This is 90% geared for purely console/terminal/pty/tty/ssh/putty/telnet/tmux/screen users. I've only just the past couple years started understanding why it was key to learn vim, in the past I never had the patience for it and preferred nano-like editors. Now vim is all I use when on linux, it's so much more productive.. especially with a customized vimrc file. This doesn't require a git checkout, a vim update, a bash update, an OS update, a plugin. No. This is a single file that I use on Arch Linux, NetBSD, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Debian, Ubuntu, Cent OS, Red Hat, and that's it so far. This is geared for users who use SSH more than anything else. Of course, it works perfect on an X enabled box locally as well.

ScreenShot

Setup

I install this as /etc/vimrc if possible. Individual users can use a vim config file in their home directories.

source /etc/vimrc

To install for a single user just save it in their home dir at /home/username/.vimrc

Portability

For the portability needed to work on many different systems, this doesn't rely on any plugins other than those built into the default installation of vim 7.0. It works well on all types of consoles, and depending on the TERM environment variable (and whether it has the right term capabilities) it will load 256 color support or not. Usually on a new system I just scp this right over and it works without any modifications. But an ongoing Work in progress.

Optimized Vimrc

Download - Optimized vimrc

" Updated: Wed Feb 22 13:25:23 2012 by galileo@galileo
 
" For all key mappings like ', .' to reload vimrc
let maplocalleader=','
 
" BACKUPS, SWAPFILES, VIEWDIR, TMPDIR  "{{{1
" ================================================================================================================================================================
 
" SET RUNTIMEPATH {{{3
if isdirectory(expand("$HOME/.vim"))
  let $VIMRUNTIME=expand("$HOME/.vim")
  set runtimepath=$VIMRUNTIME
endif
 
" IF BKDIR IS NOT SET OR EMPTY, SET {{{3
if $BKDIR == ""
  let $BKDIR=expand("$HOME/.bk")
  if !isdirectory(expand("$BKDIR"))
    call mkdir(expand("$BKDIR"), "p", 0700)
  endif
endif
 
" MAKE DIRS IF mkdir exists {{{3
if exists("*mkdir")
  if !isdirectory(expand("$BKDIR/.vim/viewdir"))|call mkdir(expand("$BKDIR/.vim/viewdir"), "p", 0700)|endif
  if !isdirectory(expand("$BKDIR/.vim/tmp"))|call mkdir(expand("$BKDIR/.vim/tmp"), "p", 0700)|endif
  if !isdirectory(expand("$BKDIR/.vim/backups"))|call mkdir(expand("$BKDIR/.vim/backups"), "p", 0700)|endif
endif
 
" SETTINGS USING NEW DIRS {{{3
let &dir=expand("$BKDIR") . "/.vim"
let &viewdir=expand("$BKDIR") . "/.vim/viewdir"
let &backupdir=expand("$BKDIR") . "/.vim/backups"
"let &verbosefile=expand("$BKDIR") . "/.vim/vim-messages.
 
" VIMINFO {{{3
" COMMENTED OUT {{{4
"  "       Maximum number of lines saved for each register
"  %       When included, save and restore the buffer lis
"  '       Maximum number of previously edited files for which the marks are remembere
"  /       Maximum number of items in the search pattern history to be saved
"  :        Maximum number of items in the command-line history
"  <       Maximum number of lines saved for each register.
"   @       Maximum number of items in the input-line history
"  h       Disable the effect of 'hlsearch' when loading the viminfo
"  n       Name of the viminfo file.  The name must immediately follow the 'n'.  Must be the last oneEnvironment variables are expanded when opening the file, not when setting the option
"  r       Removable media.  The argument is a string
"  s       Maximum size of an item in Kbyte
"   }}}4 COMMENTED OUT
let &viminfo="%200,'200,/800,h,<500,:500,s150,r/tmp,r" . expand("$BKDIR") . "/.vim/tmp,n" . expand("$BKDIR") ."/.vim/.vinfo"
 
" CUSTOM FUNCTIONS "{{{1
" ================================================================================================================================================================
if !exists("AskApacheLoaded")
  let AskApacheLoaded=1
 
  " FUNCTION - LastMod {{{3
  " Warning, this is controlled by an autocmd triggered when closing the file that updates the file (in a great way)
  " Updated: Wed Feb 22 13:25:23 2012 by galileo@galileo
  function! LastMod()
    exe "silent! 1,20s/Updated: .*/" . printf('Updated: %s by %s@%s', strftime("%c"), expand("$LOGNAME"), hostname()) . "/e"
  endfunction
 
  " FUNCTION - LastModNow {{{3
  " An even better version than LastMod()
  function! LastModNow()
    call setline(line('.'), printf('%sUpdated: %s by %s@%s', printf(&commentstring, ' '), strftime("%c"), expand("$LOGNAME"), hostname()))
    "printf('%sUpdated: %s by %s@%s', printf(&commentstring, ' '), strftime("%c"), expand("$LOGNAME"), hostname())\|dd\|j\|dd<CR><ESC>
    "printf('Updated: %s by %s %s', strftime("%c"), expand("$LOGNAME@$HOSTNAME")) ."/e"
  endfunction
 
  " FUNCTION - AppendModeline {{{3
  " Append modeline after last line in buffer.  Use substitute() instead of printf() to handle '%%s' modeline
  function! AppendModeline()
    let l:modeline = printf(" vim: set ft=%s ts=%d sw=%d tw=%d foldmethod=%s :", &filetype, &tabstop, &shiftwidth, &textwidth, &foldmethod)
    let l:modeline = substitute(&commentstring, "%s", l:modeline, "")
    call append(line("$"), l:modeline)
  endfunction
 
  " FUNCTION - LastModAAZZZ {{{3
  " AA_UPDATED='01/24/12-00:56:00'
  function! LastModAAZZZ()
    exe "1,50s/AA_UPDATED=.*/AA_UPDATED='" . strftime("%c") . "'"
  endfunction
 
  " FUNCTION - StripTrailingWhitespace {{{3
  " automatically remove trailing whitespace before write
  function! StripTrailingWhitespace()
    normal mZ
    %s/\s\+$//e
    if line("'Z") != line(".")|echo "Stripped whitespace\n"|endif
    normal `Z
  endfunction
 
  " FUNCTION - MyTabL {{{3
  function! MyTabL()
    let s = ''|let t = tabpagenr()|let i = 1
    while i <= tabpagenr('$')
      let bl = tabpagebuflist(i)|let wn = tabpagewinnr(i)
      let s .= '%' . i . 'T'. (i == t ? '%1*' : '%2*') . '%*' . (i == t ? ' %#TabLineSel# ' : '%#TabLine#')
      let file = (i == t ? fnamemodify(bufname(bl[wn - 1]), ':p') : fnamemodify(bufname(bl[wn - 1]), ':t') )|if file == ''|let file = '[No Name]'|endif
      let s .= i.' '. file .(i == t ? ' ' : '')|let i += 1
    endwhile
    let s .= '%T%#TabLineFill#%=' . (tabpagenr('$') > 1 ? '%999XX' : 'X')
    return s
  endfunction
 
  " FUNCTION - DiffWithSaved {{{3
  " Diff with saved version of the file
  function! s:DiffWithSaved()
    let filetype=&ft
    diffthis
    vnew | r # | normal! 1Gdd
    diffthis
    exe "setlocal bt=nofile bh=wipe nobl noswf ro ft=" . filetype
  endfunction
  com! DiffSaved call s:DiffWithSaved()
 
  " FUNCTION - ShowWhitespace() {{{3
  function! ShowWhitespace(flags)
    let bad = ''
    let pat = []
    for c in split(a:flags, '\zs')
      if c == 'e'
        call add(pat, '\s\+$')
      elseif c == 'i'
        call add(pat, '^\t*\zs \+')
      elseif c == 's'
        call add(pat, ' \+\ze\t')
      elseif c == 't'
        call add(pat, '[^\t]\zs\t\+')
      else
        let bad .= c
      endif
    endfor
 
    if len(pat) > 0
      let s = join(pat, '\|')
      exec 'syntax match ExtraWhitespace "'.s.'" containedin=ALL'
    else
      syntax clear ExtraWhitespace
    endif
 
    if len(bad) > 0|echo 'ShowWhitespace ignored: '.bad|endif
  endfunction
 
  " FUNCTION - ToggleShowWhitespace {{{3
  " I use this all the time, it's mapped to , ts
  function! ToggleShowWhitespace()
    if !exists('b:ws_show')|let b:ws_show = 0|endif
    if !exists('b:ws_flags')|let b:ws_flags = 'est'|endif
    let b:ws_show = !b:ws_show
    if b:ws_show|call ShowWhitespace(b:ws_flags)|else|call ShowWhitespace('')|endif
  endfunction
 
endif
 
" DYNAMIC SETTINGS / COLORS / TERMINAL {{{1
" ================================================================================================================================================================
 
" DISABLE MOUSE NO GOOEYS {{{3
if has('mouse')|set mouse=|endif
 
" SET TITLESTRING {{{3
if has('title')|set titlestring=%t%(\ [%R%M]%)|endif
 
" SET TABLINE {{{3
if exists("*s:MyTabL")|set tabline=%!MyTabL()|endif
 
let g:vimsyn_folding='af'
 
"DISABLE FILETYPE-SPECIFIC MAPS {{{3
let no_plugin_maps=1
 
"}}}1 DYNAMIC SETTINGS / COLORS / TERMINAL
 
" OPTIONS "{{{1
" ===========================================================================================================================================================================
 
" BACKUP, FILE OPTIONS {{{2
" ================================================================================
set backup        " Make a backup before overwriting a file.  Leave it around after the file has been successfully written.
set backupcopy=auto " When writing a file and a backup is made, this option tells how it's done.  This is a comma separated list of words. - value: yes,no,auto - no:rename the file and write a new one
 
set swapfile
set swapsync=fsync
 
"}}}2 BACKUP, FILE OPTIONS
 
" BASIC SETTINGS "{{{2
" ================================================================================
set nocompatible    " vim, not vi.. must be first, because it changes other options as a side effect
set modeline
 
set statusline=%M%h%y\ %t\ %F\ %p%%\ %l/%L\ %=[%{&ff},%{&ft}]\ [a=\%03.3b]\ [h=\%02.2B]\ [%l,%v]
set title titlelen=150 titlestring=%(\ %M%)%(\ (%{expand(\"%:p:h\")})%)%(\ %a%)\ -\ %{v:servername}
 
"set tags=tags;/      " search recursively up for tags
 
set ttyfast        " we have a fast terminal
set scrolljump=5    " when scrolling up down, show at least 5 lines
"set ttyscroll=999    " make vim redraw screen instead of scrolling when there are more than 3 lines to be scrolled
 
"set tw=500        " default textwidth is a max of 5
 
set undolevels=10    " 50 undos - saved in memory
set updatecount=250    " switch every 250 chars, save swap
 
set whichwrap+=b,s,<,>,h,l,[,]      " backspaces and cursor keys wrap to
"set wildignore+=*.o,*~,.lo,*.exe,*.bak  " ignore object files
"set wildmenu              " menu has tab completion
"set wildmode=longest:full        " *wild* mode
set nowrap
 
set autoindent smartindent    " auto/smart indent
 
set autoread          " watch for file changes
 
set backspace=indent,eol,start  " backspace over all kinds of things
 
set cmdheight=1          " command line two lines high
set complete=.,w,b,u,U,t,i,d  " do lots of scanning on tab completion
set cursorline          " show the cursor line
"set enc=utf-8 fenc=utf-8    " utf-8
 
set history=3000        " keep 3000 lines of command line history
 
set keywordprg=TERM=mostlike\ man\ -s\ -Pless
 
set laststatus=2
 
"set lazyredraw          " don't redraw when don't have to
set linebreak          " wrap at 'breakat' instead of last char
set magic            " Enable the "magic"
 
set maxmem=25123  " 24 MB -  max mem in Kbyte to use for one buffer.  Max is 2000000
 
set noautowrite          " don't automagically write on :next
 
set noexpandtab          " no expand tabs to spaces"
set noruler          " show the line number on the bar
set nospell
set nohidden          " close the buffer when I close a tab (I use tabs more than buffers)
 
set noerrorbells visualbell t_vb= " Disable ALL bells
 
set number          " line numbers
 
set pastetoggle=<F11>
 
set scrolloff=3        " keep at least 3 lines above/below
set shiftwidth=3      " shift width
 
set showcmd          " Show us the command we're typing
set showfulltag        " show full completion tags
set showmode        " show the mode all the time
 
set sidescroll=2      " if wrap is off, this is fasster for horizontal scrolling
set sidescrolloff=2      "keep at least 5 lines left/right
 
set noguipty
 
set splitright
set splitbelow
 
set restorescreen=on " restore screen contents when vim exits -  disable withset t_ti= t_te=
 
"set sessionoptions=word,blank,buffers,curdir,folds,globals,help,localoptions,resize,sesdir,tabpages,winpos,winsize
set winheight=25
set winminheight=1  " minimal value for window height
"set winheight=30  " set the minimal window height
set equalalways    " all the windows are automatically sized same
set eadirection=both  " only equalalways for horizontally split windows
 
set hlsearch
 
set laststatus=2
 
set tabstop=4
set softtabstop=4
 
set shiftwidth=3
set switchbuf=usetab
 
set commentstring=#%s
 
set tabpagemax=55
set showtabline=2    " 2 always, 1 only if multiple tabs
set smarttab      " tab and backspace are smart
 
set foldmethod=marker
set foldenable
set foldcolumn=6        " the blank left-most bar left of the numbered lines
 
set incsearch          " incremental search
"set ignorecase          " search ignoring case
set sc              " override 'ignorecase' when pattern has upper case characters
set smartcase          " Ignore case when searching lowercase
 
set showmatch          " show matching bracket
set diffopt=filler,iwhite    " ignore all whitespace and sync"
set stal=2
 
"}}}1 OPTIONS
 
" PLUGIN SETTINGS {{{1
" ================================================================================================================================================================
" Settings for :TOhtml "{{{3
let html_number_lines=1
let html_use_css=1
let use_xhtml=1
"}}}1 PLUGIN SETTINGS
 
" COLORSCHEME IF MORE THAN 2 COLORS lol {{{1
" ================================================================================================================================================================
if &t_Co > 2
 
  if &term =~ "256"
 
    set bg=dark t_Co=256 vb
    let &t_vb="\<Esc>[?5h\<Esc>[?5l"  " flash screen for visual bell
 
    if filereadable(expand("$VIMRUNTIME/colors/askapachecode.vim"))
      colorscheme askapachecode
    elseif filereadable(expand("$HOME/.vim/colors/askapachecode.vim"))
      colorscheme askapachecode
    else
      colorscheme default
    endif
 
    filetype indent plugin on
    syntax on
 
  else
    " things like cfdisk, crontab -e, visudo, vless, etc.
    set term=linux
    set t_Co=8
    syntax off
    filetype indent plugin off
 
  endif
 
endif
 
"}}}1
 
" AUTOCOMMANDS "{{{1
" ===========================================================================================================================================================================
"if !exists(":DiffOrig") | command DiffOrig vert new | set bt=nofile | r # | 0d_ | diffthis | wincmd p | diffthis | endif
 
" auto load extensions for different file types
if has('autocmd')
 
  if !exists("autocommands_loaded")
    let autocommands_loaded = 1
 
    " JUMP TO LAST POS {{{3
    " When editing a file, always jump to the last known cursor position. Don't do it when the position is invalid or when inside an event handler
    " (happens when dropping a file on gvim). Also don't do it when the mark is in the first line, that is the default position when opening a file.
    au BufReadPost * if line("'\"") > 1 && line("'\"") <= line("$") | exe "normal! g`\"" | endif
 
    " CLEARMATCHES ON BUFWINLEAVE {{{3
    au BufWinLeave * call clearmatches()
 
    " STRIP TRAILING WHITESPACE {{{3
    autocmd BufWritePre *.cpp,*.hpp,*.i :call StripTrailingWhitespace()
 
    " AA_ZZZ LAST MOD {{{3
    autocmd BufWritePre,FileWritePre,TabLeave zzz_askapache-bash.sh ks|call LastModAAZZZ()|'s
 
    " SET VIM SETTINGS FOR AA_ZZZ SCRIPTS {{{3
    autocmd BufRead /etc/ZZZ/*.sh,.bash_profile,.bash_login,.bashrc,.bash_login_user,.bash_logout setlocal ts=4 sw=3 ft=sh foldmethod=marker tw=500 foldcolumn=7
 
    " INSERT CURRENT DATE AND TIME IN A *.SH FILE WHEN WRITING IT {{{3
    autocmd BufWritePre,FileWritePre *.*   ks|call LastMod()|'s
 
    " IMPROVE LEGIBILITY {{{3
    autocmd BufRead quickfix setlocal nobuflisted wrap number
 
    " SAVE BACKUPFILE AS BACKUPDIR/FILENAME-06-13-1331 {{{3
    autocmd BufWritePre * let &bex = strftime("-%m-%d-%H%M")
 
    " TMUX FILETYPE {{{3
    autocmd BufRead tmux.conf,.tmux.conf,.tmux*,*/tmux-sessions/* setlocal filetype=tmux foldmethod=marker
 
    " APACHE2 FILETYPE {{{3
    autocmd BufRead /opt/a*/conf/*,/etc/httpd/*.conf setlocal filetype=apache
 
    " SH FILETYPES {{{3
    autocmd BufRead *.sh,*.cron,*.bash setlocal filetype=sh
 
    " SYSLOG-NG FILETYPE {{{3
    autocmd BufRead syslog-ng.conf setlocal filetype=syslog-ng
 
    " COMMENTSTRING FOR VIM "{{{3
    au FileType vim setlocal commentstring="%s
 
    " COMMENTSTRING FOR XDEFAULTS "{{{3
    au FileType xdefaults setlocal foldmethod=marker foldlevel=2 commentstring=!%s
 
    " VIMRC {{{3
    augroup vimrc
      au BufReadPre * setlocal foldmethod=indent
      au BufWinEnter * if &fdm == 'indent' | set foldmethod=manual | endif
      au BufRead *.vim,vimrc,*.vimrc set filetype=vim ts=3 sw=3 tw=500 foldmethod=marker foldcolumn=6
    augroup END
 
    " AUTOMKVIEWS {{{3
    " Warning - this will save your settings for each file you edit and restore those settings when opened again - can fill up quick
    au BufWinLeave *.sh,*.conf,*.vim,*.c,*.txt,.htaccess,*.cgi,*.php,*.html,*.conf,vimrc mkview
    au BufWinEnter *.sh,*.conf,*.vim,*.c,*.txt,.htaccess,*.cgi,*.php,*.html,*.conf,vimrc silent loadview
    " }}}3
 
    " MAN RUNTIME - TODO REPLACE WITH TMUXES CTRL-M BINDING {{{3
    " Lets you type :Man anymanpage and it will load in vim, color-coded and searchable
    "runtime ftplugin/man.vim
 
  endif
 
endif
"}}}1
 
" MAPS "{{{1
" ===========================================================================================================================================================================
 
" FUNCTION MAPS {{{2
" ---------------------------------
" APPEND MODELINE {{{3
map <silent> <LocalLeader>ml :call AppendModeline()<CR>
 
" SHOW WHITESPACE {{{3
nnoremap <LocalLeader>ts :call ToggleShowWhitespace()<CR>
 
" SUDO A WRITE {{{3
command! W :execute ':silent w !sudo tee % > /dev/null' | :edit!
"cmap w!! %!sudo tee > /dev/null %
" :w !sudo tee > /dev/null %
 
" SET TABLINE {{{3
" My Personal Fav, inserts last-modified manually on current line when you press <F12> key
" call setline(1, printf('%sUpdated: %s by %s@%s', printf(&commentstring, ' '), strftime("%c"), expand("$LOGNAME"), hostname()))
if exists("*s:LastModNow")
  map <silent> <F12> :call LastModNow()<CR>
endif
 
" RELOAD VIMRC FILES {{{3
map <LocalLeader>. :mkview<CR>:unlet! AskApacheLoaded autocommands_loaded<CR>:mapclear<CR>:source /etc/vimrc<CR>:echoerr 'VIMRC RELOADED'<CR>
 
" SCROLLING MAPS {{{3
map <PageDown> :set scroll=0<CR>:set scroll^=2<CR>:set scroll-=1<CR><C-D>:set scroll=0<CR>
map <PageUp> :set scroll=0<CR>:set scroll^=2<CR>:set scroll-=1<CR><C-U>:set scroll=0<CR>
nnoremap <silent> <PageUp> <C-U><C-U>
vnoremap <silent> <PageUp> <C-U><C-U>
inoremap <silent> <PageUp> <C-\><C-O><C-U><C-\><C-O><C-U>
nnoremap <silent> <PageDown> <C-D><C-D>
vnoremap <silent> <PageDown> <C-D><C-D>
inoremap <silent> <PageDown> <C-\><C-O><C-D><C-\><C-O><C-D>
"}}}3
 
" KEY MAPS {{{2
" physically map keys to produce different key, type CTRL-V in insert mode followed by any key to see how vim sees it
" ----------------------------------------
imap <ESC>[8~ <End>
map <ESC>[8~ <End>
 
imap <ESC>[7~ <Home>
map <ESC>[7~ <Home>
 
" Basic Maps  {{{2
" ----------------------------------------
" TOGGLE PASTE MODE {{{3
map <LocalLeader>pm :set nonumber! foldcolumn=0<CR>
 
" REINDENT FILE {{{3
map <LocalLeader>ri G=gg<CR>
 
" CLEAR SPACES AT END OF LINE {{{3
map <LocalLeader>cs :%s/\s\+$//e<CR>
 
" Y YANKS FROM CURSOR TO $ {{{3
map Y y$
 
" DON'T USE EX MODE, USE Q FOR FORMATTING {{{3
map Q gq
map! ^H ^?
 
