A shell is a program that interprets and executes the commands that you type at a command line prompt. When you start <application>MATE Terminal</application>, the application starts the default shell that is specified in your system account. You can switch to a different shell at any time.
<application>MATE Terminal</application> emulates the <application>xterm</application> application developed by the X Consortium. In turn, the <application>xterm</application> application emulates the DEC VT102 terminal and also supports the DEC VT220 escape sequences. An escape sequence is a series of characters that starts with the <keycap>Esc</keycap> character. <application>MATE Terminal</application> accepts all of the escape sequences that the VT102 and VT220 terminals use for functions such as to position the cursor and to clear the screen.
You can use command line options to modify the way in which you run <application>MATE Terminal</application>. To view the command line options, execute the following command: <command>mate-terminal --help</command>
When you start <application>MATE Terminal</application> for the first time, the application opens a terminal window with a group of default settings. The group of default settings is called the Default profile. </para>
<figure xml:id="mate-terminal_default"><info><title>Example of a Default MATE Terminal Window</title></info>
The terminal window displays a command prompt where you can type UNIX commands. The command prompt can be a %, #, >, $, or any other special character. The cursor is positioned at the command prompt. When you type a UNIX command and press <keycap>Return</keycap>, the computer executes the command. By default, <application>MATE Terminal</application> uses the default shell specified for the user who starts the application.
You can create a new profile, and apply the new profile to the terminal to modify characteristics such as font, color and effects, scroll behavior, window title, and compatibility. You can also specify a command that runs automatically when you start <application>MATE Terminal</application> in the profile. </para>
<para>You define each terminal profile in the <guilabel>Profiles</guilabel> dialog, which you access from the <guimenu>Edit</guimenu> menu. You can define as many different profiles as you require. When you start a terminal, you can choose the profile that you want to use for the terminal. Alternatively, you can change the terminal profile while you use the terminal. To specify an initial profile for a terminal when you start the application from a command line, use the following command: </para>
The name of the current profile appears in the titlebar of the <application>MATE Terminal</application>, unless you specify a different titlebar name in the <guilabel>Editing Profile</guilabel> dialog. </para>
<application>MATE Terminal</application> provides a tab feature that enables you to open several terminals in a single window. Each terminal opens in a separate tab. Click on the appropriate tab to display the terminal in the window. Each tabbed terminal in a window is a separate subprocess, so you can use each terminal for different tasks. You can apply a different profile to each tabbed terminal in the window. </para>
The titlebar of the terminal window shows either the name of the current profile, or the name specified by the current profile. <xref linkend="mate-terminal-tabbed"/> shows a <application>MATE Terminal</application> window with four tabs. In this case, each of the four tabs has a different profile. The name of the profile in the active tab, Profile 1, appears in the titlebar. </para>
<figure xml:id="mate-terminal-tabbed"><info><title>Example of a Terminal Window With Tabs</title></info>
This action closes the terminal and any subprocesses that you opened from the terminal. If you close the last terminal window, the <application>MATE Terminal</application> application exits. </para>
<term>To add a new tabbed terminal to a window:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
Choose <menuchoice><guimenu>File</guimenu><guisubmenu>Open Tab</guisubmenu><guimenuitem>Default</guimenuitem></menuchoice> or just <menuchoice><guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Open Tab</guimenuitem></menuchoice> if there is no submenu. </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>To display a tabbed terminal:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
Click on the tab of the tabbed terminal that you want to display, or select a tab title from the <guimenu>Tabs</guimenu> menu.
</para>
<para>
Alternatively, choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Tabs</guimenu><guimenuitem>Next Tab</guimenuitem></menuchoice> or <menuchoice><guimenu>Tabs</guimenu><guimenuitem>Previous Tab</guimenuitem></menuchoice> to navigate between tabs.
