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31 * @Id: curs_terminfo.3x,v 1.125 2023/12/30 23:46:56 tom Exp @
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35 * ***************************************************************************
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42 * X/Open Curses Issue 7, p. 161
43 * ***************************************************************************
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50 <TITLE>curs_terminfo 3x 2023-12-30 ncurses 6.4 Library calls</TITLE>
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55 <H1 class="no-header">curs_terminfo 3x 2023-12-30 ncurses 6.4 Library calls</H1>
57 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG> Library calls <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
62 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
63 <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, <STRONG>putp</STRONG>, <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>,
64 <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiparm_s</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiscan_s</STRONG>, <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>,
65 <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>, <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG>, <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> - <EM>curses</EM> interfaces to
66 <EM>terminfo</EM> database
69 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
70 <STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>
71 <STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG><term.h></STRONG>
73 <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*cur_term;</STRONG>
75 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>boolnames[];</STRONG>
76 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>boolcodes[];</STRONG>
77 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>boolfnames[];</STRONG>
78 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>numnames[];</STRONG>
79 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>numcodes[];</STRONG>
80 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>numfnames[];</STRONG>
81 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>strnames[];</STRONG>
82 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>strcodes[];</STRONG>
83 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>strfnames[];</STRONG>
85 <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>
86 <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*set_curterm(TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>nterm</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
87 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>del_curterm(TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>oterm</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
88 <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>
90 <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*tparm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> ...<STRONG>);</STRONG>
91 <EM>/*</EM> <EM>or</EM> <EM>*/</EM>
92 <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*tparm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>long</STRONG> <EM>p1</EM> ... <STRONG>long</STRONG> <EM>p9</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
94 <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>
95 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>putp(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
97 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>vidputs(chtype</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>(*</STRONG><EM>putc</EM><STRONG>)(int));</STRONG>
98 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>vidattr(chtype</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
99 <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>
100 <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>
102 <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><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>newcol</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
104 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>tigetflag(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>capname</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
105 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>tigetnum(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>capname</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
106 <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*tigetstr(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>capname</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
108 <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*tiparm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> ...<STRONG>);</STRONG>
110 <EM>/*</EM> <EM>extensions</EM> <EM>*/</EM>
111 <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*tiparm_s(int</STRONG> <EM>expected</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>mask</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>...);</STRONG>
112 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>tiscan_s(int</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>expected</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>mask</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
114 <EM>/*</EM> <EM>deprecated</EM> <EM>*/</EM>
115 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>setterm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
118 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
119 These low-level routines must be called by programs that have to deal
120 directly with the <EM>terminfo</EM> database to handle certain terminal
121 capabilities, such as programming function keys. For all other
122 functionality, <EM>curses</EM> routines are more suitable and their use is
125 None of these functions use (or are aware of) multibyte character
126 strings such as UTF-8.
128 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Capability names and codes use the POSIX portable character set.
130 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Capability string values have no associated encoding; they are
131 strings of 8-bit characters.
134 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Initialization">Initialization</a></H3><PRE>
135 Initially, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> should be called. The high-level <EM>curses</EM> functions
136 <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> and <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> call <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> to initialize the low-level set of
137 terminal-dependent variables listed in <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>.
139 Applications can use the terminal capabilities either directly (via
140 header definitions), or by special functions. The header files
141 <EM>curses.h</EM> and <EM>term.h</EM> should be included (in that order) to get the
142 definitions for these strings, numbers, and flags.
144 The <EM>terminfo</EM> variables <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG> are initialized by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
147 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If <STRONG>use_env(FALSE)</STRONG> has been called, values for <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG>
148 specified in <EM>terminfo</EM> are used.
150 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Otherwise, if the environment variables <EM>LINES</EM> and <EM>COLUMNS</EM> exist,
151 their values are used. If these environment variables do not exist
152 and the program is running in a window, the current window size is
153 used. Otherwise, if the environment variables do not exist, the
154 values for <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG> specified in the <EM>terminfo</EM> database are
157 Parameterized strings should be passed through <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> to instantiate
158 them. All <EM>terminfo</EM> strings (including the output of <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>) should be
159 printed with <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> or <STRONG>putp</STRONG>. Call <STRONG>reset_shell_mode</STRONG> to restore the tty
160 modes before exiting [see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_kernel.3x.html">curs_kernel(3x)</A></STRONG>].