" NEXT SEARCH RESULT {{{3
map <silent> <LocalLeader>cn :cn<CR>
 
" WRAP? {{{3
map <silent> <LocalLeader>ww :ww
 
" ERR INSERTION {{{3
"map <silent> <LocalLeader>e <Home>A<C-R>=printf('%s', '_err "$0 $FUNCNAME:$LINENO FAILED WITH ARGS= $*"')<CR><Home><Esc>
 
" CUSTOM LINES FOR CODING {{{3
map <silent> <LocalLeader>l1 <Home>A<C-R>=printf('%s%s', printf(&commentstring, ' '), repeat('=', 160))<CR><Home><Esc>
map <silent> <LocalLeader>l2 <Home>A<C-R>=printf('%s%s', printf(&commentstring, ' '), repeat('=', 80))<CR><Home><Esc>
map <silent> <LocalLeader>l3 <Home>A<C-R>=printf('%s%s', printf(&commentstring, ' '), repeat('-', 40))<CR><Home><Esc>
map <silent> <LocalLeader>l4 <Home>A<C-R>=printf('%s%s', printf(&commentstring, ' '), repeat('-', 20))<CR><Home><Esc>
 
" CHANGE DIRECTORY TO THAT OF CURRENT FILE {{{3
nmap <LocalLeader>cd :cd%:p:h<CR>
 
" CHANGE LOCAL DIRECTORY TO THAT OF CURRENT FILE {{{3
nmap <LocalLeader>lcd :lcd%:p:h<CR>
 
" TOGGLE WRAPPING {{{3
nmap <LocalLeader>ww :set wrap!<CR>
nmap <LocalLeader>wo :set wrap<CR>
 
" TABS "{{{2
" ---------------------------------
 
" CREATE A NEW TAB {{{3
map <LocalLeader>tc :tabnew %<CR>
 
" LAST TAB {{{3
map <LocalLeader>t<Space> :tablast<CR>
 
" CLOSE A TAB {{{3
map <LocalLeader>tk :tabclose<CR>
 
" NEXT TAB {{{3
map <LocalLeader>tn :tabnext<CR>
 
" PREVIOUS TAB {{{3
map <LocalLeader>tp :tabprev<CR>
 
" FOLDS   "{{{2
" ---------------------------------
" Fold with paren begin/end matching
nmap F zf%
 
" When I use ,sf - return to syntax folding with a big foldcolumn
nmap <LocalLeader>sf :set foldcolumn=6 foldmethod=syntax<cr>
"}}}2
 
"}}}1
 
" HILITE "{{{1
" ===========================================================================================================================================================================
hi NonText cterm=NONE ctermfg=NONE
hi Search cterm=bold ctermbg=99 ctermfg=17
"}}}
 

Colorscheme

Here is a colorscheme file optimized for 256 colors. It will work if saved in ~/.vim/colors/askapachecode.vim or likewise in your runtimepath. Additionally, you could just paste it in the bottom of the above vimrc. The code really needs to be cleaned up, but it looks awesome.

Download - askapachecode - 256 Colors Vim Colorscheme

~/.vim/colors/askapachecode.vim

" Vim color file -- askapachecode
" Maintainer: AskApache <webmaster@askapache.com>
" Updated: Wed Feb 22 14:10:54 2012 by galileo@galileo
 
set background=dark
hi clear
 
if exists("syntax_on")|syntax reset|endif
 
let g:colors_name="askapachecode"
 
" Vim >= 7.0 specific colors
if version >= 700
 hi CursorLine ctermbg=236
 hi CursorColumn ctermbg=236
 hi MatchParen ctermfg=157 ctermbg=237 cterm=bold
 hi Pmenu ctermfg=255 ctermbg=238
 hi PmenuSel ctermfg=0 ctermbg=148
endif
 
" General colors
hi Cursor ctermbg=241
hi Normal ctermfg=253 ctermbg=232
hi NonText ctermfg=244 ctermbg=235
hi LineNr ctermfg=244 ctermbg=232
hi StatusLine ctermfg=253 ctermbg=238 cterm=italic
hi StatusLineNC ctermfg=246 ctermbg=238
hi VertSplit ctermfg=238 ctermbg=238
hi Folded ctermbg=4 ctermfg=248
hi Title ctermfg=254 cterm=bold
hi Visual ctermfg=254 ctermbg=4
hi SpecialKey ctermfg=244 ctermbg=236
 
hi pythonOperator ctermfg=103
 
hi Search cterm=NONE  
 
" basic highlight groups (:help highlight-groups) {{{1
 
" text {{{2
hi Normal ctermfg=white ctermbg=black cterm=NONE
hi Folded ctermfg=lightgray ctermbg=black cterm=underline
hi LineNr ctermfg=darkgray ctermbg=NONE cterm=NONE
hi Directory ctermfg=cyan ctermbg=NONE cterm=NONE
hi NonText ctermfg=yellow ctermbg=NONE cterm=NONE
hi SpecialKey ctermfg=green ctermbg=NONE cterm=NONE
 
hi DiffAdd ctermfg=white ctermbg=darkblue cterm=NONE
hi DiffChange ctermfg=black ctermbg=darkmagenta cterm=NONE
hi DiffDelete ctermfg=black ctermbg=red cterm=bold
hi DiffText ctermfg=white ctermbg=green cterm=bold
 
" borders / separators / menus {{{2
hi FoldColumn ctermfg=lightgray ctermbg=darkgray cterm=NONE
hi SignColumn ctermfg=lightgray ctermbg=darkgray cterm=NONE
hi Pmenu ctermfg=white ctermbg=darkgray cterm=NONE
hi PmenuSel ctermfg=white ctermbg=lightblue cterm=NONE
hi PmenuSbar ctermfg=black ctermbg=black cterm=NONE
hi PmenuThumb ctermfg=gray ctermbg=gray cterm=NONE
 
hi StatusLine ctermfg=black ctermbg=white cterm=bold
hi StatusLineNC ctermfg=darkgray ctermbg=white cterm=NONE
hi WildMenu ctermfg=white ctermbg=darkblue cterm=bold
hi VertSplit ctermfg=white ctermbg=white cterm=NONE
 
if &t_Co == 256|hi TabLine ctermfg=15 ctermbg=242 term=underline|else|hi TabLine ctermfg=grey ctermbg=white term=underline|endif
"hi TabLine ctermfg=white ctermbg=white cterm=NONE
hi TabLineFill ctermfg=grey ctermbg=white cterm=NONE
"hi TabLineSel ctermfg=black ctermbg=green cterm=NONE
hi TabLineSel ctermfg=green ctermbg=black term=bold
"hi TabLineSel term=bold cterm=bold
"hi TabLineFill term=reverse cterm=reverse 
"hi TabLine term=underline cterm=underline ctermfg=15 ctermbg=242
 
"hi Menu
"hi Scrollbar
"hi Tooltip
 
" cursor / dynamic / other {{{2
hi Cursor ctermfg=black ctermbg=white cterm=NONE
hi CursorIM ctermfg=black ctermbg=white cterm=reverse
hi CursorLine ctermfg=NONE ctermbg=NONE cterm=NONE
hi CursorColumn ctermfg=NONE ctermbg=NONE cterm=NONE
 
hi Visual ctermfg=white ctermbg=lightblue cterm=NONE
hi IncSearch ctermfg=white ctermbg=yellow cterm=NONE
hi Search ctermfg=white ctermbg=darkgreen cterm=NONE
 
" LISTINGS / MESSAGES {{{2
hi ModeMsg ctermfg=yellow ctermbg=NONE cterm=NONE
hi Title ctermfg=red ctermbg=NONE cterm=bold
hi Question ctermfg=green ctermbg=NONE cterm=NONE
hi MoreMsg ctermfg=green ctermbg=NONE cterm=NONE
hi ErrorMsg ctermfg=white ctermbg=red cterm=bold
hi WarningMsg ctermfg=yellow ctermbg=NONE cterm=bold
 
hi Directory term=bold ctermfg=4 "{{{
hi ErrorMsg term=standout ctermfg=15 ctermbg=1  
hi IncSearch term=reverse cterm=reverse 
hi Search term=NONE ctermfg=255 ctermbg=135
hi MoreMsg term=bold ctermfg=2  
hi ModeMsg term=bold cterm=bold 
hi LineNr term=underline ctermfg=244 ctermbg=232  
hi Question term=standout ctermfg=2  
hi StatusLine term=bold,reverse cterm=italic ctermfg=253 ctermbg=238   
hi StatusLineNC term=reverse cterm=reverse ctermfg=246 ctermbg=238  
hi VertSplit term=reverse cterm=reverse ctermfg=238 ctermbg=238  
hi Title term=bold cterm=bold ctermfg=254  
hi Visual term=reverse ctermfg=254 ctermbg=4  
hi VisualNOS term=bold,underline cterm=bold,underline
hi WarningMsg term=standout ctermfg=1 
hi WildMenu term=standout ctermfg=0 ctermbg=11  
hi Folded term=standout cterm=BOLD ctermfg=7 ctermbg=27
hi FoldColumn term=NONE cterm=NONE ctermfg=75 ctermbg=16
hi IncSearch term=bold,underline cterm=bold,underline ctermfg=7 ctermbg=9
hi DiffAdd term=bold ctermbg=12 
hi DiffChange term=bold ctermbg=13 
hi DiffDelete term=bold ctermfg=12 ctermbg=14   
hi DiffText term=reverse cterm=bold ctermbg=9  
hi SpellBad term=reverse ctermbg=9  
hi SpellCap term=reverse ctermbg=12  
hi SpellRare term=reverse ctermbg=13  
hi SpellLocal term=underline ctermbg=14  
hi Pmenu ctermfg=255 ctermbg=238  
hi PmenuSel ctermfg=0 ctermbg=148  
hi PmenuSbar ctermbg=7 
hi PmenuThumb cterm=reverse 
hi TabLine term=underline cterm=underline ctermfg=0 ctermbg=7  
hi TabLineSel term=bold cterm=bold 
hi TabLineFill term=reverse cterm=reverse 
hi CursorLine term=underline cterm=bold ctermbg=234
hi Cursor ctermbg=241 
hi MatchParen term=reverse cterm=bold ctermfg=157 ctermbg=237   
hi Error term=reverse ctermfg=15 ctermbg=9  
 
" :hi TabLineSel|hi TabLineFill|hi TabLine
"hi TabLineSel term=bold cterm=bold 
"hi TabLineFill term=reverse cterm=reverse 
"hi TabLine term=underline cterm=underline ctermfg=15 ctermbg=242 
hi ExtraWhitespace ctermbg=red
hi Comment term=none ctermfg=darkgrey 
hi Constant term=underline ctermfg=Magenta 
hi Special term=bold ctermfg=DarkMagenta 
hi Identifier term=underline cterm=bold ctermfg=Cyan 
hi Statement term=bold ctermfg=Yellow 
hi PreProc term=underline ctermfg=LightBlue 
hi Type term=underline ctermfg=LightGreen 
hi Repeat term=underline ctermfg=White 
hi Operator ctermfg=Red 
hi Ignore ctermfg=black 
hi Error term=reverse ctermbg=Red ctermfg=White 
hi Todo term=standout ctermbg=Yellow ctermfg=Black 
 
" COMMON GROUPS THAT LINK TO DEFAULT HIGHLIGHTING.
 
hi Function ctermfg=85
hi String ctermfg=204
hi Statement term=bold cterm=bold ctermfg=81
hi Function term=bold cterm=bold ctermfg=32
hi Number ctermfg=129
hi Conditional term=bold cterm=bold ctermfg=47
hi Special term=underline ctermfg=191
hi Normal ctermfg=7
hi PreProc ctermfg=141
" Syntax highlighting
hi Comment ctermfg=244
hi Todo ctermfg=245
hi Boolean ctermfg=148
hi String ctermfg=148
hi Identifier ctermfg=148
hi Function ctermfg=124
hi Type ctermfg=103
hi Statement ctermfg=103
hi Keyword ctermfg=81
hi Constant ctermfg=81
hi Number ctermfg=81
hi Special ctermfg=81
hi PreProc ctermfg=230
" Code-specific colors
 
 
" SYNTAX HIGHLIGHTING GROUPS (:HELP GROUP-NAME) {{{2
hi FoldColumn ctermbg=0 ctermfg=2
hi Folded cterm=none ctermfg=2
hi NonText cterm=NONE ctermfg=NONE 
hi StatusLine ctermfg=black ctermbg=White cterm=bold
hi StatusLineNC ctermfg=White ctermbg=green cterm=NONE
hi CursorLine cterm=bold term=bold
 
" FINAL THOUGHTS "{{{2
"syn region myFold start="{" end="}" transparent fold
hi Search term=reverse ctermfg=0 ctermbg=11
hi LineNr term=underline ctermfg=244 ctermbg=232
hi MatchParen ctermfg=15 ctermbg=242
hi String ctermfg=10
hi Constant ctermfg=14
hi Identifier ctermfg=14
hi Operator ctermfg=13
hi NonText cterm=NONE ctermfg=NONE
hi Search cterm=bold ctermbg=99 ctermfg=17

Additional Resources

1. The perfect .vimrc vim config file

Optimized Vimrc with 256 Colorscheme originally appeared on AskApache.com

The idea is to have the browser display programming and code similar to the high-quality found on a developers machine, like this older screenshot of my vim.

The most important step is to figure out the font-family and the basic font-attributes. You want to show the best font for those visitors (like me) who have all these extra console fonts, but fallback to a font that anyone in the world can view.

Monospace is the fallback

15.3.1.5 monospace

The sole criterion of a monospace font is that all glyphs have the same fixed width. (This can make some scripts, such as Arabic, look most peculiar.) The effect is similar to a manual typewriter, and is often used to set samples of computer code.

CSS Rules for Code

Here are a few css rules I use. That is my ultimate font-family heirarchy of console-type fonts, though not many people have them installed. The fallback is usually Andale Mono, Monaco, or DejaVu Sans Mono, Lucida Console, Bitstream, then Courier.

kbd, samp, tt, pre, code, var,
.code, .pre {
   font-family: Terminus,Consolas,Profont,"Andale Mono",Monaco,Inconsolata,Inconsolata-g,
      Unifont,Lime,"ClearlyU PUA",Clean,"DejaVu Sans Mono","Lucida Console",
      "Bitstream Vera Sans Mono",Freemono,"Liberation Mono",Dina,Anka,Droid Sans Mono,
      Anonymous Pro,Proggy fonts,Envy Code R,Gamow,Courier,"Courier New",Terminal,monospace;
}

This is just some basic pre attributes, useful as a reset or to force the issue. You may just want to do .pre {...} to apply to elements with class="pre" instead of applying to all pre elements sitewide.

pre { letter-spacing:normal; word-spacing:normal; text-transform:none; max-width:100%; overflow:auto; white-space:pre-wrap; }
pre.normal { white-space:normal }

Live Font Examples

What you see is what you get, so experiment with different browsers.

• Courier
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Courier New
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Terminal
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Agency FB Bold
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Consolas
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Terminus
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Profont
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Andale Mono
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Monaco
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Inconsolata
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Inconsolata-g
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Unifont
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Lime
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• ClearlyU PUA
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Clean
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• DejaVu Sans Mono
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Lucida Console
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Bitstream Vera Sans Mono
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Freemono
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Liberation Mono
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Dina
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Anka
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Droid Sans Mono
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Anonymous Pro
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Proggy fonts
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Envy-Code-R
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

• Gamow
  

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 |
  |     Type      |      Code     |          A B C D E F G H      |

More Info and Software

• CSS Font Families Example at W3
• Monospace/Fixed Width Programmer's Fonts
• WinFontsView v1.10 - View samples of Windows fonts installed on your system

Programming Fonts for the Web originally appeared on AskApache.com

Here's an example of validation links from the AskApache footer.

