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 1.44 2023/07/01 15:46:56 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 1.122 2023/08/19 20:14:38 tom Exp @
72 <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN">
75 <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
76 <meta name="generator" content="Manpage converted by man2html - see https://invisible-island.net/scripts/readme.html#others_scripts">
77 <TITLE>terminfo 5 2023-07-01 ncurses 6.4 File formats</TITLE>
78 <link rel="author" href="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">
82 <H1 class="no-header">terminfo 5 2023-07-01 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 20230819).
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 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library searches for terminal descriptions in several
1320 places. It uses only the first description found. The library has a
1321 compiled-in list of places to search which can be overridden by
1322 environment variables. Before starting to search, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> eliminates
1323 duplicates in its search list.
1325 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the environment variable TERMINFO is set, it is interpreted as
1326 the pathname of a directory containing the compiled description you
1327 are working on. Only that directory is searched.
1329 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If TERMINFO is not set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> will instead look in the directory
1330 <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> for a compiled description.
1332 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Next, if the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS is set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
1333 will interpret the contents of that variable as a list of colon-
1334 separated directories (or database files) to be searched.
1336 An empty directory name (i.e., if the variable begins or ends with
1337 a colon, or contains adjacent colons) is interpreted as the system
1338 location <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>.
1340 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Finally, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> searches these compiled-in locations:
1342 <STRONG>o</STRONG> a list of directories (/usr/share/terminfo), and
1344 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the system terminfo directory, <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM> (the
1345 compiled-in default).
1348 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Preparing-Descriptions">Preparing Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
1349 We now outline how to prepare descriptions of terminals. The most
1350 effective way to prepare a terminal description is by imitating the
1351 description of a similar terminal in <EM>terminfo</EM> and to build up a
1352 description gradually, using partial descriptions with <EM>vi</EM> or some other
1353 screen-oriented program to check that they are correct. Be aware that
1354 a very unusual terminal may expose deficiencies in the ability of the
1355 <EM>terminfo</EM> file to describe it or bugs in the screen-handling code of the
1358 To get the padding for insert line right (if the terminal manufacturer
1359 did not document it) a severe test is to edit a large file at 9600
1360 baud, delete 16 or so lines from the middle of the screen, then hit the
1361 "u" key several times quickly. If the terminal messes up, more padding
1362 is usually needed. A similar test can be used for insert character.
1365 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Basic-Capabilities">Basic Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
1366 The number of columns on each line for the terminal is given by the
1367 <STRONG>cols</STRONG> numeric capability. If the terminal is a CRT, then the number of
1368 lines on the screen is given by the <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability. If the terminal
1369 wraps around to the beginning of the next line when it reaches the
1370 right margin, then it should have the <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability. If the terminal
1371 can clear its screen, leaving the cursor in the home position, then
1372 this is given by the <STRONG>clear</STRONG> string capability. If the terminal
1373 overstrikes (rather than clearing a position when a character is struck
1374 over) then it should have the <STRONG>os</STRONG> capability. If the terminal is a
1375 printing terminal, with no soft copy unit, give it both <STRONG>hc</STRONG> and <STRONG>os</STRONG>. (<STRONG>os</STRONG>
1376 applies to storage scope terminals, such as TEKTRONIX 4010 series, as
1377 well as hard copy and APL terminals.) If there is a code to move the
1378 cursor to the left edge of the current row, give this as <STRONG>cr</STRONG>. (Normally
1379 this will be carriage return, control/M.) If there is a code to
1380 produce an audible signal (bell, beep, etc) give this as <STRONG>bel</STRONG>.
1382 If there is a code to move the cursor one position to the left (such as
1383 backspace) that capability should be given as <STRONG>cub1</STRONG>. Similarly, codes
1384 to move to the right, up, and down should be given as <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>, and
1385 <STRONG>cud1</STRONG>. These local cursor motions should not alter the text they pass
1386 over, for example, you would not normally use "<STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>= " because the
1387 space would erase the character moved over.
1389 A very important point here is that the local cursor motions encoded in
1390 <EM>terminfo</EM> are undefined at the left and top edges of a CRT terminal.
1391 Programs should never attempt to backspace around the left edge, unless
1392 <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is given, and never attempt to go up locally off the top. In order
1393 to scroll text up, a program will go to the bottom left corner of the
1394 screen and send the <STRONG>ind</STRONG> (index) string.
1396 To scroll text down, a program goes to the top left corner of the
1397 screen and sends the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> (reverse index) string. The strings <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG>
1398 are undefined when not on their respective corners of the screen.
1400 Parameterized versions of the scrolling sequences are <STRONG>indn</STRONG> and <STRONG>rin</STRONG>
1401 which have the same semantics as <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG> except that they take one
1402 parameter, and scroll that many lines. They are also undefined except
1403 at the appropriate edge of the screen.
1405 The <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability tells whether the cursor sticks at the right edge of
1406 the screen when text is output, but this does not necessarily apply to
1407 a <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG> from the last column. The only local motion which is defined
1408 from the left edge is if <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is given, then a <STRONG>cub1</STRONG> from the left edge
1409 will move to the right edge of the previous row. If <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is not given,
1410 the effect is undefined. This is useful for drawing a box around the
1411 edge of the screen, for example. If the terminal has switch selectable
1412 automatic margins, the <EM>terminfo</EM> file usually assumes that this is on;
1413 i.e., <STRONG>am</STRONG>. If the terminal has a command which moves to the first
1414 column of the next line, that command can be given as <STRONG>nel</STRONG> (newline).
1415 It does not matter if the command clears the remainder of the current
1416 line, so if the terminal has no <STRONG>cr</STRONG> and <STRONG>lf</STRONG> it may still be possible to
1417 craft a working <STRONG>nel</STRONG> out of one or both of them.
1419 These capabilities suffice to describe hard-copy and "glass-tty"
1420 terminals. Thus the model 33 teletype is described as
1422 33|tty33|tty|model 33 teletype,
1423 bel=^G, cols#72, cr=^M, cud1=^J, hc, ind=^J, os,
1425 while the Lear Siegler ADM-3 is described as
1428 am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
1432 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Parameterized-Strings">Parameterized Strings</a></H3><PRE>
1433 Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters in the
1434 terminal are described by a parameterized string capability, with
1435 <EM>printf</EM>-like escapes such as <EM>%x</EM> in it. For example, to address the
1436 cursor, the <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is given, using two parameters: the row and
1437 column to address to. (Rows and columns are numbered from zero and
1438 refer to the physical screen visible to the user, not to any unseen
1439 memory.) If the terminal has memory relative cursor addressing, that
1440 can be indicated by <STRONG>mrcup</STRONG>.
1442 The parameter mechanism uses a stack and special <STRONG>%</STRONG> codes to manipulate
1443 it. Typically a sequence will push one of the parameters onto the
1444 stack and then print it in some format. Print (e.g., "%d") is a
1445 special case. Other operations, including "%t" pop their operand from
1446 the stack. It is noted that more complex operations are often
1447 necessary, e.g., in the <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> string.
