The ANSI standard lists ESC[4m as the code to produce an underline > export TERM=ansi80x25 > printf "\033[4masdfasdfasdf" produces green text, not underline text as stated in the standard. If I put the same in c code, it works #include <stdio.h> int main() { fputs("\033[4masdfasdf",stdout); return 0; } I get underlined text. Why? Tom Dean