WSCONS(7D)WSCONS(7D)NAMEwscons - workstation console
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/strredir.h>
ioctl(fd, SRIOCSREDIR, target);
ioctl(fd, SRIOCISREDIR, target);
DESCRIPTION
The wscons workstation console consists of a workstation keyboard and
frame buffer that act together to emulate an ASCII terminal. It
includes a redirection facility that allows I/O issued to the worksta‐
tion console to be diverted to a STREAMS device, enabling window sys‐
tems to redirect output that would otherwise appear directly on the
frame buffer in corrupted form.
Redirection
The wscons redirection facility maintains a list of devices that are
designated as redirection targets through the SRIOCSREDIR ioctl
described below. Only the current entry is active; when the active
entry is closed, the most recent remaining entry becomes active. The
active entry acts as a proxy for the device being redirected and han‐
dles all read(2), write(2), ioctl(2), and poll(2) calls issued against
the redirectee.
The ioctls described below control the redirection facility. In both
cases, fd is a descriptor for the device being redirected (or worksta‐
tion console) and target is a descriptor for a STREAMS device.
SRIOCSREDIR
Designates target as the source and destination of I/O
ostensibly directed to the device denoted by fd.
SRIOCISREDIR
Returns 1 if target names the device currently acting
as proxy for the device denoted by fd, and 0 if it is
not.
ANSI Standard Terminal Emulation
The Solaris kernel terminal emulator provides ANSI X3.64 emulation both
on SPARC and x86 systems.
On SPARC systems, the PROM monitor is used to emulate an ANSI X3.64
terminal if the kernel terminal emulator is not available for emula‐
tion. See visual_io(7I) for more details.
Note: The VT100 adheres the ANSI X3.64 standard. However, because the
VT100 features nonstandard extensions to ANSI X3.64, it is incompatible
with Sun terminal emulators.
The SPARC console displays 34 lines of 80 ASCII characters per line.
The x86 console displays 25 lines of 80 ASCII characters per line.
Devices with smaller text capacities may display less. On SPARC sys‐
tems, the screen-#rows screen-#columns should be set to 34 or 80
respectively or text capacities will vary from those described above.
On SPARC systems, the screen-#rows and screen-#columns fields are
stored in NVRAM/EEPROM. See eeprom(1M) for more information. Both SPARC
and x86 consoles offer scrolling, (x, y) cursor addressing ability and
a number of other control functions.
The console cursor marks the current line and character position on the
screen. ASCII characters between 0x20 (space) and 0x7E (tilde) inclu‐
sive are printing characters. When a print character is written to the
console (and is not part of an escape sequence), it is displayed at the
current cursor position and the cursor moves one position to the right
on the current line.
On SPARC based systems, later PROM revisions have the full 8-bit ISO
Latin-1 (ISO 8859-1) character set. Earlier PROM revisions display
characters in the range 0xA0 through 0xFE as spaces.
When the cursor is at the right edge of the screen, it moves to the
first character position on the next line. When the cursor is at the
screen's right-bottom edge, the line-feed function is performed (see
CTRL-J below). The line-feed function scrolls the screen up by one or
more lines before moving the cursor to the first character position on
the next line.
Control Sequence Syntax
The wscons console defines a number of control sequences that may occur
during input. When a control sequence is written to the console, it
affects one of the control functions described below. Control sequences
are not displayed on screen.
A number of control sequences (or control character functions) are of
the form:
CTRL-x
where x represents a singe character., such as CNTRL-J for a line
feed.
Other ANSI control sequences are of the form:
ESC [ params char
Note -
Spaces are included only for readability; these characters must occur
in the given sequence without the intervening spaces.
ESC
ASCII escape character (ESC, CTRL-[, 0x1B).
[
Left square bracket `[' (0x5B).
params
Sequence of zero or more decimal numbers made up of digits
between 0 and 9, separated by semicolons. Parameters are rep‐
resented by n in the syntax descriptions for escape sequence
functions.
char
Function character, which is different for each control
sequence and it represented by x in the syntax descriptions
for control character functions.