1449 The <STRONG>%</STRONG> encodings have the following meanings:
1451 <STRONG>%%</STRONG> outputs "%"
1453 <STRONG>%</STRONG><EM>[[</EM>:<EM>]flags][width[.precision]][</EM><STRONG>doxXs</STRONG><EM>]</EM>
1454 as in <STRONG>printf(3)</STRONG>, flags are <EM>[-+#]</EM> and <EM>space</EM>. Use a ":" to allow
1455 the next character to be a "-" flag, avoiding interpreting "%-" as
1458 %c print <EM>pop()</EM> like %c in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
1460 <STRONG>%s</STRONG> print <EM>pop()</EM> like %s in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
1462 <STRONG>%p</STRONG><EM>[1-9]</EM>
1463 push <EM>i</EM>'th parameter
1465 <STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[a-z]</EM>
1466 set dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to <EM>pop()</EM>
1468 <STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[a-z]</EM>
1469 get dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
1471 <STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
1472 set static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to <EM>pop()</EM>
1474 <STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
1475 get static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
1477 The terms "static" and "dynamic" are misleading. Historically,
1478 these are simply two different sets of variables, whose values are
1479 not reset between calls to <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tparm(3x)</A></STRONG>. However, that fact is not
1480 documented in other implementations. Relying on it will adversely
1481 impact portability to other implementations:
1483 <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr2 curses supported <EM>dynamic</EM> variables. Those are set only
1484 by a <STRONG>%P</STRONG> operator. A <STRONG>%g</STRONG> for a given variable without first
1485 setting it with <STRONG>%P</STRONG> will give unpredictable results, because
1486 dynamic variables are an uninitialized local array on the
1487 stack in the <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> function.
1489 <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr3.2 curses supported <EM>static</EM> variables. Those are an array
1490 in the <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> structure (declared in <STRONG>term.h</STRONG>), and are zeroed
1491 automatically when the <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> function allocates the data.
1493 <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr4 curses made no further improvements to the <EM>dynamic/static</EM>
1496 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Solaris XPG4 curses does not distinguish between <EM>dynamic</EM> and
1497 <EM>static</EM> variables. They are the same. Like SVr4 curses, XPG4
1498 curses does not initialize these explicitly.
1500 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Before version 6.3, ncurses stores both <EM>dynamic</EM> and <EM>static</EM>
1501 variables in persistent storage, initialized to zeros.
1503 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Beginning with version 6.3, ncurses stores <EM>static</EM> and <EM>dynamic</EM>
1504 variables in the same manner as SVr4.
1506 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Unlike other implementations, ncurses zeros dynamic
1507 variables before the first <STRONG>%g</STRONG> or <STRONG>%P</STRONG> operator.
1509 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Like SVr2, the scope of dynamic variables in ncurses is
1510 within the current call to <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>. Use static variables if
1511 persistent storage is needed.
1513 <STRONG>%'</STRONG><EM>c</EM><STRONG>'</STRONG> char constant <EM>c</EM>
1515 <STRONG>%{</STRONG><EM>nn</EM><STRONG>}</STRONG>
1516 integer constant <EM>nn</EM>
1518 <STRONG>%l</STRONG> push strlen(pop)
1520 <STRONG>%+</STRONG>, <STRONG>%-</STRONG>, <STRONG>%*</STRONG>, <STRONG>%/</STRONG>, <STRONG>%m</STRONG>
1521 arithmetic (%m is <EM>mod</EM>): <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1523 <STRONG>%&</STRONG>, <STRONG>%|</STRONG>, <STRONG>%^</STRONG>
1524 bit operations (AND, OR and exclusive-OR): <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1526 <STRONG>%=</STRONG>, <STRONG>%></STRONG>, <STRONG>%<</STRONG>
1527 logical operations: <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1529 <STRONG>%A</STRONG>, <STRONG>%O</STRONG>
1530 logical AND and OR operations (for conditionals)
1532 <STRONG>%!</STRONG>, <STRONG>%~</STRONG>
1533 unary operations (logical and bit complement): <EM>push(op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1535 <STRONG>%i</STRONG> add 1 to first two parameters (for ANSI terminals)
1537 <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> <STRONG>%t</STRONG> <EM>thenpart</EM> <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> <STRONG>%;</STRONG>
1538 This forms an if-then-else. The <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> is optional. Usually
1539 the <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> part pushes a value onto the stack, and <STRONG>%t</STRONG> pops it
1540 from the stack, testing if it is nonzero (true). If it is zero
1541 (false), control passes to the <STRONG>%e</STRONG> (else) part.
1543 It is possible to form else-if's a la Algol 68:
1544 <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>
1546 where ci are conditions, bi are bodies.
1548 Use the <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> or <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> to see the structure of if-
1549 then-else's. Some strings, e.g., <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> can be very complicated when
1550 written on one line. The <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option splits the string into lines
1551 with the parts indented.
1553 Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands in the usual
1554 order. That is, to get x-5 one would use "%gx%{5}%-". <STRONG>%P</STRONG> and <STRONG>%g</STRONG>
1555 variables are persistent across escape-string evaluations.
1557 Consider the HP2645, which, to get to row 3 and column 12, needs to be
1558 sent \E&a12c03Y padded for 6 milliseconds. The order of the rows and
1559 columns is inverted here, and the row and column are printed as two
1560 digits. The corresponding terminal description is expressed thus:
1561 cup=\E&a%p2%dc%p1%dY$<6>,
1563 The Microterm ACT-IV needs the current row and column sent preceded by
1564 a <STRONG>^T</STRONG>, with the row and column simply encoded in binary,
1567 Terminals which use "%c" need to be able to backspace the cursor
1568 (<STRONG>cub1</STRONG>), and to move the cursor up one line on the screen (<STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>). This
1569 is necessary because it is not always safe to transmit <STRONG>\n</STRONG> <STRONG>^D</STRONG> and <STRONG>\r</STRONG>, as
1570 the system may change or discard them. (The library routines dealing
1571 with terminfo set tty modes so that tabs are never expanded, so \t is
1572 safe to send. This turns out to be essential for the Ann Arbor 4080.)
1574 A final example is the LSI ADM-3a, which uses row and column offset by
1575 a blank character, thus
1576 cup=\E=%p1%' '%+%c%p2%' '%+%c
1578 After sending "\E=", this pushes the first parameter, pushes the ASCII
1579 value for a space (32), adds them (pushing the sum on the stack in
1580 place of the two previous values) and outputs that value as a
1581 character. Then the same is done for the second parameter. More
1582 complex arithmetic is possible using the stack.
1585 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Cursor-Motions">Cursor Motions</a></H3><PRE>
1586 If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very upper left
1587 corner of screen) then this can be given as <STRONG>home</STRONG>; similarly a fast way
1588 of getting to the lower left-hand corner can be given as <STRONG>ll</STRONG>; this may
1589 involve going up with <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG> from the home position, but a program should
1590 never do this itself (unless <STRONG>ll</STRONG> does) because it can make no assumption
1591 about the effect of moving up from the home position. Note that the
1592 home position is the same as addressing to (0,0): to the top left
1593 corner of the screen, not of memory. (Thus, the \EH sequence on HP
1594 terminals cannot be used for <STRONG>home</STRONG>.)
1596 If the terminal has row or column absolute cursor addressing, these can
1597 be given as single parameter capabilities <STRONG>hpa</STRONG> (horizontal position
1598 absolute) and <STRONG>vpa</STRONG> (vertical position absolute). Sometimes these are
1599 shorter than the more general two parameter sequence (as with the
1600 hp2645) and can be used in preference to <STRONG>cup</STRONG>. If there are
1601 parameterized local motions (e.g., move <EM>n</EM> spaces to the right) these
1602 can be given as <STRONG>cud</STRONG>, <STRONG>cub</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuf</STRONG>, and <STRONG>cuu</STRONG> with a single parameter
1603 indicating how many spaces to move. These are primarily useful if the
1604 terminal does not have <STRONG>cup</STRONG>, such as the TEKTRONIX 4025.