RSS | XHTML 1.1 | CSS 2.1

document.getElementById("validat").innerHTML += ' | <a href="http://feedvalidator.org/check.cgi?url=http://www.askapache.com/feed/">RSS</a>  | <a href="http://validator.w3.org/check/referer?ss=1;outline=1;sp=1;debug">XHTML 1.1</a> | <a href="http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/check/referer?warning=0">CSS 2.1</a>';

Main Javascript Object

Now here's the object that contains all the functions and variables. This is smart to do as a function (all javascript really) because it makes it much safer as it won't conflict with other scripts or having naming collisions. And portable code is always something to strive for.

var AskApacheJS = new Object({
 
  /* Runs on page load.  Initializes ajs as being an alias for AskApacheJS,
  * and runs the append_validation_links function after 5 seconds. */
  _init: function () {
    /*console.log('Running _init');*/
    window.ajs = this;
    setTimeout(ajs.append_validation_links, 5000);
  },
 
  append_validation_links: function () {
    var ac=ajs.gi('validatelinks');
 
    if(ac) {
      var url=encodeURI(window.location).toString().replace(/&/g,"&");
 
      ac.innerHTML =
        "<a href=\"http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/check/referer?warning=0&amp;profile=css21&amp;warning=1\"></a> | "
      + "<a href=\"http://validator.w3.org/feed/check.cgi?url="+url+"\"></a> | "
      + "<a href=\"http://validator.w3.org/check/referer?ss=1;outline=1;sp=1;debug\"></a> | "
      + "<a href=\"http://validator.w3.org/checklink?check=Check&amp;hide_type=all&amp;summary=on&amp;uri="+url+"\"></a> | "
      + "<a href=\"http://www.cynthiasays.com/mynewtester/cynthia.exe?rptmode=-1&amp;url1="+url+"\"></a> | "
      + "<a href=\"http://www.cynthiasays.com/mynewtester/cynthia.exe?rptmode=2&amp;url1="+url+"\"></a>";
    }
  },
 
  /* gi stands for get item, and returns an element by id. Very robust: if it cant find the object it logs to the console. */
  gi: function (B) {
    /*console.log('Running gi '+B);*/
    try {var b = document.getElementById(B);}
    catch(e1) {b = null;try {b = document.all(B);}
    catch(e2) {b = null;try {b = document.layers[B];}
    catch(e3) {b = null;}}}
    return (ajs.isobj(b)) ? b : ajs.er("ERR gi " + B);
  },
 
  /* This function writes the passed msg to the console as type 'error'
  *  and then returns false since it was afterall an error. */
  er: function (msg) { console.error(msg); return false; },
 
  /* Returns true or false based on whether the passed item was an object, used by gi. */
  isobj: function (_1e) { return (typeof _1e != "undefined" && typeof _1e === "object") ? true : false;  }
});

Initialize the Object

;(function () {
  if (!window.ajs)var ajs=AskApacheJS;window.ajs=ajs=AskApacheJS;
  try{ajs._init();}catch(e){AskApacheJS._init();}
})();

FireBug Logging

First things first, this sets up all the logging and debugging needed. This lets you control debugging output displayed in the console used by debuggers like FireBug. Add this to the very top of your javascript.

if(!this["console"]){this.console = {};}
var i=0,tn,cn=["assert","count","debug","dir","dirxml","error","group","groupEnd","info",
"profile","profileEnd","time","timeEnd","trace","warn","log"];
while ((tn = cn[i++])) {
  if (!console[tn]) {
    (function () { var a = tn + "", console[a] = ("log" in console) ?
    function(){var a=tn+"";console[a]=("log" in console) ?
    function(){var b=Array.apply({},arguments);b.unshift(a+":");
    console["log"](b.join(" "))} : function(){}})()
  }
};

Turning On/Off Debugging

It's useful to quickly be able to switch between having the console logging turned on or off. The downside to keeping it on of course is overhead. Here's a very simple method that I use, advanced users use more sophisticated methods than this. Here are the regexes (Adobe CS4 DreamWeaver).

# To turn console logging on
Search for: /\*console.log([^;]*);\*/
Replace with: console.log$1;
 
# To turn console logging off
console.log([^;]*);
/*console.log$1;*/

Console Logging Commented Out

Here's an example of howto log the isobj function from the above object. isobj: function (_1e) { /*@console@*console.log('Running isobj ');**@console@*/ return (typeof _1e != ajs.undefined && typeof _1e === "object") ? true : false; },

Quick and Easy Example

  document.getElementById('validatelinks') && document.getElementById('validatelinks').innerHTML =
        "<a href=\"http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/check/referer?warning=0&amp;profile=css21&amp;warning=1\"></a> | "
      + "<a href=\"http://validator.w3.org/feed/check.cgi?url="+url+"\"></a> | "
      + "<a href=\"http://validator.w3.org/check/referer?ss=1;outline=1;sp=1;debug\"></a> | "
      + "<a href=\"http://validator.w3.org/checklink?check=Check&amp;hide_type=all&amp;summary=on&amp;uri="+url+"\"></a> | "
      + "<a href=\"http://www.cynthiasays.com/mynewtester/cynthia.exe?rptmode=-1&amp;url1="+url+"\"></a> | "
      + "<a href=\"http://www.cynthiasays.com/mynewtester/cynthia.exe?rptmode=2&amp;url1="+url+"\"></a>";

Javascript Snippet to Add HTML, CSS, and FEED Validation Links originally appeared on AskApache.com

Lightning Strikes Twice!

LOL..

3rd Dimension Broken with Bash!

So 3D... it'll hurt you eyes! lol.. Man I am cracking up here. Ha but seriously those really do look 3D for terminal though.. I am actually really impressed. Sweet. Here is the little function I wrote to output that grey marble.

Just a word to the wise, start learning and going over some of these concepts, especially the code used in functions, I will be back in a followup that details actually using this stu.

This function is one of my favorites because it is so fast and useful. Like when designing a 256color prompt.

aa_256 ()
{
    local o x=`tput op` y=`printf %$((${COLUMNS}-6))s`;
    for i in {0..256};
    do
        o=00$i;
        echo -e ${o:${#o}-3:3} `tputm "setaf $i" "setab $i"`${y// /=}$x;
    done
}

Ya this is actually not very helpful or useful, but there you have it.

tputm ()
{
    local a;
    for a in "$@";
    do
        echo -en "${a}\n";
    done | tput -S
}

Some people call this function the grey bringer of death. Not really.

a256 ()
{
    ( x=`tput op` y=`printf %$((${COLUMNS}-6))slocal `;
    for i in {242..232} 232 232;
    do
        echo -en "`tput setaf $i;tput setab $i`${y}${x}`tput op`";
    done )
}

Helpful Ncurses Programs

ALWAYS check out my functions!

This function will print out the terminal, show it's colors, etc.. I have some really nice ones in this article that I use for tmux, screen, and that sort of thing.

c ()
{
    tput clear;
    pm "$TERM: [colors:`tput colors`/`tput pairs`]";
    RC=`tput op` L1=$(L '=' $(( ${COLUMNS} - 25 )));
    for i in `seq ${1:-0} ${2:-16}`;
    do
        o="  $i";
        echo -e " ${o:${#o}-3:3} `tput setaf $i;tput setab $i`${L1}${RC}";
    done
}

Standard Capabilities

X.364 and iBCS2

• \033c - RIS - full reset
• \0337 - SC - save cursor
• \0338 - RC - restore cursor
• \033[r - RSR - not an X.364 mnemonic
• \033[m - SGR0 - not an X.364 mnemonic
• \033[2J - ED2 - clear page

Specified by ISO 2022

• \033(0 - ISO DEC G0 - enable DEC graphics for G0
• \033(A - ISO UK G0 - enable UK chars for G0
• \033(B - ISO US G0 - enable US chars for G0
• \033)0 - ISO DEC G1 - enable DEC graphics for G1
• \033)A - ISO UK G1 - enable UK chars for G1
• \033)B - ISO US G1 - enable US chars for G1

ISO 2022 charset switching:

• ISO/IEC 2022:1994
• "Character code structure and extension techniques"
• ECMA-035
• code structure
  • =00..=1F C0 set of control characters
  • =20..=7F G0 set of 94 or 96 graphic characters
  • =80..=9F C1 set of control characters "C1 controls"
  • =A0..=FF G1 set of 94 or 96 graphic characters
  • ... G2 and G3
• registration authority
  • ISO/IEC 2375:1985 Procedure for registration of escape sequences
  • "ECMA registry"
  • ISO-IR registration number
  • ftp://dkuug.dk/i18n/iso2375reg.txt
  • Internaltional register of coded character sets to be used with escape sequences
  • ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG3
• ISO-2022 terminals from Siemens
• recode iso-2022..utf-8 not yet implemented
• CJK charsets
  • ISO-2022-JP
  • ISO-2022-JP-2
  • ISO-2022-KR
  • ISO-2022-CN
  • ISO-2022-CN-EXT

DEC private controls widely supported by emulators

• \033= - DECPAM - application keypad mode
• \033> - DECPNM - normal keypad mode
• \033< - DECANSI - enter ANSI mode
• \033[!p - DECSTR - soft reset
• \033 F - S7C1T - 7-bit controls

ECMA modes

ISO 2022

• 2 - AM - keyboard action mode
• 4 - IRM - insert/replace mode
• 12 - SRM - send/receive mode
• 20 - LNM - linefeed mode

DEC modes

• 1 - CKM - application cursor keys
• 2 - ANM - set VT52 mode
• 3 - COLM - 132-column mode
• 4 - SCLM - smooth scroll
• 5 - SCNM - reverse video mode
• 6 - OM - origin mode
• 7 - AWM - wraparound mode
• 8 - ARM - auto-repeat mode

ECMA attribute sequences

• 0 - NORMAL - normal
• 1 - +BOLD - bold on
• 2 - +DIM - dim on
• 3 - +ITALIC - italic on
• 4 - +UNDERLINE - underline on
• 5 - +BLINK - blink on
• 6 - +FASTBLINK - fastblink on
• 7 - +REVERSE - reverse on
• 8 - +INVISIBLE - invisible on
• 9 - +DELETED - deleted on
• 10 - MAIN-FONT - select primary font
• 11 - ALT-FONT-1 - select alternate font 1
• 12 - ALT-FONT-2 - select alternate font 2
• 13 - ALT-FONT-3 - select alternate font 3
• 14 - ALT-FONT-4 - select alternate font 4
• 15 - ALT-FONT-5 - select alternate font 5
• 16 - ALT-FONT-6 - select alternate font 6
• 17 - ALT-FONT-7 - select alternate font 7
• 18 - ALT-FONT-1 - select alternate font 1
• 19 - ALT-FONT-1 - select alternate font 1
• 20 - FRAKTUR - Fraktur font
• 21 - DOUBLEUNDER - double underline
• 22 - -DIM - dim off
• 23 - -ITALIC - italic off
• 24 - -UNDERLINE - underline off
• 25 - -BLINK - blink off
• 26 - -FASTBLINK - fastblink off
• 27 - -REVERSE - reverse off
• 28 - -INVISIBLE - invisible off
• 29 - -DELETED - deleted off

Init strings

Cap strings

Variable and Function Index

For stty

• BC: tgoto
• ospeed: Output Padding
• PC: Output Padding
• tgetent: Find
• tgetflag: Interrogate
• tgetnum: Interrogate
• tgetstr: Interrogate
• tgoto: tgoto
• tparam: tparam
• tputs: Output Padding
• UP: tgoto

Summary of Capability Names

Here are all the terminal capability names in alphabetical order with a brief description of each. For cross references to their definitions, see the index of capability names.

Variable and Function Index

• BC: tgoto
• ospeed: Output Padding
• PC: Output Padding
• tgetent: Find
• tgetflag: Interrogate
• tgetnum: Interrogate
• tgetstr: Interrogate
• tgoto: tgoto
• tparam: tparam
• tputs: Output Padding
• UP: tgoto

• ae: Standout
• AL: Insdel Line
• al: Insdel Line
• am: Wrapping
• as: Standout
• bc: Cursor Motion
• bl: Bell
• bs: Cursor Motion
• bt: Cursor Motion
• bw: Cursor Motion
• CC: Basic
• cd: Clearing
• ce: Clearing
• ch: Cursor Motion
• cl: Clearing
• CM: Cursor Motion
• cm: Cursor Motion
• co: Screen Size
• cr: Cursor Motion
• cS: Scrolling
• cs: Scrolling
• ct: Initialization
• cv: Cursor Motion
• da: Scrolling
• dB: Pad Specs
• db: Scrolling
• dC: Pad Specs
• DC: Insdel Char
• dc: Insdel Char
• dF: Pad Specs
• DL: Insdel Line
• dl: Insdel Line
• dm: Insdel Char
• dN: Pad Specs
• DO: Cursor Motion
• do: Cursor Motion
• ds: Status Line
• dT: Pad Specs
• ec: Clearing
• ed: Insdel Char
• ei: Insdel Char
• eo: Basic
• es: Status Line
• ff: Cursor Motion
• fs: Status Line
• gn: Basic
• hc: Basic
• hd: Half-Line
• ho: Cursor Motion
• hs: Status Line
• hu: Half-Line
• hz: Basic
• i1: Initialization
• i3: Initialization
• IC: Insdel Char
• ic: Insdel Char
• if: Initialization
• im: Insdel Char
• in: Insdel Char
• ip: Insdel Char
• is: Initialization
• it: Initialization
• K1...K5: Keypad
• k1...k9: Keypad
• kA...kT: Keypad
• ka...ku: Keypad
• km: Meta Key
• l0...l9: Keypad
• LE: Cursor Motion
• le: Cursor Motion
• li: Screen Size
• ll: Cursor Motion
• lm: Scrolling
• LP: Wrapping
• mb: Standout
• md: Standout
• me: Standout
• mh: Standout
• mi: Insdel Char
• mk: Standout
• mm: Meta Key
• mo: Meta Key
• mp: Standout
• mr: Standout
• ms: Underlining
• ms: Standout
• nc: Cursor Motion
• nd: Cursor Motion
• NF: Initialization
• nl: Cursor Motion
• ns: Scrolling
• nw: Cursor Motion
• os: Basic
• pb: Pad Specs
• pc: Pad Specs
• pf: Printer
• pO: Printer
• po: Printer
• ps: Printer
• rc: Cursor Motion
• RI: Cursor Motion
• rp: Basic
• rs: Initialization
• sa: Standout
• sc: Cursor Motion
• se: Standout
• SF: Scrolling
• sf: Scrolling
• sg: Standout
• so: Standout
• SR: Scrolling
• sr: Scrolling
• st: Initialization
• ta: Cursor Motion
• te: Initialization
• ti: Initialization
• ts: Status Line
• uc: Underlining
• ue: Underlining
• ug: Underlining
• ul: Underlining
• UP: Cursor Motion
• up: Cursor Motion
• us: Underlining
• vb: Bell
• ve: Cursor Visibility
• vi: Cursor Visibility
• vs: Cursor Visibility
• wi: Windows
• ws: Status Line
• xb: Basic
• xn: Wrapping
• xs: Standout
• xt: Standout
• xt: Cursor Motion

• Basic: Basic characteristics.
• Screen Size: Screen size, and what happens when it changes.
• Cursor Motion: Various ways to move the cursor.
• Wrapping: What happens if you write a character in the last column.
• Scrolling: Pushing text up and down on the screen.
• Windows: Limiting the part of the window that output affects.
• Clearing: Erasing one or many lines.
• Insdel Line: Making new blank lines in mid-screen; deleting lines.
• Insdel Char: Inserting and deleting characters within a line.
• Standout: Highlighting some of the text.
• Underlining: Underlining some of the text.
• Cursor Visibility: Making the cursor more or less easy to spot.
• Bell: Attracts user's attention; not localized on the screen.
• Keypad: Recognizing when function keys or arrows are typed.
• Meta Key: META acts like an extra shift key.
• Initialization: Commands used to initialize or reset the terminal.
• Pad Specs: Info for the kernel on how much padding is needed.
• Status Line: A status line displays background information.
• Half-Line: Moving by half-lines, for superscripts and subscripts.
• Printer: Controlling auxiliary printers of display terminals.

Translated Term Capabilities

This is helpful so you can understand what a term cap does, by looking at the long name.

List of All Terminals

You can view this list with the following command:

$ toe -a|sort -d

VT100 keypad Diagram

VT100 LINK

Here's a diagram of the VT100 keypad keys with their bindings. The top line is the name of the key (some DEC keyboards have the keys labelled somewhat differently, like GOLD instead of PF1, but this is the most "official" name). The second line is the escape sequence it generates in Application Keypad mode (where "$" means the ESC character). The third line contains two items, first the mapping of the key in terminfo, and then in termcap.

   _______________________________________
  |   PF1   |   PF2   |   PF3   |   PF4   |
  |   $OP   |   $OQ   |   $OR   |   $OS   |
  |_kf1__k1_|_kf2__k2_|_kf3__k3_|_kf4__k4_|
  |    7         8         9         -    |
  |   $Ow   |   $Ox   |   $Oy   |   $Om   |
  |_kf9__k9_|_kf10_k;_|_kf0__k0_|_________|
  |    4    |    5    |    6    |    ,    |
  |   $Ot   |   $Ou   |   $Ov   |   $Ol   |
  |_kf5__k5_|_kf6__k6_|_kf7__k7_|_kf8__k8_|
  |    1    |    2    |    3    |         |
  |   $Oq   |   $Or   |   $Os   |  enter  |
  |_ka1__K1_|_kb2__K2_|_ka3__K3_|  $OM    |
  |         0         |   .     |         |
  |        $Op        |  $On    |         |
  |___kc1_______K4____|_kc3__K5_|_kent_@8_|

A better adaptation to modern keyboards such as the PC's, which have a dozen function keys and the keypad 2,4,6,8 keys are labeled with arrows keys, is to use the 5-key arrangement to model the arrow keys as suggested in the terminfo guidelines:

   _______________________________________
  |   PF1   |   PF2   |   PF3   |   PF4   |
  |   $OP   |   $OQ   |   $OR   |   $OS   |
  |_kf1__k1_|_kf2__k2_|_kf3__k3_|_kf4__k4_|
  |    7         8         9         -    |
  |   $Ow   |   $Ox   |   $Oy   |   $Om   |
  |_ka1__K1_|_________|_ka3__K3_|_________|
  |    4    |    5    |    6    |    ,    |
  |   $Ot   |   $Ou   |   $Ov   |   $Ol   |
  |_________|_kb2__K2_|_________|_________|
  |    1    |    2    |    3    |         |
  |   $Oq   |   $Or   |   $Os   |  enter  |
  |_kc1__K4_|_________|_kc3__K5_|  $OM    |
  |         0         |   .     |         |
  |        $Op        |  $On    |         |
  |___________________|_________|_kent_@8_|