In the following examples of syntactically valid escape sequences, ESC
represent the single ASCII character, Escape:
ESC[m
Select graphic rendition with default parameter
ESC[7m
Select graphic rendition with reverse image
ESC[33;54H
Set cursor position
ESC[123;456;0;;3;B
Move cursor down
Syntactically valid control characters and ANSI escape sequences that
are not currently interpreted by the console are ignored.
Each control function requires a specified number of parameters. If
fewer parameters are supplied, the remaining parameters (with certain
exceptions noted below) default to 1. If more parameters are supplied,
the first n parameters are used by kernel terminal emulator. In con‐
trast, only the last n parameters are used by PROM based emulator,
where n is the number required by that particular command character.
Parameters which are omitted or set to 0 are reset to the default value
of 1 (with certain exceptions). For example, the command character M
requires one parameter. ESC[;M, ESC[0M, ESC[M and ESC[23;15;32;1M are
all equivalent to ESC[1M and provide a parameter value of 1. Note that
ESC[;5M (interpreted as `ESC[5M') is not equivalent to ESC[5;M (inter‐
preted as `ESC[5;1M') which is ultimately interpreted as `ESC[1M').
ANSI Control Functions
The following paragraphs specify the ANSI control functions implemented
by the console. Each description provides:
o Control sequence syntax
o Hexadecimal equivalent of control characters where applica‐
ble
o Control function name and ANSI or Sun abbreviation (if any).
o Description of parameters required, if any
o Description of the control function
o Initial setting of the mode for functions that set a mode.
To restore the initial settings, use the SUNRESET escape
sequence.
Control Character Functions
The wscons control character functions are:
Bell (BEL),
CTRL-G
0x7
Used for consoles that are not equipped with an
audible bell. Current Sun workstation models also
flash the screen if the keyboard is not the con‐
sole input device.
Backspace (BS),
CTRL-H,
0x8
The cursor moves one position to the left on the
current line. If it is already at the left edge
of the screen, no change takes place.
Tab (TAB),
CTRL-I,
0x9
The cursor moves right on the current line to the
next tab stop. The tab stops are fixed at every
multiple of eight columns. If the cursor is
already at the right edge of the screen, nothing
change takes place. Otherwise, the cursor moves
right a minimum of one and a maximum of eight
character positions.
Line-feed (LF),
CTRL-J,
0xA
The cursor, while remaining at the same character
position on the line, moves down one line. If the
cursor is at the bottom line, the screen either
scrolls up or wraps around depending on the set‐
ting of an internal variable n (initially 1) .
The internal variable can be changed using the
ESC[r control sequence. If n is greater than
zero, the entire screen (including the cursor) is
scrolled up by n lines before executing the line-
feed. The top n lines scroll off the screen and
are lost. New blank lines n scroll onto the bot‐
tom of the screen. After scrolling, move the cur‐
sor down one line to execute the line feed.
If n is zero, wrap-around mode is entered. The
ESC [ 1 r exits back to scroll mode. If a line-
feed occurs on the bottom line in wrap mode, the
cursor goes to the same character position in the
top line of the screen. During line-feeds, the
line that the cursor moves to is cleared and no
scrolling occurs. Wrap-around mode is not imple‐
mented in the window system.
On SPARC based systems, the speed at which the
screen scrolls is dependent on the amount of data
waiting to be printed. Whenever a scroll occurs
and the console is in normal scroll mode (ESC [ 1
r), it scans the rest of the data awaiting print‐
ing to see how many line-feeds occur in it. This
scan stops when the console finds a control char‐
acter from the set {VT, FF, SO, SI, DLE, DC1,
DC2, DC3, DC4, NAK, SYN, ETB, CAN, EM, SUB, ESC,
FS, GS, RS, US} . At that point, the screen is
scrolled by n lines (n ≥ 1) and processing con‐
tinues. The scanned text is processed normally
and fills in the newly created lines. As long as
escape codes or other control characters are not
intermixed with the text, this results in faster
scrolling
Reverse Line-feed,
CTRL-K,
0xB
With kernel terminal emulator (while remaining at
the same character position on the line), the
cursor moves down one line. However, with PROM
based emulator (while remaining at the same char‐
acter position on the line), the cursor moves up
one line. If the cursor is already at the top
line, no change takes place.
