3 * DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE BY HAND!
4 * It is generated from terminfo.head, ./../include/Caps ./../include/Caps-ncurses, and terminfo.tail.
5 * Note: this must be run through tbl before nroff.
6 * The magic cookie on the first line triggers this under some man programs.
7 ****************************************************************************
8 * Copyright 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 *
12 * copy of this software and associated documentation files (the *
13 * "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including *
14 * without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, *
15 * distribute, distribute with modifications, sublicense, and/or sell *
16 * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is *
17 * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: *
19 * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included *
20 * in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. *
22 * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS *
23 * OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF *
24 * MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. *
25 * IN NO EVENT SHALL THE ABOVE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, *
26 * DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR *
27 * OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR *
28 * THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. *
30 * Except as contained in this notice, the name(s) of the above copyright *
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 1.45 2023/09/02 22:30:22 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 1.125 2023/09/02 22:39:26 tom Exp @
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82 <H1 class="no-header">terminfo 5 2023-09-02 ncurses 6.4 File formats</H1>
84 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> File formats <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
89 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
90 terminfo - terminal capability database
93 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
94 /usr/share/terminfo/*/*
97 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
98 <EM>Terminfo</EM> is a database describing terminals, used by screen-oriented
99 programs such as <STRONG>nvi(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG>lynx(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG>mutt(1)</STRONG>, and other curses
100 applications, using high-level calls to libraries such as <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>.
101 It is also used via low-level calls by non-curses applications which
102 may be screen-oriented (such as <STRONG><A HREF="clear.1.html">clear(1)</A></STRONG>) or non-screen (such as
103 <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG>).
105 <EM>Terminfo</EM> describes terminals by giving a set of capabilities which they
106 have, by specifying how to perform screen operations, and by specifying
107 padding requirements and initialization sequences.
109 This manual describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 6.4 (patch 20230902).
112 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminfo-Entry-Syntax">Terminfo Entry Syntax</a></H3><PRE>
113 Entries in <EM>terminfo</EM> consist of a sequence of fields:
115 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Each field ends with a comma "," (embedded commas may be escaped
116 with a backslash or written as "\054").
118 <STRONG>o</STRONG> White space between fields is ignored.
120 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The first field in a <EM>terminfo</EM> entry begins in the first column.
122 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Newlines and leading whitespace (spaces or tabs) may be used for
123 formatting entries for readability. These are removed from parsed
126 The <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> <STRONG>-f</STRONG> and <STRONG>-W</STRONG> options rely on this to format if-then-else
127 expressions, or to enforce maximum line-width. The resulting
128 formatted terminal description can be read by <STRONG>tic</STRONG>.
130 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The first field for each terminal gives the names which are known
131 for the terminal, separated by "|" characters.
133 The first name given is the most common abbreviation for the
134 terminal (its primary name), the last name given should be a long
135 name fully identifying the terminal (see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">longname(3x)</A></STRONG>), and all
136 others are treated as synonyms (aliases) for the primary terminal
139 X/Open Curses advises that all names but the last should be in
140 lower case and contain no blanks; the last name may well contain
141 upper case and blanks for readability.
143 This implementation is not so strict; it allows mixed case in the
144 primary name and aliases. If the last name has no embedded blanks,
145 it allows that to be both an alias and a verbose name (but will
146 warn about this ambiguity).
148 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Lines beginning with a "#" in the first column are treated as
151 While comment lines are legal at any point, the output of <STRONG>captoinfo</STRONG>
152 and <STRONG>infotocap</STRONG> (aliases for <STRONG>tic</STRONG>) will move comments so they occur
153 only between entries.
155 Terminal names (except for the last, verbose entry) should be chosen
156 using the following conventions. The particular piece of hardware
157 making up the terminal should have a root name, thus "hp2621". This
158 name should not contain hyphens. Modes that the hardware can be in, or
159 user preferences, should be indicated by appending a hyphen and a mode
160 suffix. Thus, a vt100 in 132-column mode would be vt100-w. The
161 following suffixes should be used where possible:
163 <STRONG>Suffix</STRONG> <STRONG>Meaning</STRONG> <STRONG>Example</STRONG>
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>
289 auto_left_margin bw bw cub1 wraps from
292 auto_right_margin am am terminal has
294 back_color_erase bce ut screen erased with
296 can_change ccc cc terminal can re-
299 ceol_standout_glitch xhp xs standout not erased
301 col_addr_glitch xhpa YA only positive motion
303 cpi_changes_res cpix YF changing character
306 cr_cancels_micro_mode crxm YB using cr turns off
308 dest_tabs_magic_smso xt xt tabs destructive,
311 eat_newline_glitch xenl xn newline ignored
314 erase_overstrike eo eo can erase
317 generic_type gn gn generic line type
318 hard_copy hc hc hardcopy terminal
319 hard_cursor chts HC cursor is hard to
321 has_meta_key km km Has a meta key
323 has_print_wheel daisy YC printer needs
326 has_status_line hs hs has extra status
328 hue_lightness_saturation hls hl terminal uses only
331 insert_null_glitch in in insert mode
333 lpi_changes_res lpix YG changing line pitch
335 memory_above da da display may be
338 memory_below db db display may be
341 move_insert_mode mir mi safe to move while
343 move_standout_mode msgr ms safe to move while
345 needs_xon_xoff nxon nx padding will not
348 no_esc_ctlc xsb xb beehive (f1=escape,
350 no_pad_char npc NP pad character does
352 non_dest_scroll_region ndscr ND scrolling region is
355 non_rev_rmcup nrrmc NR smcup does not
357 over_strike os os terminal can
359 prtr_silent mc5i 5i printer will not
361 row_addr_glitch xvpa YD only positive motion
363 semi_auto_right_margin sam YE printing in last
365 status_line_esc_ok eslok es escape can be used
367 tilde_glitch hz hz cannot print ~'s
369 transparent_underline ul ul underline character
371 xon_xoff xon xo terminal uses
374 These are the numeric capabilities:
377 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
378 <STRONG>Numeric</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
379 columns cols co number of columns in
381 init_tabs it it tabs initially every
383 label_height lh lh rows in each label
384 label_width lw lw columns in each
386 lines lines li number of lines on
388 lines_of_memory lm lm lines of memory if >
390 magic_cookie_glitch xmc sg number of blank
393 max_attributes ma ma maximum combined
396 max_colors colors Co maximum number of
398 max_pairs pairs pa maximum number of
401 maximum_windows wnum MW maximum number of
403 no_color_video ncv NC video attributes
406 num_labels nlab Nl number of labels on
408 padding_baud_rate pb pb lowest baud rate
410 virtual_terminal vt vt virtual terminal
412 width_status_line wsl ws number of columns in
415 The following numeric capabilities are present in the SVr4.0 term
416 structure, but are not yet documented in the man page. They came in
417 with SVr4's printer support.
421 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
422 <STRONG>Numeric</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
423 bit_image_entwining bitwin Yo number of passes for
425 bit_image_type bitype Yp type of bit-image
427 buffer_capacity bufsz Ya numbers of bytes
430 buttons btns BT number of buttons on
432 dot_horz_spacing spinh Yc spacing of dots
435 dot_vert_spacing spinv Yb spacing of pins
438 max_micro_address maddr Yd maximum value in
440 max_micro_jump mjump Ye maximum value in
442 micro_col_size mcs Yf character step size
444 micro_line_size mls Yg line step size when
446 number_of_pins npins Yh numbers of pins in
448 output_res_char orc Yi horizontal
451 output_res_horz_inch orhi Yk horizontal
454 output_res_line orl Yj vertical resolution
456 output_res_vert_inch orvi Yl vertical resolution
458 print_rate cps Ym print rate in
461 wide_char_size widcs Yn character step size
465 These are the string capabilities:
468 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
469 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
470 acs_chars acsc ac graphics charset
473 back_tab cbt bt back tab (P)
474 bell bel bl audible signal
476 carriage_return cr cr carriage return (P*)
478 change_char_pitch cpi ZA Change number of
481 change_line_pitch lpi ZB Change number of
483 change_res_horz chr ZC Change horizontal
487 change_res_vert cvr ZD Change vertical
489 change_scroll_region csr cs change region to
492 char_padding rmp rP like ip but when in
494 clear_all_tabs tbc ct clear all tab stops
496 clear_margins mgc MC clear right and left
498 clear_screen clear cl clear screen and
500 clr_bol el1 cb Clear to beginning
502 clr_eol el ce clear to end of line
504 clr_eos ed cd clear to end of
506 column_address hpa ch horizontal position
508 command_character cmdch CC terminal settable
511 create_window cwin CW define a window #1
513 cursor_address cup cm move to row #1
515 cursor_down cud1 do down one line
516 cursor_home home ho home cursor (if no
518 cursor_invisible civis vi make cursor
520 cursor_left cub1 le move left one space
521 cursor_mem_address mrcup CM memory relative
525 cursor_normal cnorm ve make cursor appear
528 cursor_right cuf1 nd non-destructive
531 cursor_to_ll ll ll last line, first
533 cursor_up cuu1 up up one line
534 cursor_visible cvvis vs make cursor very
536 define_char defc ZE Define a character
539 delete_character dch1 dc delete character
541 delete_line dl1 dl delete line (P*)
542 dial_phone dial DI dial number #1
543 dis_status_line dsl ds disable status line
544 display_clock dclk DK display clock
545 down_half_line hd hd half a line down
546 ena_acs enacs eA enable alternate
548 enter_alt_charset_mode smacs as start alternate
550 enter_am_mode smam SA turn on automatic
553 enter_blink_mode blink mb turn on blinking
554 enter_bold_mode bold md turn on bold (extra
556 enter_ca_mode smcup ti string to start
558 enter_delete_mode smdc dm enter delete mode
559 enter_dim_mode dim mh turn on half-bright
561 enter_doublewide_mode swidm ZF Enter double-wide
563 enter_draft_quality sdrfq ZG Enter draft-quality
565 enter_insert_mode smir im enter insert mode
566 enter_italics_mode sitm ZH Enter italic mode
567 enter_leftward_mode slm ZI Start leftward
569 enter_micro_mode smicm ZJ Start micro-motion
571 enter_near_letter_quality snlq ZK Enter NLQ mode
572 enter_normal_quality snrmq ZL Enter normal-quality
574 enter_protected_mode prot mp turn on protected
576 enter_reverse_mode rev mr turn on reverse
578 enter_secure_mode invis mk turn on blank mode
581 enter_shadow_mode sshm ZM Enter shadow-print
583 enter_standout_mode smso so begin standout mode
584 enter_subscript_mode ssubm ZN Enter subscript mode
585 enter_superscript_mode ssupm ZO Enter superscript
587 enter_underline_mode smul us begin underline mode
588 enter_upward_mode sum ZP Start upward
590 enter_xon_mode smxon SX turn on xon/xoff
592 erase_chars ech ec erase #1 characters
594 exit_alt_charset_mode rmacs ae end alternate
596 exit_am_mode rmam RA turn off automatic
598 exit_attribute_mode sgr0 me turn off all
600 exit_ca_mode rmcup te strings to end
602 exit_delete_mode rmdc ed end delete mode
603 exit_doublewide_mode rwidm ZQ End double-wide mode
604 exit_insert_mode rmir ei exit insert mode
605 exit_italics_mode ritm ZR End italic mode
606 exit_leftward_mode rlm ZS End left-motion mode
607 exit_micro_mode rmicm ZT End micro-motion