1606 If the terminal needs to be in a special mode when running a program
1607 that uses these capabilities, the codes to enter and exit this mode can
1608 be given as <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>. This arises, for example, from terminals
1609 like the Concept with more than one page of memory. If the terminal
1610 has only memory relative cursor addressing and not screen relative
1611 cursor addressing, a one screen-sized window must be fixed into the
1612 terminal for cursor addressing to work properly. This is also used for
1613 the TEKTRONIX 4025, where <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sets the command character to be the
1614 one used by terminfo. If the <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sequence will not restore the
1615 screen after an <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG> sequence is output (to the state prior to
1616 outputting <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>), specify <STRONG>nrrmc</STRONG>.
1619 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Margins">Margins</a></H3><PRE>
1620 SVr4 (and X/Open Curses) list several string capabilities for setting
1621 margins. Two were intended for use with terminals, and another six
1622 were intended for use with printers.
1624 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The two terminal capabilities assume that the terminal may have the
1625 capability of setting the left and/or right margin at the current
1626 cursor column position.
1628 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The printer capabilities assume that the printer may have two types
1631 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the ability to set a top and/or bottom margin using the current
1634 <STRONG>o</STRONG> parameterized capabilities for setting the top, bottom, left,
1635 right margins given the number of rows or columns.
1637 In practice, the categorization into "terminal" and "printer" is not
1640 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The AT&T SVr4 terminal database uses <STRONG>smgl</STRONG> four times, for AT&T
1643 Three of the four are printers. They lack the ability to set
1644 left/right margins by specifying the column.
1646 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Other (non-AT&T) terminals may support margins but using different
1647 assumptions from AT&T.
1649 For instance, the DEC VT420 supports left/right margins, but only
1650 using a column parameter. As an added complication, the VT420 uses
1651 two settings to fully enable left/right margins (left/right margin
1652 mode, and origin mode). The former enables the margins, which
1653 causes printed text to wrap within margins, but the latter is
1654 needed to prevent cursor-addressing outside those margins.
1656 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Both DEC VT420 left/right margins are set with a single control
1657 sequence. If either is omitted, the corresponding margin is set to
1658 the left or right edge of the display (rather than leaving the
1661 These are the margin-related capabilities:
1663 <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
1664 ------------------------------------------------------
1665 smgl Set left margin at current column
1666 smgr Set right margin at current column
1667 smgb Set bottom margin at current line
1668 smgt Set top margin at current line
1669 smgbp Set bottom margin at line <EM>N</EM>
1670 smglp Set left margin at column <EM>N</EM>
1671 smgrp Set right margin at column <EM>N</EM>
1672 smgtp Set top margin at line <EM>N</EM>
1673 smglr Set both left and right margins to <EM>L</EM> and <EM>R</EM>
1674 smgtb Set both top and bottom margins to <EM>T</EM> and <EM>B</EM>
1676 When writing an application that uses these string capabilities, the
1677 pairs should be first checked to see if each capability in the pair is
1678 set or only one is set:
1680 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If both <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> are set, each is used with a single
1681 argument, <EM>N</EM>, that gives the column number of the left and right
1682 margin, respectively.
1684 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If both <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> are set, each is used to set the top and
1685 bottom margin, respectively:
1687 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> is used with a single argument, <EM>N</EM>, the line number of the
1690 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> is used with two arguments, <EM>N</EM> and <EM>M</EM>, that give the line
1691 number of the bottom margin, the first counting from the top of
1692 the page and the second counting from the bottom. This
1693 accommodates the two styles of specifying the bottom margin in
1694 different manufacturers' printers.
1696 When designing a terminfo entry for a printer that has a settable
1697 bottom margin, only the first or second argument should be used,
1698 depending on the printer. When developing an application that uses
1699 <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> to set the bottom margin, both arguments must be given.
1701 Conversely, when only one capability in the pair is set:
1703 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If only one of <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> is set, then it is used with two
1704 arguments, the column number of the left and right margins, in that
1707 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Likewise, if only one of <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> is set, then it is used
1708 with two arguments that give the top and bottom margins, in that
1709 order, counting from the top of the page.
1711 When designing a terminfo entry for a printer that requires setting
1712 both left and right or top and bottom margins simultaneously, only
1713 one capability in the pairs <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> or <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG>
1714 should be defined, leaving the other unset.
1716 Except for very old terminal descriptions, e.g., those developed for
1717 SVr4, the scheme just described should be considered obsolete. An
1718 improved set of capabilities was added late in the SVr4 releases (<STRONG>smglr</STRONG>
1719 and <STRONG>smgtb</STRONG>), which explicitly use two parameters for setting the
1720 left/right or top/bottom margins.
1722 When setting margins, the line- and column-values are zero-based.
1724 The <STRONG>mgc</STRONG> string capability should be defined. Applications such as
1725 <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG> rely upon this to reset all margins.
1728 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Area-Clears">Area Clears</a></H3><PRE>
1729 If the terminal can clear from the current position to the end of the
1730 line, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be given as <STRONG>el</STRONG>. If
1731 the terminal can clear from the beginning of the line to the current
1732 position inclusive, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be
1733 given as <STRONG>el1</STRONG>. If the terminal can clear from the current position to
1734 the end of the display, then this should be given as <STRONG>ed</STRONG>. <STRONG>Ed</STRONG> is only
1735 defined from the first column of a line. (Thus, it can be simulated by
1736 a request to delete a large number of lines, if a true <STRONG>ed</STRONG> is not
1740 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Insert_delete-line-and-vertical-motions">Insert/delete line and vertical motions</a></H3><PRE>
1741 If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line where the
1742 cursor is, this should be given as <STRONG>il1</STRONG>; this is done only from the
1743 first position of a line. The cursor must then appear on the newly
1744 blank line. If the terminal can delete the line which the cursor is
1745 on, then this should be given as <STRONG>dl1</STRONG>; this is done only from the first
1746 position on the line to be deleted. Versions of <STRONG>il1</STRONG> and <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> which take
1747 a single parameter and insert or delete that many lines can be given as
1748 <STRONG>il</STRONG> and <STRONG>dl</STRONG>.
1750 If the terminal has a settable scrolling region (like the vt100) the
1751 command to set this can be described with the <STRONG>csr</STRONG> capability, which
1752 takes two parameters: the top and bottom lines of the scrolling region.
1753 The cursor position is, alas, undefined after using this command.
1755 It is possible to get the effect of insert or delete line using <STRONG>csr</STRONG> on
1756 a properly chosen region; the <STRONG>sc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (save and restore cursor)
1757 commands may be useful for ensuring that your synthesized insert/delete
1758 string does not move the cursor. (Note that the <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG> library
1759 does this synthesis automatically, so you need not compose
1760 insert/delete strings for an entry with <STRONG>csr</STRONG>).
1762 Yet another way to construct insert and delete might be to use a
1763 combination of index with the memory-lock feature found on some
1764 terminals (like the HP-700/90 series, which however also has
1767 Inserting lines at the top or bottom of the screen can also be done
1768 using <STRONG>ri</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG> on many terminals without a true insert/delete line,
1769 and is often faster even on terminals with those features.
1771 The boolean <STRONG>non_dest_scroll_region</STRONG> should be set if each scrolling
1772 window is effectively a view port on a screen-sized canvas. To test
1773 for this capability, create a scrolling region in the middle of the
1774 screen, write something to the bottom line, move the cursor to the top
1775 of the region, and do <STRONG>ri</STRONG> followed by <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG>. If the data scrolled
1776 off the bottom of the region by the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> re-appears, then scrolling is
1777 non-destructive. System V and XSI Curses expect that <STRONG>ind</STRONG>, <STRONG>ri</STRONG>, <STRONG>indn</STRONG>,
1778 and <STRONG>rin</STRONG> will simulate destructive scrolling; their documentation
1779 cautions you not to define <STRONG>csr</STRONG> unless this is true. This <STRONG>curses</STRONG>
1780 implementation is more liberal and will do explicit erases after
1781 scrolling if <STRONG>ndsrc</STRONG> is defined.
