Re: [PATCH] Remove ncurses meta() call.

"Kevin J. McCarthy" <[email protected]> Thu, 25 Jun 2026 13:14:51 +0800

Newsgroups	gmane.mail.mutt.devel
Message-ID	<[email protected]>

On Thu, Jun 25, 2026 at 04:44:02AM +0200, Vincent Lefevre wrote:
>On 2026-06-25 10:06:44 +0800, Kevin J. McCarthy wrote:
>> The meta() call enables 8-bit mode on a terminal via the smm terminfo
>> entry (or the CS8 flag).  This is an older mode that most likely isn't
>> necessary anymore.  On many terminals it allows Alt-x to be sent as an
>> 8-bit value instead of Esc-x.
>
>This is not the case with xterm. If xterm is configured to make Meta
>send ESC + character, then the meta() call will have no effect. The
>meta() call only changes between the following modes:
>  * Meta has no effect (the character is sent unmodified).
>  * Meta sets the eighth bit of the character.
>
>If I understand correctly, in foot, the meta() call changes between:
>  * Meta sends ESC before the character.
>  * Meta sets the eighth bit of the character.

I would welcome help in making the commit message clearer.  Would it be 
enough to change the sentence to say "On some terminals it allows Alt-x 
to be sent as an 8-bit value instead of Esc-x."?

I'm trying to debug exactly what it's doing on foot and xterm.  It 
doesn't seem to be simply flipping bit-8 on, because setting $meta_key 
isn't fixing the problem.  I haven't had time yet to look into it 
deeply, but I will try this weekend.

-- 
Kevin J. McCarthy
GPG Fingerprint: 8975 A9B3 3AA3 7910 385C  5308 ADEF 7684 8031 6BDA

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