609 exit_shadow_mode rshm ZU End shadow-print
611 exit_standout_mode rmso se exit standout mode
612 exit_subscript_mode rsubm ZV End subscript mode
613 exit_superscript_mode rsupm ZW End superscript mode
614 exit_underline_mode rmul ue exit underline mode
615 exit_upward_mode rum ZX End reverse
619 exit_xon_mode rmxon RX turn off xon/xoff
621 fixed_pause pause PA pause for 2-3
623 flash_hook hook fh flash switch hook
624 flash_screen flash vb visible bell (may
626 form_feed ff ff hardcopy terminal
628 from_status_line fsl fs return from status
630 goto_window wingo WG go to window #1
631 hangup hup HU hang-up phone
632 init_1string is1 i1 initialization
634 init_2string is2 is initialization
636 init_3string is3 i3 initialization
638 init_file if if name of
640 init_prog iprog iP path name of program
642 initialize_color initc Ic initialize color #1
644 initialize_pair initp Ip Initialize color
648 insert_character ich1 ic insert character (P)
649 insert_line il1 al insert line (P*)
650 insert_padding ip ip insert padding after
652 key_a1 ka1 K1 upper left of keypad
653 key_a3 ka3 K3 upper right of
655 key_b2 kb2 K2 center of keypad
656 key_backspace kbs kb backspace key
657 key_beg kbeg @1 begin key
658 key_btab kcbt kB back-tab key
659 key_c1 kc1 K4 lower left of keypad
660 key_c3 kc3 K5 lower right of
662 key_cancel kcan @2 cancel key
663 key_catab ktbc ka clear-all-tabs key
664 key_clear kclr kC clear-screen or
666 key_close kclo @3 close key
667 key_command kcmd @4 command key
668 key_copy kcpy @5 copy key
669 key_create kcrt @6 create key
670 key_ctab kctab kt clear-tab key
671 key_dc kdch1 kD delete-character key
672 key_dl kdl1 kL delete-line key
673 key_down kcud1 kd down-arrow key
674 key_eic krmir kM sent by rmir or smir
676 key_end kend @7 end key
677 key_enter kent @8 enter/send key
678 key_eol kel kE clear-to-end-of-line
680 key_eos ked kS clear-to-end-of-
682 key_exit kext @9 exit key
683 key_f0 kf0 k0 F0 function key
685 key_f1 kf1 k1 F1 function key
686 key_f10 kf10 k; F10 function key
687 key_f11 kf11 F1 F11 function key
688 key_f12 kf12 F2 F12 function key
689 key_f13 kf13 F3 F13 function key
690 key_f14 kf14 F4 F14 function key
691 key_f15 kf15 F5 F15 function key
692 key_f16 kf16 F6 F16 function key
693 key_f17 kf17 F7 F17 function key
694 key_f18 kf18 F8 F18 function key
695 key_f19 kf19 F9 F19 function key
696 key_f2 kf2 k2 F2 function key
697 key_f20 kf20 FA F20 function key
698 key_f21 kf21 FB F21 function key
699 key_f22 kf22 FC F22 function key
700 key_f23 kf23 FD F23 function key
701 key_f24 kf24 FE F24 function key
702 key_f25 kf25 FF F25 function key
703 key_f26 kf26 FG F26 function key
704 key_f27 kf27 FH F27 function key
705 key_f28 kf28 FI F28 function key
706 key_f29 kf29 FJ F29 function key
707 key_f3 kf3 k3 F3 function key
708 key_f30 kf30 FK F30 function key
709 key_f31 kf31 FL F31 function key
710 key_f32 kf32 FM F32 function key
711 key_f33 kf33 FN F33 function key
712 key_f34 kf34 FO F34 function key
713 key_f35 kf35 FP F35 function key
714 key_f36 kf36 FQ F36 function key
715 key_f37 kf37 FR F37 function key
716 key_f38 kf38 FS F38 function key
717 key_f39 kf39 FT F39 function key
718 key_f4 kf4 k4 F4 function key
719 key_f40 kf40 FU F40 function key
720 key_f41 kf41 FV F41 function key
721 key_f42 kf42 FW F42 function key
722 key_f43 kf43 FX F43 function key
723 key_f44 kf44 FY F44 function key
724 key_f45 kf45 FZ F45 function key
725 key_f46 kf46 Fa F46 function key
726 key_f47 kf47 Fb F47 function key
727 key_f48 kf48 Fc F48 function key
728 key_f49 kf49 Fd F49 function key
729 key_f5 kf5 k5 F5 function key
730 key_f50 kf50 Fe F50 function key
731 key_f51 kf51 Ff F51 function key
732 key_f52 kf52 Fg F52 function key
733 key_f53 kf53 Fh F53 function key
734 key_f54 kf54 Fi F54 function key
735 key_f55 kf55 Fj F55 function key
736 key_f56 kf56 Fk F56 function key
737 key_f57 kf57 Fl F57 function key
738 key_f58 kf58 Fm F58 function key
739 key_f59 kf59 Fn F59 function key
740 key_f6 kf6 k6 F6 function key
741 key_f60 kf60 Fo F60 function key
742 key_f61 kf61 Fp F61 function key
743 key_f62 kf62 Fq F62 function key
744 key_f63 kf63 Fr F63 function key
745 key_f7 kf7 k7 F7 function key
746 key_f8 kf8 k8 F8 function key
747 key_f9 kf9 k9 F9 function key
748 key_find kfnd @0 find key
749 key_help khlp %1 help key
751 key_home khome kh home key
752 key_ic kich1 kI insert-character key
753 key_il kil1 kA insert-line key
754 key_left kcub1 kl left-arrow key
755 key_ll kll kH lower-left key (home
757 key_mark kmrk %2 mark key
758 key_message kmsg %3 message key
759 key_move kmov %4 move key
760 key_next knxt %5 next key
761 key_npage knp kN next-page key
762 key_open kopn %6 open key
763 key_options kopt %7 options key
764 key_ppage kpp kP previous-page key
765 key_previous kprv %8 previous key
766 key_print kprt %9 print key
767 key_redo krdo %0 redo key
768 key_reference kref &1 reference key
769 key_refresh krfr &2 refresh key
770 key_replace krpl &3 replace key
771 key_restart krst &4 restart key
772 key_resume kres &5 resume key
773 key_right kcuf1 kr right-arrow key
774 key_save ksav &6 save key
775 key_sbeg kBEG &9 shifted begin key
776 key_scancel kCAN &0 shifted cancel key
777 key_scommand kCMD *1 shifted command key
778 key_scopy kCPY *2 shifted copy key
779 key_screate kCRT *3 shifted create key
780 key_sdc kDC *4 shifted delete-
782 key_sdl kDL *5 shifted delete-line
784 key_select kslt *6 select key
785 key_send kEND *7 shifted end key
786 key_seol kEOL *8 shifted clear-to-
788 key_sexit kEXT *9 shifted exit key
789 key_sf kind kF scroll-forward key
790 key_sfind kFND *0 shifted find key
791 key_shelp kHLP #1 shifted help key
792 key_shome kHOM #2 shifted home key
793 key_sic kIC #3 shifted insert-
795 key_sleft kLFT #4 shifted left-arrow
797 key_smessage kMSG %a shifted message key
798 key_smove kMOV %b shifted move key
799 key_snext kNXT %c shifted next key
800 key_soptions kOPT %d shifted options key
801 key_sprevious kPRV %e shifted previous key
802 key_sprint kPRT %f shifted print key
803 key_sr kri kR scroll-backward key
804 key_sredo kRDO %g shifted redo key
805 key_sreplace kRPL %h shifted replace key
806 key_sright kRIT %i shifted right-arrow
808 key_srsume kRES %j shifted resume key
809 key_ssave kSAV !1 shifted save key
810 key_ssuspend kSPD !2 shifted suspend key
811 key_stab khts kT set-tab key
812 key_sundo kUND !3 shifted undo key
813 key_suspend kspd &7 suspend key
814 key_undo kund &8 undo key
815 key_up kcuu1 ku up-arrow key
817 keypad_local rmkx ke leave
820 keypad_xmit smkx ks enter
823 lab_f0 lf0 l0 label on function
825 lab_f1 lf1 l1 label on function
827 lab_f10 lf10 la label on function
829 lab_f2 lf2 l2 label on function
831 lab_f3 lf3 l3 label on function
833 lab_f4 lf4 l4 label on function
835 lab_f5 lf5 l5 label on function
837 lab_f6 lf6 l6 label on function
839 lab_f7 lf7 l7 label on function
841 lab_f8 lf8 l8 label on function
843 lab_f9 lf9 l9 label on function
845 label_format fln Lf label format
846 label_off rmln LF turn off soft labels
847 label_on smln LO turn on soft labels
848 meta_off rmm mo turn off meta mode
849 meta_on smm mm turn on meta mode
851 micro_column_address mhpa ZY Like column_address
853 micro_down mcud1 ZZ Like cursor_down in
855 micro_left mcub1 Za Like cursor_left in
857 micro_right mcuf1 Zb Like cursor_right in
859 micro_row_address mvpa Zc Like row_address #1
861 micro_up mcuu1 Zd Like cursor_up in
863 newline nel nw newline (behave like
865 order_of_pins porder Ze Match software bits
867 orig_colors oc oc Set all color pairs
869 orig_pair op op Set default pair to
871 pad_char pad pc padding char
873 parm_dch dch DC delete #1 characters
875 parm_delete_line dl DL delete #1 lines (P*)
876 parm_down_cursor cud DO down #1 lines (P*)
877 parm_down_micro mcud Zf Like
880 parm_ich ich IC insert #1 characters
883 parm_index indn SF scroll forward #1
885 parm_insert_line il AL insert #1 lines (P*)
886 parm_left_cursor cub LE move #1 characters
888 parm_left_micro mcub Zg Like
891 parm_right_cursor cuf RI move #1 characters
893 parm_right_micro mcuf Zh Like
896 parm_rindex rin SR scroll back #1 lines
898 parm_up_cursor cuu UP up #1 lines (P*)
899 parm_up_micro mcuu Zi Like parm_up_cursor
901 pkey_key pfkey pk program function key
903 pkey_local pfloc pl program function key
906 pkey_xmit pfx px program function key
909 plab_norm pln pn program label #1 to
911 print_screen mc0 ps print contents of
913 prtr_non mc5p pO turn on printer for
915 prtr_off mc4 pf turn off printer
916 prtr_on mc5 po turn on printer
917 pulse pulse PU select pulse dialing
918 quick_dial qdial QD dial number #1
920 remove_clock rmclk RC remove clock
921 repeat_char rep rp repeat char #1 #2
923 req_for_input rfi RF send next input char
925 reset_1string rs1 r1 reset string
926 reset_2string rs2 r2 reset string
927 reset_3string rs3 r3 reset string
928 reset_file rf rf name of reset file
929 restore_cursor rc rc restore cursor to
932 row_address vpa cv vertical position #1
934 save_cursor sc sc save current cursor
936 scroll_forward ind sf scroll text up (P)
937 scroll_reverse ri sr scroll text down (P)
938 select_char_set scs Zj Select character
940 set_attributes sgr sa define video
943 set_background setb Sb Set background color
945 set_bottom_margin smgb Zk Set bottom margin at
949 set_bottom_margin_parm smgbp Zl Set bottom margin at
953 set_clock sclk SC set clock, #1 hrs #2
955 set_color_pair scp sp Set current color
957 set_foreground setf Sf Set foreground color
959 set_left_margin smgl ML set left soft margin
963 set_left_margin_parm smglp Zm Set left (right)
965 set_right_margin smgr MR set right soft
968 set_right_margin_parm smgrp Zn Set right margin at
970 set_tab hts st set a tab in every
972 set_top_margin smgt Zo Set top margin at
974 set_top_margin_parm smgtp Zp Set top (bottom)
976 set_window wind wi current window is
979 start_bit_image sbim Zq Start printing bit
981 start_char_set_def scsd Zr Start character set
985 stop_bit_image rbim Zs Stop printing bit
987 stop_char_set_def rcsd Zt End definition of
989 subscript_characters subcs Zu List of
992 superscript_characters supcs Zv List of
995 tab ht ta tab to next 8-space
997 these_cause_cr docr Zw Printing any of
1000 to_status_line tsl ts move to status line,
1002 tone tone TO select touch tone
1004 underline_char uc uc underline char and
1006 up_half_line hu hu half a line up
1007 user0 u0 u0 User string #0
1008 user1 u1 u1 User string #1
1009 user2 u2 u2 User string #2
1010 user3 u3 u3 User string #3
1011 user4 u4 u4 User string #4
1012 user5 u5 u5 User string #5
1013 user6 u6 u6 User string #6
1015 user7 u7 u7 User string #7
1016 user8 u8 u8 User string #8
1017 user9 u9 u9 User string #9
1018 wait_tone wait WA wait for dial-tone
1019 xoff_character xoffc XF XOFF character
1020 xon_character xonc XN XON character
1021 zero_motion zerom Zx No motion for
1022 subsequent character
1024 The following string capabilities are present in the SVr4.0 term
1025 structure, but were originally not documented in the man page.
1028 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
1029 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
1030 alt_scancode_esc scesa S8 Alternate escape
1033 bit_image_carriage_return bicr Yv Move to beginning
1035 bit_image_newline binel Zz Move to next row
1037 bit_image_repeat birep Xy Repeat bit image
1039 char_set_names csnm Zy Produce #1'th item
1043 code_set_init csin ci Init sequence for
1045 color_names colornm Yw Give name for
1047 define_bit_image_region defbi Yx Define rectangular
1049 device_type devt dv Indicate
1052 display_pc_char dispc S1 Display PC
1054 end_bit_image_region endbi Yy End a bit-image
1056 enter_pc_charset_mode smpch S2 Enter PC character
1058 enter_scancode_mode smsc S4 Enter PC scancode
1060 exit_pc_charset_mode rmpch S3 Exit PC character
1062 exit_scancode_mode rmsc S5 Exit PC scancode
1064 get_mouse getm Gm Curses should get
1068 key_mouse kmous Km Mouse event has
1070 mouse_info minfo Mi Mouse status
1072 pc_term_options pctrm S6 PC terminal
1074 pkey_plab pfxl xl Program function
1078 req_mouse_pos reqmp RQ Request mouse
1081 scancode_escape scesc S7 Escape for
1083 set0_des_seq s0ds s0 Shift to codeset 0
1085 set1_des_seq s1ds s1 Shift to codeset 1
1086 set2_des_seq s2ds s2 Shift to codeset 2
1087 set3_des_seq s3ds s3 Shift to codeset 3
1088 set_a_background setab AB Set background
1091 set_a_foreground setaf AF Set foreground
1094 set_color_band setcolor Yz Change to ribbon
1096 set_lr_margin smglr ML Set both left and
1101 set_page_length slines YZ Set page length to
1103 set_tb_margin smgtb MT Sets both top and
1107 The XSI Curses standard added these hardcopy capabilities. They were
1108 used in some post-4.1 versions of System V curses, e.g., Solaris 2.5
1109 and IRIX 6.x. Except for <STRONG>YI</STRONG>, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> termcap names for them are
1110 invented. According to the XSI Curses standard, they have no termcap
1111 names. If your compiled terminfo entries use these, they may not be
1112 binary-compatible with System V terminfo entries after SVr4.1; beware!