162 Programs which use cursor addressing should
164 <STRONG>o</STRONG> output <STRONG>enter_ca_mode</STRONG> upon startup and
166 <STRONG>o</STRONG> output <STRONG>exit_ca_mode</STRONG> before exiting.
168 Programs which execute shell subprocesses should
170 <STRONG>o</STRONG> call <STRONG>reset_shell_mode</STRONG> and output <STRONG>exit_ca_mode</STRONG> before the shell is
173 <STRONG>o</STRONG> output <STRONG>enter_ca_mode</STRONG> and call <STRONG>reset_prog_mode</STRONG> after returning from
176 The <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> routine reads in the <EM>terminfo</EM> database, initializing the
177 <EM>terminfo</EM> structures, but does not set up the output virtualization
178 structures used by <EM>curses.</EM> These are its parameters:
180 <EM>term</EM> is the terminal type, a character string. If <EM>term</EM> is null, the
181 environment variable <EM>TERM</EM> is used.
184 is the file descriptor used for getting and setting terminal
187 Higher-level applications use <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">newterm(3x)</A></STRONG> for initializing the
188 terminal, passing an output <EM>stream</EM> rather than a <EM>descriptor</EM>.
189 In curses, the two are the same because <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> calls
190 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>, passing the file descriptor derived from its output
194 points to an optional location where an error status can be
195 returned to the caller. If <EM>errret</EM> is not null, then <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
196 returns <STRONG>OK</STRONG> or <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> and stores a status value in the integer
197 pointed to by <EM>errret</EM>. A return value of <STRONG>OK</STRONG> combined with
198 status of <STRONG>1</STRONG> in <EM>errret</EM> is normal.
200 If <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> is returned, examine <EM>errret</EM>:
202 <STRONG>1</STRONG> means that the terminal is hardcopy, cannot be used for
203 <EM>curses</EM> applications.
205 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> determines if the entry is a hardcopy type by
206 checking the <STRONG>hc</STRONG> (<STRONG>hardcopy</STRONG>) capability.
208 <STRONG>0</STRONG> means that the terminal could not be found, or that it is
209 a generic type, having too little information for <EM>curses</EM>
212 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> determines if the entry is a generic type by
213 checking the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (<STRONG>generic_type</STRONG>) capability.
215 <STRONG>-1</STRONG> means that the <EM>terminfo</EM> database could not be found.
217 If <EM>errret</EM> is null, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> prints an error message upon
218 finding an error and exits. Thus, the simplest call is:
220 <STRONG>setupterm((char</STRONG> <STRONG>*)0,</STRONG> <STRONG>1,</STRONG> <STRONG>(int</STRONG> <STRONG>*)0);</STRONG>
222 which uses all the defaults and sends the output to <STRONG>stdout</STRONG>.
225 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-The-Terminal-State">The Terminal State</a></H3><PRE>
226 The <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> routine stores its information about the terminal in a
227 <EM>TERMINAL</EM> structure pointed to by the global variable <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>. If it
228 detects an error, or decides that the terminal is unsuitable (hardcopy
229 or generic), it discards this information, making it not available to
232 If <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> is called repeatedly for the same terminal type, it will
233 reuse the information. It maintains only one copy of a given
234 terminal's capabilities in memory. If it is called for different
235 terminal types, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> allocates new storage for each set of
236 terminal capabilities.
238 <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG> sets <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG> to <EM>nterm,</EM> and makes all of the <EM>terminfo</EM>
239 Boolean, numeric, and string variables use the values from <EM>nterm.</EM> It
240 returns the old value of <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>.
242 <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG> routine frees the space pointed to by <EM>oterm</EM> and makes it
243 available for further use. If <EM>oterm</EM> is the same as <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>,
244 references to any of the <EM>terminfo</EM> Boolean, numeric, and string
245 variables thereafter may refer to invalid memory locations until
246 another <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> has been called.
248 The <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> routine is similar to <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> and <STRONG>initscr</STRONG>, except
249 that it is called after restoring memory to a previous state (for
250 example, when reloading a game saved as a core image dump).
251 <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> assumes that the windows and the input and output options
252 are the same as when memory was saved, but the terminal type and baud
253 rate may be different. Accordingly, <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> saves various tty
254 state bits, calls <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>, and then restores the bits.