SGR parameter values

Sequence     Sequence                             Parameter   or
Mnemonic     Name              Sequence           Value      Mode   terminfo
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
APC  Applicatn Program Command \E _                -         Delim  -
BEL  Bell *                    ^G                  -         -      bel
BPH  Break Permitted Here *    \E B                -         *      -
BS   Backpace *                ^H                  -         EF     -
CAN  Cancel *                  ^X                  -         -      -   (A)
CBT  Cursor Backward Tab       \E [ Pn Z           1         eF     cbt
CCH  Cancel Previous Character \E T                -         -      -
CHA  Cursor Horizntal Absolute \E [ Pn G           1         eF     hpa (B)
CHT  Cursor Horizontal Tab     \E [ Pn I           1         eF     tab (C)
CMD  Coding Method Delimiter * \E
CNL  Cursor Next Line          \E [ Pn E           1         eF     nel (D)
CPL  Cursor Preceding Line     \E [ Pn F           1         eF     -
CPR  Cursor Position Report    \E [ Pn ; Pn R      1, 1      -      -   (E)
CSI  Control Sequence Intro    \E [                -         Intro  -
CTC  Cursor Tabulation Control \E [ Ps W           0         eF     -   (F)
CUB  Cursor Backward           \E [ Pn D           1         eF     cub
CUD  Cursor Down               \E [ Pn B           1         eF     cud
CUF  Cursor Forward            \E [ Pn C           1         eF     cuf
CUP  Cursor Position           \E [ Pn ; Pn H      1, 1      eF     cup (G)
CUU  Cursor Up                 \E [ Pn A           1         eF     cuu
CVT  Cursor Vertical Tab       \E [ Pn Y           -         eF     -   (H)
DA   Device Attributes         \E [ Pn c           0         -      -
DAQ  Define Area Qualification \E [ Ps o           0         -      -
DCH  Delete Character          \E [ Pn P           1         eF     dch
DCS  Device Control String     \E P                -         Delim  -
DL   Delete Line               \E [ Pn M           1         eF     dl
DLE  Data Link Escape *        ^P                  -         -      -
DMI  Disable Manual Input      \E \                -         Fs     -
DSR  Device Status Report      \E [ Ps n           0         -      -   (I)
DTA  Dimension Text Area *     \E [ Pn ; Pn SPC T  -         PC     -
EA   Erase in Area             \E [ Ps O           0         eF     -   (J)
ECH  Erase Character           \E [ Pn X           1         eF     ech
ED   Erase in Display          \E [ Ps J           0         eF     ed  (J)
EF   Erase in Field            \E [ Ps N           0         eF     -
EL   Erase in Line             \E [ Ps K           0         eF     el  (J)
EM   End of Medium *           ^Y                  -         -      -
EMI  Enable Manual Input       \E b                          Fs     -
ENQ  Enquire                   ^E                  -         -      -
EOT  End Of Transmission       ^D                  -         *      -
EPA  End of Protected Area     \E W                -         -      -   (K)
ESA  End of Selected Area      \E G                -         -      -
ESC  Escape                    ^[                  -         -      -
ETB  End Transmission Block    ^W                  -         -      -
ETX  End of Text               ^C                  -         -      -
FF   Form Feed                 ^L                  -         -      -
FNK  Function Key *            \E [ Pn SPC W       -         -      -
GCC  Graphic Char Combination* \E [ Pn ; Pn SPC B  -         -      -
FNT  Font Selection            \E [ Pn ; Pn SPC D  0, 0      FE     -
GSM  Graphic Size Modify       \E [ Pn ; Pn SPC B  100, 100  FE     -   (L)
GSS  Graphic Size Selection    \E [ Pn SPC C       none      FE     -
HPA  Horz Position Absolute    \E [ Pn `           1         FE     -   (B)
HPB  Char Position Backward    \E [ j              1         FE     -
HPR  Horz Position Relative    \E [ Pn a           1         FE     -   (M)
HT   Horizontal Tab *          ^I                  -         FE     -   (N)
HTJ  Horz Tab w/Justification  \E I                -         FE     -
HTS  Horizontal Tab Set        \E H                -         FE     hts
HVP  Horz & Vertical Position  \E [ Pn ; Pn f      1, 1      FE     -   (G)
ICH  Insert Character          \E [ Pn @           1         eF     ich
IDCS ID Device Control String  \E [ SPC O          -         *      -
IGS  ID Graphic Subrepertoire  \E [ SPC M          -         *      -
IL   Insert Line               \E [ Pn L           1         eF     il
IND  Index                     \E D                -         FE     -
INT  Interrupt                 \E a                -         Fs     -
JFY  Justify                   \E [ Ps SPC F       0         FE     -
IS1  Info Separator #1 *       ^_                  -         *      -
IS2  Info Separator #1 *       ^^                  -         *      -
IS3  Info Separator #1 *       ^]                  -         *      -
IS4  Info Separator #1 *       ^\                  -         *      -
LF   Line Feed                 ^J                  -         -      -
LS1R Locking Shift Right 1 *   \E ~                -         -      -
LS2  Locking Shift 2 *         \E n                -         -      -
LS2R Locking Shift Right 2 *   \E }                -         -      -
LS3  Locking Shift 3 *         \E o                -         -      -
LS3R Locking Shift Right 3 *   \E |                -         -      -
MC   Media Copy                \E [ Ps i           0         -      -   (S)
MW   Message Waiting           \E U                -         -      -
NAK  Negative Acknowledge *    ^U                  -         *      -
NBH  No Break Here *           \E C                -         -      -
NEL  Next Line                 \E E                -         FE     nel (D)
NP   Next Page                 \E [ Pn U           1         eF     -
NUL  Null *                    ^@                  -         -      -
OSC  Operating System Command  \E ]                -         Delim  -
PEC  Pres. Expand/Contract *   \E Pn SPC Z         0         -      -
PFS  Page Format Selection *   \E Pn SPC J         0         -      -
PLD  Partial Line Down         \E K                -         FE     -   (T)
PLU  Partial Line Up           \E L                -         FE     -   (U)
PM   Privacy Message           \E ^                -         Delim  -
PP   Preceding Page            \E [ Pn V           1         eF     -
PPA  Page Position Absolute *  \E [ Pn SPC P       1         FE     -
PPB  Page Position Backward *  \E [ Pn SPC R       1         FE     -
PPR  Page Position Forward *   \E [ Pn SPC Q       1         FE     -
PTX  Parallel Texts *          \E [ \              -         -      -
PU1  Private Use 1             \E Q                -         -      -
PU2  Private Use 2             \E R                -         -      -
QUAD Typographic Quadding      \E [ Ps SPC H       0         FE     -
REP  Repeat Char or Control    \E [ Pn b           1         -      rep
RI   Reverse Index             \E M                -         FE     -   (V)
RIS  Reset to Initial State    \E c                -         Fs     -
RM   Reset Mode *              \E [ Ps l           -         -      -   (W)
SACS Set Add. Char. Sep. *     \E [ Pn SPC /       0         -      -
SAPV Sel. Alt. Present. Var. * \E [ Ps SPC ]       0         -      -   (X)
SCI  Single-Char Introducer    \E Z                -         -      -
SCO  Sel. Char. Orientation *  \E [ Pn ; Pn SPC k  -         -      -
SCS  Set Char. Spacing *       \E [ Pn SPC g       -         -      -
SD   Scroll Down               \E [ Pn T           1         eF     rin
SDS  Start Directed String *   \E [ Pn ]           1         -      -
SEE  Select Editing Extent     \E [ Ps Q           0         -      -   (Y)
SEF  Sheet Eject & Feed *  \E [ Ps ; Ps SPC Y  0,0       -      -
SGR  Select Graphic Rendition  \E [ Ps m           0         FE     sgr (O)
SHS  Select Char. Spacing *    \E [ Ps SPC K       0         -      -
SI   Shift In                  ^O                  -         -      -   (P)
SIMD Sel. Imp. Move Direct. *  \E [ Ps ^           -         -      -
SL   Scroll Left               \E [ Pn SPC @       1         eF     -
SLH  Set Line Home *           \E [ Pn SPC U       -         -      -
SLL  Set Line Limit *          \E [ Pn SPC V       -         -      -
SLS  Set Line Spacing *        \E [ Pn SPC h       -         -      -
SM   Select Mode               \E [ Ps h           none      -      -   (W)
SO   Shift Out                 ^N                  -         -      -   (Q)
SOH  Start Of Heading *        ^A                  -         -      -
SOS  Start of String *         \E X                -         -      -
SPA  Start of Protected Area   \E V                -         -      -   (Z)
SPD  Select Pres. Direction *  \E [ Ps ; Ps SPC S  0,0       -      -
SPH  Set Page Home *           \E [ Ps SPC G       -         -      -
SPI  Spacing Increment         \E [ Pn ; Pn SPC G  none      FE     -
SPL  Set Page Limit *          \E [ Ps SPC j       -         -      -
SPQR Set Pr. Qual. & Rapid. *  \E [ Ps SPC X       0         -      -
SR   Scroll Right              \E [ Pn SPC A       1         eF     -
SRCS Set Reduced Char. Sep. *  \E [ Pn SPC f       0         -      -
SRS  Start Reversed String *   \E [ Ps [           0         -      -
SSA  Start of Selected Area    \E F                -         -      -
SSU  Select Size Unit *        \E [ Pn SPC I       0         -      -
SSW  Set Space Width *         \E [ Pn SPC [       none      -      -
SS2  Single Shift 2 (G2 set)   \E N                -         Intro  -
SS3  Single Shift 3 (G3 set)   \E O                -         Intro  -
ST   String Terminator         \E \                -         Delim  -
STAB Selective Tabulation *    \E [ Pn SPC ^       -         -      -
STS  Set Transmit State        \E S                -         -      -
STX  Start pf Text *           ^B                  -         -      -
SU   Scroll Up                 \E [ Pn S           1         eF     indn
SUB  Substitute *              ^Z                  -         -      -
SVS  Select Line Spacing *     \E [ Pn SPC \       1         -      -
SYN  Synchronous Idle *        ^F                  -         -      -
TAC  Tabul. Aligned Centered * \E [ Pn SPC b       -         -      -
TALE Tabul. Al. Leading Edge * \E [ Pn SPC a       -         -      -
TATE Tabul. Al. Trailing Edge* \E [ Pn SPC `       -         -      -
TBC  Tab Clear                 \E [ Ps g           0         FE     tbc
TCC  Tabul. Centered on Char * \E [ Pn SPC c       -         -      -
TSR  Tabulation Stop Remove  * \E [ Pn SPC d       -         FE     -
TSS  Thin Space Specification  \E [ Pn SC E        none      FE     -
VPA  Vert. Position Absolute   \E [ Pn d           1         FE     vpa
VPB  Line Position Backward *  \E [ Pn k           1         FE     -
VPR  Vert. Position Relative   \E [ Pn e           1         FE     -   (R)
VPR  Vert. Position Relative   \E [ Pn e           1         FE     -   (R)
VT   Vertical Tabulation *     ^K                  -         FE     -
VTS  Vertical Tabulation Set   \E J                -         FE     -

Basic Characteristics

This section documents the capabilities that describe the basic and nature of the terminal, and also those that are relevant to the output of graphic characters.

7bit vs. 8bit

These recommendations are optional. IBCS2 allows the leading escape to # be either the 7-bit \E[ or 8-bit \0233 introducer, in accordance with # the ANSI X.364/ISO 6429/ECMA-48 standard.

1.6.1 Describing the Encoding

For example, the cm string for a standard ANSI terminal is written as \E[%i%d;%dH. (\E stands for .) cm by convention always requires two parameters, the vertical and horizontal goal positions, so this string specifies the encoding of two parameters. Here %i increments the two values supplied, and each %d encodes one of the values in decimal. If the cursor position values 20,58 are encoded with this string, the result is \E[21;59H.

First, here are the %-sequences that generate output. Except for %%, each of them encodes one parameter and advances the pointer to the following parameter.

• %% Output a single %. This is the only way to represent a literal % in a terminal command with parameters. %% does not use up a parameter.
• %d As in printf, output the next parameter in decimal.
• %2 Like %02d in printf: output the next parameter in decimal, and always use at least two digits.
• %3 Like %03d in printf: output the next parameter in decimal, and always use at least three digits. Note that %4 and so on are _not_ defined.
• %. Output the next parameter as a single character whose ASCII code is the parameter value. Like %c in printf.
• %+CHAR Add the next parameter to the character CHAR, and output the resulting character. For example, %+ represents 0 as a space, 1 as !, etc.

The following %-sequences specify alteration of the parameters (their values, or their order) rather than encoding a parameter for output. They generate no output; they are used only for their side effects on the parameters. Also, they do not advance the "next parameter" pointer except as explicitly stated. Only %i, %r and %> are defined in standard Unix termcap. The others are GNU extensions.

• %i Increment the next two parameters. This is used for terminals that expect cursor positions in origin 1. For example, %i%d,%d would output two parameters with 1 for 0, 2 for 1, etc.
• %r Interchange the next two parameters. This is used for terminals whose cursor positioning command expects the horizontal position first.
• %s Skip the next parameter. Do not output anything.
• %b Back up one parameter. The last parameter used will become once again the next parameter to be output, and the next output command will use it. Using %b more than once, you can back up any number of parameters, and you can refer to each parameter any number of times.
• %>C1C2 Conditionally increment the next parameter. Here C1 and C2 are characters which stand for their ASCII codes as numbers. If the next parameter is greater than the ASCII code of C1, the ASCII code of C2 is added to it.
• %a OP TYPE POS Perform arithmetic on the next parameter, do not use it up, and do not output anything. Here OP specifies the arithmetic operation, while TYPE and POS together specify the other operand.

Spaces are used above to separate the operands for clarity; the spaces don't appear in the data base, where this sequence is exactly five characters long. The character OP says what kind of arithmetic operation to perform. It can be any of these characters:

• = - assign a value to the next parameter, ignoring its old value. The new value comes from the other operand.
• + - add the other operand to the next parameter.
• - - subtract the other operand from the next parameter.
• * - multiply the next parameter by the other operand.
• / - divide the next parameter by the other operand.

The "other operand" may be another parameter's value or a constant; the character TYPE says which. It can be:

• p - Use another parameter. The character POS says which parameter to use. Subtract 64 from its ASCII code to get the position of the desired parameter relative to this one. Thus, the character A as POS means the parameter after the next one; the character ? means the parameter before the next one.
• c - Use a constant value. The character POS specifies the value of the constant. The 0200 bit is cleared out, so that 0200 can be used to represent zero.

The following %-sequences are special purpose hacks to compensate for the weird designs of obscure terminals. They modify the next parameter or the next two parameters but do not generate output and do not use up any parameters. %m is a GNU extension; the others are defined in standard Unix termcap.

• %n - Exclusive-or the next parameter with 0140, and likewise the parameter after next.
• %m - Complement all the bits of the next parameter and the parameter after next.
• %B - Encode the next parameter in BCD. It alters the value of the parameter by adding six times the quotient of the parameter by ten. Here is a C statement that shows how the new value is computed: PARM = (PARM / 10) * 16 + PARM % 10;
• %D - Transform the next parameter as needed by Delta Data terminals. This involves subtracting twice the remainder of the parameter by 16. PARM -= 2 * (PARM % 16);

Terminal Type Name Conventions

Here is a list of standard suffixes and their conventional meanings:

• -w - Short for "wide". This is a mode that gives the terminal more columns than usual. This is normally a user option.
• -am - "Automatic margins". This is an alternate description for use when the terminal's margin-wrap switch is on; it contains the am flag. The implication is that normally the switch is off and the usual description for the terminal says that the switch is off.
• -nam - "No automatic margins". The opposite of -am, this names an alternative description which lacks the am flag. This implies that the terminal is normally operated with the margin-wrap switch turned on, and the normal description of the terminal says so.
• -na - "No arrows". This terminal description initializes the terminal to keep its arrow keys in local mode. This is a user option.
• -rv - "Reverse video". This terminal description causes text output for normal video to appear as reverse, and text output for reverse video to come out as normal. Often this description differs from the usual one by interchanging the two strings which turn reverse video on and off.

This is a user option; you can choose either the "reverse video" variant terminal type or the normal terminal type, and termcap will obey.

• -s - "Status". Says to enable use of a status line which ordinary output does not touch (*note Status Line::).

Some terminals have a special line that is used only as a status line. For these terminals, there is no need for an -s variant; the status line commands should be defined by default. On other terminals, enabling a status line means removing one screen line from ordinary use and reducing the effective screen height. For these terminals, the user can choose the -s variant type to request use of a status line.

• -NLINES - Says to operate with NLINES lines on the screen, for terminals such as the Ambassador which provide this as an option. Normally this is a user option; by choosing the terminal type, you control how many lines termcap will use.
• -NPAGESp - Says that the terminal has NPAGES pages worth of screen memory, for terminals where this is a hardware option.
• -unk - Says that description is not for direct use, but only for reference in tc capabilities. Such a description is a kind of subroutine, because it describes the common characteristics of several variant descriptions that would use other suffixes in place of -unk.

MS-DOS ANSI.SYS

Here is a description of the color and attribute controls supported in the ANSI.SYS driver under MS-DOS. Most console drivers and ANSI terminal emulators for Intel boxes obey these. They are a proper subset of the ECMA-48 escapes.

Bright black becomes gray, bright brown becomes yellow. These coincide with the prescriptions of the ISO 6429/ECMA-48 standard. * If the 5 attribute is on and you set a background color (40-47) it is supposed to enable bright background.

0        all attributes off
1        foreground bright
4        underscore on
5        blink on/background bright (not reliable with brown)
7        reverse-video
8        set blank (non-display)
10       set primary font
11       set first alternate font (on PCs, display ROM characters 1-31)
12       set second alternate font (on PCs, display IBM high-half chars)
3n       set foreground color       / 0=black, 1=red,     2=green, 3=brown,
4n       set background color       \ 4=blue,  5=magenta, 6=cyan,  7=white

STTY

Stty Control Settings

Stty Input settings

Stty Output settings

These arguments specify output-related operations.

Stty Local settings

Stty Combination settings

cread -ignbrk brkint -inlcr -igncr icrnl -ixoff -iuclc -ixany imaxbel opost -olcuc -ocrnl onlcr -onocr -onlret -ofill -ofdel nl0 cr0 tab0 bs0 vt0 ff0 isig icanon iexten echo echoe echok -echonl -noflsh -xcase -tostop -echoprt echoctl echoke

-ignbrk -brkint -ignpar -parmrk -inpck -istrip -inlcr -igncr -icrnl -ixon -ixoff -iuclc -ixany -imaxbel -opost -isig -icanon -xcase min 1 time 0

Special characters

The special characters' default values vary from system to system. They are set with the syntax name value, where the names are listed below and the value can be given either literally, in hat notation (^C), or as an integer which may start with 0x to indicate hexadecimal, 0 to indicate octal, or any other digit to indicate decimal.

For GNU stty, giving a value of ^- or undef disables that special character. (This is incompatible with Ultrix stty, which uses a value of u to disable a special character. GNU stty treats a value u like any other, namely to set that special character to .)

Special settings

• min N - Set the minimum number of characters that will satisfy a read until the time value has expired, when -icanon is set.
• time N - Set the number of tenths of a second before reads time out if the minimum number of characters have not been read, when -icanon is set.
• ispeed N - Set the input speed to N.
• ospeed N - Set the output speed to N.
• rows N - Tell the tty kernel driver that the terminal has N rows. Non-POSIX.
• cols N, columns N - Tell the kernel that the terminal has N columns. Non-POSIX.
• size - Print the number of rows and columns that the kernel thinks the terminal has. (Systems that don't support rows and columns in the kernel typically use the environment variables LINES and COLUMNS instead; however, GNU stty does not know anything about them.) Non-POSIX.
• line N - Use line discipline N. Non-POSIX.
• speed - Print the terminal speed.
• N - Set the input and output speeds to N. N can be one of: 0 50 75 110 134 134.5 150 200 300 600 1200 1800 2400 4800 9600 19200 38400 exta extb. exta is the same as 19200; extb is the same as 38400. 0 hangs up the line if -clocal is set.