1115 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
1116 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
1117 enter_horizontal_hl_mode ehhlm Xh Enter horizontal
1119 enter_left_hl_mode elhlm Xl Enter left highlight
1121 enter_low_hl_mode elohlm Xo Enter low highlight
1123 enter_right_hl_mode erhlm Xr Enter right
1125 enter_top_hl_mode ethlm Xt Enter top highlight
1127 enter_vertical_hl_mode evhlm Xv Enter vertical
1129 set_a_attributes sgr1 sA Define second set of
1132 set_pglen_inch slength YI Set page length to
1139 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-User-Defined-Capabilities">User-Defined Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
1140 The preceding section listed the <EM>predefined</EM> capabilities. They deal
1141 with some special features for terminals no longer (or possibly never)
1142 produced. Occasionally there are special features of newer terminals
1143 which are awkward or impossible to represent by reusing the predefined
1146 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> addresses this limitation by allowing user-defined
1147 capabilities. The <STRONG>tic</STRONG> and <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> programs provide the <STRONG>-x</STRONG> option for
1148 this purpose. When <STRONG>-x</STRONG> is set, <STRONG>tic</STRONG> treats unknown capabilities as user-
1149 defined. That is, if <STRONG>tic</STRONG> encounters a capability name which it does
1150 not recognize, it infers its type (boolean, number or string) from the
1151 syntax and makes an extended table entry for that capability. The
1152 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_extend.3x.html">use_extended_names(3x)</A></STRONG> function makes this information conditionally
1153 available to applications. The ncurses library provides the data
1154 leaving most of the behavior to applications:
1156 <STRONG>o</STRONG> User-defined capability strings whose name begins with "k" are
1157 treated as function keys.
1159 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The types (boolean, number, string) determined by <STRONG>tic</STRONG> can be
1160 inferred by successful calls on <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, etc.
1162 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the capability name happens to be two characters, the capability
1163 is also available through the termcap interface.
1165 While termcap is said to be extensible because it does not use a
1166 predefined set of capabilities, in practice it has been limited to the
1167 capabilities defined by terminfo implementations. As a rule, user-
1168 defined capabilities intended for use by termcap applications should be
1169 limited to booleans and numbers to avoid running past the 1023 byte
1170 limit assumed by termcap implementations and their applications. In
1171 particular, providing extended sets of function keys (past the 60
1172 numbered keys and the handful of special named keys) is best done using
1173 the longer names available using terminfo.
1175 The ncurses library uses a few of these user-defined capabilities, as
1176 described in <STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG>. Other user-defined capabilities (including
1177 function keys) are described in the terminal database, in the section
1178 on <EM>NCURSES</EM> <EM>USER-DEFINABLE</EM> <EM>CAPABILITIES</EM>
1181 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-A-Sample-Entry">A Sample Entry</a></H3><PRE>
1182 The following entry, describing an ANSI-standard terminal, is
1183 representative of what a <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> entry for a modern terminal typically
1186 ansi|ansi/pc-term compatible with color,
1187 am, mc5i, mir, msgr,
1188 colors#8, cols#80, it#8, lines#24, ncv#3, pairs#64,
1189 acsc=+\020\,\021-\030.^Y0\333`\004a\261f\370g\361h\260
1190 j\331k\277l\332m\300n\305o~p\304q\304r\304s_t\303
1191 u\264v\301w\302x\263y\363z\362{\343|\330}\234~\376,
1192 bel=^G, blink=\E[5m, bold=\E[1m, cbt=\E[Z, clear=\E[H\E[J,
1193 cr=^M, cub=\E[%p1%dD, cub1=\E[D, cud=\E[%p1%dB, cud1=\E[B,
1194 cuf=\E[%p1%dC, cuf1=\E[C, cup=\E[%i%p1%d;%p2%dH,
1195 cuu=\E[%p1%dA, cuu1=\E[A, dch=\E[%p1%dP, dch1=\E[P,
1196 dl=\E[%p1%dM, dl1=\E[M, ech=\E[%p1%dX, ed=\E[J, el=\E[K,
1197 el1=\E[1K, home=\E[H, hpa=\E[%i%p1%dG, ht=\E[I, hts=\EH,
1198 ich=\E[%p1%d@, il=\E[%p1%dL, il1=\E[L, ind=^J,
1199 indn=\E[%p1%dS, invis=\E[8m, kbs=^H, kcbt=\E[Z, kcub1=\E[D,
1200 kcud1=\E[B, kcuf1=\E[C, kcuu1=\E[A, khome=\E[H, kich1=\E[L,
1201 mc4=\E[4i, mc5=\E[5i, nel=\r\E[S, op=\E[39;49m,
1202 rep=%p1%c\E[%p2%{1}%-%db, rev=\E[7m, rin=\E[%p1%dT,
1203 rmacs=\E[10m, rmpch=\E[10m, rmso=\E[m, rmul=\E[m,
1204 s0ds=\E(B, s1ds=\E)B, s2ds=\E*B, s3ds=\E+B,
1205 setab=\E[4%p1%dm, setaf=\E[3%p1%dm,
1206 sgr=\E[0;10%?%p1%t;7%;
1213 sgr0=\E[0;10m, smacs=\E[11m, smpch=\E[11m, smso=\E[7m,
1214 smul=\E[4m, tbc=\E[3g, u6=\E[%i%d;%dR, u7=\E[6n,
1215 u8=\E[?%[;0123456789]c, u9=\E[c, vpa=\E[%i%p1%dd,
1217 Entries may continue onto multiple lines by placing white space at the
1218 beginning of each line except the first. Comments may be included on
1219 lines beginning with "#". Capabilities in <EM>terminfo</EM> are of three types:
1221 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Boolean capabilities which indicate that the terminal has some
1224 <STRONG>o</STRONG> numeric capabilities giving the size of the terminal or the size of
1225 particular delays, and
1227 <STRONG>o</STRONG> string capabilities, which give a sequence which can be used to
1228 perform particular terminal operations.
1231 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Types-of-Capabilities">Types of Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
1232 All capabilities have names. For instance, the fact that ANSI-standard
1233 terminals have <EM>automatic</EM> <EM>margins</EM> (i.e., an automatic return and line-
1234 feed when the end of a line is reached) is indicated by the capability
1235 <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Hence the description of ansi includes <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Numeric capabilities
1236 are followed by the character "#" and then a positive value. Thus
1237 <STRONG>cols</STRONG>, which indicates the number of columns the terminal has, gives the
1238 value "80" for ansi. Values for numeric capabilities may be specified
1239 in decimal, octal, or hexadecimal, using the C programming language
1240 conventions (e.g., 255, 0377 and 0xff or 0xFF).
1242 Finally, string valued capabilities, such as <STRONG>el</STRONG> (clear to end of line
1243 sequence) are given by the two-character code, an "=", and then a
1244 string ending at the next following ",".
1246 A number of escape sequences are provided in the string valued
1247 capabilities for easy encoding of characters there:
1249 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Both <STRONG>\E</STRONG> and <STRONG>\e</STRONG> map to an ESCAPE character,
1251 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>^x</STRONG> maps to a control-x for any appropriate <EM>x</EM>, and
1253 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the sequences
1255 <STRONG>\n</STRONG>, <STRONG>\l</STRONG>, <STRONG>\r</STRONG>, <STRONG>\t</STRONG>, <STRONG>\b</STRONG>, <STRONG>\f</STRONG>, and <STRONG>\s</STRONG>
1259 <EM>newline</EM>, <EM>line-feed</EM>, <EM>return</EM>, <EM>tab</EM>, <EM>backspace</EM>, <EM>form-feed</EM>, and <EM>space</EM>,
1263 X/Open Curses does not say what "appropriate <EM>x</EM>" might be. In practice,
1264 that is a printable ASCII graphic character. The special case "^?" is
1265 interpreted as DEL (127). In all other cases, the character value is
1266 AND'd with 0x1f, mapping to ASCII control codes in the range 0 through
1269 Other escapes include
1271 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\^</STRONG> for <STRONG>^</STRONG>,
1273 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\\</STRONG> for <STRONG>\</STRONG>,
1275 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\</STRONG>, for comma,
1277 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\:</STRONG> for <STRONG>:</STRONG>,
1279 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>\0</STRONG> for null.
1281 <STRONG>\0</STRONG> will produce \200, which does not terminate a string but behaves
1282 as a null character on most terminals, providing CS7 is specified.
1283 See <STRONG>stty(1)</STRONG>.
1285 The reason for this quirk is to maintain binary compatibility of
1286 the compiled terminfo files with other implementations, e.g., the
1287 SVr4 systems, which document this. Compiled terminfo files use
1288 null-terminated strings, with no lengths. Modifying this would
1289 require a new binary format, which would not work with other
1292 Finally, characters may be given as three octal digits after a <STRONG>\</STRONG>.
1294 A delay in milliseconds may appear anywhere in a string capability,
1295 enclosed in $<..> brackets, as in <STRONG>el</STRONG>=\EK$<5>, and padding characters
1296 are supplied by <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tputs(3x)</A></STRONG> to provide this delay.
1298 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The delay must be a number with at most one decimal place of
1299 precision; it may be followed by suffixes "*" or "/" or both.
1301 <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "*" indicates that the padding required is proportional to the
1302 number of lines affected by the operation, and the amount given is
1303 the per-affected-unit padding required. (In the case of insert
1304 character, the factor is still the number of <EM>lines</EM> affected.)
1306 Normally, padding is advisory if the device has the <STRONG>xon</STRONG> capability;
1307 it is used for cost computation but does not trigger delays.
1309 <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "/" suffix indicates that the padding is mandatory and forces a
1310 delay of the given number of milliseconds even on devices for which
1311 <STRONG>xon</STRONG> is present to indicate flow control.
1313 Sometimes individual capabilities must be commented out. To do this,
1314 put a period before the capability name. For example, see the second
1315 <STRONG>ind</STRONG> in the example above.
1318 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Fetching-Compiled-Descriptions">Fetching Compiled Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
1319 Terminal descriptions in <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> are stored in terminal databases.
1320 These databases, which are found by their pathname, may be configured
1321 either as directory trees or hashed databases (see <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>),
1323 The library uses a compiled-in list of pathnames, which can be
1324 overridden by environment variables. Before starting to search,
1325 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> checks the search list, eliminating duplicates and pathnames
1326 where no terminal database is found. The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library reads the
1327 first description which passes its consistency checks.
1329 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The environment variable <STRONG>TERMINFO</STRONG> is checked first, for a terminal
1330 database containing the terminal description.
1332 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Next, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> looks in <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> for a compiled description.
1334 This is an optional feature which may be omitted entirely from the
1335 library, or limited to prevent accidental use by privileged
1338 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Next, if the environment variable <STRONG>TERMINFO_DIRS</STRONG> is set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
1339 interprets the contents of that variable as a list of colon-
1340 separated pathnames of terminal databases to be searched.
1342 An empty pathname (i.e., if the variable begins or ends with a
1343 colon, or contains adjacent colons) is interpreted as the system
1344 location <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>.
1346 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Finally, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> searches these compiled-in locations:
1348 <STRONG>o</STRONG> a list of directories (/usr/share/terminfo), and
1350 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the system terminfo directory, <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>
1352 The <STRONG>TERMINFO</STRONG> variable can contain a terminal description instead of the
1353 pathname of a terminal database. If this variable begins with "hex:"
1354 or "b64:" then <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> reads a terminal description from hexadecimal-
1355 or base64-encoded data, and if that description matches the name
1356 sought, will use that. This encoded data can be set using the "-Q"
1357 option of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> or <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG>.
1359 The preceding addresses the usual configuration of <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>, which uses
1360 terminal descriptions prepared in <EM>terminfo</EM> format. While <EM>termcap</EM> is
1361 less expressive, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> can also be configured to read <EM>termcap</EM>
1362 descriptions. In that configuration, it checks the <STRONG>TERMCAP</STRONG> and
1363 <STRONG>TERMPATH</STRONG> variables (for content and search path, respectively) after
1364 the system terminal database.
1367 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Preparing-Descriptions">Preparing Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
1368 We now outline how to prepare descriptions of terminals. The most
1369 effective way to prepare a terminal description is by imitating the
1370 description of a similar terminal in <EM>terminfo</EM> and to build up a
1371 description gradually, using partial descriptions with <EM>vi</EM> or some other
1372 screen-oriented program to check that they are correct. Be aware that
1373 a very unusual terminal may expose deficiencies in the ability of the
1374 <EM>terminfo</EM> file to describe it or bugs in the screen-handling code of the
1377 To get the padding for insert line right (if the terminal manufacturer
1378 did not document it) a severe test is to edit a large file at 9600
1379 baud, delete 16 or so lines from the middle of the screen, then hit the
1380 "u" key several times quickly. If the terminal messes up, more padding
1381 is usually needed. A similar test can be used for insert character.
