chance to respond with the correct terminal type before any escape sequences are sent that
could have an adverse effect on the terminal.
The option can be used in conjunction with the option. The option only inhibits interactive prompting after has failed to
identify the terminal by other means.
Tells to print a series of shell commands to set the and environment variables to appropriate values. In addition, the variable
is set to the two-character sequence representing the appropriate erase character for the terminal (DEL for ANSI termi-
nals, backspace for all others). This two-character sequence can then be used as an argument to or (see stty(1) and
tset(1)).
The environment variable is consulted to see which shell syntax to use for setting the environment variables. This output
is normally used with a command of the form:
normally attempts identification of Wyse, ANSI and HP terminals.
The type argument can be used to restrict the inquiry to that required for terminals of the specified type. The accepted
types are and Multiple options can be specified.
Enable verbose messages to standard error.
Notes
Use of the option is highly recommended because many terminals support variable-size displays. This option provides the only means for
automatically configuring the user environment in such a manner that applications can handle these terminals correctly. Note that and are
not set if the option is used and the user manually enters a terminal type.
The following steps are performed in the order indicated when identifying a terminal:
1. tries the Wyse 30/50/60 id request sequence.
2. tries the standard ANSI ID request sequence. If a response is received, it is converted to a string according to an internal table.
3. tries the HP id request sequence.
4. If none of the above steps succeed, prompts interactively for the correct terminal type unless the option has been given.
may skip one or more of the first three steps, depending on the presence of options.
The HP ID request sequence can switch some ANSI terminals into an unexpected operating mode. Recovery from such a condition sometimes
requires cycling power on the terminal. To avoid this problem, always sends the HP identification sequence last.
EXAMPLES
is most commonly used as part of the login sequence. The following shell script fragment can be used during login shell initialization:
#
# If TERM is not set, see if our port is listed in /etc/ttytype.
# If /etc/ttytype doesn't have information for our port, run
# ttytype(1) to try to determine the type of terminal we have.
#
# To have ttytype(1) prompt for the terminal type before trying
# to automatically identify the terminal, add the "-p" option
# to the "ttytype -s" command below.
#
if [ -z "$TERM" -o "$TERM" = network ]; then
unset TERM
eval `tset -s -Q`
if [ -z "$TERM" -o "$TERM" = unknown ]; then
eval `ttytype -s`
tset -Q -e ${ERASE:-^h} $TERM
fi
fi
WARNINGS
The terminal identification sequences sent by can cause unexpected behavior on terminals other than the Wyse 30/50/60, standard ANSI or HP
terminals. If you have such terminals in your configuration, use the or options to prevent from sending sequences that cause unexpected
behavior.
AUTHOR
was developed by HP.
SEE ALSO
csh(1), ksh(1), sh(1), stty(1), ttytype(4), environ(5).
ttytype(1)