Terminals
It can be tricky to get some terminals working with WordPerfect, this page contains configuration tips and troubleshooting steps.
Supported Feature Matrix.
| Terminal | 🖥️ | 🖨️ | 🖼️ | 🖱️ | ⌨️ | 🌎 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XTerm | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Konsole | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | 👷 | ✅ | ✅ |
| Urxvt | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Gnome Terminal | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Windows Terminal | ✅ | ❌ | 👷 | ✅ | ✅ | |
| GNU Screen | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
There are only three features that can use graphics, View Document Shift+F7,6 the Equation Editor Alt+F9,6,1,9, and the Graphics Editor Alt+F9,1,9. In all cases, if graphics are not available they support a basic text fallback mode.
Not all terminals support graphics, and even those that do might not understand any of the graphics formats supported by WordPerfect.
The recommended graphics format is sixels, and the optimal driver is vt340hi_sixel.
In WordPerfect, navigate to File > Setup > Display and select Graphics Screen Type.
From the list, choose vt340hi_sixel
Here is how to check if sixels are working and enabled in your terminal. First, install ImageMagick.
| Distribution | Command |
|---|---|
| Debian / Ubuntu | apt install imagemagick |
| RedHat / Fedora | yum install ImageMagick |
Now type convert -resize 320 rose: sixel:-.
If you see a picture of a rose, your terminal does support sixels and is ready to enable graphics.
If you don't see a rose, then sixels are not enabled and will not work in WordPerfect. Try the settings listed in Terminal Configuration for your terminal below.
XTerm has very good sixel support, but it's not enabled by default.
Add the following line to your ~/.Xresources file, and then execute xrdb -merge ~/.Xresources to apply your changes.
XTerm.vt100.decTerminalID: vt340
You will need to open a new XTerm window, and then verify sixels work using the rose test.
The vt340hi_sixel driver is hardcoded to generate an 800x270 resolution image.
This was a good choice on a DEC VT340 Hardware Terminal, but may look a bit squished on a modern high resolution XTerm!
It is possible to increase the resolution by modifying the graphic driver settings.
Note: This currently requires some hacking, but in future we hope to automate this procedure.
Warning: Not all aspect ratios or sizes are supported by WordPerfect, and some combinations can crash. You may need to experiment to find the optimal setting for your XTerm configuration.
In order to scale images to the full size of your terminal, you need to tell WordPerfect how many pixels to draw.
Run the following command:
$ xwininfo -size -id $WINDOWID
xwininfo: Window id: 0x400377 "Terminal"
Normal window size hints:
Program supplied size: 1331 by 858
Program supplied minimum size: 31 by 78
Program supplied base size: 18 by 52
Program supplied x resize increment: 13
Program supplied y resize increment: 26
Program supplied size in resize increments: 102 by 33
Program supplied minimum size in resize increments: 2 by 3
Program supplied base size in resize increments: 1 by 2
Program supplied window gravity: NorthWestGravity
No zoom window size hints defined
The resize increment figures are necessary to figure out how many pixels in a character cell, in this case you can see it's 13x26.
Now enter this command:
$ printf "%ux%u\n" $((COLUMNS * 13)) $((LINES * 26))
1300x780
Replace the 13 with your x resize increment and the 26 with your y resize increment, then use this setting for your maxGraphicSize in ~/.Xresources
XTerm*maxGraphicSize: 1300x780
Note: Remember to use
xrdbto apply your settings!
WordPerfect stores the graphics settings in .GRS files, the default is /opt/wp80/shlib10/wpc.grs.
There is an experimental tool called grsutil to edit some of the known values in this file.
To adjust the horizontal resolution, do this as root:
# /opt/wp80/shbin10/grsutil -d vt340hi_sixel -f 13 -s <new resolution> /opt/wp80/shlib10/wpc.grs
A good safe value to start is the horizontal resolution from the maxGraphicSize above.
Start WordPerfect and press Shift+F7,V. If the image is not correct, or WordPerfect crashes, reduce the resolution and try again.
Here are some examples of what you might see:
When the image is correct, move on to adjusting the vertical resolution.
To adjust the vertical resolution, the command is the same but a different field number.
# /opt/wp80/shbin10/grsutil -d vt340hi_sixel -f 14 -s <new resolution> /opt/wp80/shlib10/wpc.grs
Repeat the same procedure as above until the image looks correct.
A good value to start with is one vertical increment less than your vertical maxGraphicsSize.
This is because WordPerfect reserves one line for a menu.
Here are some examples of what you might see.
These settings have been found to improve results for some users:
XTerm*privateColorRegisters: false