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30 * @Id: curs_terminfo.3x,v 1.20 2005/05/15 16:19:13 tom Exp @
34 <TITLE>curs_terminfo 3x</TITLE>
35 <link rev=made href="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">
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39 <H1>curs_terminfo 3x</H1>
42 <!-- Manpage converted by man2html 3.0.1 -->
43 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG> <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
50 <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, <STRONG>putp</STRONG>, <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG>,
51 <STRONG>setterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>,
52 <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>, <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG>, <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> - <STRONG>curses</STRONG>
53 interfaces to terminfo database
57 <H2>SYNOPSIS</H2><PRE>
58 <STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>
59 <STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG><term.h></STRONG>
61 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>setupterm(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>fildes</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>errret</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
62 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>setterm(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
63 <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*set_curterm(TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>nterm</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
64 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>del_curterm(TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>oterm</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
65 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>restartterm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>fildes</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>errret</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
66 <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*tparm(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>...);</STRONG>
67 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>tputs(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>affcnt</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>(*</STRONG><EM>putc</EM><STRONG>)(int));</STRONG>
68 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>putp(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
69 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>vidputs(chtype</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>(*</STRONG><EM>putc</EM><STRONG>)(int));</STRONG>
70 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>vidattr(chtype</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
71 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>vid_puts(attr_t</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>short</STRONG> <EM>pair</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>void</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>opts</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>(*</STRONG><EM>putc</EM><STRONG>)(char));</STRONG>
72 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>vid_attr(attr_t</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>short</STRONG> <EM>pair</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>void</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>opts</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
73 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvcur(int</STRONG> <EM>oldrow</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>oldcol</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>newrow</EM>, int <EM>newcol</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
74 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>tigetflag(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>capname</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
75 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>tigetnum(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>capname</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
76 <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*tigetstr(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>capname</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
80 <H2>DESCRIPTION</H2><PRE>
81 These low-level routines must be called by programs that
82 have to deal directly with the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database to handle
83 certain terminal capabilities, such as programming func-
84 tion keys. For all other functionality, <STRONG>curses</STRONG> routines
85 are more suitable and their use is recommended.
87 Initially, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> should be called. Note that <STRONG>se-</STRONG>
88 <STRONG>tupterm</STRONG> is automatically called by <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> and <STRONG>newterm</STRONG>.
89 This defines the set of terminal-dependent variables
90 [listed in <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>]. The <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> variables <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and
91 <STRONG>columns</STRONG> are initialized by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> as follows: If
92 <STRONG>use_env(FALSE)</STRONG> has been called, values for <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and
93 <STRONG>columns</STRONG> specified in <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> are used. Otherwise, if the
94 environment variables <STRONG>LINES</STRONG> and <STRONG>COLUMNS</STRONG> exist, their val-
95 ues are used. If these environment variables do not exist
96 and the program is running in a window, the current window
97 size is used. Otherwise, if the environment variables do
98 not exist, the values for <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG> specified in
99 the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database are used.
101 The header files <STRONG>curses.h</STRONG> and <STRONG>term.h</STRONG> should be included
102 (in this order) to get the definitions for these strings,
103 numbers, and flags. Parameterized strings should be
104 passed through <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> to instantiate them. All <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG>
105 strings [including the output of <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>] should be printed
106 with <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> or <STRONG>putp</STRONG>. Call the <STRONG>reset_shell_mode</STRONG> to restore
107 the tty modes before exiting [see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_kernel.3x.html">curs_kernel(3x)</A></STRONG>]. Pro-
108 grams which use cursor addressing should output <STRONG>en-</STRONG>
109 <STRONG>ter_ca_mode</STRONG> upon startup and should output <STRONG>exit_ca_mode</STRONG>
110 before exiting. Programs desiring shell escapes should
113 <STRONG>reset_shell_mode</STRONG> and output <STRONG>exit_ca_mode</STRONG> before the shell
114 is called and should output <STRONG>enter_ca_mode</STRONG> and call <STRONG>re-</STRONG>
115 <STRONG>set_prog_mode</STRONG> after returning from the shell.
117 The <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> routine reads in the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database, ini-
118 tializing the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> structures, but does not set up the
119 output virtualization structures used by <STRONG>curses</STRONG>. The ter-
120 minal type is the character string <EM>term</EM>; if <EM>term</EM> is null,
121 the environment variable <STRONG>TERM</STRONG> is used. All output is to
122 file descriptor <STRONG>fildes</STRONG> which is initialized for output.