Form-feed (FF)
CTRL-L,
0xC
The cursor is positioned to the home position
(upper-left corner) and the entire screen is
cleared.
Return (CR),
CTRL-M,
0xD
The cursor moves to the leftmost character posi‐
tion on the current line.
Escape Sequence Functions
The wscons escape sequence functions are:
Escape (ESC),
CTRL-[,
0x1B
The escape character. Escape initiates a multi-character control
sequence.
Insert Character (ICH)
ESC[#@
Takes one parameter, n (default 1). Inserts n spaces at the cur‐
rent cursor position. The current line, starting at the current
cursor position inclusive, is shifted to the right by n character
positions to make room for the spaces. The rightmost n character
positions shift off the line and are lost. The position of the cur‐
sor is unchanged.
Cursor Up (CUU),
ESC[#A
Takes one parameter, n (default 1). Moves the cursor up n lines.
If the cursor is fewer than n lines from the top of the screen,
moves the cursor to the topmost line on the screen. The character
position of the cursor on the line is unchanged.
Cursor Down (CUD),
ESC[#B
Takes one parameter, (default 1). Moves the cursor down n lines.
If the cursor is fewer than n lines from the bottom of the screen,
move the cursor to the last line on the screen. The character
position of the cursor on the line is unchanged.
Cursor Forward (CUF),
ESC[#C
Takes one parameter, n (default 1). Moves the cursor to the right
by n character positions on the current line. If the cursor is
fewer than n positions from the right edge of the screen, moves the
cursor to the rightmost position on the current line.
Cursor Backward (CUB),
ESC[#D
Takes one parameter, n (default 1). Moves the cursor to the left
by n character positions on the current line. If the cursor is
fewer than n positions from the left edge of the screen, moves the
cursor to the leftmost position on the current line.
Cursor Next Line (CNL),
ESC[#E
Takes one parameter, n (default 1). Positions the cursor at the
leftmost character position on the n-th line below the current
line. If the current line is less than n lines from the bottom of
the screen, positions the cursor at the leftmost character position
on the bottom line.
Horizontal and Vertical Position (HVP),
ESC[#1;#2f
or
Cursor Position (CUP),
ESC[#1;#2H
Takes two parameters, n1 and n2 (default 1, 1). Moves the cursor
to the n2-th character position on the n1-th line. Character posi‐
tions are numbered from 1 at the left edge of the screen; line
positions are numbered from 1 at the top of the screen. Hence, if
both parameters are omitted, the default action moves the cursor to
the home position (upper left corner). If only one parameter is
supplied, the cursor moves to column 1 of the specified line.
Erase in Display (ED),
ESC[J
Takes no parameters. Erases from the current cursor position
inclusive to the end of the screen, that is, to the end of the cur‐
rent line and all lines below the current line. The cursor posi‐
tion is unchanged.
Erase in Line (EL),
ESC[K
Takes no parameters. Erases from the current cursor position
inclusive to the end of the current line. The cursor position is
unchanged.
Insert Line (IL),
ESC[#L
Takes one parameter, n (default 1). Makes room for n new lines
starting at the current line by scrolling down by n lines the por‐
tion of the screen from the current line inclusive to the bottom.
The n new lines at the cursor are filled with spaces; the bottom
n lines shift off the bottom of the screen and are lost. The posi‐
tion of the cursor on the screen is unchanged.
Delete Line (DL),
ESC[#M
Takes one parameter, n (default 1). Deletes n lines beginning
with the current line. The portion of the screen from the current
line inclusive to the bottom is scrolled upward by n lines. The
n new lines scrolling onto the bottom of the screen are filled with
spaces; the n old lines beginning at the cursor line are deleted.
The position of the cursor on the screen is unchanged.
Delete Character (DCH),
ESC[#P
Takes one parameter, n (default 1). Deletes n characters start‐
ing with the current cursor position. Shifts the tail of the cur‐
rent line to the left by n character positions from the current
cursor position, inclusive, to the end of the line. Blanks are
shifted into the rightmost n character positions. The position of
the cursor on the screen is unchanged.
