topic Re: How to decide TERM value in Operating System - HP-UX

How to decide TERM value

ezhilarasan_1 — Tue, 12 Aug 2003 22:30:46 GMT

Hi,

I do not have clear idea in setting TERM value. We are using different software ( telnet, Crt, Tnvt, ..) to connect to many Unix m/c. If vi ( editing file ) is not OK, we change TERM=vt100 or vt220 or hp .., it works.

But how to decide on TERM value ?
does it depend on Unix m/c or software we are using to connect or depend on our PC

Thanks
R.Ezhil

Re: How to decide TERM value

Karthik S S — Wed, 13 Aug 2003 00:04:55 GMT

Hi Ezhil,

It sometimes depends on the unix box you use. Mostly with all Unix flavors vt100 works just fine. You don't have to set it every time but you can put the same in your .profile.

Regards,
Karthik S S

Re: How to decide TERM value

Bill Hassell — Wed, 13 Aug 2003 01:44:57 GMT

It is best NEVER to hardcode the TERM value in /etc/profile and/or .profile since there may are dozens of different terminals (and emulators) that might be used. Hardcoding TERM means that some users will be OK and others will not. HP-UX has a program that identifies terminals (and emulators) automatically: ttytype

However, the standard /etc/profile will bypass this invaluable tool by testing whether TERM has been set before /etc/profile starts. This is a problem since telnet has a subcode that some opsystems will pass through to HP-UX and may not be useful for HP-UX. So, eliminate the test in /etc/profile to see if TERM has been set:

if [ "$TERM" = "" -o "$TERM" = "unknown" -o "$TERM" = "dialup" -o "$TERM" = "network" ]
then
eval `ttytype -s -a`
fi

and replace it with:

eval $(ttytype -s)

Now, every login will be correctly evaluated and programs like vi will work correctly.