3 * DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE BY HAND!
4 * It is generated from terminfo.head, Caps, and terminfo.tail.
5 * Note: this must be run through tbl before nroff.
6 * The magic cookie on the first line triggers this under some man programs.
7 ****************************************************************************
8 * Copyright (c) 1998-2012,2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
10 * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a *
11 * copy of this software and associated documentation files (the *
12 * "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including *
13 * without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, *
14 * distribute, distribute with modifications, sublicense, and/or sell *
15 * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is *
16 * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: *
18 * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included *
19 * in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. *
21 * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS *
22 * OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF *
23 * MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. *
24 * IN NO EVENT SHALL THE ABOVE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, *
25 * DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR *
26 * OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR *
27 * THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. *
29 * Except as contained in this notice, the name(s) of the above copyright *
30 * holders shall not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the *
31 * sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written *
33 ****************************************************************************
34 * @Id: terminfo.head,v 1.21 2013/03/09 22:11:36 tom Exp @
35 * Head of terminfo man page ends here
36 * @Id: terminfo.tail,v 1.68 2013/11/09 15:20:48 tom Exp @
37 * Beginning of terminfo.tail file
38 * This file is part of ncurses.
39 * See "terminfo.head" for copyright.
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51 <TITLE>terminfo 5 File Formats</TITLE>
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56 <H1>terminfo 5 File Formats</H1>
59 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> File Formats <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
65 <H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
66 terminfo - terminal capability data base
70 <H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
71 /usr/share/terminfo/*/*
75 <H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
76 <EM>Terminfo</EM> is a data base describing terminals, used by
77 screen-oriented programs such as <STRONG>nvi(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG>rogue(1)</STRONG> and
78 libraries such as <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>. <EM>Terminfo</EM> describes termi-
79 nals by giving a set of capabilities which they have, by
80 specifying how to perform screen operations, and by speci-
81 fying padding requirements and initialization sequences.
82 This describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 5.9 (patch 20150215).
84 Entries in <EM>terminfo</EM> consist of a sequence of `,' separated
85 fields (embedded commas may be escaped with a backslash or
86 notated as \054). White space after the `,' separator is
87 ignored. The first entry for each terminal gives the
88 names which are known for the terminal, separated by `|'
89 characters. The first name given is the most common
90 abbreviation for the terminal, the last name given should
91 be a long name fully identifying the terminal, and all
92 others are understood as synonyms for the terminal name.
93 All names but the last should be in lower case and contain
94 no blanks; the last name may well contain upper case and
95 blanks for readability.
97 Lines beginning with a `#' in the first column are treated
98 as comments. While comment lines are legal at any point,
99 the output of <STRONG>captoinfo</STRONG> and <STRONG>infotocap</STRONG> (aliases for <STRONG>tic</STRONG>)
100 will move comments so they occur only between entries.
102 Newlines and leading tabs may be used for formatting
103 entries for readability. These are removed from parsed
104 entries. The <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option relies on this to format
105 if-then-else expressions: the result can be read by <STRONG>tic</STRONG>.
107 Terminal names (except for the last, verbose entry) should
108 be chosen using the following conventions. The particular
109 piece of hardware making up the terminal should have a
110 root name, thus "hp2621". This name should not contain
111 hyphens. Modes that the hardware can be in, or user pref-
112 erences, should be indicated by appending a hyphen and a
113 mode suffix. Thus, a vt100 in 132 column mode would be
114 vt100-w. The following suffixes should be used where pos-
117 <STRONG>Suffix</STRONG> <STRONG>Meaning</STRONG> <STRONG>Example</STRONG>
118 -<EM>nn</EM> Number of lines on the screen aaa-60
119 -<EM>n</EM>p Number of pages of memory c100-4p
120 -am With automargins (usually the default) vt100-am
121 -m Mono mode; suppress color ansi-m
122 -mc Magic cookie; spaces when highlighting wy30-mc
123 -na No arrow keys (leave them in local) c100-na
124 -nam Without automatic margins vt100-nam
125 -nl No status line att4415-nl
126 -ns No status line hp2626-ns
127 -rv Reverse video c100-rv
128 -s Enable status line vt100-s
129 -vb Use visible bell instead of beep wy370-vb
131 -w Wide mode (> 80 columns, usually 132) vt100-w
133 For more on terminal naming conventions, see the <STRONG>term(7)</STRONG>
138 <H3><a name="h3-Predefined-Capabilities">Predefined Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
139 The following is a complete table of the capabilities
140 included in a terminfo description block and available to
141 terminfo-using code. In each line of the table,
143 The <STRONG>variable</STRONG> is the name by which the programmer (at the
144 terminfo level) accesses the capability.
146 The <STRONG>capname</STRONG> is the short name used in the text of the
147 database, and is used by a person updating the database.
148 Whenever possible, capnames are chosen to be the same as
149 or similar to the ANSI X3.64-1979 standard (now superseded
150 by ECMA-48, which uses identical or very similar names).
151 Semantics are also intended to match those of the specifi-
154 The termcap code is the old <STRONG>termcap</STRONG> capability name (some
155 capabilities are new, and have names which termcap did not
158 Capability names have no hard length limit, but an infor-
159 mal limit of 5 characters has been adopted to keep them
160 short and to allow the tabs in the source file <STRONG>Caps</STRONG> to
163 Finally, the description field attempts to convey the
164 semantics of the capability. You may find some codes in
165 the description field:
167 (P) indicates that padding may be specified
169 #[1-9] in the description field indicates that the string
170 is passed through tparm with parms as given (#<EM>i</EM>).
172 (P*) indicates that padding may vary in proportion to
173 the number of lines affected
175 (#<EM>i</EM>) indicates the <EM>i</EM>th parameter.
178 These are the boolean capabilities:
181 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
182 <STRONG>Booleans</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
183 auto_left_margin bw bw cub1 wraps from col-
185 auto_right_margin am am terminal has auto-
187 back_color_erase bce ut screen erased with
189 can_change ccc cc terminal can re-
192 ceol_standout_glitch xhp xs standout not erased
194 col_addr_glitch xhpa YA only positive motion
199 cpi_changes_res cpix YF changing character
202 cr_cancels_micro_mode crxm YB using cr turns off
204 dest_tabs_magic_smso xt xt tabs destructive,
207 eat_newline_glitch xenl xn newline ignored
210 erase_overstrike eo eo can erase over-
212 generic_type gn gn generic line type
213 hard_copy hc hc hardcopy terminal
214 hard_cursor chts HC cursor is hard to
216 has_meta_key km km Has a meta key
218 has_print_wheel daisy YC printer needs opera-
221 has_status_line hs hs has extra status
223 hue_lightness_saturation hls hl terminal uses only
226 insert_null_glitch in in insert mode distin-
228 lpi_changes_res lpix YG changing line pitch
230 memory_above da da display may be
233 memory_below db db display may be
236 move_insert_mode mir mi safe to move while
238 move_standout_mode msgr ms safe to move while
240 needs_xon_xoff nxon nx padding will not
243 no_esc_ctlc xsb xb beehive (f1=escape,
245 no_pad_char npc NP pad character does
247 non_dest_scroll_region ndscr ND scrolling region is
249 non_rev_rmcup nrrmc NR smcup does not
251 over_strike os os terminal can over-
253 prtr_silent mc5i 5i printer will not
255 row_addr_glitch xvpa YD only positive motion
257 semi_auto_right_margin sam YE printing in last
259 status_line_esc_ok eslok es escape can be used
261 tilde_glitch hz hz cannot print ~'s
265 transparent_underline ul ul underline character
267 xon_xoff xon xo terminal uses
270 These are the numeric capabilities:
273 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
274 <STRONG>Numeric</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
275 columns cols co number of columns in
277 init_tabs it it tabs initially every
279 label_height lh lh rows in each label
280 label_width lw lw columns in each
282 lines lines li number of lines on
284 lines_of_memory lm lm lines of memory if >
286 magic_cookie_glitch xmc sg number of blank
289 max_attributes ma ma maximum combined
292 max_colors colors Co maximum number of
294 max_pairs pairs pa maximum number of
297 maximum_windows wnum MW maximum number of
299 no_color_video ncv NC video attributes
302 num_labels nlab Nl number of labels on
304 padding_baud_rate pb pb lowest baud rate
306 virtual_terminal vt vt virtual terminal
308 width_status_line wsl ws number of columns in
311 The following numeric capabilities are present in the
312 SVr4.0 term structure, but are not yet documented in the
313 man page. They came in with SVr4's printer support.
316 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
317 <STRONG>Numeric</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
318 bit_image_entwining bitwin Yo number of passes for
320 bit_image_type bitype Yp type of bit-image
322 buffer_capacity bufsz Ya numbers of bytes
325 buttons btns BT number of buttons on
327 dot_horz_spacing spinh Yc spacing of dots hor-
331 dot_vert_spacing spinv Yb spacing of pins ver-
334 max_micro_address maddr Yd maximum value in
336 max_micro_jump mjump Ye maximum value in
338 micro_col_size mcs Yf character step size
340 micro_line_size mls Yg line step size when
342 number_of_pins npins Yh numbers of pins in
344 output_res_char orc Yi horizontal resolu-
347 output_res_horz_inch orhi Yk horizontal resolu-
350 output_res_line orl Yj vertical resolution
352 output_res_vert_inch orvi Yl vertical resolution
354 print_rate cps Ym print rate in char-
356 wide_char_size widcs Yn character step size
360 These are the string capabilities:
363 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
364 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
365 acs_chars acsc ac graphics charset
368 back_tab cbt bt back tab (P)
369 bell bel bl audible signal
371 carriage_return cr cr carriage return (P*)
373 change_char_pitch cpi ZA Change number of
376 change_line_pitch lpi ZB Change number of
378 change_res_horz chr ZC Change horizontal
380 change_res_vert cvr ZD Change vertical res-
382 change_scroll_region csr cs change region to
385 char_padding rmp rP like ip but when in
387 clear_all_tabs tbc ct clear all tab stops
389 clear_margins mgc MC clear right and left
391 clear_screen clear cl clear screen and
393 clr_bol el1 cb Clear to beginning
397 clr_eol el ce clear to end of line
399 clr_eos ed cd clear to end of
401 column_address hpa ch horizontal position
403 command_character cmdch CC terminal settable
406 create_window cwin CW define a window #1
408 cursor_address cup cm move to row #1 col-
410 cursor_down cud1 do down one line
411 cursor_home home ho home cursor (if no
413 cursor_invisible civis vi make cursor invisi-
415 cursor_left cub1 le move left one space
416 cursor_mem_address mrcup CM memory relative cur-
419 cursor_normal cnorm ve make cursor appear
422 cursor_right cuf1 nd non-destructive
425 cursor_to_ll ll ll last line, first
427 cursor_up cuu1 up up one line
428 cursor_visible cvvis vs make cursor very
430 define_char defc ZE Define a character
433 delete_character dch1 dc delete character
435 delete_line dl1 dl delete line (P*)
436 dial_phone dial DI dial number #1
437 dis_status_line dsl ds disable status line
438 display_clock dclk DK display clock
439 down_half_line hd hd half a line down
440 ena_acs enacs eA enable alternate
442 enter_alt_charset_mode smacs as start alternate
444 enter_am_mode smam SA turn on automatic
446 enter_blink_mode blink mb turn on blinking
447 enter_bold_mode bold md turn on bold (extra
449 enter_ca_mode smcup ti string to start pro-
451 enter_delete_mode smdc dm enter delete mode
452 enter_dim_mode dim mh turn on half-bright
454 enter_doublewide_mode swidm ZF Enter double-wide
456 enter_draft_quality sdrfq ZG Enter draft-quality
458 enter_insert_mode smir im enter insert mode
459 enter_italics_mode sitm ZH Enter italic mode
460 enter_leftward_mode slm ZI Start leftward car-
463 enter_micro_mode smicm ZJ Start micro-motion
465 enter_near_letter_quality snlq ZK Enter NLQ mode
466 enter_normal_quality snrmq ZL Enter normal-quality
468 enter_protected_mode prot mp turn on protected
470 enter_reverse_mode rev mr turn on reverse
472 enter_secure_mode invis mk turn on blank mode
475 enter_shadow_mode sshm ZM Enter shadow-print
477 enter_standout_mode smso so begin standout mode
478 enter_subscript_mode ssubm ZN Enter subscript mode