123 If <EM>errret</EM> is not null, then <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> returns <STRONG>OK</STRONG> or <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>
124 and stores a status value in the integer pointed to by <EM>er-</EM>
125 <EM>rret</EM>. A return value of <STRONG>OK</STRONG> combined with status of <STRONG>1</STRONG> in
126 <EM>errret</EM> is normal. If <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> is returned, examine <EM>errret</EM>:
128 <STRONG>1</STRONG> means that the terminal is hardcopy, cannot be
129 used for curses applications.
131 <STRONG>0</STRONG> means that the terminal could not be found, or
132 that it is a generic type, having too little
133 information for curses applications to run.
135 <STRONG>-1</STRONG> means that the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database could not be
138 If <EM>errret</EM> is null, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> prints an error message upon
139 finding an error and exits. Thus, the simplest call is:
141 <STRONG>setupterm((char</STRONG> <STRONG>*)0,</STRONG> <STRONG>1,</STRONG> <STRONG>(int</STRONG> <STRONG>*)0);</STRONG>,
143 which uses all the defaults and sends the output to <STRONG>std-</STRONG>
144 <STRONG>out</STRONG>.
146 The <STRONG>setterm</STRONG> routine is being replaced by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>. The
149 <STRONG>setupterm(</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>1,</STRONG> <STRONG>(int</STRONG> <STRONG>*)0)</STRONG>
151 provides the same functionality as <STRONG>setterm(</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>)</STRONG>. The
152 <STRONG>setterm</STRONG> routine is included here for BSD compatibility,
153 and is not recommended for new programs.
155 The <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG> routine sets the variable <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG> to
156 <EM>nterm</EM>, and makes all of the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> boolean, numeric, and
157 string variables use the values from <EM>nterm</EM>. It returns
158 the old value of <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>.
160 The <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG> routine frees the space pointed to by
161 <EM>oterm</EM> and makes it available for further use. If <EM>oterm</EM> is
162 the same as <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>, references to any of the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG>
163 boolean, numeric, and string variables thereafter may re-
164 fer to invalid memory locations until another <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
167 The <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> routine is similar to <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> and
168 <STRONG>initscr</STRONG>, except that it is called after restoring memory
169 to a previous state (for example, when reloading a game
170 saved as a core image dump). It assumes that the windows
171 and the input and output options are the same as when mem-
172 ory was saved, but the terminal type and baud rate may be
173 different. Accordingly, it saves various tty state bits,
174 does a setupterm, and then restores the bits.
176 The <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> routine instantiates the string <EM>str</EM> with parame-
177 ters <EM>pi</EM>. A pointer is returned to the result of <EM>str</EM> with
178 the parameters applied.
180 The <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> routine applies padding information to the
181 string <EM>str</EM> and outputs it. The <EM>str</EM> must be a terminfo
182 string variable or the return value from <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tgetstr</STRONG>,
183 or <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG>. <EM>affcnt</EM> is the number of lines affected, or 1 if
184 not applicable. <EM>putc</EM> is a <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>-like routine to which
185 the characters are passed, one at a time.
187 The <STRONG>putp</STRONG> routine calls <STRONG>tputs(</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>1,</STRONG> <STRONG>putchar)</STRONG>. Note that
188 the output of <STRONG>putp</STRONG> always goes to <STRONG>stdout</STRONG>, not to the
189 <EM>fildes</EM> specified in <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>.
191 The <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> routine displays the string on the terminal in
192 the video attribute mode <EM>attrs</EM>, which is any combination
193 of the attributes listed in <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>. The characters
194 are passed to the <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>-like routine <EM>putc</EM>.
196 The <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> routine is like the <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> routine, except
197 that it outputs through <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>.
199 The <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> routines correspond to vidattr
200 and vidputs, respectively. They use a set of arguments
201 for representing the video attributes plus color, i.e.,
202 one of type attr_t for the attributes and one of short for
203 the color_pair number. The <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> routines
204 are designed to use the attribute constants with the <EM>WA</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG>
205 prefix. The opts argument is reserved for future use.