Color Terminals

color256 ()
{
    local L=$(sed 's/[0-9]//g; s/./#/g' <<<`seq -s+0 $(($COLUMNS - 10))`);
    for i in `seq 0 $(tput colors)`;
    do printf " %.3d `tput setab $i`${L}${R} %.3d `tput setab 0;tput setaf 7`\n" $i $i | tr '#' ' ';
    done
}

for F in `find ~/.terminfo/ -type f | sed 's/^.*\///' | xargs -P0 -I'TT' sh -c 'echo "$(tput -T TT colors): TT"'|sed '/^-/d'| grep ^16:|cut -d: -f2`; do
echo -e "\n\n";
pm $F; export TERM=$F; tput -T $F initc; color256; done

find ~/.terminfo/ -type f | sed 's/^.*\///' | xargs -I'TT' sh -c 'echo "$(tput -T TT colors): TT"'|sed '/^-/d'

Terminals with 16 Colors

• aixterm-16color
• amiga-vnc
• hp2397
• hp2397a
• hp+color
• ibm+16color
• konsole-16color
• nsterm-16color
• nsterm-7-c
• nsterm-7-c-s
• nsterm-acs-c
• nsterm-acs-c-s
• nsterm-c
• nsterm+c
• nsterm-c-7
• nsterm-c-acs
• nsterm-c-s
• nsterm-c-s-7
• nsterm-c-s-acs
• rxvt-16color
• screen-16color
• screen-16color-bce
• screen-16color-bce-s
• screen-16color-s
• xterm-16color

Terminals with 52 Colors

• d430c-dg-ccc
• d430c-unix-25-ccc
• d430c-unix-ccc
• d430c-unix-s-ccc
• d430c-unix-sr-ccc
• d430c-unix-w-ccc
• d430-dg-ccc
• d430-unix-25-ccc
• d430-unix-ccc
• d430-unix-s-ccc
• d430-unix-sr-ccc
• d430-unix-w-ccc
• dg+ccc
• dgunix+ccc

Terminals with 64 Colors

• hpterm-color
• wy370
• wy370-101k
• wy370-105k
• wy370-EPC
• wy370-nk
• wy370-rv
• wy370-vb
• wy370-w
• wy370-wvb
• wyse370
• Eterm-88color
• rxvt-88color
• xterm-88color
• xterm+88color

Terminals with 256 colors

• Eterm-256color
• gnome-256color
• konsole-256color
• putty-256color
• rxvt-256color
• screen-256color
• screen-256color-bce
• screen-256color-bce-s
• screen-256color-s
• xterm-256color
• xterm+256color

View All tput capabilities

http://blogs.msdn.com/adioltean/articles/271063.aspx

function tputs(){ infocmp -1|sed 's/^[   ]*//; /=/!d; s/=.*//g; /[#\|]/d'; }

Some common terminfo parameter sequences, their termcap equivalents, and some terminal types which commonly have such sequences, are:

terminfo                    termcap   Representative Terminals
---------------------------------------------------------------
%p1%c                       %.        adm
%p1%d                       %d        hp, ANSI standard, vt100
%p1%+%c                 %+x       concept
%i                          %iq       ANSI standard, vt100
%p1%?%>%t%p1%+%;    %>xy      concept
%p2 is printed before %p1   %r        hp

Installing your Own Terminfo

MostLike, or if that is offline I uploaded a copy: mostlike - manpages with color looking like most

rm -rvf ~/.terminfo
mkdir -pv ~/.terminfo
curl -o terminfo.master http://nion.modprobe.de/mostlike.txt; curl -Ss ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.gz
export TERMINFO=~/.terminfo;
sudo tic -e screen-256color,screen-256color-s,screen-256color-bce,screen-256color-bce-s,xterm+256color,xterm,xterm-pcolor terminfo.src

256 Colors in Terminal

256 Colors (Background)

W=`tput setaf 7` RC="\E[0;0;0m" L=$(sed 's/[0-9]//g; s/./ /g' <<<`seq -s+0 $(($COLUMNS/2))`);
 
for i in `seq 0 256`;
do
  printf "${W}\n%.3d `tput setab $i`${L}${RC}" $i;
done

256 Colors (Foreground)

W=`tput setaf 7` WB=`tput setab 0` RC="\E[0;0;0m" L=$(sed 's/[0-9]//g; s/./#/g' <<<`seq -s+0 $(($COLUMNS/2))`);
for i in `seq 0 256`;
do
  printf "${WB}\n%.3d `tput setaf $i`${L}${RC}" $i;
done

Terminal Capabilities - Infocmp

infocmp -1Lq|grep -v "$TERM\|#"|tr -d '  '

DEC/ANSI special sequences

List of the DEC/ANSI special sequences recognized:

Term Sorted

./MKtermsort.sh |sed 's/.*\/\*  \(.*\)  \*\//\1/g'|sort -u|grep ^[a-zA-Z]|sortwc|grep -v ^static|sort -d|tr " " ','|sed 's/\([^,]\{1,\}\),/<var>\1<\/var>,/g'

AB,ac,acs_btee,acsc,acs_chars,acs_hline,acs_llcorner,acs_lrcorner,acs_ltee,acs_plus,acs_rtee,acs_ttee,acs_ulcorner,acs_urcorner,acs_vline,ae,AF,al,AL,alt_scancode_esc,am,apstr,arrow_key_map,as,auto_left_margin,auto_right_margin,back_color_erase,backspace_delay,backspace_if_not_bs,backspaces_with_bs,back_tab,batt1,batt2,bc,bce,bel,bell,bicr,binel,birep,bit_image_carriage_return,bit_image_entwining,bit_image_newline,bit_image_repeat,bit_image_type,bitwin,bitype,bl,blink,bold,box1,box2,box_chars_1,bs,bt,BT,btml,btns,buffer_capacity,bufsz,buttons,bw,bx,can_change,carriage_return,carriage_return_delay,cb,cbt,cc,CC,ccc,cd,ce,ceol_standout_glitch,ch,change_char_pitch,change_line_pitch,change_res_horz,change_res_vert,change_scroll_region,char_padding,char_set_names,chr,chts,ci,civis,cl,clear,clear_all_tabs,clear_margins,clear_screen,clr_bol,clr_eol,clr_eos,cm,CM,cmdch,cnorm,co,Co,code_set_init,col_addr_glitch,colb0,colb1,colb2,colb3,colb4,colb5,colb6,colb7,colf0,colf1,colf2,colf3,colf4,colf5,colf6,colf7,color_names,colornm,colors,cols,column_address,columns,command_character,cpi,cpi_changes_res,cpix,cps,cr,cr_cancels_micro_mode,create_window,crt_no_scrolling,crxm,cs,csin,csnm,csr,ct,cub,cub1,cud,cud1,cuf,cuf1,cup,cursor_address,cursor_down,cursor_home,cursor_invisible,cursor_left,cursor_mem_address,cursor_normal,cursor_right,cursor_to_ll,cursor_up,cursor_visible,cuu,cuu1,cv,cvr,cvvis,CW,cwin,da,daisy,db,dB,dc,dC,DC,dch,dch1,dclk,defbi,defc,define_bit_image_region,define_char,delete_character,delete_line,dest_tabs_magic_smso,device_type,devt,DI,dial,dial_phone,dim,dispc,display_clock,display_pc_char,dis_status_line,DK,dl,DL,dl1,dm,dN,do,DO,docr,dot_horz_spacing,dot_vert_spacing,down_half_line,ds,dsl,dT,dv,eA,eat_newline_glitch,ec,ech,ed,ehhlm,ei,el,el1,elhlm,elohlm,ena_acs,enacs,endbi,end_bit_image_region,enter_alt_charset_mode,enter_am_mode,enter_blink_mode,enter_bold_mode,enter_ca_mode,enter_delete_mode,enter_dim_mode,enter_doublewide_mode,enter_draft_quality,enter_horizontal_hl_mode,enter_insert_mode,enter_italics_mode,enter_left_hl_mode,enter_leftward_mode,enter_low_hl_mode,enter_micro_mode,enter_near_letter_quality,enter_normal_quality,enter_pc_charset_mode,enter_protected_mode,enter_reverse_mode,enter_right_hl_mode,enter_scancode_mode,enter_secure_mode,enter_shadow_mode,enter_standout_mode,enter_subscript_mode,enter_superscript_mode,enter_top_hl_mode,enter_underline_mode,enter_upward_mode,enter_vertical_hl_mode,enter_xon_mode,eo,erase_chars,erase_overstrike,erhlm,es,eslok,ethlm,evhlm,exit_alt_charset_mode,exit_am_mode,exit_attribute_mode,exit_ca_mode,exit_delete_mode,exit_doublewide_mode,exit_insert_mode,exit_italics_mode,exit_leftward_mode,exit_micro_mode,exit_pc_charset_mode,exit_scancode_mode,exit_shadow_mode,exit_standout_mode,exit_subscript_mode,exit_superscript_mode,exit_underline_mode,exit_upward_mode,exit_xon_mode,F1,F2,F3,F4,F5,F6,F7,F8,F9,Fa,FA,Fb,FB,Fc,FC,Fd,FD,Fe,FE,ff,Ff,FF,Fg,FG,fh,Fh,FH,Fi,FI,fixed_pause,Fj,FJ,Fk,FK,Fl,FL,flash,flash_hook,flash_screen,fln,Fm,FM,Fn,FN,Fo,FO,font0,font1,font2,font3,font4,font5,font6,font7,form_feed,Fp,FP,Fq,FQ,Fr,FR,from_status_line,fs,FS,fsl,FT,FU,FV,FW,FX,FY,FZ,G1,G2,G3,G4,GC,GD,generic_type,getm,get_mouse,GH,GL,Gm,gn,gnu_has_meta_key,goto_window,GR,GU,GV,hangup,hard_copy,hard_cursor,has_hardware_tabs,has_meta_key,has_print_wheel,has_status_line,hc,HC,hd,hl,hls,ho,home,hook,horizontal_tab_delay,hpa,hs,ht,hts,hu,HU,hue_lightness_saturation,hup,hz,i1,i2,i3,ic,Ic,IC,ich,ich1,if,il,il1,im,in,ind,indn,init_1string,init_2string,init_3string,initc,init_file,initialize_color,initial ize_pair,initp,init_prog,init_tabs,insert_character,insert_line,insert_null_glitch,insert_padding,invis,ip,iP,Ip,iprog,is,is1,is2,is3,it,k;,k0,k1,K1,k2,K2,k3,K3,k4,K4,k5,K5,k6,k7,k8,k9,ka,kA,ka1,ka3,kact,kb,kB,kb2,kbeg,kBEG,kbs,kbtab,kC,kc1,kc3,kcan,kCAN,kcbt,kclo,kclr,kcmd,kCMD,kcpn,kcpy,kCPY,kcrt,kCRT,kctab,kcub1,kcud1,kcuf1,kcuu1,kd,kD,kDC,kdch1,kDL,kdl1,kdo,ke,kE,ked,kel,kend,kEND,kent,kEOL,kext,kEXT,key_a1,key_a3,key_b2,key_backspace,key_beg,key_btab,key_c1,key_c3,key_cancel,key_catab,key_clear,key_close,key_command,key_copy,key_create,key_ctab,key_dc,key_dl,key_down,key_eic,key_end,key_enter,key_eol,key_eos,key_exit,key_f0,key_f1,key_f10,key_f11,key_f12,key_f13,key_f14,key_f15,key_f16,key_f17,key_f18,key_f19,key_f2,key_f20,key_f21,key_f22,key_f23,key_f24,key_f25,key_f26,key_f27,key_f28,key_f29,key_f3,key_f30,key_f31,key_f32,key_f33,key_f34,key_f35,key_f36,key_f37,key_f38,key_f39,key_f4,key_f40,key_f41,key_f42,key_f43,key_f44,key_f45,key_f46,key_f47,key_f48,key_f49,key_f5,key_f50,key_f51,key_f52,key_f53,key_f54,key_f55,key_f56,key_f57,key_f58,key_f59,key_f6,key_f60,key_f61,key_f62,key_f63,key_f7,key_f8,key_f9,key_find,key_help,key_home,key_ic,key_il,key_left,key_ll,key_mark,key_message,key_mouse,key_move,key_next,key_npage,key_open,key_options,keypad_local,keypad_xmit,key_ppage,key_previous,key_print,key_redo,key_reference,key_refresh,key_replace,key_restart,key_resume,key_right,key_save,key_sbeg,key_scancel,key_scommand,key_scopy,key_screate,key_sdc,key_sdl,key_select,key_send,key_seol,key_sexit,key_sf,key_sfind,key_shelp,key_shome,key_sic,key_sleft,key_smessage,key_smove,key_snext,key_soptions,key_sprevious,key_sprint,key_sr,key_sredo,key_sreplace,key_sright,key_srsume,key_ssave,key_ssuspend,key_stab,key_sundo,key_suspend,key_undo,key_up,kF,kf0,kf1,kf10,kf11,kf12,kf13,kf14,kf15,kf16,kf17,kf18,kf19,kf2,kf20,kf21,kf22,kf23,kf24,kf25,kf26,kf27,kf28,kf29,kf3,kf30,kf31,kf32,kf33,kf34,kf35,kf36,kf37,kf38,kf39,kf4,kf40,kf41,kf42,kf43,kf44,kf45,kf46,kf47,kf48,kf49,kf5,kf50,kf51,kf52,kf53,kf54,kf55,kf56,kf57,kf58,kf59,kf6,kf60,kf61,kf62,kf63,kf7,kf8,kf9,kfnd,kFND,kh,kH,khlp,kHLP,kHOM,khome,khts,kI,kIC,kich1,kil1,kind,kl,kL,kLFT,kll,km,kM,Km,kmous,kmov,kMOV,kmpf1,kmpf2,kmpf3,kmpf4,kmpf5,kmpf6,kmpf7,kmpf8,kmpf9,kmpt1,kmpt2,kmpt3,kmpt4,kmpt5,kmpt6,kmpt7,kmpt8,kmpt9,kmrk,kmsg,kMSG,kn,kN,knl,knp,knpn,knxt,kNXT,ko,kopn,kopt,kOPT,kP,kpp,kppn,kprt,kPRT,kprv,kPRV,kquit,kr,kR,krdo,kRDO,kref,kres,kRES,krfr,kri,kRIT,krmir,krpl,kRPL,krst,ks,kS,ksav,kSAV,kscl,kscr,ksel,ksf1,ksf10,ksf2,ksf3,ksf4,ksf5,ksf6,ksf7,ksf8,ksf9,kslt,kspd,kSPD,kt,kT,ktab,ktbc,ku,kund,kUND,l0,l1,l2,l3,l4,l5,l6,l7,l8,l9,la,label_format,label_height,label_off,label_on,label_width,lab_f0,lab_f1,lab_f10,lab_f2,lab_f3,lab_f4,lab_f5,lab_f6,lab_f7,lab_f8,lab_f9,le,LE,Lf,LF,lf0,lf1,lf10,lf2,lf3,lf4,lf5,lf6,lf7,lf8,lf9,lh,li,linefeed_if_not_lf,linefeed_is_newline,lines,lines_of_memory,ll,lm,LO,lpi,lpi_changes_res,lpix,lvert,lw,ma,maddr,magic_cookie_glitch,magic_cookie_glitch_ul,max_attributes,max_colors,maximum_windows,max_micro_address,max_micro_jump,max_pairs,mb,MC,mc0,mc4,mc5,mc5i,mc5p,mcs,mcub,mcub1,mcud,mcud1,mcuf,mcuf1,mcuu,mcuu1,md,me,meml,memory_above,memory_below,memory_lock,memory_unlock,memu,meta_off,meta_on,mgc,mh,mhpa,mi,Mi,micro_col_size,micro_column_address,micro_down,micro_left,micro_line_size,micro_right,micro_row_address,micro_up,minfo,mir,mjump,mk,ml,ML,mls,mm,mo,mouse_info,move_insert_mode,move_standout_mode,mp,mr,MR,mrcup,ms,msgr,MT,mu,mvpa,MW,nc,NC,ncv,nd,ND,ndscr,needs_xon_xoff,nel,newline,new_line_delay,nl,Nl,NL,nlab,no_color_video,no_correctly_working_cr,no_esc_ctlc,non_dest_scroll_region,non_rev_rmcup,no_pad_char,NP,npc,npins,NR,nrrmc,ns,number_of_function_keys,number_of_pins,num_labels,nw,nx,nxon,oc,op,orc,order_of_pins,orhi,orig_colors,orig_pair,orl,orvi,os,OTbc,OTbs,OTdB,OTdC,OTdN,OTdT,OTG1,OTG2,OTG3,OTG4,OTGC,OTGD,OTGH,OTGL,OTGR,OTGU,OTGV,other_non_function_keys,OTi2,OTkn,OTko,OTma,OTMT,OTnc,OTnl,OTNL,OTns,OTpt,OTrs,OTug,OTxr,output_res_char,output_res_horz_inch,output_res_line,output_res_vert_inch,over_strike,pa,PA,pad,pad_char,padding_baud_rate,pairs,parm_dch,parm_delete_line,parm_down_cursor,parm_down_micro,parm_ich,parm_index,parm_insert_line,parm_left_cursor,parm_left_micro,parm_right_cursor,parm_right_micro,parm_rindex,parm_up_cursor,parm_up_micro,pause,pb,pc,pc_term_options,pctrm,pf,pfkey,pfloc,pfx,pfxl,pk,pkey_key,pkey_local,pkey_plab,pkey_xmit,pl,plab_norm,pln,pn,po,pO,porder,print_rate,print_screen,prot,prtr_non,prtr_off,prtr_on,prtr_silent,ps,pt,PU,pulse,px,QD,qdial,quick_dial,r1,r2,r3,RA,rbim,rc,RC,rcsd,remove_clock,rep,repeat_char,req_for_input,req_mouse_pos,reqmp,reset_1string,reset_2string,reset_3string,reset_file,restore_cursor,return_does_clr_eol,rev,rf,RF,rfi,ri,RI,rin,ritm,rlm,rmacs,rmam,rmclk,rmcup,rmdc,rmicm,rmir,rmkx,rmln,rmm,rmp,rmpch,rmsc,rmso,rmul,rmxon,row_address,row_addr_glitch,rp,rP,RQ,rs,rs1,rs2,rs3,rshm,rsubm,rsupm,rum,rvert,rwidm,RX,s0,s0ds,s1,S1,s1ds,s2,S2,s2ds,s3,S3,s3ds,S4,S5,S6,S7,S8,sa,sA,SA,sam,save_cursor,Sb,sbim,sc,SC,scancode_escape,scesa,scesc,sclk,scp,scroll_forward,scroll_reverse,scs,scsd,sdrfq,se,select_char_set,semi_auto_right_margin,set0_des_seq,set1_des_seq,set2_des_seq,set3_des_seq,set_a_attributes,setab,set_a_background,setaf,set_a_foreground,set_attributes,setb,set_background,set_bottom_margin,set_bottom_margin_parm,set_clock,setcolor,set_color_band,set_color_pair,setf,set_foreground,set_left_margin,set_left_margin_parm,set_lr_margin,set_page_length,set_pglen_inch,set_right_margin,set_right_margin_parm,set_tab,set_tb_margin,set_top_margin,set_top_margin_parm,set_window,sf,Sf,SF,sg,sgr,sgr0,sgr1,sitm,sL,slength,slines,slm,smacs,smam,smcup,smdc,smgb,smgbp,smgl,smglp,smglr,smgr,smgrp,smgt,smgtb,smgtp,smicm,smir,smkx,smln,smm,smpch,smsc,smso,smul,smxon,snlq,snrmq,so,sp,spinh,spinv,sr,SR,sshm,ssubm,ssupm,st,start_bit_image,start_char_set_def,status_line_esc_ok,stop_bit_image,stop_char_set_def,subcs,subscript_characters,sum,supcs,superscript_characters,swidm,SX,ta,tab,tbc,te,termcap_init2,termcap_reset,these_cause_cr,ti,tilde_glitch,TO,tone,topl,to_status_line,transparent_underline,ts,tsl,u0,u1,u2,u3,u4,u5,u6,u7,u8,u9,uc,ue,ug,ul,underline_char,up,UP,up_half_line,us,user0,user1,user2,user3,user4,user5,user6,user7,user8,user9,ut,vb,ve,vi,virtual_terminal,vpa,vs,vt,WA,wait,wait_tone,WG,wi,widcs,wide_char_size,width_status_line,wind,wingo,wnum,ws,wsl,xb,xenl,XF,Xh,xhp,xhpa,xl,Xl,xmc,xn,XN,xo,Xo,xoffc,xoff_character,xon,xonc,xon_character,xon_xoff,xr,Xr,xs,xsb,xt,Xt,Xv,xvpa,Xy,Ya,YA,Yb,YB,Yc,YC,Yd,YD,Ye,YE,Yf,YF,Yg,YG,Yh,Yi,Yj,Yk,Yl,Ym,Yn,Yo,Yp,Yv,Yw,Yx,Yy,Yz,YZ,Za,ZA,Zb,ZB,Zc,ZC,Zd,ZD,Ze,ZE,zerom,zero_motion,Zf,ZF,Zg,ZG,Zh,ZH,Zi,ZI,Zj,ZJ,Zk,ZK,Zl,ZL,Zm,ZM,Zn,ZN,Zo,ZO,Zp,ZP,Zq,ZQ,Zr,ZR,Zs,ZS,Zt,ZT,Zu,ZU,Zv,ZV,Zw,ZW,Zx,ZX,Zy,ZY,Zz,ZZ