1783 If the terminal has the ability to define a window as part of memory,
1784 which all commands affect, it should be given as the parameterized
1785 string <STRONG>wind</STRONG>. The four parameters are the starting and ending lines in
1786 memory and the starting and ending columns in memory, in that order.
1788 If the terminal can retain display memory above, then the <STRONG>da</STRONG> capability
1789 should be given; if display memory can be retained below, then <STRONG>db</STRONG>
1790 should be given. These indicate that deleting a line or scrolling may
1791 bring non-blank lines up from below or that scrolling back with <STRONG>ri</STRONG> may
1792 bring down non-blank lines.
1795 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Insert_Delete-Character">Insert/Delete Character</a></H3><PRE>
1796 There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with respect to
1797 insert/delete character which can be described using <EM>terminfo.</EM> The
1798 most common insert/delete character operations affect only the
1799 characters on the current line and shift characters off the end of the
1800 line rigidly. Other terminals, such as the Concept 100 and the Perkin
1801 Elmer Owl, make a distinction between typed and untyped blanks on the
1802 screen, shifting upon an insert or delete only to an untyped blank on
1803 the screen which is either eliminated, or expanded to two untyped
1806 You can determine the kind of terminal you have by clearing the screen
1807 and then typing text separated by cursor motions. Type "abc def"
1808 using local cursor motions (not spaces) between the "abc" and the
1809 "def". Then position the cursor before the "abc" and put the terminal
1810 in insert mode. If typing characters causes the rest of the line to
1811 shift rigidly and characters to fall off the end, then your terminal
1812 does not distinguish between blanks and untyped positions. If the
1813 "abc" shifts over to the "def" which then move together around the end
1814 of the current line and onto the next as you insert, you have the
1815 second type of terminal, and should give the capability <STRONG>in</STRONG>, which
1816 stands for "insert null".
1818 While these are two logically separate attributes (one line versus
1819 multi-line insert mode, and special treatment of untyped spaces) we
1820 have seen no terminals whose insert mode cannot be described with the
1823 Terminfo can describe both terminals which have an insert mode, and
1824 terminals which send a simple sequence to open a blank position on the
1825 current line. Give as <STRONG>smir</STRONG> the sequence to get into insert mode. Give
1826 as <STRONG>rmir</STRONG> the sequence to leave insert mode. Now give as <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> any
1827 sequence needed to be sent just before sending the character to be
1828 inserted. Most terminals with a true insert mode will not give <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>;
1829 terminals which send a sequence to open a screen position should give
1832 If your terminal has both, insert mode is usually preferable to <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>.
1833 Technically, you should not give both unless the terminal actually
1834 requires both to be used in combination. Accordingly, some non-curses
1835 applications get confused if both are present; the symptom is doubled
1836 characters in an update using insert. This requirement is now rare;
1837 most <STRONG>ich</STRONG> sequences do not require previous smir, and most smir insert
1838 modes do not require <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> before each character. Therefore, the new
1839 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> actually assumes this is the case and uses either <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> or
1840 <STRONG>ich</STRONG>/<STRONG>ich1</STRONG> as appropriate (but not both). If you have to write an entry
1841 to be used under new curses for a terminal old enough to need both,
1842 include the <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> sequences in <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>.
1844 If post insert padding is needed, give this as a number of milliseconds
1845 in <STRONG>ip</STRONG> (a string option). Any other sequence which may need to be sent
1846 after an insert of a single character may also be given in <STRONG>ip</STRONG>. If your
1847 terminal needs both to be placed into an "insert mode" and a special
1848 code to precede each inserted character, then both <STRONG>smir</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmir</STRONG> and <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>
1849 can be given, and both will be used. The <STRONG>ich</STRONG> capability, with one
1850 parameter, <EM>n</EM>, will repeat the effects of <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> <EM>n</EM> times.
1852 If padding is necessary between characters typed while not in insert
1853 mode, give this as a number of milliseconds padding in <STRONG>rmp</STRONG>.
1855 It is occasionally necessary to move around while in insert mode to
1856 delete characters on the same line (e.g., if there is a tab after the
1857 insertion position). If your terminal allows motion while in insert
1858 mode you can give the capability <STRONG>mir</STRONG> to speed up inserting in this
1859 case. Omitting <STRONG>mir</STRONG> will affect only speed. Some terminals (notably
1860 Datamedia's) must not have <STRONG>mir</STRONG> because of the way their insert mode
1863 Finally, you can specify <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to delete a single character, <STRONG>dch</STRONG> with
1864 one parameter, <EM>n</EM>, to delete <EM>n</EM> <EM>characters,</EM> and delete mode by giving
1865 <STRONG>smdc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmdc</STRONG> to enter and exit delete mode (any mode the terminal
1866 needs to be placed in for <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to work).
1868 A command to erase <EM>n</EM> characters (equivalent to outputting <EM>n</EM> blanks
1869 without moving the cursor) can be given as <STRONG>ech</STRONG> with one parameter.
1872 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Highlighting_-Underlining_-and-Visible-Bells">Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells</a></H3><PRE>
1873 If your terminal has one or more kinds of display attributes, these can
1874 be represented in a number of different ways. You should choose one
1875 display form as <EM>standout</EM> <EM>mode</EM>, representing a good, high contrast,
1876 easy-on-the-eyes, format for highlighting error messages and other
1877 attention getters. (If you have a choice, reverse video plus half-
1878 bright is good, or reverse video alone.) The sequences to enter and
1879 exit standout mode are given as <STRONG>smso</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmso</STRONG>, respectively. If the
1880 code to change into or out of standout mode leaves one or even two
1881 blank spaces on the screen, as the TVI 912 and Teleray 1061 do, then
1882 <STRONG>xmc</STRONG> should be given to tell how many spaces are left.
1884 Codes to begin underlining and end underlining can be given as <STRONG>smul</STRONG> and
1885 <STRONG>rmul</STRONG> respectively. If the terminal has a code to underline the current
1886 character and move the cursor one space to the right, such as the
1887 Microterm Mime, this can be given as <STRONG>uc</STRONG>.
1889 Other capabilities to enter various highlighting modes include <STRONG>blink</STRONG>
1890 (blinking) <STRONG>bold</STRONG> (bold or extra bright) <STRONG>dim</STRONG> (dim or half-bright) <STRONG>invis</STRONG>
1891 (blanking or invisible text) <STRONG>prot</STRONG> (protected) <STRONG>rev</STRONG> (reverse video) <STRONG>sgr0</STRONG>
1892 (turn off <EM>all</EM> attribute modes) <STRONG>smacs</STRONG> (enter alternate character set
1893 mode) and <STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> (exit alternate character set mode). Turning on any of
1894 these modes singly may or may not turn off other modes.
1896 If there is a sequence to set arbitrary combinations of modes, this
1897 should be given as <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> (set attributes), taking 9 parameters. Each
1898 parameter is either zero (0) or nonzero, as the corresponding attribute
1899 is on or off. The 9 parameters are, in order: standout, underline,
1900 reverse, blink, dim, bold, blank, protect, alternate character set.
1901 Not all modes need be supported by <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>, only those for which
1902 corresponding separate attribute commands exist.
