Re: Missing terminfo data in XFree86 4.2.0

["Eugene Rosenzweig" <eugenius at dingoblue dot net dot au>]

Good observation. I never really missed the xterm entries, but now that you
mentioned it, they are not there. I noticed it also because of the handy
script from Alan Dobkin (re ncftp missing libs). The original files are in
terminfo-5.2-1 package.
The setup text (in the Xinstall.sh) states that new termcap entries are
needed to take advantage of some new features of xterm, whatever they are.
There is a way to generate most of those entries from the
/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/etc/xterm.termcap:

captoinfo /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/etc/xterm.termcap
"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/etc/xterm.terminfo", line 90, terminal 'xterm-color':
enter_alt_charset_mode but no acs_chars
"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/etc/xterm.terminfo", line 90, terminal 'xterm-color':
exit_alt_charset_mode but no acs_chars
"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/etc/xterm.terminfo", line 144, terminal 'xterm-sco':
enter_alt_charset_mode but no acs_chars
"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/etc/xterm.terminfo", line 144, terminal 'xterm-sco':
exit_alt_charset_mode but no acs_chars

These will generate all missing files except for xtermm. Comparing these
files to their backed up namesakes shows that they are different. Could
these be the files that were intended to be generated originally by setup? I
do not know anything about mechanics of xterminfo to be able to go beyond
the mechanical regeneration of the files. I am not even sure what the errors
mean. Something to do with acsc@ part of the definition which man terminfo
mentiones but even then I am not sure what the manpage is talking about.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael" <bax3@bigfoot.com>
To: <cygwin-xfree@cygwin.com>
Sent: Saturday, April 06, 2002 12:48 AM
Subject: Missing terminfo data in XFree86 4.2.0


> Hi
>
> I ran into the following problem with the current XFree86 distribution,
but
> could not find any mention of any solution here or elsewhere.
>
> SYMPTOMS
> --------
> * "vt102" terminal setting (TERM) in xterm windows instead of "xterm"
> * "WARNING: terminal is not fully functional" error messages from /bin/les
s
> * Missing /usr/share/terminfo/x/xterm and other terminfo data files
>
> CAUSE
> -----
> 1. The current XFree86 for Cygwin distribution is missing the file
>    xterm.terminfo (but not xterm.termcap) in Xlib.tgz.  (However this is
>    not true for other distributions, eg FreeBSD.)  It is missing in the
>    distribution available from the Cygwin mirrors and the distribution
>    available directly from XFree86.
> 2. After unpacking the distribution files, the script Xinstall.sh asks the
>    user whether to update the terminfo entries.  The default is no, but
the
>    blurb notes that new features will be unavailable otherwise.
>
> If the user says yes:
> 3. The script moves a number of existing terminfo entries to *.bak
> 4. The script tries to run tic on /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/etc/xterm.terminfo to
>    replace them
> 5. Since this file is not present, tic fails
> 6. The following terminfo files are subsequently effectively missing:
xterm,
>    xterms, xterm-24, xterm-vi, xterm-65, xterm-bold, xtermm, xterm-boldso,
>    xterm-ic, xterm-r6, xterm-old, xterm-r5, vs100
>
> INTERIM SOLUTIONS
> -----------------
> During install (pre-emptive):
> * Do not elect to update terminfo entries
> After install (treatment):
> * Setting the TERM variable to another value such as cygwin or ansi is
>   a temporary workaround
> * Moving the renamed files back to their original names reverses the
>   damage ("mv xterm.bak xterm" etc)
>
> DISTRIBUTION FIX?
> -----------------
> Include the file or change the installation script
>
> QUESTIONS
> ---------
> * Is there some reason xterm.terminfo is missing, or is this an error?
> * Is it possible to use e.g. the FreeBSD distribution's xterm.terminfo
file?
> * Is it advised against updating the terminfo data?
> * If so, then what about updating termcap entries (suggested by
Xinstall.h)?
> * What is lost by not using the new terminfo data?
>
> Thanks
> Michael
>