3 * DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE BY HAND!
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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 2018-2021,2023 Thomas E. Dickey *
9 * Copyright 1998-2016,2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
11 * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a *
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27 * OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR *
28 * THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. *
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31 * holders shall not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the *
32 * sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written *
34 ****************************************************************************
35 * @Id: terminfo.head,v 1.51 2023/09/17 08:29:38 tom Exp @
36 * Head of terminfo man page ends here
37 ****************************************************************************
38 * Copyright 2018-2022,2023 Thomas E. Dickey *
39 * Copyright 1998-2016,2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
41 * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a *
42 * copy of this software and associated documentation files (the *
43 * "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including *
44 * without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, *
45 * distribute, distribute with modifications, sublicense, and/or sell *
46 * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is *
47 * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: *
49 * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included *
50 * in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. *
52 * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS *
53 * OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF *
54 * MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. *
55 * IN NO EVENT SHALL THE ABOVE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, *
56 * DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR *
57 * OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR *
58 * THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. *
60 * Except as contained in this notice, the name(s) of the above copyright *
61 * holders shall not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the *
62 * sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written *
64 ****************************************************************************
65 * @Id: terminfo.tail,v 1.131 2023/09/16 17:01:55 Branden.Robinson Exp @
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81 <H1 class="no-header">terminfo 5 2023-09-17 ncurses 6.4 File formats</H1>
83 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> File formats <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
88 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
89 <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> - terminal capability database
92 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
93 /usr/share/terminfo/*/*
96 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
97 <EM>Terminfo</EM> is a database describing terminals, used by screen-oriented
98 programs such as <STRONG>nvi(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG>lynx(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG>mutt(1)</STRONG>, and other curses
99 applications, using high-level calls to libraries such as <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>.
100 It is also used via low-level calls by non-curses applications which
101 may be screen-oriented (such as <STRONG><A HREF="clear.1.html">clear(1)</A></STRONG>) or non-screen (such as
102 <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG>).
104 <EM>Terminfo</EM> describes terminals by giving a set of capabilities which they
105 have, by specifying how to perform screen operations, and by specifying
106 padding requirements and initialization sequences.
108 This manual describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 6.4 (patch 20230923).
111 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminfo-Entry-Syntax">Terminfo Entry Syntax</a></H3><PRE>
112 Entries in <EM>terminfo</EM> consist of a sequence of fields:
114 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Each field ends with a comma "," (embedded commas may be escaped
115 with a backslash or written as "\054").
117 <STRONG>o</STRONG> White space between fields is ignored.
119 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The first field in a <EM>terminfo</EM> entry begins in the first column.
121 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Newlines and leading whitespace (spaces or tabs) may be used for
122 formatting entries for readability. These are removed from parsed
125 The <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> <STRONG>-f</STRONG> and <STRONG>-W</STRONG> options rely on this to format if-then-else
126 expressions, or to enforce maximum line-width. The resulting
127 formatted terminal description can be read by <STRONG>tic</STRONG>.
129 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The first field for each terminal gives the names which are known
130 for the terminal, separated by "|" characters.
132 The first name given is the most common abbreviation for the
133 terminal (its primary name), the last name given should be a long
134 name fully identifying the terminal (see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">longname(3x)</A></STRONG>), and all
135 others are treated as synonyms (aliases) for the primary terminal
138 X/Open Curses advises that all names but the last should be in
139 lower case and contain no blanks; the last name may well contain
140 upper case and blanks for readability.
142 This implementation is not so strict; it allows mixed case in the
143 primary name and aliases. If the last name has no embedded blanks,
144 it allows that to be both an alias and a verbose name (but will
145 warn about this ambiguity).
147 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Lines beginning with a "#" in the first column are treated as
150 While comment lines are legal at any point, the output of <STRONG>captoinfo</STRONG>
151 and <STRONG>infotocap</STRONG> (aliases for <STRONG>tic</STRONG>) will move comments so they occur
152 only between entries.
154 Terminal names (except for the last, verbose entry) should be chosen
155 using the following conventions. The particular piece of hardware
156 making up the terminal should have a root name, thus "hp2621". This
157 name should not contain hyphens. Modes that the hardware can be in, or
158 user preferences, should be indicated by appending a hyphen and a mode
159 suffix. Thus, a vt100 in 132-column mode would be vt100-w. The
160 following suffixes should be used where possible:
162 <STRONG>Suffix</STRONG> <STRONG>Meaning</STRONG> <STRONG>Example</STRONG>
163 -------------------------------------------------------------
164 -<EM>nn</EM> Number of lines on the screen aaa-60
165 -<EM>n</EM>p Number of pages of memory c100-4p
166 -am With automargins (usually the default) vt100-am
167 -m Mono mode; suppress color ansi-m
168 -mc Magic cookie; spaces when highlighting wy30-mc
169 -na No arrow keys (leave them in local) c100-na
170 -nam Without automatic margins vt100-nam
171 -nl No status line att4415-nl
172 -ns No status line hp2626-ns
173 -rv Reverse video c100-rv
174 -s Enable status line vt100-s
175 -vb Use visible bell instead of beep wy370-vb
176 -w Wide mode (> 80 columns, usually 132) vt100-w
178 For more on terminal naming conventions, see the <STRONG><A HREF="term.7.html">term(7)</A></STRONG> manual page.
181 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminfo-Capabilities-Syntax">Terminfo Capabilities Syntax</a></H3><PRE>
182 The terminfo entry consists of several <EM>capabilities</EM>, i.e., features
183 that the terminal has, or methods for exercising the terminal's
186 After the first field (giving the name(s) of the terminal entry), there
187 should be one or more <EM>capability</EM> fields. These are boolean, numeric or
188 string names with corresponding values:
190 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Boolean capabilities are true when present, false when absent.
191 There is no explicit value for boolean capabilities.
193 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Numeric capabilities have a "#" following the name, then an
194 unsigned decimal integer value.
196 <STRONG>o</STRONG> String capabilities have a "=" following the name, then an string
197 of characters making up the capability value.
199 String capabilities can be split into multiple lines, just as the
200 fields comprising a terminal entry can be split into multiple
201 lines. While blanks between fields are ignored, blanks embedded
202 within a string value are retained, except for leading blanks on a
205 Any capability can be <EM>canceled</EM>, i.e., suppressed from the terminal
206 entry, by following its name with "@" rather than a capability value.
209 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Similar-Terminals">Similar Terminals</a></H3><PRE>
210 If there are two very similar terminals, one (the variant) can be
211 defined as being just like the other (the base) with certain
212 exceptions. In the definition of the variant, the string capability
213 <STRONG>use</STRONG> can be given with the name of the base terminal:
215 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The capabilities given before <STRONG>use</STRONG> override those in the base type
216 named by <STRONG>use</STRONG>.
218 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If there are multiple <STRONG>use</STRONG> capabilities, they are merged in reverse
219 order. That is, the rightmost <STRONG>use</STRONG> reference is processed first,
220 then the one to its left, and so forth.
222 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Capabilities given explicitly in the entry override those brought
223 in by <STRONG>use</STRONG> references.
225 A capability can be canceled by placing <STRONG>xx@</STRONG> to the left of the use
226 reference that imports it, where <EM>xx</EM> is the capability. For example,
229 2621-nl, smkx@, rmkx@, use=2621,
231 defines a 2621-nl that does not have the <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> or <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG> capabilities, and
232 hence does not turn on the function key labels when in visual mode.
233 This is useful for different modes for a terminal, or for different
236 An entry included via <STRONG>use</STRONG> can contain canceled capabilities, which have
237 the same effect as if those cancels were inline in the using terminal
241 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Predefined-Capabilities">Predefined Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
242 The following is a complete table of the capabilities included in a
243 terminfo description block and available to terminfo-using code. In
244 each line of the table,
246 The <STRONG>variable</STRONG> is the name by which the programmer (at the terminfo
247 level) accesses the capability.
249 The <STRONG>capname</STRONG> is the short name used in the text of the database, and is
250 used by a person updating the database. Whenever possible, capnames
251 are chosen to be the same as or similar to the ANSI X3.64-1979 standard
252 (now superseded by ECMA-48, which uses identical or very similar
253 names). Semantics are also intended to match those of the
256 The termcap code is the old <STRONG>termcap</STRONG> capability name (some capabilities
257 are new, and have names which termcap did not originate).
259 Capability names have no hard length limit, but an informal limit of 5
260 characters has been adopted to keep them short and to allow the tabs in
261 the source file <STRONG>Caps</STRONG> to line up nicely.
263 Finally, the description field attempts to convey the semantics of the
264 capability. You may find some codes in the description field:
266 (P) indicates that padding may be specified
268 #[1-9] in the description field indicates that the string is passed
269 through <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tparm(3x)</A></STRONG> with parameters as given (#<EM>i</EM>).
271 If no parameters are listed in the description, passing the
272 string through <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tparm(3x)</A></STRONG> may give unexpected results, e.g., if
273 it contains percent (%%) signs.
275 (P*) indicates that padding may vary in proportion to the number of
278 (#<EM>i</EM>) indicates the <EM>i</EM>th parameter.
281 These are the boolean capabilities:
284 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
285 <STRONG>Booleans</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
288 auto_left_margin bw bw cub1 wraps from
291 auto_right_margin am am terminal has
293 back_color_erase bce ut screen erased with
295 can_change ccc cc terminal can re-
298 ceol_standout_glitch xhp xs standout not erased
300 col_addr_glitch xhpa YA only positive motion
302 cpi_changes_res cpix YF changing character
305 cr_cancels_micro_mode crxm YB using cr turns off
307 dest_tabs_magic_smso xt xt tabs destructive,
310 eat_newline_glitch xenl xn newline ignored
313 erase_overstrike eo eo can erase
316 generic_type gn gn generic line type
317 hard_copy hc hc hardcopy terminal
318 hard_cursor chts HC cursor is hard to
320 has_meta_key km km Has a meta key
322 has_print_wheel daisy YC printer needs
325 has_status_line hs hs has extra status
327 hue_lightness_saturation hls hl terminal uses only
330 insert_null_glitch in in insert mode
332 lpi_changes_res lpix YG changing line pitch
334 memory_above da da display may be
337 memory_below db db display may be
340 move_insert_mode mir mi safe to move while
342 move_standout_mode msgr ms safe to move while
344 needs_xon_xoff nxon nx padding will not
347 no_esc_ctlc xsb xb beehive (f1=escape,
349 no_pad_char npc NP pad character does
351 non_dest_scroll_region ndscr ND scrolling region is
354 non_rev_rmcup nrrmc NR smcup does not
356 over_strike os os terminal can
358 prtr_silent mc5i 5i printer will not
360 row_addr_glitch xvpa YD only positive motion
362 semi_auto_right_margin sam YE printing in last
364 status_line_esc_ok eslok es escape can be used
366 tilde_glitch hz hz cannot print ~'s
368 transparent_underline ul ul underline character
370 xon_xoff xon xo terminal uses
373 These are the numeric capabilities:
376 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
377 <STRONG>Numeric</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
378 columns cols co number of columns in
380 init_tabs it it tabs initially every
382 label_height lh lh rows in each label
383 label_width lw lw columns in each
385 lines lines li number of lines on
387 lines_of_memory lm lm lines of memory if >
389 magic_cookie_glitch xmc sg number of blank
392 max_attributes ma ma maximum combined
395 max_colors colors Co maximum number of
397 max_pairs pairs pa maximum number of
400 maximum_windows wnum MW maximum number of
402 no_color_video ncv NC video attributes
405 num_labels nlab Nl number of labels on
407 padding_baud_rate pb pb lowest baud rate
409 virtual_terminal vt vt virtual terminal
411 width_status_line wsl ws number of columns in
414 The following numeric capabilities are present in the SVr4.0 term
415 structure, but are not yet documented in the man page. They came in
416 with SVr4's printer support.
