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46 <H1 class="no-header">curs_terminfo 3x</H1>
48 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG> <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
53 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
54 <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, <STRONG>putp</STRONG>, <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>setterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>,
55 <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>, <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG>,
56 <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> - <STRONG>curses</STRONG> interfaces to terminfo database
59 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
60 <STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>
61 <STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG><term.h></STRONG>
63 <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*cur_term;</STRONG>
65 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>boolnames[];</STRONG>
66 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>boolcodes[];</STRONG>
67 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>boolfnames[];</STRONG>
68 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>numnames[];</STRONG>
69 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>numcodes[];</STRONG>
70 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>numfnames[];</STRONG>
71 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>strnames[];</STRONG>
72 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>strcodes[];</STRONG>
73 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>strfnames[];</STRONG>
75 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>setupterm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>filedes</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>errret</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
76 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>setterm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
77 <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*set_curterm(TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>nterm</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
78 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>del_curterm(TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>oterm</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
79 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>restartterm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>filedes</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>errret</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
81 <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*tparm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>...);</STRONG>
82 <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>
83 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>putp(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
85 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>vidputs(chtype</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>(*</STRONG><EM>putc</EM><STRONG>)(int));</STRONG>
86 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>vidattr(chtype</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
87 <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>)(int));</STRONG>
88 <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>
90 <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>
92 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>tigetflag(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>capname</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
93 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>tigetnum(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>capname</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
94 <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*tigetstr(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>capname</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
96 <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*tiparm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>...);</STRONG>
99 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
100 These low-level routines must be called by programs that have to deal
101 directly with the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database to handle certain terminal capabil-
102 ities, such as programming function keys. For all other functionality,
103 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> routines are more suitable and their use is recommended.
106 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Initialization">Initialization</a></H3><PRE>
107 Initially, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> should be called. The high-level curses functions
108 <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> and <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> call <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> to initialize the low-level set of
109 terminal-dependent variables [listed in <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>].
111 Applications can use the terminal capabilities either directly (via
112 header definitions), or by special functions. The header files <STRONG>curs-</STRONG>
113 <STRONG>es.h</STRONG> and <STRONG>term.h</STRONG> should be included (in this order) to get the defini-
114 tions for these strings, numbers, and flags.
116 The <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> variables <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG> are initialized by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
119 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If <STRONG>use_env(FALSE)</STRONG> has been called, values for <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG>
120 specified in <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> are used.
122 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Otherwise, if the environment variables <STRONG>LINES</STRONG> and <STRONG>COLUMNS</STRONG> exist,
123 their values are used. If these environment variables do not exist
124 and the program is running in a window, the current window size is
125 used. Otherwise, if the environment variables do not exist, the
126 values for <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG> specified in the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database are
129 Parameterized strings should be passed through <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> to instantiate
130 them. All <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> strings (including the output of <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>) should be
131 printed with <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> or <STRONG>putp</STRONG>. Call <STRONG>reset_shell_mode</STRONG> to restore the tty
132 modes before exiting [see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_kernel.3x.html">curs_kernel(3x)</A></STRONG>].
134 Programs which use cursor addressing should
136 <STRONG>o</STRONG> output <STRONG>enter_ca_mode</STRONG> upon startup and
138 <STRONG>o</STRONG> output <STRONG>exit_ca_mode</STRONG> before exiting.
140 Programs which execute shell subprocesses should
142 <STRONG>o</STRONG> call <STRONG>reset_shell_mode</STRONG> and output <STRONG>exit_ca_mode</STRONG> before the shell is
145 <STRONG>o</STRONG> output <STRONG>enter_ca_mode</STRONG> and call <STRONG>reset_prog_mode</STRONG> after returning from
148 The <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> routine reads in the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database, initializing the
149 <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> structures, but does not set up the output virtualization
150 structures used by <STRONG>curses</STRONG>. These are its parameters:
152 <EM>term</EM> is the terminal type, a character string. If <EM>term</EM> is null, the
153 environment variable <STRONG>TERM</STRONG> is used.
156 is the file descriptor used for all output.
