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30 * @Id: curs_terminfo.3x,v 1.67 2020/11/07 23:49:07 tom Exp @
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47 <H1 class="no-header">curs_terminfo 3x</H1>
49 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG> <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
54 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
55 <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, <STRONG>putp</STRONG>, <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>setterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>,
56 <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>, <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG>,
57 <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> - <STRONG>curses</STRONG> interfaces to terminfo database
60 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
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.
105 None of these functions use (or are aware of) multibyte character
106 strings such as UTF-8:
108 <STRONG>o</STRONG> capability names use the POSIX portable character set
110 <STRONG>o</STRONG> capability string values have no associated encoding; they are
111 strings of 8-bit characters.
114 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Initialization">Initialization</a></H3><PRE>
115 Initially, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> should be called. The high-level curses functions
116 <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> and <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> call <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> to initialize the low-level set of
117 terminal-dependent variables [listed in <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>].
119 Applications can use the terminal capabilities either directly (via
120 header definitions), or by special functions. The header files <STRONG>curs-</STRONG>
121 <STRONG>es.h</STRONG> and <STRONG>term.h</STRONG> should be included (in this order) to get the defini-
122 tions for these strings, numbers, and flags.
124 The <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> variables <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG> are initialized by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
127 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If <STRONG>use_env(FALSE)</STRONG> has been called, values for <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG>
128 specified in <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> are used.
130 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Otherwise, if the environment variables <STRONG>LINES</STRONG> and <STRONG>COLUMNS</STRONG> exist,
131 their values are used. If these environment variables do not exist
132 and the program is running in a window, the current window size is
133 used. Otherwise, if the environment variables do not exist, the
134 values for <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG> specified in the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database are
137 Parameterized strings should be passed through <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> to instantiate
138 them. All <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> strings (including the output of <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>) should be
139 printed with <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> or <STRONG>putp</STRONG>. Call <STRONG>reset_shell_mode</STRONG> to restore the tty
140 modes before exiting [see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_kernel.3x.html">curs_kernel(3x)</A></STRONG>].
142 Programs which use cursor addressing should
144 <STRONG>o</STRONG> output <STRONG>enter_ca_mode</STRONG> upon startup and
146 <STRONG>o</STRONG> output <STRONG>exit_ca_mode</STRONG> before exiting.
148 Programs which execute shell subprocesses should
150 <STRONG>o</STRONG> call <STRONG>reset_shell_mode</STRONG> and output <STRONG>exit_ca_mode</STRONG> before the shell is
153 <STRONG>o</STRONG> output <STRONG>enter_ca_mode</STRONG> and call <STRONG>reset_prog_mode</STRONG> after returning from
156 The <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> routine reads in the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database, initializing the
157 <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> structures, but does not set up the output virtualization
158 structures used by <STRONG>curses</STRONG>. These are its parameters:
160 <EM>term</EM> is the terminal type, a character string. If <EM>term</EM> is null, the
161 environment variable <STRONG>TERM</STRONG> is used.
164 is the file descriptor used for all output.
167 points to an optional location where an error status can be re-
168 turned to the caller. If <EM>errret</EM> is not null, then <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
169 returns <STRONG>OK</STRONG> or <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> and stores a status value in the integer
170 pointed to by <EM>errret</EM>. A return value of <STRONG>OK</STRONG> combined with sta-
171 tus of <STRONG>1</STRONG> in <EM>errret</EM> is normal.
173 If <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> is returned, examine <EM>errret</EM>:
175 <STRONG>1</STRONG> means that the terminal is hardcopy, cannot be used for
178 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> determines if the entry is a hardcopy type by
179 checking the <STRONG>hc</STRONG> (<STRONG>hardcopy</STRONG>) capability.
181 <STRONG>0</STRONG> means that the terminal could not be found, or that it is
182 a generic type, having too little information for curses
185 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> determines if the entry is a generic type by
186 checking the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (<STRONG>generic</STRONG>) capability.