420 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
421 <STRONG>Numeric</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
422 bit_image_entwining bitwin Yo number of passes for
424 bit_image_type bitype Yp type of bit-image
426 buffer_capacity bufsz Ya numbers of bytes
429 buttons btns BT number of buttons on
431 dot_horz_spacing spinh Yc spacing of dots
434 dot_vert_spacing spinv Yb spacing of pins
437 max_micro_address maddr Yd maximum value in
439 max_micro_jump mjump Ye maximum value in
441 micro_col_size mcs Yf character step size
443 micro_line_size mls Yg line step size when
445 number_of_pins npins Yh numbers of pins in
447 output_res_char orc Yi horizontal
450 output_res_horz_inch orhi Yk horizontal
453 output_res_line orl Yj vertical resolution
455 output_res_vert_inch orvi Yl vertical resolution
457 print_rate cps Ym print rate in
460 wide_char_size widcs Yn character step size
464 These are the string capabilities:
467 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
468 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
469 acs_chars acsc ac graphics charset
472 back_tab cbt bt back tab (P)
473 bell bel bl audible signal
475 carriage_return cr cr carriage return (P*)
477 change_char_pitch cpi ZA Change number of
480 change_line_pitch lpi ZB Change number of
482 change_res_horz chr ZC Change horizontal
486 change_res_vert cvr ZD Change vertical
488 change_scroll_region csr cs change region to
491 char_padding rmp rP like ip but when in
493 clear_all_tabs tbc ct clear all tab stops
495 clear_margins mgc MC clear right and left
497 clear_screen clear cl clear screen and
499 clr_bol el1 cb Clear to beginning
501 clr_eol el ce clear to end of line
503 clr_eos ed cd clear to end of
505 column_address hpa ch horizontal position
507 command_character cmdch CC terminal settable
510 create_window cwin CW define a window #1
512 cursor_address cup cm move to row #1
514 cursor_down cud1 do down one line
515 cursor_home home ho home cursor (if no
517 cursor_invisible civis vi make cursor
519 cursor_left cub1 le move left one space
520 cursor_mem_address mrcup CM memory relative
524 cursor_normal cnorm ve make cursor appear
527 cursor_right cuf1 nd non-destructive
530 cursor_to_ll ll ll last line, first
532 cursor_up cuu1 up up one line
533 cursor_visible cvvis vs make cursor very
535 define_char defc ZE Define a character
538 delete_character dch1 dc delete character
540 delete_line dl1 dl delete line (P*)
541 dial_phone dial DI dial number #1
542 dis_status_line dsl ds disable status line
543 display_clock dclk DK display clock
544 down_half_line hd hd half a line down
545 ena_acs enacs eA enable alternate
547 enter_alt_charset_mode smacs as start alternate
549 enter_am_mode smam SA turn on automatic
552 enter_blink_mode blink mb turn on blinking
553 enter_bold_mode bold md turn on bold (extra
555 enter_ca_mode smcup ti string to start
557 enter_delete_mode smdc dm enter delete mode
558 enter_dim_mode dim mh turn on half-bright
560 enter_doublewide_mode swidm ZF Enter double-wide
562 enter_draft_quality sdrfq ZG Enter draft-quality
564 enter_insert_mode smir im enter insert mode
565 enter_italics_mode sitm ZH Enter italic mode
566 enter_leftward_mode slm ZI Start leftward
568 enter_micro_mode smicm ZJ Start micro-motion
570 enter_near_letter_quality snlq ZK Enter NLQ mode
571 enter_normal_quality snrmq ZL Enter normal-quality
573 enter_protected_mode prot mp turn on protected
575 enter_reverse_mode rev mr turn on reverse
577 enter_secure_mode invis mk turn on blank mode
580 enter_shadow_mode sshm ZM Enter shadow-print
582 enter_standout_mode smso so begin standout mode
583 enter_subscript_mode ssubm ZN Enter subscript mode
584 enter_superscript_mode ssupm ZO Enter superscript
586 enter_underline_mode smul us begin underline mode
587 enter_upward_mode sum ZP Start upward
589 enter_xon_mode smxon SX turn on xon/xoff
591 erase_chars ech ec erase #1 characters
593 exit_alt_charset_mode rmacs ae end alternate
595 exit_am_mode rmam RA turn off automatic
597 exit_attribute_mode sgr0 me turn off all
599 exit_ca_mode rmcup te strings to end
601 exit_delete_mode rmdc ed end delete mode
602 exit_doublewide_mode rwidm ZQ End double-wide mode
603 exit_insert_mode rmir ei exit insert mode
604 exit_italics_mode ritm ZR End italic mode
605 exit_leftward_mode rlm ZS End left-motion mode
606 exit_micro_mode rmicm ZT End micro-motion
608 exit_shadow_mode rshm ZU End shadow-print
610 exit_standout_mode rmso se exit standout mode
611 exit_subscript_mode rsubm ZV End subscript mode
612 exit_superscript_mode rsupm ZW End superscript mode
613 exit_underline_mode rmul ue exit underline mode
614 exit_upward_mode rum ZX End reverse
618 exit_xon_mode rmxon RX turn off xon/xoff
620 fixed_pause pause PA pause for 2-3
622 flash_hook hook fh flash switch hook
623 flash_screen flash vb visible bell (may
625 form_feed ff ff hardcopy terminal
627 from_status_line fsl fs return from status
629 goto_window wingo WG go to window #1
630 hangup hup HU hang-up phone
631 init_1string is1 i1 initialization
633 init_2string is2 is initialization
635 init_3string is3 i3 initialization
637 init_file if if name of
639 init_prog iprog iP path name of program
641 initialize_color initc Ic initialize color #1
643 initialize_pair initp Ip Initialize color
647 insert_character ich1 ic insert character (P)
648 insert_line il1 al insert line (P*)
649 insert_padding ip ip insert padding after
651 key_a1 ka1 K1 upper left of keypad
652 key_a3 ka3 K3 upper right of
654 key_b2 kb2 K2 center of keypad
655 key_backspace kbs kb backspace key
656 key_beg kbeg @1 begin key
657 key_btab kcbt kB back-tab key
658 key_c1 kc1 K4 lower left of keypad
659 key_c3 kc3 K5 lower right of
661 key_cancel kcan @2 cancel key
662 key_catab ktbc ka clear-all-tabs key
663 key_clear kclr kC clear-screen or
665 key_close kclo @3 close key
666 key_command kcmd @4 command key
667 key_copy kcpy @5 copy key
668 key_create kcrt @6 create key
669 key_ctab kctab kt clear-tab key
670 key_dc kdch1 kD delete-character key
671 key_dl kdl1 kL delete-line key
672 key_down kcud1 kd down-arrow key
673 key_eic krmir kM sent by rmir or smir
675 key_end kend @7 end key
676 key_enter kent @8 enter/send key
677 key_eol kel kE clear-to-end-of-line
679 key_eos ked kS clear-to-end-of-
681 key_exit kext @9 exit key
682 key_f0 kf0 k0 F0 function key
684 key_f1 kf1 k1 F1 function key
685 key_f10 kf10 k; F10 function key
686 key_f11 kf11 F1 F11 function key
687 key_f12 kf12 F2 F12 function key
688 key_f13 kf13 F3 F13 function key
689 key_f14 kf14 F4 F14 function key
690 key_f15 kf15 F5 F15 function key
691 key_f16 kf16 F6 F16 function key
692 key_f17 kf17 F7 F17 function key
693 key_f18 kf18 F8 F18 function key
694 key_f19 kf19 F9 F19 function key
695 key_f2 kf2 k2 F2 function key
696 key_f20 kf20 FA F20 function key
697 key_f21 kf21 FB F21 function key
698 key_f22 kf22 FC F22 function key
699 key_f23 kf23 FD F23 function key
700 key_f24 kf24 FE F24 function key
701 key_f25 kf25 FF F25 function key
702 key_f26 kf26 FG F26 function key
703 key_f27 kf27 FH F27 function key
704 key_f28 kf28 FI F28 function key
705 key_f29 kf29 FJ F29 function key
706 key_f3 kf3 k3 F3 function key
707 key_f30 kf30 FK F30 function key
708 key_f31 kf31 FL F31 function key
709 key_f32 kf32 FM F32 function key
710 key_f33 kf33 FN F33 function key
711 key_f34 kf34 FO F34 function key
712 key_f35 kf35 FP F35 function key
713 key_f36 kf36 FQ F36 function key
714 key_f37 kf37 FR F37 function key
715 key_f38 kf38 FS F38 function key
716 key_f39 kf39 FT F39 function key
717 key_f4 kf4 k4 F4 function key
718 key_f40 kf40 FU F40 function key
719 key_f41 kf41 FV F41 function key
720 key_f42 kf42 FW F42 function key
721 key_f43 kf43 FX F43 function key
722 key_f44 kf44 FY F44 function key
723 key_f45 kf45 FZ F45 function key
724 key_f46 kf46 Fa F46 function key
725 key_f47 kf47 Fb F47 function key
726 key_f48 kf48 Fc F48 function key
727 key_f49 kf49 Fd F49 function key
728 key_f5 kf5 k5 F5 function key
729 key_f50 kf50 Fe F50 function key
730 key_f51 kf51 Ff F51 function key
731 key_f52 kf52 Fg F52 function key
732 key_f53 kf53 Fh F53 function key
733 key_f54 kf54 Fi F54 function key
734 key_f55 kf55 Fj F55 function key
735 key_f56 kf56 Fk F56 function key
736 key_f57 kf57 Fl F57 function key
737 key_f58 kf58 Fm F58 function key
738 key_f59 kf59 Fn F59 function key
739 key_f6 kf6 k6 F6 function key
740 key_f60 kf60 Fo F60 function key
741 key_f61 kf61 Fp F61 function key
742 key_f62 kf62 Fq F62 function key
743 key_f63 kf63 Fr F63 function key
744 key_f7 kf7 k7 F7 function key
745 key_f8 kf8 k8 F8 function key
746 key_f9 kf9 k9 F9 function key
747 key_find kfnd @0 find key
748 key_help khlp %1 help key
750 key_home khome kh home key
751 key_ic kich1 kI insert-character key
752 key_il kil1 kA insert-line key
753 key_left kcub1 kl left-arrow key
754 key_ll kll kH lower-left key (home
756 key_mark kmrk %2 mark key
757 key_message kmsg %3 message key
758 key_move kmov %4 move key
759 key_next knxt %5 next key
760 key_npage knp kN next-page key
761 key_open kopn %6 open key
762 key_options kopt %7 options key
763 key_ppage kpp kP previous-page key
764 key_previous kprv %8 previous key
765 key_print kprt %9 print key
766 key_redo krdo %0 redo key
767 key_reference kref &1 reference key
768 key_refresh krfr &2 refresh key
769 key_replace krpl &3 replace key
770 key_restart krst &4 restart key
771 key_resume kres &5 resume key
772 key_right kcuf1 kr right-arrow key
773 key_save ksav &6 save key
774 key_sbeg kBEG &9 shifted begin key
775 key_scancel kCAN &0 shifted cancel key
776 key_scommand kCMD *1 shifted command key
777 key_scopy kCPY *2 shifted copy key
778 key_screate kCRT *3 shifted create key
779 key_sdc kDC *4 shifted delete-
781 key_sdl kDL *5 shifted delete-line
783 key_select kslt *6 select key
784 key_send kEND *7 shifted end key
785 key_seol kEOL *8 shifted clear-to-
787 key_sexit kEXT *9 shifted exit key
788 key_sf kind kF scroll-forward key
789 key_sfind kFND *0 shifted find key
790 key_shelp kHLP #1 shifted help key
791 key_shome kHOM #2 shifted home key
792 key_sic kIC #3 shifted insert-
794 key_sleft kLFT #4 shifted left-arrow
796 key_smessage kMSG %a shifted message key
797 key_smove kMOV %b shifted move key
798 key_snext kNXT %c shifted next key
799 key_soptions kOPT %d shifted options key
800 key_sprevious kPRV %e shifted previous key
801 key_sprint kPRT %f shifted print key
802 key_sr kri kR scroll-backward key
803 key_sredo kRDO %g shifted redo key
804 key_sreplace kRPL %h shifted replace key
805 key_sright kRIT %i shifted right-arrow
807 key_srsume kRES %j shifted resume key
808 key_ssave kSAV !1 shifted save key
809 key_ssuspend kSPD !2 shifted suspend key
810 key_stab khts kT set-tab key
811 key_sundo kUND !3 shifted undo key
812 key_suspend kspd &7 suspend key
813 key_undo kund &8 undo key
814 key_up kcuu1 ku up-arrow key
816 keypad_local rmkx ke leave
819 keypad_xmit smkx ks enter
822 lab_f0 lf0 l0 label on function
824 lab_f1 lf1 l1 label on function
826 lab_f10 lf10 la label on function
828 lab_f2 lf2 l2 label on function
830 lab_f3 lf3 l3 label on function
832 lab_f4 lf4 l4 label on function
834 lab_f5 lf5 l5 label on function
836 lab_f6 lf6 l6 label on function
838 lab_f7 lf7 l7 label on function
840 lab_f8 lf8 l8 label on function
842 lab_f9 lf9 l9 label on function
844 label_format fln Lf label format
845 label_off rmln LF turn off soft labels
846 label_on smln LO turn on soft labels
847 meta_off rmm mo turn off meta mode
848 meta_on smm mm turn on meta mode
850 micro_column_address mhpa ZY Like column_address
852 micro_down mcud1 ZZ Like cursor_down in
854 micro_left mcub1 Za Like cursor_left in
856 micro_right mcuf1 Zb Like cursor_right in
858 micro_row_address mvpa Zc Like row_address #1
860 micro_up mcuu1 Zd Like cursor_up in
862 newline nel nw newline (behave like
864 order_of_pins porder Ze Match software bits
866 orig_colors oc oc Set all color pairs
868 orig_pair op op Set default pair to
870 pad_char pad pc padding char
872 parm_dch dch DC delete #1 characters
874 parm_delete_line dl DL delete #1 lines (P*)
875 parm_down_cursor cud DO down #1 lines (P*)
876 parm_down_micro mcud Zf Like
879 parm_ich ich IC insert #1 characters
882 parm_index indn SF scroll forward #1
884 parm_insert_line il AL insert #1 lines (P*)
885 parm_left_cursor cub LE move #1 characters
887 parm_left_micro mcub Zg Like
890 parm_right_cursor cuf RI move #1 characters
892 parm_right_micro mcuf Zh Like
895 parm_rindex rin SR scroll back #1 lines
897 parm_up_cursor cuu UP up #1 lines (P*)
898 parm_up_micro mcuu Zi Like parm_up_cursor
900 pkey_key pfkey pk program function key
902 pkey_local pfloc pl program function key
905 pkey_xmit pfx px program function key
908 plab_norm pln pn program label #1 to
910 print_screen mc0 ps print contents of
912 prtr_non mc5p pO turn on printer for
914 prtr_off mc4 pf turn off printer
915 prtr_on mc5 po turn on printer
916 pulse pulse PU select pulse dialing
917 quick_dial qdial QD dial number #1
919 remove_clock rmclk RC remove clock
920 repeat_char rep rp repeat char #1 #2
922 req_for_input rfi RF send next input char
924 reset_1string rs1 r1 reset string
925 reset_2string rs2 r2 reset string
926 reset_3string rs3 r3 reset string
927 reset_file rf rf name of reset file
928 restore_cursor rc rc restore cursor to
931 row_address vpa cv vertical position #1
933 save_cursor sc sc save current cursor
935 scroll_forward ind sf scroll text up (P)
936 scroll_reverse ri sr scroll text down (P)
937 select_char_set scs Zj Select character
939 set_attributes sgr sa define video
942 set_background setb Sb Set background color
944 set_bottom_margin smgb Zk Set bottom margin at
948 set_bottom_margin_parm smgbp Zl Set bottom margin at
952 set_clock sclk SC set clock, #1 hrs #2
954 set_color_pair scp sp Set current color
956 set_foreground setf Sf Set foreground color
958 set_left_margin smgl ML set left soft margin
962 set_left_margin_parm smglp Zm Set left (right)
964 set_right_margin smgr MR set right soft
967 set_right_margin_parm smgrp Zn Set right margin at
969 set_tab hts st set a tab in every
971 set_top_margin smgt Zo Set top margin at
973 set_top_margin_parm smgtp Zp Set top (bottom)
975 set_window wind wi current window is
978 start_bit_image sbim Zq Start printing bit
980 start_char_set_def scsd Zr Start character set
984 stop_bit_image rbim Zs Stop printing bit
986 stop_char_set_def rcsd Zt End definition of
988 subscript_characters subcs Zu List of
991 superscript_characters supcs Zv List of
994 tab ht ta tab to next 8-space
996 these_cause_cr docr Zw Printing any of
999 to_status_line tsl ts move to status line,
1001 tone tone TO select touch tone
1003 underline_char uc uc underline char and
1005 up_half_line hu hu half a line up
1006 user0 u0 u0 User string #0
1007 user1 u1 u1 User string #1
1008 user2 u2 u2 User string #2
1009 user3 u3 u3 User string #3
1010 user4 u4 u4 User string #4
1011 user5 u5 u5 User string #5
1012 user6 u6 u6 User string #6
1014 user7 u7 u7 User string #7
1015 user8 u8 u8 User string #8
1016 user9 u9 u9 User string #9
1017 wait_tone wait WA wait for dial-tone
1018 xoff_character xoffc XF XOFF character
1019 xon_character xonc XN XON character
1020 zero_motion zerom Zx No motion for
1021 subsequent character
1023 The following string capabilities are present in the SVr4.0 term
1024 structure, but were originally not documented in the man page.