159 points to an optional location where an error status can be re-
160 turned to the caller. If <EM>errret</EM> is not null, then <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
161 returns <STRONG>OK</STRONG> or <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> and stores a status value in the integer
162 pointed to by <EM>errret</EM>. A return value of <STRONG>OK</STRONG> combined with sta-
163 tus of <STRONG>1</STRONG> in <EM>errret</EM> is normal.
165 If <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> is returned, examine <EM>errret</EM>:
167 <STRONG>1</STRONG> means that the terminal is hardcopy, cannot be used for
170 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> determines if the entry is a hardcopy type by
171 checking the <STRONG>hc</STRONG> (<STRONG>hardcopy</STRONG>) capability.
173 <STRONG>0</STRONG> means that the terminal could not be found, or that it is
174 a generic type, having too little information for curses
177 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> determines if the entry is a generic type by
178 checking the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (<STRONG>generic</STRONG>) capability.
180 <STRONG>-1</STRONG> means that the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database could not be found.
182 If <EM>errret</EM> is null, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> prints an error message upon find-
183 ing an error and exits. Thus, the simplest call is:
185 <STRONG>setupterm((char</STRONG> <STRONG>*)0,</STRONG> <STRONG>1,</STRONG> <STRONG>(int</STRONG> <STRONG>*)0);</STRONG>,
187 which uses all the defaults and sends the output to <STRONG>stdout</STRONG>.
189 The <STRONG>setterm</STRONG> routine was replaced by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>. The call:
191 <STRONG>setupterm(</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>1,</STRONG> <STRONG>(int</STRONG> <STRONG>*)0)</STRONG>
193 provides the same functionality as <STRONG>setterm(</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>)</STRONG>. The <STRONG>setterm</STRONG> routine
194 is provided for BSD compatibility, and is not recommended for new pro-
198 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-The-Terminal-State">The Terminal State</a></H3><PRE>
199 The <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> routine stores its information about the terminal in a
200 <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> structure pointed to by the global variable <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>. If it
201 detects an error, or decides that the terminal is unsuitable (hardcopy
202 or generic), it discards this information, making it not available to
205 If <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> is called repeatedly for the same terminal type, it will
206 reuse the information. It maintains only one copy of a given termi-
207 nal's capabilities in memory. If it is called for different terminal
208 types, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> allocates new storage for each set of terminal capa-
211 The <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG> routine sets <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG> to <EM>nterm</EM>, and makes all of the
212 <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> boolean, numeric, and string variables use the values from
213 <EM>nterm</EM>. It returns the old value of <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>.
215 The <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG> routine frees the space pointed to by <EM>oterm</EM> and makes
216 it available for further use. If <EM>oterm</EM> is the same as <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>, refer-
217 ences to any of the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> boolean, numeric, and string variables
218 thereafter may refer to invalid memory locations until another <STRONG>se-</STRONG>
219 <STRONG>tupterm</STRONG> has been called.
221 The <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> routine is similar to <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> and <STRONG>initscr</STRONG>, except
222 that it is called after restoring memory to a previous state (for exam-
223 ple, when reloading a game saved as a core image dump). <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG>
224 assumes that the windows and the input and output options are the same
225 as when memory was saved, but the terminal type and baud rate may be
226 different. Accordingly, <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> saves various tty state bits,
227 calls <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>, and then restores the bits.
230 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Formatting-Output">Formatting Output</a></H3><PRE>
231 The <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> routine instantiates the string <EM>str</EM> with parameters <EM>pi</EM>. A
232 pointer is returned to the result of <EM>str</EM> with the parameters applied.
233 Application developers should keep in mind these quirks of the inter-
236 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Although <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>'s actual parameters may be integers or strings, the
237 prototype expects <STRONG>long</STRONG> (integer) values.
239 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Aside from the <STRONG>set_attributes</STRONG> (<STRONG>sgr</STRONG>) capability, most terminal capa-
240 bilities require no more than one or two parameters.
242 <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> is a newer form of <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> which uses <EM><stdarg.h></EM> rather than a
243 fixed-parameter list. Its numeric parameters are integers (int) rather
247 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Output-Functions">Output Functions</a></H3><PRE>
248 The <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> routine applies padding information to the string <EM>str</EM> and
251 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The <EM>str</EM> parameter must be a terminfo string variable or the return
252 value from <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tgetstr</STRONG>, or <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG>.