1904 For example, the DEC vt220 supports most of the modes:
1906 <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> <STRONG>parameter</STRONG> <STRONG>attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>escape</STRONG> <STRONG>sequence</STRONG>
1909 p1 standout \E[0;1;7m
1910 p2 underline \E[0;4m
1913 p5 dim not available
1917 p9 altcharset ^O (off) ^N (on)
1919 We begin each escape sequence by turning off any existing modes, since
1920 there is no quick way to determine whether they are active. Standout
1921 is set up to be the combination of reverse and bold. The vt220
1922 terminal has a protect mode, though it is not commonly used in sgr
1923 because it protects characters on the screen from the host's erasures.
1924 The altcharset mode also is different in that it is either ^O or ^N,
1925 depending on whether it is off or on. If all modes are turned on, the
1926 resulting sequence is \E[0;1;4;5;7;8m^N.
1928 Some sequences are common to different modes. For example, ;7 is
1929 output when either p1 or p3 is true, that is, if either standout or
1930 reverse modes are turned on.
1932 Writing out the above sequences, along with their dependencies yields
1934 <STRONG>sequence</STRONG> <STRONG>when</STRONG> <STRONG>to</STRONG> <STRONG>output</STRONG> <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> <STRONG>translation</STRONG>
1937 ;1 if p1 or p6 %?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;
1938 ;4 if p2 %?%p2%|%t;4%;
1939 ;5 if p4 %?%p4%|%t;5%;
1940 ;7 if p1 or p3 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;
1941 ;8 if p7 %?%p7%|%t;8%;
1943 ^N or ^O if p9 ^N, else ^O %?%p9%t^N%e^O%;
1945 Putting this all together into the sgr sequence gives:
1947 sgr=\E[0%?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p4%t;5%;
1948 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;%?%p7%t;8%;m%?%p9%t\016%e\017%;,
1950 Remember that if you specify sgr, you must also specify sgr0. Also,
1951 some implementations rely on sgr being given if sgr0 is, Not all
1952 terminfo entries necessarily have an sgr string, however. Many
1953 terminfo entries are derived from termcap entries which have no sgr
1954 string. The only drawback to adding an sgr string is that termcap also
1955 assumes that sgr0 does not exit alternate character set mode.
1957 Terminals with the "magic cookie" glitch (<STRONG>xmc</STRONG>) deposit special
1958 "cookies" when they receive mode-setting sequences, which affect the
1959 display algorithm rather than having extra bits for each character.
1960 Some terminals, such as the HP 2621, automatically leave standout mode
1961 when they move to a new line or the cursor is addressed. Programs
1962 using standout mode should exit standout mode before moving the cursor
1963 or sending a newline, unless the <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> capability, asserting that it is
1964 safe to move in standout mode, is present.
1966 If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indicate an error
1967 quietly (a bell replacement) then this can be given as <STRONG>flash</STRONG>; it must
1968 not move the cursor.
1970 If the cursor needs to be made more visible than normal when it is not
1971 on the bottom line (to make, for example, a non-blinking underline into
1972 an easier to find block or blinking underline) give this sequence as
1973 <STRONG>cvvis</STRONG>. If there is a way to make the cursor completely invisible, give
1974 that as <STRONG>civis</STRONG>. The capability <STRONG>cnorm</STRONG> should be given which undoes the
1975 effects of both of these modes.
1977 If your terminal correctly generates underlined characters (with no
1978 special codes needed) even though it does not overstrike, then you
1979 should give the capability <STRONG>ul</STRONG>. If a character overstriking another
1980 leaves both characters on the screen, specify the capability <STRONG>os</STRONG>. If
1981 overstrikes are erasable with a blank, then this should be indicated by
1982 giving <STRONG>eo</STRONG>.
1985 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Keypad-and-Function-Keys">Keypad and Function Keys</a></H3><PRE>
1986 If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes when the keys are
1987 pressed, this information can be given. Note that it is not possible
1988 to handle terminals where the keypad only works in local (this applies,
1989 for example, to the unshifted HP 2621 keys). If the keypad can be set
1990 to transmit or not transmit, give these codes as <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG>.
1991 Otherwise the keypad is assumed to always transmit.
1993 The codes sent by the left arrow, right arrow, up arrow, down arrow,
1994 and home keys can be given as <STRONG>kcub1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuu1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcud1,</STRONG> and <STRONG>khome</STRONG>
1995 respectively. If there are function keys such as f0, f1, ..., f10, the
1996 codes they send can be given as <STRONG>kf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf10</STRONG>. If these keys
1997 have labels other than the default f0 through f10, the labels can be
1998 given as <STRONG>lf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf10</STRONG>.
2000 The codes transmitted by certain other special keys can be given:
2002 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kll</STRONG> (home down),
2004 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kbs</STRONG> (backspace),
2006 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ktbc</STRONG> (clear all tabs),
2008 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kctab</STRONG> (clear the tab stop in this column),
2010 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kclr</STRONG> (clear screen or erase key),
2012 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdch1</STRONG> (delete character),
2014 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdl1</STRONG> (delete line),
2016 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>krmir</STRONG> (exit insert mode),
2018 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kel</STRONG> (clear to end of line),
2020 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ked</STRONG> (clear to end of screen),
2022 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kich1</STRONG> (insert character or enter insert mode),
2024 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kil1</STRONG> (insert line),
2026 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>knp</STRONG> (next page),
2028 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kpp</STRONG> (previous page),
2030 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kind</STRONG> (scroll forward/down),
2032 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kri</STRONG> (scroll backward/up),
2034 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>khts</STRONG> (set a tab stop in this column).
2036 In addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3 array of keys including the
2037 four arrow keys, the other five keys can be given as <STRONG>ka1</STRONG>, <STRONG>ka3</STRONG>, <STRONG>kb2</STRONG>,
2038 <STRONG>kc1</STRONG>, and <STRONG>kc3</STRONG>. These keys are useful when the effects of a 3 by 3
2039 directional pad are needed.
2041 Strings to program function keys can be given as <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG>, <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG>, and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG>.
2042 A string to program screen labels should be specified as <STRONG>pln</STRONG>. Each of
2043 these strings takes two parameters: the function key number to program
2044 (from 0 to 10) and the string to program it with. Function key numbers
2045 out of this range may program undefined keys in a terminal dependent
2046 manner. The difference between the capabilities is that <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG> causes
2047 pressing the given key to be the same as the user typing the given
2048 string; <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG> causes the string to be executed by the terminal in
2049 local; and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG> causes the string to be transmitted to the computer.
2051 The capabilities <STRONG>nlab</STRONG>, <STRONG>lw</STRONG> and <STRONG>lh</STRONG> define the number of programmable
2052 screen labels and their width and height. If there are commands to
2053 turn the labels on and off, give them in <STRONG>smln</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmln</STRONG>. <STRONG>smln</STRONG> is
2054 normally output after one or more pln sequences to make sure that the
2055 change becomes visible.
2058 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Tabs-and-Initialization">Tabs and Initialization</a></H3><PRE>
2059 A few capabilities are used only for tabs:
2061 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance to the
2062 next tab stop can be given as <STRONG>ht</STRONG> (usually control/I).
2064 <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "back-tab" command which moves leftward to the preceding tab stop
2065 can be given as <STRONG>cbt</STRONG>.
2067 By convention, if the teletype modes indicate that tabs are being
2068 expanded by the computer rather than being sent to the terminal,
2069 programs should not use <STRONG>ht</STRONG> or <STRONG>cbt</STRONG> even if they are present, since
2070 the user may not have the tab stops properly set.
2072 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal has hardware tabs which are initially set every <EM>n</EM>
2073 spaces when the terminal is powered up, the numeric parameter <STRONG>it</STRONG> is
2074 given, showing the number of spaces the tabs are set to.