Choose <menuchoice><guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>New Profile</guimenuitem></menuchoice> to display the <guilabel>New Profile</guilabel> dialog. </para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Type the new profile name in the <guilabel>Profile name</guilabel> text box. </para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Use the <guilabel>Base on</guilabel> drop-down list to select the profile on which you want to base the new profile. </para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Click <guibutton>Create</guibutton> to display the <guilabel>Editing Profile</guilabel> dialog. </para>
Click <guibutton>Close</guibutton>. <application>MATE Terminal</application> adds the profile to the <menuchoice><guimenu>Terminal</guimenu><guisubmenu>Change Profile</guisubmenu></menuchoice> submenu. </para>
You edit profiles in the <guilabel>Editing Profile</guilabel> dialog. You can access the <guilabel>Editing Profile</guilabel> dialog in the following ways: </para>
Right-click in the terminal window, then choose <menuchoice><guimenuitem>Profiles</guimenuitem> <guimenuitem>Profile Preferences</guimenuitem></menuchoice> from the popup menu. </para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Edit</guimenu><guisubmenu>Profiles</guisubmenu></menuchoice>, select the profile you want to edit, then click <guibutton>Edit</guibutton>. For information on the options you can set for profiles, see <xref linkend="mate-terminal-prefs"/>.</para>
Select the name of the profile that you want to delete in the <guilabel>Profiles</guilabel> list, then click <guibutton>Delete</guibutton>. The <guilabel>Delete Profile</guilabel> dialog is displayed. </para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Click <guibutton>Delete</guibutton> to confirm the deletion. </para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Click <guibutton>Close</guibutton> to close the <guilabel>Edit Profiles</guilabel> dialog. </para>
<para>Choose <menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu><guimenuitem>Full Screen</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. Full-screen mode displays the text in a window that fills the full screen. The window does not contain a window frame or titlebar. To exit from this mode, choose <menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu><guimenuitem>Full Screen</guimenuitem></menuchoice> again.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>To change the appearance of the terminal window:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
See <xref linkend="mate-terminal-prefs"/> for information about the options that you can choose in the <guilabel>Editing Profile</guilabel> dialog to change the appearance of the terminal window. For example, you can change the background color, or the location of the scrollbar. </para>
<term>To scroll through previous commands and output:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
Perform one of the following actions:
</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
Use the scrollbar, which is usually displayed on the right of the terminal window. </para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Press the <keycombo><keycap>Shift</keycap><keycap>Page Up</keycap></keycombo>, <keycombo><keycap>Shift</keycap><keycap>Page Down</keycap></keycombo>, <keycombo><keycap>Shift</keycap><keycap>Home</keycap></keycombo>, or <keycombo><keycap>Shift</keycap><keycap>End</keycap></keycombo> keys. </para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>
The number of lines that you can scroll back to in the terminal window is determined by the <guilabel>Scrollback</guilabel> setting in the <guilabel>Scrolling</guilabel> tabbed section of the <guilabel>Editing Profile</guilabel> dialog. You can also scroll up or down one line at a time by pressing <keycombo><keycap>Control</keycap><keycap>Shift</keycap><keycap>Up</keycap></keycombo> or <keycombo><keycap>Control</keycap><keycap>Shift</keycap><keycap>Down</keycap></keycombo>. </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>To select and copy text:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
You can select text in any of the following ways:
</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
To select a character at a time, click on the first character that you want to select and drag the mouse to the last character that you want to select. </para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
To select a word at a time, double-click on the first word that you want to select and drag the mouse to the last word that you want to select. Symbols are selected individually.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
To select a line at a time, triple-click on the first line that you want to select and drag the mouse to the last line that you want to select. </para>
These actions select all text between the first and last items. For all text selections, <application>MATE Terminal</application> copies the selected text into the clipboard when you release the mouse button. To explicitly copy the selected text, choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Edit</guimenu><guimenuitem>Copy</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.</para>
If you previously copied text to the clipboard, you can paste the text into a terminal by performing one of the following actions: </para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
To paste text that you copied by selection only, middle-click at the command prompt. If you do not have a middle mouse button, refer to the X Server documentation for information about how to emulate the middle mouse button. </para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
To paste text that you explicitly copied, choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Edit</guimenu><guimenuitem>Paste</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. </para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>To drag a file name into a terminal window:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
You can drag a file name to a terminal from another application such as a file manager. The terminal displays the path and the full name of the file. </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>To access a link:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
To access a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that is displayed in a terminal, perform the following steps: </para>
To view the keyboard shortcut settings that are defined for <application>MATE Terminal</application>, choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Edit</guimenu><guimenuitem>Keyboard Shortcuts</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. The <guilabel>Keyboard Shortcuts</guilabel> dialog contains the following items: </para>
<term><guilabel>Disable all menu access keys (such as Alt+f to open File menu)</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Deselect this option to disable the access keys that are defined to enable you to use the keyboard instead of the mouse to select a menu item. Each access key is identified by an underlined letter on a menu or dialog option. In some cases, you must press the <keycap>Alt</keycap> key in combination with the access key to perform the action. </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Disable menu shortcut key (F10 by default)</guilabel></term>
Deselect this option to disable the shortcut key that is defined to enable you to access the <application>MATE Terminal</application> menus. The default shortcut key to access the menus is <keycap>F10</keycap>. </para>
<listitem><para>To increase the size of the text, choose <menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu><guimenuitem>Zoom In</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>To decrease the size of the text, choose <menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu><guimenuitem>Zoom Out</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>To view the text at actual size, choose <menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu><guimenuitem>Normal Size</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. </para>
To change the character encoding, choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Terminal</guimenu><guisubmenu>Set Character Encoding</guisubmenu></menuchoice>, then select the appropriate encoding.