254 The <STRONG>tgetstr</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG> functions are part of the <EM>termcap</EM> interface,
255 which happens to share this function name with the <EM>terminfo</EM> inter-
258 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>affcnt</EM> is the number of lines affected, or 1 if not applicable.
260 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>putc</EM> is a <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>-like routine to which the characters are passed,
263 The <STRONG>putp</STRONG> routine calls <STRONG>tputs(</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>1,</STRONG> <STRONG>putchar)</STRONG>. The output of <STRONG>putp</STRONG> al-
264 ways goes to <STRONG>stdout</STRONG>, rather than the <EM>filedes</EM> specified in <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>.
266 The <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> routine displays the string on the terminal in the video
267 attribute mode <EM>attrs</EM>, which is any combination of the attributes listed
268 in <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>. The characters are passed to the <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>-like routine
271 The <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> routine is like the <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> routine, except that it outputs
272 through <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>.
274 The <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> routines correspond to vidattr and vidputs,
275 respectively. They use a set of arguments for representing the video
276 attributes plus color, i.e.,
278 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM> of type <STRONG>attr_t</STRONG> for the attributes and
280 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>pair</EM> of type <STRONG>short</STRONG> for the color-pair number.
282 The <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> routines are designed to use the attribute
283 constants with the <EM>WA</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG> prefix.
285 X/Open Curses reserves the <EM>opts</EM> argument for future use, saying that
286 applications must provide a null pointer for that argument. As an ex-
287 tension, this implementation allows <EM>opts</EM> to be used as a pointer to
288 <STRONG>int</STRONG>, which overrides the <EM>pair</EM> (<STRONG>short</STRONG>) argument.
290 The <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> routine provides low-level cursor motion. It takes effect
291 immediately (rather than at the next refresh).
294 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminal-Capability-Functions">Terminal Capability Functions</a></H3><PRE>
295 The <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG> and <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG> routines return the value of the
296 capability corresponding to the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> <EM>capname</EM> passed to them, such
297 as <STRONG>xenl</STRONG>. The <EM>capname</EM> for each capability is given in the table column
298 entitled <EM>capname</EM> code in the capabilities section of <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>.
300 These routines return special values to denote errors.
302 The <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG> routine returns
304 <STRONG>-1</STRONG> if <EM>capname</EM> is not a boolean capability, or
306 <STRONG>0</STRONG> if it is canceled or absent from the terminal description.
308 The <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG> routine returns
310 <STRONG>-2</STRONG> if <EM>capname</EM> is not a numeric capability, or
312 <STRONG>-1</STRONG> if it is canceled or absent from the terminal description.
314 The <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG> routine returns
316 <STRONG>(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*)-1</STRONG>
317 if <EM>capname</EM> is not a string capability, or
319 <STRONG>0</STRONG> if it is canceled or absent from the terminal description.
322 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminal-Capability-Names">Terminal Capability Names</a></H3><PRE>
323 These null-terminated arrays contain
325 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the short terminfo names ("codes"),
327 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the <STRONG>termcap</STRONG> names ("names", and
329 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the long terminfo names ("fnames")
331 for each of the predefined <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> variables:
333 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*boolnames[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*boolcodes[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*boolfnames[]</STRONG>
334 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*numnames[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*numcodes[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*numfnames[]</STRONG>
335 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*strnames[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*strcodes[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*strfnames[]</STRONG>
338 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></H2><PRE>
339 Routines that return an integer return <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon failure and <STRONG>OK</STRONG> (SVr4
340 only specifies "an integer value other than <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>") upon successful com-
341 pletion, unless otherwise noted in the preceding routine descriptions.
343 Routines that return pointers always return <STRONG>NULL</STRONG> on error.
345 X/Open defines no error conditions. In this implementation
347 <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG>
348 returns an error if its terminal parameter is null.
350 <STRONG>putp</STRONG> calls <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>, returning the same error-codes.
352 <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG>
353 returns an error if the associated call to <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> returns an
356 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
357 returns an error if it cannot allocate enough memory, or create
358 the initial windows (stdscr, curscr, newscr). Other error con-
359 ditions are documented above.
361 <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>
362 returns an error if the string parameter is null. It does not
363 detect I/O errors: X/Open states that <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> ignores the return
364 value of the output function <EM>putc</EM>.
