Rxvt-unicode

USE flags[edit | edit source]

Emerge[edit | edit source]

Install x11-terms/rxvt-unicode:

Font[edit | edit source]

urxvt's font can be configured using either XLFD notation or, provided the package was compiled with the xft USE flag, Xft fonts.

! Using XLFD (created via e.g. xfontsel)
URxvt*font:           -misc-fixed-medium-r-semicondensed-*-12-90-100-*-c-60-iso8859-1
! Using Xft
URxvt*font:           xft:Inconsolata:size=8

Fonts can be modified while urxvt is running by assigning actions to keys:

! Bind C-p to use unifont and show 'halfwidth left corner bracket', U+FF62,｢
URxvt.keysym.C-p: 	command:\033]710;xft:Unifont:pixelsize=20\007
! Bind C--, C-0(=) and C-+ to activate small, medium, and big font size resp. 
URxvt.keysym.C-minus: 	command:\033]710;xft:Liberation Mono:pixelsize=12\007
URxvt.keysym.C-0:	command:\033]710;xft:DejaVu Sans Mono:pixelsize=16\007
URxvt.keysym.C-plus:	command:\033]710;xft:Liberation Mono:pixelsize=20\007

Rendering settings can be tweaked for Xft fonts as well. Note that this is not specific to urxvt.

Xft.dpi:        96
Xft.antialias:  true
Xft.rgba:       rgb
Xft.hinting:    true
Xft.hintstyle:  hintslight
Xft.autohint:   false
Xft.lcdfilter:  lcddefault

Scrollbar[edit | edit source]

The look of the scrollbar can be changed, or it can be removed entirely.

URxvt.scrollBar: false
URxvt.scrollBar_right: false
URxvt.scrollBar_floating: false
URxvt.scrollstyle: rxvt

Printing[edit | edit source]

By default, urxvt will print out a screen dump, via lpr, when PrntScrn is pressed. Using Ctrl+PrintScrn or Shift-PrintScrn will include the terminal's scroll back in the printout as well. This behavior can be changed, or disabled entirely, based on personal preference and need.

! The string will be interpreted as if typed into the shell as-is.
! In this example, printing will be disabled altogether.
URxvt.print-pipe: "cat > /dev/null"

Copy/Paste and URL handling[edit | edit source]

The default urxvt Perl extensions can be used for copy and paste actions as well for URL handling capabilities. In order to use Perl extensions in urxvt, the package must have been compiled with the perl USE flag. The x11-misc/urxvt-perls package provides the keyboard-select extension not included by default. The package sources code can be found in muennich's GitHub repository or an ebuild for example. It is possible to get other Perl extensions.

Here is an example of a ~/.Xresources. The following lines could also be added to ~/.Xdefaults, though ~/.Xresources is preferred.

!-*- Perl extensions -*-
URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,selection-to-clipboard,pasta,matcher,keyboard-select
URxvt.keysym.M-u:     perl:url-select:select_next
URxvt.url-launcher:   /usr/bin/firefox
URxvt.underlineURLs:  True
URxvt.matcher.button: 1 
URxvt.keysym.M-Escape:perl:keyboard-select:activate
URxvt.keysym.Control-Shift-V:     perl:pasta:paste
! Comment this if you don't want copy when text is selected
URxvt.clipboard.autocopy: true

The default selection-to-clipboard extension will put the selected text into the clipboard automatically. To add pasting functionality we have to create a simple extension:

#! /usr/bin/env perl -w
# Author:   Aaron Caffrey
# Website:  https://github.com/wifiextender/urxvt-pasta
# License:  GPLv3

# Usage: put the following lines in your .Xdefaults/.Xresources:
# URxvt.perl-ext-common           : selection-to-clipboard,pasta
# URxvt.keysym.Control-Shift-V    : perl:pasta:paste

use strict;

sub on_user_command {
  my ($self, $cmd) = @_;
  if ($cmd eq "pasta:paste") {
    $self->selection_request (urxvt::CurrentTime, 3);
  }
  ()
}

Icons[edit | edit source]

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Urxvt
Comment=Terminal emulator
TryExec=urxvt
Exec=urxvt
Icon=utilities-terminal
Type=Application
Categories=GTK;TerminalEmulator;System;
# This assumes the 'startup-notification' USE flag being enabled
StartupNotify=true

URxvt.iconFile:    /usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/Terminal.svg

Color theme[edit | edit source]

The main urxvt's color palette is defined by background, foreground and colorn resources. It is also possible to set color of other elements (e.g. cursor or text underline). For more information consult the urxvt manpage.