1384 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Basic-Capabilities">Basic Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
1385 The number of columns on each line for the terminal is given by the
1386 <STRONG>cols</STRONG> numeric capability. If the terminal is a CRT, then the number of
1387 lines on the screen is given by the <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability. If the terminal
1388 wraps around to the beginning of the next line when it reaches the
1389 right margin, then it should have the <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability. If the terminal
1390 can clear its screen, leaving the cursor in the home position, then
1391 this is given by the <STRONG>clear</STRONG> string capability. If the terminal
1392 overstrikes (rather than clearing a position when a character is struck
1393 over) then it should have the <STRONG>os</STRONG> capability. If the terminal is a
1394 printing terminal, with no soft copy unit, give it both <STRONG>hc</STRONG> and <STRONG>os</STRONG>. (<STRONG>os</STRONG>
1395 applies to storage scope terminals, such as TEKTRONIX 4010 series, as
1396 well as hard copy and APL terminals.) If there is a code to move the
1397 cursor to the left edge of the current row, give this as <STRONG>cr</STRONG>. (Normally
1398 this will be carriage return, control/M.) If there is a code to
1399 produce an audible signal (bell, beep, etc) give this as <STRONG>bel</STRONG>.
1401 If there is a code to move the cursor one position to the left (such as
1402 backspace) that capability should be given as <STRONG>cub1</STRONG>. Similarly, codes
1403 to move to the right, up, and down should be given as <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>, and
1404 <STRONG>cud1</STRONG>. These local cursor motions should not alter the text they pass
1405 over, for example, you would not normally use "<STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>= " because the
1406 space would erase the character moved over.
1408 A very important point here is that the local cursor motions encoded in
1409 <EM>terminfo</EM> are undefined at the left and top edges of a CRT terminal.
1410 Programs should never attempt to backspace around the left edge, unless
1411 <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is given, and never attempt to go up locally off the top. In order
1412 to scroll text up, a program will go to the bottom left corner of the
1413 screen and send the <STRONG>ind</STRONG> (index) string.
1415 To scroll text down, a program goes to the top left corner of the
1416 screen and sends the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> (reverse index) string. The strings <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG>
1417 are undefined when not on their respective corners of the screen.
1419 Parameterized versions of the scrolling sequences are <STRONG>indn</STRONG> and <STRONG>rin</STRONG>
1420 which have the same semantics as <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG> except that they take one
1421 parameter, and scroll that many lines. They are also undefined except
1422 at the appropriate edge of the screen.
1424 The <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability tells whether the cursor sticks at the right edge of
1425 the screen when text is output, but this does not necessarily apply to
1426 a <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG> from the last column. The only local motion which is defined
1427 from the left edge is if <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is given, then a <STRONG>cub1</STRONG> from the left edge
1428 will move to the right edge of the previous row. If <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is not given,
1429 the effect is undefined. This is useful for drawing a box around the
1430 edge of the screen, for example. If the terminal has switch selectable
1431 automatic margins, the <EM>terminfo</EM> file usually assumes that this is on;
1432 i.e., <STRONG>am</STRONG>. If the terminal has a command which moves to the first
1433 column of the next line, that command can be given as <STRONG>nel</STRONG> (newline).
1434 It does not matter if the command clears the remainder of the current
1435 line, so if the terminal has no <STRONG>cr</STRONG> and <STRONG>lf</STRONG> it may still be possible to
1436 craft a working <STRONG>nel</STRONG> out of one or both of them.
1438 These capabilities suffice to describe hard-copy and "glass-tty"
1439 terminals. Thus the model 33 teletype is described as
1441 33|tty33|tty|model 33 teletype,
1442 bel=^G, cols#72, cr=^M, cud1=^J, hc, ind=^J, os,
1444 while the Lear Siegler ADM-3 is described as
1447 am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
1451 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Parameterized-Strings">Parameterized Strings</a></H3><PRE>
1452 Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters in the
1453 terminal are described by a parameterized string capability, with
1454 <EM>printf</EM>-like escapes such as <EM>%x</EM> in it. For example, to address the
1455 cursor, the <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is given, using two parameters: the row and
1456 column to address to. (Rows and columns are numbered from zero and
1457 refer to the physical screen visible to the user, not to any unseen
1458 memory.) If the terminal has memory relative cursor addressing, that
1459 can be indicated by <STRONG>mrcup</STRONG>.
1461 The parameter mechanism uses a stack and special <STRONG>%</STRONG> codes to manipulate
1462 it. Typically a sequence will push one of the parameters onto the
1463 stack and then print it in some format. Print (e.g., "%d") is a
1464 special case. Other operations, including "%t" pop their operand from
1465 the stack. It is noted that more complex operations are often
1466 necessary, e.g., in the <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> string.
1468 The <STRONG>%</STRONG> encodings have the following meanings:
1470 <STRONG>%%</STRONG> outputs "%"
1472 <STRONG>%</STRONG><EM>[[</EM>:<EM>]flags][width[.precision]][</EM><STRONG>doxXs</STRONG><EM>]</EM>
1473 as in <STRONG>printf(3)</STRONG>, flags are <EM>[-+#]</EM> and <EM>space</EM>. Use a ":" to allow
1474 the next character to be a "-" flag, avoiding interpreting "%-" as
1477 %c print <EM>pop()</EM> like %c in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
1479 <STRONG>%s</STRONG> print <EM>pop()</EM> like %s in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
1481 <STRONG>%p</STRONG><EM>[1-9]</EM>
1482 push <EM>i</EM>'th parameter
1484 <STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[a-z]</EM>
1485 set dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to <EM>pop()</EM>
1487 <STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[a-z]</EM>
1488 get dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
1490 <STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
1491 set static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to <EM>pop()</EM>
1493 <STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
1494 get static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
1496 The terms "static" and "dynamic" are misleading. Historically,
1497 these are simply two different sets of variables, whose values are
1498 not reset between calls to <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tparm(3x)</A></STRONG>. However, that fact is not
1499 documented in other implementations. Relying on it will adversely
1500 impact portability to other implementations:
1502 <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr2 curses supported <EM>dynamic</EM> variables. Those are set only
1503 by a <STRONG>%P</STRONG> operator. A <STRONG>%g</STRONG> for a given variable without first
1504 setting it with <STRONG>%P</STRONG> will give unpredictable results, because
1505 dynamic variables are an uninitialized local array on the
1506 stack in the <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> function.
1508 <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr3.2 curses supported <EM>static</EM> variables. Those are an array
1509 in the <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> structure (declared in <STRONG>term.h</STRONG>), and are zeroed
1510 automatically when the <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> function allocates the data.
1512 <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr4 curses made no further improvements to the <EM>dynamic/static</EM>
1515 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Solaris XPG4 curses does not distinguish between <EM>dynamic</EM> and
1516 <EM>static</EM> variables. They are the same. Like SVr4 curses, XPG4
1517 curses does not initialize these explicitly.
1519 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Before version 6.3, ncurses stores both <EM>dynamic</EM> and <EM>static</EM>
1520 variables in persistent storage, initialized to zeros.
1522 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Beginning with version 6.3, ncurses stores <EM>static</EM> and <EM>dynamic</EM>
1523 variables in the same manner as SVr4.
1525 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Unlike other implementations, ncurses zeros dynamic
1526 variables before the first <STRONG>%g</STRONG> or <STRONG>%P</STRONG> operator.
1528 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Like SVr2, the scope of dynamic variables in ncurses is
1529 within the current call to <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>. Use static variables if
1530 persistent storage is needed.
1532 <STRONG>%'</STRONG><EM>c</EM><STRONG>'</STRONG> char constant <EM>c</EM>
1534 <STRONG>%{</STRONG><EM>nn</EM><STRONG>}</STRONG>
1535 integer constant <EM>nn</EM>
1537 <STRONG>%l</STRONG> push strlen(pop)
1539 <STRONG>%+</STRONG>, <STRONG>%-</STRONG>, <STRONG>%*</STRONG>, <STRONG>%/</STRONG>, <STRONG>%m</STRONG>
1540 arithmetic (%m is <EM>mod</EM>): <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1542 <STRONG>%&</STRONG>, <STRONG>%|</STRONG>, <STRONG>%^</STRONG>
1543 bit operations (AND, OR and exclusive-OR): <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1545 <STRONG>%=</STRONG>, <STRONG>%></STRONG>, <STRONG>%<</STRONG>
1546 logical operations: <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1548 <STRONG>%A</STRONG>, <STRONG>%O</STRONG>
1549 logical AND and OR operations (for conditionals)
1551 <STRONG>%!</STRONG>, <STRONG>%~</STRONG>
1552 unary operations (logical and bit complement): <EM>push(op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1554 <STRONG>%i</STRONG> add 1 to first two parameters (for ANSI terminals)
1556 <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> <STRONG>%t</STRONG> <EM>thenpart</EM> <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> <STRONG>%;</STRONG>
1557 This forms an if-then-else. The <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> is optional. Usually
1558 the <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> part pushes a value onto the stack, and <STRONG>%t</STRONG> pops it
1559 from the stack, testing if it is nonzero (true). If it is zero
1560 (false), control passes to the <STRONG>%e</STRONG> (else) part.
1562 It is possible to form else-if's a la Algol 68:
1563 <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>
1565 where ci are conditions, bi are bodies.
1567 Use the <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> or <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> to see the structure of if-
1568 then-else's. Some strings, e.g., <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> can be very complicated when
1569 written on one line. The <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option splits the string into lines
1570 with the parts indented.
1572 Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands in the usual
1573 order. That is, to get x-5 one would use "%gx%{5}%-". <STRONG>%P</STRONG> and <STRONG>%g</STRONG>
1574 variables are persistent across escape-string evaluations.
1576 Consider the HP2645, which, to get to row 3 and column 12, needs to be
1577 sent \E&a12c03Y padded for 6 milliseconds. The order of the rows and
1578 columns is inverted here, and the row and column are printed as two
1579 digits. The corresponding terminal description is expressed thus:
1580 cup=\E&a%p2%dc%p1%dY$<6>,
1582 The Microterm ACT-IV needs the current row and column sent preceded by
1583 a <STRONG>^T</STRONG>, with the row and column simply encoded in binary,
1586 Terminals which use "%c" need to be able to backspace the cursor
1587 (<STRONG>cub1</STRONG>), and to move the cursor up one line on the screen (<STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>). This
1588 is necessary because it is not always safe to transmit <STRONG>\n</STRONG> <STRONG>^D</STRONG> and <STRONG>\r</STRONG>, as
1589 the system may change or discard them. (The library routines dealing
1590 with terminfo set tty modes so that tabs are never expanded, so \t is
1591 safe to send. This turns out to be essential for the Ann Arbor 4080.)
1593 A final example is the LSI ADM-3a, which uses row and column offset by
1594 a blank character, thus
1595 cup=\E=%p1%' '%+%c%p2%' '%+%c
1597 After sending "\E=", this pushes the first parameter, pushes the ASCII
1598 value for a space (32), adds them (pushing the sum on the stack in
1599 place of the two previous values) and outputs that value as a
1600 character. Then the same is done for the second parameter. More
1601 complex arithmetic is possible using the stack.
1604 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Cursor-Motions">Cursor Motions</a></H3><PRE>
1605 If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very upper left
1606 corner of screen) then this can be given as <STRONG>home</STRONG>; similarly a fast way
1607 of getting to the lower left-hand corner can be given as <STRONG>ll</STRONG>; this may
1608 involve going up with <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG> from the home position, but a program should
1609 never do this itself (unless <STRONG>ll</STRONG> does) because it can make no assumption
1610 about the effect of moving up from the home position. Note that the
1611 home position is the same as addressing to (0,0): to the top left
1612 corner of the screen, not of memory. (Thus, the \EH sequence on HP
1613 terminals cannot be used for <STRONG>home</STRONG>.)
1615 If the terminal has row or column absolute cursor addressing, these can
1616 be given as single parameter capabilities <STRONG>hpa</STRONG> (horizontal position
1617 absolute) and <STRONG>vpa</STRONG> (vertical position absolute). Sometimes these are
1618 shorter than the more general two parameter sequence (as with the
1619 hp2645) and can be used in preference to <STRONG>cup</STRONG>. If there are
1620 parameterized local motions (e.g., move <EM>n</EM> spaces to the right) these
1621 can be given as <STRONG>cud</STRONG>, <STRONG>cub</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuf</STRONG>, and <STRONG>cuu</STRONG> with a single parameter
1622 indicating how many spaces to move. These are primarily useful if the
1623 terminal does not have <STRONG>cup</STRONG>, such as the TEKTRONIX 4025.
1625 If the terminal needs to be in a special mode when running a program
1626 that uses these capabilities, the codes to enter and exit this mode can
1627 be given as <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>. This arises, for example, from terminals
1628 like the Concept with more than one page of memory. If the terminal
1629 has only memory relative cursor addressing and not screen relative
1630 cursor addressing, a one screen-sized window must be fixed into the
1631 terminal for cursor addressing to work properly. This is also used for
1632 the TEKTRONIX 4025, where <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sets the command character to be the
1633 one used by terminfo. If the <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sequence will not restore the
1634 screen after an <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG> sequence is output (to the state prior to
1635 outputting <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>), specify <STRONG>nrrmc</STRONG>.
1638 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Margins">Margins</a></H3><PRE>
1639 SVr4 (and X/Open Curses) list several string capabilities for setting
1640 margins. Two were intended for use with terminals, and another six
1641 were intended for use with printers.