2076 The <STRONG>it</STRONG> capability is normally used by the <STRONG>tset</STRONG> command to determine
2077 whether to set the mode for hardware tab expansion, and whether to
2078 set the tab stops. If the terminal has tab stops that can be saved
2079 in non-volatile memory, the terminfo description can assume that
2080 they are properly set.
2082 Other capabilities include
2084 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, and <STRONG>is3</STRONG>, initialization strings for the terminal,
2086 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, the path name of a program to be run to initialize the
2089 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>if</STRONG>, the name of a file containing long initialization strings.
2091 These strings are expected to set the terminal into modes consistent
2092 with the rest of the terminfo description. They are normally sent to
2093 the terminal, by the <EM>init</EM> option of the <STRONG>tput</STRONG> program, each time the
2094 user logs in. They will be printed in the following order:
2097 <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>
2100 <STRONG>is1</STRONG> and
2101 <STRONG>is2</STRONG>
2103 set the margins using
2104 <STRONG>mgc</STRONG> or
2105 <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> or
2106 <STRONG>smgl</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgr</STRONG>
2109 <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> and <STRONG>hts</STRONG>
2115 <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
2117 Most initialization is done with <STRONG>is2</STRONG>. Special terminal modes can be
2118 set up without duplicating strings by putting the common sequences in
2119 <STRONG>is2</STRONG> and special cases in <STRONG>is1</STRONG> and <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
2121 A set of sequences that does a harder reset from a totally unknown
2122 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>
2123 and <STRONG>is3</STRONG> respectively. These strings are output by <EM>reset</EM> option of
2124 <STRONG>tput</STRONG>, or by the <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program (an alias of <STRONG>tset</STRONG>), which is used when
2125 the terminal gets into a wedged state. Commands are normally placed in
2126 <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG> <STRONG>rs3</STRONG> and <STRONG>rf</STRONG> only if they produce annoying effects on the screen
2127 and are not necessary when logging in. For example, the command to set
2128 the vt100 into 80-column mode would normally be part of <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, but it
2129 causes an annoying glitch of the screen and is not normally needed
2130 since the terminal is usually already in 80-column mode.
2132 The <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program writes strings including <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, etc., in the same
2133 order as the <EM>init</EM> program, using <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, etc., instead of <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, etc. If
2134 any of <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, or <STRONG>rf</STRONG> reset capability strings are missing, the
2135 <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program falls back upon the corresponding initialization
2138 If there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can be given as
2139 <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (clear all tab stops) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (set a tab stop in the current column
2140 of every row). If a more complex sequence is needed to set the tabs
2141 than can be described by this, the sequence can be placed in <STRONG>is2</STRONG> or <STRONG>if</STRONG>.
2143 The <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>reset</STRONG> command uses the same capability strings as the <STRONG>reset</STRONG>
2144 command, although the two programs (<STRONG>tput</STRONG> and <STRONG>reset</STRONG>) provide different
2145 command-line options.
2147 In practice, these terminfo capabilities are not often used in
2148 initialization of tabs (though they are required for the <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> program):
2150 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Almost all hardware terminals (at least those which supported tabs)
2151 initialized those to every <EM>eight</EM> columns:
2153 The only exception was the AT&T 2300 series, which set tabs to
2154 every <EM>five</EM> columns.
2156 <STRONG>o</STRONG> In particular, developers of the hardware terminals which are
2157 commonly used as models for modern terminal emulators provided
2158 documentation demonstrating that <EM>eight</EM> columns were the standard.
2160 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Because of this, the terminal initialization programs <STRONG>tput</STRONG> and <STRONG>tset</STRONG>
2161 use the <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (<STRONG>clear_all_tabs</STRONG>) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (<STRONG>set_tab</STRONG>) capabilities
2162 directly only when the <STRONG>it</STRONG> (<STRONG>init_tabs</STRONG>) capability is set to a value
2163 other than <EM>eight</EM>.
2166 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Delays-and-Padding">Delays and Padding</a></H3><PRE>
2167 Many older and slower terminals do not support either XON/XOFF or DTR
2168 handshaking, including hard copy terminals and some very archaic CRTs
2169 (including, for example, DEC VT100s). These may require padding
2170 characters after certain cursor motions and screen changes.
2172 If the terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking for flow control (that is, it
2173 automatically emits ^S back to the host when its input buffers are
2174 close to full), set <STRONG>xon</STRONG>. This capability suppresses the emission of
2175 padding. You can also set it for memory-mapped console devices
2176 effectively that do not have a speed limit. Padding information should
2177 still be included so that routines can make better decisions about
2178 relative costs, but actual pad characters will not be transmitted.
2180 If <STRONG>pb</STRONG> (padding baud rate) is given, padding is suppressed at baud rates
2181 below the value of <STRONG>pb</STRONG>. If the entry has no padding baud rate, then
2182 whether padding is emitted or not is completely controlled by <STRONG>xon</STRONG>.
2184 If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
2185 then this can be given as <STRONG>pad</STRONG>. Only the first character of the <STRONG>pad</STRONG>
2189 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Status-Lines">Status Lines</a></H3><PRE>
2190 Some terminals have an extra "status line" which is not normally used
2191 by software (and thus not counted in the terminal's <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability).
2193 The simplest case is a status line which is cursor-addressable but not
2194 part of the main scrolling region on the screen; the Heathkit H19 has a
2195 status line of this kind, as would a 24-line VT100 with a 23-line
2196 scrolling region set up on initialization. This situation is indicated
2197 by the <STRONG>hs</STRONG> capability.
2199 Some terminals with status lines need special sequences to access the
2200 status line. These may be expressed as a string with single parameter
2201 <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> which takes the cursor to a given zero-origin column on the status
2202 line. The capability <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> must return to the main-screen cursor
2203 positions before the last <STRONG>tsl</STRONG>. You may need to embed the string values
2204 of <STRONG>sc</STRONG> (save cursor) and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (restore cursor) in <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> and <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> to
2207 The status line is normally assumed to be the same width as the width
2208 of the terminal. If this is untrue, you can specify it with the
2209 numeric capability <STRONG>wsl</STRONG>.
2211 A command to erase or blank the status line may be specified as <STRONG>dsl</STRONG>.
2213 The boolean capability <STRONG>eslok</STRONG> specifies that escape sequences, tabs,
2214 etc., work ordinarily in the status line.
2216 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation does not yet use any of these capabilities.
2217 They are documented here in case they ever become important.
2220 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Line-Graphics">Line Graphics</a></H3><PRE>
2221 Many terminals have alternate character sets useful for forms-drawing.
2222 Terminfo and <STRONG>curses</STRONG> have built-in support for most of the drawing
2223 characters supported by the VT100, with some characters from the AT&T
2224 4410v1 added. This alternate character set may be specified by the
2225 <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> capability.
