How to use the macos terminal as a remote tektronics display device for a terminal graphics process running on another unix system. In this case, freebsd.

Prerequisites

  • Mac OS X installed (mine is a MacBook Pro running Mojave by choice)
  • XQuartz 2.7.11 (X11 for Mac)
  • FreeBSD 12.1 installed (mine is a Thinkpad T430) w/X11

Install gnuplot on freebsd

We need a graphics proces that’s simple and easy to use from the command line.

sudo pkg install gnuplot

Start a terminal on macos

ssh -Y astra
xterm -bg black -fg green &
gnuplot -e "set terminal xterm; plot [-5:5] sin(x)"

opens a tektronix window showing a sine wave

Start a terminal first and then switch to tek mode

  • Requires either a three-button mouse or that xterm is emulating three buttons:

In xterm, open preferences.

On the Input tab, check Emulate three button mouse

Close preferences.

Fire up an xterm

$ xterm

press ctrl-option-click or click the middle button of a mouse and select switch to tek mode in the menu that appears.

in texmode window

gnuplot -e "set terminal xterm; plot [-5:5] sin(x)"

Notes

  1. xterm on mac works pretty well. to help it out, remember to open preferences and set emulate 3 button mouse (unless you are actually using one, in which case, this isn’t necessary). Then to access:
  • Main Options Menu: Ctrl-Click
  • VT Options: Ctrl-Option-Click
  • VT Fonts Menu: Ctrl-Cmd-Click
  1. The xterm is pretty smart about opening the Tektronix display as needed (the sine wave window is a graphics terminal). You can fire up your own Tek window by bringing up the VT Options Menu and selecting “Switch to Tek Mode”

post added 2022-12-02 08:28:00 -0600