257 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Formatting-Output">Formatting Output</a></H3><PRE>
258 The <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> routine instantiates the string <EM>str</EM> with parameters <EM>pi</EM>. A
259 pointer is returned to the result of <EM>str</EM> with the parameters applied.
260 Application developers should keep in mind these quirks of the
263 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Although <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>'s actual parameters may be integers or strings, the
264 prototype expects <STRONG>long</STRONG> (integer) values.
266 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Aside from the <STRONG>set_attributes</STRONG> (<STRONG>sgr</STRONG>) capability, most terminal
267 capabilities require no more than one or two parameters.
269 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Padding information is ignored by <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>; it is interpreted by
270 <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>.
272 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The capability string is null-terminated. Use "\200" where an
273 ASCII NUL is needed in the output.
275 <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> is a newer form of <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> which uses <EM>stdarg.h</EM> rather than a
276 fixed-parameter list. Its numeric parameters are <EM>int</EM>s rather than
279 Both <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> and <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> assume that the application passes parameters
280 consistent with the terminal description. Two extensions are provided
281 as alternatives to deal with untrusted data:
283 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>tiparm_s</STRONG> is an extension which is a safer formatting function than
284 <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> or <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>, because it allows the developer to tell the curses
285 library how many parameters to expect in the parameter list, and
286 which may be string parameters.
288 The <EM>mask</EM> parameter has one bit set for each of the parameters (up
289 to 9) which will be passed as char* rather than numbers.
291 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The extension <STRONG>tiscan_s</STRONG> allows the application to inspect a
292 formatting capability to see what the curses library would assume.
295 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Output-Functions">Output Functions</a></H3><PRE>
296 String capabilities can contain padding information, a time delay
297 (accommodating performance limitations of hardware terminals) expressed
298 as <STRONG>$<</STRONG><EM>n</EM><STRONG>></STRONG>, where <EM>n</EM> is a nonnegative integral count of milliseconds. If <EM>n</EM>
299 exceeds 30,000 (thirty seconds), it is capped at that value.
301 The <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> routine interprets time-delay information in the string <EM>str</EM>
302 and outputs it, executing the delays:
304 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The <EM>str</EM> parameter must be a terminfo string variable or the return
305 value from <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tgetstr</STRONG>, or <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG>.
307 The <STRONG>tgetstr</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG> functions are part of the <EM>termcap</EM> interface,
308 which happens to share this function name with the <EM>terminfo</EM>
311 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>affcnt</EM> is the number of lines affected, or 1 if not applicable.
313 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>putc</EM> is a <EM>putchar</EM>-like function to which the characters are passed,
316 If <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> processes a time-delay, it uses the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">delay_output(3x)</A></STRONG>
317 function, routing any resulting padding characters through this
320 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>
321 always goes to <STRONG>stdout</STRONG>, rather than the <EM>filedes</EM> specified in <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>.
323 The <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> routine displays the string on the terminal in the video
324 attribute mode <EM>attrs</EM>, which is any combination of the attributes listed
325 in <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>. The characters are passed to the <EM>putchar</EM>-like function
328 The <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> routine is like the <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> routine, except that it outputs
329 through <EM>putchar</EM>.
331 <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> correspond to <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG>, respectively.
332 They use multiple parameters to represent the character attributes and
335 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>attrs,</EM> of type <EM>attr</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>t,</EM> for the attributes and
337 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>pair,</EM> of type <EM>short,</EM> for the color pair number.
339 Use the attribute constants prefixed with "<STRONG>WA_</STRONG>" with <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and
340 <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG>.
342 X/Open Curses reserves the <EM>opts</EM> argument for future use, saying that
343 applications must provide a null pointer for that argument; but see
344 section "EXTENSIONS" below.
346 The <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> routine provides low-level cursor motion. It takes effect
347 immediately (rather than at the next refresh). Unlike the other low-
348 level output functions, which either write to the standard output or
349 pass an output function parameter, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> uses an output file descriptor
350 derived from the output stream parameter of <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">newterm(3x)</A></STRONG>.
352 While <STRONG>putp</STRONG> and <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> are low-level functions which do not use the high-
353 level curses state, they are declared in <EM>curses.h</EM> because System V did
354 this (see <EM>HISTORY</EM>).
