
VT100 escape codes

This document describes how to control a VT100 terminal. The entries are of the form "name, description, escape code".

The name isn't important, and the description is just to help you find what you're looking for. What you have to do is send the "escape code" to the screen. These codes are often several characters long, but they all begin with ^[. This isn't the two characters ^ and [, but rather a representation of the ASCII code ESC (which is why these are called escape codes).

ESC has the decimal value 27 and should be sent before the rest of the code, which is simply an ASCII string.

As an example of how to use this information, here's how to clear the screen in C, using the VT100 escape codes:

    #define ASCII_ESC 27
    printf( "%c[2J", ASCII_ESC );

   or

    puts( "\033[2J" );

Name                  Description                            Esc Code

setnl LMN             Set new line mode                      ^[[20h
setappl DECCKM        Set cursor key to application          ^[[?1h
setansi DECANM        Set ANSI (versus VT52)                 none
setcol DECCOLM        Set number of columns to 132           ^[[?3h
setsmooth DECSCLM     Set smooth scrolling                   ^[[?4h
setrevscrn DECSCNM    Set reverse video on screen            ^[[?5h
setorgrel DECOM       Set origin to relative                 ^[[?6h
setwrap DECAWM        Set auto-wrap mode                     ^[[?7h
setrep DECARM         Set auto-repeat mode                   ^[[?8h
setinter DECINLM      Set interlacing mode                   ^[[?9h

setlf LMN             Set line feed mode                     ^[[20l
setcursor DECCKM      Set cursor key to cursor               ^[[?1l
setvt52 DECANM        Set VT52 (versus ANSI)                 ^[[?2l
resetcol DECCOLM      Set number of columns to 80            ^[[?3l
setjump DECSCLM       Set jump scrolling                     ^[[?4l
setnormscrn DECSCNM   Set normal video on screen             ^[[?5l
setorgabs DECOM       Set origin to absolute                 ^[[?6l
resetwrap DECAWM      Reset auto-wrap mode                   ^[[?7l
resetrep DECARM       Reset auto-repeat mode                 ^[[?8l
resetinter DECINLM    Reset interlacing mode                 ^[[?9l

altkeypad DECKPAM     Set alternate keypad mode              ^[=
numkeypad DECKPNM     Set numeric keypad mode                ^[>

setukg0               Set United Kingdom G0 character set    ^[(A
setukg1               Set United Kingdom G1 character set    ^[)A
setusg0               Set United States G0 character set     ^[(B
setusg1               Set United States G1 character set     ^[)B
setspecg0             Set G0 special chars. & line set       ^[(0
setspecg1             Set G1 special chars. & line set       ^[)0
setaltg0              Set G0 alternate character ROM         ^[(1
setaltg1              Set G1 alternate character ROM         ^[)1
setaltspecg0          Set G0 alt char ROM and spec. graphics ^[(2
setaltspecg1          Set G1 alt char ROM and spec. graphics ^[)2

setss2 SS2            Set single shift 2                     ^[N
setss3 SS3            Set single shift 3                     ^[O

modesoff SGR0         Turn off character attributes          ^[[m
modesoff SGR0         Turn off character attributes          ^[[0m
bold SGR1             Turn bold mode on                      ^[[1m
lowint SGR2           Turn low intensity mode on             ^[[2m
underline SGR4        Turn underline mode on                 ^[[4m
blink SGR5            Turn blinking mode on                  ^[[5m
reverse SGR7          Turn reverse video on                  ^[[7m
invisible SGR8        Turn invisible text mode on            ^[[8m

setwin DECSTBM        Set top and bottom line#s of a window  ^[[<v>;<v>r

cursorup(n) CUU       Move cursor up n lines                 ^[[<n>A
cursordn(n) CUD       Move cursor down n lines               ^[[<n>B
cursorrt(n) CUF       Move cursor right n lines              ^[[<n>C
cursorlf(n) CUB       Move cursor left n lines               ^[[<n>D
cursorhome            Move cursor to upper left corner       ^[[H
cursorhome            Move cursor to upper left corner       ^[[;H
cursorpos(v,h) CUP    Move cursor to screen location v,h     ^[[<v>;<h>H
hvhome                Move cursor to upper left corner       ^[[f
hvhome                Move cursor to upper left corner       ^[[;f
hvpos(v,h) CUP        Move cursor to screen location v,h     ^[[<v>;<h>f
index IND             Move/scroll window up one line         ^[D
revindex RI           Move/scroll window down one line       ^[M
nextline NEL          Move to next line                      ^[E
savecursor DECSC      Save cursor position and attributes    ^[7
restorecursor DECSC   Restore cursor position and attributes ^[8