206 Currently, applications must provide a null pointer for
209 The <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> routine provides low-level cursor motion. It
210 takes effect immediately (rather than at the next re-
213 The <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG> and <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG> routines return the
214 value of the capability corresponding to the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> <EM>cap-</EM>
215 <EM>name</EM> passed to them, such as <STRONG>xenl</STRONG>.
217 The <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG> routine returns the value <STRONG>-1</STRONG> if <EM>capname</EM> is
218 not a boolean capability, or <STRONG>0</STRONG> if it is canceled or absent
219 from the terminal description.
221 The <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG> routine returns the value <STRONG>-2</STRONG> if <EM>capname</EM> is
222 not a numeric capability, or <STRONG>-1</STRONG> if it is canceled or ab-
223 sent from the terminal description.
225 The <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG> routine returns the value <STRONG>(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*)-1</STRONG> if <EM>cap-</EM>
226 <EM>name</EM> is not a string capability, or <STRONG>0</STRONG> if it is canceled or
227 absent from the terminal description.
229 The <EM>capname</EM> for each capability is given in the table col-
230 umn entitled <EM>capname</EM> code in the capabilities section of
231 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>.
233 <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*boolnames</STRONG>, <STRONG>*boolcodes</STRONG>, <STRONG>*boolfnames</STRONG>
235 <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*numnames</STRONG>, <STRONG>*numcodes</STRONG>, <STRONG>*numfnames</STRONG>
237 <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*strnames</STRONG>, <STRONG>*strcodes</STRONG>, <STRONG>*strfnames</STRONG>
239 These null-terminated arrays contain the <EM>capnames</EM>, the
240 <STRONG>termcap</STRONG> codes, and the full C names, for each of the <STRONG>ter-</STRONG>
241 <STRONG>minfo</STRONG> variables.
245 <H2>RETURN VALUE</H2><PRE>
246 Routines that return an integer return <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon failure
247 and <STRONG>OK</STRONG> (SVr4 only specifies "an integer value other than
248 <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>") upon successful completion, unless otherwise noted
249 in the preceding routine descriptions.
251 Routines that return pointers always return <STRONG>NULL</STRONG> on error.
253 X/Open defines no error conditions. In this implementa-
256 <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG>
257 returns an error if its terminal parameter is
260 <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG>
261 returns an error if the associated call to <STRONG>se-</STRONG>
262 <STRONG>tupterm</STRONG> returns an error.
264 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
265 returns an error if it cannot allocate enough
266 memory, or create the initial windows (stdscr,
267 curscr, newscr). Other error conditions are
273 The <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> routine should be used in place of <STRONG>setterm</STRONG>.
274 It may be useful when you want to test for terminal capa-
275 bilities without committing to the allocation of storage
276 involved in <STRONG>initscr</STRONG>.
278 Note that <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> may be macros.
282 <H2>PORTABILITY</H2><PRE>
283 The function <STRONG>setterm</STRONG> is not described in the XSI Curses
284 standard and must be considered non-portable. All other
285 functions are as described in the XSI curses standard.
287 In System V Release 4, <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG> has an <STRONG>int</STRONG> return type
288 and returns <STRONG>OK</STRONG> or <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>. We have chosen to implement the
289 XSI Curses semantics.
291 In System V Release 4, the third argument of <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> has the
292 type <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>(*putc)(char)</STRONG>.
294 The XSI Curses standard prototypes <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> with a fixed num-
295 ber of parameters, rather than a variable argument list.
296 This implementation uses a variable argument list.
297 Portable applications should provide 9 parameters after
298 the format; zeroes are fine for this purpose.
300 XSI notes that after calling <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, the curses state may
301 not match the actual terminal state, and that an applica-
302 tion should touch and refresh the window before resuming
303 normal curses calls. Both ncurses and System V Release 4
304 curses implement <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> using the SCREEN data allocated in
305 either <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG>. So though it is documented as
306 a terminfo function, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> is really a curses function
307 which is not well specified.
311 <H2>SEE ALSO</H2><PRE>
312 <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">curs_initscr(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_kernel.3x.html">curs_kernel(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>curs_term-</STRONG>
313 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termcap.3x.html">cap(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="putc.3S.html">putc(3S)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
317 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
321 Man(1) output converted with
322 <a href="http://www.oac.uci.edu/indiv/ehood/man2html.html">man2html</a>