188 <STRONG>-1</STRONG> means that the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database could not be found.
190 If <EM>errret</EM> is null, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> prints an error message upon find-
191 ing an error and exits. Thus, the simplest call is:
193 <STRONG>setupterm((char</STRONG> <STRONG>*)0,</STRONG> <STRONG>1,</STRONG> <STRONG>(int</STRONG> <STRONG>*)0);</STRONG>,
195 which uses all the defaults and sends the output to <STRONG>stdout</STRONG>.
197 The <STRONG>setterm</STRONG> routine was replaced by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>. The call:
199 <STRONG>setupterm(</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>1,</STRONG> <STRONG>(int</STRONG> <STRONG>*)0)</STRONG>
201 provides the same functionality as <STRONG>setterm(</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>)</STRONG>. The <STRONG>setterm</STRONG> routine
202 is provided for BSD compatibility, and is not recommended for new pro-
206 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-The-Terminal-State">The Terminal State</a></H3><PRE>
207 The <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> routine stores its information about the terminal in a
208 <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> structure pointed to by the global variable <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>. If it
209 detects an error, or decides that the terminal is unsuitable (hardcopy
210 or generic), it discards this information, making it not available to
213 If <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> is called repeatedly for the same terminal type, it will
214 reuse the information. It maintains only one copy of a given termi-
215 nal's capabilities in memory. If it is called for different terminal
216 types, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> allocates new storage for each set of terminal capa-
219 The <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG> routine sets <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG> to <EM>nterm</EM>, and makes all of the
220 <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> boolean, numeric, and string variables use the values from
221 <EM>nterm</EM>. It returns the old value of <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>.
223 The <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG> routine frees the space pointed to by <EM>oterm</EM> and makes
224 it available for further use. If <EM>oterm</EM> is the same as <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>, refer-
225 ences to any of the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> boolean, numeric, and string variables
226 thereafter may refer to invalid memory locations until another <STRONG>se-</STRONG>
227 <STRONG>tupterm</STRONG> has been called.
229 The <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> routine is similar to <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> and <STRONG>initscr</STRONG>, except
230 that it is called after restoring memory to a previous state (for exam-
231 ple, when reloading a game saved as a core image dump). <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG>
232 assumes that the windows and the input and output options are the same
233 as when memory was saved, but the terminal type and baud rate may be
234 different. Accordingly, <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> saves various tty state bits,
235 calls <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>, and then restores the bits.
238 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Formatting-Output">Formatting Output</a></H3><PRE>
239 The <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> routine instantiates the string <EM>str</EM> with parameters <EM>pi</EM>. A
240 pointer is returned to the result of <EM>str</EM> with the parameters applied.
241 Application developers should keep in mind these quirks of the inter-
244 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Although <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>'s actual parameters may be integers or strings, the
245 prototype expects <STRONG>long</STRONG> (integer) values.
247 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Aside from the <STRONG>set_attributes</STRONG> (<STRONG>sgr</STRONG>) capability, most terminal capa-
248 bilities require no more than one or two parameters.
250 <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> is a newer form of <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> which uses <EM><stdarg.h></EM> rather than a
251 fixed-parameter list. Its numeric parameters are integers (int) rather
255 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Output-Functions">Output Functions</a></H3><PRE>
256 The <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> routine applies padding information to the string <EM>str</EM> and
259 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The <EM>str</EM> parameter must be a terminfo string variable or the return
260 value from <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tgetstr</STRONG>, or <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG>.
262 The <STRONG>tgetstr</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG> functions are part of the <EM>termcap</EM> interface,
263 which happens to share this function name with the <EM>terminfo</EM> inter-
266 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>affcnt</EM> is the number of lines affected, or 1 if not applicable.
268 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>putc</EM> is a <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>-like routine to which the characters are passed,
271 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-
272 ways goes to <STRONG>stdout</STRONG>, rather than the <EM>filedes</EM> specified in <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>.