357 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminal-Capability-Functions">Terminal Capability Functions</a></H3><PRE>
358 The <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG> and <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG> routines return the value of the
359 capability corresponding to the <EM>terminfo</EM> <EM>capname</EM> passed to them, such
360 as <STRONG>xenl</STRONG>. The <EM>capname</EM> for each capability is given in the table column
361 entitled <EM>capname</EM> code in the capabilities section of <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>.
363 These routines return special values to denote errors.
365 The <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG> routine returns
367 <STRONG>-1</STRONG> if <EM>capname</EM> is not a Boolean capability, or
369 <STRONG>0</STRONG> if it is canceled or absent from the terminal description.
371 The <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG> routine returns
373 <STRONG>-2</STRONG> if <EM>capname</EM> is not a numeric capability, or
375 <STRONG>-1</STRONG> if it is canceled or absent from the terminal description.
377 The <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG> routine returns
379 <STRONG>(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*)-1</STRONG>
380 if <EM>capname</EM> is not a string capability, or
382 <STRONG>0</STRONG> if it is canceled or absent from the terminal description.
385 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminal-Capability-Names">Terminal Capability Names</a></H3><PRE>
386 These null-terminated arrays contain
388 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the short <EM>terminfo</EM> names ("codes"),
390 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the <EM>termcap</EM> names ("names"), and
392 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the long <EM>terminfo</EM> names ("fnames")
394 for each of the predefined <EM>terminfo</EM> variables:
396 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*boolnames[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*boolcodes[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*boolfnames[]</STRONG>
397 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*numnames[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*numcodes[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*numfnames[]</STRONG>
398 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*strnames[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*strcodes[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*strfnames[]</STRONG>
401 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Releasing-Memory">Releasing Memory</a></H3><PRE>
402 Each successful call to <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> allocates memory to hold the terminal
403 description. As a side-effect, it sets <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG> to point to this
404 memory. If an application calls
406 <STRONG>del_curterm(cur_term);</STRONG>
408 the memory will be freed.
410 The formatting functions <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> and <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> extend the storage allocated
411 by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>:
413 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the "static" terminfo variables [a-z]. Before <EM>ncurses</EM> 6.3, those
414 were shared by all screens. With <EM>ncurses</EM> 6.3, those are allocated
415 per screen. See <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> for details.
417 <STRONG>o</STRONG> to improve performance, <EM>ncurses</EM> 6.3 caches the result of analyzing
418 terminfo strings for their parameter types. That is stored as a
419 binary tree referenced from the <EM>TERMINAL</EM> structure.
421 The higher-level <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> and <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> functions use <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>. Normally
422 they do not free this memory, but it is possible to do that using the
423 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">delscreen(3x)</A></STRONG> function.
426 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></H2><PRE>
427 X/Open defines no failure conditions. In <EM>ncurses,</EM>
429 <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG>
430 returns an error if its terminal parameter is null.
432 <STRONG>putp</STRONG> calls <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>, returning the same error-codes.
434 <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG>
435 returns an error if the associated call to <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> returns an
438 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
439 returns an error if it cannot allocate enough memory, or create
440 the initial windows (<STRONG>stdscr</STRONG>, <STRONG>curscr</STRONG>, and <STRONG>newscr</STRONG>) Other error
441 conditions are documented above.
443 <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>
444 returns a null if the capability would require unexpected
445 parameters, e.g., too many, too few, or incorrect types (strings
446 where integers are expected, or vice versa).
448 <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>
449 returns an error if the string parameter is null. It does not
450 detect I/O errors: X/Open Curses states that <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> ignores the
451 return value of the output function <EM>putc</EM>.
454 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-NOTES">NOTES</a></H2><PRE>
455 The <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> function in <EM>ncurses</EM> is a special case. It was originally
456 implemented based on a draft of X/Open Curses, as a macro, before other
457 parts of the <EM>ncurses</EM> wide-character API were developed, and unlike the
458 other wide-character functions, is also provided in the non-wide-
459 character configuration.
