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+ * Copyright 2018-2023,2024 Thomas E. Dickey *
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- * @Id: curs_getstr.3x,v 1.36 2022/02/12 20:07:29 tom Exp @
- * X/Open says also until EOf
- * X/Open says then an EOS is added to the result
- * X/Open doesn't mention n<0
+ * @Id: curs_getstr.3x,v 1.67 2024/06/22 22:20:56 tom Exp @
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-<H1 class="no-header">curs_getstr 3x</H1>
+<H1 class="no-header">curs_getstr 3x 2024-06-22 ncurses 6.5 Library calls</H1>
<PRE>
-<STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
+<STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
Library calls <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
- <STRONG>getstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>wgetstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetnstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvwgetstr</STRONG>,
- <STRONG>mvwgetnstr</STRONG> - accept character strings from <STRONG>curses</STRONG> terminal keyboard
+ <STRONG>getstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>wgetstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetnstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvwgetstr</STRONG>,
+ <STRONG>mvwgetnstr</STRONG> - accept character strings from <EM>curses</EM> terminal keyboard
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
<STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>
- <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>getstr(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
- <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>getnstr(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>n</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
- <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>wgetstr(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>win</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
- <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>wgetnstr(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>win</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>n</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>getstr(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>wgetstr(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>win</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvgetstr(int</STRONG> <EM>y</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>x</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvwgetstr(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>win</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>y</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>x</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
- <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvgetstr(int</STRONG> <EM>y</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>x</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
- <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvwgetstr(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>win</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>y</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>x</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
- <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvgetnstr(int</STRONG> <EM>y</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>x</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>n</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
- <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvwgetnstr(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>win</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>y</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>x</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>n</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>getnstr(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>n</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>wgetnstr(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>win</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>n</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvgetnstr(int</STRONG> <EM>y</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>x</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>n</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvwgetnstr(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>win</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>y</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>x</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>n</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
- The function <STRONG>getstr</STRONG> is equivalent to a series of calls to <STRONG>getch</STRONG>, until
- a newline or carriage return is received (the terminating character is
- not included in the returned string). The resulting value is placed in
- the area pointed to by the character pointer <EM>str</EM>, followed by a NUL.
+ <STRONG>wgetstr</STRONG> populates a user-supplied string buffer <EM>str</EM> by repeatedly
+ calling <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">wgetch(3x)</A></STRONG> with the <EM>win</EM> argument until a line feed or carriage
+ return character is input. The function
- The <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG> function reads from the <EM>stdscr</EM> default window. The other
- functions, such as <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG>, read from the window given as a parameter.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> does not copy the terminating character to <EM>str</EM>;
- <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG> reads at most <EM>n</EM> characters, thus preventing a possible overflow
- of the input buffer. Any attempt to enter more characters (other than
- the terminating newline or carriage return) causes a beep. Function
- keys also cause a beep and are ignored.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> always terminates <EM>str</EM> with a null character;
- The user's <EM>erase</EM> and <EM>kill</EM> characters are interpreted:
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> interprets the screen's erase and kill characters (see
+ <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">erasechar(3x)</A></STRONG> and <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">killchar(3x)</A></STRONG>);
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> The <EM>erase</EM> character (e.g., <STRONG>^H</STRONG>) erases the character at the end of
- the buffer, moving the cursor to the left.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> recognizes function keys only if the screen's keypad option is
+ enabled (see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">keypad(3x)</A></STRONG>);
- If <EM>keypad</EM> mode is on for the window, <STRONG>KEY_LEFT</STRONG> and <STRONG>KEY_BACKSPACE</STRONG> are
- both considered equivalent to the user's erase character.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> treats the function keys <STRONG>KEY_LEFT</STRONG> and <STRONG>KEY_BACKSPACE</STRONG> the same as the
+ erase character; and
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> The <EM>kill</EM> character (e.g., <STRONG>^U</STRONG>) erases the entire buffer, leaving the
- cursor at the beginning of the buffer.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> discards function key inputs other than those treated as the erase
+ character, calling <STRONG><A HREF="curs_beep.3x.html">beep(3x)</A></STRONG>.
