vttest For Linux

vttest is an open source and free command-line software implemented in C and designed from the ground up to be used for testing the compatibility, as well as to demonstrate the non-compatibility, of VT100-compatible terminals.

Originally written for the Sargasso C compiler that was available on DECsystem-10 machines, vttest doesn’t support all the VT100 variations, such as the new VT200 series, or the old VT125 and VT131 ones.

Please note that additional tests are provided in application since version 1.7, which offers support for the analysis of some variants of XTerm, as well as the VT420 and VT220 compatible terminals.

The software is written entirely in the C programming language and distributed as a tar archive, which contains the application’s source code. To install and use the program on your GNU/Linux system, you must first download the latest version from Softpedia or the official website (see link below), save the file on your path, extract its contents and open a terminal emulator.

In the terminal window, use the ‘cd’ command to navigate to the location where the archive file have been unpacked, and run the ‘./configure && make’ command to optimize, configure and compile the program for your architecture and operating system. After a successful compilation, you can install the software by executing the ‘make install’ command as root or with sudo.

Run the ‘vttest’ command in the Linux Terminal to interact with the application, which will present users with a menu menu from where they can choose a test type. Type the number of the preferred test to start it.

Twelve tests are included in the vttest program. These are test of cursor movements, test of screen features, test of character sets, test of double-sized characters, test of keyboard, test of terminal reports, test of VT52 mode, test of VT102 features (insert/delete or char/line), test of known bugs, test of reset and self-test, as well as the ability to test non-VT100 terminals like XTerm or VT220, and to modify the test parameters.