1027 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
1028 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
1029 alt_scancode_esc scesa S8 Alternate escape
1032 bit_image_carriage_return bicr Yv Move to beginning
1034 bit_image_newline binel Zz Move to next row
1036 bit_image_repeat birep Xy Repeat bit image
1038 char_set_names csnm Zy Produce #1'th item
1042 code_set_init csin ci Init sequence for
1044 color_names colornm Yw Give name for
1046 define_bit_image_region defbi Yx Define rectangular
1048 device_type devt dv Indicate
1051 display_pc_char dispc S1 Display PC
1053 end_bit_image_region endbi Yy End a bit-image
1055 enter_pc_charset_mode smpch S2 Enter PC character
1057 enter_scancode_mode smsc S4 Enter PC scancode
1059 exit_pc_charset_mode rmpch S3 Exit PC character
1061 exit_scancode_mode rmsc S5 Exit PC scancode
1063 get_mouse getm Gm Curses should get
1067 key_mouse kmous Km Mouse event has
1069 mouse_info minfo Mi Mouse status
1071 pc_term_options pctrm S6 PC terminal
1073 pkey_plab pfxl xl Program function
1077 req_mouse_pos reqmp RQ Request mouse
1080 scancode_escape scesc S7 Escape for
1082 set0_des_seq s0ds s0 Shift to codeset 0
1084 set1_des_seq s1ds s1 Shift to codeset 1
1085 set2_des_seq s2ds s2 Shift to codeset 2
1086 set3_des_seq s3ds s3 Shift to codeset 3
1087 set_a_background setab AB Set background
1090 set_a_foreground setaf AF Set foreground
1093 set_color_band setcolor Yz Change to ribbon
1095 set_lr_margin smglr ML Set both left and
1100 set_page_length slines YZ Set page length to
1102 set_tb_margin smgtb MT Sets both top and
1106 The XSI Curses standard added these hardcopy capabilities. They were
1107 used in some post-4.1 versions of System V curses, e.g., Solaris 2.5
1108 and IRIX 6.x. Except for <STRONG>YI</STRONG>, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> termcap names for them are
1109 invented. According to the XSI Curses standard, they have no termcap
1110 names. If your compiled terminfo entries use these, they may not be
1111 binary-compatible with System V terminfo entries after SVr4.1; beware!
1114 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
1115 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
1116 enter_horizontal_hl_mode ehhlm Xh Enter horizontal
1118 enter_left_hl_mode elhlm Xl Enter left highlight
1120 enter_low_hl_mode elohlm Xo Enter low highlight
1122 enter_right_hl_mode erhlm Xr Enter right
1124 enter_top_hl_mode ethlm Xt Enter top highlight
1126 enter_vertical_hl_mode evhlm Xv Enter vertical
1128 set_a_attributes sgr1 sA Define second set of
1131 set_pglen_inch slength YI Set page length to
1138 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-User-Defined-Capabilities">User-Defined Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
1139 The preceding section listed the <EM>predefined</EM> capabilities. They deal
1140 with some special features for terminals no longer (or possibly never)
1141 produced. Occasionally there are special features of newer terminals
1142 which are awkward or impossible to represent by reusing the predefined
1145 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> addresses this limitation by allowing user-defined
1146 capabilities. The <STRONG>tic</STRONG> and <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> programs provide the <STRONG>-x</STRONG> option for
1147 this purpose. When <STRONG>-x</STRONG> is set, <STRONG>tic</STRONG> treats unknown capabilities as user-
1148 defined. That is, if <STRONG>tic</STRONG> encounters a capability name which it does
1149 not recognize, it infers its type (boolean, number or string) from the
1150 syntax and makes an extended table entry for that capability. The
1151 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_extend.3x.html">use_extended_names(3x)</A></STRONG> function makes this information conditionally
1152 available to applications. The ncurses library provides the data
1153 leaving most of the behavior to applications:
1155 <STRONG>o</STRONG> User-defined capability strings whose name begins with "k" are
1156 treated as function keys.
1158 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The types (boolean, number, string) determined by <STRONG>tic</STRONG> can be
1159 inferred by successful calls on <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, etc.
1161 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the capability name happens to be two characters, the capability
1162 is also available through the termcap interface.
1164 While termcap is said to be extensible because it does not use a
1165 predefined set of capabilities, in practice it has been limited to the
1166 capabilities defined by terminfo implementations. As a rule, user-
1167 defined capabilities intended for use by termcap applications should be
1168 limited to booleans and numbers to avoid running past the 1023 byte
1169 limit assumed by termcap implementations and their applications. In
1170 particular, providing extended sets of function keys (past the 60
1171 numbered keys and the handful of special named keys) is best done using
1172 the longer names available using terminfo.
1174 The ncurses library uses a few of these user-defined capabilities, as
1175 described in <STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG>. Other user-defined capabilities (including
1176 function keys) are described in the terminal database, in the section
1177 on <EM>NCURSES</EM> <EM>USER-DEFINABLE</EM> <EM>CAPABILITIES</EM>
1180 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-A-Sample-Entry">A Sample Entry</a></H3><PRE>
1181 The following entry, describing an ANSI-standard terminal, is
1182 representative of what a <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> entry for a modern terminal typically
1185 ansi|ansi/pc-term compatible with color,
1186 am, mc5i, mir, msgr,
1187 colors#8, cols#80, it#8, lines#24, ncv#3, pairs#64,
1188 acsc=+\020\,\021-\030.^Y0\333`\004a\261f\370g\361h\260
1189 j\331k\277l\332m\300n\305o~p\304q\304r\304s_t\303
1190 u\264v\301w\302x\263y\363z\362{\343|\330}\234~\376,
1191 bel=^G, blink=\E[5m, bold=\E[1m, cbt=\E[Z, clear=\E[H\E[J,
1192 cr=^M, cub=\E[%p1%dD, cub1=\E[D, cud=\E[%p1%dB, cud1=\E[B,
1193 cuf=\E[%p1%dC, cuf1=\E[C, cup=\E[%i%p1%d;%p2%dH,
1194 cuu=\E[%p1%dA, cuu1=\E[A, dch=\E[%p1%dP, dch1=\E[P,
1195 dl=\E[%p1%dM, dl1=\E[M, ech=\E[%p1%dX, ed=\E[J, el=\E[K,
1196 el1=\E[1K, home=\E[H, hpa=\E[%i%p1%dG, ht=\E[I, hts=\EH,
1197 ich=\E[%p1%d@, il=\E[%p1%dL, il1=\E[L, ind=^J,
1198 indn=\E[%p1%dS, invis=\E[8m, kbs=^H, kcbt=\E[Z, kcub1=\E[D,
1199 kcud1=\E[B, kcuf1=\E[C, kcuu1=\E[A, khome=\E[H, kich1=\E[L,
1200 mc4=\E[4i, mc5=\E[5i, nel=\r\E[S, op=\E[39;49m,
1201 rep=%p1%c\E[%p2%{1}%-%db, rev=\E[7m, rin=\E[%p1%dT,
1202 rmacs=\E[10m, rmpch=\E[10m, rmso=\E[m, rmul=\E[m,
1203 s0ds=\E(B, s1ds=\E)B, s2ds=\E*B, s3ds=\E+B,
1204 setab=\E[4%p1%dm, setaf=\E[3%p1%dm,
1205 sgr=\E[0;10%?%p1%t;7%;
1212 sgr0=\E[0;10m, smacs=\E[11m, smpch=\E[11m, smso=\E[7m,
1213 smul=\E[4m, tbc=\E[3g, u6=\E[%i%d;%dR, u7=\E[6n,
1214 u8=\E[?%[;0123456789]c, u9=\E[c, vpa=\E[%i%p1%dd,
1216 Entries may continue onto multiple lines by placing white space at the
1217 beginning of each line except the first. Comments may be included on
1218 lines beginning with "#". Capabilities in <EM>terminfo</EM> are of three types:
1220 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Boolean capabilities which indicate that the terminal has some
1223 <STRONG>o</STRONG> numeric capabilities giving the size of the terminal or the size of
1224 particular delays, and
1226 <STRONG>o</STRONG> string capabilities, which give a sequence which can be used to
1227 perform particular terminal operations.
1230 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Types-of-Capabilities">Types of Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
1231 All capabilities have names. For instance, the fact that ANSI-standard
1232 terminals have <EM>automatic</EM> <EM>margins</EM> (i.e., an automatic return and line-
1233 feed when the end of a line is reached) is indicated by the capability
1234 <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Hence the description of ansi includes <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Numeric capabilities
1235 are followed by the character "#" and then a positive value. Thus
1236 <STRONG>cols</STRONG>, which indicates the number of columns the terminal has, gives the
1237 value "80" for ansi. Values for numeric capabilities may be specified
1238 in decimal, octal, or hexadecimal, using the C programming language
1239 conventions (e.g., 255, 0377 and 0xff or 0xFF).
1241 Finally, string valued capabilities, such as <STRONG>el</STRONG> (clear to end of line
1242 sequence) are given by the two-character code, an "=", and then a
1243 string ending at the next following ",".
1245 A number of escape sequences are provided in the string valued
1246 capabilities for easy encoding of characters there:
1248 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Both <STRONG>\E</STRONG> and <STRONG>\e</STRONG> map to an ESCAPE character,
1250 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>^x</STRONG> maps to a control-x for any appropriate <EM>x</EM>, and
1252 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the sequences
1254 <STRONG>\n</STRONG>, <STRONG>\l</STRONG>, <STRONG>\r</STRONG>, <STRONG>\t</STRONG>, <STRONG>\b</STRONG>, <STRONG>\f</STRONG>, and <STRONG>\s</STRONG>
1258 <EM>newline</EM>, <EM>line-feed</EM>, <EM>return</EM>, <EM>tab</EM>, <EM>backspace</EM>, <EM>form-feed</EM>, and <EM>space</EM>,
1262 X/Open Curses does not say what "appropriate <EM>x</EM>" might be. In practice,
1263 that is a printable ASCII graphic character. The special case "^?" is
1264 interpreted as DEL (127). In all other cases, the character value is
1265 AND'd with 0x1f, mapping to ASCII control codes in the range 0 through
1268 Other escapes include
1270 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\^</STRONG> for <STRONG>^</STRONG>,
1272 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\\</STRONG> for <STRONG>\</STRONG>,
1274 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\</STRONG>, for comma,
1276 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\:</STRONG> for <STRONG>:</STRONG>,
1278 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>\0</STRONG> for null.
1280 <STRONG>\0</STRONG> will produce \200, which does not terminate a string but behaves
1281 as a null character on most terminals, providing CS7 is specified.
1282 See <STRONG>stty(1)</STRONG>.
1284 The reason for this quirk is to maintain binary compatibility of
1285 the compiled terminfo files with other implementations, e.g., the
1286 SVr4 systems, which document this. Compiled terminfo files use
1287 null-terminated strings, with no lengths. Modifying this would
1288 require a new binary format, which would not work with other
1291 Finally, characters may be given as three octal digits after a <STRONG>\</STRONG>.
1293 A delay in milliseconds may appear anywhere in a string capability,
1294 enclosed in $<..> brackets, as in <STRONG>el</STRONG>=\EK$<5>, and padding characters
1295 are supplied by <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tputs(3x)</A></STRONG> to provide this delay.
1297 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The delay must be a number with at most one decimal place of
1298 precision; it may be followed by suffixes "*" or "/" or both.
1300 <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "*" indicates that the padding required is proportional to the
1301 number of lines affected by the operation, and the amount given is
1302 the per-affected-unit padding required. (In the case of insert
1303 character, the factor is still the number of <EM>lines</EM> affected.)
1305 Normally, padding is advisory if the device has the <STRONG>xon</STRONG> capability;
1306 it is used for cost computation but does not trigger delays.
1308 <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "/" suffix indicates that the padding is mandatory and forces a
1309 delay of the given number of milliseconds even on devices for which
1310 <STRONG>xon</STRONG> is present to indicate flow control.
1312 Sometimes individual capabilities must be commented out. To do this,
1313 put a period before the capability name. For example, see the second
1314 <STRONG>ind</STRONG> in the example above.
1317 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Fetching-Compiled-Descriptions">Fetching Compiled Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
1318 Terminal descriptions in <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> are stored in terminal databases.
1319 These databases, which are found by their pathname, may be configured
1320 either as directory trees or hashed databases (see <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>),
1322 The library uses a compiled-in list of pathnames, which can be
1323 overridden by environment variables. Before starting to search,
1324 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> checks the search list, eliminating duplicates and pathnames
1325 where no terminal database is found. The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library reads the
1326 first description which passes its consistency checks.
1328 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The environment variable <STRONG>TERMINFO</STRONG> is checked first, for a terminal
1329 database containing the terminal description.
1331 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Next, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> looks in <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> for a compiled description.
1333 This is an optional feature which may be omitted entirely from the
1334 library, or limited to prevent accidental use by privileged
1337 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Next, if the environment variable <STRONG>TERMINFO_DIRS</STRONG> is set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
1338 interprets the contents of that variable as a list of colon-
1339 separated pathnames of terminal databases to be searched.
1341 An empty pathname (i.e., if the variable begins or ends with a
1342 colon, or contains adjacent colons) is interpreted as the system
1343 location <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>.