- Characters input are echoed only if <STRONG>echo</STRONG> is currently on. In that
- case, backspace is echoed as deletion of the previous character (typi-
- cally a left motion).
+ The erase character replaces the character at the end of the buffer
+ with a null character, while the kill character does the same for the
+ entire buffer.
+
+ If the screen's echo option is enabled (see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">echo(3x)</A></STRONG>), <STRONG>wgetstr</STRONG> updates
+ <EM>win</EM> with <STRONG><A HREF="curs_addch.3x.html">wechochar(3x)</A></STRONG>. Further,
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> the erase character and its function key synonyms move the cursor
+ to the left, and
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> the kill character returns the cursor to where it was located when
+ <STRONG>wgetstr</STRONG> was called.
+
+ <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG> is similar, but reads at most <EM>n</EM> characters, aiding the
+ application to avoid overrunning the buffer to which <EM>str</EM> points. An
+ attempt to input more than <EM>n</EM> characters (other than the terminating
+ line feed or carriage return) is ignored with a beep.
+
+ <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG> describes the variants of these functions.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></H2><PRE>
- All routines return the integer <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon failure and an <STRONG>OK</STRONG> (SVr4 speci-
- fies only "an integer value other than <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>") upon successful comple-
- tion.
+ These functions return <STRONG>OK</STRONG> on success and <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> on failure.
+
+ In <EM>ncurses</EM>, they return <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> if
- X/Open defines no error conditions.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>win</EM> is <STRONG>NULL</STRONG>, or
- In this implementation, these functions return an error if the window
- pointer is null, or if its timeout expires without having any data.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> if an internal <STRONG>wgetch</STRONG> call fails.
- This implementation provides an extension as well. If a <STRONG>SIGWINCH</STRONG> in-
- terrupts the function, it will return <STRONG>KEY_RESIZE</STRONG> rather than <STRONG>OK</STRONG> or <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>.
+ Further, in <EM>ncurses</EM>, these functions return <STRONG>KEY_RESIZE</STRONG> if a <STRONG>SIGWINCH</STRONG>
+ event interrupts the function.
- Functions with a "mv" prefix first perform a cursor movement using
- <STRONG>wmove</STRONG>, and return an error if the position is outside the window, or if
- the window pointer is null.
+ Functions prefixed with "mv" first perform cursor movement and fail if
+ the position (<EM>y</EM>, <EM>x</EM>) is outside the window boundaries.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-NOTES">NOTES</a></H2><PRE>
- Note that <STRONG>getstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetstr</STRONG>, and <STRONG>mvwgetstr</STRONG> may be macros.
+ All of these functions except <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG> may be implemented as macros.
+
+ Use of <STRONG>getstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvwgetstr</STRONG>, or <STRONG>wgetstr</STRONG> to read input that
+ overruns the buffer pointed to by <EM>str</EM> causes undefined results. Use
+ their <STRONG>n</STRONG>-infixed counterpart functions instead.
+
+ While <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG> is conceptually a series of calls to <STRONG>wgetch</STRONG>, it also
+ temporarily changes properties of the <EM>curses</EM> screen to permit simple
+ editing of the input buffer. It saves the screen's state and then
+ calls <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">nl(3x)</A></STRONG> and, if the screen was in normal ("cooked") mode,
+ <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">cbreak(3x)</A></STRONG>. Before returning, it restores the saved screen state.
+ Other implementations differ in detail, affecting which control
+ characters they can accept in the buffer; see section "PORTABILITY"
+ below.
+
+
+</PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></H2><PRE>
+ The return value <STRONG>KEY_RESIZE</STRONG> is an <EM>ncurses</EM> extension.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
- These functions are described in the XSI Curses standard, Issue 4.