TERMINAL TYPE DESCRIPTIONS SOURCE FILE

ANSI, UNIX CONSOLE, AND SPECIAL TYPES
Specials
ANSI.SYS/ISO 6429/ECMA-48 Capabilities
ANSI/ECMA-48 terminals and terminal emulators
DOS ANSI.SYS variants
ANSI console types
BeOS
Linux consoles
Mach
OSF Unix
QNX
NetBSD consoles
FreeBSD console entries
386BSD and BSD/OS Consoles
DEC VT52
DEC VT100 and compatibles
VT100 emulations
X terminal emulators
MGR
UNIX VIRTUAL TERMINALS, VIRTUAL CONSOLES, AND TELNET CLIENTS
Pilot Pro Palm-Top
COMMERCIAL WORKSTATION CONSOLES
Alpha consoles
Sun consoles
Iris consoles
NeWS consoles
NeXT consoles
Sony NEWS workstations
Common Desktop Environment
Non-Unix Consoles
COMMON TERMINAL TYPES
Altos
Hewlett-Packard (hp)
Honeywell-Bull
Lear-Siegler (adm)
Prime
Qume (qvt)
Televideo (tvi)
Visual (vi)
Wyse (wy)
Kermit terminal emulations
NON-ANSI TERMINAL EMULATIONS
Avatar
RBcomm
LCD DISPLAYS
Matrix Orbital
OLDER TERMINAL TYPES
AT&T (att, tty)
Ampex (Dialogue)
Ann Arbor (aa)
Applied Digital Data Systems (adds)
C. Itoh Electronics
Control Data (cdc)
Getronics
Human Designed Systems (Concept)
Contel Business Systems.
Data General (dg)
Datamedia (dm)
Falco

Just something sorta cool for you to check out

{
 local t=`tputm 'clear' 'setaf 75'` l a b f=/tmp/ps IFS=' ';
exec 6<>$f;ps L|tr -s ' ' &>$f;
while read -u6 l;do a=${l/% */} b=${l/* /};
figlet -rtw $((${COLUMNS} /2 )) -f big "$l";
tput sgr0;
command ps wwo pid:6,user:8,vsize:8,comm:20,$a:50 k -$a -A;cont;
done;
};

Terminal Escape Code Zen originally appeared on AskApache.com

This is part of the GRUB article on the Arch Linux wiki that I contributed. As of now, just a copy.

The grub menu.lst provides for a convenient way to add a number of entries with extended kernel parameters to configure all sorts of advanced settings to enable you to quickly and conveniently boot into your existing system with varying levels of debugging output. It's very easy and useful to create several levels of debugging just by adding additional entries to your grub configuration. And if you ever have issues or problems down the road due to a power-failure or hardware failure, it can save you hours of trouble, and of course nothing can beat debugging output when it comes to learning about your system.

Useful Menu.lst Entries

If you are interested in debugging, then you deserve some grub entries for powerusers, here are a few that I like (just add to your menu.lst).

title Shutdown the Computer
halt
 
title Reboot the Computer
reboot
 
title Command Line
commandline
 
title Install GRUB to hd0 MBR
root (hd0,0)
setup (hd0)
 
title Matrix
color green/black light-green/green
 
title Scan for /boot/grub/menu.lst
find --set-root --ignore-floppies /boot/grub/menu.lst
configfile /boot/grub/menu.lst
 
title Scan for /boot/menu.lst
find --set-root --ignore-floppies /menu.lst
configfile /boot/menu.lst
 
# http://www.vortex.prodigynet.co.uk/x86test/
title    Run x86test (CPU Info)
kernel /boot/x86test_zImage.bin
#wget http://www.vortex.prodigynet.co.uk/x86test/x86test_zImage.bin
 
# http://www.memtest.org/
title    Run memtest86+ (Memory Testing)
kernel /boot/memtest86+-1.70.bin

Light Debug

A quick way to see more verbose messages on your console is to bootup your normal grub entry after appending verbose to the kernel line. This simple word added to your kernel line turns on more logging thanks to the /etc/rc.sysinit file, which at the top of the file runs:

if /bin/grep -q " verbose" /proc/cmdline; then /bin/dmesg -n 8; fi

Very simple way to get a bit more messages and debug output in your logs.

title  Arch Linux DEBUG Light
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-label/ROOT ro rootwait verbose
initrd /kernel26.img

Medium Debug

This example menu.lst entry turns on real logging that is set by the kernel and not in an init script. Adding the debug kernel parameter to your kernel line is recognized by a lot of linux internals and enables quite a bit of debugging compared to the default.

title Arch Linux DEBUG Medium
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-label/ROOT ro rootdelay=5 panic=10 debug
initrd /kernel26.img

Heavy Debug

An even more impressive kernel parameter is the ignore_loglevel, which causes the system to ignore any loglevel and keeps the internal loglevel at the maximum debugging level, basically rendering dmesg unable to lower the debug level.

title Arch Linux DEBUG Heavy
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-label/ROOT ro rootdelay=5 panic=10 debug ignore_loglevel
initrd /kernel26.img

Extreme Debug

If the "Heavy Debug" seemed like a lot of output, thats about 1/2 of the logging that occurs with this example. This does a couple things, it uses the earlyprintk parameter to setup your kernel for "early" "printing" of messages to your "vga" screen. The ,keep just lets it stay on the screen longer. This will let you see logs that normally are hidden due to the boot-up process. This also changes the log buffer length to 10MB, and also instructs that any fatal signals be printed with print_fatal_signals. The last one, sched_debug, you can look up in the very excellent kernel documentation on kernel parameters.

title Arch Linux DEBUG Extreme
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-label/ROOT ro debug ignore_loglevel log_buf_len=10M print_fatal_signals=1 LOGLEVEL=8 earlyprintk=vga,keep sched_debug
initrd /kernel26.img

Insane Debug

The first few debugging examples showed some really nice kernel parameters to turn on really verbose debugging. This kind of debugging is absolutely critical if you want to max out your system or just learn more about what is going on behind the scenes. But there is a final trick that is my favorite, it's the ability to set both environment variables, and more importantly, module parameters at boot.

As an example, here is the boot line that I am using at the moment on an older Dell Desktop, just to illustrate module parameters and environment vars.

title  Arch Linux X-256
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-label/ROOT ro rootwait pause_on_oops=5 panic=60 i915.modeset=1 no_console_suspend ipv6.disable=1 TERM=xterm-256color quiet 5
initrd /kernel26.img

Since it's low on both memory and CPU, I disable ipv6. I also turn on kernel modesetting for the i915 video card, set my terminal to be xterm-256color, and boot straight into X. This lets me use a very optimized arch-linux configuration, amazing how fast thanks to using slim as the login manager, ratpoison as my window manager, and terminal with tmux as my login shell, all from boot, as the pstree shows (plus Synergy!).

init,1
  |-slim,3096
  |   |-X,3098 -nolisten tcp vt07 -auth /var/run/slim.auth
  |   `-ratpoison,3107,askapache
  |       |-terminal,5341 -x sh -c exec /usr/bin/tmux -2 -l -u -q attach -d -t tmux-askapache
  |       |   |-bash,11165
  |       |   |-tmux,5345 -2 -l -u -q attach -d -t tmux-askapache
  |       |   `-{terminal},5346
  |       `-xscreensaver,3113 -no-splash
  |-synergyc,6121,galileo -f --name galileo-fire --restart 10.66.66.2:26666
  |
  `-tmux,5348,askapache -2 -l -u -q attach -d -t tmux-askapache
      |-bash,5351
      |   `-ssh,9969 lug@askapache.com
      `-bash,5868
         `-vim,11149 -p sda1/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst

That kind of optimized system is only possible if you first can figure out your system, by debugging both the kernel as previously illustrated, debugging the init process, and most importantly, by debugging the modules enabled for your system's hardware/firmware/software. Debugging modules is challenging but worth the effort, and then you are able to do some truly insane debugging from grub like the following example, note that the actual grub entry is all on one line, but I split it into 4 lines so you could see it all. This basically turns on every module on this little Dell desktop to be at the absolute max debug level. There is so much logging when I boot this that the system grinds to a halt and is slower than a TI-89 calculator (See Improve Boot Performance).

title  Arch Linux DEBUG INSANE
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-label/ROOT ro rootwait ignore_loglevel debug debug_locks_verbose=1 sched_debug initcall_debug mminit_loglevel=4 udev.log_priority=8
       loglevel=8 earlyprintk=vga,keep log_buf_len=10M print_fatal_signals=1 apm.debug=Y i8042.debug=Y drm.debug=1 scsi_logging_level=1 usbserial.debug=Y
       option.debug=Y pl2303.debug=Y firewire_ohci.debug=1 hid.debug=1 pci_hotplug.debug=Y pci_hotplug.debug_acpi=Y shpchp.shpchp_debug=Y apic=debug
       show_lapic=all hpet=verbose lmb=debug pause_on_oops=5 panic=10 sysrq_always_enabled
initrd /kernel26.img

A couple key items from that grub entry are sysrq_always_enabled which forces on the sysrq magic, which really is a lifesaver when debugging at this level as your machine will freeze/stop-responding sometimes and it's nice to use sysrq to kill all tasks, change the loglevel, unmount all filesystems, or do a hard reboot. Another key parameter is the initcall_debug, which debugs the init process in excruciating detail. Very useful at times. The last parametery I find very useful is the udev.log_priority=8 to turn on udev logging.

Break Into Init

For instance, If you add break=y to your kernel cmdline, init will pause early in the boot process (after loading modules) and launch an interactive sh shell which can be used for troubleshooting purposes. (Normal boot continues after logout.) This is very similar to the shell that shows up if your computer gets turned off before it is able to shutdown properly. But using this parameter lets you enter into this mode differently at will.

title  Arch Linux Init Break
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-label/ROOT ro rootwait break=y
initrd /kernel26.img

Debugging init

This awesome parameter udev.log_priority=8 does the same thing as editing the file /etc/udev/udev.conf except it executes earlier, turning on debugging output for udev. If you want to know your hardware, that is the key parameter right there. Another trick is if you change the /etc/udev/udev.conf to be verbose, then you can make your initrd image include that file to turn on verbose udeb debugging by adding it to your {{Filename|/etc/mkinitcpio.conf} like:

FILES="/etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf /etc/udev/udev.conf"

, which on arch is as easy as

# mkinitcpio -p kernel26

Debugging udev is key because the initrd performs a root change at the end of its run to usually launch a program like /sbin/init as part of a chroot, and unless the new file system has a valid /dev directory, udev must be initialized before invoking chroot in order to provide /dev/console.

exec chroot . /sbin/init <dev/console >dev/console 2>&1

So basically, you aren't able to view the logs that are generated before /dev/console is initialized by udev or by a special initrd you compiled yourself. One method the kernel developers use to be able to still get the log messages generated before /dev/console is available is to provide an alternative console that you can enable or disable from grub.

Net Console

If you read through the kernel documentation regarding debugging, you will hear about Netconsole, which can be loaded from the kernel line in GRUB, compiled into your kernel, or loaded at runtime as a module. Having a netconsole entry in your menu.lst is most excellent for debugging slower computers like old laptops or thin-clients. It's easy to use. Just setup a 2nd computer (running arch) to accept syslog requests on a remote port, very fast and quick to do on arch-linux, 1 line to syslog.conf. Then you could use a log-color-parser like ccze to view all syslog logs, or just tail your everything.log. Then on your laptop, boot up and select the netconsole entry from the grub menu, and you will start seeing as much logging as you want on your syslog system. This logging lets you view even earlier log output than is available with the earlyprintk=vga kernel parameter, as netconsole is used by kernel hackers and developers, so it's very powerful.

title  Arch Linux DEBUG Netconsole
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-label/ROOT ro netconsole=514@10.0.0.2/12:34:56:78:9a:bc debug ignore_loglevel
initrd /kernel26.img

Hijacking cmdline

If you do not have access to GRUB or the kernel boottime cmdline, like on a server or virtual machine, as long as you have root permissions you can still enable this kind of simplistic verbose logging using a neat hack. While you cannot modify the /proc/cmdline even as root, you can place your own cmdline file on top of /proc/cmdline, so that accessing /proc/cmdline actually accesses your file.

For example if I cat /proc/cmdline, I have the following:

root=/dev/disk/by-label/ROOT ro console=tty1 logo.nologo quiet

So I use a simple sed command to replace quiet with verbose like:

sed 's/ quiet/ verbose/' /proc/cmdline > /root/cmdline

Then I bind mount /root/cmdline so that it becomes /proc/cmdline, using the -n option to mount so that this mount won't be recorded in the systems mtab.

mount -n --bind -o ro /root/cmdline /proc/cmdline

Now if I cat /proc/cmdline, I have the following:

root=/dev/disk/by-label/ROOT ro console=tty1 logo.nologo verbose

Advanced Linux Debugging using a Bootloader (GRUB) originally appeared on AskApache.com

First off, this is a single windows .bat file that I have written to do advanced batch scripting the easy way, meaning it's mostly a series of functions you can call from the script or within other functions for extremely modular code. Before you get all bent out of shape by my choice of words ("easy, modular"), when I say this is advanced I mean for Windows .bat files, one of the worlds worst scripting languages, but it works on all windows versions so it's ideal for things like autorun, autoplay, custom startups, usb drives, etc.. If you are looking for information on how to use and program windows .bat files to do anything cool, this is the right place! I tried my best to mimic linux shell-scripting, so it's likely different than other batch files you have seen.

Batch File IDE and Script Source

My favorite tool (and I've tried sooo many) for editing most Windows files and especially .bat files is the free and open-source Notepad++. Set that up and you will have a color-syntax-highlighted editor for Batch Scripting that works very very well.

The next thing to do is download the source code, which includes comments and formatting I had to remove for this online article. Then rename from .txt to .bat and open in your IDE/text-editor of choice.

Quick Batch File Example

This is a simple batch file named ping-check.bat that I use when rebooting remote servers. The reboot is issued from an SSH session and causes the server to go down and then come back up. When the server goes down the network goes down too so I fire this script up to continually ping the remote server until it responds, at which point I can ssh back in.

One of the first hacks for batch files is line 1, the PUSHD command cd's the scripts working environment to the directory of the script itself.

@ECHO OFF && PUSHD "%~dp0" && SETLOCAL
 
CALL :PINGCHECK "%~1"
 
nircmd.exe speak text "PING RECEIVED.  HOST BACK ONLINE" 7 60
ENDLOCAL && POPD && GOTO :EOF
 
:PINGCHECK
ECHO CHECKING %~1
ping.exe -n 1 %~1 -w 5000 | FIND /C "Reply from %~1" | FIND "1" >nul 2>&1
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 CALL :PINGCHECK "%~1" ELSE EXIT /B

Super-hero like even

Just added this as an after thought, moving the main example further down this page. This is an easier file to understand the scope of. It effectively creates SSH-encrypted SOCK5 tunnels that stay connected and auto-reconnect if the link goes down. I wanted to try and write a pure batch method to do that. I wrote this to run automatically from a USB key so that I could keep my tools with me portably. The thing of this script that is the most revolutionary is the method it uses to create auto-reconnecting SSH-encrypted SOCKS5 tunnels using the windows SYSTEM account to do it all in the background with plink.exe. The hack to run it as a system account is by using the built-in AT command to run interactively, which lets you interactively do whatever you want as the builtin NT AUTHORITY/SYSTEM account. The other part I am proud of with this is how lean I got the code, specifically how lean the function is that creates the at job to run every 5 minutes, while still doing connection-testing, all by parsing the cmd.exe processors builtin in DATE and TIME variables. Do a google search for "windows batch file date and time" and you will appreciate just how lean this sucker is.

Almost forgot, check out the ways to keep a plink.exe (putty.exe for cmd.exe) SOCKS5 tunnel hidden and safe and continuously connected to a remote server in minimal lines od code. This was a fun one to work on! Enjoy (and remember this is just the warm-up example to glance at).