479 enter_superscript_mode ssupm ZO Enter superscript
481 enter_underline_mode smul us begin underline mode
482 enter_upward_mode sum ZP Start upward car-
484 enter_xon_mode smxon SX turn on xon/xoff
486 erase_chars ech ec erase #1 characters
488 exit_alt_charset_mode rmacs ae end alternate char-
490 exit_am_mode rmam RA turn off automatic
492 exit_attribute_mode sgr0 me turn off all
494 exit_ca_mode rmcup te strings to end pro-
496 exit_delete_mode rmdc ed end delete mode
497 exit_doublewide_mode rwidm ZQ End double-wide mode
498 exit_insert_mode rmir ei exit insert mode
499 exit_italics_mode ritm ZR End italic mode
500 exit_leftward_mode rlm ZS End left-motion mode
501 exit_micro_mode rmicm ZT End micro-motion
503 exit_shadow_mode rshm ZU End shadow-print
505 exit_standout_mode rmso se exit standout mode
506 exit_subscript_mode rsubm ZV End subscript mode
507 exit_superscript_mode rsupm ZW End superscript mode
508 exit_underline_mode rmul ue exit underline mode
509 exit_upward_mode rum ZX End reverse charac-
511 exit_xon_mode rmxon RX turn off xon/xoff
513 fixed_pause pause PA pause for 2-3 sec-
515 flash_hook hook fh flash switch hook
516 flash_screen flash vb visible bell (may
518 form_feed ff ff hardcopy terminal
520 from_status_line fsl fs return from status
522 goto_window wingo WG go to window #1
523 hangup hup HU hang-up phone
524 init_1string is1 i1 initialization
526 init_2string is2 is initialization
529 init_3string is3 i3 initialization
531 init_file if if name of initializa-
533 init_prog iprog iP path name of program
535 initialize_color initc Ic initialize color #1
537 initialize_pair initp Ip Initialize color
541 insert_character ich1 ic insert character (P)
542 insert_line il1 al insert line (P*)
543 insert_padding ip ip insert padding after
545 key_a1 ka1 K1 upper left of keypad
546 key_a3 ka3 K3 upper right of key-
548 key_b2 kb2 K2 center of keypad
549 key_backspace kbs kb backspace key
550 key_beg kbeg @1 begin key
551 key_btab kcbt kB back-tab key
552 key_c1 kc1 K4 lower left of keypad
553 key_c3 kc3 K5 lower right of key-
555 key_cancel kcan @2 cancel key
556 key_catab ktbc ka clear-all-tabs key
557 key_clear kclr kC clear-screen or
559 key_close kclo @3 close key
560 key_command kcmd @4 command key
561 key_copy kcpy @5 copy key
562 key_create kcrt @6 create key
563 key_ctab kctab kt clear-tab key
564 key_dc kdch1 kD delete-character key
565 key_dl kdl1 kL delete-line key
566 key_down kcud1 kd down-arrow key
567 key_eic krmir kM sent by rmir or smir
569 key_end kend @7 end key
570 key_enter kent @8 enter/send key
571 key_eol kel kE clear-to-end-of-line
573 key_eos ked kS clear-to-end-of-
575 key_exit kext @9 exit key
576 key_f0 kf0 k0 F0 function key
577 key_f1 kf1 k1 F1 function key
578 key_f10 kf10 k; F10 function key
579 key_f11 kf11 F1 F11 function key
580 key_f12 kf12 F2 F12 function key
581 key_f13 kf13 F3 F13 function key
582 key_f14 kf14 F4 F14 function key
583 key_f15 kf15 F5 F15 function key
584 key_f16 kf16 F6 F16 function key
585 key_f17 kf17 F7 F17 function key
586 key_f18 kf18 F8 F18 function key
587 key_f19 kf19 F9 F19 function key
588 key_f2 kf2 k2 F2 function key
589 key_f20 kf20 FA F20 function key
590 key_f21 kf21 FB F21 function key
591 key_f22 kf22 FC F22 function key
592 key_f23 kf23 FD F23 function key
593 key_f24 kf24 FE F24 function key
595 key_f25 kf25 FF F25 function key
596 key_f26 kf26 FG F26 function key
597 key_f27 kf27 FH F27 function key
598 key_f28 kf28 FI F28 function key
599 key_f29 kf29 FJ F29 function key
600 key_f3 kf3 k3 F3 function key
601 key_f30 kf30 FK F30 function key
602 key_f31 kf31 FL F31 function key
603 key_f32 kf32 FM F32 function key
604 key_f33 kf33 FN F33 function key
605 key_f34 kf34 FO F34 function key
606 key_f35 kf35 FP F35 function key
607 key_f36 kf36 FQ F36 function key
608 key_f37 kf37 FR F37 function key
609 key_f38 kf38 FS F38 function key
610 key_f39 kf39 FT F39 function key
611 key_f4 kf4 k4 F4 function key
612 key_f40 kf40 FU F40 function key
613 key_f41 kf41 FV F41 function key
614 key_f42 kf42 FW F42 function key
615 key_f43 kf43 FX F43 function key
616 key_f44 kf44 FY F44 function key
617 key_f45 kf45 FZ F45 function key
618 key_f46 kf46 Fa F46 function key
619 key_f47 kf47 Fb F47 function key
620 key_f48 kf48 Fc F48 function key
621 key_f49 kf49 Fd F49 function key
622 key_f5 kf5 k5 F5 function key
623 key_f50 kf50 Fe F50 function key
624 key_f51 kf51 Ff F51 function key
625 key_f52 kf52 Fg F52 function key
626 key_f53 kf53 Fh F53 function key
627 key_f54 kf54 Fi F54 function key
628 key_f55 kf55 Fj F55 function key
629 key_f56 kf56 Fk F56 function key
630 key_f57 kf57 Fl F57 function key
631 key_f58 kf58 Fm F58 function key
632 key_f59 kf59 Fn F59 function key
633 key_f6 kf6 k6 F6 function key
634 key_f60 kf60 Fo F60 function key
635 key_f61 kf61 Fp F61 function key
636 key_f62 kf62 Fq F62 function key
637 key_f63 kf63 Fr F63 function key
638 key_f7 kf7 k7 F7 function key
639 key_f8 kf8 k8 F8 function key
640 key_f9 kf9 k9 F9 function key
641 key_find kfnd @0 find key
642 key_help khlp %1 help key
643 key_home khome kh home key
644 key_ic kich1 kI insert-character key
645 key_il kil1 kA insert-line key
646 key_left kcub1 kl left-arrow key
647 key_ll kll kH lower-left key (home
649 key_mark kmrk %2 mark key
650 key_message kmsg %3 message key
651 key_move kmov %4 move key
652 key_next knxt %5 next key
653 key_npage knp kN next-page key
654 key_open kopn %6 open key
655 key_options kopt %7 options key
656 key_ppage kpp kP previous-page key
657 key_previous kprv %8 previous key
658 key_print kprt %9 print key
659 key_redo krdo %0 redo key
661 key_reference kref &1 reference key
662 key_refresh krfr &2 refresh key
663 key_replace krpl &3 replace key
664 key_restart krst &4 restart key
665 key_resume kres &5 resume key
666 key_right kcuf1 kr right-arrow key
667 key_save ksav &6 save key
668 key_sbeg kBEG &9 shifted begin key
669 key_scancel kCAN &0 shifted cancel key
670 key_scommand kCMD *1 shifted command key
671 key_scopy kCPY *2 shifted copy key
672 key_screate kCRT *3 shifted create key
673 key_sdc kDC *4 shifted delete-char-
675 key_sdl kDL *5 shifted delete-line
677 key_select kslt *6 select key
678 key_send kEND *7 shifted end key
679 key_seol kEOL *8 shifted clear-to-
681 key_sexit kEXT *9 shifted exit key
682 key_sf kind kF scroll-forward key
683 key_sfind kFND *0 shifted find key
684 key_shelp kHLP #1 shifted help key
685 key_shome kHOM #2 shifted home key
686 key_sic kIC #3 shifted insert-char-
688 key_sleft kLFT #4 shifted left-arrow
690 key_smessage kMSG %a shifted message key
691 key_smove kMOV %b shifted move key
692 key_snext kNXT %c shifted next key
693 key_soptions kOPT %d shifted options key
694 key_sprevious kPRV %e shifted previous key
695 key_sprint kPRT %f shifted print key
696 key_sr kri kR scroll-backward key
697 key_sredo kRDO %g shifted redo key
698 key_sreplace kRPL %h shifted replace key
699 key_sright kRIT %i shifted right-arrow
701 key_srsume kRES %j shifted resume key
702 key_ssave kSAV !1 shifted save key
703 key_ssuspend kSPD !2 shifted suspend key
704 key_stab khts kT set-tab key
705 key_sundo kUND !3 shifted undo key
706 key_suspend kspd &7 suspend key
707 key_undo kund &8 undo key
708 key_up kcuu1 ku up-arrow key
709 keypad_local rmkx ke leave 'key-
711 keypad_xmit smkx ks enter 'key-
713 lab_f0 lf0 l0 label on function
715 lab_f1 lf1 l1 label on function
717 lab_f10 lf10 la label on function
719 lab_f2 lf2 l2 label on function
721 lab_f3 lf3 l3 label on function
723 lab_f4 lf4 l4 label on function
727 lab_f5 lf5 l5 label on function
729 lab_f6 lf6 l6 label on function
731 lab_f7 lf7 l7 label on function
733 lab_f8 lf8 l8 label on function
735 lab_f9 lf9 l9 label on function
737 label_format fln Lf label format
738 label_off rmln LF turn off soft labels
739 label_on smln LO turn on soft labels
740 meta_off rmm mo turn off meta mode
741 meta_on smm mm turn on meta mode
743 micro_column_address mhpa ZY Like column_address
745 micro_down mcud1 ZZ Like cursor_down in
747 micro_left mcub1 Za Like cursor_left in
749 micro_right mcuf1 Zb Like cursor_right in
751 micro_row_address mvpa Zc Like row_address #1
753 micro_up mcuu1 Zd Like cursor_up in
755 newline nel nw newline (behave like
757 order_of_pins porder Ze Match software bits
759 orig_colors oc oc Set all color pairs
761 orig_pair op op Set default pair to
763 pad_char pad pc padding char
765 parm_dch dch DC delete #1 characters
767 parm_delete_line dl DL delete #1 lines (P*)
768 parm_down_cursor cud DO down #1 lines (P*)
769 parm_down_micro mcud Zf Like parm_down_cur-
771 parm_ich ich IC insert #1 characters
773 parm_index indn SF scroll forward #1
775 parm_insert_line il AL insert #1 lines (P*)
776 parm_left_cursor cub LE move #1 characters
778 parm_left_micro mcub Zg Like parm_left_cur-
780 parm_right_cursor cuf RI move #1 characters
782 parm_right_micro mcuf Zh Like parm_right_cur-
784 parm_rindex rin SR scroll back #1 lines
786 parm_up_cursor cuu UP up #1 lines (P*)
787 parm_up_micro mcuu Zi Like parm_up_cursor
789 pkey_key pfkey pk program function key
793 pkey_local pfloc pl program function key
796 pkey_xmit pfx px program function key
799 plab_norm pln pn program label #1 to
801 print_screen mc0 ps print contents of
803 prtr_non mc5p pO turn on printer for
805 prtr_off mc4 pf turn off printer
806 prtr_on mc5 po turn on printer
807 pulse pulse PU select pulse dialing
808 quick_dial qdial QD dial number #1 with-
810 remove_clock rmclk RC remove clock
811 repeat_char rep rp repeat char #1 #2
813 req_for_input rfi RF send next input char
815 reset_1string rs1 r1 reset string
816 reset_2string rs2 r2 reset string
817 reset_3string rs3 r3 reset string
818 reset_file rf rf name of reset file
819 restore_cursor rc rc restore cursor to
822 row_address vpa cv vertical position #1
824 save_cursor sc sc save current cursor
826 scroll_forward ind sf scroll text up (P)
827 scroll_reverse ri sr scroll text down (P)
828 select_char_set scs Zj Select character
830 set_attributes sgr sa define video
833 set_background setb Sb Set background color
835 set_bottom_margin smgb Zk Set bottom margin at
837 set_bottom_margin_parm smgbp Zl Set bottom margin at
841 set_clock sclk SC set clock, #1 hrs #2
843 set_color_pair scp sp Set current color
845 set_foreground setf Sf Set foreground color
847 set_left_margin smgl ML set left soft margin
851 set_left_margin_parm smglp Zm Set left (right)
853 set_right_margin smgr MR set right soft mar-
856 set_right_margin_parm smgrp Zn Set right margin at
859 set_tab hts st set a tab in every
861 set_top_margin smgt Zo Set top margin at
863 set_top_margin_parm smgtp Zp Set top (bottom)
865 set_window wind wi current window is
868 start_bit_image sbim Zq Start printing bit
870 start_char_set_def scsd Zr Start character set
874 stop_bit_image rbim Zs Stop printing bit
876 stop_char_set_def rcsd Zt End definition of
878 subscript_characters subcs Zu List of subscript-
880 superscript_characters supcs Zv List of superscript-
882 tab ht ta tab to next 8-space
884 these_cause_cr docr Zw Printing any of
887 to_status_line tsl ts move to status line,
889 tone tone TO select touch tone
891 underline_char uc uc underline char and
893 up_half_line hu hu half a line up
894 user0 u0 u0 User string #0
895 user1 u1 u1 User string #1
896 user2 u2 u2 User string #2
897 user3 u3 u3 User string #3
898 user4 u4 u4 User string #4
899 user5 u5 u5 User string #5
900 user6 u6 u6 User string #6
901 user7 u7 u7 User string #7
902 user8 u8 u8 User string #8
903 user9 u9 u9 User string #9
904 wait_tone wait WA wait for dial-tone
905 xoff_character xoffc XF XOFF character
906 xon_character xonc XN XON character
907 zero_motion zerom Zx No motion for subse-
910 The following string capabilities are present in the
911 SVr4.0 term structure, but were originally not documented
915 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
916 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
917 alt_scancode_esc scesa S8 Alternate escape
920 bit_image_carriage_return bicr Yv Move to beginning
922 bit_image_newline binel Zz Move to next row
925 bit_image_repeat birep Xy Repeat bit image
927 char_set_names csnm Zy Produce #1'th item
930 code_set_init csin ci Init sequence for
932 color_names colornm Yw Give name for
934 define_bit_image_region defbi Yx Define rectan-
937 device_type devt dv Indicate lan-
940 display_pc_char dispc S1 Display PC charac-
942 end_bit_image_region endbi Yy End a bit-image
944 enter_pc_charset_mode smpch S2 Enter PC character
946 enter_scancode_mode smsc S4 Enter PC scancode
948 exit_pc_charset_mode rmpch S3 Exit PC character
950 exit_scancode_mode rmsc S5 Exit PC scancode
952 get_mouse getm Gm Curses should get
956 key_mouse kmous Km Mouse event has
958 mouse_info minfo Mi Mouse status
960 pc_term_options pctrm S6 PC terminal
962 pkey_plab pfxl xl Program function
966 req_mouse_pos reqmp RQ Request mouse
968 scancode_escape scesc S7 Escape for scan-
970 set0_des_seq s0ds s0 Shift to codeset 0
972 set1_des_seq s1ds s1 Shift to codeset 1
973 set2_des_seq s2ds s2 Shift to codeset 2
974 set3_des_seq s3ds s3 Shift to codeset 3
975 set_a_background setab AB Set background
978 set_a_foreground setaf AF Set foreground
981 set_color_band setcolor Yz Change to ribbon
983 set_lr_margin smglr ML Set both left and
988 set_page_length slines YZ Set page length to
991 set_tb_margin smgtb MT Sets both top and
995 The XSI Curses standard added these hardcopy capabili-
996 ties. They were used in some post-4.1 versions of System
997 V curses, e.g., Solaris 2.5 and IRIX 6.x. Except for <STRONG>YI</STRONG>,
998 the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> termcap names for them are invented. Accord-
999 ing to the XSI Curses standard, they have no termcap
1000 names. If your compiled terminfo entries use these, they
1001 may not be binary-compatible with System V terminfo
1002 entries after SVr4.1; beware!