- They read single-byte characters only. The standard does not define
- any error conditions. This implementation returns <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> if the window
- pointer is null, or if the lower-level <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">wgetch(3x)</A></STRONG> call returns an <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>.
+ Applications employing <EM>ncurses</EM> extensions should condition their use on
+ the visibility of the <STRONG>NCURSES_VERSION</STRONG> preprocessor macro.
+
+ X/Open Curses Issue 4 describes these functions. It specifies no error
+ conditions for them, but indicates that <EM>wgetnstr</EM> and its variants read
+ "the entire multi-byte sequence associated with a character" and "fail"
+ if <EM>n</EM> and <EM>str</EM> together do not describe a buffer "large enough to contain
+ any complete characters". In <EM>ncurses</EM>, however, <EM>wgetch</EM> reads only
+ single-byte characters, so this scenario does not arise.
- SVr3 and early SVr4 curses implementations did not reject function
- keys; the SVr4.0 documentation claimed that "special keys" (such as
- function keys, "home" key, "clear" key, <EM>etc</EM>.) are "interpreted", with-
- out giving details. It lied. In fact, the "character" value appended
- to the string by those implementations was predictable but not useful
- (being, in fact, the low-order eight bits of the key's KEY_ value).
+ SVr4 <EM>curses</EM> describes a successful return value only as "an integer
+ value other than <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>".
- The functions <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetnstr</STRONG>, and <STRONG>mvwgetnstr</STRONG> were present but not
- documented in SVr4.
+ SVr3 and early SVr4 <EM>curses</EM> implementations did not reject function
+ keys; the SVr4 documentation asserted that, like the screen's erase and
+ kill characters, they were
- X/Open Curses, Issue 5 (2007) stated that these functions "read at most
- <EM>n</EM> bytes" but did not state whether the terminating NUL is counted in
- that limit. X/Open Curses, Issue 7 (2009) changed that to say they
- "read at most <EM>n</EM>-1 bytes" to allow for the terminating NUL. As of 2018,
- some implementations do, some do not count it:
+ interpreted, as well as any special keys (such as function keys,
+ "home" key, "clear" key, <EM>etc.</EM>)
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> ncurses 6.1 and PDCurses do not count the NUL in the given limit,
- while
+ without further detail. It lied. In fact, the "character" value
+ appended to the string by those implementations was predictable but not
+ useful -- being, in fact, the low-order eight bits of the key code's
+ <STRONG>KEY_</STRONG> constant value. (The same language, unchanged except for styling,
+ survived into X/Open Curses Issue 4, but disappeared from Issue 7.)
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Solaris SVr4 and NetBSD curses count the NUL as part of the limit.
+ X/Open Curses Issue 5 (2007) stated that these functions "read at most
+ <EM>n</EM> bytes" but did not state whether the terminating null character
+ counted toward that limit. X/Open Curses Issue 7 (2009) changed that
+ to say they "read at most <EM>n</EM>-1 bytes" to allow for the terminating null
+ character. As of 2018, some implementations count it, some do not.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Solaris xcurses provides both: its wide-character <STRONG>wget_nstr</STRONG> re-
- serves a NUL, but its <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG> does not count the NUL consistently.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>ncurses</EM> 6.1 and <EM>PDCurses</EM> do not count the null character toward the
+ limit, while Solaris and NetBSD <EM>curses</EM> do.
- In SVr4 curses, a negative value of <EM>n</EM> tells <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG> to assume that the
- caller's buffer is large enough to hold the result, i.e., to act like
- <STRONG>wgetstr</STRONG>. X/Open Curses does not mention this (or anything related to
- negative or zero values of <EM>n</EM>), however most implementations use the
- feature, with different limits:
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Solaris <EM>xcurses</EM> offers both behaviors: its wide-character
+ <EM>wgetn</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>wstr</EM> reserves room for a wide null character, but its non-
+ wide <EM>wgetnstr</EM> does not consistently count a null character toward
+ the limit.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Solaris SVr4 curses and PDCurses limit the result to 255 bytes.