274 The <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> routine displays the string on the terminal in the video
275 attribute mode <EM>attrs</EM>, which is any combination of the attributes listed
276 in <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>. The characters are passed to the <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>-like routine
279 The <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> routine is like the <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> routine, except that it outputs
280 through <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>.
282 The <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> routines correspond to vidattr and vidputs,
283 respectively. They use a set of arguments for representing the video
284 attributes plus color, i.e.,
286 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM> of type <STRONG>attr_t</STRONG> for the attributes and
288 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>pair</EM> of type <STRONG>short</STRONG> for the color-pair number.
290 The <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> routines are designed to use the attribute
291 constants with the <EM>WA</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG> prefix.
293 X/Open Curses reserves the <EM>opts</EM> argument for future use, saying that
294 applications must provide a null pointer for that argument. As an ex-
295 tension, this implementation allows <EM>opts</EM> to be used as a pointer to
296 <STRONG>int</STRONG>, which overrides the <EM>pair</EM> (<STRONG>short</STRONG>) argument.
298 The <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> routine provides low-level cursor motion. It takes effect
299 immediately (rather than at the next refresh).
302 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminal-Capability-Functions">Terminal Capability Functions</a></H3><PRE>
303 The <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG> and <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG> routines return the value of the
304 capability corresponding to the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> <EM>capname</EM> passed to them, such
305 as <STRONG>xenl</STRONG>. The <EM>capname</EM> for each capability is given in the table column
306 entitled <EM>capname</EM> code in the capabilities section of <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>.
308 These routines return special values to denote errors.
310 The <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG> routine returns
312 <STRONG>-1</STRONG> if <EM>capname</EM> is not a boolean capability, or
314 <STRONG>0</STRONG> if it is canceled or absent from the terminal description.
316 The <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG> routine returns
318 <STRONG>-2</STRONG> if <EM>capname</EM> is not a numeric capability, or
320 <STRONG>-1</STRONG> if it is canceled or absent from the terminal description.
322 The <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG> routine returns
324 <STRONG>(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*)-1</STRONG>
325 if <EM>capname</EM> is not a string capability, or
327 <STRONG>0</STRONG> if it is canceled or absent from the terminal description.
330 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminal-Capability-Names">Terminal Capability Names</a></H3><PRE>
331 These null-terminated arrays contain
333 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the short terminfo names ("codes"),
335 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the <STRONG>termcap</STRONG> names ("names"), and
337 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the long terminfo names ("fnames")
339 for each of the predefined <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> variables:
341 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*boolnames[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*boolcodes[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*boolfnames[]</STRONG>
342 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*numnames[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*numcodes[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*numfnames[]</STRONG>
343 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*strnames[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*strcodes[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*strfnames[]</STRONG>
346 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></H2><PRE>
347 Routines that return an integer return <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon failure and <STRONG>OK</STRONG> (SVr4
348 only specifies "an integer value other than <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>") upon successful com-
349 pletion, unless otherwise noted in the preceding routine descriptions.
351 Routines that return pointers always return <STRONG>NULL</STRONG> on error.
353 X/Open defines no error conditions. In this implementation
355 <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG>
356 returns an error if its terminal parameter is null.
358 <STRONG>putp</STRONG> calls <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>, returning the same error-codes.
360 <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG>
361 returns an error if the associated call to <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> returns an
364 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
365 returns an error if it cannot allocate enough memory, or create
366 the initial windows (stdscr, curscr, newscr). Other error con-
367 ditions are documented above.
369 <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>
370 returns an error if the string parameter is null. It does not
371 detect I/O errors: X/Open states that <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> ignores the return
372 value of the output function <EM>putc</EM>.
375 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-HISTORY">HISTORY</a></H2><PRE>
376 SVr2 introduced the terminfo feature. Its programming manual mentioned
377 these low-level functions:
379 <STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
380 ------------------------------------------------------------
381 fixterm restore tty to "in curses" state
382 gettmode establish current tty modes
383 mvcur low level cursor motion
384 putp utility function that uses <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> to send char-
385 acters via <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>.
