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The Windows Console gets support for Sixel images

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Re: The Windows Console gets support for Sixel images

#21

Post by zadjii »

runevault wrote: post #15
None4U wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

conhost.exe is the terminal, cmd.exe is the shell, this patch is in fact only currently used in conhost

conhost is in the terminal repo? Huh interesting, that surprises me.

Conhost and Terminal share quite a lot of code in fact. The text buffer, the renderer, the VT sequence parser - all that's the same codebase. That allows bugfixes and improvements to the the Terminal to also flow back to the vintage console (for people who still use that)

Re: The Windows Console gets support for Sixel images

#22

Post by zadjii »

runevault wrote: post #13
pathartl wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Terminal is built into newer versions of Windows 11.

They added directly finally? Good to know they hadn't when I got Win 11.

We shipped it (the Terminal) with the first versions of Windows 11. I don't think the "default terminal" feature defaulted to the new Terminal in the first win11 builds, but it should now. And you can always pick whichever terminal you want as the default terminal

Re: The Windows Console gets support for Sixel images

#23

Post by zadjii »

ashleyn wrote: post #19
runevault wrote: post #7

Worth noting for people who don't use MS tech stack much, this is the new Terminal that you get from the windows store (for free) not cmd.exe Which anyone who knows how to actually use a terminal should have upgraded to years ago anyway, mind you.

I was about to express my surprise that such a major part of Windows was now open source on Github.

Has been for like, five years now ;)

Re: The Windows Console gets support for Sixel images

#24

Post by zadjii »

None4U wrote: post #8
runevault wrote: post #7

Worth noting for people who don't use MS tech stack much, this is the new Terminal that you get from the windows store (for free) not cmd.exe Which anyone who knows how to actually use a terminal should have upgraded to years ago anyway, mind you.

conhost.exe is the terminal, cmd.exe is the shell, this patch is in fact only currently used in conhost

That is _technically_ correct (the best kind). There's some plumbing between conhost and Terminal we need to clean up before we can add it to Terminal too. We've got a branch ready, we've just got to merge a whole stack of PRs first before we can get there.

Re: The Windows Console gets support for Sixel images

#25

Post by docandrew »

criddell wrote: post #6
bloopernova wrote: post #3

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixel

So this is basically writing to the terminal as if it's a six pin dot matrix printer? Are Sixel images actually used very often these days? Is support in Windows Console a big deal, or just lots of fun?

There are some fun things you can do with it like terminal image viewing, etc. The notcurses library uses it, some of their demo videos are really neat.

Re: The Windows Console gets support for Sixel images

#26

Post by db48x »

jetbalsa wrote: post #10
makapuf wrote: post #5

that's nice, but .. wouldn't it be better to implement kitty graphics directly at this time ? https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/graphics-protocol/

how long until its just X11 with some extra steps :V

There are already a couple of ways to run an X server inside of a sixel–capable terminal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOTMGdUPYRo

Re: The Windows Console gets support for Sixel images

#27

Post by cwyers »

makapuf wrote: post #5

that's nice, but .. wouldn't it be better to implement kitty graphics directly at this time ? https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/graphics-protocol/

kitty is a product of a single open-source project, Sixel is a product of DEC with multiple independent implementations. DEC is out of business and there's very little risk of anyone coming out with a new version of VT333/VT340 reference manual, so Windows Terminal/conhost can have its own implementation of Sixel and ensure interoperability with other implementations as it sees fit, as opposed to committing to either chase compatibility with the Kitty project or committing to shipping someone else's code in perpetuity.

Re: The Windows Console gets support for Sixel images

#29

Post by renewedrebecca »

rcarmo wrote: post #28
renewedrebecca wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't actually use Terminal.app do you?

You realize there are such things as corporate policies, right?

I have a hard time imagining a situation where you'd need Sixel images in a corporate setting.

Re: The Windows Console gets support for Sixel images

#30

Post by runevault »

zadjii wrote: post #22
runevault wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They added directly finally? Good to know they hadn't when I got Win 11.

We shipped it (the Terminal) with the first versions of Windows 11. I don't think the "default terminal" feature defaulted to the new Terminal in the first win11 builds, but it should now. And you can always pick whichever terminal you want as the default terminal

Really? I swear when I got my alienware I had to go to the store to install it.

And I just type term when I hit the windows key anyway so default mostly doesn't matter for me, but good to know.

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