- Other Unix systems than Solaris are likely to use the same limit.
+ In SVr4 <EM>curses</EM>, a negative <EM>n</EM> tells <EM>wgetnstr</EM> to assume that the caller's
+ buffer is large enough to hold the result; that is, the function then
+ acts like <EM>wgetstr</EM>. X/Open Curses does not mention this behavior (or
+ anything related to nonpositive <EM>n</EM> values), however most <EM>curses</EM>
+ libraries implement it. Most implementations nevertheless enforce an
+ upper limit on the count of bytes they write to the destination buffer
+ <EM>str</EM>.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Solaris xcurses limits the result to <STRONG>LINE_MAX</STRONG> bytes.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> BSD <EM>curses</EM> lacked <EM>wgetnstr</EM>, and its <EM>wgetstr</EM> wrote to <EM>str</EM>
+ unboundedly, as did that in SVr2.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> NetBSD 7 assumes no particular limit for the result from <STRONG>wgetstr</STRONG>.
- However, it limits the <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG> parameter <EM>n</EM> to ensure that it is
- greater than zero.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>PDCurses</EM>, and SVr3.1, SVr4, and Solaris <EM>curses</EM> limit both functions
+ to writing 256 bytes. Other System V-based platforms likely use
+ the same limit.
- A comment in NetBSD's source code states that this is specified in
- SUSv2.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Solaris <EM>xcurses</EM> limits the write to <STRONG>LINE_MAX</STRONG> bytes.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> ncurses (before 6.2) assumes no particular limit for the result
- from <STRONG>wgetstr</STRONG>, and treats the <EM>n</EM> parameter of <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG> like SVr4
- curses.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> NetBSD 7 <EM>curses</EM> imposes no particular limit on the length of the
+ write, but does validate <EM>n</EM> to ensure that it is greater than zero.
+ A comment in NetBSD's source code asserts that SUSv2 specifies
+ this.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> ncurses 6.2 uses <STRONG>LINE_MAX</STRONG>, or a larger (system-dependent) value
- which the <STRONG>sysconf</STRONG> function may provide. If neither <STRONG>LINE_MAX</STRONG> or
- <STRONG>sysconf</STRONG> is available, ncurses uses the POSIX value for <STRONG>LINE_MAX</STRONG> (a
- 2048 byte limit). In either case, it reserves a byte for the ter-
- minating NUL.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>ncurses</EM> prior to 6.2 (2020) imposes no limit on the length of the
+ write, and treats <EM>wgetnstr</EM>'s <EM>n</EM> parameter as SVr4 <EM>curses</EM> does.
- Although <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG> is equivalent to a series of calls to <STRONG>getch</STRONG>, it also
- makes changes to the curses modes to allow simple editing of the input
- buffer:
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>ncurses</EM> 6.2 uses <STRONG>LINE_MAX</STRONG> or a larger (system-dependent) value
+ provided by <STRONG>sysconf(3)</STRONG>. If neither <STRONG>LINE_MAX</STRONG> nor <EM>sysconf</EM> is
+ available, <EM>ncurses</EM> uses the POSIX minimum value for <STRONG>LINE_MAX</STRONG>
+ (2048). In either case, it reserves a byte for the terminating
+ null character.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG> saves the current value of the <STRONG>nl</STRONG>, <STRONG>echo</STRONG>, <STRONG>raw</STRONG> and <STRONG>cbreak</STRONG>
- modes, and sets <STRONG>nl</STRONG>, <STRONG>noecho</STRONG>, <STRONG>noraw</STRONG>, and <STRONG>cbreak</STRONG>.
+ Implementations vary in their handling of input control characters.