1005 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
1006 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
1007 enter_horizontal_hl_mode ehhlm Xh Enter horizontal
1009 enter_left_hl_mode elhlm Xl Enter left highlight
1011 enter_low_hl_mode elohlm Xo Enter low highlight
1013 enter_right_hl_mode erhlm Xr Enter right high-
1015 enter_top_hl_mode ethlm Xt Enter top highlight
1017 enter_vertical_hl_mode evhlm Xv Enter vertical high-
1019 set_a_attributes sgr1 sA Define second set of
1022 set_pglen_inch slengthYI Set page length to
1024 inch (some implemen-
1030 <H3><a name="h3-User-Defined-Capabilities">User-Defined Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
1031 The preceding section listed the <EM>predefined</EM> capabilities.
1032 They deal with some special features for terminals no
1033 longer (or possibly never) produced. Occasionally there
1034 are special features of newer terminals which are awkward
1035 or impossible to represent by reusing the predefined capa-
1038 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> addresses this limitation by allowing user-defined
1039 capabilities. The <STRONG>tic</STRONG> and <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> programs provide the <STRONG>-x</STRONG>
1040 option for this purpose. When <STRONG>-x</STRONG> is set, <STRONG>tic</STRONG> treats
1041 unknown capabilities as user-defined. That is, if <STRONG>tic</STRONG>
1042 encounters a capability name which it does not recognize,
1043 it infers its type (boolean, number or string) from the
1044 syntax and makes an extended table entry for that capabil-
1045 ity. The <STRONG>use_extended_names</STRONG> function makes this informa-
1046 tion conditionally available to applications. The ncurses
1047 library provides the data leaving most of the behavior to
1050 <STRONG>o</STRONG> User-defined capability strings whose name begins with
1051 "k" are treated as function keys.
1053 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The types (boolean, number, string) determined by <STRONG>tic</STRONG>
1054 can be inferred by successful calls on <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, etc.
1056 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the capability name happens to be two characters,
1057 the capability is also available through the termcap
1060 While termcap is said to be extensible because it does not
1061 use a predefined set of capabilities, in practice it has
1062 been limited to the capabilities defined by terminfo
1063 implementations. As a rule, user-defined capabilities
1064 intended for use by termcap applications should be limited
1065 to booleans and numbers to avoid running past the 1023
1066 byte limit assumed by termcap implementations and their
1067 applications. In particular, providing extended sets of
1068 function keys (past the 60 numbered keys and the handful
1069 of special named keys) is best done using the longer names
1070 available using terminfo.
1074 <H3><a name="h3-A-Sample-Entry">A Sample Entry</a></H3><PRE>
1075 The following entry, describing an ANSI-standard terminal,
1076 is representative of what a <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> entry for a modern
1077 terminal typically looks like.
1079 ansi|ansi/pc-term compatible with color,
1080 am, mc5i, mir, msgr,
1081 colors#8, cols#80, it#8, lines#24, ncv#3, pairs#64,
1082 acsc=+\020\,\021-\030.^Y0\333`\004a\261f\370g\361h\260
1083 j\331k\277l\332m\300n\305o~p\304q\304r\304s_t\303
1084 u\264v\301w\302x\263y\363z\362{\343|\330}\234~\376,
1085 bel=^G, blink=\E[5m, bold=\E[1m, cbt=\E[Z, clear=\E[H\E[J,
1086 cr=^M, cub=\E[%p1%dD, cub1=\E[D, cud=\E[%p1%dB, cud1=\E[B,
1087 cuf=\E[%p1%dC, cuf1=\E[C, cup=\E[%i%p1%d;%p2%dH,
1088 cuu=\E[%p1%dA, cuu1=\E[A, dch=\E[%p1%dP, dch1=\E[P,
1089 dl=\E[%p1%dM, dl1=\E[M, ech=\E[%p1%dX, ed=\E[J, el=\E[K,
1090 el1=\E[1K, home=\E[H, hpa=\E[%i%p1%dG, ht=\E[I, hts=\EH,
1091 ich=\E[%p1%d@, il=\E[%p1%dL, il1=\E[L, ind=^J,
1092 indn=\E[%p1%dS, invis=\E[8m, kbs=^H, kcbt=\E[Z, kcub1=\E[D,
1093 kcud1=\E[B, kcuf1=\E[C, kcuu1=\E[A, khome=\E[H, kich1=\E[L,
1094 mc4=\E[4i, mc5=\E[5i, nel=\r\E[S, op=\E[39;49m,
1095 rep=%p1%c\E[%p2%{1}%-%db, rev=\E[7m, rin=\E[%p1%dT,
1096 rmacs=\E[10m, rmpch=\E[10m, rmso=\E[m, rmul=\E[m,
1097 s0ds=\E(B, s1ds=\E)B, s2ds=\E*B, s3ds=\E+B,
1098 setab=\E[4%p1%dm, setaf=\E[3%p1%dm,
1099 sgr=\E[0;10%?%p1%t;7%;
1106 sgr0=\E[0;10m, smacs=\E[11m, smpch=\E[11m, smso=\E[7m,
1107 smul=\E[4m, tbc=\E[3g, u6=\E[%i%d;%dR, u7=\E[6n,
1108 u8=\E[?%[;0123456789]c, u9=\E[c, vpa=\E[%i%p1%dd,
1110 Entries may continue onto multiple lines by placing white
1111 space at the beginning of each line except the first.
1112 Comments may be included on lines beginning with "#".
1113 Capabilities in <EM>terminfo</EM> are of three types:
1115 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Boolean capabilities which indicate that the terminal
1116 has some particular feature,
1118 <STRONG>o</STRONG> numeric capabilities giving the size of the terminal
1119 or the size of particular delays, and
1121 <STRONG>o</STRONG> string capabilities, which give a sequence which can
1122 be used to perform particular terminal operations.
1126 <H3><a name="h3-Types-of-Capabilities">Types of Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
1127 All capabilities have names. For instance, the fact that
1128 ANSI-standard terminals have <EM>automatic</EM> <EM>margins</EM> (i.e., an
1129 automatic return and line-feed when the end of a line is
1130 reached) is indicated by the capability <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Hence the
1131 description of ansi includes <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Numeric capabilities are
1132 followed by the character "#" and then a positive value.
1133 Thus <STRONG>cols</STRONG>, which indicates the number of columns the ter-
1134 minal has, gives the value "80" for ansi. Values for
1135 numeric capabilities may be specified in decimal, octal or
1136 hexadecimal, using the C programming language conventions
1137 (e.g., 255, 0377 and 0xff or 0xFF).
1139 Finally, string valued capabilities, such as <STRONG>el</STRONG> (clear to
1140 end of line sequence) are given by the two-character code,
1141 an "=", and then a string ending at the next following
1144 A number of escape sequences are provided in the string
1145 valued capabilities for easy encoding of characters there.
1146 Both <STRONG>\E</STRONG> and <STRONG>\e</STRONG> map to an ESCAPE character, <STRONG>^x</STRONG> maps to a
1147 control-x for any appropriate x, and the sequences <STRONG>\n</STRONG> <STRONG>\l</STRONG>
1148 <STRONG>\r</STRONG> <STRONG>\t</STRONG> <STRONG>\b</STRONG> <STRONG>\f</STRONG> <STRONG>\s</STRONG> give a newline, line-feed, return, tab,
1149 backspace, form-feed, and space. Other escapes include
1151 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\^</STRONG> for <STRONG>^</STRONG>,
1153 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\\</STRONG> for <STRONG>\</STRONG>,
1155 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\</STRONG>, for comma,
1157 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\:</STRONG> for <STRONG>:</STRONG>,
1159 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>\0</STRONG> for null.
1161 <STRONG>\0</STRONG> will produce \200, which does not terminate a
1162 string but behaves as a null character on most termi-
1163 nals, providing CS7 is specified. See <STRONG>stty(1)</STRONG>.
1165 The reason for this quirk is to maintain binary com-
1166 patibility of the compiled terminfo files with other
1167 implementations, e.g., the SVr4 systems, which docu-
1168 ment this. Compiled terminfo files use null-termi-
1169 nated strings, with no lengths. Modifying this would
1170 require a new binary format, which would not work with
1171 other implementations.
1173 Finally, characters may be given as three octal digits
1174 after a <STRONG>\</STRONG>.
1176 A delay in milliseconds may appear anywhere in a string
1177 capability, enclosed in $<..> brackets, as in <STRONG>el</STRONG>=\EK$<5>,
1178 and padding characters are supplied by <EM>tputs</EM> to provide
1179 this delay. The delay must be a number with at most one
1180 decimal place of precision; it may be followed by suffixes
1181 "*" or "/" or both. A "*" indicates that the padding
1182 required is proportional to the number of lines affected
1183 by the operation, and the amount given is the per-
1184 affected-unit padding required. (In the case of insert
1185 character, the factor is still the number of <EM>lines</EM>
1186 affected.) Normally, padding is advisory if the device
1187 has the <STRONG>xon</STRONG> capability; it is used for cost computation
1188 but does not trigger delays. A "/" suffix indicates that
1189 the padding is mandatory and forces a delay of the given
1190 number of milliseconds even on devices for which <STRONG>xon</STRONG> is
1191 present to indicate flow control.
1193 Sometimes individual capabilities must be commented out.
1194 To do this, put a period before the capability name. For
1195 example, see the second <STRONG>ind</STRONG> in the example above.
1199 <H3><a name="h3-Fetching-Compiled-Descriptions">Fetching Compiled Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
1200 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library searches for terminal descriptions in
1201 several places. It uses only the first description found.