462 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></H2><PRE>
463 The functions marked as extensions were designed for <EM>ncurses,</EM> and are
464 not found in SVr4 <EM>curses</EM>, 4.4BSD <EM>curses</EM>, or any other previous curses
467 <EM>ncurses</EM> allows <EM>opts</EM> to be a pointer to <EM>int,</EM> which overrides the <EM>pair</EM>
468 (<EM>short</EM>) argument.
471 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
472 <STRONG>setterm</STRONG> is not described by X/Open and must be considered non-portable.
473 All other functions are as described by X/Open.
476 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Compatibility-Macros">Compatibility Macros</a></H3><PRE>
477 This implementation provides a few macros for compatibility with
478 systems before SVr4 (see section "HISTORY" below). They include
479 <STRONG>Bcrmode</STRONG>, <STRONG>Bfixterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>Bgettmode</STRONG>, <STRONG>Bnocrmode</STRONG>, <STRONG>Bresetterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>Bsaveterm</STRONG>, and
480 <STRONG>Bsetterm</STRONG>.
482 In SVr4, these are found in <EM>curses.h</EM>, but except for <STRONG>setterm</STRONG>, are
483 likewise macros. The one function, <STRONG>setterm</STRONG>, is mentioned in the manual
484 page. It further notes that <STRONG>setterm</STRONG> was replaced by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>, stating
486 setupterm(<EM>term</EM>, 1, (int *)0)
487 provides the same functionality as <STRONG>setterm(</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>)</STRONG>, discouraging the
488 latter for new programs. <EM>ncurses</EM> implements each of these symbols as
489 macros for BSD <EM>curses</EM> compatibility.
492 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Legacy-Data">Legacy Data</a></H3><PRE>
493 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> copies the terminal name to the array <STRONG>ttytype</STRONG>. This is not
494 part of X/Open Curses, but is assumed by some applications.
496 Other implementions may not declare the capability name arrays. Some
497 provide them without declaring them. X/Open does not specify them.
499 Extended terminal capability names, as defined by "<STRONG>tic</STRONG> <STRONG>-x</STRONG>", are not
500 stored in the arrays described here.
503 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Output-Buffering">Output Buffering</a></H3><PRE>
504 Older versions of <EM>ncurses</EM> assumed that the file descriptor passed to
505 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> from <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> uses buffered I/O, and would write to
506 the corresponding stream. In addition to the limitation that the
507 terminal was left in block-buffered mode on exit (like System V
508 <EM>curses</EM>), it was problematic because <EM>ncurses</EM> did not allow a reliable
509 way to cleanup on receiving <STRONG>SIGTSTP</STRONG>.
511 The current version (ncurses6) uses output buffers managed directly by
512 <EM>ncurses.</EM> Some of the low-level functions described in this manual page
513 write to the standard output. They are not signal-safe. The high-
514 level functions in <EM>ncurses</EM> employ alternate versions of these functions
515 using the more reliable buffering scheme.
518 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Function-Prototypes">Function Prototypes</a></H3><PRE>
519 The X/Open Curses prototypes are based on the SVr4 <EM>curses</EM> header
520 declarations, which were defined at the same time the C language was
521 first standardized in the late 1980s.
523 <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses uses <EM>const</EM> less effectively than a later design
524 might, in some cases applying it needlessly to values are already
525 constant, and in most cases overlooking parameters which normally
526 would use <EM>const.</EM> Using constant parameters for functions which do
527 not use <EM>const</EM> may prevent the program from compiling. On the other
528 hand, "writable strings" are an obsolescent feature.
530 As an extension, this implementation can be configured to change
531 the function prototypes to use the <EM>const</EM> keyword. The <EM>ncurses</EM> ABI
532 6 enables this feature by default.
534 <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses prototypes <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> with a fixed number of parameters,
535 rather than a variable argument list.
537 This implementation uses a variable argument list, but can be
538 configured to use the fixed-parameter list. Portable applications
539 should provide 9 parameters after the format; zeroes are fine for
542 In response to review comments by Thomas E. Dickey, X/Open Curses
543 Issue 7 proposed the <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> function in mid-2009.
545 While <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> is always provided in <EM>ncurses</EM>, the older form is only
546 available as a build-time configuration option. If not specially
547 configured, <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> is the same as <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>.
549 Both forms of <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> have drawbacks:
551 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Most of the calls to <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> use only one or two parameters. Passing
552 nine on each call is awkward.