1345 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Finally, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> searches these compiled-in locations:
1347 <STRONG>o</STRONG> a list of directories (/usr/share/terminfo), and
1349 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the system terminfo directory, <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>
1351 The <STRONG>TERMINFO</STRONG> variable can contain a terminal description instead of the
1352 pathname of a terminal database. If this variable begins with "hex:"
1353 or "b64:" then <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> reads a terminal description from hexadecimal-
1354 or base64-encoded data, and if that description matches the name
1355 sought, will use that. This encoded data can be set using the "-Q"
1356 option of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> or <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG>.
1358 The preceding addresses the usual configuration of <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>, which uses
1359 terminal descriptions prepared in <EM>terminfo</EM> format. While <EM>termcap</EM> is
1360 less expressive, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> can also be configured to read <EM>termcap</EM>
1361 descriptions. In that configuration, it checks the <STRONG>TERMCAP</STRONG> and
1362 <STRONG>TERMPATH</STRONG> variables (for content and search path, respectively) after
1363 the system terminal database.
1366 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Preparing-Descriptions">Preparing Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
1367 We now outline how to prepare descriptions of terminals. The most
1368 effective way to prepare a terminal description is by imitating the
1369 description of a similar terminal in <EM>terminfo</EM> and to build up a
1370 description gradually, using partial descriptions with <EM>vi</EM> or some other
1371 screen-oriented program to check that they are correct. Be aware that
1372 a very unusual terminal may expose deficiencies in the ability of the
1373 <EM>terminfo</EM> file to describe it or bugs in the screen-handling code of the
1376 To get the padding for insert line right (if the terminal manufacturer
1377 did not document it) a severe test is to edit a large file at 9600
1378 baud, delete 16 or so lines from the middle of the screen, then hit the
1379 "u" key several times quickly. If the terminal messes up, more padding
1380 is usually needed. A similar test can be used for insert character.
1383 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Basic-Capabilities">Basic Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
1384 The number of columns on each line for the terminal is given by the
1385 <STRONG>cols</STRONG> numeric capability. If the terminal is a CRT, then the number of
1386 lines on the screen is given by the <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability. If the terminal
1387 wraps around to the beginning of the next line when it reaches the
1388 right margin, then it should have the <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability. If the terminal
1389 can clear its screen, leaving the cursor in the home position, then
1390 this is given by the <STRONG>clear</STRONG> string capability. If the terminal
1391 overstrikes (rather than clearing a position when a character is struck
1392 over) then it should have the <STRONG>os</STRONG> capability. If the terminal is a
1393 printing terminal, with no soft copy unit, give it both <STRONG>hc</STRONG> and <STRONG>os</STRONG>. (<STRONG>os</STRONG>
1394 applies to storage scope terminals, such as TEKTRONIX 4010 series, as
1395 well as hard copy and APL terminals.) If there is a code to move the
1396 cursor to the left edge of the current row, give this as <STRONG>cr</STRONG>. (Normally
1397 this will be carriage return, control/M.) If there is a code to
1398 produce an audible signal (bell, beep, etc) give this as <STRONG>bel</STRONG>.
1400 If there is a code to move the cursor one position to the left (such as
1401 backspace) that capability should be given as <STRONG>cub1</STRONG>. Similarly, codes
1402 to move to the right, up, and down should be given as <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>, and
1403 <STRONG>cud1</STRONG>. These local cursor motions should not alter the text they pass
1404 over, for example, you would not normally use "<STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>= " because the
1405 space would erase the character moved over.
1407 A very important point here is that the local cursor motions encoded in
1408 <EM>terminfo</EM> are undefined at the left and top edges of a CRT terminal.
1409 Programs should never attempt to backspace around the left edge, unless
1410 <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is given, and never attempt to go up locally off the top. In order
1411 to scroll text up, a program will go to the bottom left corner of the
1412 screen and send the <STRONG>ind</STRONG> (index) string.
1414 To scroll text down, a program goes to the top left corner of the
1415 screen and sends the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> (reverse index) string. The strings <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG>
1416 are undefined when not on their respective corners of the screen.
1418 Parameterized versions of the scrolling sequences are <STRONG>indn</STRONG> and <STRONG>rin</STRONG>
1419 which have the same semantics as <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG> except that they take one
1420 parameter, and scroll that many lines. They are also undefined except
1421 at the appropriate edge of the screen.
1423 The <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability tells whether the cursor sticks at the right edge of
1424 the screen when text is output, but this does not necessarily apply to
1425 a <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG> from the last column. The only local motion which is defined
1426 from the left edge is if <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is given, then a <STRONG>cub1</STRONG> from the left edge
1427 will move to the right edge of the previous row. If <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is not given,
1428 the effect is undefined. This is useful for drawing a box around the
1429 edge of the screen, for example. If the terminal has switch selectable
1430 automatic margins, the <EM>terminfo</EM> file usually assumes that this is on;
1431 i.e., <STRONG>am</STRONG>. If the terminal has a command which moves to the first
1432 column of the next line, that command can be given as <STRONG>nel</STRONG> (newline).
1433 It does not matter if the command clears the remainder of the current
1434 line, so if the terminal has no <STRONG>cr</STRONG> and <STRONG>lf</STRONG> it may still be possible to
1435 craft a working <STRONG>nel</STRONG> out of one or both of them.
1437 These capabilities suffice to describe hard-copy and "glass-tty"
1438 terminals. Thus the model 33 teletype is described as
1440 33|tty33|tty|model 33 teletype,
1441 bel=^G, cols#72, cr=^M, cud1=^J, hc, ind=^J, os,
1443 while the Lear Siegler ADM-3 is described as
1446 am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
1450 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Parameterized-Strings">Parameterized Strings</a></H3><PRE>
1451 Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters in the
1452 terminal are described by a parameterized string capability, with
1453 <EM>printf</EM>-like escapes such as <EM>%x</EM> in it. For example, to address the
1454 cursor, the <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is given, using two parameters: the row and
1455 column to address to. (Rows and columns are numbered from zero and
1456 refer to the physical screen visible to the user, not to any unseen
1457 memory.) If the terminal has memory relative cursor addressing, that
1458 can be indicated by <STRONG>mrcup</STRONG>.
1460 The parameter mechanism uses a stack and special <STRONG>%</STRONG> codes to manipulate
1461 it. Typically a sequence will push one of the parameters onto the
1462 stack and then print it in some format. Print (e.g., "%d") is a
1463 special case. Other operations, including "%t" pop their operand from
1464 the stack. It is noted that more complex operations are often
1465 necessary, e.g., in the <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> string.
1467 The <STRONG>%</STRONG> encodings have the following meanings:
1469 <STRONG>%%</STRONG> outputs "%"
1471 <STRONG>%</STRONG><EM>[[</EM>:<EM>]flags][width[.precision]][</EM><STRONG>doxXs</STRONG><EM>]</EM>
1472 as in <STRONG>printf(3)</STRONG>, flags are <EM>[-+#]</EM> and <EM>space</EM>. Use a ":" to allow
1473 the next character to be a "-" flag, avoiding interpreting "%-" as
1476 %c print <EM>pop()</EM> like %c in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
1478 <STRONG>%s</STRONG> print <EM>pop()</EM> like %s in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
1480 <STRONG>%p</STRONG><EM>[1-9]</EM>
1481 push <EM>i</EM>'th parameter
1483 <STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[a-z]</EM>
1484 set dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to <EM>pop()</EM>
1486 <STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[a-z]</EM>
1487 get dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
1489 <STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
1490 set static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to <EM>pop()</EM>
1492 <STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
1493 get static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
1495 The terms "static" and "dynamic" are misleading. Historically,
1496 these are simply two different sets of variables, whose values are
1497 not reset between calls to <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tparm(3x)</A></STRONG>. However, that fact is not
1498 documented in other implementations. Relying on it will adversely
1499 impact portability to other implementations:
1501 <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr2 curses supported <EM>dynamic</EM> variables. Those are set only
1502 by a <STRONG>%P</STRONG> operator. A <STRONG>%g</STRONG> for a given variable without first
1503 setting it with <STRONG>%P</STRONG> will give unpredictable results, because
1504 dynamic variables are an uninitialized local array on the
1505 stack in the <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> function.
1507 <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr3.2 curses supported <EM>static</EM> variables. Those are an array
1508 in the <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> structure (declared in <STRONG>term.h</STRONG>), and are zeroed
1509 automatically when the <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> function allocates the data.
1511 <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr4 curses made no further improvements to the <EM>dynamic/static</EM>
1514 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Solaris XPG4 curses does not distinguish between <EM>dynamic</EM> and
1515 <EM>static</EM> variables. They are the same. Like SVr4 curses, XPG4
1516 curses does not initialize these explicitly.
1518 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Before version 6.3, ncurses stores both <EM>dynamic</EM> and <EM>static</EM>
1519 variables in persistent storage, initialized to zeros.
1521 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Beginning with version 6.3, ncurses stores <EM>static</EM> and <EM>dynamic</EM>
1522 variables in the same manner as SVr4.
1524 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Unlike other implementations, ncurses zeros dynamic
1525 variables before the first <STRONG>%g</STRONG> or <STRONG>%P</STRONG> operator.
1527 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Like SVr2, the scope of dynamic variables in ncurses is
1528 within the current call to <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>. Use static variables if
1529 persistent storage is needed.
1531 <STRONG>%'</STRONG><EM>c</EM><STRONG>'</STRONG> char constant <EM>c</EM>
1533 <STRONG>%{</STRONG><EM>nn</EM><STRONG>}</STRONG>
1534 integer constant <EM>nn</EM>
1536 <STRONG>%l</STRONG> push strlen(pop)
1538 <STRONG>%+</STRONG>, <STRONG>%-</STRONG>, <STRONG>%*</STRONG>, <STRONG>%/</STRONG>, <STRONG>%m</STRONG>
1539 arithmetic (%m is <EM>mod</EM>): <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1541 <STRONG>%&</STRONG>, <STRONG>%|</STRONG>, <STRONG>%^</STRONG>
1542 bit operations (AND, OR and exclusive-OR): <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1544 <STRONG>%=</STRONG>, <STRONG>%></STRONG>, <STRONG>%<</STRONG>
1545 logical operations: <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1547 <STRONG>%A</STRONG>, <STRONG>%O</STRONG>
1548 logical AND and OR operations (for conditionals)
1550 <STRONG>%!</STRONG>, <STRONG>%~</STRONG>
1551 unary operations (logical and bit complement): <EM>push(op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1553 <STRONG>%i</STRONG> add 1 to first two parameters (for ANSI terminals)
1555 <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> <STRONG>%t</STRONG> <EM>thenpart</EM> <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> <STRONG>%;</STRONG>
1556 This forms an if-then-else. The <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> is optional. Usually
1557 the <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> part pushes a value onto the stack, and <STRONG>%t</STRONG> pops it
1558 from the stack, testing if it is nonzero (true). If it is zero
1559 (false), control passes to the <STRONG>%e</STRONG> (else) part.
1561 It is possible to form else-if's a la Algol 68:
1562 <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>
1564 where ci are conditions, bi are bodies.
1566 Use the <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> or <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> to see the structure of if-
1567 then-else's. Some strings, e.g., <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> can be very complicated when
1568 written on one line. The <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option splits the string into lines
1569 with the parts indented.
1571 Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands in the usual
1572 order. That is, to get x-5 one would use "%gx%{5}%-". <STRONG>%P</STRONG> and <STRONG>%g</STRONG>
1573 variables are persistent across escape-string evaluations.
1575 Consider the HP2645, which, to get to row 3 and column 12, needs to be
1576 sent \E&a12c03Y padded for 6 milliseconds. The order of the rows and
1577 columns is inverted here, and the row and column are printed as two
1578 digits. The corresponding terminal description is expressed thus:
1579 cup=\E&a%p2%dc%p1%dY$<6>,
1581 The Microterm ACT-IV needs the current row and column sent preceded by
1582 a <STRONG>^T</STRONG>, with the row and column simply encoded in binary,
1585 Terminals which use "%c" need to be able to backspace the cursor
1586 (<STRONG>cub1</STRONG>), and to move the cursor up one line on the screen (<STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>). This
1587 is necessary because it is not always safe to transmit <STRONG>\n</STRONG> <STRONG>^D</STRONG> and <STRONG>\r</STRONG>, as
1588 the system may change or discard them. (The library routines dealing
1589 with terminfo set tty modes so that tabs are never expanded, so \t is
1590 safe to send. This turns out to be essential for the Ann Arbor 4080.)
1592 A final example is the LSI ADM-3a, which uses row and column offset by
1593 a blank character, thus
1594 cup=\E=%p1%' '%+%c%p2%' '%+%c
1596 After sending "\E=", this pushes the first parameter, pushes the ASCII
1597 value for a space (32), adds them (pushing the sum on the stack in
1598 place of the two previous values) and outputs that value as a
1599 character. Then the same is done for the second parameter. More
1600 complex arithmetic is possible using the stack.
1603 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Cursor-Motions">Cursor Motions</a></H3><PRE>
1604 If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very upper left
1605 corner of screen) then this can be given as <STRONG>home</STRONG>; similarly a fast way
1606 of getting to the lower left-hand corner can be given as <STRONG>ll</STRONG>; this may
1607 involve going up with <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG> from the home position, but a program should
1608 never do this itself (unless <STRONG>ll</STRONG> does) because it can make no assumption
1609 about the effect of moving up from the home position. Note that the
1610 home position is the same as addressing to (0,0): to the top left
1611 corner of the screen, not of memory. (Thus, the \EH sequence on HP
1612 terminals cannot be used for <STRONG>home</STRONG>.)
1614 If the terminal has row or column absolute cursor addressing, these can
1615 be given as single parameter capabilities <STRONG>hpa</STRONG> (horizontal position
1616 absolute) and <STRONG>vpa</STRONG> (vertical position absolute). Sometimes these are
1617 shorter than the more general two parameter sequence (as with the
1618 hp2645) and can be used in preference to <STRONG>cup</STRONG>. If there are
1619 parameterized local motions (e.g., move <EM>n</EM> spaces to the right) these
1620 can be given as <STRONG>cud</STRONG>, <STRONG>cub</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuf</STRONG>, and <STRONG>cuu</STRONG> with a single parameter
1621 indicating how many spaces to move. These are primarily useful if the
1622 terminal does not have <STRONG>cup</STRONG>, such as the TEKTRONIX 4025.