1643 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The two terminal capabilities assume that the terminal may have the
1644 capability of setting the left and/or right margin at the current
1645 cursor column position.
1647 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The printer capabilities assume that the printer may have two types
1650 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the ability to set a top and/or bottom margin using the current
1653 <STRONG>o</STRONG> parameterized capabilities for setting the top, bottom, left,
1654 right margins given the number of rows or columns.
1656 In practice, the categorization into "terminal" and "printer" is not
1659 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The AT&T SVr4 terminal database uses <STRONG>smgl</STRONG> four times, for AT&T
1662 Three of the four are printers. They lack the ability to set
1663 left/right margins by specifying the column.
1665 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Other (non-AT&T) terminals may support margins but using different
1666 assumptions from AT&T.
1668 For instance, the DEC VT420 supports left/right margins, but only
1669 using a column parameter. As an added complication, the VT420 uses
1670 two settings to fully enable left/right margins (left/right margin
1671 mode, and origin mode). The former enables the margins, which
1672 causes printed text to wrap within margins, but the latter is
1673 needed to prevent cursor-addressing outside those margins.
1675 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Both DEC VT420 left/right margins are set with a single control
1676 sequence. If either is omitted, the corresponding margin is set to
1677 the left or right edge of the display (rather than leaving the
1680 These are the margin-related capabilities:
1682 <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
1683 ------------------------------------------------------
1684 smgl Set left margin at current column
1685 smgr Set right margin at current column
1686 smgb Set bottom margin at current line
1687 smgt Set top margin at current line
1688 smgbp Set bottom margin at line <EM>N</EM>
1689 smglp Set left margin at column <EM>N</EM>
1690 smgrp Set right margin at column <EM>N</EM>
1691 smgtp Set top margin at line <EM>N</EM>
1692 smglr Set both left and right margins to <EM>L</EM> and <EM>R</EM>
1693 smgtb Set both top and bottom margins to <EM>T</EM> and <EM>B</EM>
1695 When writing an application that uses these string capabilities, the
1696 pairs should be first checked to see if each capability in the pair is
1697 set or only one is set:
1699 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If both <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> are set, each is used with a single
1700 argument, <EM>N</EM>, that gives the column number of the left and right
1701 margin, respectively.
1703 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If both <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> are set, each is used to set the top and
1704 bottom margin, respectively:
1706 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> is used with a single argument, <EM>N</EM>, the line number of the
1709 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> is used with two arguments, <EM>N</EM> and <EM>M</EM>, that give the line
1710 number of the bottom margin, the first counting from the top of
1711 the page and the second counting from the bottom. This
1712 accommodates the two styles of specifying the bottom margin in
1713 different manufacturers' printers.
1715 When designing a terminfo entry for a printer that has a settable
1716 bottom margin, only the first or second argument should be used,
1717 depending on the printer. When developing an application that uses
1718 <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> to set the bottom margin, both arguments must be given.
1720 Conversely, when only one capability in the pair is set:
1722 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If only one of <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> is set, then it is used with two
1723 arguments, the column number of the left and right margins, in that
1726 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Likewise, if only one of <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> is set, then it is used
1727 with two arguments that give the top and bottom margins, in that
1728 order, counting from the top of the page.
1730 When designing a terminfo entry for a printer that requires setting
1731 both left and right or top and bottom margins simultaneously, only
1732 one capability in the pairs <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> or <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG>
1733 should be defined, leaving the other unset.
1735 Except for very old terminal descriptions, e.g., those developed for
1736 SVr4, the scheme just described should be considered obsolete. An
1737 improved set of capabilities was added late in the SVr4 releases (<STRONG>smglr</STRONG>
1738 and <STRONG>smgtb</STRONG>), which explicitly use two parameters for setting the
1739 left/right or top/bottom margins.
1741 When setting margins, the line- and column-values are zero-based.
1743 The <STRONG>mgc</STRONG> string capability should be defined. Applications such as
1744 <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG> rely upon this to reset all margins.
1747 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Area-Clears">Area Clears</a></H3><PRE>
1748 If the terminal can clear from the current position to the end of the
1749 line, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be given as <STRONG>el</STRONG>. If
1750 the terminal can clear from the beginning of the line to the current
1751 position inclusive, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be
1752 given as <STRONG>el1</STRONG>. If the terminal can clear from the current position to
1753 the end of the display, then this should be given as <STRONG>ed</STRONG>. <STRONG>Ed</STRONG> is only
1754 defined from the first column of a line. (Thus, it can be simulated by
1755 a request to delete a large number of lines, if a true <STRONG>ed</STRONG> is not
1759 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Insert_delete-line-and-vertical-motions">Insert/delete line and vertical motions</a></H3><PRE>
1760 If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line where the
1761 cursor is, this should be given as <STRONG>il1</STRONG>; this is done only from the
1762 first position of a line. The cursor must then appear on the newly
1763 blank line. If the terminal can delete the line which the cursor is
1764 on, then this should be given as <STRONG>dl1</STRONG>; this is done only from the first
1765 position on the line to be deleted. Versions of <STRONG>il1</STRONG> and <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> which take
1766 a single parameter and insert or delete that many lines can be given as
1767 <STRONG>il</STRONG> and <STRONG>dl</STRONG>.
1769 If the terminal has a settable scrolling region (like the vt100) the
1770 command to set this can be described with the <STRONG>csr</STRONG> capability, which
1771 takes two parameters: the top and bottom lines of the scrolling region.
1772 The cursor position is, alas, undefined after using this command.
1774 It is possible to get the effect of insert or delete line using <STRONG>csr</STRONG> on
1775 a properly chosen region; the <STRONG>sc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (save and restore cursor)
1776 commands may be useful for ensuring that your synthesized insert/delete
1777 string does not move the cursor. (Note that the <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG> library
1778 does this synthesis automatically, so you need not compose
1779 insert/delete strings for an entry with <STRONG>csr</STRONG>).
1781 Yet another way to construct insert and delete might be to use a
1782 combination of index with the memory-lock feature found on some
1783 terminals (like the HP-700/90 series, which however also has
1786 Inserting lines at the top or bottom of the screen can also be done
1787 using <STRONG>ri</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG> on many terminals without a true insert/delete line,
1788 and is often faster even on terminals with those features.
1790 The boolean <STRONG>non_dest_scroll_region</STRONG> should be set if each scrolling
1791 window is effectively a view port on a screen-sized canvas. To test
1792 for this capability, create a scrolling region in the middle of the
1793 screen, write something to the bottom line, move the cursor to the top
1794 of the region, and do <STRONG>ri</STRONG> followed by <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG>. If the data scrolled
1795 off the bottom of the region by the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> re-appears, then scrolling is
1796 non-destructive. System V and XSI Curses expect that <STRONG>ind</STRONG>, <STRONG>ri</STRONG>, <STRONG>indn</STRONG>,
1797 and <STRONG>rin</STRONG> will simulate destructive scrolling; their documentation
1798 cautions you not to define <STRONG>csr</STRONG> unless this is true. This <STRONG>curses</STRONG>
1799 implementation is more liberal and will do explicit erases after
1800 scrolling if <STRONG>ndsrc</STRONG> is defined.
1802 If the terminal has the ability to define a window as part of memory,
1803 which all commands affect, it should be given as the parameterized
1804 string <STRONG>wind</STRONG>. The four parameters are the starting and ending lines in
1805 memory and the starting and ending columns in memory, in that order.
1807 If the terminal can retain display memory above, then the <STRONG>da</STRONG> capability
1808 should be given; if display memory can be retained below, then <STRONG>db</STRONG>
1809 should be given. These indicate that deleting a line or scrolling may
1810 bring non-blank lines up from below or that scrolling back with <STRONG>ri</STRONG> may
1811 bring down non-blank lines.
1814 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Insert_Delete-Character">Insert/Delete Character</a></H3><PRE>
1815 There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with respect to
1816 insert/delete character which can be described using <EM>terminfo.</EM> The
1817 most common insert/delete character operations affect only the
1818 characters on the current line and shift characters off the end of the
1819 line rigidly. Other terminals, such as the Concept 100 and the Perkin
1820 Elmer Owl, make a distinction between typed and untyped blanks on the
1821 screen, shifting upon an insert or delete only to an untyped blank on
1822 the screen which is either eliminated, or expanded to two untyped
1825 You can determine the kind of terminal you have by clearing the screen
1826 and then typing text separated by cursor motions. Type "abc def"
1827 using local cursor motions (not spaces) between the "abc" and the
1828 "def". Then position the cursor before the "abc" and put the terminal
1829 in insert mode. If typing characters causes the rest of the line to
1830 shift rigidly and characters to fall off the end, then your terminal
1831 does not distinguish between blanks and untyped positions. If the
1832 "abc" shifts over to the "def" which then move together around the end
1833 of the current line and onto the next as you insert, you have the
1834 second type of terminal, and should give the capability <STRONG>in</STRONG>, which
1835 stands for "insert null".
1837 While these are two logically separate attributes (one line versus
1838 multi-line insert mode, and special treatment of untyped spaces) we
1839 have seen no terminals whose insert mode cannot be described with the
1842 Terminfo can describe both terminals which have an insert mode, and
1843 terminals which send a simple sequence to open a blank position on the
1844 current line. Give as <STRONG>smir</STRONG> the sequence to get into insert mode. Give
1845 as <STRONG>rmir</STRONG> the sequence to leave insert mode. Now give as <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> any
1846 sequence needed to be sent just before sending the character to be
1847 inserted. Most terminals with a true insert mode will not give <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>;
1848 terminals which send a sequence to open a screen position should give
1851 If your terminal has both, insert mode is usually preferable to <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>.
1852 Technically, you should not give both unless the terminal actually
1853 requires both to be used in combination. Accordingly, some non-curses
1854 applications get confused if both are present; the symptom is doubled
1855 characters in an update using insert. This requirement is now rare;
1856 most <STRONG>ich</STRONG> sequences do not require previous smir, and most smir insert
1857 modes do not require <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> before each character. Therefore, the new
1858 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> actually assumes this is the case and uses either <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> or
1859 <STRONG>ich</STRONG>/<STRONG>ich1</STRONG> as appropriate (but not both). If you have to write an entry
1860 to be used under new curses for a terminal old enough to need both,
1861 include the <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> sequences in <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>.
1863 If post insert padding is needed, give this as a number of milliseconds
1864 in <STRONG>ip</STRONG> (a string option). Any other sequence which may need to be sent
1865 after an insert of a single character may also be given in <STRONG>ip</STRONG>. If your
1866 terminal needs both to be placed into an "insert mode" and a special
1867 code to precede each inserted character, then both <STRONG>smir</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmir</STRONG> and <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>
1868 can be given, and both will be used. The <STRONG>ich</STRONG> capability, with one
1869 parameter, <EM>n</EM>, will repeat the effects of <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> <EM>n</EM> times.
1871 If padding is necessary between characters typed while not in insert
1872 mode, give this as a number of milliseconds padding in <STRONG>rmp</STRONG>.
1874 It is occasionally necessary to move around while in insert mode to
1875 delete characters on the same line (e.g., if there is a tab after the
1876 insertion position). If your terminal allows motion while in insert
1877 mode you can give the capability <STRONG>mir</STRONG> to speed up inserting in this
1878 case. Omitting <STRONG>mir</STRONG> will affect only speed. Some terminals (notably
1879 Datamedia's) must not have <STRONG>mir</STRONG> because of the way their insert mode
1882 Finally, you can specify <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to delete a single character, <STRONG>dch</STRONG> with
1883 one parameter, <EM>n</EM>, to delete <EM>n</EM> <EM>characters,</EM> and delete mode by giving
1884 <STRONG>smdc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmdc</STRONG> to enter and exit delete mode (any mode the terminal
1885 needs to be placed in for <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to work).
1887 A command to erase <EM>n</EM> characters (equivalent to outputting <EM>n</EM> blanks
1888 without moving the cursor) can be given as <STRONG>ech</STRONG> with one parameter.
1891 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Highlighting_-Underlining_-and-Visible-Bells">Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells</a></H3><PRE>
1892 If your terminal has one or more kinds of display attributes, these can
1893 be represented in a number of different ways. You should choose one
1894 display form as <EM>standout</EM> <EM>mode</EM>, representing a good, high contrast,
1895 easy-on-the-eyes, format for highlighting error messages and other
1896 attention getters. (If you have a choice, reverse video plus half-
1897 bright is good, or reverse video alone.) The sequences to enter and
1898 exit standout mode are given as <STRONG>smso</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmso</STRONG>, respectively. If the
1899 code to change into or out of standout mode leaves one or even two
1900 blank spaces on the screen, as the TVI 912 and Teleray 1061 do, then
1901 <STRONG>xmc</STRONG> should be given to tell how many spaces are left.