1202 The library has a compiled-in list of places to search
1203 which can be overridden by environment variables. Before
1204 starting to search, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> eliminates duplicates in its
1207 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the environment variable TERMINFO is set, it is
1208 interpreted as the pathname of a directory containing
1209 the compiled description you are working on. Only
1210 that directory is searched.
1212 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If TERMINFO is not set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> will instead look in
1213 the directory <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> for a compiled descrip-
1216 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Next, if the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS is
1217 set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> will interpret the contents of that vari-
1218 able as a list of colon-separated directories (or
1219 database files) to be searched.
1221 An empty directory name (i.e., if the variable begins
1222 or ends with a colon, or contains adacent colons) is
1223 interpreted as the system location <EM>/usr/share/ter-</EM>
1226 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Finally, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> searches these compiled-in locations:
1228 <STRONG>o</STRONG> a list of directories
1229 (/usr/local/ncurses/share/terminfo:/usr/share/ter-
1232 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the system terminfo directory, <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>
1233 (the compiled-in default).
1237 <H3><a name="h3-Preparing-Descriptions">Preparing Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
1238 We now outline how to prepare descriptions of terminals.
1239 The most effective way to prepare a terminal description
1240 is by imitating the description of a similar terminal in
1241 <EM>terminfo</EM> and to build up a description gradually, using
1242 partial descriptions with <EM>vi</EM> or some other screen-oriented
1243 program to check that they are correct. Be aware that a
1244 very unusual terminal may expose deficiencies in the abil-
1245 ity of the <EM>terminfo</EM> file to describe it or bugs in the
1246 screen-handling code of the test program.
1248 To get the padding for insert line right (if the terminal
1249 manufacturer did not document it) a severe test is to edit
1250 a large file at 9600 baud, delete 16 or so lines from the
1251 middle of the screen, then hit the "u" key several times
1252 quickly. If the terminal messes up, more padding is usu-
1253 ally needed. A similar test can be used for insert char-
1258 <H3><a name="h3-Basic-Capabilities">Basic Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
1259 The number of columns on each line for the terminal is
1260 given by the <STRONG>cols</STRONG> numeric capability. If the terminal is
1261 a CRT, then the number of lines on the screen is given by
1262 the <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability. If the terminal wraps around to the
1263 beginning of the next line when it reaches the right mar-
1264 gin, then it should have the <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability. If the termi-
1265 nal can clear its screen, leaving the cursor in the home
1266 position, then this is given by the <STRONG>clear</STRONG> string capabil-
1267 ity. If the terminal overstrikes (rather than clearing a
1268 position when a character is struck over) then it should
1269 have the <STRONG>os</STRONG> capability. If the terminal is a printing
1270 terminal, with no soft copy unit, give it both <STRONG>hc</STRONG> and <STRONG>os</STRONG>.
1271 (<STRONG>os</STRONG> applies to storage scope terminals, such as TEKTRONIX
1272 4010 series, as well as hard copy and APL terminals.) If
1273 there is a code to move the cursor to the left edge of the
1274 current row, give this as <STRONG>cr</STRONG>. (Normally this will be car-
1275 riage return, control M.) If there is a code to produce
1276 an audible signal (bell, beep, etc) give this as <STRONG>bel</STRONG>.
1278 If there is a code to move the cursor one position to the
1279 left (such as backspace) that capability should be given
1280 as <STRONG>cub1</STRONG>. Similarly, codes to move to the right, up, and
1281 down should be given as <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>, and <STRONG>cud1</STRONG>. These local
1282 cursor motions should not alter the text they pass over,
1283 for example, you would not normally use "<STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>= " because
1284 the space would erase the character moved over.
1286 A very important point here is that the local cursor
1287 motions encoded in <EM>terminfo</EM> are undefined at the left and
1288 top edges of a CRT terminal. Programs should never
1289 attempt to backspace around the left edge, unless <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is
1290 given, and never attempt to go up locally off the top. In
1291 order to scroll text up, a program will go to the bottom
1292 left corner of the screen and send the <STRONG>ind</STRONG> (index) string.
1294 To scroll text down, a program goes to the top left corner
1295 of the screen and sends the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> (reverse index) string.
1296 The strings <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG> are undefined when not on their
1297 respective corners of the screen.
1299 Parameterized versions of the scrolling sequences are <STRONG>indn</STRONG>
1300 and <STRONG>rin</STRONG> which have the same semantics as <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG> except
1301 that they take one parameter, and scroll that many lines.
1302 They are also undefined except at the appropriate edge of
1305 The <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability tells whether the cursor sticks at the
1306 right edge of the screen when text is output, but this
1307 does not necessarily apply to a <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG> from the last column.
1308 The only local motion which is defined from the left edge
1309 is if <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is given, then a <STRONG>cub1</STRONG> from the left edge will
1310 move to the right edge of the previous row. If <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is not
1311 given, the effect is undefined. This is useful for draw-
1312 ing a box around the edge of the screen, for example. If
1313 the terminal has switch selectable automatic margins, the
1314 <EM>terminfo</EM> file usually assumes that this is on; i.e., <STRONG>am</STRONG>.
1315 If the terminal has a command which moves to the first
1316 column of the next line, that command can be given as <STRONG>nel</STRONG>
1317 (newline). It does not matter if the command clears the
1318 remainder of the current line, so if the terminal has no
1319 <STRONG>cr</STRONG> and <STRONG>lf</STRONG> it may still be possible to craft a working <STRONG>nel</STRONG>
1320 out of one or both of them.
1322 These capabilities suffice to describe hard-copy and
1323 "glass-tty" terminals. Thus the model 33 teletype is
1326 33|tty33|tty|model 33 teletype,
1327 bel=^G, cols#72, cr=^M, cud1=^J, hc, ind=^J, os,
1329 while the Lear Siegler ADM-3 is described as
1332 am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
1337 <H3><a name="h3-Parameterized-Strings">Parameterized Strings</a></H3><PRE>
1338 Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters
1339 in the terminal are described by a parameterized string
1340 capability, with <EM>printf</EM>-like escapes such as <EM>%x</EM> in it.
1341 For example, to address the cursor, the <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is
1342 given, using two parameters: the row and column to address
1343 to. (Rows and columns are numbered from zero and refer to
1344 the physical screen visible to the user, not to any unseen
1345 memory.) If the terminal has memory relative cursor
1346 addressing, that can be indicated by <STRONG>mrcup</STRONG>.
1348 The parameter mechanism uses a stack and special <STRONG>%</STRONG> codes
1349 to manipulate it. Typically a sequence will push one of
1350 the parameters onto the stack and then print it in some
1351 format. Print (e.g., "%d") is a special case. Other
1352 operations, including "%t" pop their operand from the
1353 stack. It is noted that more complex operations are often
1354 necessary, e.g., in the <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> string.
1356 The <STRONG>%</STRONG> encodings have the following meanings:
1358 <STRONG>%%</STRONG> outputs "%"
1360 <STRONG>%</STRONG><EM>[[</EM>:<EM>]flags][width[.precision]][</EM><STRONG>doxXs</STRONG><EM>]</EM>
1361 as in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>, flags are <EM>[-+#]</EM> and <EM>space</EM>. Use a ":"
1362 to allow the next character to be a "-" flag, avoid-
1363 ing interpreting "%-" as an operator.
1365 %c print pop() like %c in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
1367 <STRONG>%s</STRONG> print pop() like %s in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
1369 <STRONG>%p</STRONG><EM>[1-9]</EM>
1370 push <EM>i</EM>'th parameter
1372 <STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[a-z]</EM>
1373 set dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to pop()
1375 <STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[a-z]/</EM>
1376 get dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
1378 <STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
1379 set static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to <EM>pop()</EM>
1381 <STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
1382 get static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
1384 The terms "static" and "dynamic" are misleading.
1385 Historically, these are simply two different sets of
1386 variables, whose values are not reset between calls
1387 to <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>. However, that fact is not documented in
1388 other implementations. Relying on it will adversely
1389 impact portability to other implementations.
1391 <STRONG>%'</STRONG><EM>c</EM><STRONG>'</STRONG> char constant <EM>c</EM>
1393 <STRONG>%{</STRONG><EM>nn</EM><STRONG>}</STRONG>
1394 integer constant <EM>nn</EM>
1396 <STRONG>%l</STRONG> push strlen(pop)
1398 <STRONG>%+</STRONG>, <STRONG>%-</STRONG>, <STRONG>%*</STRONG>, <STRONG>%/</STRONG>, <STRONG>%m</STRONG>
1399 arithmetic (%m is mod): <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1401 <STRONG>%&</STRONG>, <STRONG>%|</STRONG>, <STRONG>%^</STRONG>
1402 bit operations (AND, OR and exclusive-OR): <EM>push(pop()</EM>
1403 <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1405 <STRONG>%=</STRONG>, <STRONG>%></STRONG>, <STRONG>%<</STRONG>
1406 logical operations: <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1408 <STRONG>%A</STRONG>, <STRONG>%O</STRONG>
1409 logical AND and OR operations (for conditionals)
1411 <STRONG>%!</STRONG>, <STRONG>%~</STRONG>
1412 unary operations (logical and bit complement):
1415 <STRONG>%i</STRONG> add 1 to first two parameters (for ANSI terminals)
1417 <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> <STRONG>%t</STRONG> <EM>thenpart</EM> <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> <STRONG>%;</STRONG>
1418 This forms an if-then-else. The <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> is
1419 optional. Usually the <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> part pushes a value
1420 onto the stack, and <STRONG>%t</STRONG> pops it from the stack, test-
1421 ing if it is nonzero (true). If it is zero (false),
1422 control passes to the <STRONG>%e</STRONG> (else) part.
1424 It is possible to form else-if's a la Algol 68:
1425 <STRONG>%?</STRONG> c1 <STRONG>%t</STRONG> b1 <STRONG>%e</STRONG> c2 <STRONG>%t</STRONG> b2 <STRONG>%e</STRONG> c3 <STRONG>%t</STRONG> b3 <STRONG>%e</STRONG> c4 <STRONG>%t</STRONG> b4 <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <STRONG>%;</STRONG>
1427 where ci are conditions, bi are bodies.
1429 Use the <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> or <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> to see the struc-
1430 ture of if-then-else's. Some strings, e.g., <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> can
1431 be very complicated when written on one line. The <STRONG>-f</STRONG>
1432 option splits the string into lines with the parts
1435 Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands in
1436 the usual order. That is, to get x-5 one would use
1437 "%gx%{5}%-". <STRONG>%P</STRONG> and <STRONG>%g</STRONG> variables are persistent across
1438 escape-string evaluations.
1440 Consider the HP2645, which, to get to row 3 and column 12,
1441 needs to be sent \E&a12c03Y padded for 6 milliseconds.
1442 Note that the order of the rows and columns is inverted
1443 here, and that the row and column are printed as two dig-
1444 its. Thus its <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is "cup=6\E&%p2%2dc%p1%2dY".
1446 The Microterm ACT-IV needs the current row and column sent
1447 preceded by a <STRONG>^T</STRONG>, with the row and column simply encoded
1448 in binary, "cup=^T%p1%c%p2%c". Terminals which use "%c"
1449 need to be able to backspace the cursor (<STRONG>cub1</STRONG>), and to
1450 move the cursor up one line on the screen (<STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>). This is
1451 necessary because it is not always safe to transmit <STRONG>\n</STRONG> <STRONG>^D</STRONG>
1452 and <STRONG>\r</STRONG>, as the system may change or discard them. (The
1453 library routines dealing with terminfo set tty modes so
1454 that tabs are never expanded, so \t is safe to send. This
1455 turns out to be essential for the Ann Arbor 4080.)
1457 A final example is the LSI ADM-3a, which uses row and col-
1458 umn offset by a blank character, thus "cup=\E=%p1%'
1459 '%+%c%p2%' '%+%c". After sending "\E=", this pushes the
1460 first parameter, pushes the ASCII value for a space (32),
1461 adds them (pushing the sum on the stack in place of the
1462 two previous values) and outputs that value as a charac-
1463 ter. Then the same is done for the second parameter.
1464 More complex arithmetic is possible using the stack.
1468 <H3><a name="h3-Cursor-Motions">Cursor Motions</a></H3><PRE>
1469 If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very
1470 upper left corner of screen) then this can be given as
1471 <STRONG>home</STRONG>; similarly a fast way of getting to the lower left-
1472 hand corner can be given as <STRONG>ll</STRONG>; this may involve going up
1473 with <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG> from the home position, but a program should
1474 never do this itself (unless <STRONG>ll</STRONG> does) because it can make
1475 no assumption about the effect of moving up from the home
1476 position. Note that the home position is the same as
1477 addressing to (0,0): to the top left corner of the screen,
1478 not of memory. (Thus, the \EH sequence on HP terminals
1479 cannot be used for <STRONG>home</STRONG>.)