- <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG> handles the echoing of characters, rather than relying on
- the caller to set an appropriate mode.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> While they may enable the screen's echo option, some do not take it
+ out of raw mode, and may take cbreak mode into account when
+ deciding whether to handle echoing within <EM>wgetnstr</EM> or to rely on it
+ as a side effect of calling <EM>wgetch</EM>.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> It also obtains the <EM>erase</EM> and <EM>kill</EM> characters from <STRONG>erasechar</STRONG> and
- <STRONG>killchar</STRONG>, respectively.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Originally, <EM>ncurses</EM>, like its progenitor <EM>pcurses</EM>, had its <EM>wgetnstr</EM>
+ call <EM>noraw</EM> and <EM>cbreak</EM> before accepting input. That may have been
+ done to make function keys work; it is not necessary with modern
+ <EM>ncurses</EM>.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> On return, <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG> restores the modes to their previous values.
+ Since 1995, <EM>ncurses</EM> has provided handlers for <STRONG>SIGINTR</STRONG> and <STRONG>SIGQUIT</STRONG>
+ events, which are typically generated at the keyboard with <STRONG>^C</STRONG> and
+ <STRONG>^\</STRONG> respectively. In cbreak mode, those handlers catch a signal and
+ stop the program, whereas other implementations write those
+ characters into the buffer.
- Other implementations differ in their treatment of special characters:
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Starting with <EM>ncurses</EM> 6.3 (2021), <EM>wgetnstr</EM> preserves raw mode if
+ the screen was already in that state, allowing one to enter the
+ characters the terminal interprets as interrupt and quit events
+ into the buffer, for better compatibility with SVr4 <EM>curses</EM>.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> While they may set the <EM>echo</EM> mode, other implementations do not mod-
- ify the <EM>raw</EM> mode, They may take the <EM>cbreak</EM> mode set by the caller
- into account when deciding whether to handle echoing within <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG>
- or as a side-effect of the <STRONG>getch</STRONG> calls.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> The original ncurses (as <EM>pcurses</EM> in 1986) set <STRONG>noraw</STRONG> and <STRONG>cbreak</STRONG> when
- accepting input for <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG>. That may have been done to make func-
- tion- and cursor-keys work; it is not necessary with ncurses.
+</PRE><H2><a name="h2-HISTORY">HISTORY</a></H2><PRE>
+ 4BSD (1980) <EM>curses</EM> introduced <EM>wgetstr</EM> along with its variants.
- Since 1995, ncurses has provided signal handlers for INTR and QUIT
- (e.g., <STRONG>^C</STRONG> or <STRONG>^\</STRONG>). With the <STRONG>noraw</STRONG> and <STRONG>cbreak</STRONG> settings, those may
- catch a signal and stop the program, where other implementations
- allow one to enter those characters in the buffer.
+ SVr3.1 (1987) added <EM>wgetnstr</EM>, but none of its variants.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Starting in 2021 (ncurses 6.3), <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG> sets <STRONG>raw</STRONG>, rather than <STRONG>noraw</STRONG>
- and <STRONG>cbreak</STRONG> for better compatibility with SVr4-curses, e.g., allow-
- ing one to enter a <STRONG>^C</STRONG> into the buffer.
+ X/Open Curses Issue 4 (1995) specified <EM>getnstr</EM>, <EM>mvwgetnstr</EM>, and
+ <EM>mvgetnstr</EM>.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
- <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">curs_getch(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">curs_termattrs(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_variables.3x.html">curs_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>.
+ <STRONG><A HREF="curs_get_wstr.3x.html">curs_get_wstr(3x)</A></STRONG> describes comparable functions of the <EM>ncurses</EM> library
+ in its wide-character configuration (<EM>ncursesw</EM>).
+
+ <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_addch.3x.html">curs_addch(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">curs_getch(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>,
+ <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">curs_termattrs(3x)</A></STRONG>,
-
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
+
ncurses 6.5 2024-06-22 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
<div class="nav">
<ul>
<li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-NOTES">NOTES</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h2-HISTORY">HISTORY</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
projects / ncurses.git / blobdiff