1903 Codes to begin underlining and end underlining can be given as <STRONG>smul</STRONG> and
1904 <STRONG>rmul</STRONG> respectively. If the terminal has a code to underline the current
1905 character and move the cursor one space to the right, such as the
1906 Microterm Mime, this can be given as <STRONG>uc</STRONG>.
1908 Other capabilities to enter various highlighting modes include <STRONG>blink</STRONG>
1909 (blinking) <STRONG>bold</STRONG> (bold or extra bright) <STRONG>dim</STRONG> (dim or half-bright) <STRONG>invis</STRONG>
1910 (blanking or invisible text) <STRONG>prot</STRONG> (protected) <STRONG>rev</STRONG> (reverse video) <STRONG>sgr0</STRONG>
1911 (turn off <EM>all</EM> attribute modes) <STRONG>smacs</STRONG> (enter alternate character set
1912 mode) and <STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> (exit alternate character set mode). Turning on any of
1913 these modes singly may or may not turn off other modes.
1915 If there is a sequence to set arbitrary combinations of modes, this
1916 should be given as <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> (set attributes), taking 9 parameters. Each
1917 parameter is either zero (0) or nonzero, as the corresponding attribute
1918 is on or off. The 9 parameters are, in order: standout, underline,
1919 reverse, blink, dim, bold, blank, protect, alternate character set.
1920 Not all modes need be supported by <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>, only those for which
1921 corresponding separate attribute commands exist.
1923 For example, the DEC vt220 supports most of the modes:
1925 <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> <STRONG>parameter</STRONG> <STRONG>attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>escape</STRONG> <STRONG>sequence</STRONG>
1928 p1 standout \E[0;1;7m
1929 p2 underline \E[0;4m
1932 p5 dim not available
1936 p9 altcharset ^O (off) ^N (on)
1938 We begin each escape sequence by turning off any existing modes, since
1939 there is no quick way to determine whether they are active. Standout
1940 is set up to be the combination of reverse and bold. The vt220
1941 terminal has a protect mode, though it is not commonly used in sgr
1942 because it protects characters on the screen from the host's erasures.
1943 The altcharset mode also is different in that it is either ^O or ^N,
1944 depending on whether it is off or on. If all modes are turned on, the
1945 resulting sequence is \E[0;1;4;5;7;8m^N.
1947 Some sequences are common to different modes. For example, ;7 is
1948 output when either p1 or p3 is true, that is, if either standout or
1949 reverse modes are turned on.
1951 Writing out the above sequences, along with their dependencies yields
1953 <STRONG>sequence</STRONG> <STRONG>when</STRONG> <STRONG>to</STRONG> <STRONG>output</STRONG> <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> <STRONG>translation</STRONG>
1956 ;1 if p1 or p6 %?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;
1957 ;4 if p2 %?%p2%|%t;4%;
1958 ;5 if p4 %?%p4%|%t;5%;
1959 ;7 if p1 or p3 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;
1960 ;8 if p7 %?%p7%|%t;8%;
1962 ^N or ^O if p9 ^N, else ^O %?%p9%t^N%e^O%;
1964 Putting this all together into the sgr sequence gives:
1966 sgr=\E[0%?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p4%t;5%;
1967 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;%?%p7%t;8%;m%?%p9%t\016%e\017%;,
1969 Remember that if you specify sgr, you must also specify sgr0. Also,
1970 some implementations rely on sgr being given if sgr0 is, Not all
1971 terminfo entries necessarily have an sgr string, however. Many
1972 terminfo entries are derived from termcap entries which have no sgr
1973 string. The only drawback to adding an sgr string is that termcap also
1974 assumes that sgr0 does not exit alternate character set mode.
1976 Terminals with the "magic cookie" glitch (<STRONG>xmc</STRONG>) deposit special
1977 "cookies" when they receive mode-setting sequences, which affect the
1978 display algorithm rather than having extra bits for each character.
1979 Some terminals, such as the HP 2621, automatically leave standout mode
1980 when they move to a new line or the cursor is addressed. Programs
1981 using standout mode should exit standout mode before moving the cursor
1982 or sending a newline, unless the <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> capability, asserting that it is
1983 safe to move in standout mode, is present.
1985 If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indicate an error
1986 quietly (a bell replacement) then this can be given as <STRONG>flash</STRONG>; it must
1987 not move the cursor.
1989 If the cursor needs to be made more visible than normal when it is not
1990 on the bottom line (to make, for example, a non-blinking underline into
1991 an easier to find block or blinking underline) give this sequence as
1992 <STRONG>cvvis</STRONG>. If there is a way to make the cursor completely invisible, give
1993 that as <STRONG>civis</STRONG>. The capability <STRONG>cnorm</STRONG> should be given which undoes the
1994 effects of both of these modes.
1996 If your terminal correctly generates underlined characters (with no
1997 special codes needed) even though it does not overstrike, then you
1998 should give the capability <STRONG>ul</STRONG>. If a character overstriking another
1999 leaves both characters on the screen, specify the capability <STRONG>os</STRONG>. If
2000 overstrikes are erasable with a blank, then this should be indicated by
2001 giving <STRONG>eo</STRONG>.
2004 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Keypad-and-Function-Keys">Keypad and Function Keys</a></H3><PRE>
2005 If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes when the keys are
2006 pressed, this information can be given. Note that it is not possible
2007 to handle terminals where the keypad only works in local (this applies,
2008 for example, to the unshifted HP 2621 keys). If the keypad can be set
2009 to transmit or not transmit, give these codes as <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG>.
2010 Otherwise the keypad is assumed to always transmit.
2012 The codes sent by the left arrow, right arrow, up arrow, down arrow,
2013 and home keys can be given as <STRONG>kcub1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuu1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcud1,</STRONG> and <STRONG>khome</STRONG>
2014 respectively. If there are function keys such as f0, f1, ..., f10, the
2015 codes they send can be given as <STRONG>kf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf10</STRONG>. If these keys
2016 have labels other than the default f0 through f10, the labels can be
2017 given as <STRONG>lf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf10</STRONG>.
2019 The codes transmitted by certain other special keys can be given:
2021 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kll</STRONG> (home down),
2023 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kbs</STRONG> (backspace),
2025 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ktbc</STRONG> (clear all tabs),
2027 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kctab</STRONG> (clear the tab stop in this column),
2029 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kclr</STRONG> (clear screen or erase key),
2031 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdch1</STRONG> (delete character),
2033 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdl1</STRONG> (delete line),
2035 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>krmir</STRONG> (exit insert mode),
2037 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kel</STRONG> (clear to end of line),
2039 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ked</STRONG> (clear to end of screen),
2041 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kich1</STRONG> (insert character or enter insert mode),
2043 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kil1</STRONG> (insert line),
2045 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>knp</STRONG> (next page),
2047 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kpp</STRONG> (previous page),
2049 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kind</STRONG> (scroll forward/down),
2051 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kri</STRONG> (scroll backward/up),
2053 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>khts</STRONG> (set a tab stop in this column).
2055 In addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3 array of keys including the
2056 four arrow keys, the other five keys can be given as <STRONG>ka1</STRONG>, <STRONG>ka3</STRONG>, <STRONG>kb2</STRONG>,
2057 <STRONG>kc1</STRONG>, and <STRONG>kc3</STRONG>. These keys are useful when the effects of a 3 by 3
2058 directional pad are needed.
2060 Strings to program function keys can be given as <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG>, <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG>, and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG>.
2061 A string to program screen labels should be specified as <STRONG>pln</STRONG>. Each of
2062 these strings takes two parameters: the function key number to program
2063 (from 0 to 10) and the string to program it with. Function key numbers
2064 out of this range may program undefined keys in a terminal dependent
2065 manner. The difference between the capabilities is that <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG> causes
2066 pressing the given key to be the same as the user typing the given
2067 string; <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG> causes the string to be executed by the terminal in
2068 local; and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG> causes the string to be transmitted to the computer.
2070 The capabilities <STRONG>nlab</STRONG>, <STRONG>lw</STRONG> and <STRONG>lh</STRONG> define the number of programmable
2071 screen labels and their width and height. If there are commands to
2072 turn the labels on and off, give them in <STRONG>smln</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmln</STRONG>. <STRONG>smln</STRONG> is
2073 normally output after one or more pln sequences to make sure that the
2074 change becomes visible.
2077 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Tabs-and-Initialization">Tabs and Initialization</a></H3><PRE>
2078 A few capabilities are used only for tabs:
2080 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance to the
2081 next tab stop can be given as <STRONG>ht</STRONG> (usually control/I).
2083 <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "back-tab" command which moves leftward to the preceding tab stop
2084 can be given as <STRONG>cbt</STRONG>.
2086 By convention, if the teletype modes indicate that tabs are being
2087 expanded by the computer rather than being sent to the terminal,
2088 programs should not use <STRONG>ht</STRONG> or <STRONG>cbt</STRONG> even if they are present, since
2089 the user may not have the tab stops properly set.
2091 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal has hardware tabs which are initially set every <EM>n</EM>
2092 spaces when the terminal is powered up, the numeric parameter <STRONG>it</STRONG> is
2093 given, showing the number of spaces the tabs are set to.
2095 The <STRONG>it</STRONG> capability is normally used by the <STRONG>tset</STRONG> command to determine
2096 whether to set the mode for hardware tab expansion, and whether to
2097 set the tab stops. If the terminal has tab stops that can be saved
2098 in non-volatile memory, the terminfo description can assume that
2099 they are properly set.
2101 Other capabilities include
2103 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, and <STRONG>is3</STRONG>, initialization strings for the terminal,
2105 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, the path name of a program to be run to initialize the
2108 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>if</STRONG>, the name of a file containing long initialization strings.
2110 These strings are expected to set the terminal into modes consistent
2111 with the rest of the terminfo description. They are normally sent to
2112 the terminal, by the <EM>init</EM> option of the <STRONG>tput</STRONG> program, each time the
2113 user logs in. They will be printed in the following order:
2116 <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>
2119 <STRONG>is1</STRONG> and
2120 <STRONG>is2</STRONG>
2122 set the margins using
2123 <STRONG>mgc</STRONG> or
2124 <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> or
2125 <STRONG>smgl</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgr</STRONG>
2128 <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> and <STRONG>hts</STRONG>
2134 <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
2136 Most initialization is done with <STRONG>is2</STRONG>. Special terminal modes can be
2137 set up without duplicating strings by putting the common sequences in
2138 <STRONG>is2</STRONG> and special cases in <STRONG>is1</STRONG> and <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
2140 A set of sequences that does a harder reset from a totally unknown
2141 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>
2142 and <STRONG>is3</STRONG> respectively. These strings are output by <EM>reset</EM> option of
2143 <STRONG>tput</STRONG>, or by the <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program (an alias of <STRONG>tset</STRONG>), which is used when
2144 the terminal gets into a wedged state. Commands are normally placed in
2145 <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG> <STRONG>rs3</STRONG> and <STRONG>rf</STRONG> only if they produce annoying effects on the screen
2146 and are not necessary when logging in. For example, the command to set
2147 the vt100 into 80-column mode would normally be part of <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, but it
2148 causes an annoying glitch of the screen and is not normally needed
2149 since the terminal is usually already in 80-column mode.
2151 The <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program writes strings including <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, etc., in the same
2152 order as the <EM>init</EM> program, using <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, etc., instead of <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, etc. If
2153 any of <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, or <STRONG>rf</STRONG> reset capability strings are missing, the
2154 <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program falls back upon the corresponding initialization
2157 If there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can be given as
2158 <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (clear all tab stops) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (set a tab stop in the current column
2159 of every row). If a more complex sequence is needed to set the tabs
2160 than can be described by this, the sequence can be placed in <STRONG>is2</STRONG> or <STRONG>if</STRONG>.
2162 The <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>reset</STRONG> command uses the same capability strings as the <STRONG>reset</STRONG>
2163 command, although the two programs (<STRONG>tput</STRONG> and <STRONG>reset</STRONG>) provide different
2164 command-line options.
2166 In practice, these terminfo capabilities are not often used in
2167 initialization of tabs (though they are required for the <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> program):
2169 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Almost all hardware terminals (at least those which supported tabs)
2170 initialized those to every <EM>eight</EM> columns:
2172 The only exception was the AT&T 2300 series, which set tabs to
2173 every <EM>five</EM> columns.
2175 <STRONG>o</STRONG> In particular, developers of the hardware terminals which are
2176 commonly used as models for modern terminal emulators provided
2177 documentation demonstrating that <EM>eight</EM> columns were the standard.
2179 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Because of this, the terminal initialization programs <STRONG>tput</STRONG> and <STRONG>tset</STRONG>
2180 use the <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (<STRONG>clear_all_tabs</STRONG>) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (<STRONG>set_tab</STRONG>) capabilities
2181 directly only when the <STRONG>it</STRONG> (<STRONG>init_tabs</STRONG>) capability is set to a value
2182 other than <EM>eight</EM>.
2185 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Delays-and-Padding">Delays and Padding</a></H3><PRE>
2186 Many older and slower terminals do not support either XON/XOFF or DTR
2187 handshaking, including hard copy terminals and some very archaic CRTs
2188 (including, for example, DEC VT100s). These may require padding
2189 characters after certain cursor motions and screen changes.
2191 If the terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking for flow control (that is, it
2192 automatically emits ^S back to the host when its input buffers are
2193 close to full), set <STRONG>xon</STRONG>. This capability suppresses the emission of
2194 padding. You can also set it for memory-mapped console devices
2195 effectively that do not have a speed limit. Padding information should
2196 still be included so that routines can make better decisions about
2197 relative costs, but actual pad characters will not be transmitted.
