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SYNCTERM(1)		     General Commands Manual		     SYNCTERM(1)

NAME
     syncterm - BBS terminal program

SYNOPSIS
     syncterm  [-46chqrts]  [-blist]  [-edelay]  [-iiface]  [-llines] [-nconfig]
     [URL]

     syncterm -T

     syncterm -v

DESCRIPTION
     SyncTERM is a terminal program designed specifically for  connecting  to  a
     Bulletin Board System (BBS)

   Options
     -4     Only resolve IPv4 addresses

     -6     Only resolve IPv6 addresses

     -blist Specify an alternative BBS list path

     -c     Hide the status line

     -edelaySpecify  the  "escape  delay"  in  milliseconds  for curses(3) mode.
	    Since curses uses the escape key for its own purposes, using the es-
	    cape key for other control requires a timeout.  If this  timeout  is
	    too  low, extended keystrokes such as arrow keys will be interpreted
	    as an escape keypress followed by other characters.  If  this  delay
	    is	too  high,  there will be a large delay after a single escape is
	    pressed.  If an escape delay of less than 10ms is specified,  it  is
	    forced to 25ms.

     -h     Specifies the default scheme for URL to be ssh://

     -iinterface
	    Specify  the interface to use.  Depending on compile options and li-
	    brary availability, not all interfaces will be available for all in-
	    stallations.  If -i is  not  specified,  SyncTERM  will  choose  the
	    "best"  mode  in  the following order: Quartz (macOS), Wayland, X11,
	    GDI, SDL, Win32 Console, curses, ANSI.  The  SDL  mode  specifically
	    can fail in ways that the automatic fallback can not properly detect
	    (most notably with libGGI when it is enabled in SDL.)  When this oc-
	    curs, a specific mode will need to be forced.

	    When -i is specified, only the specified mode will be attempted.  No
	    automatic fallback will be performed.

	    For  the  items  with  [F|W],  an  F  or  W may be added to indicate
	    Fullscreen or Windowed mode respectively

	    The possible values for iface are:

	    A	   ANSI mode.  This mode as well as the curses modes  have  Spe-
		   cial caveats (see TEXT MODE CAVEATS)

	    C	   Ccurses mode.  Special caveats listed in TEXT MODE CAVEATS

	    F	   Curses  mode  and assume that the display in use will display
		   Codepage  437  glyphs  for  characters  above  127.	 Special
		   caveats listed in TEXT MODE CAVEATS

	    G[F|W] Windows GDI output mode.  Uses the Win32 API directly.

	    I	   Curses mode, and force ASCII only.  Special caveats listed in
		   TEXT MODE CAVEATS

	    S[F|W] Require  SyncTERM to run in SDL mode.  This requires SDL sup-
		   port to have been compiled in, and the library  ``libSDL.so''
		   to be in the library search path.

	    W	   Run in Windows Console mode.

	    Q[F|W] Require  SyncTERM to run in Quartz mode. macOS only. Uses the
		   native AppKit/Core Graphics framework. The default on macOS.

	    X[F|W] Require SyncTERM to run in X11 mode. This requires  X11  sup-
		   port  to have been compiled in, and the library ``libX11.so''
		   to be in the library search path.

	    Y[F|W] Require SyncTERM to run in Wayland mode. This  requires  Way-
		   land support to have been compiled in, and the library ``lib-
		   wayland-client.so'' to be in the library search path.

     -llinesSets  the number of screen lines to lines.	Only specific values are
	    allowed for lines and they are: 14, 21, 25, 28, 30, 43, 50, and  60.
	    If	any other value is chosen, a value of 43 or 50 is used depending
	    on the current font size.

     -nconfig
	    Specify an alternative INI file

     -q     Quiet mode.  Hides various popups during a connect.

     -r     Specifies the default scheme for URL to be rlogin://

     -s     Run in "safe mode" which disables the modification	of  local  files
	    such as the dialing directory and startup config.

     -t     Specifies the default scheme for URL to be telnet://

     -T     When  this	is the ONLY argument, dumps terminfo entry to stdout and
	    exits.

     -v     When this is the ONLY argument, dumps version info to stdout and ex-
	    its.

RUN-TIME LINKING
     For some features, such as SDL, X11, and Wayland support, run-time  linking
     is  employed using dlopen().  Using this, it is possible to build a version
     which will use SDL, X11, and Wayland if they are present, but not	fail  to
     run  if they are not.  The macOS Quartz backend links directly against App-
     Kit/Core Graphics frameworks and does not use run-time linking.

TEXT MODE CAVAETS
     When running in one of the text modes such as curses or ANSI, many  of  the
     control  functions are modified since there is no reliable way to use extra
     modifier keys. As a result, CTRL-S and CTRL-Q can not be sent to the remote
     system. Since these are  the  flow  control  characters,  this  should  not
     present major usability issues.

     The escape character (ASCII 27) is used in curses and ANSI modes to begin a
     control sequence. As such, there is a delay to detect if the next character
     continues	the  escape sequence or is a base escape. Because of this, there
     will be a perceptible delay when the escape key is used. This delay can  be
     adjusted  using  the  -e  parameter, but selecting the "correct" value is a
     dark art since any value is provably incorrect.

     The curses and ANSI modes are not necessarily the correct number  of  lines
     for  a  traditional  screen  mode. As such, filler will be added around the
     terminal screen. For some display sizes, unpredictable results may occur.

DIRECTORY LISTING
     In the dialing directory, press < or > to cycle  through  named  sort  pro-
     files.   Press Ctrl-S to manage sort profiles (create, rename, delete, edit
     sort fields, reorder via cut/paste).

     In edit submenus (Edit Directory Entry, Font  Management,	Sort  Profiles),
     press  [ or ] to navigate to the previous or next item without returning to
     the parent list.

FILES
     /usr/local/etc/syncterm.lst
	    The system wide dialing directory.

     syncterm.lst
	    The users dialing directory.  The location of this file varies by OS
	    and can be viewed in SyncTERM in the "File Locations" option of  the
	    "SyncTERM Settings" menu.

     syncterm.ini
	    The  users	SyncTERM  configuration file.  The location of this file
	    varies by OS and can be viewed in SyncTERM in the  "File  Locations"
	    option of the "SyncTERM Settings" menu.

AUTHOR
     Stephen Hurd <shurd@sasktel.net>

BUGS
     None known at present.

     Additional bugs should be reported at https://sf.net/p/syncterm/tickets/

				   2024-09-24			     SYNCTERM(1)

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