VaixTerm: A Robust SDL2 Terminal for Handheld & Embedded Systems

VaixTerm is a lightweight, high-performance terminal emulator built using SDL2, primarily designed for handheld gaming devices and embedded systems. It provides a full-featured command-line interface optimized for environments where traditional keyboard input is limited, leveraging game controller input and a highly customizable on-screen keyboard.

Main Features

VaixTerm combines the power of a standard terminal with features tailored for controller-based use:

• Full Terminal Functionality: Enjoy a complete command-line experience with support for ANSI/VT100 escape codes, 256-color and True Color palettes, UTF-8, and a scrollback buffer.
• Controller-First Navigation: All terminal functions, including scrolling and special key input, are mapped to a standard game controller.
• Customizable On-Screen Keyboard: A powerful OSK allows for text input and execution of complex commands. Its layout is fully configurable, and you can create dynamic sets of keys for your favorite shortcuts.
• Theming and Customization: Change the look and feel of your terminal with custom color schemes, fonts, and background images.

Key Features & Design Principles

• Optimized for Handheld & Controller Input: Engineered with a primary focus on game controller navigation and input, providing a natural and efficient interface for devices without physical keyboards.
• Extensible On-Screen Keyboard (OSK): Features a highly configurable OSK with custom character layouts (.kb files) and dynamic key sets (.keys files) for shortcuts and internal commands, adapting to diverse workflows.
• Lightweight SDL2 Core: Built on SDL2 for efficient rendering and minimal resource consumption, making it suitable for embedded and resource-constrained environments.
• Comprehensive Terminal Emulation: Supports standard ANSI/VT100 escape codes, 256-color, True Color, and robust UTF-8 character rendering, including custom drawing for box-drawing and Braille characters.
• File-Based Configuration: Appearance and behavior are fully customizable via external .theme (color scheme), .kb (OSK layout), and .keys (key set) files, allowing for easy sharing and management of configurations.

Getting Started

Compile VaixTerm effortlessly with the provided Makefile.

VaixTerm Features

For a full list of command-line features and options, simply run vaixterm --help. The output is as follows:

vaixterm - A simple, modern terminal emulator mainly for game handheld.

Usage: ./vaixterm [options]

Options:
  -w, --width <pixels>       Set window width (default: 640)
  -h, --height <pixels>      Set window height (default: 480)
  -f, --font <path>          Set font path (default: res/Martian.ttf)
  -s, --size <points>        Set font size (default: 12)
  -l, --scrollback <lines>   Set scrollback lines (default: 1000)
  -e, --exec <command>       Execute command instead of default shell.
  -b, --background <path>    Set background image (optional).
  -cs, --colorscheme <path>  Set colorscheme (optional).
  --fps <value>              Set framerate cap (default: 30 fps).
  --read-only                Run in read-only mode (input disabled).
  --no-credit                Start shell directly, skip credits.
  --force-full-render        Force a full re-render on every frame.
  --key-set [-|+]<path>      Add key set ('-': available, '+': load).
  --osk-layout <path>        Use a custom OSK layout file.