@ECHO OFF && PUSHD "%~dp0" && SETLOCAL && SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION && SETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONS
 
SET _CRYPTDRIVE=%~d0\
SET PATH=%_CRYPTDRIVE%PP;%_CRYPTDRIVE%PP\bin;%PATH%
SET _PUTTYBIN=%_CRYPTDRIVE%P\PP\putty.exe
 
SET _PSERVER=solar.power.com
SET _PPORT=22
SET _PSESSION=newclean-tunnel
 
SET _ADMINUSER=admin
SET _RUNUSER=life
 
REM SAY CHECKING PLINK OUT LOUD
CALL :SPEAK "Checking Putty"
ECHO "CHECKING PUTTY"
 
REM
IF NOT EXIST "%_CRYPTDRIVE%" (
  CALL :SPEAK "Crypt Not Mounted"
  AT|FOR /F "tokens=1" %%i IN ('FIND /I "%~f0"') DO AT %%i /delete /yes >nul 2>&1
  pskill.exe -t putty >nul 2>&1
  pskill.exe -t thunderbird >nul 2>&1
  pskill.exe -t ThunderbirdPortable >nul 2>&1
  pskill.exe -t Firefox >nul 2>&1
  pskill.exe -t FirefoxPortable >nul 2>&1
  pskill.exe -t GC >nul 2>&1
  EXIT
)
 
REM CREATE AT JOB TO RUN THIS SCRIPT EVERY 5 MINUTES
CALL :CREATEATJOB
 
pslist putty >nul 2>&1
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 psexec.exe -i 0 -e -d -u %_RUNUSER% %_PUTTYBIN% -load %_PSESSION%
 
REM KILL MULTIPLE PSEXEC's
CALL :KILLDUPES "psexec.exe"
 
REM KILL MULTIPLE CMD.EXE's
CALL :KILLDUPES "cmd.exe"
 
REM REACHABLE SERVER CHECK
CALL :PINGCHECK %_PSERVER%
 
REM CHECK FOR INACTIVE PUTTY
CALL :PUTTYCHECK
 
REM CHECK PORT IS LISTENING (FOR SOCKISFIED TUNNEL)
CALL :PORTCHECK %_PPORT%
 
REM CALL :SPEAK "OK"
SLEEP 100 && ECHO "OK" && SLEEP 1 && ENDLOCAL && POPD && EXIT
 
REM =======================================================================================
REM =   SPEAK - Speak text
REM =======================================================================================
:SPEAK
nircmd.exe speak text "%~1" 5 60
ECHO "%~1"
EXIT /B
 
REM =======================================================================================
REM =   RESTARTPLINK - Sleeps for %1 number of seconds
REM =======================================================================================
:RESTARTPLINK
CALL :SPEAK "%~1 ReSTARTing Plink"
REM runas /savecred /user:admin "%_PUTTYBIN% -load %_PSESSION%"
psexec.exe -i 0 -e -d -u %_RUNUSER% %_PUTTYBIN% -load %_PSESSION%
EXIT
EXIT /B
 
REM =======================================================================================
REM =   PORTCHECK - Check that Port is being used (for tunnels)
REM =======================================================================================
:PORTCHECK
netstat.exe -n -v -a -p TCP | FIND "ESTABLISHED" | FIND ":%~1" >nul 2>&1
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 CALL :RESTARTPLINK "PORT CHECK FAILED"
EXIT /B
 
REM =======================================================================================
REM =   INACTIVEPUTTYCHECK - Check for inactive putty windows
REM =======================================================================================
:PUTTYCHECK
tasklist.exe /V /NH /FI "WINDOWTITLE eq PuTTY (inactive)" 2>nul|FIND "INFO: " >nul 2>&1
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 taskkill.exe /T /F /FI "WINDOWTITLE eq PuTTY (inactive)" >nul 2>&1
 
:: MAKE SURE ONLY 1 putty is running that is connected to the remote server
netstat.exe -n -a -o -p TCP | FIND ":%_PPORT%" | FIND /C ":%_PPORT%" | FIND "1" >nul 2>&1
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 (
  tasklist.exe /V /FO TABLE /NH /FI "IMAGENAME eq putty.exe" 2>nul | FIND /C "Running" | FIND "1" >nul 2>&1
  IF ERRORLEVEL 1 (
    REM kill all running puttys (owned by system)
    FOR /F "usebackq tokens=2 skip=2" %%p IN (`tasklist.exe /V /FO TABLE /NH /FI "IMAGENAME eq putty.exe"`) DO taskkill.exe /F /PID %%p /T >nul 2>&1
    CALL :RESTARTPLINK "EXTRA PUTTY FOUND"
  )
)
EXIT /B
 
REM =======================================================================================
REM =   PINGCHECK - PING address to make sure it is reachable
REM =======================================================================================
:PINGCHECK
PING %~1 -n 1 -w 5000 | FIND "TTL=" >nul 2>&1
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 (
  PING google.com -n 1 -w 500 | FIND "TTL=" >nul 2>&1
  IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ( CALL :SPEAK "CHECK INTERNET CONNECTION" && SLEEP 60 )
 
  PING google.com -n 1 -w 5000 | FIND "TTL=" >nul 2>&1
  IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ( CALL :SPEAK "CHECK INTERNET CONNECTION" && SLEEP 60 )
 
  PING google.com -n 1 -w 5000 | FIND "TTL=" >nul 2>&1
  IF ERRORLEVEL 1 (
    CALL :SPEAK "KILL SOCKS PROGRAMS"
  SLEEP 100
  pskill.exe -t putty >nul 2>&1
  pskill.exe -t thunderbird >nul 2>&1
  pskill.exe -t ThunderbirdPortable >nul 2>&1
  )
)
EXIT /B
 
REM =======================================================================================
REM =   KILLDUPES - kills duplicate processes, except for the one with lowest pid
REM =======================================================================================
:KILLDUPES
REM Check that more than 1 process is running
tasklist.exe /V /NH /FI "IMAGENAME eq %~1" /FI "USERNAME eq SYSTEM" 2>nul | FIND /C "K Running" | FIND "1" >nul 2>&1
IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 EXIT /B
 
REM Create Filename in current dir (of this script)
SET _T=%TIME: =0%&&SET _T=!_T::=-!&&SET _T=%~dp0%!_T:~0,-2!log
 
REM Create the file in the same dir as this script named for date and sorted by PID
tasklist.exe /V /NH /FI "IMAGENAME eq %~1" /FI "USERNAME eq SYSTEM" 2>nul | SORT /+29 > "%_T%"
 
REM Check that the file was created or exit
IF NOT EXIST "%_T%" ( CALL :SPEAK "FILE CREATION FAILED" && EXIT /B )
 
REM kill all the processes found except for 1, do not kill the process with the lowest pid number
FOR /F "tokens=2 skip=2" %%p IN (%_T%) DO taskkill.exe /F /PID %%p /T
 
REM erase the file
REM ERASE /Q "%_T%" >nul 2>&1
 
REM check that the file was erased
REM IF EXIST "%_T%" ( CALL :SPEAK "ERASE FILE FAILED" && EXIT /B )
 
EXIT /B
 
REM =======================================================================================
REM =   CREATEATJOB - runs job (START this file) every 5 minutes
REM =======================================================================================
:CREATEATJOB
:: delete all putty AT jobs
AT | FIND /C "%~f0" | FIND "1" >nul 2>&1
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ( AT|FOR /F "tokens=1" %%i IN ('FIND /I "%~f0"') DO AT %%i /delete /yes >nul 2>&1 )
SET /A H=!TIME:~0,2!&& SET M=!TIME:~3,2!
SET Y=%H%:%M%&& SET /A M+=5
IF !M! GEQ 61 ( SET /A H+=1&&SET /A M-=61 )
IF !H! GEQ 24 SET /A H-=24
SET M=0!M!&& SET H=0!H!
:: create AT job
AT %H:~-2%:%M:~-2% /INTERACTIVE %ComSpec% /E:ON /D /Q /C START /B /MIN %ComSpec% /E:ON /D /Q /C "%~f0" >nul
EXIT /B

Advanced Batch File

This is the main batch file example which you can download here. Other than some minor changes this is the actual script I use at work when I logon to my PC. The first thing it does is mount an encrypted TrueCrypt Drive where all of my files and settings are located. It also starts a putty session named "1" that I configured to start a few encrypted tunnels and socks proxies so that my email Thunderbird and Website IDE Dreamweaver and other network apps can communicate 100% encrypted and my real location becomes hidden (thanks socks!).

I might come back later and add comments if I get any kind of response for this article, and because it's such a unique and low-traffic topic, I will try to answer any questions added with the comment form.

Starting the Script

The first line is of my own design and is perhaps the coolest hack in the script. I use this 1 line to start pretty much all of my .bat files.

@ECHO OFF&& SETLOCAL&& PUSHD "%~dp0"&& SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION&& SETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONS&& SET V=5&& IF NOT "!V!"=="5" (ECHO DelayedExpansion Failed&& GOTO :EOF)

SCRIPT VARIABLES

These are all local to this script thanks to the SETLOCAL above, so they won't exist outside the scripts execution environment.

REM ** Various vars for output used by functions
SET P1=^^^>^^^>^^^>
SET P2=++
SET P3=::
SET L1=+==============================================================================================================+
SET L2=+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 
REM ** administrator username, unless changed for more security, its Administrator
SET ADMINUSER=admin
 
REM ** runuser is the username you use when running this script
SET RUNUSER=bill
 
REM ** Custom COMSPEC for running cmd.exe
SET _SCOM=%COMSPEC% /E:ON /F:ON /D /Q /T:0C /C
 
REM ** Custom START command
SET _START=START /WAIT /MIN /B %_SCOM%

MAIN PROGRAM EXECUTION

This is where the main code starts, note how small it is thanks to the use of functions (labels/call/goto). Read the comments in this area (start with :: or REM ) to see the extent of this script. The gold is in the functions.

:: Only allow certain users to run this script or die (prevents global STARTup or service running it)
CALL :CHECKUSERVALID %RUNUSER% %ADMINUSER%
 
:: Mount the truecrypt container
CALL :CRYPTMOUNT "L" "%SYSTEMDRIVE%\CRYPT\LEONARDO" "%SYSTEMDRIVE%\CRYPT\LEONARDO_KEY"
 
:: Start Mozilla Firefox
CALL :RUNONE "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"
 
:: Start Thunderbird Portable
CALL :RUNONE "L:\P\PP\putty.exe" "/MIN" -load 1
 
:: Start Thunderbird Portable
CALL :RUNONE "L:\P\TB\ThunderbirdPortable.exe" "/MIN"
 
:: Start Adobe Dreamweaver CS4
CALL :RUNONE "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Dreamweaver CS4\Dreamweaver.exe" "/MIN"
 
:: Start LightScreen Portable
CALL :RUNONE "L:\P\LP\LightscreenPortable.exe" /B /B
 
:: Start Google Chrome Portable ( GREAT to use for pandora/last.fm as its so low mem )
CALL :RUNONE "L:\P\GC\GC.exe" "/NORMAL"
 
:: Start Adobe Photoshop CS4
CALL :RUNONE "%ProgramFiles%\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS4\Photoshop.exe" "/MAX"

Exit Script

This is the last line executed in the Main, it forces the script to exit cleanly at this point, otherwise the functions below would all get executed. This is what allows the use of all the functions below. I end all my scripts MAIN with this.

REM ** EXIT Script
CALL :MDYE "EOF" && POPD && ENDLOCAL && GOTO :EOF

SCRIPT FUNCTIONS

Now then, onto the MEAT of the script, all the functions. These functions are designed for global use in other batch files, so that the only modification when you make a new batch is the above variables and main execution.. If you know much about batch files you will realize that creating these functions was a very painful process in some cases.. I freakin hate windows! Anyway, enjoy!

CRYPTMOUNT - mounts a truecrypt container and returns to CALLer. On fail, quit

REM
REM     CALL :CRYPTMOUNT "%LEONARDO%" "%LEONARDO_FILE%" "%LEONARDO_KEY%"
REM     CALL :CRYPTMOUNT "L" "%SYSTEMDRIVE%\CRYPT\LEONARDO" "%SYSTEMDRIVE%\CRYPT\LEONARDO_KEY"
REM
REM :: print the settings
REM :: CALL :MP 3 "DRIVE: %DRIVE%"&&CALL :MP 3 " FILE: %FILE%"&&CALL :MP 3 "  KEY: %KEY%"&&CALL :MP 3 "  VOL: %VOL%"

:CRYPTMOUNT
SET DRIVE=%~1&& SET FILE=%~2&& SET KEY=%~3&& SET VOL=!FILE:~0,3!
CALL :MP 1 "Mounting TrueCrypt on %DRIVE% from %FILE%"
 
:: Check for Truecrypt or die
CALL :EXISTORQUIT "%ProgramFiles%\TrueCrypt\TrueCrypt.exe" && CALL :EXISTORQUIT "%FILE%" && CALL :EXISTORQUIT "%KEY%"
 
:: checks that MOUNTVOL works and the drive containing the truecrypt container file is present or dies
MOUNTVOL %VOL% /L 2>NUL | FIND "\\?\Volume{" >NUL 2>&1
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 CALL :MDYE "%VOL% NOT FOUND"
 
REM ** Converts G:\ to its \\?\Volume{234234}\ equivalent for greater portability
FOR /F %%i IN ('MOUNTVOL %VOL% /L') DO @SET VOL=%%i%FILE:~3%
 
:: IF the drive is already mounted then continue, otherwise try to mount
MOUNTVOL %DRIVE%:\ /L >NUL 2>&1
IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 (
  CALL :MP 2 "%DRIVE% ALREADY MOUNTED" && EXIT /B
) ELSE (
  START "Mounting TrueCrypt" /D"%ProgramFiles%\TrueCrypt" /MIN /B TrueCrypt.exe /c n /b /q background /h n /k %KEY% /l %DRIVE% /p /v %VOL% && SLEEP 10
)
 
:: try again in case of bad password and accidental keypress
MOUNTVOL %DRIVE%:\ /L >NUL 2>&1
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 (START "Mounting TrueCrypt" /D"%ProgramFiles%\TrueCrypt" /MIN /B TrueCrypt.exe /c n /b /q background /h n /k %KEY% /l %DRIVE% /p /v %VOL% && SLEEP 10)
 
:: IF it still doesnt exist then quit
MOUNTVOL %DRIVE%:\ /L >NUL 2>&1
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 CALL :MDYE "Failed to mount %FILE% on %DRIVE%"
 
CALL :MF && ENDLOCAL && EXIT /B
EXIT /B

RUNONE - Starts one instance of executable after verifying it exists and is not already running.

REM     %~1 is location of executatable
REM     %~2 is optional (unless %~3 is used) START parameters
REM     %~3 is optional parameters for executable
REM
REM     CALL :RUNONE "L:\P\LP\LightscreenPortable.exe" "/MAX" "/HIDE"

:RUNONE
SETLOCAL
CALL :MP 1 "Starting %~n1"
 
:: SLEEP FOR NICENESS, LOCAL VARS _P2 and _P3
SLEEP 2 && SETLOCAL
 
SET P=%~1
ECHO %P%|FIND " " >NUL 2>&1
IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 ( PUSHD "%~dp1" && SET P=%~nx1 )
 
:: SET _P2 TO DEFAULT TO "/MIN" IF EMPTY
SET _P2=/MIN
IF NOT " %~2" == " " SET _P2=%~2
IF NOT " %~3" == " " SET _P3=%~3
IF NOT " %~4" == " " SET _P4=%~4
 
:: CHECK THAT EXECUTABLE EXISTS
CALL :EXISTORQUIT "%~1"
 
REM ECHO START %_P2% /D"%~dp1" %P% %_P3% %_P4%&& PAUSE&&
:: CHECK FOR EXISTING PROCESSNAME ( %~n1 is file name without ext, %~nx1 is the file name and extension. )
pslist.exe /e %~n1 >NUL 2>&1
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 (START %_P2% /D"%~dp1" %P% %_P3% %_P4% ) ELSE (CALL :MP 2 "%~n1 already running!" )
 
ENDLOCAL && EXIT /B

ADMINRUNONE - Runs %1 with admin rights IF neccessary

:ADMINRUNONE
CALL :MP 3 "Exec %~1 as %ADMINUSER%"
 
:: Check that file exists
CALL :EXISTORQUIT "%~1"
 
:: test for rights to the task scheduler
:: %SYSTEMDRIVE%\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe /E:ON /D /Q /T:0C /C START /WAIT /MIN /B %SYSTEMDRIVE%\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe /E:ON /D /Q /T:0C /C %~1
AT >NUL 2>&1
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 (
  RUNAS /noprofile /user:%USERDOMAIN%\%ADMINUSER% "%~1"
) ELSE (
  %COMSPEC% /E:ON /D /Q /T:0C /C "%~1"
)
SLEEP 2 && CALL :MF && EXIT /B

CHECKUSERVALID - checks that defined username equals %ADMINUSER% or %RUNUSER%, then returns to CALLer

:CHECKUSERVALID
:: EXIT IF USERNAME IS NOT DEFINED, CATCHES SYSTEM ACCOUNTS TRYING TO RUN WHEN IN GLOBAL STARTUP
IF NOT DEFINED USERNAME EXIT
 
SETLOCAL
SET UP=no
SET _P1= %~1
SET _P2= %~2
IF NOT "%_P1%" == " " ( IF /I "%~1" == "%USERNAME%" SET UP=yes)
IF NOT "%_P1%" == " " ( IF /I "%~1" == "%USERNAME%" SET UP=yes)
IF NOT "%_P1%" == " " ( IF /I "%~1" == "%USERNAME%" SET UP=yes)
IF /I "bill" == "%USERNAME%" SET UP=yes
IF /I "newbill" == "%USERNAME%" SET UP=yes
IF /I "max" == "%USERNAME%" SET UP=yes
IF /I NOT "%UP%" == "yes" EXIT
ENDLOCAL
EXIT /B

SETPROMPT - sets prompt, then returns to CALLer

REM =   [user@MACHINE] [C:\DR\PEPPER\SCRIPTS]
REM =   > REG /?

:SETPROMPT
set PROMPT=$_[%USERNAME%@%USERDOMAIN%]$S[$P]$_$M$G && EXIT /B

BEEP - beeps once, then returns to CALLer

The character after the echo is the actual BEL char, so unless you have my source file, you will need to copy a literal BEL char here to make it beep.

