Bit's World

Many computer terminals and terminal emulators support color and cursor control through a system of escape sequences. One such standard is commonly referred to as ANSI Color. Several terminal specifications are based on the ANSI color standard, including VT100.

The following is a partial listing of the VT100 control set.

<ESC> represents the ANSI "escape" character, 0x1B. Bracketed tags represent modifiable decimal parameters eg. {ROW} would be replaced by a row number.

Device Status

Query Device Code<ESC>[c

Requests a Report Device Code response from the device.

Report Device Code<ESC>[{code}0c

Generated by the device in response to Query Device Code request.

Query Device Status<ESC>[5n

Requests a Report Device Status response from the device.

Report Device OK<ESC>[0n

Generated by the device in response to a Query Device Status request; indicates that device is functioning correctly.

Report Device Failure<ESC>[3n

Generated by the device in response to a Query Device Status request; indicates that device is functioning improperly.

Query Cursor Position<ESC>[6n

Requests a Report Cursor Position response from the device.

Report Cursor Position<ESC>[{ROW};{COLUMN}R

Generated by the device in response to a Query Cursor Position request; reports current cursor position.

Terminal Setup

Reset Device<ESC>c

Reset all terminal settings to default;.

Enable Line Wrap<ESC>[7h

Text wraps to next line if longer than the length of the display area.

Disable Line Wrap<ESC>[7l

Disables line wrapping.

Fonts

Font Set G0<ESC>(

Set default font.

Font Set G1<ESC>)

Set alternate font.

Cursor Control

Cursor Home <ESC>[{ROW};{COLUMN}H

Sets the cursor position where subsequent text will begin. If no row/column parameters are provided (ie. <ESC>[H), the cursor will move to the home position, at the upper left of the screen.

Cursor Up<ESC>[{COUNT}A

Moves the cursor up by COUNT rows the default count is 1.

Cursor Down<ESC>[{COUNT}B

Moves the cursor down by COUNT rows the default count is 1.

Cursor Forward<ESC>[{COUNT}C

Moves the cursor forward by COUNT columns the default count is 1.

Force Cursor Position<ESC>[{ROW};{COLUMN}f

Identical to Cursor Home.

Save Cursor<ESC>[s

Save current cursor position.

Unsave Cursor<ESC>[u

Restores cursor position after a Save Cursor.

Save Cursor & Attrs<ESC>7

Save current cursor position.

Restore Cursor & Attrs<ESC>8

Restores cursor position after a Save Cursor.

Scrolling

Scroll Screen<ESC>[r

Enable scrolling for entire display.

Scroll Screen<ESC>[{start};{end}r

Enable scrolling from row {start} to row {end}.

Scroll Down<ESC>D

Scroll display down one line.

Scroll Up<ESC>M

Scroll display up one line.

Tab Control

Set Tab <ESC>H

Sets a tab at the current position.

Clear Tab <ESC>[g

Clears tab at the current position.

Clear All Tabs <ESC>[3g

Clears all tabs.

Erasing Text

Erase End of Line<ESC>[K

Erases from the current cursor position to the end of the current line.

Erase Start of Line<ESC>[1K

Erases from the current cursor position to the start of the current line.

Erase Line<ESC>[2K

Erases the entire current line.

Erase Down<ESC>[J

Erases the screen from the current line down to the bottom of the screen.

Erase Up<ESC>[1J

Erases the screen from the current line up to the top of the screen.

Erase Screen<ESC>[2J

Erases the screen with the background color and moves the cursor to home.

Printing

Print Screen<ESC>[i

Print the current screen.

Print Line<ESC>[1i

Print the current line.

Stop Print Log<ESC>[4i

Disable log.

Start Print Log<ESC>[5i

Start log all received text is echoed to a printer.

Define Key

Set Key Definition<ESC>[{key};"{string}"p

Associates a string of text to a keyboard key. {key} indicates the key by its ASCII value in decimal.

Set Display Attributes

Set Attribute Mode<ESC>[{attr1};...;{attrn}m

Sets multiple display attribute settings. The following lists standard attributes:

0Reset all attributes
1Bright
2Dim
4Underscore
5Blink
7Reverse
8Hidden

Foreground Colors
30Black
31Red
32Green
33Yellow
34Blue
35Magenta
36Cyan
37White

Background Colors
40Black
41Red
42Green
43Yellow
44Blue
45Magenta
46Cyan
47White