554 Using <EM>long</EM> for the numeric parameter type is a workaround to make
555 the parameter use the same amount of stack as a pointer. That
556 approach dates back to the mid-1980s, before C was standardized.
557 Since then, there is a standard (and pointers are not required to
560 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Providing the right number of parameters for a variadic function
561 such as <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> can be a problem, in particular for string
562 parameters. However, only a few terminfo capabilities use string
563 parameters (e.g., the ones used for programmable function keys).
565 The <EM>ncurses</EM> library checks usage of these capabilities, and returns
566 an error if the capability mishandles string parameters. But it
567 cannot check if a calling program provides strings in the right
568 places for the <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> calls.
570 The <STRONG><A HREF="tput.1.html">tput(1)</A></STRONG> program checks its use of these capabilities with a
571 table, so that it calls <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> correctly.
573 <STRONG>Special</STRONG> <EM>TERM</EM> <STRONG>treatment</STRONG>
574 If configured to use the terminal-driver, e.g., for the MinGW port,
576 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> interprets a missing/empty <EM>TERM</EM> variable as the special
579 SVr4 curses uses the special value "dumb".
581 The difference between the two is that the former uses the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (-
582 <STRONG>generic_type</STRONG>) terminfo capability, while the latter does not. A
583 generic terminal is unsuitable for full-screen applications.
585 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> allows explicit use of the the windows console driver by
586 checking if <STRONG>$TERM</STRONG> is set to "#win32con" or an abbreviation of that
590 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Other-Portability-Issues">Other Portability Issues</a></H3><PRE>
591 In SVr4, <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG> returns an <EM>int,</EM> <STRONG>OK</STRONG> or <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>. We have chosen to
592 implement the X/Open Curses semantics.
594 In SVr4, the third argument of <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> has the type "<STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>(*putc)(char)</STRONG>".
596 At least one implementation of X/Open Curses (Solaris) returns a value
597 other than <STRONG>OK</STRONG> or <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> from <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>. It instead returns the length of the
598 string, and does no error checking.
600 X/Open Curses notes that after calling <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, the <EM>curses</EM> state may not
601 match the actual terminal state, and that an application should touch
602 and refresh the window before resuming normal <EM>curses</EM> calls. Both
603 <EM>ncurses</EM> and SVr4 <EM>curses</EM> implement <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> using the <EM>SCREEN</EM> data allocated
604 in either <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG>. So though it is documented as a <EM>terminfo</EM>
605 function, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> is really a <EM>curses</EM> function that is not well specified.
607 X/Open notes that after calling <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, the curses state may not match
608 the actual terminal state, and that an application should touch and
609 refresh the window before resuming normal curses calls. Both <EM>ncurses</EM>
610 and System V Release 4 curses implement <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> using the <EM>SCREEN</EM> data
611 allocated in either <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG>. So though it is documented as
612 a terminfo function, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> is really a curses function which is not
615 X/Open Curses states that the old location must be given for <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> to
616 accommodate terminals that lack absolute cursor positioning. <EM>ncurses</EM>
617 allows the caller to use -1 for either or both old coordinates. The -1
618 tells <EM>ncurses</EM> that the old location is unknown, and that it must use
619 only absolute motion (such as <EM>cursor</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>address</EM>) rather than the least
620 costly combination of absolute and relative motion.
623 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-HISTORY">HISTORY</a></H2><PRE>
624 SVr2 (1984) introduced the <EM>terminfo</EM> feature. Its programming manual
625 mentioned the following low-level functions.
627 <STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
628 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
629 <STRONG>fixterm</STRONG> restore tty to "in curses" state
630 <STRONG>gettmode</STRONG> establish current tty modes
631 <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> low level cursor motion
632 <STRONG>putp</STRONG> use <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> to send characters via <EM>putchar</EM>
633 <STRONG>resetterm</STRONG> set tty modes to "out of curses" state
634 <STRONG>resetty</STRONG> reset tty flags to stored value
635 <STRONG>saveterm</STRONG> save current modes as "in curses" state
636 <STRONG>savetty</STRONG> store current tty flags
637 <STRONG>setterm</STRONG> establish terminal with given type
638 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> establish terminal with given type
639 <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> interpolate parameters into string capability
640 <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> apply padding information to a string
641 <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> like <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG>, but output through <EM>putchar</EM>
642 <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> write string to terminal, applying specified attributes
644 The programming manual also mentioned functions provided for <EM>termcap</EM>
645 compatibility (commenting that they "may go away at a later date").
