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From: jbracher@weber.ucsd.edu (Matt Kennel)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Getting the "meta" key to work in editors.
Message-ID: <4040@network.ucsd.edu>
Date: 19 Nov 90 23:26:31 GMT
Sender: news@network.ucsd.edu
Reply-To: mbk@inls1.ucsd.edu (Matt Kennel)
Organization: Institute for Nonlinear Science, UCSD
Lines: 30
Nntp-Posting-Host: weber.ucsd.edu

I would like to get the "meta" key to work inside the jove editor
running under xterm.   RIght now, if I type "meta-v" to go backwards
for instance, an ordinary "v" comes out.  I know the editor works ok,
because I managed to get the meta keys to work under Sunview.

I am running MIT X11R4 on a Sparcstation 1.

If under an xterm window, I type
stty -istrip

then, meta+some keys do in fact produce weird characters that I presume to
be the 8th-bit-set charaters.  However, if I run "jove" or even "vi" the
meta-effect ceases to work, and a "stty -a" afterwards reveals that
istrip has been reset to it's original state.   I'm not sure what causes this
but could it have something to do with curses? 

I know that the X server sees the meta-key because the window-manager 
uses it just fine.

I know I could go out and try to build Gnu Emacs for X but I'd like to
keep my editing at the mere 500k per xterm instead of double that.


I apologize if this is a simple problem, but I cannot divine the
guts of the xterm or the xmodmap man pages.


Thanks alot,
Matt K.
mbk@inls1.ucsd.edu