Terminal emulator: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 04:19, 6 September 2024

Revision as of 00:10, 19 October 2024

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{{short description|Program that emulates a video terminal}}

{{refimprovemore citations needed|date=October 2009}}

[[File:Xterm.png|thumb|300px|[[xterm]], a terminal emulator designed for the [[X Window System]]]]

[[File:Windows Terminal v1.0 1138x624.png|thumb|300px|[[Windows Terminal]], an open-source terminal emulator for [[Windows 10]] and [[Windows 11]]]]

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== Background ==

In the early days of computing, with the advent of interactive computing, the prevailing model involved a central computer connected to multiple terminals.<ref>[http://www.inf.fu-berlin.de/lehre/SS01/hc/minicomp/ FU Berlin, 3. Minicomputer architecture]</ref> This configuration, known as the centralized or mainframe model, featured a powerful central computer that performed all the processing tasks, while [[Computer_terminalsComputer terminals|terminals]] served as input/output devices for users to interact with the system. These systems were initially character based.

=== Character-oriented terminals ===

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During the 1990s, new operating systems like [[Windows]] and [[OS/2]] arrived, providing the technical background for more terminal emulators like [https://winworldpc.com/product/telix/100-for-windows Telix for Windows], [[ZOC (software)|ZOC for OS/2]], or [[PuTTY]], which was initially released for Windows in 1998 and which (together with its derivates) is still one a very popular choice to this day.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.slant.co/topics/1552/~best-terminal-emulators-for-windows |title=SSH Clients for Windows}}</ref>

Through the [[History_of_LinuxHistory of Linux|success of Linux]], especially running on data centers and cloud servers,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.debianadmin.com/powering-linux-in-the-data-center.htm|title=Powering Linux in the Data-Center}}</ref> {{dead link|date=February 2024}}</ref> the necessity of accessing remote computers through character based terminals remains. This is evident in the fact, that today lists of terminal emulators that could serve as alternative to the aforementioned [[PuTTY]] offers over 100 alternatives.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://alternativeto.net/software/putty/ |title=Alternatives to Putty}}</ref>{{dubious|poor source usage for putty|date=February 2024}}

==Examples of terminals emulated==

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In the past, [[Unix]] and [[Unix-like]] systems used serial port devices such as [[RS-232]] ports, and provided {{Code|/dev/*|text}} [[device file]]s for them.<ref>{{Cite web|title=A Brief History of Terminal Emulation {{!}} Turbosoft|url=https://www.ttwin.com/blog/270-history-terminal-emulation|access-date=2021-10-04|website=www.ttwin.com}}</ref>

With terminal emulators those device files are emulated by using a pair of [[pseudoterminal]] devices. This pair is used to emulate a physical port/connection to the host computing endpoint - computer's hardware provided by operating system APIs, some other software like [[rlogin]], [[telnet]] or [[Secure Shell|SSH]] or else.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Ubuntu Manpage: tty — general terminal interface|url=http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/bionic/man4/tty.4freebsd.html|access-date=2021-10-04|website=manpages.ubuntu.com}}</ref> For example, in Linux systems these would be {{Code|/dev/ptyp0}} (for the master side) and {{Code|/dev/ttyp0}} (for the slave side) pseudoterminal devices respectively.

There are also special [[virtual console]] files like <code>/dev/console</code>. In text mode, writing to the file displays text on the virtual console and reading from the file returns text the user writes to the virtual console. As with other [[Texttext terminal|text terminals]]s, there are also special [[Escapeescape sequence|escape sequences]]s, [[Controlcontrol character|control characters]]s and [[System call|functions]] that a program can use, most easily via a library such as ''[[ncurses]]''. For more complex operations, the programs can use console and terminal special ''[[ioctl]]'' system calls. One can compare devices using the patterns vcs ("virtual console screen") and vcsa ("virtual console screen with attributes") such as <code>/dev/vcs1</code> and <code>/dev/vcsa1</code>.<ref>{{cite web|title=Screen dumps|url=https://tldp.org/HOWTO/Keyboard-and-Console-HOWTO-20.html|access-date=2008-07-31|work=The Linux keyboard and console HOWTO|publisher=The [[Linux Documentation Project]]|quote=The current contents of the screen of /dev/ttyN can be accessed using the device /dev/vcsN (where `vcs' stands for `virtual console screen'). [...] From a program it is usually better to use /dev/vcsaN (`virtual console screen with attributes') instead - it starts with a header giving the number of rows and columns and the ___location of the cursor. See vcs(4).}}</ref>

Some terminal emulators also include escape sequences for configuring the behavior of the terminal to facilitate good interoperation between the terminal and programs running inside of it, for example to configure [[paste bracketing]].

The virtual consoles can be configured in the file <code>/etc/inittab</code> read by ''[[init]]'' -- typically—typically it starts the text mode [[Logging (computer security)|login]] process ''[[Getty (Unix)|getty]]'' for several virtual consoles. [[X Window System]] can be configured in <code>/etc/inittab</code> or by an [[X display manager (program type)|X display manager]]. A number of [[Linux]] distributions use [[systemd]] instead of [[init]], which also allows virtual console configuration.

==== CLI tools ====

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{{main|Computer terminal#Modes}}

Terminal emulators may implement local editing, also known as "line-at-a-time mode". This is also mistakenly referred to as "[[half-duplex]]".{{cncitation needed|date=December 2017}} In this mode, the terminal emulator only sends complete lines of input to the host system. The user enters and edits a line, but it is held locally within the terminal emulator as it is being edited. It is not transmitted until the user signals its completion, usually with the {{keypress|Enter}} key on the keyboard or a "send" button of some sort in the user interface. At that point, the entire line is transmitted. Line-at-a-time mode implies local echo, since otherwise the user will not be able to see the line as it is being edited and constructed.{{sfn|Daintith|2004|p=171}}{{sfn|Bangia|2010|p=324}} However, line-at-a-time mode is independent of echo mode and does not ''require'' local echo. When entering a password, for example, line-at-a-time entry with local editing is possible, but local echo is turned off (otherwise the password would be displayed).{{sfn|Stevens|Wright|1994|p=413}}

The complexities of line-at-a-time mode are exemplified by the line-at-a-time mode option in the telnet protocol. To implement it correctly, the ''Network Virtual Terminal'' implementation provided by the terminal emulator program must be capable of recognizing and properly dealing with "interrupt" and "abort" events that arrive in the middle of locally editing a line.{{sfn|Miller|2009|p=590, 591}}

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==External links==

{{Commons category|Terminal emulators}}

* {{dmoz|Computers/Data_Communications/Software/Terminal_Emulation|Terminal Emulation}}

* [http://www.linfo.org/terminal_window.html Terminal Window Definition] by The Linux Information Project (LINFO)