:BEEP
@ECHO # && EXIT /B

MSETCOLOR - SET colors for screen, then returns to CALLer

REM
REM     0 = Black       8 = Gray
REM     1 = Blue        9 = Light Blue
REM     2 = Green       A = Light Green
REM     3 = Aqua        B = Light Aqua
REM     4 = Red         C = Light Red
REM     5 = Purple      D = Light Purple
REM     6 = Yellow      E = Light Yellow
REM     7 = White       F = Bright White
REM

:MSETCOLOR
COLOR %~1 && EXIT /B

MSETCONSOLE - sets the cols and lines of current screen buffer, then returns to CALLer

:MSETCONSOLE
MODE CON COLS=%~1 LINES=%~2 && EXIT /B

PARAMTEST - tests params, then returns to CALLer

:PARAMTEST
ECHO. && CALL :MP 1 "PARAMTEST CALLED WITH: %*" && ECHO %L1%
SET _P= %~1
IF NOT "%_P%" == " " ( ECHO %%1          = %1 && ECHO %%~f1        = %~f1 && ECHO %%~d1        = %~d1 && ECHO %%~p1        = %~p1
  ECHO %%~n1        = %~n1 && ECHO %%~x1        = %~x1 && ECHO %%~s1        = %~s1 && ECHO %%~dp1       = %~dp1
  ECHO %%~nx1       = %~nx1 && ECHO %%~$PATH:1   = %~$PATH:1 && ECHO %%~dp$PATH:1 = %~dp$PATH:1 && ECHO %L1% )
SET _P= %~2
IF NOT "%_P%" == " " ( ECHO %%2          = %2 && ECHO %%~f2        = %~f2 && ECHO %%~d2        = %~d2 && ECHO %%~p2        = %~p2
  ECHO %%~n2        = %~n2 && ECHO %%~x2        = %~x2 && ECHO %%~s2        = %~s2 && ECHO %%~dp2       = %~dp2
  ECHO %%~nx2       = %~nx2 && ECHO %%~$PATH:2   = %~$PATH:2 && ECHO %%~dp$PATH:2 = %~dp$PATH:2 && ECHO %L1% )
SET _P= %~3
IF NOT "%_P%" == " " ( ECHO %%3          = %3 && ECHO %%~f3        = %~f3 && ECHO %%~d3        = %~d3 && ECHO %%~p3        = %~p3
  ECHO %%~n3        = %~n3 && ECHO %%~x3        = %~x3 && ECHO %%~s3        = %~s3 && ECHO %%~dp3       = %~dp3
  ECHO %%~nx3       = %~nx3 && ECHO %%~$PATH:3   = %~$PATH:3 && ECHO %%~dp$PATH:3 = %~dp$PATH:3 && ECHO %L1% )
SET _P= %~4
IF NOT "%_P%" == " " ( ECHO %%4          = %4 && ECHO %%~f4        = %~f4 && ECHO %%~d4        = %~d4 && ECHO %%~p4        = %~p4
  ECHO %%~n4        = %~n4 && ECHO %%~x4        = %~x4 && ECHO %%~s4        = %~s4 && ECHO %%~dp4       = %~dp4
  ECHO %%~nx4       = %~nx4 && ECHO %%~$PATH:4   = %~$PATH:4 && ECHO %%~dp$PATH:4 = %~dp$PATH:4 && ECHO %L1% )
SET _P= %~5
IF NOT "%_P%" == " " ( ECHO %%5          = %5 && ECHO %%~f5        = %~f5 && ECHO %%~d5        = %~d5 && ECHO %%~p5        = %~p5
  ECHO %%~n5        = %~n5 && ECHO %%~x5        = %~x5 && ECHO %%~s5        = %~s5 && ECHO %%~dp5       = %~dp5
  ECHO %%~nx5       = %~nx5 && ECHO %%~$PATH:5   = %~$PATH:5 && ECHO %%~dp$PATH:5 = %~dp$PATH:5 && ECHO %L1% )
SET _P= %~6
IF NOT "%_P%" == " " ( ECHO %%6          = %6 && ECHO %%~f6        = %~f6 && ECHO %%~d6        = %~d6 && ECHO %%~p6        = %~p6
  ECHO %%~n6        = %~n6 && ECHO %%~x6        = %~x6 && ECHO %%~s6        = %~s6 && ECHO %%~dp6       = %~dp6
  ECHO %%~nx6       = %~nx6 && ECHO %%~$PATH:6   = %~$PATH:6 && ECHO %%~dp$PATH:6 = %~dp$PATH:6 && ECHO %L1% )
SET _P= %~7
IF NOT "%_P%" == " " ( ECHO %%7          = %7 && ECHO %%~f7        = %~f7 && ECHO %%~d7        = %~d7 && ECHO %%~p7        = %~p7
  ECHO %%~n7        = %~n7 && ECHO %%~x7        = %~x7 && ECHO %%~s7        = %~s7 && ECHO %%~dp7       = %~dp7
  ECHO %%~nx7       = %~nx7 && ECHO %%~$PATH:7   = %~$PATH:7 && ECHO %%~dp$PATH:7 = %~dp$PATH:7 && ECHO %L1% )
SLEEP 3
CALL :MF
EXIT /B

PARAMTESTHELP - show params help, then returns to CALLer

:PARAMTESTHELP
ECHO %%~1 Expands %%1 and removes any surrounding quotation marks
ECHO %%~f1 Expands %%1 to a fully qualified path name.
ECHO %%~d1 Expands %%1 to a drive letter.
ECHO %%~p1 Expands %%1 to a path.
ECHO %%~n1 Expands %%1 to a file name.
ECHO %%~x1 Expands %%1 to a file extension.
ECHO %%~s1 Expanded path contains short names only.
ECHO %%~a1 Expands %%1 to file attributes.
ECHO %%~t1 Expands %%1 to date and time of file.
ECHO %%~z1 Expands %%1 to size of file.
ECHO %%~dp1 Expands %%1 to a drive letter and path.
ECHO %%~nx1 Expands %%1 to a file name and extension.
ECHO %%~ftza1 Expands %%1 to a dir-like output line.
ECHO %%~$PATH:1 Searches the dirs in PATH expanding %%1 to fully qualified name of first found. If var name isn't defined or the files not found, expands to empty string.
ECHO %%~dp$PATH:1 Searches the directories listed in the PATH environment variable for %%1 and expands to the drive letter and path of the first one found.
CALL :MF
EXIT /B

EXAMINEFILE - FINDs useful strings in file, then returns to CALLer

:EXAMINEFILE
CALL :MP 1 "Examine File %~1"
CALL :EXISTORQUIT "%~1"
STRINGS "%~1" | FINDSTR /R /C:"[A-Z][A-Z]\="
CALL :MF
EXIT /B

ADMINSHELL - sets prompt, then returns to CALLer

:ADMINSHELL
CALL :MP 1 "Creating Admin Shell"
CALL :EXISTORQUIT "%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\runas.exe"
START %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\runas.exe /profile /savecred /user:%ADMINUSER% "%COMSPEC% /T:0C /E:ON /F:ON /K cmd.exe /K cd C:\CRYPT\BIN"
CALL :MF
EXIT /B

EXISTORQUIT - checks %~1 exists, IF it does returns to CALLer, otherwise, quit

:EXISTORQUIT
:: CALL :MP 1 "Checking for %~1"
IF NOT EXIST "%~1" CALL :MDYE "%~1 NOT FOUND"
EXIT /B

RR - IF file %1 EXISTs then :MT "Removing %1" then :MF, then ( or IF %1 not EXISTs) returns to CALLer

:RR
CALL :MP 1 "Removing %~1"
IF EXIST "%~1" ERASE /q "%~1"
CALL :MF && EXIT /B

LOCKDOWN - locks workstation, then returns to CALLer (pointless)

:LOCKDOWN
RUNDLL32 USER32.DLL,LockWorkStation && EXIT /B

SHUTDOWNIN - initiates shutdown, then returns to CALLer (pointless)

REM shutdown /a aborts

:SHUTDOWNIN
SHUTDOWN -r -t "%~1" && EXIT /B

LISTSERVICES - lists services, then returns to CALLer

:LISTSERVICES
SC query state= all type= all | FOR /F "tokens=2" %%i IN ('FIND /I "SERVICE_NAME"') DO @ECHO %%i
SC query | FOR /F "tokens=2" %%i IN ('FIND /I "SERVICE_NAME"') DO @ECHO %%i
EXIT /B

TASKS - Advanced Tasklisting

:TASKS
SET _P=%~1
SET _PP= %~1
IF "%_PP%" == " " EXIT /B
 
REM SORTABLES
IF /I "%_P%" == "pid" ( tasklist.exe /V /NH | SORT /+29 && EXIT /B )
IF /I "%_P%" == "size" ( tasklist.exe /V /NH | SORT /+59 && EXIT /B )
IF /I "%_P%" == "user" ( tasklist.exe /V /NH | SORT /+89 && EXIT /B )
IF /I "%_P%" == "time" ( tasklist.exe /V /NH | SORT /+138 && EXIT /B )
IF /I "%_P%" == "window" ( tasklist.exe /V /NH | SORT /+152 && EXIT /B )
 
REM FILTERS
IF /I "%_P%" == "image" ( tasklist.exe /V /NH /FI "IMAGENAME eq %~2" && EXIT /B )
IF /I "%_P%" == "username" ( tasklist.exe /V /NH /FI "USERNAME eq %~2" && EXIT /B )
IF /I "%_P%" == "running" ( tasklist.exe /V /NH /FI "STATUS eq Running" && EXIT /B )
IF /I "%_P%" == "status" ( tasklist.exe /V /NH /FI "STATUS eq %~2" && EXIT /B )
CALL :MF
EXIT /B

SPEAK - Speak text

:SPEAK
REM ECHO "%~1"
nircmd.exe speak text "%~1" 5 60 && EXIT /B

MF - SLEEPs for 1 second, then prints out completed message, followed by 2 blank lines, then returns to CALLer

:MF
SLEEP 1 && ECHO  [COMPLETED] && ECHO. && ECHO. && EXIT /B

MM - prints blank line, L1, changes title of the interpreter window to %~1, prints >>> %~1..., L2, blank line, then returns to CALLer

:MM
SLEEP 1 && ECHO. && ECHO %L1% && title +++ %~1... && ECHO %P1% %~1... && ECHO %L2% && ECHO. && EXIT /B

MT - prints blank line, L1, changes title of the interpreter window to %~1, prints >>> %~1..., L2, blank line, then returns to CALLer

:MT
CALL :MM "%~1" && CALL :SPEAK "%~1" && EXIT /B

MP - Print Output, then returns to CALLer

:MP
IF "%~1" == "1" ECHO %P1% %~2 && EXIT /B
IF "%~1" == "2" ECHO %P2% %~2 && ECHO. && EXIT /B
IF "%~1" == "3" ECHO %P3% %~2 && EXIT /B
EXIT /B

MP3 - ECHO %~1, speak %~1 with nircmd.exe, then returns to CALLer

:MP3
CALL :MP 1 "%~1" && CALL :SPEAK "%~1" && EXIT /B

MDYE - exit script with message %~1, then returns to CALLer

:MDYE
SETLOCAL
SET _M= %~1
IF NOT "%_M%" == " " SET _M=REASON: %~1
CALL :MP 1 "EXITING SCRIPT...  %_M%" && ECHO. && ECHO.
ENDLOCAL && EXIT /B

MKILL - exit cmd processor with message %~1

:MKILL
SETLOCAL
SET _M= %~1
IF NOT "%_M%" == " " SET _M=REASON: %~1
ECHO. && ECHO. && CALL :MP 1 "EXITING CMD WINDOW IN 3 SECONDS...  %_M%" && ECHO. && ECHO. && SLEEP 3
ENDLOCAL && EXIT && EXIT && EXIT

EOF: Thoughts

So what did you think? I have around 20 batch scripts that utilize these and other functions to do all sorts of cool things. One takes a screenshot of my desktop every 10 minutes and saves it for a real-cool archive of my activity. Another lets me edit a boot.ini file with 1 command.. And another runs when I insert a USB drive to automatically mount a truecrypt volume and create SSH tunnels in the background by using Plink, AT, and the runas.exe command.

If you want to program, please use linux... If you need to write a Windows batch file, I hope this helps.

Advanced Windows Batch File Scripting originally appeared on AskApache.com

I am almost ready to publish the final tutorial on using ssh tunnels from a truecrypt partition on a Windows machine. Of course I choose to go way overboard in my research and the tutorial is full of some pretty awesome windows tricks.. I will come back to this post soon and post all the other advanced tools I use for debugging windows, for now though you MUST know how to debug the kernel and use these basic debugging tools.

Debugging Tools for Windows

Target Computer and Host Computer

Kernel-mode debugging requires a target computer and a host computer. The target computer is used to run the kernel-mode application. The host computer is used to run the debugger. The following diagram shows the typical Microsoft Windows setup that you can use to perform kernel debugging and diagnose system failures. Typical Windows debugging setup This diagram shows the typical setup. However, the current versions of KD and WinDbg (which you installed with this documentation) are flexible. KD and WinDbg can do the following

• Debug a target computer that is running Windows.
• Debug a target computer that is running on an x86-based platform, an Itanium-based platform, or an x64-based platform.
• Can be started from a host computer that is running Windows.
• Can be started from a host computer that is on an x86-based platform, an Itanium-based platform, or an x64-based platform.

The target computer and host computer do not have to use the same platform or the same version of Windows. Kernel debugging does not require specific combinations of the free or checked builds. You can debug a free system from a free or checked system, and you can debug a checked system from a free or checked system. However, typically, there is no reason for the host computer to run the slower checked build. Note If you are running the debuggers from an Itanium-based host computer, make sure that you are using the correct version of the binaries. For more information about which version of the debugger package to use, see Choosing a 32-bit or 64-bit Debugger Package.

Debuggers

WinDbg  (Windbg.exe)

A user-mode and kernel-mode debugger with a graphical interface.

KD  (Kd.exe)

A kernel-mode debugger with a console interface.

CDB  (Cdb.exe)

A user-mode debugger with a console interface.

NTSD  (Ntsd.exe)

A user-mode debugger with a console interface. CDB and NTSD are virtually identical. In this documentation, whenever a reference is made to "CDB", it applies to both CDB and NTSD. When these two debuggers differ, it is noted. (See CDB and NTSD for details.)

Using Debugging Tools for Windows Download Windows Symbol Packages Symbol packages for a variety of Windows versions. Install Debugging Tools for Windows 32-bit Version Download page for the latest 32-bit packages. Install Debugging Tools for Windows 64-bit Versions Download page for the latest 64-bit packages. What's New for Debugging Tools for Windows Debugging Tools and Symbols: Getting Started Tips for using Debugging Tools for Windows, with links to presentations and papers on best practices Debugger How-Tos Driver Tip: Debugging Windows Vista Improve Driver Debugability 1394 Kernel Debugging Tips and Tricks [WinHEC 2004; 373 KB] Advanced Driver Debugging [336 KB] Driver Debugging Basics [WinHEC 2007; 633 KB] Debugging Kernel-Mode Driver Framework Drivers Debugging User-Mode Driver Framework Drivers Training Sessions Debugging Tools for Windows (MSDN) HOWTO: Enable Verbose Debug Tracing in Various Drivers and Subsystems (314743) WDK Online: Tools for Debugging Drivers Resources WDK Documentation Download Driver Developer Community Resources Driver Signing Requirements for Windows Notes from Windows Development Teams Support for Developer Kits and Tools Driver Developer Blogs Windows Driver Kit (WDK) Version 7.1.0 Release Notes WDK Documentation on MSDN See Also Microsoft Application Verifier

Additional Tools and Utilities

Logger  (Logger.exe and Logexts.dll)

A tool and an extension DLL that record the function calls and other actions of a program. Logger is described in this documentation; see Logger and LogViewer.

LogViewer  (Logviewer.exe)

A tool that displays the logs created by Logger. LogViewer is described in this documentation; see Logger and LogViewer.

ADPlus  (Autodump+, Adplus.vbs)

A console-based Microsoft Visual Basic script that can automatically create memory dump files and log files with debug output from one or more processes. ADPlus is described in this documentation; see ADPlus.

DbgRpc  (Dbgrpc.exe)

A tool used to display Microsoft Remote Procedure Call (RPC) state information. DbgRpc is described in this documentation; see RPC Debugging and Using the DbgRpc Tool.

KDbgCtrl  (Kernel Debugging Control, Kdbgctrl.exe)

A tool that controls and configures the kernel debugging connection. KDbgCtrl is described in this documentation; see Using KDbgCtrl.

SrcSrv  (Srcsrv.dll)

A source server that can be used to deliver source files while debugging. SrcSrv is described in this documentation; see SrcSrv.

SymSrv  (Symsrv.dll)

A symbol server that the debugger can use to connect to a symbol store. SymSrv is described in this documentation; see SymSrv.

SymStore  (Symstore.exe)

A tool used to create a symbol store. SymSrv is described in this documentation; see Using SymStore.

SymProxy

A tool used to create a single HTTP symbol server on your network that all your debuggers can point to. This has the benefit of pointing to multiple symbol servers (both internal and external) with a single symbol path, handling all authentication, and increasing performance via symbol caching. SymProxy is described in this documentation; see SymProxy.

AgeStore  (Agestore.exe)

A tool that removes old entries in the downstream store of a symbol server or a source server. AgeStore is described in this documentation; see AgeStore.

DBH  (Dbh.exe)

A tool that displays information about the contents of a symbol file. DBH is described in this documentation; see DBH.

PDBCopy  (Pdbcopy.exe)

A tool that removes private symbol information from a symbol file, and controls which public symbols are included in the file. PDBCopy is described in this documentation; see PDBCopy.

DumpChk  (Dump File Checking Utility, Dumpchk.exe)

A tool used to validate a memory dump file. DumpChk is described in this documentation; see DumpChk.

DbgSrv  (Dbgsrv.exe)

A process server used for remote debugging. DbgSrv is described in this documentation; see Process Servers (User Mode).

KdSrv  (Kdsrv.exe)

A KD connection server used for remote debugging. KDSrv is described in this documentation; see KD Connection Servers (Kernel Mode).

DbEngPrx  (Dbengprx.exe)

A repeater (small proxy server) used for remote debugging. DbgSrv is described in this documentation; see Repeaters.

The Remote tool  (Remote.exe)

A remoting tool that can be used to remotely control any console program, including KD, CDB, and NTSD. The Remote tool is described in this documentation; see Remote Tool and Remote Debugging Through Remote.exe.

GFlags  (Global Flags Editor, Gflags.exe)

A tool used to control registry keys and other settings. GFlags is described in this documentation; see GFlags.

The Kill tool  (Kill.exe)

A tool used to terminate a process. The Kill tool is described in this documentation; see Kill Tool.

The Breakin tool  (Breakin.exe)

A tool used to cause a user-mode break to occur in a process. Breakin.exe is not described in this documentation. Use the breakin /? command for help with this tool.

The List tool  (File List Utilit y, List.exe)

List.exe is not described in this documentation. Use the list /? command for help with this tool.

TList  (Task List Viewer, Tlist.exe)

A tool used to list all running processes. TList is described in this documentation; see TList.

RTList  (Remote Task List Viewer, Rtlist.exe)

A tool used to list running processes via a DbgSrv process server. RTList is not described in this documentation. Use the rtlist /? command for help with this tool.

UMDH  (User-Mode Dump Heap utility, Umdh.exe)

A tool used to analyze heap allocations. UMDH is described in this documentation; see UMDH.

USBView  (Universal Serial Bus Viewer, Usbview.exe)

A tool used to display the USB devices connected to a computer. USBView is described in this documentation; see USBView.

Documentation

"Debugging Tools for Windows"  (Debugger.chm)

This is the documentation you are currently reading. It is the central documentation for Debugging Tools for Windows.

"Debug Help Library"  (Dbghelp.chm)

This documentation describes the DbgHelp API and the ImageHlp API, and also explains how to create your own symbol server. This is installed when you peform a custom install of Debugging Tools for Windows and select the SDK feature and its subfeatures.

Tools Outside the Debugging Tools for Windows Package

Dr. Watson  (Drwtsn32.exe)

A tool used for automatically creating dump files and sending error reports to Microsoft Online Crash Analysis (OCA). Dr. Watson is partially described in this documentation; see Dr. Watson. The other features of Dr. Watson are described in the help file associated with drwtsn32.exe.

Build utility  (Build.exe)

A compiler and linker used to build debugger extensions and other programs. The Build utility and its documentation can be found in the Windows Driver Kit, and in earlier versions of the Windows DDK.

BinPlace  (Binplace.exe)

A tool used to control symbol files for build products. BinPlace and its documentation can be found in the Windows Driver Kit, and in earlier versions of the Windows DDK.

Application Verifier  (AppVerif.exe and !avrf)

A tool used to test user-mode applications. This tool consists of two components: the AppVerif.exe utility and the !avrf extension command. All the features of Application Verifier that are debugger-related are described in Application Verifier. The other features of Application Verifier are described in the help file associated with AppVerif.exe.

Debugging different target platforms

CDB

NTSD

NTSD in the System32 Directory

• This version of NTSD cannot be used for Remote Debugging Through the Debugger.
• This version of NTSD may not match the version of the documentation you are currently reading.

Controlling CDB or NTSD from the Kernel Debugger

Debugging Tools for Windows originally appeared on AskApache.com