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DECDC — delete columns (CSI Ps ' ~)
CSI Ps ' ~DECDC (DEC Delete Column) deletes N columns at the cursor's column position, shifting all content to the right of the cursor further left. The sequence is
ESC [ Ps ' ~ — note the apostrophe (intermediate) before ~. Default Ps=1.
Blank columns are inserted at the right margin to fill the vacated space. DECDC is the horizontal counterpart of DL (Delete Lines) and the inverse of DECIC (Insert Column). It only operates within the current scroll region's vertical bounds, and within the left/right margin bounds when DECLRMM (mode 69) is enabled. Originally a VT420 feature, supported by xterm but rarely used in practice — most TUI applications redraw their content rather than use column-based editing.How this is testedautomated
Write content on multiple rows, position cursor in the middle, send
Write content on multiple rows, position cursor in the middle, send
\x1b[2'~ (DECDC 2), verify the sequence is consumed without leaving literal characters on screen. Most headless backends don't implement column deletes, so verification is partial.The same probe runs against headless backends (via Termless) and real terminal apps (via a daemon launched in each terminal). This lets us distinguish parser correctness from rendering correctness.
Analysis2026-04-06
Supported by all 9 tested terminals — universal adoption. Part of the Rich TUI baseline.
Supported by 8 of 14 backends (57%)
Terminal Applications
| Terminal | Version | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| iTerm2 | 3.6.9 | ✓ yes | sequence consumed |
| Ghostty | 1.3.1 | ✓ yes | sequence consumed |
| VS Code | ✓ yes | ||
| Warp | ✓ yes | ||
| Cursor | ✓ yes | ||
| Terminal.app | ✓ yes |
Headless Backends
Parser correctness only — a ✓ means the parser accepts the sequence.
| Backend | Version | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alacritty | 0.26.0 | ✗ no | Column editing (SL/SR/DECIC/DECDC) not implemented — rarely needed by modern TUI apps |
| Kitty | 0.40.0 | ✗ no | Column editing (SL/SR/DECIC/DECDC) not implemented — rarely needed by modern TUI apps |
| vt100.js | 0.2.1 | ✗ no | Column editing (SL/SR/DECIC/DECDC) not implemented — rarely needed by modern TUI apps |
| vterm | 0.2.0 | ✗ no | Column editing (SL/SR/DECIC/DECDC) not implemented — rarely needed by modern TUI apps |
| WezTerm | 0.1.0-fork.5 | ✗ no | Column editing (SL/SR/DECIC/DECDC) not implemented — rarely needed by modern TUI apps |
| xterm.js | 5.5.0 | ✗ no | Column editing (SL/SR/DECIC/DECDC) not implemented — rarely needed by modern TUI apps |