1624 If the terminal needs to be in a special mode when running a program
1625 that uses these capabilities, the codes to enter and exit this mode can
1626 be given as <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>. This arises, for example, from terminals
1627 like the Concept with more than one page of memory. If the terminal
1628 has only memory relative cursor addressing and not screen relative
1629 cursor addressing, a one screen-sized window must be fixed into the
1630 terminal for cursor addressing to work properly. This is also used for
1631 the TEKTRONIX 4025, where <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sets the command character to be the
1632 one used by terminfo. If the <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sequence will not restore the
1633 screen after an <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG> sequence is output (to the state prior to
1634 outputting <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>), specify <STRONG>nrrmc</STRONG>.
1637 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Margins">Margins</a></H3><PRE>
1638 SVr4 (and X/Open Curses) list several string capabilities for setting
1639 margins. Two were intended for use with terminals, and another six
1640 were intended for use with printers.
1642 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The two terminal capabilities assume that the terminal may have the
1643 capability of setting the left and/or right margin at the current
1644 cursor column position.
1646 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The printer capabilities assume that the printer may have two types
1649 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the ability to set a top and/or bottom margin using the current
1652 <STRONG>o</STRONG> parameterized capabilities for setting the top, bottom, left,
1653 right margins given the number of rows or columns.
1655 In practice, the categorization into "terminal" and "printer" is not
1658 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The AT&T SVr4 terminal database uses <STRONG>smgl</STRONG> four times, for AT&T
1661 Three of the four are printers. They lack the ability to set
1662 left/right margins by specifying the column.
1664 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Other (non-AT&T) terminals may support margins but using different
1665 assumptions from AT&T.
1667 For instance, the DEC VT420 supports left/right margins, but only
1668 using a column parameter. As an added complication, the VT420 uses
1669 two settings to fully enable left/right margins (left/right margin
1670 mode, and origin mode). The former enables the margins, which
1671 causes printed text to wrap within margins, but the latter is
1672 needed to prevent cursor-addressing outside those margins.
1674 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Both DEC VT420 left/right margins are set with a single control
1675 sequence. If either is omitted, the corresponding margin is set to
1676 the left or right edge of the display (rather than leaving the
1679 These are the margin-related capabilities:
1681 <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
1682 ---------------------------------------------------
1683 <STRONG>smgl</STRONG> Set left margin at current column
1684 <STRONG>smgr</STRONG> Set right margin at current column
1685 <STRONG>smgb</STRONG> Set bottom margin at current line
1686 <STRONG>smgt</STRONG> Set top margin at current line
1687 <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> Set bottom margin at line <EM>N</EM>
1688 <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> Set left margin at column <EM>N</EM>
1689 <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> Set right margin at column <EM>N</EM>
1690 <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> Set top margin at line <EM>N</EM>
1691 <STRONG>smglr</STRONG> Set both left and right margins to <EM>L</EM> and <EM>R</EM>
1692 <STRONG>smgtb</STRONG> Set both top and bottom margins to <EM>T</EM> and <EM>B</EM>
1694 When writing an application that uses these string capabilities, the
1695 pairs should be first checked to see if each capability in the pair is
1696 set or only one is set:
1698 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If both <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> are set, each is used with a single
1699 argument, <EM>N</EM>, that gives the column number of the left and right
1700 margin, respectively.
1702 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If both <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> are set, each is used to set the top and
1703 bottom margin, respectively:
1705 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> is used with a single argument, <EM>N</EM>, the line number of the
1708 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> is used with two arguments, <EM>N</EM> and <EM>M</EM>, that give the line
1709 number of the bottom margin, the first counting from the top of
1710 the page and the second counting from the bottom. This
1711 accommodates the two styles of specifying the bottom margin in
1712 different manufacturers' printers.
1714 When designing a terminfo entry for a printer that has a settable
1715 bottom margin, only the first or second argument should be used,
1716 depending on the printer. When developing an application that uses
1717 <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> to set the bottom margin, both arguments must be given.
1719 Conversely, when only one capability in the pair is set:
1721 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If only one of <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> is set, then it is used with two
1722 arguments, the column number of the left and right margins, in that
1725 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Likewise, if only one of <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> is set, then it is used
1726 with two arguments that give the top and bottom margins, in that
1727 order, counting from the top of the page.
1729 When designing a terminfo entry for a printer that requires setting
1730 both left and right or top and bottom margins simultaneously, only
1731 one capability in the pairs <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> or <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG>
1732 should be defined, leaving the other unset.
1734 Except for very old terminal descriptions, e.g., those developed for
1735 SVr4, the scheme just described should be considered obsolete. An
1736 improved set of capabilities was added late in the SVr4 releases (<STRONG>smglr</STRONG>
1737 and <STRONG>smgtb</STRONG>), which explicitly use two parameters for setting the
1738 left/right or top/bottom margins.
1740 When setting margins, the line- and column-values are zero-based.
1742 The <STRONG>mgc</STRONG> string capability should be defined. Applications such as
1743 <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG> rely upon this to reset all margins.
1746 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Area-Clears">Area Clears</a></H3><PRE>
1747 If the terminal can clear from the current position to the end of the
1748 line, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be given as <STRONG>el</STRONG>. If
1749 the terminal can clear from the beginning of the line to the current
1750 position inclusive, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be
1751 given as <STRONG>el1</STRONG>. If the terminal can clear from the current position to
1752 the end of the display, then this should be given as <STRONG>ed</STRONG>. <STRONG>Ed</STRONG> is only
1753 defined from the first column of a line. (Thus, it can be simulated by
1754 a request to delete a large number of lines, if a true <STRONG>ed</STRONG> is not
1758 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Insert_delete-line-and-vertical-motions">Insert/delete line and vertical motions</a></H3><PRE>
1759 If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line where the
1760 cursor is, this should be given as <STRONG>il1</STRONG>; this is done only from the
1761 first position of a line. The cursor must then appear on the newly
1762 blank line. If the terminal can delete the line which the cursor is
1763 on, then this should be given as <STRONG>dl1</STRONG>; this is done only from the first
1764 position on the line to be deleted. Versions of <STRONG>il1</STRONG> and <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> which take
1765 a single parameter and insert or delete that many lines can be given as
1766 <STRONG>il</STRONG> and <STRONG>dl</STRONG>.
1768 If the terminal has a settable scrolling region (like the vt100) the
1769 command to set this can be described with the <STRONG>csr</STRONG> capability, which
1770 takes two parameters: the top and bottom lines of the scrolling region.
1771 The cursor position is, alas, undefined after using this command.
1773 It is possible to get the effect of insert or delete line using <STRONG>csr</STRONG> on
1774 a properly chosen region; the <STRONG>sc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (save and restore cursor)
1775 commands may be useful for ensuring that your synthesized insert/delete
1776 string does not move the cursor. (Note that the <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG> library
1777 does this synthesis automatically, so you need not compose
1778 insert/delete strings for an entry with <STRONG>csr</STRONG>).
1780 Yet another way to construct insert and delete might be to use a
1781 combination of index with the memory-lock feature found on some
1782 terminals (like the HP-700/90 series, which however also has
1785 Inserting lines at the top or bottom of the screen can also be done
1786 using <STRONG>ri</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG> on many terminals without a true insert/delete line,
1787 and is often faster even on terminals with those features.
1789 The boolean <STRONG>non_dest_scroll_region</STRONG> should be set if each scrolling
1790 window is effectively a view port on a screen-sized canvas. To test
1791 for this capability, create a scrolling region in the middle of the
1792 screen, write something to the bottom line, move the cursor to the top
1793 of the region, and do <STRONG>ri</STRONG> followed by <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG>. If the data scrolled
1794 off the bottom of the region by the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> re-appears, then scrolling is
1795 non-destructive. System V and XSI Curses expect that <STRONG>ind</STRONG>, <STRONG>ri</STRONG>, <STRONG>indn</STRONG>,
1796 and <STRONG>rin</STRONG> will simulate destructive scrolling; their documentation
1797 cautions you not to define <STRONG>csr</STRONG> unless this is true. This <STRONG>curses</STRONG>
1798 implementation is more liberal and will do explicit erases after
1799 scrolling if <STRONG>ndsrc</STRONG> is defined.
1801 If the terminal has the ability to define a window as part of memory,
1802 which all commands affect, it should be given as the parameterized
1803 string <STRONG>wind</STRONG>. The four parameters are the starting and ending lines in
1804 memory and the starting and ending columns in memory, in that order.
1806 If the terminal can retain display memory above, then the <STRONG>da</STRONG> capability
1807 should be given; if display memory can be retained below, then <STRONG>db</STRONG>
1808 should be given. These indicate that deleting a line or scrolling may
1809 bring non-blank lines up from below or that scrolling back with <STRONG>ri</STRONG> may
1810 bring down non-blank lines.
1813 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Insert_Delete-Character">Insert/Delete Character</a></H3><PRE>
1814 There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with respect to
1815 insert/delete character which can be described using <EM>terminfo.</EM> The
1816 most common insert/delete character operations affect only the
1817 characters on the current line and shift characters off the end of the
1818 line rigidly. Other terminals, such as the Concept 100 and the Perkin
1819 Elmer Owl, make a distinction between typed and untyped blanks on the
1820 screen, shifting upon an insert or delete only to an untyped blank on
1821 the screen which is either eliminated, or expanded to two untyped
1824 You can determine the kind of terminal you have by clearing the screen
1825 and then typing text separated by cursor motions. Type "abc def"
1826 using local cursor motions (not spaces) between the "abc" and the
1827 "def". Then position the cursor before the "abc" and put the terminal
1828 in insert mode. If typing characters causes the rest of the line to
1829 shift rigidly and characters to fall off the end, then your terminal
1830 does not distinguish between blanks and untyped positions. If the
1831 "abc" shifts over to the "def" which then move together around the end
1832 of the current line and onto the next as you insert, you have the
1833 second type of terminal, and should give the capability <STRONG>in</STRONG>, which
1834 stands for "insert null".
1836 While these are two logically separate attributes (one line versus
1837 multi-line insert mode, and special treatment of untyped spaces) we
1838 have seen no terminals whose insert mode cannot be described with the
1841 Terminfo can describe both terminals which have an insert mode, and
1842 terminals which send a simple sequence to open a blank position on the
1843 current line. Give as <STRONG>smir</STRONG> the sequence to get into insert mode. Give
1844 as <STRONG>rmir</STRONG> the sequence to leave insert mode. Now give as <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> any
1845 sequence needed to be sent just before sending the character to be
1846 inserted. Most terminals with a true insert mode will not give <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>;
1847 terminals which send a sequence to open a screen position should give
1850 If your terminal has both, insert mode is usually preferable to <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>.
1851 Technically, you should not give both unless the terminal actually
1852 requires both to be used in combination. Accordingly, some non-curses
1853 applications get confused if both are present; the symptom is doubled
1854 characters in an update using insert. This requirement is now rare;
1855 most <STRONG>ich</STRONG> sequences do not require previous smir, and most smir insert
1856 modes do not require <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> before each character. Therefore, the new
1857 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> actually assumes this is the case and uses either <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> or
1858 <STRONG>ich</STRONG>/<STRONG>ich1</STRONG> as appropriate (but not both). If you have to write an entry
1859 to be used under new curses for a terminal old enough to need both,
1860 include the <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> sequences in <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>.
1862 If post insert padding is needed, give this as a number of milliseconds
1863 in <STRONG>ip</STRONG> (a string option). Any other sequence which may need to be sent
1864 after an insert of a single character may also be given in <STRONG>ip</STRONG>. If your
1865 terminal needs both to be placed into an "insert mode" and a special
1866 code to precede each inserted character, then both <STRONG>smir</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmir</STRONG> and <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>
1867 can be given, and both will be used. The <STRONG>ich</STRONG> capability, with one
1868 parameter, <EM>n</EM>, will repeat the effects of <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> <EM>n</EM> times.
1870 If padding is necessary between characters typed while not in insert
1871 mode, give this as a number of milliseconds padding in <STRONG>rmp</STRONG>.
1873 It is occasionally necessary to move around while in insert mode to
1874 delete characters on the same line (e.g., if there is a tab after the
1875 insertion position). If your terminal allows motion while in insert
1876 mode you can give the capability <STRONG>mir</STRONG> to speed up inserting in this
1877 case. Omitting <STRONG>mir</STRONG> will affect only speed. Some terminals (notably
1878 Datamedia's) must not have <STRONG>mir</STRONG> because of the way their insert mode
1881 Finally, you can specify <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to delete a single character, <STRONG>dch</STRONG> with
1882 one parameter, <EM>n</EM>, to delete <EM>n</EM> <EM>characters,</EM> and delete mode by giving
1883 <STRONG>smdc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmdc</STRONG> to enter and exit delete mode (any mode the terminal
1884 needs to be placed in for <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to work).
1886 A command to erase <EM>n</EM> characters (equivalent to outputting <EM>n</EM> blanks
1887 without moving the cursor) can be given as <STRONG>ech</STRONG> with one parameter.
1890 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Highlighting_-Underlining_-and-Visible-Bells">Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells</a></H3><PRE>
1891 If your terminal has one or more kinds of display attributes, these can
1892 be represented in a number of different ways. You should choose one
1893 display form as <EM>standout</EM> <EM>mode</EM>, representing a good, high contrast,
1894 easy-on-the-eyes, format for highlighting error messages and other
1895 attention getters. (If you have a choice, reverse video plus half-
1896 bright is good, or reverse video alone.) The sequences to enter and
1897 exit standout mode are given as <STRONG>smso</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmso</STRONG>, respectively. If the
1898 code to change into or out of standout mode leaves one or even two
1899 blank spaces on the screen, as the TVI 912 and Teleray 1061 do, then
1900 <STRONG>xmc</STRONG> should be given to tell how many spaces are left.