647 <STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
648 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
649 <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> look up <EM>termcap</EM> entry for given <EM>name</EM>
650 <STRONG>tgetflag</STRONG> get Boolean entry for given <EM>id</EM>
651 <STRONG>tgetnum</STRONG> get numeric entry for given <EM>id</EM>
652 <STRONG>tgetstr</STRONG> get string entry for given <EM>id</EM>
653 <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG> apply parameters to given capability
654 <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> write characters via a function parameter, applying padding
656 Early <EM>terminfo</EM> programs obtained capability values from the <EM>TERMINAL</EM>
657 structure initialized by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>.
659 SVr3 (1987) extended <EM>terminfo</EM> by adding functions to retrieve
660 capability values (like the <EM>termcap</EM> interface), and reusing <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG> and
661 <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>.
663 <STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
664 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
665 <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG> get Boolean entry for given <EM>id</EM>
666 <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG> get numeric entry for given <EM>id</EM>
667 <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG> get string entry for given <EM>id</EM>
669 SVr3 also replaced several of the SVr2 <EM>terminfo</EM> functions that had no
670 counterpart in the <EM>termcap</EM> interface, documenting them as obsolete.
672 <STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Replaced</STRONG> <STRONG>by</STRONG>
673 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
675 fixterm reset_prog_mode
676 gettmode <EM>n/a</EM>
678 resetterm reset_shell_mode
679 saveterm def_prog_mode
682 SVr3 kept the <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG>, and <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> functions, along with <STRONG>putp</STRONG>,
683 <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>, and <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>. The latter were needed to support padding, and to
684 handle capabilities accessed by functions such as <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> (which used
685 more than the two parameters supported by <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG>).
687 SVr3 introduced the functions for switching between terminal
688 descriptions; for example, <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG>. Some changes reflected
689 incremental improvements to the SVr2 library.
691 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The <EM>TERMINAL</EM> type definition was introduced in SVr3.01, for the
692 <EM>term</EM> structure provided in SVr2.
694 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Various global variables such as <STRONG>boolnames</STRONG> were mentioned in the
695 programming manual at this point, though the variables had been
698 SVr4 (1989) added the <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> functions.
700 Other low-level functions are declared in the <EM>curses</EM> header files of
701 Unix systems, but none are documented. Those noted as "obsolete" by
702 SVr3 remained in use by System V's <STRONG>vi(1)</STRONG> editor.
705 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
706 <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_memleaks.3x.html">curs_memleaks(3x)</A></STRONG>,
707 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termcap.3x.html">curs_termcap(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_variables.3x.html">curs_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>putc(3)</STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>,
708 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
712 ncurses 6.4 2023-12-30 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
716 <li><a href="#h2-NAME">NAME</a></li>
717 <li><a href="#h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li>
718 <li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a>
720 <li><a href="#h3-Initialization">Initialization</a></li>
721 <li><a href="#h3-The-Terminal-State">The Terminal State</a></li>
722 <li><a href="#h3-Formatting-Output">Formatting Output</a></li>
723 <li><a href="#h3-Output-Functions">Output Functions</a></li>
724 <li><a href="#h3-Terminal-Capability-Functions">Terminal Capability Functions</a></li>
725 <li><a href="#h3-Terminal-Capability-Names">Terminal Capability Names</a></li>
726 <li><a href="#h3-Releasing-Memory">Releasing Memory</a></li>
729 <li><a href="#h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></li>
730 <li><a href="#h2-NOTES">NOTES</a></li>
731 <li><a href="#h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></li>
732 <li><a href="#h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a>
734 <li><a href="#h3-Compatibility-Macros">Compatibility Macros</a></li>
735 <li><a href="#h3-Legacy-Data">Legacy Data</a></li>
736 <li><a href="#h3-Output-Buffering">Output Buffering</a></li>
737 <li><a href="#h3-Function-Prototypes">Function Prototypes</a></li>
738 <li><a href="#h3-Other-Portability-Issues">Other Portability Issues</a></li>
741 <li><a href="#h2-HISTORY">HISTORY</a></li>
742 <li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>