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-rw-r--r--content/posts/2022-12-20-trying-to-build-a-new-kind-of-terminal-emulator.md47
-rw-r--r--content/posts/2023-01-26-trying-to-build-a-new-kind-of-terminal-emulator.md172
2 files changed, 172 insertions, 47 deletions
diff --git a/content/posts/2022-12-20-trying-to-build-a-new-kind-of-terminal-emulator.md b/content/posts/2022-12-20-trying-to-build-a-new-kind-of-terminal-emulator.md
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--- a/content/posts/2022-12-20-trying-to-build-a-new-kind-of-terminal-emulator.md
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1---
2title: Trying to build a New kind of terminal emulator for the modern age
3url: trying-to-build-a-new-kind-of-terminal-emulator.html
4date: 2022-12-20
5draft: true
6---
7
8```c
9// Create the window
10SDL_Window *window = SDL_CreateWindow(
11 WINDOW_TITLE, SDL_WINDOWPOS_UNDEFINED, SDL_WINDOWPOS_UNDEFINED,
12 WINDOW_WIDTH, WINDOW_HEIGHT,
13 SDL_WINDOW_RESIZABLE | SDL_WINDOW_OPENGL | SDL_WINDOW_SHOWN);
14```
15
16Over the past weeks, I have been really thinking about terminal emulators, how we interact with computers, the separation of text-based programs and GUI ones. To be perfectly honest, I got pissed off one evening when I was cleaning up files on my computer. Normally, I go into console and do `ncdu` and check where the junk is. Then I start deleting stuff. Without any discrimination, usually. But when it comes to screenshots, I have learned that it's good to keep them somewhere near if I need to refer to something that I was doing. I am an avid screenshot taker. So at that point I checked Pictures folder and also did a basic search `find . -type f -name "*.jpg"` for all the JPEG files in my home directory and immediately got pissed off. Why can’t I see thumbnails in my terminal? I know why, but why in the year of 2022 this is still a problem. I am used to traversing my disk via terminal. I am faster and I am more comfortable this way. But when it comes to visualization, I then need to revert to GUI applications and again find the same file to see it. I know that programs like `fex` and `sxiv` are available, but I would just like to see the preview. Like [Jupyter notebook](https://jupyter.org/) or something similar. Just having it inline. Part of a result.
17
18It also didn’t help that I was spending some time with the [Plan 9](https://plan9.io/plan9/) Operating system. More specifically [9FRONT](http://9front.org/). The way that [ACME editor](http://acme.cat-v.org/) handles text editing is just wonderful. Different and fresh somehow, even though it’s super old.
19
20So, I went on a lookout for an interesting way of visualizing results of some query. I found these applications to be outstanding examples of how not to be a captive of a predetermined way of doing things.
21
22- [Wolfram Mathematica](https://www.wolfram.com/mathematica/)
23- [Jupyter notebooks](https://jupyter.org/)
24- [Plan 9 / 9FRONT](http://www.9front.org)
25- [Temple OS](https://templeos.org/)
26- [Emacs](https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/)
27
28My idea is not as out there as ACME is, but it is a spin on the terminal emulators. I like the modes that Vi/Vim provides you with. I like the way the Emacs does its own `M-x` `M-c`. Furthermore, I really like how Mathematica and Jupyter present the data in a free flowing form. And I love how Temple OS is basically a C interpreter on some level.
29
30So I started. I knew that I wanted to have the couple of modes, but I didn’t like the repetition of keystrokes, so the only option was to have some sort of toggle and indicate to the user that they are in a special mode. Like Vi does for Normal and Visual mode.
31
32These modes would for the first version be:
33
34- *Preview mode* (toggle with Ctrl + P)
35 - When this mode would be enabled, the `ls` command would try to find images from the results and display thumbnails from them in the terminal itself. No ASCII art. Proper images. In a grid!
36- *Detach mode* (toggle with Ctrl + D)
37 - When this mode would be enabled, every command would open a new window and execute that command in it. This would be useful for starting `htop` in a separate window.
38
39The reason for having these modes tooglable is to not ask for previews every time. You enable a mode and until you disable it, it behaves that way. Purely out of ergonomic reasons.
40
41I would like to treat every terminal I open as a session mentally. When I start using the terminal, I start digging deeper into the issue I am trying to resolve. And while I am doing this, I would like to open detached windows etc. A lot of these things can be done easily with something like [i3](https://i3wm.org/), but also that pull you out of the context of what you were doing. I would like to orchestrate everything from one single point.
42
43In planning for this project, I knew that I would need to use a language like C and a library such as [SDL2](https://www.libsdl.org/) in order to achieve the desired results. I had considered other options, but ultimately determined that [SDL2](https://www.libsdl.org/) was the best fit based on its capabilities and reputation in the programming community.
44
45At first, I thought the idea of a hardware accelerated terminal was a bit of a joke. It seemed like such a niche and unnecessary feature, especially given the fact that terminal emulators have been around for decades and have always relied on software rendering. But to be fair, [Alacritty](https://alacritty.org/) is doing the same thing.
