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Re: [Mutt] #2952: <BackSpace> should use terminal settings



On 2007-09-13 11:31:26 -0500, Kyle Wheeler wrote:
> The configuration of the BackSpace key *does* matter because it is not 
> simply ignored for keyboards that do not have keys named "backspace". On 
> the contrary, mutt will still insist that a <BackSpace> key exists, and is 
> signified by ^H.

Not necessarily ^H. The sequence is defined in the terminfo data.
This is true for any special key.

> Thus, when another key is pressed that happens to emit ^H, 
> mutt presumes that the BackSpace key was pressed.

Yes, Mutt (in fact, the curses library) cannot make the difference
(well, AFAIK, some libraries could support a maximum delay between
the characters, but this can lead to problems on slow SSH connections,
even ADSL).

> In other words, mutt recognizes the backspace key by what it *does*
> rather than by how it is *named*.

No, it recognizes the keys by what sequence of characters is sent by
the terminal. In the terminfo data, I have: "kbs=\177". This means
that the backspace key (kbs) is recognized if ^? is generated by the
terminal.

> Any key that emits the appropriate byte sequence is assumed to be 
> the backspace key, regardless of what that key *actually* is.

Yes, the byte sequence given in the terminfo data. But this isn't
necessarily the erase character.

-- 
Vincent Lefèvre <vincent@xxxxxxxxxx> - Web: <http://www.vinc17.org/>
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Work: CR INRIA - computer arithmetic / Arenaire project (LIP, ENS-Lyon)