1902 Codes to begin underlining and end underlining can be given as <STRONG>smul</STRONG> and
1903 <STRONG>rmul</STRONG> respectively. If the terminal has a code to underline the current
1904 character and move the cursor one space to the right, such as the
1905 Microterm Mime, this can be given as <STRONG>uc</STRONG>.
1907 Other capabilities to enter various highlighting modes include <STRONG>blink</STRONG>
1908 (blinking) <STRONG>bold</STRONG> (bold or extra bright) <STRONG>dim</STRONG> (dim or half-bright) <STRONG>invis</STRONG>
1909 (blanking or invisible text) <STRONG>prot</STRONG> (protected) <STRONG>rev</STRONG> (reverse video) <STRONG>sgr0</STRONG>
1910 (turn off <EM>all</EM> attribute modes) <STRONG>smacs</STRONG> (enter alternate character set
1911 mode) and <STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> (exit alternate character set mode). Turning on any of
1912 these modes singly may or may not turn off other modes.
1914 If there is a sequence to set arbitrary combinations of modes, this
1915 should be given as <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> (set attributes), taking 9 parameters. Each
1916 parameter is either zero (0) or nonzero, as the corresponding attribute
1917 is on or off. The 9 parameters are, in order: standout, underline,
1918 reverse, blink, dim, bold, blank, protect, alternate character set.
1919 Not all modes need be supported by <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>, only those for which
1920 corresponding separate attribute commands exist.
1922 For example, the DEC vt220 supports most of the modes:
1924 <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> <STRONG>Parameter</STRONG> <STRONG>Attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>Escape</STRONG> <STRONG>Sequence</STRONG>
1925 ------------------------------------------------
1927 p1 standout \E[0;1;7m
1928 p2 underline \E[0;4m
1931 p5 dim not available
1935 p9 altcharset ^O (off) ^N (on)
1937 We begin each escape sequence by turning off any existing modes, since
1938 there is no quick way to determine whether they are active. Standout
1939 is set up to be the combination of reverse and bold. The vt220
1940 terminal has a protect mode, though it is not commonly used in sgr
1941 because it protects characters on the screen from the host's erasures.
1942 The altcharset mode also is different in that it is either ^O or ^N,
1943 depending on whether it is off or on. If all modes are turned on, the
1944 resulting sequence is \E[0;1;4;5;7;8m^N.
1946 Some sequences are common to different modes. For example, ;7 is
1947 output when either p1 or p3 is true, that is, if either standout or
1948 reverse modes are turned on.
1950 Writing out the above sequences, along with their dependencies yields
1952 <STRONG>Sequence</STRONG> <STRONG>When</STRONG> <STRONG>to</STRONG> <STRONG>Output</STRONG> <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> <STRONG>Translation</STRONG>
1953 ----------------------------------------------------
1955 ;1 if p1 or p6 %?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;
1956 ;4 if p2 %?%p2%|%t;4%;
1957 ;5 if p4 %?%p4%|%t;5%;
1958 ;7 if p1 or p3 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;
1959 ;8 if p7 %?%p7%|%t;8%;
1961 ^N or ^O if p9 ^N, else ^O %?%p9%t^N%e^O%;
1963 Putting this all together into the sgr sequence gives:
1965 sgr=\E[0%?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p4%t;5%;
1966 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;%?%p7%t;8%;m%?%p9%t\016%e\017%;,
1968 Remember that if you specify sgr, you must also specify sgr0. Also,
1969 some implementations rely on sgr being given if sgr0 is, Not all
1970 terminfo entries necessarily have an sgr string, however. Many
1971 terminfo entries are derived from termcap entries which have no sgr
1972 string. The only drawback to adding an sgr string is that termcap also
1973 assumes that sgr0 does not exit alternate character set mode.
1975 Terminals with the "magic cookie" glitch (<STRONG>xmc</STRONG>) deposit special
1976 "cookies" when they receive mode-setting sequences, which affect the
1977 display algorithm rather than having extra bits for each character.
1978 Some terminals, such as the HP 2621, automatically leave standout mode
1979 when they move to a new line or the cursor is addressed. Programs
1980 using standout mode should exit standout mode before moving the cursor
1981 or sending a newline, unless the <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> capability, asserting that it is
1982 safe to move in standout mode, is present.
1984 If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indicate an error
1985 quietly (a bell replacement) then this can be given as <STRONG>flash</STRONG>; it must
1986 not move the cursor.
1988 If the cursor needs to be made more visible than normal when it is not
1989 on the bottom line (to make, for example, a non-blinking underline into
1990 an easier to find block or blinking underline) give this sequence as
1991 <STRONG>cvvis</STRONG>. If there is a way to make the cursor completely invisible, give
1992 that as <STRONG>civis</STRONG>. The capability <STRONG>cnorm</STRONG> should be given which undoes the
1993 effects of both of these modes.
1995 If your terminal correctly generates underlined characters (with no
1996 special codes needed) even though it does not overstrike, then you
1997 should give the capability <STRONG>ul</STRONG>. If a character overstriking another
1998 leaves both characters on the screen, specify the capability <STRONG>os</STRONG>. If
1999 overstrikes are erasable with a blank, then this should be indicated by
2000 giving <STRONG>eo</STRONG>.
2003 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Keypad-and-Function-Keys">Keypad and Function Keys</a></H3><PRE>
2004 If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes when the keys are
2005 pressed, this information can be given. Note that it is not possible
2006 to handle terminals where the keypad only works in local (this applies,
2007 for example, to the unshifted HP 2621 keys). If the keypad can be set
2008 to transmit or not transmit, give these codes as <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG>.
2009 Otherwise the keypad is assumed to always transmit.
2011 The codes sent by the left arrow, right arrow, up arrow, down arrow,
2012 and home keys can be given as <STRONG>kcub1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuu1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcud1,</STRONG> and <STRONG>khome</STRONG>
2013 respectively. If there are function keys such as f0, f1, ..., f10, the
2014 codes they send can be given as <STRONG>kf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf10</STRONG>. If these keys
2015 have labels other than the default f0 through f10, the labels can be
2016 given as <STRONG>lf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf10</STRONG>.
2018 The codes transmitted by certain other special keys can be given:
2020 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kll</STRONG> (home down),
2022 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kbs</STRONG> (backspace),
2024 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ktbc</STRONG> (clear all tabs),
2026 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kctab</STRONG> (clear the tab stop in this column),
2028 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kclr</STRONG> (clear screen or erase key),
2030 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdch1</STRONG> (delete character),
2032 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdl1</STRONG> (delete line),
2034 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>krmir</STRONG> (exit insert mode),
2036 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kel</STRONG> (clear to end of line),
2038 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ked</STRONG> (clear to end of screen),
2040 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kich1</STRONG> (insert character or enter insert mode),
2042 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kil1</STRONG> (insert line),
2044 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>knp</STRONG> (next page),
2046 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kpp</STRONG> (previous page),
2048 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kind</STRONG> (scroll forward/down),
2050 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kri</STRONG> (scroll backward/up),
2052 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>khts</STRONG> (set a tab stop in this column).
2054 In addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3 array of keys including the
2055 four arrow keys, the other five keys can be given as <STRONG>ka1</STRONG>, <STRONG>ka3</STRONG>, <STRONG>kb2</STRONG>,
2056 <STRONG>kc1</STRONG>, and <STRONG>kc3</STRONG>. These keys are useful when the effects of a 3 by 3
2057 directional pad are needed.
2059 Strings to program function keys can be given as <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG>, <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG>, and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG>.
2060 A string to program screen labels should be specified as <STRONG>pln</STRONG>. Each of
2061 these strings takes two parameters: the function key number to program
2062 (from 0 to 10) and the string to program it with. Function key numbers
2063 out of this range may program undefined keys in a terminal dependent
2064 manner. The difference between the capabilities is that <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG> causes
2065 pressing the given key to be the same as the user typing the given
2066 string; <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG> causes the string to be executed by the terminal in
2067 local; and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG> causes the string to be transmitted to the computer.
2069 The capabilities <STRONG>nlab</STRONG>, <STRONG>lw</STRONG> and <STRONG>lh</STRONG> define the number of programmable
2070 screen labels and their width and height. If there are commands to
2071 turn the labels on and off, give them in <STRONG>smln</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmln</STRONG>. <STRONG>smln</STRONG> is
2072 normally output after one or more pln sequences to make sure that the
2073 change becomes visible.
2076 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Tabs-and-Initialization">Tabs and Initialization</a></H3><PRE>
2077 A few capabilities are used only for tabs:
2079 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance to the
2080 next tab stop can be given as <STRONG>ht</STRONG> (usually control/I).
2082 <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "back-tab" command which moves leftward to the preceding tab stop
2083 can be given as <STRONG>cbt</STRONG>.
2085 By convention, if the teletype modes indicate that tabs are being
2086 expanded by the computer rather than being sent to the terminal,
2087 programs should not use <STRONG>ht</STRONG> or <STRONG>cbt</STRONG> even if they are present, since
2088 the user may not have the tab stops properly set.
2090 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal has hardware tabs which are initially set every <EM>n</EM>
2091 spaces when the terminal is powered up, the numeric parameter <STRONG>it</STRONG> is
2092 given, showing the number of spaces the tabs are set to.
2094 The <STRONG>it</STRONG> capability is normally used by the <STRONG>tset</STRONG> command to determine
2095 whether to set the mode for hardware tab expansion, and whether to
2096 set the tab stops. If the terminal has tab stops that can be saved
2097 in non-volatile memory, the terminfo description can assume that
2098 they are properly set.
2100 Other capabilities include
2102 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, and <STRONG>is3</STRONG>, initialization strings for the terminal,
2104 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, the path name of a program to be run to initialize the
2107 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>if</STRONG>, the name of a file containing long initialization strings.
2109 These strings are expected to set the terminal into modes consistent
2110 with the rest of the terminfo description. They are normally sent to
2111 the terminal, by the <EM>init</EM> option of the <STRONG>tput</STRONG> program, each time the
2112 user logs in. They will be printed in the following order:
2115 <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>
2118 <STRONG>is1</STRONG> and
2119 <STRONG>is2</STRONG>
2121 set the margins using
2122 <STRONG>mgc</STRONG> or
2123 <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> or
2124 <STRONG>smgl</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgr</STRONG>
2127 <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> and <STRONG>hts</STRONG>
2133 <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
2135 Most initialization is done with <STRONG>is2</STRONG>. Special terminal modes can be
2136 set up without duplicating strings by putting the common sequences in
2137 <STRONG>is2</STRONG> and special cases in <STRONG>is1</STRONG> and <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
2139 A set of sequences that does a harder reset from a totally unknown
2140 state can be given as <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rf</STRONG> and <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, analogous to <STRONG>is1</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>is2</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>if</STRONG>
2141 and <STRONG>is3</STRONG> respectively. These strings are output by <EM>reset</EM> option of
2142 <STRONG>tput</STRONG>, or by the <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program (an alias of <STRONG>tset</STRONG>), which is used when
2143 the terminal gets into a wedged state. Commands are normally placed in
2144 <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG> <STRONG>rs3</STRONG> and <STRONG>rf</STRONG> only if they produce annoying effects on the screen
2145 and are not necessary when logging in. For example, the command to set
2146 the vt100 into 80-column mode would normally be part of <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, but it
2147 causes an annoying glitch of the screen and is not normally needed
2148 since the terminal is usually already in 80-column mode.
2150 The <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program writes strings including <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, etc., in the same
2151 order as the <EM>init</EM> program, using <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, etc., instead of <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, etc. If
2152 any of <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, or <STRONG>rf</STRONG> reset capability strings are missing, the
2153 <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program falls back upon the corresponding initialization
2156 If there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can be given as
2157 <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (clear all tab stops) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (set a tab stop in the current column
2158 of every row). If a more complex sequence is needed to set the tabs
2159 than can be described by this, the sequence can be placed in <STRONG>is2</STRONG> or <STRONG>if</STRONG>.
2161 The <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>reset</STRONG> command uses the same capability strings as the <STRONG>reset</STRONG>
2162 command, although the two programs (<STRONG>tput</STRONG> and <STRONG>reset</STRONG>) provide different
2163 command-line options.
2165 In practice, these terminfo capabilities are not often used in
2166 initialization of tabs (though they are required for the <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> program):
2168 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Almost all hardware terminals (at least those which supported tabs)
2169 initialized those to every <EM>eight</EM> columns:
2171 The only exception was the AT&T 2300 series, which set tabs to
2172 every <EM>five</EM> columns.
2174 <STRONG>o</STRONG> In particular, developers of the hardware terminals which are
2175 commonly used as models for modern terminal emulators provided
2176 documentation demonstrating that <EM>eight</EM> columns were the standard.
2178 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Because of this, the terminal initialization programs <STRONG>tput</STRONG> and <STRONG>tset</STRONG>
2179 use the <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (<STRONG>clear_all_tabs</STRONG>) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (<STRONG>set_tab</STRONG>) capabilities
2180 directly only when the <STRONG>it</STRONG> (<STRONG>init_tabs</STRONG>) capability is set to a value
2181 other than <EM>eight</EM>.
2184 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Delays-and-Padding">Delays and Padding</a></H3><PRE>
2185 Many older and slower terminals do not support either XON/XOFF or DTR
2186 handshaking, including hard copy terminals and some very archaic CRTs
2187 (including, for example, DEC VT100s). These may require padding
2188 characters after certain cursor motions and screen changes.
2190 If the terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking for flow control (that is, it
2191 automatically emits ^S back to the host when its input buffers are
2192 close to full), set <STRONG>xon</STRONG>. This capability suppresses the emission of
2193 padding. You can also set it for memory-mapped console devices
2194 effectively that do not have a speed limit. Padding information should
2195 still be included so that routines can make better decisions about
2196 relative costs, but actual pad characters will not be transmitted.
2198 If <STRONG>pb</STRONG> (padding baud rate) is given, padding is suppressed at baud rates
2199 below the value of <STRONG>pb</STRONG>. If the entry has no padding baud rate, then
2200 whether padding is emitted or not is completely controlled by <STRONG>xon</STRONG>.
2202 If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
2203 then this can be given as <STRONG>pad</STRONG>. Only the first character of the <STRONG>pad</STRONG>
2207 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Status-Lines">Status Lines</a></H3><PRE>
2208 Some terminals have an extra "status line" which is not normally used
2209 by software (and thus not counted in the terminal's <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability).
2211 The simplest case is a status line which is cursor-addressable but not
2212 part of the main scrolling region on the screen; the Heathkit H19 has a
2213 status line of this kind, as would a 24-line VT100 with a 23-line
2214 scrolling region set up on initialization. This situation is indicated
2215 by the <STRONG>hs</STRONG> capability.