1481 If the terminal has row or column absolute cursor address-
1482 ing, these can be given as single parameter capabilities
1483 <STRONG>hpa</STRONG> (horizontal position absolute) and <STRONG>vpa</STRONG> (vertical posi-
1484 tion absolute). Sometimes these are shorter than the more
1485 general two parameter sequence (as with the hp2645) and
1486 can be used in preference to <STRONG>cup</STRONG>. If there are parameter-
1487 ized local motions (e.g., move <EM>n</EM> spaces to the right)
1488 these can be given as <STRONG>cud</STRONG>, <STRONG>cub</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuf</STRONG>, and <STRONG>cuu</STRONG> with a single
1489 parameter indicating how many spaces to move. These are
1490 primarily useful if the terminal does not have <STRONG>cup</STRONG>, such
1491 as the TEKTRONIX 4025.
1493 If the terminal needs to be in a special mode when running
1494 a program that uses these capabilities, the codes to enter
1495 and exit this mode can be given as <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>. This
1496 arises, for example, from terminals like the Concept with
1497 more than one page of memory. If the terminal has only
1498 memory relative cursor addressing and not screen relative
1499 cursor addressing, a one screen-sized window must be fixed
1500 into the terminal for cursor addressing to work properly.
1501 This is also used for the TEKTRONIX 4025, where <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sets
1502 the command character to be the one used by terminfo. If
1503 the <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sequence will not restore the screen after an
1504 <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG> sequence is output (to the state prior to outputting
1505 <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>), specify <STRONG>nrrmc</STRONG>.
1509 <H3><a name="h3-Area-Clears">Area Clears</a></H3><PRE>
1510 If the terminal can clear from the current position to the
1511 end of the line, leaving the cursor where it is, this
1512 should be given as <STRONG>el</STRONG>. If the terminal can clear from the
1513 beginning of the line to the current position inclusive,
1514 leaving the cursor where it is, this should be given as
1515 <STRONG>el1</STRONG>. If the terminal can clear from the current position
1516 to the end of the display, then this should be given as
1517 <STRONG>ed</STRONG>. <STRONG>Ed</STRONG> is only defined from the first column of a line.
1518 (Thus, it can be simulated by a request to delete a large
1519 number of lines, if a true <STRONG>ed</STRONG> is not available.)
1523 <H3><a name="h3-Insert_delete-line-and-vertical-motions">Insert/delete line and vertical motions</a></H3><PRE>
1524 If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line
1525 where the cursor is, this should be given as <STRONG>il1</STRONG>; this is
1526 done only from the first position of a line. The cursor
1527 must then appear on the newly blank line. If the terminal
1528 can delete the line which the cursor is on, then this
1529 should be given as <STRONG>dl1</STRONG>; this is done only from the first
1530 position on the line to be deleted. Versions of <STRONG>il1</STRONG> and
1531 <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> which take a single parameter and insert or delete
1532 that many lines can be given as <STRONG>il</STRONG> and <STRONG>dl</STRONG>.
1534 If the terminal has a settable scrolling region (like the
1535 vt100) the command to set this can be described with the
1536 <STRONG>csr</STRONG> capability, which takes two parameters: the top and
1537 bottom lines of the scrolling region. The cursor position
1538 is, alas, undefined after using this command.
1540 It is possible to get the effect of insert or delete line
1541 using <STRONG>csr</STRONG> on a properly chosen region; the <STRONG>sc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (save
1542 and restore cursor) commands may be useful for ensuring
1543 that your synthesized insert/delete string does not move
1544 the cursor. (Note that the <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG> library does this
1545 synthesis automatically, so you need not compose
1546 insert/delete strings for an entry with <STRONG>csr</STRONG>).
1548 Yet another way to construct insert and delete might be to
1549 use a combination of index with the memory-lock feature
1550 found on some terminals (like the HP-700/90 series, which
1551 however also has insert/delete).
1553 Inserting lines at the top or bottom of the screen can
1554 also be done using <STRONG>ri</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG> on many terminals without a
1555 true insert/delete line, and is often faster even on ter-
1556 minals with those features.
1558 The boolean <STRONG>non_dest_scroll_region</STRONG> should be set if each
1559 scrolling window is effectively a view port on a screen-
1560 sized canvas. To test for this capability, create a
1561 scrolling region in the middle of the screen, write some-
1562 thing to the bottom line, move the cursor to the top of
1563 the region, and do <STRONG>ri</STRONG> followed by <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG>. If the data
1564 scrolled off the bottom of the region by the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> re-
1565 appears, then scrolling is non-destructive. System V and
1566 XSI Curses expect that <STRONG>ind</STRONG>, <STRONG>ri</STRONG>, <STRONG>indn</STRONG>, and <STRONG>rin</STRONG> will simu-
1567 late destructive scrolling; their documentation cautions
1568 you not to define <STRONG>csr</STRONG> unless this is true. This <STRONG>curses</STRONG>
1569 implementation is more liberal and will do explicit erases
1570 after scrolling if <STRONG>ndstr</STRONG> is defined.
1572 If the terminal has the ability to define a window as part
1573 of memory, which all commands affect, it should be given
1574 as the parameterized string <STRONG>wind</STRONG>. The four parameters are
1575 the starting and ending lines in memory and the starting
1576 and ending columns in memory, in that order.
1578 If the terminal can retain display memory above, then the
1579 <STRONG>da</STRONG> capability should be given; if display memory can be
1580 retained below, then <STRONG>db</STRONG> should be given. These indicate
1581 that deleting a line or scrolling may bring non-blank
1582 lines up from below or that scrolling back with <STRONG>ri</STRONG> may
1583 bring down non-blank lines.
1587 <H3><a name="h3-Insert_Delete-Character">Insert/Delete Character</a></H3><PRE>
1588 There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with
1589 respect to insert/delete character which can be described
1590 using <EM>terminfo.</EM> The most common insert/delete character
1591 operations affect only the characters on the current line
1592 and shift characters off the end of the line rigidly.
1593 Other terminals, such as the Concept 100 and the Perkin
1594 Elmer Owl, make a distinction between typed and untyped
1595 blanks on the screen, shifting upon an insert or delete
1596 only to an untyped blank on the screen which is either
1597 eliminated, or expanded to two untyped blanks.
1599 You can determine the kind of terminal you have by clear-
1600 ing the screen and then typing text separated by cursor
1601 motions. Type "abc def" using local cursor motions
1602 (not spaces) between the "abc" and the "def". Then posi-
1603 tion the cursor before the "abc" and put the terminal in
1604 insert mode. If typing characters causes the rest of the
1605 line to shift rigidly and characters to fall off the end,
1606 then your terminal does not distinguish between blanks and
1607 untyped positions. If the "abc" shifts over to the "def"
1608 which then move together around the end of the current
1609 line and onto the next as you insert, you have the second
1610 type of terminal, and should give the capability <STRONG>in</STRONG>, which
1611 stands for "insert null".
1613 While these are two logically separate attributes (one
1614 line versus multi-line insert mode, and special treatment
1615 of untyped spaces) we have seen no terminals whose insert
1616 mode cannot be described with the single attribute.
1618 Terminfo can describe both terminals which have an insert
1619 mode, and terminals which send a simple sequence to open a
1620 blank position on the current line. Give as <STRONG>smir</STRONG> the
1621 sequence to get into insert mode. Give as <STRONG>rmir</STRONG> the
1622 sequence to leave insert mode. Now give as <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> any
1623 sequence needed to be sent just before sending the charac-
1624 ter to be inserted. Most terminals with a true insert
1625 mode will not give <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>; terminals which send a sequence
1626 to open a screen position should give it here.
1628 If your terminal has both, insert mode is usually prefer-
1629 able to <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>. Technically, you should not give both
1630 unless the terminal actually requires both to be used in
1631 combination. Accordingly, some non-curses applications
1632 get confused if both are present; the symptom is doubled
1633 characters in an update using insert. This requirement is
1634 now rare; most <STRONG>ich</STRONG> sequences do not require previous smir,
1635 and most smir insert modes do not require <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> before each
1636 character. Therefore, the new <STRONG>curses</STRONG> actually assumes
1637 this is the case and uses either <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> or <STRONG>ich</STRONG>/<STRONG>ich1</STRONG> as
1638 appropriate (but not both). If you have to write an entry
1639 to be used under new curses for a terminal old enough to
1640 need both, include the <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> sequences in <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>.
1642 If post insert padding is needed, give this as a number of
1643 milliseconds in <STRONG>ip</STRONG> (a string option). Any other sequence
1644 which may need to be sent after an insert of a single
1645 character may also be given in <STRONG>ip</STRONG>. If your terminal needs
1646 both to be placed into an "insert mode" and a special code
1647 to precede each inserted character, then both <STRONG>smir</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmir</STRONG>
1648 and <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> can be given, and both will be used. The <STRONG>ich</STRONG>
1649 capability, with one parameter, <EM>n</EM>, will repeat the effects
1650 of <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> <EM>n</EM> times.
1652 If padding is necessary between characters typed while not
1653 in insert mode, give this as a number of milliseconds pad-
1654 ding in <STRONG>rmp</STRONG>.
1656 It is occasionally necessary to move around while in
1657 insert mode to delete characters on the same line (e.g.,
1658 if there is a tab after the insertion position). If your
1659 terminal allows motion while in insert mode you can give
1660 the capability <STRONG>mir</STRONG> to speed up inserting in this case.
1661 Omitting <STRONG>mir</STRONG> will affect only speed. Some terminals
1662 (notably Datamedia's) must not have <STRONG>mir</STRONG> because of the way
1663 their insert mode works.
1665 Finally, you can specify <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to delete a single charac-
1666 ter, <STRONG>dch</STRONG> with one parameter, <EM>n</EM>, to delete <EM>n</EM> <EM>characters,</EM>
1667 and delete mode by giving <STRONG>smdc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmdc</STRONG> to enter and exit
1668 delete mode (any mode the terminal needs to be placed in
1669 for <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to work).
1671 A command to erase <EM>n</EM> characters (equivalent to outputting
1672 <EM>n</EM> blanks without moving the cursor) can be given as <STRONG>ech</STRONG>
1677 <H3><a name="h3-Highlighting_-Underlining_-and-Visible-Bells">Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells</a></H3><PRE>
1678 If your terminal has one or more kinds of display
1679 attributes, these can be represented in a number of dif-
1680 ferent ways. You should choose one display form as <EM>stand-</EM>
1681 <EM>out</EM> <EM>mode</EM>, representing a good, high contrast, easy-on-the-
1682 eyes, format for highlighting error messages and other
1683 attention getters. (If you have a choice, reverse video
1684 plus half-bright is good, or reverse video alone.) The
1685 sequences to enter and exit standout mode are given as
1686 <STRONG>smso</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmso</STRONG>, respectively. If the code to change into
1687 or out of standout mode leaves one or even two blank spa-
1688 ces on the screen, as the TVI 912 and Teleray 1061 do,
1689 then <STRONG>xmc</STRONG> should be given to tell how many spaces are left.
1691 Codes to begin underlining and end underlining can be
1692 given as <STRONG>smul</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmul</STRONG> respectively. If the terminal has
1693 a code to underline the current character and move the
1694 cursor one space to the right, such as the Microterm Mime,
1695 this can be given as <STRONG>uc</STRONG>.
1697 Other capabilities to enter various highlighting modes
1698 include <STRONG>blink</STRONG> (blinking) <STRONG>bold</STRONG> (bold or extra bright) <STRONG>dim</STRONG>
1699 (dim or half-bright) <STRONG>invis</STRONG> (blanking or invisible text)
1700 <STRONG>prot</STRONG> (protected) <STRONG>rev</STRONG> (reverse video) <STRONG>sgr0</STRONG> (turn off <EM>all</EM>
1701 attribute modes) <STRONG>smacs</STRONG> (enter alternate character set
1702 mode) and <STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> (exit alternate character set mode).
1703 Turning on any of these modes singly may or may not turn
1706 If there is a sequence to set arbitrary combinations of
1707 modes, this should be given as <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> (set attributes), tak-
1708 ing 9 parameters. Each parameter is either 0 or nonzero,
1709 as the corresponding attribute is on or off. The 9 param-
1710 eters are, in order: standout, underline, reverse, blink,
1711 dim, bold, blank, protect, alternate character set. Not
1712 all modes need be supported by <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>, only those for which
1713 corresponding separate attribute commands exist.