2199 If <STRONG>pb</STRONG> (padding baud rate) is given, padding is suppressed at baud rates
2200 below the value of <STRONG>pb</STRONG>. If the entry has no padding baud rate, then
2201 whether padding is emitted or not is completely controlled by <STRONG>xon</STRONG>.
2203 If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
2204 then this can be given as <STRONG>pad</STRONG>. Only the first character of the <STRONG>pad</STRONG>
2208 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Status-Lines">Status Lines</a></H3><PRE>
2209 Some terminals have an extra "status line" which is not normally used
2210 by software (and thus not counted in the terminal's <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability).
2212 The simplest case is a status line which is cursor-addressable but not
2213 part of the main scrolling region on the screen; the Heathkit H19 has a
2214 status line of this kind, as would a 24-line VT100 with a 23-line
2215 scrolling region set up on initialization. This situation is indicated
2216 by the <STRONG>hs</STRONG> capability.
2218 Some terminals with status lines need special sequences to access the
2219 status line. These may be expressed as a string with single parameter
2220 <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> which takes the cursor to a given zero-origin column on the status
2221 line. The capability <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> must return to the main-screen cursor
2222 positions before the last <STRONG>tsl</STRONG>. You may need to embed the string values
2223 of <STRONG>sc</STRONG> (save cursor) and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (restore cursor) in <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> and <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> to
2226 The status line is normally assumed to be the same width as the width
2227 of the terminal. If this is untrue, you can specify it with the
2228 numeric capability <STRONG>wsl</STRONG>.
2230 A command to erase or blank the status line may be specified as <STRONG>dsl</STRONG>.
2232 The boolean capability <STRONG>eslok</STRONG> specifies that escape sequences, tabs,
2233 etc., work ordinarily in the status line.
2235 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation does not yet use any of these capabilities.
2236 They are documented here in case they ever become important.
2239 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Line-Graphics">Line Graphics</a></H3><PRE>
2240 Many terminals have alternate character sets useful for forms-drawing.
2241 Terminfo and <STRONG>curses</STRONG> have built-in support for most of the drawing
2242 characters supported by the VT100, with some characters from the AT&T
2243 4410v1 added. This alternate character set may be specified by the
2244 <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> capability.
2246 <STRONG>Glyph</STRONG> <STRONG>ACS</STRONG> <STRONG>Ascii</STRONG> <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> <STRONG>acsc</STRONG>
2247 <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Default</STRONG> <STRONG>Char</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG>
2248 --------------------------------------------------------------------
2249 arrow pointing right ACS_RARROW > + 0x2b
2250 arrow pointing left ACS_LARROW < , 0x2c
2251 arrow pointing up ACS_UARROW ^ - 0x2d
2252 arrow pointing down ACS_DARROW v . 0x2e
2253 solid square block ACS_BLOCK # 0 0x30
2254 diamond ACS_DIAMOND + ` 0x60
2255 checker board (stipple) ACS_CKBOARD : a 0x61
2256 degree symbol ACS_DEGREE \ f 0x66
2257 plus/minus ACS_PLMINUS # g 0x67
2258 board of squares ACS_BOARD # h 0x68
2259 lantern symbol ACS_LANTERN # i 0x69
2260 lower right corner ACS_LRCORNER + j 0x6a
2261 upper right corner ACS_URCORNER + k 0x6b
2262 upper left corner ACS_ULCORNER + l 0x6c
2263 lower left corner ACS_LLCORNER + m 0x6d
2264 large plus or crossover ACS_PLUS + n 0x6e
2265 scan line 1 ACS_S1 ~ o 0x6f
2266 scan line 3 ACS_S3 - p 0x70
2267 horizontal line ACS_HLINE - q 0x71
2268 scan line 7 ACS_S7 - r 0x72
2269 scan line 9 ACS_S9 _ s 0x73
2270 tee pointing right ACS_LTEE + t 0x74
2271 tee pointing left ACS_RTEE + u 0x75
2272 tee pointing up ACS_BTEE + v 0x76
2273 tee pointing down ACS_TTEE + w 0x77
2274 vertical line ACS_VLINE | x 0x78
2275 less-than-or-equal-to ACS_LEQUAL < y 0x79
2276 greater-than-or-equal-to ACS_GEQUAL > z 0x7a
2277 greek pi ACS_PI * { 0x7b
2278 not-equal ACS_NEQUAL ! | 0x7c
2279 UK pound sign ACS_STERLING f } 0x7d
2280 bullet ACS_BULLET o ~ 0x7e
2282 A few notes apply to the table itself:
2284 <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses incorrectly states that the mapping for <EM>lantern</EM> is
2285 uppercase "I" although Unix implementations use the lowercase "i"
2288 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The DEC VT100 implemented graphics using the alternate character
2289 set feature, temporarily switching <EM>modes</EM> and sending characters in
2290 the range 0x60 (96) to 0x7e (126) (the <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> column in the
2293 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The AT&T terminal added graphics characters outside that range.
2295 Some of the characters within the range do not match the VT100;
2296 presumably they were used in the AT&T terminal: <EM>board</EM> <EM>of</EM> <EM>squares</EM>
2297 replaces the VT100 <EM>newline</EM> symbol, while <EM>lantern</EM> <EM>symbol</EM> replaces
2298 the VT100 <EM>vertical</EM> <EM>tab</EM> symbol. The other VT100 symbols for control
2299 characters (<EM>horizontal</EM> <EM>tab</EM>, <EM>carriage</EM> <EM>return</EM> and <EM>line-feed</EM>) are not
2302 The best way to define a new device's graphics set is to add a column
2303 to a copy of this table for your terminal, giving the character which
2304 (when emitted between <STRONG>smacs</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> switches) will be rendered as the
2305 corresponding graphic. Then read off the VT100/your terminal character
2306 pairs right to left in sequence; these become the ACSC string.
2309 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Color-Handling">Color Handling</a></H3><PRE>
2310 The curses library functions <STRONG>init_pair</STRONG> and <STRONG>init_color</STRONG> manipulate the
2311 <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> and <EM>color</EM> <EM>values</EM> discussed in this section (see
2312 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG> for details on these and related functions).
2314 Most color terminals are either "Tektronix-like" or "HP-like":
2316 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Tektronix-like terminals have a predefined set of <EM>N</EM> colors (where <EM>N</EM>
2317 is usually 8), and can set character-cell foreground and background
2318 characters independently, mixing them into <EM>N</EM> * <EM>N</EM> color-pairs.
2320 <STRONG>o</STRONG> On HP-like terminals, the user must set each color pair up
2321 separately (foreground and background are not independently
2322 settable). Up to <EM>M</EM> color-pairs may be set up from 2*<EM>M</EM> different
2323 colors. ANSI-compatible terminals are Tektronix-like.
2325 Some basic color capabilities are independent of the color method. The
2326 numeric capabilities <STRONG>colors</STRONG> and <STRONG>pairs</STRONG> specify the maximum numbers of
2327 colors and color-pairs that can be displayed simultaneously. The <STRONG>op</STRONG>
2328 (original pair) string resets foreground and background colors to their
2329 default values for the terminal. The <STRONG>oc</STRONG> string resets all colors or
2330 color-pairs to their default values for the terminal. Some terminals
2331 (including many PC terminal emulators) erase screen areas with the
2332 current background color rather than the power-up default background;
2333 these should have the boolean capability <STRONG>bce</STRONG>.
2335 While the curses library works with <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> (reflecting the
2336 inability of some devices to set foreground and background colors
2337 independently), there are separate capabilities for setting these
2340 <STRONG>o</STRONG> To change the current foreground or background color on a
2341 Tektronix-type terminal, use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> (set ANSI foreground) and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>
2342 (set ANSI background) or <STRONG>setf</STRONG> (set foreground) and <STRONG>setb</STRONG> (set
2343 background). These take one parameter, the color number. The SVr4
2344 documentation describes only <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>; the XPG4 draft says that
2345 "If the terminal supports ANSI escape sequences to set background
2346 and foreground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>,
2349 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal supports other escape sequences to set background
2350 and foreground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setb</STRONG>,
2351 respectively. The <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> and the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_refresh.3x.html">refresh(3x)</A></STRONG> functions use the
2352 <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> capabilities if they are defined.
2354 The <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> and <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> capabilities take a single numeric
2355 argument each. Argument values 0-7 of <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> are portably defined
2356 as follows (the middle column is the symbolic #define available in the
2357 header for the <STRONG>curses</STRONG> or <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> libraries). The terminal hardware is
2358 free to map these as it likes, but the RGB values indicate normal
2359 locations in color space.
2361 <STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
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 black <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> 0 0, 0, 0
2376 blue <STRONG>COLOR_BLUE</STRONG> 1 0,0,max
2377 green <STRONG>COLOR_GREEN</STRONG> 2 0,max,0
2378 cyan <STRONG>COLOR_CYAN</STRONG> 3 0,max,max
2379 red <STRONG>COLOR_RED</STRONG> 4 max,0,0
2380 magenta <STRONG>COLOR_MAGENTA</STRONG> 5 max,0,max
2381 yellow <STRONG>COLOR_YELLOW</STRONG> 6 max,max,0
2382 white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max,max,max
2384 It is important to not confuse the two sets of color capabilities;
2385 otherwise red/blue will be interchanged on the display.
2387 On an HP-like terminal, use <STRONG>scp</STRONG> with a color-pair number parameter to
2388 set which color pair is current.
2390 Some terminals allow the <EM>color</EM> <EM>values</EM> to be modified:
2392 <STRONG>o</STRONG> On a Tektronix-like terminal, the capability <STRONG>ccc</STRONG> may be present to
2393 indicate that colors can be modified. If so, the <STRONG>initc</STRONG> capability
2394 will take a color number (0 to <STRONG>colors</STRONG> - 1)and three more parameters
2395 which describe the color. These three parameters default to being
2396 interpreted as RGB (Red, Green, Blue) values. If the boolean
2397 capability <STRONG>hls</STRONG> is present, they are instead as HLS (Hue, Lightness,
2398 Saturation) indices. The ranges are terminal-dependent.
2400 <STRONG>o</STRONG> On an HP-like terminal, <STRONG>initp</STRONG> may give a capability for changing a
2401 color-pair value. It will take seven parameters; a color-pair
2402 number (0 to <STRONG>max_pairs</STRONG> - 1), and two triples describing first
2403 background and then foreground colors. These parameters must be
2404 (Red, Green, Blue) or (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) depending on
2405 <STRONG>hls</STRONG>.
2407 On some color terminals, colors collide with highlights. You can
2408 register these collisions with the <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> capability. This is a bit-mask
2409 of attributes not to be used when colors are enabled. The
2410 correspondence with the attributes understood by <STRONG>curses</STRONG> is as follows:
2412 <STRONG>Attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>Bit</STRONG> <STRONG>Decimal</STRONG> <STRONG>Set</STRONG> <STRONG>by</STRONG>
2421 A_ALTCHARSET 8 256 sgr
2422 A_HORIZONTAL 9 512 sgr1
2425 A_RIGHT 12 4096 sgr1
2427 A_VERTICAL 14 16384 sgr1
2428 A_ITALIC 15 32768 sitm
2430 For example, on many IBM PC consoles, the underline attribute collides
2431 with the foreground color blue and is not available in color mode.
2432 These should have an <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> capability of 2.
2434 SVr4 curses does nothing with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>, ncurses recognizes it and optimizes
2435 the output in favor of colors.
2438 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</a></H3><PRE>
2439 If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
2440 then this can be given as pad. Only the first character of the pad
2441 string is used. If the terminal does not have a pad character, specify
2442 npc. Note that ncurses implements the termcap-compatible <STRONG>PC</STRONG> variable;
2443 though the application may set this value to something other than a
2444 null, ncurses will test <STRONG>npc</STRONG> first and use napms if the terminal has no
2447 If the terminal can move up or down half a line, this can be indicated
2448 with <STRONG>hu</STRONG> (half-line up) and <STRONG>hd</STRONG> (half-line down). This is primarily
2449 useful for superscripts and subscripts on hard-copy terminals. If a
2450 hard-copy terminal can eject to the next page (form feed), give this as
2451 <STRONG>ff</STRONG> (usually control/L).
2453 If there is a command to repeat a given character a given number of
2454 times (to save time transmitting a large number of identical
2455 characters) this can be indicated with the parameterized string <STRONG>rep</STRONG>.
2456 The first parameter is the character to be repeated and the second is
2457 the number of times to repeat it. Thus, tparm(repeat_char, 'x', 10) is
2458 the same as "xxxxxxxxxx".
2460 If the terminal has a settable command character, such as the TEKTRONIX
2461 4025, this can be indicated with <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG>. A prototype command character
2462 is chosen which is used in all capabilities. This character is given
2463 in the <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG> capability to identify it. The following convention is
2464 supported on some UNIX systems: The environment is to be searched for a
2465 <STRONG>CC</STRONG> variable, and if found, all occurrences of the prototype character
2466 are replaced with the character in the environment variable.