2227 <STRONG>Glyph</STRONG> <STRONG>ACS</STRONG> <STRONG>Ascii</STRONG> <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> <STRONG>acsc</STRONG>
2228 <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Default</STRONG> <STRONG>Char</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG>
2229 --------------------------------------------------------------------
2230 arrow pointing right ACS_RARROW > + 0x2b
2231 arrow pointing left ACS_LARROW < , 0x2c
2232 arrow pointing up ACS_UARROW ^ - 0x2d
2233 arrow pointing down ACS_DARROW v . 0x2e
2234 solid square block ACS_BLOCK # 0 0x30
2235 diamond ACS_DIAMOND + ` 0x60
2236 checker board (stipple) ACS_CKBOARD : a 0x61
2237 degree symbol ACS_DEGREE \ f 0x66
2238 plus/minus ACS_PLMINUS # g 0x67
2239 board of squares ACS_BOARD # h 0x68
2240 lantern symbol ACS_LANTERN # i 0x69
2241 lower right corner ACS_LRCORNER + j 0x6a
2242 upper right corner ACS_URCORNER + k 0x6b
2243 upper left corner ACS_ULCORNER + l 0x6c
2245 lower left corner ACS_LLCORNER + m 0x6d
2246 large plus or crossover ACS_PLUS + n 0x6e
2247 scan line 1 ACS_S1 ~ o 0x6f
2248 scan line 3 ACS_S3 - p 0x70
2249 horizontal line ACS_HLINE - q 0x71
2250 scan line 7 ACS_S7 - r 0x72
2251 scan line 9 ACS_S9 _ s 0x73
2252 tee pointing right ACS_LTEE + t 0x74
2253 tee pointing left ACS_RTEE + u 0x75
2254 tee pointing up ACS_BTEE + v 0x76
2255 tee pointing down ACS_TTEE + w 0x77
2256 vertical line ACS_VLINE | x 0x78
2257 less-than-or-equal-to ACS_LEQUAL < y 0x79
2258 greater-than-or-equal-to ACS_GEQUAL > z 0x7a
2259 greek pi ACS_PI * { 0x7b
2260 not-equal ACS_NEQUAL ! | 0x7c
2261 UK pound sign ACS_STERLING f } 0x7d
2262 bullet ACS_BULLET o ~ 0x7e
2264 A few notes apply to the table itself:
2266 <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses incorrectly states that the mapping for <EM>lantern</EM> is
2267 uppercase "I" although Unix implementations use the lowercase "i"
2270 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The DEC VT100 implemented graphics using the alternate character
2271 set feature, temporarily switching <EM>modes</EM> and sending characters in
2272 the range 0x60 (96) to 0x7e (126) (the <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> column in the
2275 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The AT&T terminal added graphics characters outside that range.
2277 Some of the characters within the range do not match the VT100;
2278 presumably they were used in the AT&T terminal: <EM>board</EM> <EM>of</EM> <EM>squares</EM>
2279 replaces the VT100 <EM>newline</EM> symbol, while <EM>lantern</EM> <EM>symbol</EM> replaces
2280 the VT100 <EM>vertical</EM> <EM>tab</EM> symbol. The other VT100 symbols for control
2281 characters (<EM>horizontal</EM> <EM>tab</EM>, <EM>carriage</EM> <EM>return</EM> and <EM>line-feed</EM>) are not
2284 The best way to define a new device's graphics set is to add a column
2285 to a copy of this table for your terminal, giving the character which
2286 (when emitted between <STRONG>smacs</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> switches) will be rendered as the
2287 corresponding graphic. Then read off the VT100/your terminal character
2288 pairs right to left in sequence; these become the ACSC string.
2291 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Color-Handling">Color Handling</a></H3><PRE>
2292 The curses library functions <STRONG>init_pair</STRONG> and <STRONG>init_color</STRONG> manipulate the
2293 <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> and <EM>color</EM> <EM>values</EM> discussed in this section (see
2294 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG> for details on these and related functions).
2296 Most color terminals are either "Tektronix-like" or "HP-like":
2298 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Tektronix-like terminals have a predefined set of <EM>N</EM> colors (where <EM>N</EM>
2299 is usually 8), and can set character-cell foreground and background
2300 characters independently, mixing them into <EM>N</EM> * <EM>N</EM> color-pairs.
2302 <STRONG>o</STRONG> On HP-like terminals, the user must set each color pair up
2303 separately (foreground and background are not independently
2304 settable). Up to <EM>M</EM> color-pairs may be set up from 2*<EM>M</EM> different
2305 colors. ANSI-compatible terminals are Tektronix-like.
2307 Some basic color capabilities are independent of the color method. The
2308 numeric capabilities <STRONG>colors</STRONG> and <STRONG>pairs</STRONG> specify the maximum numbers of
2309 colors and color-pairs that can be displayed simultaneously. The <STRONG>op</STRONG>
2310 (original pair) string resets foreground and background colors to their
2311 default values for the terminal. The <STRONG>oc</STRONG> string resets all colors or
2312 color-pairs to their default values for the terminal. Some terminals
2313 (including many PC terminal emulators) erase screen areas with the
2314 current background color rather than the power-up default background;
2315 these should have the boolean capability <STRONG>bce</STRONG>.
2317 While the curses library works with <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> (reflecting the
2318 inability of some devices to set foreground and background colors
2319 independently), there are separate capabilities for setting these
2322 <STRONG>o</STRONG> To change the current foreground or background color on a
2323 Tektronix-type terminal, use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> (set ANSI foreground) and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>
2324 (set ANSI background) or <STRONG>setf</STRONG> (set foreground) and <STRONG>setb</STRONG> (set
2325 background). These take one parameter, the color number. The SVr4
2326 documentation describes only <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>; the XPG4 draft says that
2327 "If the terminal supports ANSI escape sequences to set background
2328 and foreground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>,
2331 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal supports other escape sequences to set background
2332 and foreground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setb</STRONG>,
2333 respectively. The <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> and the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_refresh.3x.html">refresh(3x)</A></STRONG> functions use the
2334 <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> capabilities if they are defined.
2336 The <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> and <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> capabilities take a single numeric
2337 argument each. Argument values 0-7 of <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> are portably defined
2338 as follows (the middle column is the symbolic #define available in the
2339 header for the <STRONG>curses</STRONG> or <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> libraries). The terminal hardware is
2340 free to map these as it likes, but the RGB values indicate normal
2341 locations in color space.
2343 <STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
2344 black <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> 0 0, 0, 0
2345 red <STRONG>COLOR_RED</STRONG> 1 max,0,0
2346 green <STRONG>COLOR_GREEN</STRONG> 2 0,max,0
2347 yellow <STRONG>COLOR_YELLOW</STRONG> 3 max,max,0
2348 blue <STRONG>COLOR_BLUE</STRONG> 4 0,0,max
2349 magenta <STRONG>COLOR_MAGENTA</STRONG> 5 max,0,max
2350 cyan <STRONG>COLOR_CYAN</STRONG> 6 0,max,max
2351 white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max,max,max
2353 The argument values of <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> historically correspond to a different
2356 <STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
2357 black <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> 0 0, 0, 0
2358 blue <STRONG>COLOR_BLUE</STRONG> 1 0,0,max
2359 green <STRONG>COLOR_GREEN</STRONG> 2 0,max,0
2360 cyan <STRONG>COLOR_CYAN</STRONG> 3 0,max,max
2361 red <STRONG>COLOR_RED</STRONG> 4 max,0,0
2362 magenta <STRONG>COLOR_MAGENTA</STRONG> 5 max,0,max
2363 yellow <STRONG>COLOR_YELLOW</STRONG> 6 max,max,0
2364 white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max,max,max
2366 It is important to not confuse the two sets of color capabilities;
2367 otherwise red/blue will be interchanged on the display.
2369 On an HP-like terminal, use <STRONG>scp</STRONG> with a color-pair number parameter to
2370 set which color pair is current.