<para>Choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Terminal</guimenu><guisubmenu>Set Character Encoding</guisubmenu><guimenuitem>Add or Remove</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>To add an encoding to the <guisubmenu>Set Character Encoding</guisubmenu> menu, select the encoding in the <guilabel>Available encodings</guilabel> list box, then click the right arrow button.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>To remove an encoding from the <guisubmenu>Set Character Encoding</guisubmenu> menu, select the encoding in the <guilabel>Encodings shown in menu</guilabel> list box, then click the left arrow button.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Click <guibutton>Close</guibutton> to close the <guilabel>Add or Remove Terminal Encodings</guilabel> dialog. </para>
To configure <application>MATE Terminal</application>, choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Edit</guimenu><guimenuitem>Current Profile</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. To configure another profile that you set up choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Edit</guimenu><guimenuitem>Profiles</guimenuitem></menuchoice>, select the profile you want to edit, then click <guibutton>Edit</guibutton>. </para>
The <guilabel>Editing Profile</guilabel> dialog contains the following tabbed sections that you can use to configure <application>MATE Terminal</application>: </para>
Use this text box to specify the name of the current profile.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<guilabel>Use the system fixed width font</guilabel> </term>
<listitem>
<para>
Select this option to use the standard fixed width font that is specified in the <guilabel>Font</guilabel> tab of the <application>Appearance</application> preference tool.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<guilabel>Font</guilabel> </term>
<listitem>
<para>
Click on this button to select a font type and font size for the terminal. This button is only enabled if the <guilabel>Use the system terminal font</guilabel> option is unselected. </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<guilabel>Allow bold text</guilabel> </term>
<listitem>
<para>
Select this option to enable the terminal to display bold text.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<guilabel>Show menubar by default in new terminals</guilabel>
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
Select this option to show the menubar on new terminal windows.
Use this text box to specify characters or groups of characters that <application>MATE Terminal</application> considers to be words when you select text by word. See <xref linkend="mate-terminal-contents"/> for more information about how to select text by word.
Use this text box to specify the initial title of terminals that use the profile. New terminals that are started from the current terminal have the new initial title.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<guilabel>When terminal commands set their own titles</guilabel> </term>
<listitem>
<para>
Use this drop-down list to specify how to handle dynamically-set titles, that is, terminal titles set by commands that run in the terminal.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<guilabel>Run command as a login shell</guilabel> </term>
<listitem>
<para>
Select this option to force the command that currently runs inside the terminal to run as a login shell. If the command is not a shell, the setting has no effect.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<guilabel>Update login records when command is launched</guilabel> </term>
<listitem>
<para>
Select this option to insert a new entry in the login records when a new shell is opened.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<guilabel>Run a custom command instead of my shell</guilabel>
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
Select this option to run a specified command, other than the normal shell, in the terminal. Specify the custom command in the <guilabel>Custom command</guilabel> text box.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<guilabel>When command exits</guilabel> </term>
<listitem>
<para>
Use this drop-down list to specify what action to perform when the command exits.