46
47
diff --git a/content/posts/2023-01-26-trying-to-build-a-new-kind-of-terminal-emulator.md b/content/posts/2023-01-26-trying-to-build-a-new-kind-of-terminal-emulator.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03fcc59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/content/posts/2023-01-26-trying-to-build-a-new-kind-of-terminal-emulator.md
@@ -0,0 +1,172 @@
1---
2title: Trying to build a New kind of terminal emulator for the modern age
3url: trying-to-build-a-new-kind-of-terminal-emulator.html
4date: 2023-01-26
5draft: false
6---
7
8Over the past few weeks, I have been really thinking about terminal emulators, how we interact with computers, the separation of text-based programs and GUI ones. To be perfectly honest, I got pissed off one evening when I was cleaning up files on my computer. Normally, I go into console and do `ncdu` and check where the junk is. Then I start deleting stuff. Without any discrimination, usually. But when it comes to screenshots, I have learned that it's good to keep them somewhere near if I need to refer to something that I was doing. I am an avid screenshot taker. So at that point I checked Pictures folder and also did a basic search `find . -type f -name "*.jpg"` for all the JPEG files in my home directory and immediately got pissed off. Why can’t I see thumbnails in my terminal? I know why, but why in the year of 2022 this is still a problem. I am used to traversing my disk via terminal. I am faster, and I am more comfortable this way. But when it comes to visualization, I then need to revert to GUI applications and again find the same file to see it. I know that programs like `feh` and `sxiv` are available, but I would just like to see the preview. Like [Jupyter notebook](https://jupyter.org/) or something similar. Just having it inline. Part of a result.
9
10It also didn’t help that I was spending some time with the [Plan 9](https://plan9.io/plan9/) Operating system. More specifically [9FRONT](http://9front.org/). The way that [ACME editor](http://acme.cat-v.org/) handles text editing is just wonderful. Different and fresh somehow, even though it’s super old.
11
12So, I went on a lookout for an interesting way of visualizing results of some query. I found these applications to be outstanding examples of how not to be a captive of a predetermined way of doing things.
13
14- [Wolfram Mathematica](https://www.wolfram.com/mathematica/)
15- [Jupyter notebooks](https://jupyter.org/)
16- [Plan 9 / 9FRONT](http://www.9front.org)
17- [Temple OS](https://templeos.org/)
18- [Emacs](https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/)
19
20My idea is not as out there as ACME is, but it is a spin on the terminal emulators. I like the modes that Vi/Vim provides you with. I like the way the Emacs does its own `M-x` `M-c`. Furthermore, I really like how Mathematica and Jupyter present the data in a free flowing form. And I love how Temple OS is basically a C interpreter on some level.
21
22> **Note:** This is part 1 of the journey. Nowhere finished yet. I am just tinkering with this at the moment. This whole thing can easily spectacularly fail.
23>
24
25So I started. I knew that I wanted to have the couple of modes, but I didn’t like the repetition of keystrokes, so the only option was to have some sort of toggle and indicate to the user that they are in a special mode. Like Vi does for Normal and Visual mode.
26
27These modes would for the first version be:
28
29- *Preview mode* (toggle with Ctrl + P)
30 - When this mode would be enabled, the `ls` command would try to find images from the results and display thumbnails from them in the terminal itself. No ASCII art. Proper images. In a grid!
31- *Detach mode* (toggle with Ctrl + D)
32 - When this mode would be enabled, every command would open a new window and execute that command in it. This would be useful for starting `htop` in a separate window.
33
34The reason for having these modes togglable is to not ask for previews every time. You enable a mode and until you disable it, it behaves that way. Purely out of ergonomic reasons.
35
36I would like to treat every terminal I open as a session mentally. When I start using the terminal, I start digging deeper into the issue I am trying to resolve. And while I am doing this, I would like to open detached windows etc. A lot of these things can be done easily with something like [i3](https://i3wm.org/), but also that pull you out of the context of what you were doing. I would like to orchestrate everything from one single point.
37
38In planning for this project, I knew that I would need to use a language like C and a library such as [SDL2](https://www.libsdl.org/) in order to achieve the desired results. I had considered other options, but ultimately determined that [SDL2](https://www.libsdl.org/) was the best fit based on its capabilities and reputation in the programming community.
39
40At first, I thought the idea of a hardware accelerated terminal was a bit of a joke. It seemed like such a niche and unnecessary feature, especially given the fact that terminal emulators have been around for decades and have always relied on software rendering. But to be fair, [Alacritty](https://alacritty.org/) is doing the same thing. Well, they are doing a remarkable job at it.
41
42So, I embarked on a journey. Everything has to start somewhere. For me, it started with creating a window! It has to start somewhere. 🙂
43
44```c
45// Oh, Hi Mark!
46// Create the window, obviously.