367 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-HISTORY">HISTORY</a></H2><PRE>
368 SVr2 introduced the terminfo feature. Its programming manual mentioned
369 these low-level functions:
371 <STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
372 ------------------------------------------------------------
373 fixterm restore tty to "in curses" state
374 gettmode establish current tty modes
375 mvcur low level cursor motion
376 putp utility function that uses <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> to send char-
377 acters via <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>.
378 resetterm set tty modes to "out of curses" state
379 resetty reset tty flags to stored value
380 saveterm save current modes as "in curses" state
381 savetty store current tty flags
382 setterm establish terminal with given type
383 setupterm establish terminal with given type
384 tparm instantiate a string expression with parameters
385 tputs apply padding information to a string
386 vidattr like <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG>, but outputs through <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>
387 vidputs output a string to put terminal in a specified
390 The programming manual also mentioned functions provided for termcap
391 compatibility (commenting that they "may go away at a later date"):
393 <STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
394 ------------------------------------------------
395 tgetent look up termcap entry for given <EM>name</EM>
396 tgetflag get boolean entry for given <EM>id</EM>
397 tgetnum get numeric entry for given <EM>id</EM>
398 tgetstr get string entry for given <EM>id</EM>
399 tgoto apply parameters to given capability
400 tputs apply padding to capability, calling
401 a function to put characters
403 Early terminfo programs obtained capability values from the <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG>
404 structure initialized by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>.
406 SVr3 extended terminfo by adding functions to retrieve capability val-
407 ues (like the termcap interface), and reusing tgoto and tputs:
409 <STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
410 -------------------------------------------
411 tigetflag get boolean entry for given <EM>id</EM>
412 tigetnum get numeric entry for given <EM>id</EM>
413 tigetstr get string entry for given <EM>id</EM>
415 SVr3 also replaced several of the SVr2 terminfo functions which had no
416 counterpart in the termcap interface, documenting them as obsolete:
418 <STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Replaced</STRONG> <STRONG>by</STRONG>
419 -----------------------------
421 fixterm reset_prog_mode
424 resetterm reset_shell_mode
425 saveterm def_prog_mode
428 SVr3 kept the <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> functions, along with <STRONG>putp</STRONG>,
429 <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> and <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>. The latter were needed to support padding, and han-
430 dling functions such as <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> (which used more than the two parame-
431 ters supported by <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG>).
433 SVr3 introduced the functions for switching between terminal descrip-
434 tions, e.g., <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG>. The various global variables such as <STRONG>bool-</STRONG>
435 <STRONG>names</STRONG> were mentioned in the programming manual at this point.
437 SVr4 added the <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> functions.
439 There are other low-level functions declared in the curses header files
440 on Unix systems, but none were documented. The functions marked "obso-
441 lete" remained in use by the Unix <STRONG>vi</STRONG> editor.
444 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
446 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Legacy-functions">Legacy functions</a></H3><PRE>
447 X/Open notes that <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> may be macros.
449 The function <STRONG>setterm</STRONG> is not described by X/Open and must be considered
450 non-portable. All other functions are as described by X/Open.
453 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Legacy-data">Legacy data</a></H3><PRE>
454 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> copies the terminal name to the array <STRONG>ttytype</STRONG>. This is not
455 part of X/Open Curses, but is assumed by some applications.
457 Other implementions may not declare the capability name arrays. Some
458 provide them without declaring them. X/Open does not specify them.
460 Extended terminal capability names, e.g., as defined by <STRONG>tic</STRONG> <STRONG>-x</STRONG>, are not
461 stored in the arrays described here.
464 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Output-buffering">Output buffering</a></H3><PRE>
465 Older versions of <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> assumed that the file descriptor passed to
466 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> from <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> uses buffered I/O, and would write to
467 the corresponding stream. In addition to the limitation that the ter-
468 minal was left in block-buffered mode on exit (like System V curses),
469 it was problematic because <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> did not allow a reliable way to
470 cleanup on receiving SIGTSTP.
472 The current version (ncurses6) uses output buffers managed directly by
473 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>. Some of the low-level functions described in this manual page
474 write to the standard output. They are not signal-safe. The high-lev-
475 el functions in <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> use alternate versions of these functions using
476 the more reliable buffering scheme.