2468 Terminal descriptions that do not represent a specific kind of known
2469 terminal, such as <EM>switch</EM>, <EM>dialup</EM>, <EM>patch</EM>, and <EM>network</EM>, should include
2470 the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (generic) capability so that programs can complain that they do
2471 not know how to talk to the terminal. (This capability does not apply
2472 to <EM>virtual</EM> terminal descriptions for which the escape sequences are
2475 If the terminal has a "meta key" which acts as a shift key, setting the
2476 8th bit of any character transmitted, this fact can be indicated with
2477 <STRONG>km</STRONG>. Otherwise, software will assume that the 8th bit is parity and it
2478 will usually be cleared. If strings exist to turn this "meta mode" on
2479 and off, they can be given as <STRONG>smm</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmm</STRONG>.
2481 If the terminal has more lines of memory than will fit on the screen at
2482 once, the number of lines of memory can be indicated with <STRONG>lm</STRONG>. A value
2483 of <STRONG>lm</STRONG>#0 indicates that the number of lines is not fixed, but that there
2484 is still more memory than fits on the screen.
2486 If the terminal is one of those supported by the UNIX virtual terminal
2487 protocol, the terminal number can be given as <STRONG>vt</STRONG>.
2489 Media copy strings which control an auxiliary printer connected to the
2490 terminal can be given as <STRONG>mc0</STRONG>: print the contents of the screen, <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>:
2491 turn off the printer, and <STRONG>mc5</STRONG>: turn on the printer. When the printer
2492 is on, all text sent to the terminal will be sent to the printer. It
2493 is undefined whether the text is also displayed on the terminal screen
2494 when the printer is on. A variation <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> takes one parameter, and
2495 leaves the printer on for as many characters as the value of the
2496 parameter, then turns the printer off. The parameter should not exceed
2497 255. All text, including <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>, is transparently passed to the printer
2498 while an <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> is in effect.
2501 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Glitches-and-Braindamage">Glitches and Braindamage</a></H3><PRE>
2502 Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow "~" characters to be displayed
2503 should indicate <STRONG>hz</STRONG>.
2505 Terminals which ignore a line-feed immediately after an <STRONG>am</STRONG> wrap, such
2506 as the Concept and vt100, should indicate <STRONG>xenl</STRONG>.
2508 If <STRONG>el</STRONG> is required to get rid of standout (instead of merely writing
2509 normal text on top of it), <STRONG>xhp</STRONG> should be given.
2511 Teleray terminals, where tabs turn all characters moved over to blanks,
2512 should indicate <STRONG>xt</STRONG> (destructive tabs). Note: the variable indicating
2513 this is now "dest_tabs_magic_smso"; in older versions, it was
2514 teleray_glitch. This glitch is also taken to mean that it is not
2515 possible to position the cursor on top of a "magic cookie", that to
2516 erase standout mode it is instead necessary to use delete and insert
2517 line. The ncurses implementation ignores this glitch.
2519 The Beehive Superbee, which is unable to correctly transmit the escape
2520 or control/C characters, has <STRONG>xsb</STRONG>, indicating that the f1 key is used
2521 for escape and f2 for control/C. (Only certain Superbees have this
2522 problem, depending on the ROM.) Note that in older terminfo versions,
2523 this capability was called "beehive_glitch"; it is now "no_esc_ctl_c".
2525 Other specific terminal problems may be corrected by adding more
2526 capabilities of the form <STRONG>x</STRONG><EM>x</EM>.
2529 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Pitfalls-of-Long-Entries">Pitfalls of Long Entries</a></H3><PRE>
2530 Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to date, no entry
2531 has even approached terminfo's 4096-byte string-table maximum.
2532 Unfortunately, the termcap translations are much more strictly limited
2533 (to 1023 bytes), thus termcap translations of long terminfo entries can
2536 The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions of <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> instruct the
2537 user to allocate a 1024-byte buffer for the termcap entry. The entry
2538 gets null-terminated by the termcap library, so that makes the maximum
2539 safe length for a termcap entry 1k-1 (1023) bytes. Depending on what
2540 the application and the termcap library being used does, and where in
2541 the termcap file the terminal type that <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> is searching for is,
2542 several bad things can happen:
2544 <STRONG>o</STRONG> some termcap libraries print a warning message,
2546 <STRONG>o</STRONG> some exit if they find an entry that's longer than 1023 bytes,
2548 <STRONG>o</STRONG> some neither exit nor warn, doing nothing useful, and
2550 <STRONG>o</STRONG> some simply truncate the entries to 1023 bytes.
2552 Some application programs allocate more than the recommended 1K for the
2553 termcap entry; others do not.
2555 Each termcap entry has two important sizes associated with it: before
2556 "tc" expansion, and after "tc" expansion. "tc" is the capability that
2557 tacks on another termcap entry to the end of the current one, to add on
2558 its capabilities. If a termcap entry does not use the "tc" capability,
2559 then of course the two lengths are the same.
2561 The "before tc expansion" length is the most important one, because it
2562 affects more than just users of that particular terminal. This is the
2563 length of the entry as it exists in /etc/termcap, minus the backslash-
2564 newline pairs, which <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> strips out while reading it. Some termcap
2565 libraries strip off the final newline, too (GNU termcap does not). Now
2568 <STRONG>o</STRONG> a termcap entry before expansion is more than 1023 bytes long,
2570 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the application has only allocated a 1k buffer,
2572 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the termcap library (like the one in BSD/OS 1.1 and GNU) reads
2573 the whole entry into the buffer, no matter what its length, to see
2574 if it is the entry it wants,
2576 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> is searching for a terminal type that either is the
2577 long entry, appears in the termcap file after the long entry, or
2578 does not appear in the file at all (so that <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> has to search
2579 the whole termcap file).
2581 Then <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> will overwrite memory, perhaps its stack, and probably
2582 core dump the program. Programs like telnet are particularly
2583 vulnerable; modern telnets pass along values like the terminal type
2584 automatically. The results are almost as undesirable with a termcap
2585 library, like SunOS 4.1.3 and Ultrix 4.4, that prints warning messages
2586 when it reads an overly long termcap entry. If a termcap library
2587 truncates long entries, like OSF/1 3.0, it is immune to dying here but
2588 will return incorrect data for the terminal.
2590 The "after tc expansion" length will have a similar effect to the
2591 above, but only for people who actually set TERM to that terminal type,
2592 since <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> only does "tc" expansion once it is found the terminal
2593 type it was looking for, not while searching.
2595 In summary, a termcap entry that is longer than 1023 bytes can cause,
2596 on various combinations of termcap libraries and applications, a core
2597 dump, warnings, or incorrect operation. If it is too long even before
2598 "tc" expansion, it will have this effect even for users of some other
2599 terminal types and users whose TERM variable does not have a termcap
2602 When in -C (translate to termcap) mode, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation of
2603 <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG> issues warning messages when the pre-tc length of a termcap
2604 translation is too long. The -c (check) option also checks resolved
2605 (after tc expansion) lengths.
2608 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Binary-Compatibility">Binary Compatibility</a></H3><PRE>
2609 It is not wise to count on portability of binary terminfo entries
2610 between commercial UNIX versions. The problem is that there are at
2611 least two versions of terminfo (under HP-UX and AIX) which diverged
2612 from System V terminfo after SVr1, and have added extension
2613 capabilities to the string table that (in the binary format) collide
2614 with System V and XSI Curses extensions.
2617 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></H2><PRE>
2618 Searching for terminal descriptions in <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> and
2619 TERMINFO_DIRS is not supported by older implementations.
2621 Some SVr4 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> implementations, and all previous to SVr4, do not
2622 interpret the %A and %O operators in parameter strings.
2624 SVr4/XPG4 do not specify whether <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> licenses movement while in an
2625 alternate-character-set mode (such modes may, among other things, map
2626 CR and NL to characters that do not trigger local motions). The
2627 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation ignores <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> in <STRONG>ALTCHARSET</STRONG> mode. This raises
2628 the possibility that an XPG4 implementation making the opposite
2629 interpretation may need terminfo entries made for <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> to have <STRONG>msgr</STRONG>
2632 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library handles insert-character and insert-character modes
2633 in a slightly non-standard way to get better update efficiency. See
2634 the <STRONG>Insert/Delete</STRONG> <STRONG>Character</STRONG> subsection above.
2636 The parameter substitutions for <STRONG>set_clock</STRONG> and <STRONG>display_clock</STRONG> are not
2637 documented in SVr4 or the XSI Curses standard. They are deduced from
2638 the documentation for the AT&T 505 terminal.
2640 Be careful assigning the <STRONG>kmous</STRONG> capability. The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library wants
2641 to interpret it as <STRONG>KEY_MOUSE</STRONG>, for use by terminals and emulators like
2642 xterm that can return mouse-tracking information in the keyboard-input
2645 X/Open Curses does not mention italics. Portable applications must
2646 assume that numeric capabilities are signed 16-bit values. This
2647 includes the <EM>no</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>color</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>video</EM> (<STRONG>ncv</STRONG>) capability. The 32768 mask value
2648 used for italics with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> can be confused with an absent or cancelled
2649 <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>. If italics should work with colors, then the <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> value must be
2650 specified, even if it is zero.
2652 Different commercial ports of terminfo and curses support different
2653 subsets of the XSI Curses standard and (in some cases) different
2654 extension sets. Here is a summary, accurate as of October 1995:
2656 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SVR4,</STRONG> <STRONG>Solaris,</STRONG> <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> -- These support all SVr4 capabilities.
2658 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SGI</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr4 set, adds one undocumented extended string
2659 capability (<STRONG>set_pglen</STRONG>).
2661 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SVr1,</STRONG> <STRONG>Ultrix</STRONG> -- These support a restricted subset of terminfo
2662 capabilities. The booleans end with <STRONG>xon_xoff</STRONG>; the numerics with
2663 <STRONG>width_status_line</STRONG>; and the strings with <STRONG>prtr_non</STRONG>.
2665 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>HP/UX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus the SVr[234] numerics
2666 <STRONG>num_labels</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_height</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_width</STRONG>, plus function keys 11
2667 through 63, plus <STRONG>plab_norm</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_on</STRONG>, and <STRONG>label_off</STRONG>, plus some
2668 incompatible extensions in the string table.
2670 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>AIX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11 through 63,
2671 plus a number of incompatible string table extensions.
2673 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>OSF</STRONG> -- Supports both the SVr4 set and the AIX extensions.
2676 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-FILES">FILES</a></H2><PRE>
2677 /usr/share/terminfo/?/* files containing terminal descriptions
2680 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
2681 <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>,
2682 <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>.
2683 <STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG>.
2686 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></H2><PRE>
2687 Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey. Based on <EM>pcurses</EM>
2692 ncurses 6.4 2023-09-02 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
2696 <li><a href="#h2-NAME">NAME</a></li>
2697 <li><a href="#h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li>
2698 <li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a>
2700 <li><a href="#h3-Terminfo-Entry-Syntax">Terminfo Entry Syntax</a></li>
2701 <li><a href="#h3-Terminfo-Capabilities-Syntax">Terminfo Capabilities Syntax</a></li>
2702 <li><a href="#h3-Similar-Terminals">Similar Terminals</a></li>
2703 <li><a href="#h3-Predefined-Capabilities">Predefined Capabilities</a></li>
2704 <li><a href="#h3-User-Defined-Capabilities">User-Defined Capabilities</a></li>
2705 <li><a href="#h3-A-Sample-Entry">A Sample Entry</a></li>
2706 <li><a href="#h3-Types-of-Capabilities">Types of Capabilities</a></li>
2707 <li><a href="#h3-Fetching-Compiled-Descriptions">Fetching Compiled Descriptions</a></li>
2708 <li><a href="#h3-Preparing-Descriptions">Preparing Descriptions</a></li>
2709 <li><a href="#h3-Basic-Capabilities">Basic Capabilities</a></li>
2710 <li><a href="#h3-Parameterized-Strings">Parameterized Strings</a></li>
2711 <li><a href="#h3-Cursor-Motions">Cursor Motions</a></li>
2712 <li><a href="#h3-Margins">Margins</a></li>
2713 <li><a href="#h3-Area-Clears">Area Clears</a></li>
2714 <li><a href="#h3-Insert_delete-line-and-vertical-motions">Insert/delete line and vertical motions</a></li>
2715 <li><a href="#h3-Insert_Delete-Character">Insert/Delete Character</a></li>
2716 <li><a href="#h3-Highlighting_-Underlining_-and-Visible-Bells">Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells</a></li>
2717 <li><a href="#h3-Keypad-and-Function-Keys">Keypad and Function Keys</a></li>
2718 <li><a href="#h3-Tabs-and-Initialization">Tabs and Initialization</a></li>
2719 <li><a href="#h3-Delays-and-Padding">Delays and Padding</a></li>
2720 <li><a href="#h3-Status-Lines">Status Lines</a></li>
2721 <li><a href="#h3-Line-Graphics">Line Graphics</a></li>
2722 <li><a href="#h3-Color-Handling">Color Handling</a></li>
2723 <li><a href="#h3-Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</a></li>
2724 <li><a href="#h3-Glitches-and-Braindamage">Glitches and Braindamage</a></li>
2725 <li><a href="#h3-Pitfalls-of-Long-Entries">Pitfalls of Long Entries</a></li>
2726 <li><a href="#h3-Binary-Compatibility">Binary Compatibility</a></li>
2729 <li><a href="#h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></li>
2730 <li><a href="#h2-FILES">FILES</a></li>
2731 <li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
2732 <li><a href="#h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></li>
projects / ncurses.git / blob