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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-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
369 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Legacy-functions">Legacy functions</a></H3><PRE>
370 X/Open notes that <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> may be macros.
372 The function <STRONG>setterm</STRONG> is not described by X/Open and must be considered
373 non-portable. All other functions are as described by X/Open.
376 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Legacy-data">Legacy data</a></H3><PRE>
377 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> copies the terminal name to the array <STRONG>ttytype</STRONG>. This is not
378 part of X/Open Curses, but is assumed by some applications.
380 Other implementions may not declare the capability name arrays. Some
381 provide them without declaring them. X/Open does not specify them.
383 Extended terminal capability names, e.g., as defined by <STRONG>tic</STRONG> <STRONG>-x</STRONG>, are not
384 stored in the arrays described here.
387 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Output-buffering">Output buffering</a></H3><PRE>
388 Older versions of <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> assumed that the file descriptor passed to
389 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> from <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> uses buffered I/O, and would write to
390 the corresponding stream. In addition to the limitation that the ter-
391 minal was left in block-buffered mode on exit (like System V curses),
392 it was problematic because <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> did not allow a reliable way to
393 cleanup on receiving SIGTSTP.
395 The current version (ncurses6) uses output buffers managed directly by
396 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>. Some of the low-level functions described in this manual page
397 write to the standard output. They are not signal-safe. The high-lev-
398 el functions in <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> use alternate versions of these functions using
399 the more reliable buffering scheme.
402 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Function-prototypes">Function prototypes</a></H3><PRE>
403 The X/Open Curses prototypes are based on the SVr4 curses header decla-
404 rations, which were defined at the same time the C language was first
405 standardized in the late 1980s.
407 <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses uses <STRONG>const</STRONG> less effectively than a later design
408 might, in some cases applying it needlessly to values are already
409 constant, and in most cases overlooking parameters which normally
410 would use <STRONG>const</STRONG>. Using constant parameters for functions which do
411 not use <STRONG>const</STRONG> may prevent the program from compiling. On the other
412 hand, <EM>writable</EM> <EM>strings</EM> are an obsolescent feature.
414 As an extension, this implementation can be configured to change
415 the function prototypes to use the <STRONG>const</STRONG> keyword. The ncurses ABI
416 6 enables this feature by default.
418 <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses prototypes <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> with a fixed number of parameters,
419 rather than a variable argument list.
421 This implementation uses a variable argument list, but can be con-
422 figured to use the fixed-parameter list. Portable applications
423 should provide 9 parameters after the format; zeroes are fine for
426 In response to review comments by Thomas E. Dickey, X/Open Curses
427 Issue 7 proposed the <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> function in mid-2009.
430 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Special-TERM-treatment">Special TERM treatment</a></H3><PRE>
431 If configured to use the terminal-driver, e.g., for the MinGW port,
433 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> interprets a missing/empty TERM variable as the special
436 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> allows explicit use of the the windows console driver by
437 checking if $TERM is set to "#win32con" or an abbreviation of that
441 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Other-portability-issues">Other portability issues</a></H3><PRE>
442 In System V Release 4, <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG> has an <STRONG>int</STRONG> return type and returns
443 <STRONG>OK</STRONG> or <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>. We have chosen to implement the X/Open Curses semantics.
445 In System V Release 4, the third argument of <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> has the type <STRONG>int</STRONG>
446 <STRONG>(*putc)(char)</STRONG>.
448 At least one implementation of X/Open Curses (Solaris) returns a value
449 other than <STRONG>OK</STRONG>/<STRONG>ERR</STRONG> from <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>. That returns the length of the string,
450 and does no error-checking.
452 X/Open notes that after calling <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, the curses state may not match
453 the actual terminal state, and that an application should touch and re-
454 fresh the window before resuming normal curses calls. Both <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> and
455 System V Release 4 curses implement <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> using the SCREEN data allo-
456 cated in either <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG>. So though it is documented as a
457 terminfo function, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> is really a curses function which is not well
460 X/Open states that the old location must be given for <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>. This im-
461 plementation allows the caller to use -1's for the old ordinates. In
462 that case, the old location is unknown.
465 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
466 <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>,
467 <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>
471 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
475 <li><a href="#h2-NAME">NAME</a></li>
476 <li><a href="#h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li>
477 <li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a>
479 <li><a href="#h3-Initialization">Initialization</a></li>
480 <li><a href="#h3-The-Terminal-State">The Terminal State</a></li>
481 <li><a href="#h3-Formatting-Output">Formatting Output</a></li>
482 <li><a href="#h3-Output-Functions">Output Functions</a></li>
483 <li><a href="#h3-Terminal-Capability-Functions">Terminal Capability Functions</a></li>
484 <li><a href="#h3-Terminal-Capability-Names">Terminal Capability Names</a></li>
487 <li><a href="#h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></li>
488 <li><a href="#h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a>
490 <li><a href="#h3-Legacy-functions">Legacy functions</a></li>
491 <li><a href="#h3-Legacy-data">Legacy data</a></li>
492 <li><a href="#h3-Output-buffering">Output buffering</a></li>
493 <li><a href="#h3-Function-prototypes">Function prototypes</a></li>
494 <li><a href="#h3-Special-TERM-treatment">Special TERM treatment</a></li>
495 <li><a href="#h3-Other-portability-issues">Other portability issues</a></li>
498 <li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>