2217 Some terminals with status lines need special sequences to access the
2218 status line. These may be expressed as a string with single parameter
2219 <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> which takes the cursor to a given zero-origin column on the status
2220 line. The capability <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> must return to the main-screen cursor
2221 positions before the last <STRONG>tsl</STRONG>. You may need to embed the string values
2222 of <STRONG>sc</STRONG> (save cursor) and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (restore cursor) in <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> and <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> to
2225 The status line is normally assumed to be the same width as the width
2226 of the terminal. If this is untrue, you can specify it with the
2227 numeric capability <STRONG>wsl</STRONG>.
2229 A command to erase or blank the status line may be specified as <STRONG>dsl</STRONG>.
2231 The boolean capability <STRONG>eslok</STRONG> specifies that escape sequences, tabs,
2232 etc., work ordinarily in the status line.
2234 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation does not yet use any of these capabilities.
2235 They are documented here in case they ever become important.
2238 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Line-Graphics">Line Graphics</a></H3><PRE>
2239 Many terminals have alternate character sets useful for forms-drawing.
2240 Terminfo and <STRONG>curses</STRONG> have built-in support for most of the drawing
2241 characters supported by the VT100, with some characters from the AT&T
2242 4410v1 added. This alternate character set may be specified by the
2243 <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> capability.
2245 <STRONG>ASCII</STRONG> <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> <STRONG>acsc</STRONG>
2246 <STRONG>Glyph</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>ACS</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Fallback</STRONG> <STRONG>Symbol</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG>
2247 --------------------------------------------------------------------
2248 arrow pointing right <STRONG>ACS_RARROW</STRONG> > + 0x2b
2249 arrow pointing left <STRONG>ACS_LARROW</STRONG> < , 0x2c
2250 arrow pointing up <STRONG>ACS_UARROW</STRONG> ^ - 0x2d
2251 arrow pointing down <STRONG>ACS_DARROW</STRONG> v . 0x2e
2252 solid square block <STRONG>ACS_BLOCK</STRONG> # 0 0x30
2253 diamond <STRONG>ACS_DIAMOND</STRONG> + ` 0x60
2254 checker board (stipple) <STRONG>ACS_CKBOARD</STRONG> : a 0x61
2255 degree symbol <STRONG>ACS_DEGREE</STRONG> \ f 0x66
2256 plus/minus <STRONG>ACS_PLMINUS</STRONG> # g 0x67
2257 board of squares <STRONG>ACS_BOARD</STRONG> # h 0x68
2258 lantern symbol <STRONG>ACS_LANTERN</STRONG> # i 0x69
2259 lower right corner <STRONG>ACS_LRCORNER</STRONG> + j 0x6a
2260 upper right corner <STRONG>ACS_URCORNER</STRONG> + k 0x6b
2261 upper left corner <STRONG>ACS_ULCORNER</STRONG> + l 0x6c
2262 lower left corner <STRONG>ACS_LLCORNER</STRONG> + m 0x6d
2263 large plus or crossover <STRONG>ACS_PLUS</STRONG> + n 0x6e
2264 scan line 1 <STRONG>ACS_S1</STRONG> ~ o 0x6f
2265 scan line 3 <STRONG>ACS_S3</STRONG> - p 0x70
2266 horizontal line <STRONG>ACS_HLINE</STRONG> - q 0x71
2267 scan line 7 <STRONG>ACS_S7</STRONG> - r 0x72
2268 scan line 9 <STRONG>ACS_S9</STRONG> _ s 0x73
2269 tee pointing right <STRONG>ACS_LTEE</STRONG> + t 0x74
2270 tee pointing left <STRONG>ACS_RTEE</STRONG> + u 0x75
2271 tee pointing up <STRONG>ACS_BTEE</STRONG> + v 0x76
2272 tee pointing down <STRONG>ACS_TTEE</STRONG> + w 0x77
2273 vertical line <STRONG>ACS_VLINE</STRONG> | x 0x78
2274 less-than-or-equal-to <STRONG>ACS_LEQUAL</STRONG> < y 0x79
2275 greater-than-or-equal-to <STRONG>ACS_GEQUAL</STRONG> > z 0x7a
2276 greek pi <STRONG>ACS_PI</STRONG> * { 0x7b
2277 not-equal <STRONG>ACS_NEQUAL</STRONG> ! | 0x7c
2278 UK pound sign <STRONG>ACS_STERLING</STRONG> f } 0x7d
2279 bullet <STRONG>ACS_BULLET</STRONG> o ~ 0x7e
2281 A few notes apply to the table itself:
2283 <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses incorrectly states that the mapping for <EM>lantern</EM> is
2284 uppercase "I" although Unix implementations use the lowercase "i"
2287 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The DEC VT100 implemented graphics using the alternate character
2288 set feature, temporarily switching <EM>modes</EM> and sending characters in
2289 the range 0x60 (96) to 0x7e (126) (the <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> column in the
2292 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The AT&T terminal added graphics characters outside that range.
2294 Some of the characters within the range do not match the VT100;
2295 presumably they were used in the AT&T terminal: <EM>board</EM> <EM>of</EM> <EM>squares</EM>
2296 replaces the VT100 <EM>newline</EM> symbol, while <EM>lantern</EM> <EM>symbol</EM> replaces
2297 the VT100 <EM>vertical</EM> <EM>tab</EM> symbol. The other VT100 symbols for control
2298 characters (<EM>horizontal</EM> <EM>tab</EM>, <EM>carriage</EM> <EM>return</EM> and <EM>line-feed</EM>) are not
2301 The best way to define a new device's graphics set is to add a column
2302 to a copy of this table for your terminal, giving the character which
2303 (when emitted between <STRONG>smacs</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> switches) will be rendered as the
2304 corresponding graphic. Then read off the VT100/your terminal character
2305 pairs right to left in sequence; these become the ACSC string.
2308 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Color-Handling">Color Handling</a></H3><PRE>
2309 The curses library functions <STRONG>init_pair</STRONG> and <STRONG>init_color</STRONG> manipulate the
2310 <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> and <EM>color</EM> <EM>values</EM> discussed in this section (see
2311 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG> for details on these and related functions).
2313 Most color terminals are either "Tektronix-like" or "HP-like":
2315 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Tektronix-like terminals have a predefined set of <EM>N</EM> colors (where <EM>N</EM>
2316 is usually 8), and can set character-cell foreground and background
2317 characters independently, mixing them into <EM>N</EM> * <EM>N</EM> color-pairs.
2319 <STRONG>o</STRONG> On HP-like terminals, the user must set each color pair up
2320 separately (foreground and background are not independently
2321 settable). Up to <EM>M</EM> color-pairs may be set up from 2*<EM>M</EM> different
2322 colors. ANSI-compatible terminals are Tektronix-like.
2324 Some basic color capabilities are independent of the color method. The
2325 numeric capabilities <STRONG>colors</STRONG> and <STRONG>pairs</STRONG> specify the maximum numbers of
2326 colors and color-pairs that can be displayed simultaneously. The <STRONG>op</STRONG>
2327 (original pair) string resets foreground and background colors to their
2328 default values for the terminal. The <STRONG>oc</STRONG> string resets all colors or
2329 color-pairs to their default values for the terminal. Some terminals
2330 (including many PC terminal emulators) erase screen areas with the
2331 current background color rather than the power-up default background;
2332 these should have the boolean capability <STRONG>bce</STRONG>.
2334 While the curses library works with <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> (reflecting the
2335 inability of some devices to set foreground and background colors
2336 independently), there are separate capabilities for setting these
2339 <STRONG>o</STRONG> To change the current foreground or background color on a
2340 Tektronix-type terminal, use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> (set ANSI foreground) and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>
2341 (set ANSI background) or <STRONG>setf</STRONG> (set foreground) and <STRONG>setb</STRONG> (set
2342 background). These take one parameter, the color number. The SVr4
2343 documentation describes only <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>; the XPG4 draft says that
2344 "If the terminal supports ANSI escape sequences to set background
2345 and foreground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>,
2348 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal supports other escape sequences to set background
2349 and foreground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setb</STRONG>,
2350 respectively. The <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> and the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_refresh.3x.html">refresh(3x)</A></STRONG> functions use the
2351 <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> capabilities if they are defined.
2353 The <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> and <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> capabilities take a single numeric
2354 argument each. Argument values 0-7 of <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> are portably defined
2355 as follows (the middle column is the symbolic #define available in the
2356 header for the <STRONG>curses</STRONG> or <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> libraries). The terminal hardware is
2357 free to map these as it likes, but the RGB values indicate normal
2358 locations in color space.
2360 <STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
2361 ------------------------------------------------
2362 black <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> 0 0, 0, 0
2363 red <STRONG>COLOR_RED</STRONG> 1 max, 0, 0
2364 green <STRONG>COLOR_GREEN</STRONG> 2 0, max, 0
2365 yellow <STRONG>COLOR_YELLOW</STRONG> 3 max, max, 0
2366 blue <STRONG>COLOR_BLUE</STRONG> 4 0, 0, max
2367 magenta <STRONG>COLOR_MAGENTA</STRONG> 5 max, 0, max
2368 cyan <STRONG>COLOR_CYAN</STRONG> 6 0, max, max
2369 white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max, max, max
2371 The argument values of <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> historically correspond to a different
2374 <STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
2375 ------------------------------------------------
2376 black <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> 0 0, 0, 0
2377 blue <STRONG>COLOR_BLUE</STRONG> 1 0, 0, max
2378 green <STRONG>COLOR_GREEN</STRONG> 2 0, max, 0
2379 cyan <STRONG>COLOR_CYAN</STRONG> 3 0, max, max
2380 red <STRONG>COLOR_RED</STRONG> 4 max, 0, 0
2381 magenta <STRONG>COLOR_MAGENTA</STRONG> 5 max, 0, max
2382 yellow <STRONG>COLOR_YELLOW</STRONG> 6 max, max, 0
2383 white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max, max, max
2385 It is important to not confuse the two sets of color capabilities;
2386 otherwise red/blue will be interchanged on the display.
2388 On an HP-like terminal, use <STRONG>scp</STRONG> with a color-pair number parameter to
2389 set which color pair is current.
2391 Some terminals allow the <EM>color</EM> <EM>values</EM> to be modified:
2393 <STRONG>o</STRONG> On a Tektronix-like terminal, the capability <STRONG>ccc</STRONG> may be present to
2394 indicate that colors can be modified. If so, the <STRONG>initc</STRONG> capability
2395 will take a color number (0 to <STRONG>colors</STRONG> - 1)and three more parameters
2396 which describe the color. These three parameters default to being
2397 interpreted as RGB (Red, Green, Blue) values. If the boolean
2398 capability <STRONG>hls</STRONG> is present, they are instead as HLS (Hue, Lightness,
2399 Saturation) indices. The ranges are terminal-dependent.
2401 <STRONG>o</STRONG> On an HP-like terminal, <STRONG>initp</STRONG> may give a capability for changing a
2402 color-pair value. It will take seven parameters; a color-pair
2403 number (0 to <STRONG>max_pairs</STRONG> - 1), and two triples describing first
2404 background and then foreground colors. These parameters must be
2405 (Red, Green, Blue) or (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) depending on
2406 <STRONG>hls</STRONG>.
2408 On some color terminals, colors collide with highlights. You can
2409 register these collisions with the <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> capability. This is a bit-mask
2410 of attributes not to be used when colors are enabled. The
2411 correspondence with the attributes understood by <STRONG>curses</STRONG> is as follows:
2413 <STRONG>Attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>Bit</STRONG> <STRONG>Decimal</STRONG> <STRONG>Set</STRONG> <STRONG>by</STRONG>
2414 --------------------------------------
2415 <STRONG>A_STANDOUT</STRONG> 0 1 <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>
2416 <STRONG>A_UNDERLINE</STRONG> 1 2 <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>
2417 <STRONG>A_REVERSE</STRONG> 2 4 <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>
2418 <STRONG>A_BLINK</STRONG> 3 8 <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>
2419 <STRONG>A_DIM</STRONG> 4 16 <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>
2420 <STRONG>A_BOLD</STRONG> 5 32 <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>
2421 <STRONG>A_INVIS</STRONG> 6 64 <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>
2422 <STRONG>A_PROTECT</STRONG> 7 128 <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>
2423 <STRONG>A_ALTCHARSET</STRONG> 8 256 <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>
2424 <STRONG>A_HORIZONTAL</STRONG> 9 512 <STRONG>sgr1</STRONG>
2425 <STRONG>A_LEFT</STRONG> 10 1024 <STRONG>sgr1</STRONG>
2426 <STRONG>A_LOW</STRONG> 11 2048 <STRONG>sgr1</STRONG>
2427 <STRONG>A_RIGHT</STRONG> 12 4096 <STRONG>sgr1</STRONG>
2428 <STRONG>A_TOP</STRONG> 13 8192 <STRONG>sgr1</STRONG>
2430 <STRONG>A_VERTICAL</STRONG> 14 16384 <STRONG>sgr1</STRONG>
2431 <STRONG>A_ITALIC</STRONG> 15 32768 <STRONG>sitm</STRONG>
2433 For example, on many IBM PC consoles, the underline attribute collides
2434 with the foreground color blue and is not available in color mode.
2435 These should have an <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> capability of 2.
2437 SVr4 curses does nothing with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>, ncurses recognizes it and optimizes
2438 the output in favor of colors.
2441 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</a></H3><PRE>
2442 If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
2443 then this can be given as pad. Only the first character of the pad
2444 string is used. If the terminal does not have a pad character, specify
2445 npc. Note that ncurses implements the termcap-compatible <STRONG>PC</STRONG> variable;
2446 though the application may set this value to something other than a
2447 null, ncurses will test <STRONG>npc</STRONG> first and use napms if the terminal has no
2450 If the terminal can move up or down half a line, this can be indicated
2451 with <STRONG>hu</STRONG> (half-line up) and <STRONG>hd</STRONG> (half-line down). This is primarily
2452 useful for superscripts and subscripts on hard-copy terminals. If a
2453 hard-copy terminal can eject to the next page (form feed), give this as
2454 <STRONG>ff</STRONG> (usually control/L).
2456 If there is a command to repeat a given character a given number of
2457 times (to save time transmitting a large number of identical
2458 characters) this can be indicated with the parameterized string <STRONG>rep</STRONG>.
