the dumb Emacs terminal (was: Re: rotating the palette)

[Emanuel Berg <embe8573@student.uu.se>]

Emanuel Berg <embe8573@student.uu.se> writes:

> The problem boils down to this, which doesn't
> work in the Emacs shell but everywhere else:
>
>     $ tput setaf 2 && echo green
>
> There is no error message but the return code
> is 1 (i.e., an error).
>
> Perhaps tput cannot be used in dumb
> terminals...?

If you do

    $ infocmp dumb

you get:

    #	Reconstructed via infocmp from file: /lib/terminfo/d/dumb
    dumb|80-column dumb tty,
       am,
       cols#80,
       bel=^G, cr=^M, cud1=^J, ind=^J,

but If you do

    $ infocmp screen

you get:

    #	Reconstructed via infocmp from file: /lib/terminfo/s/screen
    screen|VT 100/ANSI X3.64 virtual terminal,
       am, km, mir, msgr, xenl,
       colors#8, cols#80, it#8, lines#24, ncv@, pairs#64,
       acsc=++\,\,--..00``aaffgghhiijjkkllmmnnooppqqrrssttuuvvwwxxyyzz{{||}}~~,
       bel=^G, blink=\E[5m, bold=\E[1m, cbt=\E[Z, civis=\E[?25l,
       clear=\E[H\E[J, cnorm=\E[34h\E[?25h, cr=^M,
       csr=\E[%i%p1%d;%p2%dr, cub=\E[%p1%dD, cub1=^H,
       cud=\E[%p1%dB, cud1=^J, cuf=\E[%p1%dC, cuf1=\E[C,
       cup=\E[%i%p1%d;%p2%dH, cuu=\E[%p1%dA, cuu1=\EM,
       cvvis=\E[34l, dch=\E[%p1%dP, dch1=\E[P, dl=\E[%p1%dM,
       dl1=\E[M, ed=\E[J, el=\E[K, el1=\E[1K, enacs=\E(B\E)0,
       flash=\Eg, home=\E[H, ht=^I, hts=\EH, ich=\E[%p1%d@,
       il=\E[%p1%dL, il1=\E[L, ind=^J, is2=\E)0, kbs=\177,
       kcbt=\E[Z, kcub1=\EOD, kcud1=\EOB, kcuf1=\EOC, kcuu1=\EOA,
       kdch1=\E[3~, kend=\E[4~, kf1=\EOP, kf10=\E[21~,
       kf11=\E[23~, kf12=\E[24~, kf2=\EOQ, kf3=\EOR, kf4=\EOS,
       kf5=\E[15~, kf6=\E[17~, kf7=\E[18~, kf8=\E[19~, kf9=\E[20~,
       khome=\E[1~, kich1=\E[2~, kmous=\E[M, knp=\E[6~, kpp=\E[5~,
       nel=\EE, op=\E[39;49m, rc=\E8, rev=\E[7m, ri=\EM, rmacs=^O,
       rmcup=\E[?1049l, rmir=\E[4l, rmkx=\E[?1l\E>, rmso=\E[23m,
       rmul=\E[24m, rs2=\Ec\E[?1000l\E[?25h, sc=\E7,
       setab=\E[4%p1%dm, setaf=\E[3%p1%dm,
       sgr=\E[0%?%p6%t;1%;%?%p1%t;3%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p3%t;7%;%?%p4%t;5%;m%?%p9%t\016%e\017%;,
       sgr0=\E[m\017, smacs=^N, smcup=\E[?1049h, smir=\E[4h,
       smkx=\E[?1h\E=, smso=\E[3m, smul=\E[4m, tbc=\E[3g,

So tputting 'setaf' has no effect in the dumb
Emacs terminal/shell, as it isn't defined as
a terminal alias, or whatever those entry codes
are called!

Besides, in /usr/share/terminfo as well as
/lib/terminfo on my Raspbian system, there are
so many terminals defined it is mind-boggling!
What is the meaning of it all? Were they all
once physical computers or why are there so
many? Who uses them?

And does the Emacs terminal have to be dumb?

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