479 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Function-prototypes">Function prototypes</a></H3><PRE>
480 The X/Open Curses prototypes are based on the SVr4 curses header decla-
481 rations, which were defined at the same time the C language was first
482 standardized in the late 1980s.
484 <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses uses <STRONG>const</STRONG> less effectively than a later design
485 might, in some cases applying it needlessly to values are already
486 constant, and in most cases overlooking parameters which normally
487 would use <STRONG>const</STRONG>. Using constant parameters for functions which do
488 not use <STRONG>const</STRONG> may prevent the program from compiling. On the other
489 hand, <EM>writable</EM> <EM>strings</EM> are an obsolescent feature.
491 As an extension, this implementation can be configured to change
492 the function prototypes to use the <STRONG>const</STRONG> keyword. The ncurses ABI
493 6 enables this feature by default.
495 <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses prototypes <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> with a fixed number of parameters,
496 rather than a variable argument list.
498 This implementation uses a variable argument list, but can be con-
499 figured to use the fixed-parameter list. Portable applications
500 should provide 9 parameters after the format; zeroes are fine for
503 In response to review comments by Thomas E. Dickey, X/Open Curses
504 Issue 7 proposed the <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> function in mid-2009.
507 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Special-TERM-treatment">Special TERM treatment</a></H3><PRE>
508 If configured to use the terminal-driver, e.g., for the MinGW port,
510 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> interprets a missing/empty TERM variable as the special
513 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> allows explicit use of the the windows console driver by
514 checking if $TERM is set to "#win32con" or an abbreviation of that
518 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Other-portability-issues">Other portability issues</a></H3><PRE>
519 In System V Release 4, <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG> has an <STRONG>int</STRONG> return type and returns
520 <STRONG>OK</STRONG> or <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>. We have chosen to implement the X/Open Curses semantics.
522 In System V Release 4, the third argument of <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> has the type <STRONG>int</STRONG>
523 <STRONG>(*putc)(char)</STRONG>.
525 At least one implementation of X/Open Curses (Solaris) returns a value
526 other than <STRONG>OK</STRONG>/<STRONG>ERR</STRONG> from <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>. That returns the length of the string,
527 and does no error-checking.
529 X/Open notes that after calling <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, the curses state may not match
530 the actual terminal state, and that an application should touch and re-
531 fresh the window before resuming normal curses calls. Both <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> and
532 System V Release 4 curses implement <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> using the SCREEN data allo-
533 cated in either <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG>. So though it is documented as a
534 terminfo function, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> is really a curses function which is not well
537 X/Open states that the old location must be given for <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>. This im-
538 plementation allows the caller to use -1's for the old ordinates. In
539 that case, the old location is unknown.
542 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
543 <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><A HREF="curs_termcap.3x.html">curs_termcap(3x)</A></STRONG>,
544 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_variables.3x.html">curs_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>putc(3)</STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
548 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
552 <li><a href="#h2-NAME">NAME</a></li>
553 <li><a href="#h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li>
554 <li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a>
556 <li><a href="#h3-Initialization">Initialization</a></li>
557 <li><a href="#h3-The-Terminal-State">The Terminal State</a></li>
558 <li><a href="#h3-Formatting-Output">Formatting Output</a></li>
559 <li><a href="#h3-Output-Functions">Output Functions</a></li>
560 <li><a href="#h3-Terminal-Capability-Functions">Terminal Capability Functions</a></li>
561 <li><a href="#h3-Terminal-Capability-Names">Terminal Capability Names</a></li>
564 <li><a href="#h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></li>
565 <li><a href="#h2-HISTORY">HISTORY</a></li>
566 <li><a href="#h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a>
568 <li><a href="#h3-Legacy-functions">Legacy functions</a></li>
569 <li><a href="#h3-Legacy-data">Legacy data</a></li>
570 <li><a href="#h3-Output-buffering">Output buffering</a></li>
571 <li><a href="#h3-Function-prototypes">Function prototypes</a></li>
572 <li><a href="#h3-Special-TERM-treatment">Special TERM treatment</a></li>
573 <li><a href="#h3-Other-portability-issues">Other portability issues</a></li>
576 <li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>