386 resetterm set tty modes to "out of curses" state
387 resetty reset tty flags to stored value
388 saveterm save current modes as "in curses" state
389 savetty store current tty flags
390 setterm establish terminal with given type
392 setupterm establish terminal with given type
393 tparm instantiate a string expression with parameters
394 tputs apply padding information to a string
395 vidattr like <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG>, but outputs through <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>
396 vidputs output a string to put terminal in a specified
399 The programming manual also mentioned functions provided for termcap
400 compatibility (commenting that they "may go away at a later date"):
402 <STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
403 ------------------------------------------------
404 tgetent look up termcap entry for given <EM>name</EM>
405 tgetflag get boolean entry for given <EM>id</EM>
406 tgetnum get numeric entry for given <EM>id</EM>
407 tgetstr get string entry for given <EM>id</EM>
408 tgoto apply parameters to given capability
409 tputs apply padding to capability, calling
410 a function to put characters
412 Early terminfo programs obtained capability values from the <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG>
413 structure initialized by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>.
415 SVr3 extended terminfo by adding functions to retrieve capability val-
416 ues (like the termcap interface), and reusing tgoto and tputs:
418 <STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
419 -------------------------------------------
420 tigetflag get boolean entry for given <EM>id</EM>
421 tigetnum get numeric entry for given <EM>id</EM>
422 tigetstr get string entry for given <EM>id</EM>
424 SVr3 also replaced several of the SVr2 terminfo functions which had no
425 counterpart in the termcap interface, documenting them as obsolete:
427 <STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Replaced</STRONG> <STRONG>by</STRONG>
428 -----------------------------
430 fixterm reset_prog_mode
433 resetterm reset_shell_mode
434 saveterm def_prog_mode
437 SVr3 kept the <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> functions, along with <STRONG>putp</STRONG>,
438 <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> and <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>. The latter were needed to support padding, and han-
439 dling functions such as <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> (which used more than the two parame-
440 ters supported by <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG>).
442 SVr3 introduced the functions for switching between terminal descrip-
443 tions, e.g., <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG>. The various global variables such as <STRONG>bool-</STRONG>
444 <STRONG>names</STRONG> were mentioned in the programming manual at this point.
446 SVr4 added the <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> functions.
448 There are other low-level functions declared in the curses header files
449 on Unix systems, but none were documented. The functions marked "obso-
450 lete" remained in use by the Unix <STRONG>vi</STRONG> editor.
453 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
455 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Legacy-functions">Legacy functions</a></H3><PRE>
456 X/Open notes that <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> may be macros.
458 The function <STRONG>setterm</STRONG> is not described by X/Open and must be considered
459 non-portable. All other functions are as described by X/Open.
462 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Legacy-data">Legacy data</a></H3><PRE>
463 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> copies the terminal name to the array <STRONG>ttytype</STRONG>. This is not
464 part of X/Open Curses, but is assumed by some applications.
466 Other implementions may not declare the capability name arrays. Some
467 provide them without declaring them. X/Open does not specify them.
469 Extended terminal capability names, e.g., as defined by <STRONG>tic</STRONG> <STRONG>-x</STRONG>, are not
470 stored in the arrays described here.
473 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Output-buffering">Output buffering</a></H3><PRE>
474 Older versions of <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> assumed that the file descriptor passed to
475 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> from <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> uses buffered I/O, and would write to
476 the corresponding stream. In addition to the limitation that the ter-
477 minal was left in block-buffered mode on exit (like System V curses),
478 it was problematic because <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> did not allow a reliable way to
479 cleanup on receiving SIGTSTP.
481 The current version (ncurses6) uses output buffers managed directly by
482 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>. Some of the low-level functions described in this manual page
483 write to the standard output. They are not signal-safe. The high-lev-
484 el functions in <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> use alternate versions of these functions using
485 the more reliable buffering scheme.