Select Graphic Rendition (SGR),
ESC[#m
Takes one parameter, n (default 0). Note that unlike most escape
sequences, the parameter defaults to zero if omitted. Invokes the
graphic rendition specified by the parameter. All following print‐
ing characters in the data stream are rendered according to the
parameter until the next occurrence of this escape sequence in the
data stream. With PROM-based emulator, only two graphic renditions
are defined:
0
Normal rendition
7
Negative (reverse) image
Negative image displays characters as white-on-black if the screen
mode is currently black-on white, and vice-versa. Any non-zero
value of n is currently equivalent to 7 and selects the negative
image rendition.
In addition to the two renditions mentioned above, the following
ISO 6429-1983 graphic rendition values support color text with ker‐
nel terminal emulator:
30
black foreground
31
red foreground
32
green foreground
33
brown foreground
34
blue foreground
35
magenta foreground
36
cyan foreground
37
white foreground
40
black background
41
red background
42
green background
43
brown background
44
blue background
45
magenta background
46
cyan background
47
white background
Black On White (SUNBOW),
ESC[p
Takes no parameters. On SPARC, sets the screen mode to black-on-
white. If the screen mode is already black-on-white, has no
effect. In this mode, spaces display as solid white, other charac‐
ters as black-on-white. The cursor is a solid black block. Charac‐
ters displayed in negative image rendition (see `Select Graphic
Rendition' above) are white-on-black. This comprises the initial
setting of the screen mode on reset. On x86 systems, use ESC[q to
set black-on-white.
White On Black (SUNWOB),
ESC[q
Takes no parameters. On SPARC, sets the screen mode to white-on-
black. If the screen mode is already white-on-black, has no
effect. In this mode spaces display as solid black, other charac‐
ters as white-on-black. The cursor is a solid white block. Char‐
acters displayed in negative image rendition (see `Select Graphic
Rendition' above) are black-on-white. Initial setting of the
screen mode on reset is black on white. On x86 systems, use ESC[p
to set white-on-black.
ESC[#r
Set Scrolling (SUNSCRL)
Takes one parameter, n (default 0). Sets to n an internal regis‐
ter which determines how many lines the screen scrolls up when a
line-feed function is performed with the cursor on the bottom line.
A parameter of 2 or 3 introduces a small amount of jump when a
scroll occurs. A parameter of 34 clears the screen rather than
scrolling. The initial setting is 1 on reset.
A parameter of zero initiates wrap mode instead of scrolling. If a
linefeed occurs on the bottom line during wrap mode, the cursor
goes to the same character position in the top line of the screen.
When a line feed occurs, the line that the cursor moves to is
cleared and no scrolling occurs. ESC [ 1 r exits back to scroll
mode.
For more information, see the description of the Line-feed (CTRL-J)
control function above.
ESC[s
Reset terminal emulator (SUNRESET)
Takes no parameters. Resets all modes to default, restores current
font from PROM. Screen and cursor position are unchanged.
RETURN VALUES
When there are no errors, the redirection ioctls have return values as
described above. Otherwise, they return −1 and set errno to indicate
the error. If the target stream is in an error state, errno is set
accordingly.
If the target stream is in an error state, errno is set accordingly.
ERRORS
EBADF
target does not denote an open file.
ENOSTR
target does not denote a STREAMS device.
FILES
/dev/wscons
Workstation console, accessed via the redirection
facility
/dev/systty
Devices that must be opened for the SRIOCSREDIR and
SRIOCISREDIR ioctls.
/dev/syscon
Access system console
/dev/console
Access system console
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌────────────────────┬─────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├────────────────────┼─────────────────┤
│Interface Stability │ Stable │
└────────────────────┴─────────────────┘
SEE ALSOcvcd(1M), eeprom(1M), ioctl(2), poll(2), read(2), write(2), cvc(7D),
console(7D), visual_io(7I)WARNINGS
The redirection ioctls block while there is I/O outstanding on the
device instance being redirected. If you try to redirect the worksta‐
tion console while there is a outstanding read, the workstation console
will hang until the read completes.
NOTES
The cvc facility supersedes the SunOS wscons facility and should not be
used with wscons.
May 26, 2006 WSCONS(7D)