47SDL_Window *window = SDL_CreateWindow(
48 WINDOW_TITLE, SDL_WINDOWPOS_UNDEFINED, SDL_WINDOWPOS_UNDEFINED,
49 WINDOW_WIDTH, WINDOW_HEIGHT,
50 SDL_WINDOW_RESIZABLE | SDL_WINDOW_OPENGL | SDL_WINDOW_SHOWN);
51```
52
53I continued like this to get some text displayed on the screen.
54
55I noted that [`TTF_RenderText_Solid`](https://wiki.libsdl.org/SDL_ttf/TTF_RenderText_Solid) rendered text really poorly. There were no antialiasing at all. In my wisdom, I never checked the documentation. Well, that was a fail. To uneducated like me: `TTF_RenderText_Solid` renders Latin1 text at fast quality to a new 8-bit surface. So, that's why the texts looked like shit. No wonder.
56
57Remarks on `TTF_RenderText_Solid`: This function will allocate a new 8-bit, palettized surface. The surface's 0 pixel will be the colorkey, giving a transparent background. The 1 pixel will be set to the text color.
58
59After I replaced it with [`TTF_RenderText_LCD`](https://wiki.libsdl.org/SDL_ttf/TTF_RenderText_LCD) which renders Latin1 text at LCD subpixel quality to a new ARGB surface, the text started looking good. Really make sure you read the documentation. It’s actually good. As a side note, you can find all the documentation regarding [SDL2 on their Wiki](https://wiki.libsdl.org/).
60
61After that was done, I started working on displaying other things like `Preview` and `Detach` modes. This wasn’t really that hard. In SDL2 you can check all the available events with `while (SDL_PollEvent(&event) > 0)` and have a bunch of switch statements to determine which key is currently being pressed. More about keys, [SDLKey](https://documentation.help/SDL/sdlkey.html) and mroe about pooling the events on [SDL_PollEvent](https://documentation.help/SDL/sdlpollevent.html).
62
63```c
64while (SDL_PollEvent(&event) > 0)
65{
66 switch (event.type)
67 {
68 case SDL_QUIT:
69 running = false;
70 break;
71
72 case SDL_TEXTINPUT:
73 if (!meta_key_pressed)
74 {
75 strncat(input_prompt_text, event.text.text, 1);
76 update_input_prompt = true;
77 }
78 break;
79 }
80}
81```
82
83After that was somewhat working correctly, I started creating a struct that would hold all the commands and results and I call them Cells. Yes, I stole that naming idea from Jupyter.
84
85```c
86typedef struct
87{
88 char *command;
89 char *result;
90 SDL_Surface *surface;
91 SDL_Texture *texture;
92 SDL_Rect rect;
93} Cell;
94```
95
96I am at a place now where I am starting to implement scrolling. This will for sure be fun to code. Memory management in C is super easy. 😂
97
98I have also added a simple [INI file like configuration](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INI_file) support. It is done in an [STB style of header](https://github.com/nothings/stb/blob/master/docs/stb_howto.txt) and maps to specific options supported by the terminal. It is not universal, and the code below demonstrates how I will use it in the future.
99
100```c
101#ifndef CONFIG_H
102#define CONFIG_H
103
104/*
105# This is a comment
106
107# This is the first configuration option
108dettach=value11111
109
110# This is the second configuration option
111preview=value22222
112
113# This is the third configuration option
114debug=value33333
115*/
116
117// Define a struct to hold the configuration options
118typedef struct
119{
120 char dettach[256];
121 char preview[256];
122 char debug[256];
123} Config;
124
125// Read the configuration file and return the options as a struct
126extern Config read_config_file(const char *filename)
127{
128 // Create a struct to hold the configuration options
129 Config config = {0};
130
131 // Open the configuration file
132 FILE *file = fopen(filename, "r");
133
134 // Read each line from the file
135 char line[256];
136 while (fgets(line, sizeof(line), file))
137 {
138 // Check if this line is a comment or empty
139 if (line[0] == '#' || line[0] == '\n')
140 continue;
141
142 // Parse the line to get the option and value
143 char option[128], value[128];
144 if (sscanf(line, "%[^=]=%s", option, value) != 2)
145 continue;
146
147 // Set the value of the appropriate option in the config struct
148 if (strcmp(option, "dettach") == 0)
149 {
150 strncpy(config.option1, value, sizeof(config.option1));
151 }
152 else if (strcmp(option, "preview") == 0)
153 {
154 strncpy(config.option2, value, sizeof(config.option2));
155 }
156 else if (strcmp(option, "debug") == 0)
157 {
158 strncpy(config.option3, value, sizeof(config.option3));
159 }
160 }
161
162 // Close the configuration file
163 fclose(file);
164
165 // Return the configuration options
166 return config;
167}
168
169#endif
170```
171
172This is as far as I managed to get for now. I have a daily job and this prohibits me to work on these things full time. But I should probably get back and finish this. At least have a simple version working out, so I can start testing it on my machines. Fingers crossed. 🕵️‍♂️ \ No newline at end of file