488 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Function-prototypes">Function prototypes</a></H3><PRE>
489 The X/Open Curses prototypes are based on the SVr4 curses header decla-
490 rations, which were defined at the same time the C language was first
491 standardized in the late 1980s.
493 <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses uses <STRONG>const</STRONG> less effectively than a later design
494 might, in some cases applying it needlessly to values are already
495 constant, and in most cases overlooking parameters which normally
496 would use <STRONG>const</STRONG>. Using constant parameters for functions which do
497 not use <STRONG>const</STRONG> may prevent the program from compiling. On the other
498 hand, <EM>writable</EM> <EM>strings</EM> are an obsolescent feature.
500 As an extension, this implementation can be configured to change
501 the function prototypes to use the <STRONG>const</STRONG> keyword. The ncurses ABI
502 6 enables this feature by default.
504 <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses prototypes <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> with a fixed number of parameters,
505 rather than a variable argument list.
507 This implementation uses a variable argument list, but can be con-
508 figured to use the fixed-parameter list. Portable applications
509 should provide 9 parameters after the format; zeroes are fine for
512 In response to review comments by Thomas E. Dickey, X/Open Curses
513 Issue 7 proposed the <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> function in mid-2009.
516 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Special-TERM-treatment">Special TERM treatment</a></H3><PRE>
517 If configured to use the terminal-driver, e.g., for the MinGW port,
519 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> interprets a missing/empty TERM variable as the special
522 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> allows explicit use of the the windows console driver by
523 checking if $TERM is set to "#win32con" or an abbreviation of that
527 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Other-portability-issues">Other portability issues</a></H3><PRE>
528 In System V Release 4, <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG> has an <STRONG>int</STRONG> return type and returns
529 <STRONG>OK</STRONG> or <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>. We have chosen to implement the X/Open Curses semantics.
531 In System V Release 4, the third argument of <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> has the type <STRONG>int</STRONG>
532 <STRONG>(*putc)(char)</STRONG>.
534 At least one implementation of X/Open Curses (Solaris) returns a value
535 other than <STRONG>OK</STRONG>/<STRONG>ERR</STRONG> from <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>. That returns the length of the string,
536 and does no error-checking.
538 X/Open notes that after calling <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, the curses state may not match
539 the actual terminal state, and that an application should touch and re-
540 fresh the window before resuming normal curses calls. Both <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> and
541 System V Release 4 curses implement <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> using the SCREEN data allo-
542 cated in either <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG>. So though it is documented as a
543 terminfo function, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> is really a curses function which is not well
546 X/Open states that the old location must be given for <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>. This im-
547 plementation allows the caller to use -1's for the old ordinates. In
548 that case, the old location is unknown.
551 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
552 <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>,
553 <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>
557 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
561 <li><a href="#h2-NAME">NAME</a></li>
562 <li><a href="#h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li>
563 <li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a>
565 <li><a href="#h3-Initialization">Initialization</a></li>
566 <li><a href="#h3-The-Terminal-State">The Terminal State</a></li>
567 <li><a href="#h3-Formatting-Output">Formatting Output</a></li>
568 <li><a href="#h3-Output-Functions">Output Functions</a></li>
569 <li><a href="#h3-Terminal-Capability-Functions">Terminal Capability Functions</a></li>
570 <li><a href="#h3-Terminal-Capability-Names">Terminal Capability Names</a></li>
573 <li><a href="#h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></li>
574 <li><a href="#h2-HISTORY">HISTORY</a></li>
575 <li><a href="#h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a>
577 <li><a href="#h3-Legacy-functions">Legacy functions</a></li>
578 <li><a href="#h3-Legacy-data">Legacy data</a></li>
579 <li><a href="#h3-Output-buffering">Output buffering</a></li>
580 <li><a href="#h3-Function-prototypes">Function prototypes</a></li>
581 <li><a href="#h3-Special-TERM-treatment">Special TERM treatment</a></li>
582 <li><a href="#h3-Other-portability-issues">Other portability issues</a></li>
585 <li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>