tabset HTS            Set a tab at the current column        ^[H
tabclr TBC            Clear a tab at the current column      ^[[g
tabclr TBC            Clear a tab at the current column      ^[[0g
tabclrall TBC         Clear all tabs                         ^[[3g

dhtop DECDHL          Double-height letters, top half        ^[#3
dhbot DECDHL          Double-height letters, bottom half     ^[#4
swsh DECSWL           Single width, single height letters    ^[#5
dwsh DECDWL           Double width, single height letters    ^[#6

cleareol EL0          Clear line from cursor right           ^[[K
cleareol EL0          Clear line from cursor right           ^[[0K
clearbol EL1          Clear line from cursor left            ^[[1K
clearline EL2         Clear entire line                      ^[[2K

cleareos ED0          Clear screen from cursor down          ^[[J
cleareos ED0          Clear screen from cursor down          ^[[0J
clearbos ED1          Clear screen from cursor up            ^[[1J
clearscreen ED2       Clear entire screen                    ^[[2J

devstat DSR           Device status report                   ^[5n
termok DSR               Response: terminal is OK            ^[0n
termnok DSR              Response: terminal is not OK        ^[3n

getcursor DSR         Get cursor position                    ^[6n
cursorpos CPR            Response: cursor is at v,h          ^[<v>;<h>R

ident DA              Identify what terminal type            ^[[c
ident DA              Identify what terminal type (another)  ^[[0c
gettype DA               Response: terminal type code n      ^[[?1;<n>0c

reset RIS             Reset terminal to initial state        ^[c

align DECALN          Screen alignment display               ^[#8
testpu DECTST         Confidence power up test               ^[[2;1y
testlb DECTST         Confidence loopback test               ^[[2;2y
testpurep DECTST      Repeat power up test                   ^[[2;9y
testlbrep DECTST      Repeat loopback test                   ^[[2;10y

ledsoff DECLL0        Turn off all four leds                 ^[[0q
led1 DECLL1           Turn on LED #1                         ^[[1q
led2 DECLL2           Turn on LED #2                         ^[[2q
led3 DECLL3           Turn on LED #3                         ^[[3q
led4 DECLL4           Turn on LED #4                         ^[[4q

#
#  All codes below are for use in VT52 compatibility mode.
#

setansi               Enter/exit ANSI mode (VT52)            ^[<

altkeypad             Enter alternate keypad mode            ^[=
numkeypad             Exit alternate keypad mode             ^[>

setgr                 Use special graphics character set     ^[F
resetgr               Use normal US/UK character set         ^[G

cursorup              Move cursor up one line                ^[A
cursordn              Move cursor down one line              ^[B
cursorrt              Move cursor right one char             ^[C
cursorlf              Move cursor left one char              ^[D
cursorhome            Move cursor to upper left corner       ^[H
cursorpos(v,h)        Move cursor to v,h location            ^[<v><h>
revindex              Generate a reverse line-feed           ^[I

cleareol              Erase to end of current line           ^[K
cleareos              Erase to end of screen                 ^[J

ident                 Identify what the terminal is          ^[Z
identresp             Correct response to ident              ^[/Z

<hr>

#
# VT100 Special Key Codes
#
# These are sent from the terminal back to the computer when the
# particular key is pressed.  Note that the numeric keypad keys
# send different codes in numeric mode than in alternate mode.
# See escape codes above to change keypad mode.
#

# Function Keys:

PF1     ^[OP
PF2     ^[OQ
PF3     ^[OR
PF4     ^[OS


# Arrow Keys:
        Reset    Set
        -----    ---
up      ^[A ^[OA
down        ^[B ^[OB
right       ^[C ^[OC
left        ^[D ^[OD


# Numeric Keypad Keys:

        Keypad Mode
        -----------------
Keypad Key  Numeric Alternate
----------  ------- ---------
0       0   ^[Op
1       1   ^[Oq
2       2   ^[Or
3       3   ^[Os
4       4   ^[Ot
5       5   ^[Ou
6       6   ^[Ov
7       7   ^[Ow
8       8   ^[Ox
9       9   ^[Oy
- (minus)   -   ^[Om
, (comma)   ,   ^[Ol
. (period)  .   ^[On
ENTER       ^M  ^[OM

C 	27, 033, 0x1b
English 	27 decimal, 33 octal, 1b hexadecimal