Select the <guilabel>Use colours from system theme</guilabel> option to use the colors that are specified in the MATE Desktop theme that is selected in the <guilabel>Theme</guilabel> tab of the <link xlink:href="help:mate-user-guide/prefs-theme"><application>Appearance</application> preference tool</link>.
Use the <guilabel>Built-in schemes</guilabel> drop-down list to specify the foreground and background colors for the terminal. <application>MATE Terminal</application> supports the following foreground and background color combinations:
This option enables you to select colors that are not in the selected color scheme.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>
The actual display of the foreground and background colors can vary depending on the color scheme that you choose. For example, if you choose <guilabel>White on black</guilabel> and the <guilabel>Linux console</guilabel> color scheme, the application displays the foreground and background colors as light gray on black. The <guilabel>Built-in schemes</guilabel> drop-down list is only enabled if the <guilabel>Use colours from system theme</guilabel> option is unselected.
</para>
<para>
Click on the <guibutton>Text colour</guibutton> button to display the <guilabel>Choose terminal text colour</guilabel> dialog. Use the color wheel or the spin boxes to customize the color that you want to use as the text color, then click <guibutton>OK</guibutton>. The <guibutton>Text colour</guibutton> button is only enabled if the <guilabel>Use colours from system theme</guilabel> option is unselected.
</para>
<para>
Click on the <guibutton>Background colour</guibutton> button to display the <guilabel>Choose terminal background colour</guilabel> dialog. Use the color wheel or the spin boxes to customize the color that you want to use as the background color, then click <guibutton>OK</guibutton>. The <guibutton>Background colour</guibutton> button is only enabled if the <guilabel>Use colours from system theme</guilabel> option is unselected.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<guilabel>Palette</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The terminal emulation can only use 16 colors at a time to draw text. The color palette specifies these 16 colors. Applications that run in the terminal use an index number to specify a color from this palette.</para>
<para>Use the <guilabel>Built-in schemes</guilabel> drop-down list to choose a preset color schemes. The color palette below and the contents of the terminal window both update to show the scheme.</para>
<para>Use the <guilabel>Colour palette</guilabel> to customize the 16 default colors in the custom color palette. To customize a color, click on the color to display the <guilabel>Palette entry</guilabel> dialog. Use the color wheel or the spin boxes to customize the color, then click <guibutton>OK</guibutton>.
Select a background for the terminal window. The options are as follows:
</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
<guilabel>Solid color</guilabel>
</para>
<para>
Select this option to use the background color that is specified in the <guilabel>Colors</guilabel> tabbed section as the background color for the terminal.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<guilabel>Background image</guilabel>
</para>
<para>
Select this option to use an image file as the background for the terminal. Use the <guilabel>Image file</guilabel> drop-down combination box to specify the location and name of the image file. Alternatively, click <guibutton>Browse</guibutton> to search for and select the image file.
</para>
<para>Select the <guilabel>Background image scrolls</guilabel> option to enable the background image to scroll with the text when you scroll through the terminal. If you do not select this option, the background image remains fixed on the terminal background and only the text scrolls. This option is only enabled if you select the <guilabel>Background image</guilabel> option. </para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<guilabel>Transparent background</guilabel>
</para>
<para>
Select this option to use a transparent background for the terminal.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<guilabel>Shade transparent or image background</guilabel>
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
Use this slider to shade or dim the background of the terminal. This option is only enabled if you select the <guilabel>Background image</guilabel> or <guilabel>Transparent background</guilabel> options.
Use this drop-down list to specify the position of the scrollbar on the terminal window.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<guilabel>Scrollback ... lines</guilabel> </term>
<listitem>
<para>
Use this spin box to specify the number of lines that you can scroll back using the scrollbar. For example, if you specify 100 you can scroll back the last 100 lines displayed in the terminal.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<guilabel>Scroll on output</guilabel> </term>
<listitem>
<para>
Select this option to enable you to scroll the output on the terminal while the terminal continues to display more output from a command.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<guilabel>Scroll on keystroke</guilabel> </term>
<listitem>
<para>
Select this option to enable you to press any key on the keyboard to scroll down the terminal window to the command prompt. This action only applies if you scrolled up the terminal window and you want to return to the command prompt.