1715 For example, the DEC vt220 supports most of the modes:
1717 <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> <STRONG>parameter</STRONG> <STRONG>attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>escape</STRONG> <STRONG>sequence</STRONG>
1720 p1 standout \E[0;1;7m
1721 p2 underline \E[0;4m
1724 p5 dim not available
1728 p9 altcharset ^O (off) ^N (on)
1730 We begin each escape sequence by turning off any existing
1731 modes, since there is no quick way to determine whether
1732 they are active. Standout is set up to be the combination
1733 of reverse and bold. The vt220 terminal has a protect
1734 mode, though it is not commonly used in sgr because it
1735 protects characters on the screen from the host's era-
1736 sures. The altcharset mode also is different in that it
1737 is either ^O or ^N, depending on whether it is off or on.
1738 If all modes are turned on, the resulting sequence is
1741 Some sequences are common to different modes. For exam-
1742 ple, ;7 is output when either p1 or p3 is true, that is,
1743 if either standout or reverse modes are turned on.
1745 Writing out the above sequences, along with their depen-
1748 <STRONG>sequence</STRONG> <STRONG>when</STRONG> <STRONG>to</STRONG> <STRONG>output</STRONG> <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> <STRONG>translation</STRONG>
1751 ;1 if p1 or p6 %?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;
1752 ;4 if p2 %?%p2%|%t;4%;
1753 ;5 if p4 %?%p4%|%t;5%;
1754 ;7 if p1 or p3 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;
1755 ;8 if p7 %?%p7%|%t;8%;
1757 ^N or ^O if p9 ^N, else ^O %?%p9%t^N%e^O%;
1759 Putting this all together into the sgr sequence gives:
1761 sgr=\E[0%?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p4%t;5%;
1762 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;%?%p7%t;8%;m%?%p9%t\016%e\017%;,
1764 Remember that if you specify sgr, you must also specify
1765 sgr0. Also, some implementations rely on sgr being given
1766 if sgr0 is, Not all terminfo entries necessarily have an
1767 sgr string, however. Many terminfo entries are derived
1768 from termcap entries which have no sgr string. The only
1769 drawback to adding an sgr string is that termcap also
1770 assumes that sgr0 does not exit alternate character set
1773 Terminals with the "magic cookie" glitch (<STRONG>xmc</STRONG>) deposit
1774 special "cookies" when they receive mode-setting
1775 sequences, which affect the display algorithm rather than
1776 having extra bits for each character. Some terminals,
1777 such as the HP 2621, automatically leave standout mode
1778 when they move to a new line or the cursor is addressed.
1779 Programs using standout mode should exit standout mode
1780 before moving the cursor or sending a newline, unless the
1781 <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> capability, asserting that it is safe to move in
1782 standout mode, is present.
1784 If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indi-
1785 cate an error quietly (a bell replacement) then this can
1786 be given as <STRONG>flash</STRONG>; it must not move the cursor.
1788 If the cursor needs to be made more visible than normal
1789 when it is not on the bottom line (to make, for example, a
1790 non-blinking underline into an easier to find block or
1791 blinking underline) give this sequence as <STRONG>cvvis</STRONG>. If there
1792 is a way to make the cursor completely invisible, give
1793 that as <STRONG>civis</STRONG>. The capability <STRONG>cnorm</STRONG> should be given which
1794 undoes the effects of both of these modes.
1796 If your terminal correctly generates underlined characters
1797 (with no special codes needed) even though it does not
1798 overstrike, then you should give the capability <STRONG>ul</STRONG>. If a
1799 character overstriking another leaves both characters on
1800 the screen, specify the capability <STRONG>os</STRONG>. If overstrikes are
1801 erasable with a blank, then this should be indicated by
1802 giving <STRONG>eo</STRONG>.
1806 <H3><a name="h3-Keypad-and-Function-Keys">Keypad and Function Keys</a></H3><PRE>
1807 If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes when the
1808 keys are pressed, this information can be given. Note
1809 that it is not possible to handle terminals where the key-
1810 pad only works in local (this applies, for example, to the
1811 unshifted HP 2621 keys). If the keypad can be set to
1812 transmit or not transmit, give these codes as <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> and
1813 <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG>. Otherwise the keypad is assumed to always transmit.
1815 The codes sent by the left arrow, right arrow, up arrow,
1816 down arrow, and home keys can be given as <STRONG>kcub1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuf1,</STRONG>
1817 <STRONG>kcuu1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcud1,</STRONG> and <STRONG>khome</STRONG> respectively. If there are func-
1818 tion keys such as f0, f1, ..., f10, the codes they send
1819 can be given as <STRONG>kf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf10</STRONG>. If these keys have
1820 labels other than the default f0 through f10, the labels
1821 can be given as <STRONG>lf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf10</STRONG>.
1823 The codes transmitted by certain other special keys can be
1826 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kll</STRONG> (home down),
1828 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kbs</STRONG> (backspace),
1830 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ktbc</STRONG> (clear all tabs),
1832 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kctab</STRONG> (clear the tab stop in this column),
1834 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kclr</STRONG> (clear screen or erase key),
1836 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdch1</STRONG> (delete character),
1838 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdl1</STRONG> (delete line),
1840 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>krmir</STRONG> (exit insert mode),
1842 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kel</STRONG> (clear to end of line),
1844 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ked</STRONG> (clear to end of screen),
1846 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kich1</STRONG> (insert character or enter insert mode),
1848 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kil1</STRONG> (insert line),
1850 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>knp</STRONG> (next page),
1852 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kpp</STRONG> (previous page),
1854 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kind</STRONG> (scroll forward/down),
1856 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kri</STRONG> (scroll backward/up),
1858 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>khts</STRONG> (set a tab stop in this column).
1860 In addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3 array of keys
1861 including the four arrow keys, the other five keys can be
1862 given as <STRONG>ka1</STRONG>, <STRONG>ka3</STRONG>, <STRONG>kb2</STRONG>, <STRONG>kc1</STRONG>, and <STRONG>kc3</STRONG>. These keys are use-
1863 ful when the effects of a 3 by 3 directional pad are
1866 Strings to program function keys can be given as <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG>,
1867 <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG>, and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG>. A string to program screen labels should
1868 be specified as <STRONG>pln</STRONG>. Each of these strings takes two
1869 parameters: the function key number to program (from 0 to
1870 10) and the string to program it with. Function key num-
1871 bers out of this range may program undefined keys in a
1872 terminal dependent manner. The difference between the
1873 capabilities is that <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG> causes pressing the given key
1874 to be the same as the user typing the given string; <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG>
1875 causes the string to be executed by the terminal in local;
1876 and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG> causes the string to be transmitted to the com-
1879 The capabilities <STRONG>nlab</STRONG>, <STRONG>lw</STRONG> and <STRONG>lh</STRONG> define the number of pro-
1880 grammable screen labels and their width and height. If
1881 there are commands to turn the labels on and off, give
1882 them in <STRONG>smln</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmln</STRONG>. <STRONG>smln</STRONG> is normally output after one
1883 or more pln sequences to make sure that the change becomes
1888 <H3><a name="h3-Tabs-and-Initialization">Tabs and Initialization</a></H3><PRE>
1889 If the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance
1890 to the next tab stop can be given as <STRONG>ht</STRONG> (usually control
1891 I). A "back-tab" command which moves leftward to the pre-
1892 ceding tab stop can be given as <STRONG>cbt</STRONG>. By convention, if
1893 the teletype modes indicate that tabs are being expanded
1894 by the computer rather than being sent to the terminal,
1895 programs should not use <STRONG>ht</STRONG> or <STRONG>cbt</STRONG> even if they are
1896 present, since the user may not have the tab stops prop-
1897 erly set. If the terminal has hardware tabs which are
1898 initially set every <EM>n</EM> spaces when the terminal is powered
1899 up, the numeric parameter <STRONG>it</STRONG> is given, showing the number
1900 of spaces the tabs are set to. This is normally used by
1901 the <EM>tset</EM> command to determine whether to set the mode for
1902 hardware tab expansion, and whether to set the tab stops.
1903 If the terminal has tab stops that can be saved in non-
1904 volatile memory, the terminfo description can assume that
1905 they are properly set.
1907 Other capabilities include <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, and <STRONG>is3</STRONG>, initializa-
1908 tion strings for the terminal, <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, the path name of a
1909 program to be run to initialize the terminal, and <STRONG>if</STRONG>, the
1910 name of a file containing long initialization strings.
1911 These strings are expected to set the terminal into modes
1912 consistent with the rest of the terminfo description.
1913 They are normally sent to the terminal, by the <EM>init</EM> option
1914 of the <EM>tput</EM> program, each time the user logs in. They
1915 will be printed in the following order:
1918 <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>
1920 output <STRONG>is1</STRONG> <STRONG>is2</STRONG>
1922 set the margins using
1923 <STRONG>mgc</STRONG>, <STRONG>smgl</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgr</STRONG>
1926 <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> and <STRONG>hts</STRONG>
1932 output <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
1934 Most initialization is done with <STRONG>is2</STRONG>. Special terminal
1935 modes can be set up without duplicating strings by putting
1936 the common sequences in <STRONG>is2</STRONG> and special cases in <STRONG>is1</STRONG> and
1937 <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
1939 A set of sequences that does a harder reset from a totally
1940 unknown state can be given as <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rf</STRONG> and <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, analo-
1941 gous to <STRONG>is1</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>is2</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>if</STRONG> and <STRONG>is3</STRONG> respectively. These
1942 strings are output by the <EM>reset</EM> program, which is used
1943 when the terminal gets into a wedged state. Commands are
1944 normally placed in <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG> <STRONG>rs3</STRONG> and <STRONG>rf</STRONG> only if they pro-
1945 duce annoying effects on the screen and are not necessary
1946 when logging in. For example, the command to set the
1947 vt100 into 80-column mode would normally be part of <STRONG>is2</STRONG>,
1948 but it causes an annoying glitch of the screen and is not
1949 normally needed since the terminal is usually already in
1952 The <EM>reset</EM> program writes strings including <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, etc., in
1953 the same order as the <EM>init</EM> program, using <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, etc.,
1954 instead of <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, etc. If any of <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, or <STRONG>rf</STRONG> reset
1955 capability strings are missing, the <EM>reset</EM> program falls
1956 back upon the corresponding initialization capability
1959 If there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can
1960 be given as <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (clear all tab stops) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (set a tab
1961 stop in the current column of every row). If a more com-
1962 plex sequence is needed to set the tabs than can be
1963 described by this, the sequence can be placed in <STRONG>is2</STRONG> or
1964 <STRONG>if</STRONG>.
1968 <H3><a name="h3-Delays-and-Padding">Delays and Padding</a></H3><PRE>
1969 Many older and slower terminals do not support either
1970 XON/XOFF or DTR handshaking, including hard copy terminals
1971 and some very archaic CRTs (including, for example, DEC
1972 VT100s). These may require padding characters after cer-
1973 tain cursor motions and screen changes.
1975 If the terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking for flow control
1976 (that is, it automatically emits ^S back to the host when
1977 its input buffers are close to full), set <STRONG>xon</STRONG>. This capa-
1978 bility suppresses the emission of padding. You can also
1979 set it for memory-mapped console devices effectively that
1980 do not have a speed limit. Padding information should
1981 still be included so that routines can make better deci-
1982 sions about relative costs, but actual pad characters will
1985 If <STRONG>pb</STRONG> (padding baud rate) is given, padding is suppressed
1986 at baud rates below the value of <STRONG>pb</STRONG>. If the entry has no
1987 padding baud rate, then whether padding is emitted or not
1988 is completely controlled by <STRONG>xon</STRONG>.
1990 If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) charac-
1991 ter as a pad, then this can be given as <STRONG>pad</STRONG>. Only the
1992 first character of the <STRONG>pad</STRONG> string is used.
1996 <H3><a name="h3-Status-Lines">Status Lines</a></H3><PRE>
1997 Some terminals have an extra "status line" which is not
1998 normally used by software (and thus not counted in the
1999 terminal's <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability).
2001 The simplest case is a status line which is cursor-
2002 addressable but not part of the main scrolling region on
2003 the screen; the Heathkit H19 has a status line of this
2004 kind, as would a 24-line VT100 with a 23-line scrolling
2005 region set up on initialization. This situation is indi-
2006 cated by the <STRONG>hs</STRONG> capability.
2008 Some terminals with status lines need special sequences to
2009 access the status line. These may be expressed as a
2010 string with single parameter <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> which takes the cursor to
2011 a given zero-origin column on the status line. The capa-
2012 bility <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> must return to the main-screen cursor positions
2013 before the last <STRONG>tsl</STRONG>. You may need to embed the string
2014 values of <STRONG>sc</STRONG> (save cursor) and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (restore cursor) in <STRONG>tsl</STRONG>
2015 and <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> to accomplish this.