*background: #0f0f0f
*foreground: #c8c8c8

!black
*color0:  #251f1f
*color8:  #5e5e5e
!red
*color1:  #eb4509
*color9:  #eb4509
!green
*color2:  #94e76b
*color10: #95e76b
!yellow
*color3:  #ffac18
*color11: #ffac18
!blue
*color4:  #46aede
*color12: #46aede
!magenta
*color5:  #e32c57
*color13: #e32c57
!cyan
*color6:  #d6dbac
*color14: #d6dbac
!white
*color7:  #efefef
*color15: #efefef

! black
*color0:  #2E3436
*color8:  #555753
! red
*color1:  #a40000
*color9:  #EF2929
! green
*color2:  #4E9A06
*color10: #8AE234
! yellow
*color3:  #C4A000
*color11: #FCE94F
! blue
*color4:  #3465A4
*color12: #729FCF
! purple
*color5:  #75507B
*color13: #AD7FA8
! orange (replaces cyan)
*color6:  #ce5c00
*color14: #fcaf3e
! white
*color7:  #babdb9
*color15: #EEEEEC

! Colors
URxvt*background: #000000
URxvt*foreground: #B2B2B2
! black
URxvt*color0:  #000000
URxvt*color8:  #686868
! red
URxvt*color1:  #B21818
URxvt*color9:  #FF5454
! green
URxvt*color2:  #18B218
URxvt*color10: #54FF54
! yellow
URxvt*color3:  #B26818
URxvt*color11: #FFFF54
! blue
URxvt*color4:  #1818B2
URxvt*color12: #5454FF
! purple
URxvt*color5:  #B218B2
URxvt*color13: #FF54FF
! cyan
URxvt*color6:  #18B2B2
URxvt*color14: #54FFFF
! white
URxvt*color7:  #B2B2B2
URxvt*color15: #FFFFFF

Using urxvt with Powerline fonts[edit | edit source]

Unfortunately current default urxvt configuration in Gentoo breaks support for Powerline characters. Overview of the problem: some fonts provide incorrect values for character width, which breaks their appearance in urxvt in various ways.

The Powerline symbols are extra Unicode characters, which can be added to a font by "patching" it, or they can be added to the system without patching, using fontconfig settings. These fonts often contain wrong width set for the Powerline characters. Some other terminals workaround that, but not urxvt.

To get Powerline symbols to work correctly, you need the following USE flags to x11-terms/rxvt-unicode:

• vanilla - disables the equally problematic alt-font-width
• unicode3
• 256-color - enables the required support of displaying 256 colors

For app-misc/powerline from the raiagent overlay, enable USE flag:

• fonts, which will pull in media-fonts/powerline-fonts package.

For media-fonts/powerline-fonts (also from the raiagent overlay), enable one or more USE flags for the fonts you care about, e.g. inconsolata.

Finally, in the ~/.Xresources file, set a desired Powerline font for urxvt. This example assumes the xft USE flag for x11-terms/rxvt-unicode, but the main point is to enable the font featuring for Powerline name part.

URxvt*font:   xft:Inconsolata for Powerline:size=11

See also rxvt-unicode and the Powerline symbols thread on the urxvt mailing list.

Changing font size on the fly[edit | edit source]

To be able to use font size changing within running terminal session, first verify urxvt has been build using the perl USE flag.

Install the x11-misc/urxvt-font-size package:

Open the ~/.Xresources file for editing and replace the entry:

!-*- Perl extensions -*-
URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,selection-to-clipboard,pasta,matcher,keyboard-select
...

With following entry, or just add the font-size to the end of the listed extensions:

!-*- Perl extensions -*-
URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,selection-to-clipboard,pasta,matcher,keyboard-select,font-size
...

Configure a keyboard key combination to increase or decrease the font size, add following entries:

...
URxvt.keysym.C-Up:     font-size:increase
URxvt.keysym.C-Down:   font-size:decrease
URxvt.keysym.C-S-Up:   font-size:incglobal
URxvt.keysym.C-S-Down: font-size:decglobal
URxvt.keysym.C-equal:  font-size:reset
URxvt.keysym.C-slash:  font-size:show
...

To increase the font size press Ctrl++, to decrease the font size press Ctrl+-. To reset to the default font size press Ctrl+0.

Changes in ~/.Xresources are not applied[edit | edit source]

1. Check for syntax errors in ~/.Xresources based on X_resources article.

2. If you're using ~/.xinitrc add [[ -f ~/.Xresources ]] && xrdb -merge ~/.Xresources to ~/.xinitrc and reboot.

3. Invoking `xrdb -merge -I$HOME ~/.Xresources`might also resolve the issue.

Reporting bugs[edit | edit source]

This section describes the instructions for reporting and fixing urxvt bugs.

1. Install Arch GNU/Linux.
   1. Test on Arch to see if the bug persists.
      1. If the bug does not persist, then contact the ebuild maintainer Jeroen Roovers (jer). The ebuild maintainer may be able to make a fix.
2. Contact upstream developer. Be sure to note testing was performed on Gentoo Linux as Gentoo GNU/Linux or you will be ignored and possibly yelled at.
3. When all else fails, contact the maintainer Jeroen Roovers (jer) and fix it this way.

These instructions are based on official upstream instructions from the developer.