2459 The first parameter is the character to be repeated and the second is
2460 the number of times to repeat it. Thus, tparm(repeat_char, 'x', 10) is
2461 the same as "xxxxxxxxxx".
2463 If the terminal has a settable command character, such as the TEKTRONIX
2464 4025, this can be indicated with <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG>. A prototype command character
2465 is chosen which is used in all capabilities. This character is given
2466 in the <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG> capability to identify it. The following convention is
2467 supported on some UNIX systems: The environment is to be searched for a
2468 <STRONG>CC</STRONG> variable, and if found, all occurrences of the prototype character
2469 are replaced with the character in the environment variable.
2471 Terminal descriptions that do not represent a specific kind of known
2472 terminal, such as <EM>switch</EM>, <EM>dialup</EM>, <EM>patch</EM>, and <EM>network</EM>, should include
2473 the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (generic) capability so that programs can complain that they do
2474 not know how to talk to the terminal. (This capability does not apply
2475 to <EM>virtual</EM> terminal descriptions for which the escape sequences are
2478 If the terminal has a "meta key" which acts as a shift key, setting the
2479 8th bit of any character transmitted, this fact can be indicated with
2480 <STRONG>km</STRONG>. Otherwise, software will assume that the 8th bit is parity and it
2481 will usually be cleared. If strings exist to turn this "meta mode" on
2482 and off, they can be given as <STRONG>smm</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmm</STRONG>.
2484 If the terminal has more lines of memory than will fit on the screen at
2485 once, the number of lines of memory can be indicated with <STRONG>lm</STRONG>. A value
2486 of <STRONG>lm</STRONG>#0 indicates that the number of lines is not fixed, but that there
2487 is still more memory than fits on the screen.
2489 If the terminal is one of those supported by the UNIX virtual terminal
2490 protocol, the terminal number can be given as <STRONG>vt</STRONG>.
2492 Media copy strings which control an auxiliary printer connected to the
2493 terminal can be given as <STRONG>mc0</STRONG>: print the contents of the screen, <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>:
2494 turn off the printer, and <STRONG>mc5</STRONG>: turn on the printer. When the printer
2495 is on, all text sent to the terminal will be sent to the printer. It
2496 is undefined whether the text is also displayed on the terminal screen
2497 when the printer is on. A variation <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> takes one parameter, and
2498 leaves the printer on for as many characters as the value of the
2499 parameter, then turns the printer off. The parameter should not exceed
2500 255. All text, including <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>, is transparently passed to the printer
2501 while an <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> is in effect.
2504 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Glitches-and-Braindamage">Glitches and Braindamage</a></H3><PRE>
2505 Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow "~" characters to be displayed
2506 should indicate <STRONG>hz</STRONG>.
2508 Terminals which ignore a line-feed immediately after an <STRONG>am</STRONG> wrap, such
2509 as the Concept and vt100, should indicate <STRONG>xenl</STRONG>.
2511 If <STRONG>el</STRONG> is required to get rid of standout (instead of merely writing
2512 normal text on top of it), <STRONG>xhp</STRONG> should be given.
2514 Teleray terminals, where tabs turn all characters moved over to blanks,
2515 should indicate <STRONG>xt</STRONG> (destructive tabs). Note: the variable indicating
2516 this is now "dest_tabs_magic_smso"; in older versions, it was
2517 teleray_glitch. This glitch is also taken to mean that it is not
2518 possible to position the cursor on top of a "magic cookie", that to
2519 erase standout mode it is instead necessary to use delete and insert
2520 line. The ncurses implementation ignores this glitch.
2522 The Beehive Superbee, which is unable to correctly transmit the escape
2523 or control/C characters, has <STRONG>xsb</STRONG>, indicating that the f1 key is used
2524 for escape and f2 for control/C. (Only certain Superbees have this
2525 problem, depending on the ROM.) Note that in older terminfo versions,
2526 this capability was called "beehive_glitch"; it is now "no_esc_ctl_c".
2528 Other specific terminal problems may be corrected by adding more
2529 capabilities of the form <STRONG>x</STRONG><EM>x</EM>.
2532 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Pitfalls-of-Long-Entries">Pitfalls of Long Entries</a></H3><PRE>
2533 Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to date, no entry
2534 has even approached terminfo's 4096-byte string-table maximum.
2535 Unfortunately, the termcap translations are much more strictly limited
2536 (to 1023 bytes), thus termcap translations of long terminfo entries can
2539 The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions of <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> instruct the
2540 user to allocate a 1024-byte buffer for the termcap entry. The entry
2541 gets null-terminated by the termcap library, so that makes the maximum
2542 safe length for a termcap entry 1k-1 (1023) bytes. Depending on what
2543 the application and the termcap library being used does, and where in
2544 the termcap file the terminal type that <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> is searching for is,
2545 several bad things can happen:
2547 <STRONG>o</STRONG> some termcap libraries print a warning message,
2549 <STRONG>o</STRONG> some exit if they find an entry that's longer than 1023 bytes,
2551 <STRONG>o</STRONG> some neither exit nor warn, doing nothing useful, and
2553 <STRONG>o</STRONG> some simply truncate the entries to 1023 bytes.
2555 Some application programs allocate more than the recommended 1K for the
2556 termcap entry; others do not.
2558 Each termcap entry has two important sizes associated with it: before
2559 "tc" expansion, and after "tc" expansion. "tc" is the capability that
2560 tacks on another termcap entry to the end of the current one, to add on
2561 its capabilities. If a termcap entry does not use the "tc" capability,
2562 then of course the two lengths are the same.
2564 The "before tc expansion" length is the most important one, because it
2565 affects more than just users of that particular terminal. This is the
2566 length of the entry as it exists in /etc/termcap, minus the backslash-
2567 newline pairs, which <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> strips out while reading it. Some termcap
2568 libraries strip off the final newline, too (GNU termcap does not). Now
2571 <STRONG>o</STRONG> a termcap entry before expansion is more than 1023 bytes long,
2573 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the application has only allocated a 1k buffer,
2575 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the termcap library (like the one in BSD/OS 1.1 and GNU) reads
2576 the whole entry into the buffer, no matter what its length, to see
2577 if it is the entry it wants,
2579 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> is searching for a terminal type that either is the
2580 long entry, appears in the termcap file after the long entry, or
2581 does not appear in the file at all (so that <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> has to search
2582 the whole termcap file).
2584 Then <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> will overwrite memory, perhaps its stack, and probably
2585 core dump the program. Programs like telnet are particularly
2586 vulnerable; modern telnets pass along values like the terminal type
2587 automatically. The results are almost as undesirable with a termcap
2588 library, like SunOS 4.1.3 and Ultrix 4.4, that prints warning messages
2589 when it reads an overly long termcap entry. If a termcap library
2590 truncates long entries, like OSF/1 3.0, it is immune to dying here but
2591 will return incorrect data for the terminal.
2593 The "after tc expansion" length will have a similar effect to the
2594 above, but only for people who actually set TERM to that terminal type,
2595 since <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> only does "tc" expansion once it is found the terminal
2596 type it was looking for, not while searching.
2598 In summary, a termcap entry that is longer than 1023 bytes can cause,
2599 on various combinations of termcap libraries and applications, a core
2600 dump, warnings, or incorrect operation. If it is too long even before
2601 "tc" expansion, it will have this effect even for users of some other
2602 terminal types and users whose TERM variable does not have a termcap
2605 When in -C (translate to termcap) mode, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation of
2606 <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG> issues warning messages when the pre-tc length of a termcap
2607 translation is too long. The -c (check) option also checks resolved
2608 (after tc expansion) lengths.
2611 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Binary-Compatibility">Binary Compatibility</a></H3><PRE>
2612 It is not wise to count on portability of binary terminfo entries
2613 between commercial UNIX versions. The problem is that there are at
2614 least two versions of terminfo (under HP-UX and AIX) which diverged
2615 from System V terminfo after SVr1, and have added extension
2616 capabilities to the string table that (in the binary format) collide
2617 with System V and XSI Curses extensions.
2620 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></H2><PRE>
2621 Searching for terminal descriptions in <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> and
2622 TERMINFO_DIRS is not supported by older implementations.
2624 Some SVr4 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> implementations, and all previous to SVr4, do not
2625 interpret the %A and %O operators in parameter strings.
2627 SVr4/XPG4 do not specify whether <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> licenses movement while in an
2628 alternate-character-set mode (such modes may, among other things, map
2629 CR and NL to characters that do not trigger local motions). The
2630 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation ignores <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> in <STRONG>ALTCHARSET</STRONG> mode. This raises
2631 the possibility that an XPG4 implementation making the opposite
2632 interpretation may need terminfo entries made for <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> to have <STRONG>msgr</STRONG>
2635 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library handles insert-character and insert-character modes
2636 in a slightly non-standard way to get better update efficiency. See
2637 the <STRONG>Insert/Delete</STRONG> <STRONG>Character</STRONG> subsection above.
2639 The parameter substitutions for <STRONG>set_clock</STRONG> and <STRONG>display_clock</STRONG> are not
2640 documented in SVr4 or the XSI Curses standard. They are deduced from
2641 the documentation for the AT&T 505 terminal.
2643 Be careful assigning the <STRONG>kmous</STRONG> capability. The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library wants
2644 to interpret it as <STRONG>KEY_MOUSE</STRONG>, for use by terminals and emulators like
2645 xterm that can return mouse-tracking information in the keyboard-input
2648 X/Open Curses does not mention italics. Portable applications must
2649 assume that numeric capabilities are signed 16-bit values. This
2650 includes the <EM>no</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>color</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>video</EM> (<STRONG>ncv</STRONG>) capability. The 32768 mask value
2651 used for italics with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> can be confused with an absent or cancelled
2652 <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>. If italics should work with colors, then the <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> value must be
2653 specified, even if it is zero.
2655 Different commercial ports of terminfo and curses support different
2656 subsets of the XSI Curses standard and (in some cases) different
2657 extension sets. Here is a summary, accurate as of October 1995:
2659 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SVR4,</STRONG> <STRONG>Solaris,</STRONG> <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> -- These support all SVr4 capabilities.
2661 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SGI</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr4 set, adds one undocumented extended string
2662 capability (<STRONG>set_pglen</STRONG>).
2664 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SVr1,</STRONG> <STRONG>Ultrix</STRONG> -- These support a restricted subset of terminfo
2665 capabilities. The booleans end with <STRONG>xon_xoff</STRONG>; the numerics with
2666 <STRONG>width_status_line</STRONG>; and the strings with <STRONG>prtr_non</STRONG>.
2668 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>HP/UX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus the SVr[234] numerics
2669 <STRONG>num_labels</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_height</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_width</STRONG>, plus function keys 11
2670 through 63, plus <STRONG>plab_norm</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_on</STRONG>, and <STRONG>label_off</STRONG>, plus some
2671 incompatible extensions in the string table.
2673 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>AIX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11 through 63,
2674 plus a number of incompatible string table extensions.
2676 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>OSF</STRONG> -- Supports both the SVr4 set and the AIX extensions.
2679 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-FILES">FILES</a></H2><PRE>
2680 /usr/share/terminfo/?/* files containing terminal descriptions
2683 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></H2><PRE>
2684 Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey. Based on <EM>pcurses</EM>
2688 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
2689 <STRONG><A HREF="infocmp.1m.html">infocmp(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG>,
2690 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_variables.3x.html">curs_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>printf(3)</STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>. <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>.
2691 <STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG>.
2695 ncurses 6.4 2023-09-17 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
2699 <li><a href="#h2-NAME">NAME</a></li>
2700 <li><a href="#h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li>
2701 <li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a>
2703 <li><a href="#h3-Terminfo-Entry-Syntax">Terminfo Entry Syntax</a></li>
2704 <li><a href="#h3-Terminfo-Capabilities-Syntax">Terminfo Capabilities Syntax</a></li>
2705 <li><a href="#h3-Similar-Terminals">Similar Terminals</a></li>
2706 <li><a href="#h3-Predefined-Capabilities">Predefined Capabilities</a></li>
2707 <li><a href="#h3-User-Defined-Capabilities">User-Defined Capabilities</a></li>
2708 <li><a href="#h3-A-Sample-Entry">A Sample Entry</a></li>
2709 <li><a href="#h3-Types-of-Capabilities">Types of Capabilities</a></li>
2710 <li><a href="#h3-Fetching-Compiled-Descriptions">Fetching Compiled Descriptions</a></li>
2711 <li><a href="#h3-Preparing-Descriptions">Preparing Descriptions</a></li>
2712 <li><a href="#h3-Basic-Capabilities">Basic Capabilities</a></li>
2713 <li><a href="#h3-Parameterized-Strings">Parameterized Strings</a></li>
2714 <li><a href="#h3-Cursor-Motions">Cursor Motions</a></li>
2715 <li><a href="#h3-Margins">Margins</a></li>
2716 <li><a href="#h3-Area-Clears">Area Clears</a></li>
2717 <li><a href="#h3-Insert_delete-line-and-vertical-motions">Insert/delete line and vertical motions</a></li>
2718 <li><a href="#h3-Insert_Delete-Character">Insert/Delete Character</a></li>
2719 <li><a href="#h3-Highlighting_-Underlining_-and-Visible-Bells">Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells</a></li>
2720 <li><a href="#h3-Keypad-and-Function-Keys">Keypad and Function Keys</a></li>
2721 <li><a href="#h3-Tabs-and-Initialization">Tabs and Initialization</a></li>
2722 <li><a href="#h3-Delays-and-Padding">Delays and Padding</a></li>
2723 <li><a href="#h3-Status-Lines">Status Lines</a></li>
2724 <li><a href="#h3-Line-Graphics">Line Graphics</a></li>
2725 <li><a href="#h3-Color-Handling">Color Handling</a></li>
2726 <li><a href="#h3-Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</a></li>
2727 <li><a href="#h3-Glitches-and-Braindamage">Glitches and Braindamage</a></li>
2728 <li><a href="#h3-Pitfalls-of-Long-Entries">Pitfalls of Long Entries</a></li>
2729 <li><a href="#h3-Binary-Compatibility">Binary Compatibility</a></li>
2732 <li><a href="#h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></li>
2733 <li><a href="#h2-FILES">FILES</a></li>
2734 <li><a href="#h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></li>
2735 <li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
projects / ncurses.git / blob