2017 The status line is normally assumed to be the same width
2018 as the width of the terminal. If this is untrue, you can
2019 specify it with the numeric capability <STRONG>wsl</STRONG>.
2021 A command to erase or blank the status line may be speci-
2022 fied as <STRONG>dsl</STRONG>.
2024 The boolean capability <STRONG>eslok</STRONG> specifies that escape
2025 sequences, tabs, etc., work ordinarily in the status line.
2027 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation does not yet use any of these
2028 capabilities. They are documented here in case they ever
2033 <H3><a name="h3-Line-Graphics">Line Graphics</a></H3><PRE>
2034 Many terminals have alternate character sets useful for
2035 forms-drawing. Terminfo and <STRONG>curses</STRONG> build in support for
2036 the drawing characters supported by the VT100, with some
2037 characters from the AT&T 4410v1 added. This alternate
2038 character set may be specified by the <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> capability.
2040 <STRONG>Glyph</STRONG> <STRONG>ACS</STRONG> <STRONG>Ascii</STRONG> <STRONG>VT100</STRONG>
2041 <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Default</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG>
2042 UK pound sign ACS_STERLING f }
2043 arrow pointing down ACS_DARROW v .
2044 arrow pointing left ACS_LARROW < ,
2045 arrow pointing right ACS_RARROW > +
2046 arrow pointing up ACS_UARROW ^ -
2047 board of squares ACS_BOARD # h
2048 bullet ACS_BULLET o ~
2049 checker board (stipple) ACS_CKBOARD : a
2050 degree symbol ACS_DEGREE \ f
2051 diamond ACS_DIAMOND + `
2052 greater-than-or-equal-to ACS_GEQUAL > z
2054 horizontal line ACS_HLINE - q
2055 lantern symbol ACS_LANTERN # i
2056 large plus or crossover ACS_PLUS + n
2057 less-than-or-equal-to ACS_LEQUAL < y
2058 lower left corner ACS_LLCORNER + m
2059 lower right corner ACS_LRCORNER + j
2060 not-equal ACS_NEQUAL ! |
2061 plus/minus ACS_PLMINUS # g
2062 scan line 1 ACS_S1 ~ o
2063 scan line 3 ACS_S3 - p
2064 scan line 7 ACS_S7 - r
2065 scan line 9 ACS_S9 _ s
2066 solid square block ACS_BLOCK # 0
2067 tee pointing down ACS_TTEE + w
2068 tee pointing left ACS_RTEE + u
2069 tee pointing right ACS_LTEE + t
2070 tee pointing up ACS_BTEE + v
2071 upper left corner ACS_ULCORNER + l
2072 upper right corner ACS_URCORNER + k
2073 vertical line ACS_VLINE | x
2075 The best way to define a new device's graphics set is to
2076 add a column to a copy of this table for your terminal,
2077 giving the character which (when emitted between
2078 <STRONG>smacs</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> switches) will be rendered as the correspond-
2079 ing graphic. Then read off the VT100/your terminal char-
2080 acter pairs right to left in sequence; these become the
2085 <H3><a name="h3-Color-Handling">Color Handling</a></H3><PRE>
2086 Most color terminals are either "Tektronix-like" or "HP-
2087 like". Tektronix-like terminals have a predefined set of
2088 N colors (where N usually 8), and can set character-cell
2089 foreground and background characters independently, mixing
2090 them into N * N color-pairs. On HP-like terminals, the
2091 use must set each color pair up separately (foreground and
2092 background are not independently settable). Up to M
2093 color-pairs may be set up from 2*M different colors.
2094 ANSI-compatible terminals are Tektronix-like.
2096 Some basic color capabilities are independent of the color
2097 method. The numeric capabilities <STRONG>colors</STRONG> and <STRONG>pairs</STRONG> specify
2098 the maximum numbers of colors and color-pairs that can be
2099 displayed simultaneously. The <STRONG>op</STRONG> (original pair) string
2100 resets foreground and background colors to their default
2101 values for the terminal. The <STRONG>oc</STRONG> string resets all colors
2102 or color-pairs to their default values for the terminal.
2103 Some terminals (including many PC terminal emulators)
2104 erase screen areas with the current background color
2105 rather than the power-up default background; these should
2106 have the boolean capability <STRONG>bce</STRONG>.
2108 To change the current foreground or background color on a
2109 Tektronix-type terminal, use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> (set ANSI foreground)
2110 and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> (set ANSI background) or <STRONG>setf</STRONG> (set foreground)
2111 and <STRONG>setb</STRONG> (set background). These take one parameter, the
2112 color number. The SVr4 documentation describes only
2113 <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>; the XPG4 draft says that "If the terminal
2114 supports ANSI escape sequences to set background and fore-
2115 ground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>, respec-
2116 tively. If the terminal supports other escape sequences
2117 to set background and foreground, they should be coded as
2118 <STRONG>setf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setb</STRONG>, respectively. The <EM>vidputs()</EM> function and
2119 the refresh functions use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> if they are
2122 The <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> and <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> capabilities take a single
2123 numeric argument each. Argument values 0-7 of <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>
2124 are portably defined as follows (the middle column is the
2125 symbolic #define available in the header for the <STRONG>curses</STRONG> or
2126 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> libraries). The terminal hardware is free to map
2127 these as it likes, but the RGB values indicate normal
2128 locations in color space.
2130 <STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
2131 black <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> 0 0, 0, 0
2132 red <STRONG>COLOR_RED</STRONG> 1 max,0,0
2133 green <STRONG>COLOR_GREEN</STRONG> 2 0,max,0
2134 yellow <STRONG>COLOR_YELLOW</STRONG> 3 max,max,0
2135 blue <STRONG>COLOR_BLUE</STRONG> 4 0,0,max
2136 magenta <STRONG>COLOR_MAGENTA</STRONG> 5 max,0,max
2137 cyan <STRONG>COLOR_CYAN</STRONG> 6 0,max,max
2138 white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max,max,max
2140 The argument values of <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> historically correspond
2141 to a different mapping, i.e.,
2143 <STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
2144 black <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> 0 0, 0, 0
2145 blue <STRONG>COLOR_BLUE</STRONG> 1 0,0,max
2146 green <STRONG>COLOR_GREEN</STRONG> 2 0,max,0
2147 cyan <STRONG>COLOR_CYAN</STRONG> 3 0,max,max
2148 red <STRONG>COLOR_RED</STRONG> 4 max,0,0
2149 magenta <STRONG>COLOR_MAGENTA</STRONG> 5 max,0,max
2150 yellow <STRONG>COLOR_YELLOW</STRONG> 6 max,max,0
2151 white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max,max,max
2153 It is important to not confuse the two sets of color capa-
2154 bilities; otherwise red/blue will be interchanged on the
2157 On an HP-like terminal, use <STRONG>scp</STRONG> with a color-pair number
2158 parameter to set which color pair is current.
2160 On a Tektronix-like terminal, the capability <STRONG>ccc</STRONG> may be
2161 present to indicate that colors can be modified. If so,
2162 the <STRONG>initc</STRONG> capability will take a color number (0 to <STRONG>colors</STRONG>
2163 - 1)and three more parameters which describe the color.
2164 These three parameters default to being interpreted as RGB
2165 (Red, Green, Blue) values. If the boolean capability <STRONG>hls</STRONG>
2166 is present, they are instead as HLS (Hue, Lightness, Satu-
2167 ration) indices. The ranges are terminal-dependent.
2169 On an HP-like terminal, <STRONG>initp</STRONG> may give a capability for
2170 changing a color-pair value. It will take seven parame-
2171 ters; a color-pair number (0 to <STRONG>max_pairs</STRONG> - 1), and two
2172 triples describing first background and then foreground
2173 colors. These parameters must be (Red, Green, Blue) or
2174 (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) depending on <STRONG>hls</STRONG>.
2176 On some color terminals, colors collide with highlights.
2177 You can register these collisions with the <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> capability.
2178 This is a bit-mask of attributes not to be used when col-
2179 ors are enabled. The correspondence with the attributes
2180 understood by <STRONG>curses</STRONG> is as follows:
2182 <STRONG>Attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>Bit</STRONG> <STRONG>Decimal</STRONG> <STRONG>Set</STRONG> <STRONG>by</STRONG>
2191 A_ALTCHARSET 8 256 sgr
2192 A_HORIZONTAL 9 512 sgr1
2195 A_RIGHT 12 4096 sgr1
2197 A_VERTICAL 14 16384 sgr1
2198 A_ITALIC 15 32768 sitm
2200 For example, on many IBM PC consoles, the underline
2201 attribute collides with the foreground color blue and is
2202 not available in color mode. These should have an <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>
2205 SVr4 curses does nothing with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>, ncurses recognizes it
2206 and optimizes the output in favor of colors.
2210 <H3><a name="h3-Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</a></H3><PRE>
2211 If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) charac-
2212 ter as a pad, then this can be given as pad. Only the
2213 first character of the pad string is used. If the termi-
2214 nal does not have a pad character, specify npc. Note that
2215 ncurses implements the termcap-compatible <STRONG>PC</STRONG> variable;
2216 though the application may set this value to something
2217 other than a null, ncurses will test <STRONG>npc</STRONG> first and use
2218 napms if the terminal has no pad character.
2220 If the terminal can move up or down half a line, this can
2221 be indicated with <STRONG>hu</STRONG> (half-line up) and <STRONG>hd</STRONG> (half-line
2222 down). This is primarily useful for superscripts and sub-
2223 scripts on hard-copy terminals. If a hard-copy terminal
2224 can eject to the next page (form feed), give this as <STRONG>ff</STRONG>
2225 (usually control L).
2227 If there is a command to repeat a given character a given
2228 number of times (to save time transmitting a large number
2229 of identical characters) this can be indicated with the
2230 parameterized string <STRONG>rep</STRONG>. The first parameter is the
2231 character to be repeated and the second is the number of
2232 times to repeat it. Thus, tparm(repeat_char, 'x', 10) is
2233 the same as "xxxxxxxxxx".
2235 If the terminal has a settable command character, such as
2236 the TEKTRONIX 4025, this can be indicated with <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG>. A
2237 prototype command character is chosen which is used in all
2238 capabilities. This character is given in the <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG> capa-
2239 bility to identify it. The following convention is sup-
2240 ported on some UNIX systems: The environment is to be
2241 searched for a <STRONG>CC</STRONG> variable, and if found, all occurrences
2242 of the prototype character are replaced with the character
2243 in the environment variable.
2245 Terminal descriptions that do not represent a specific
2246 kind of known terminal, such as <EM>switch</EM>, <EM>dialup</EM>, <EM>patch</EM>, and
2247 <EM>network</EM>, should include the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (generic) capability so
2248 that programs can complain that they do not know how to
2249 talk to the terminal. (This capability does not apply to
2250 <EM>virtual</EM> terminal descriptions for which the escape
2251 sequences are known.)
2253 If the terminal has a "meta key" which acts as a shift
2254 key, setting the 8th bit of any character transmitted,
2255 this fact can be indicated with <STRONG>km</STRONG>. Otherwise, software
2256 will assume that the 8th bit is parity and it will usually
2257 be cleared. If strings exist to turn this "meta mode" on
2258 and off, they can be given as <STRONG>smm</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmm</STRONG>.
2260 If the terminal has more lines of memory than will fit on
2261 the screen at once, the number of lines of memory can be
2262 indicated with <STRONG>lm</STRONG>. A value of <STRONG>lm</STRONG>#0 indicates that the
2263 number of lines is not fixed, but that there is still more
2264 memory than fits on the screen.
2266 If the terminal is one of those supported by the UNIX vir-
2267 tual terminal protocol, the terminal number can be given
2268 as <STRONG>vt</STRONG>.
2270 Media copy strings which control an auxiliary printer con-
2271 nected to the terminal can be given as <STRONG>mc0</STRONG>: print the con-
2272 tents of the screen, <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>: turn off the printer, and <STRONG>mc5</STRONG>:
2273 turn on the printer. When the printer is on, all text
2274 sent to the terminal will be sent to the printer. It is
2275 undefined whether the text is also displayed on the termi-
2276 nal screen when the printer is on. A variation <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> takes
2277 one parameter, and leaves the printer on for as many char-
2278 acters as the value of the parameter, then turns the
2279 printer off. The parameter should not exceed 255. All
2280 text, including <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>, is transparently passed to the
2281 printer while an <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> is in effect.
2285 <H3><a name="h3-Glitches-and-Braindamage">Glitches and Braindamage</a></H3><PRE>
2286 Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow "~" characters to
2287 be displayed should indicate <STRONG>hz</STRONG>.
2289 Terminals which ignore a line-feed immediately after an <STRONG>am</STRONG>
2290 wrap, such as the Concept and vt100, should indicate <STRONG>xenl</STRONG>.
2292 If <STRONG>el</STRONG> is required to get rid of standout (instead of
2293 merely writing normal text on top of it), <STRONG>xhp</STRONG> should be
2296 Teleray terminals, where tabs turn all characters moved
2297 over to blanks, should indicate <STRONG>xt</STRONG> (destructive tabs).
2298 Note: the variable indicating this is now
2299 "dest_tabs_magic_smso"; in older versions, it was tel-
2300 eray_glitch. This glitch is also taken to mean that it is
2301 not possible to position the cursor on top of a "magic
2302 cookie", that to erase standout mode it is instead neces-
2303 sary to use delete and insert line. The ncurses implemen-
2304 tation ignores this glitch.
2306 The Beehive Superbee, which is unable to correctly trans-
2307 mit the escape or control C characters, has <STRONG>xsb</STRONG>, indicat-
2308 ing that the f1 key is used for escape and f2 for control
2309 C. (Only certain Superbees have this problem, depending
2310 on the ROM.) Note that in older terminfo versions, this
2311 capability was called "beehive_glitch"; it is now
2314 Other specific terminal problems may be corrected by
2315 adding more capabilities of the form <STRONG>x</STRONG><EM>x</EM>.
2319 <H3><a name="h3-Similar-Terminals">Similar Terminals</a></H3><PRE>
2320 If there are two very similar terminals, one (the variant)
2321 can be defined as being just like the other (the base)
2322 with certain exceptions. In the definition of the vari-
2323 ant, the string capability <STRONG>use</STRONG> can be given with the name
2324 of the base terminal. The capabilities given before <STRONG>use</STRONG>
2325 override those in the base type named by <STRONG>use</STRONG>. If there
2326 are multiple <STRONG>use</STRONG> capabilities, they are merged in reverse
2327 order. That is, the rightmost <STRONG>use</STRONG> reference is processed
2328 first, then the one to its left, and so forth. Capabili-
2329 ties given explicitly in the entry override those brought
2330 in by <STRONG>use</STRONG> references.
2332 A capability can be canceled by placing <STRONG>xx@</STRONG> to the left of
2333 the use reference that imports it, where <EM>xx</EM> is the capa-
2334 bility. For example, the entry
2336 2621-nl, smkx@, rmkx@, use=2621,
2338 defines a 2621-nl that does not have the <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> or <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG>
2339 capabilities, and hence does not turn on the function key
2340 labels when in visual mode. This is useful for different
2341 modes for a terminal, or for different user preferences.
2345 <H3><a name="h3-Pitfalls-of-Long-Entries">Pitfalls of Long Entries</a></H3><PRE>
2346 Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to
2347 date, no entry has even approached terminfo's 4096-byte
2348 string-table maximum. Unfortunately, the termcap transla-
2349 tions are much more strictly limited (to 1023 bytes), thus
2350 termcap translations of long terminfo entries can cause
2353 The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions of <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG>
2354 instruct the user to allocate a 1024-byte buffer for the
2355 termcap entry. The entry gets null-terminated by the
2356 termcap library, so that makes the maximum safe length for
2357 a termcap entry 1k-1 (1023) bytes. Depending on what the
2358 application and the termcap library being used does, and
2359 where in the termcap file the terminal type that <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG>
2360 is searching for is, several bad things can happen.
2362 Some termcap libraries print a warning message or exit if
2363 they find an entry that's longer than 1023 bytes; others
2364 do not; others truncate the entries to 1023 bytes. Some
2365 application programs allocate more than the recommended 1K
2366 for the termcap entry; others do not.
2368 Each termcap entry has two important sizes associated with
2369 it: before "tc" expansion, and after "tc" expansion. "tc"
2370 is the capability that tacks on another termcap entry to
2371 the end of the current one, to add on its capabilities.
2372 If a termcap entry does not use the "tc" capability, then
2373 of course the two lengths are the same.
2375 The "before tc expansion" length is the most important
2376 one, because it affects more than just users of that par-
2377 ticular terminal. This is the length of the entry as it
2378 exists in /etc/termcap, minus the backslash-newline pairs,
2379 which <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> strips out while reading it. Some termcap
2380 libraries strip off the final newline, too (GNU termcap
2381 does not). Now suppose:
2383 <STRONG>o</STRONG> a termcap entry before expansion is more than 1023
2386 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the application has only allocated a 1k buffer,
2388 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the termcap library (like the one in BSD/OS 1.1
2389 and GNU) reads the whole entry into the buffer, no
2390 matter what its length, to see if it is the entry it
2393 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> is searching for a terminal type that
2394 either is the long entry, appears in the termcap file
2395 after the long entry, or does not appear in the file
2396 at all (so that <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> has to search the whole
2399 Then <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> will overwrite memory, perhaps its stack,
2400 and probably core dump the program. Programs like telnet
2401 are particularly vulnerable; modern telnets pass along
2402 values like the terminal type automatically. The results
2403 are almost as undesirable with a termcap library, like
2404 SunOS 4.1.3 and Ultrix 4.4, that prints warning messages
2405 when it reads an overly long termcap entry. If a termcap
2406 library truncates long entries, like OSF/1 3.0, it is
2407 immune to dying here but will return incorrect data for
2410 The "after tc expansion" length will have a similar effect
2411 to the above, but only for people who actually set TERM to
2412 that terminal type, since <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> only does "tc" expan-
2413 sion once it is found the terminal type it was looking
2414 for, not while searching.
2416 In summary, a termcap entry that is longer than 1023 bytes
2417 can cause, on various combinations of termcap libraries
2418 and applications, a core dump, warnings, or incorrect
2419 operation. If it is too long even before "tc" expansion,
2420 it will have this effect even for users of some other ter-
2421 minal types and users whose TERM variable does not have a
2424 When in -C (translate to termcap) mode, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> imple-
2425 mentation of <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG> issues warning messages when the pre-
2426 tc length of a termcap translation is too long. The -c
2427 (check) option also checks resolved (after tc expansion)
2432 <H3><a name="h3-Binary-Compatibility">Binary Compatibility</a></H3><PRE>
2433 It is not wise to count on portability of binary terminfo
2434 entries between commercial UNIX versions. The problem is
2435 that there are at least two versions of terminfo (under
2436 HP-UX and AIX) which diverged from System V terminfo after
2437 SVr1, and have added extension capabilities to the string
2438 table that (in the binary format) collide with System V
2439 and XSI Curses extensions.
2443 <H2><a name="h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></H2><PRE>
2444 Searching for terminal descriptions in <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> and
2445 TERMINFO_DIRS is not supported by older implementations.
2447 Some SVr4 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> implementations, and all previous to
2448 SVr4, do not interpret the %A and %O operators in parame-
2451 SVr4/XPG4 do not specify whether <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> licenses movement
2452 while in an alternate-character-set mode (such modes may,
2453 among other things, map CR and NL to characters that do
2454 not trigger local motions). The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation
2455 ignores <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> in <STRONG>ALTCHARSET</STRONG> mode. This raises the possi-
2456 bility that an XPG4 implementation making the opposite
2457 interpretation may need terminfo entries made for <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
2458 to have <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> turned off.
2460 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library handles insert-character and insert-
2461 character modes in a slightly non-standard way to get bet-
2462 ter update efficiency. See the <STRONG>Insert/Delete</STRONG> <STRONG>Character</STRONG>
2465 The parameter substitutions for <STRONG>set_clock</STRONG> and <STRONG>dis-</STRONG>
2466 <STRONG>play_clock</STRONG> are not documented in SVr4 or the XSI Curses
2467 standard. They are deduced from the documentation for the
2468 AT&T 505 terminal.
2470 Be careful assigning the <STRONG>kmous</STRONG> capability. The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
2471 wants to interpret it as <STRONG>KEY_MOUSE</STRONG>, for use by terminals
2472 and emulators like xterm that can return mouse-tracking
2473 information in the keyboard-input stream.
2475 X/Open Curses does not mention italics. Portable applica-
2476 tions must assume that numeric capabilities are signed
2477 16-bit values. This includes the <EM>no</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>color</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>video</EM> (ncv)
2478 capability. The 32768 mask value used for italics with
2479 ncv can be confused with an absent or cancelled ncv. If
2480 italics should work with colors, then the ncv value must
2481 be specified, even if it is zero.
2483 Different commercial ports of terminfo and curses support
2484 different subsets of the XSI Curses standard and (in some
2485 cases) different extension sets. Here is a summary, accu-
2486 rate as of October 1995:
2488 <STRONG>SVR4,</STRONG> <STRONG>Solaris,</STRONG> <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> -- These support all SVr4 capabili-
2491 <STRONG>SGI</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr4 set, adds one undocumented
2492 extended string capability (<STRONG>set_pglen</STRONG>).
2494 <STRONG>SVr1,</STRONG> <STRONG>Ultrix</STRONG> -- These support a restricted subset of ter-
2495 minfo capabilities. The booleans end with <STRONG>xon_xoff</STRONG>; the
2496 numerics with <STRONG>width_status_line</STRONG>; and the strings with
2497 <STRONG>prtr_non</STRONG>.
2499 <STRONG>HP/UX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus the SVr[234]
2500 numerics <STRONG>num_labels</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_height</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_width</STRONG>, plus func-
2501 tion keys 11 through 63, plus <STRONG>plab_norm</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_on</STRONG>, and
2502 <STRONG>label_off</STRONG>, plus some incompatible extensions in the string
2505 <STRONG>AIX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11
2506 through 63, plus a number of incompatible string table
2509 <STRONG>OSF</STRONG> -- Supports both the SVr4 set and the AIX extensions.
2513 <H2><a name="h2-FILES">FILES</a></H2><PRE>
2514 /usr/share/terminfo/?/* files containing terminal
2519 <H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
2520 <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="infocmp.1m.html">infocmp(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>printf(3)</STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>.
2521 <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>.
2525 <H2><a name="h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></H2><PRE>
2526 Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.
2527 Based on pcurses by Pavel Curtis.
2531 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
2535 <li><a href="#h2-NAME">NAME</a></li>
2536 <li><a href="#h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li>
2537 <li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a>
2539 <li><a href="#h3-Predefined-Capabilities">Predefined Capabilities</a></li>
2540 <li><a href="#h3-User-Defined-Capabilities">User-Defined Capabilities</a></li>
2541 <li><a href="#h3-A-Sample-Entry">A Sample Entry</a></li>
2542 <li><a href="#h3-Types-of-Capabilities">Types of Capabilities</a></li>
2543 <li><a href="#h3-Fetching-Compiled-Descriptions">Fetching Compiled Descriptions</a></li>
2544 <li><a href="#h3-Preparing-Descriptions">Preparing Descriptions</a></li>
2545 <li><a href="#h3-Basic-Capabilities">Basic Capabilities</a></li>
2546 <li><a href="#h3-Parameterized-Strings">Parameterized Strings</a></li>
2547 <li><a href="#h3-Cursor-Motions">Cursor Motions</a></li>
2548 <li><a href="#h3-Area-Clears">Area Clears</a></li>
2549 <li><a href="#h3-Insert_delete-line-and-vertical-motions">Insert/delete line and vertical motions</a></li>
2550 <li><a href="#h3-Insert_Delete-Character">Insert/Delete Character</a></li>
2551 <li><a href="#h3-Highlighting_-Underlining_-and-Visible-Bells">Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells</a></li>
2552 <li><a href="#h3-Keypad-and-Function-Keys">Keypad and Function Keys</a></li>
2553 <li><a href="#h3-Tabs-and-Initialization">Tabs and Initialization</a></li>
2554 <li><a href="#h3-Delays-and-Padding">Delays and Padding</a></li>
2555 <li><a href="#h3-Status-Lines">Status Lines</a></li>
2556 <li><a href="#h3-Line-Graphics">Line Graphics</a></li>
2557 <li><a href="#h3-Color-Handling">Color Handling</a></li>
2558 <li><a href="#h3-Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</a></li>
2559 <li><a href="#h3-Glitches-and-Braindamage">Glitches and Braindamage</a></li>
2560 <li><a href="#h3-Similar-Terminals">Similar Terminals</a></li>
2561 <li><a href="#h3-Pitfalls-of-Long-Entries">Pitfalls of Long Entries</a></li>
2562 <li><a href="#h3-Binary-Compatibility">Binary Compatibility</a></li>
2565 <li><a href="#h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></li>
2566 <li><a href="#h2-FILES">FILES</a></li>
2567 <li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
2568 <li><a href="#h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></li>
projects / ncurses.git / blob