2372 Some terminals allow the <EM>color</EM> <EM>values</EM> to be modified:
2374 <STRONG>o</STRONG> On a Tektronix-like terminal, the capability <STRONG>ccc</STRONG> may be present to
2375 indicate that colors can be modified. If so, the <STRONG>initc</STRONG> capability
2376 will take a color number (0 to <STRONG>colors</STRONG> - 1)and three more parameters
2377 which describe the color. These three parameters default to being
2378 interpreted as RGB (Red, Green, Blue) values. If the boolean
2379 capability <STRONG>hls</STRONG> is present, they are instead as HLS (Hue, Lightness,
2380 Saturation) indices. The ranges are terminal-dependent.
2382 <STRONG>o</STRONG> On an HP-like terminal, <STRONG>initp</STRONG> may give a capability for changing a
2383 color-pair value. It will take seven parameters; a color-pair
2384 number (0 to <STRONG>max_pairs</STRONG> - 1), and two triples describing first
2385 background and then foreground colors. These parameters must be
2386 (Red, Green, Blue) or (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) depending on
2387 <STRONG>hls</STRONG>.
2389 On some color terminals, colors collide with highlights. You can
2390 register these collisions with the <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> capability. This is a bit-mask
2391 of attributes not to be used when colors are enabled. The
2392 correspondence with the attributes understood by <STRONG>curses</STRONG> is as follows:
2394 <STRONG>Attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>Bit</STRONG> <STRONG>Decimal</STRONG> <STRONG>Set</STRONG> <STRONG>by</STRONG>
2403 A_ALTCHARSET 8 256 sgr
2404 A_HORIZONTAL 9 512 sgr1
2407 A_RIGHT 12 4096 sgr1
2409 A_VERTICAL 14 16384 sgr1
2410 A_ITALIC 15 32768 sitm
2412 For example, on many IBM PC consoles, the underline attribute collides
2413 with the foreground color blue and is not available in color mode.
2414 These should have an <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> capability of 2.
2416 SVr4 curses does nothing with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>, ncurses recognizes it and optimizes
2417 the output in favor of colors.
2420 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</a></H3><PRE>
2421 If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
2422 then this can be given as pad. Only the first character of the pad
2423 string is used. If the terminal does not have a pad character, specify
2424 npc. Note that ncurses implements the termcap-compatible <STRONG>PC</STRONG> variable;
2425 though the application may set this value to something other than a
2426 null, ncurses will test <STRONG>npc</STRONG> first and use napms if the terminal has no
2429 If the terminal can move up or down half a line, this can be indicated
2430 with <STRONG>hu</STRONG> (half-line up) and <STRONG>hd</STRONG> (half-line down). This is primarily
2431 useful for superscripts and subscripts on hard-copy terminals. If a
2432 hard-copy terminal can eject to the next page (form feed), give this as
2433 <STRONG>ff</STRONG> (usually control/L).
2435 If there is a command to repeat a given character a given number of
2436 times (to save time transmitting a large number of identical
2437 characters) this can be indicated with the parameterized string <STRONG>rep</STRONG>.
2438 The first parameter is the character to be repeated and the second is
2439 the number of times to repeat it. Thus, tparm(repeat_char, 'x', 10) is
2440 the same as "xxxxxxxxxx".
2442 If the terminal has a settable command character, such as the TEKTRONIX
2443 4025, this can be indicated with <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG>. A prototype command character
2444 is chosen which is used in all capabilities. This character is given
2445 in the <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG> capability to identify it. The following convention is
2446 supported on some UNIX systems: The environment is to be searched for a
2447 <STRONG>CC</STRONG> variable, and if found, all occurrences of the prototype character
2448 are replaced with the character in the environment variable.
2450 Terminal descriptions that do not represent a specific kind of known
2451 terminal, such as <EM>switch</EM>, <EM>dialup</EM>, <EM>patch</EM>, and <EM>network</EM>, should include
2452 the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (generic) capability so that programs can complain that they do
2453 not know how to talk to the terminal. (This capability does not apply
2454 to <EM>virtual</EM> terminal descriptions for which the escape sequences are
2457 If the terminal has a "meta key" which acts as a shift key, setting the
2458 8th bit of any character transmitted, this fact can be indicated with
2459 <STRONG>km</STRONG>. Otherwise, software will assume that the 8th bit is parity and it
2460 will usually be cleared. If strings exist to turn this "meta mode" on
2461 and off, they can be given as <STRONG>smm</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmm</STRONG>.
2463 If the terminal has more lines of memory than will fit on the screen at
2464 once, the number of lines of memory can be indicated with <STRONG>lm</STRONG>. A value
2465 of <STRONG>lm</STRONG>#0 indicates that the number of lines is not fixed, but that there
2466 is still more memory than fits on the screen.
2468 If the terminal is one of those supported by the UNIX virtual terminal
2469 protocol, the terminal number can be given as <STRONG>vt</STRONG>.
2471 Media copy strings which control an auxiliary printer connected to the
2472 terminal can be given as <STRONG>mc0</STRONG>: print the contents of the screen, <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>:
2473 turn off the printer, and <STRONG>mc5</STRONG>: turn on the printer. When the printer
2474 is on, all text sent to the terminal will be sent to the printer. It
2475 is undefined whether the text is also displayed on the terminal screen
2476 when the printer is on. A variation <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> takes one parameter, and
2477 leaves the printer on for as many characters as the value of the
2478 parameter, then turns the printer off. The parameter should not exceed
2479 255. All text, including <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>, is transparently passed to the printer
2480 while an <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> is in effect.
2483 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Glitches-and-Braindamage">Glitches and Braindamage</a></H3><PRE>
2484 Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow "~" characters to be displayed
2485 should indicate <STRONG>hz</STRONG>.
2487 Terminals which ignore a line-feed immediately after an <STRONG>am</STRONG> wrap, such
2488 as the Concept and vt100, should indicate <STRONG>xenl</STRONG>.
2490 If <STRONG>el</STRONG> is required to get rid of standout (instead of merely writing
2491 normal text on top of it), <STRONG>xhp</STRONG> should be given.
2493 Teleray terminals, where tabs turn all characters moved over to blanks,
2494 should indicate <STRONG>xt</STRONG> (destructive tabs). Note: the variable indicating
2495 this is now "dest_tabs_magic_smso"; in older versions, it was
2496 teleray_glitch. This glitch is also taken to mean that it is not
2497 possible to position the cursor on top of a "magic cookie", that to
2498 erase standout mode it is instead necessary to use delete and insert
2499 line. The ncurses implementation ignores this glitch.
2501 The Beehive Superbee, which is unable to correctly transmit the escape
2502 or control/C characters, has <STRONG>xsb</STRONG>, indicating that the f1 key is used
2503 for escape and f2 for control/C. (Only certain Superbees have this
2504 problem, depending on the ROM.) Note that in older terminfo versions,
2505 this capability was called "beehive_glitch"; it is now "no_esc_ctl_c".
2507 Other specific terminal problems may be corrected by adding more
2508 capabilities of the form <STRONG>x</STRONG><EM>x</EM>.
2511 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Pitfalls-of-Long-Entries">Pitfalls of Long Entries</a></H3><PRE>
2512 Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to date, no entry
2513 has even approached terminfo's 4096-byte string-table maximum.
2514 Unfortunately, the termcap translations are much more strictly limited
2515 (to 1023 bytes), thus termcap translations of long terminfo entries can
2518 The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions of <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> instruct the
2519 user to allocate a 1024-byte buffer for the termcap entry. The entry
2520 gets null-terminated by the termcap library, so that makes the maximum
2521 safe length for a termcap entry 1k-1 (1023) bytes. Depending on what
2522 the application and the termcap library being used does, and where in
2523 the termcap file the terminal type that <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> is searching for is,
2524 several bad things can happen:
2526 <STRONG>o</STRONG> some termcap libraries print a warning message,
2528 <STRONG>o</STRONG> some exit if they find an entry that's longer than 1023 bytes,
2530 <STRONG>o</STRONG> some neither exit nor warn, doing nothing useful, and
2532 <STRONG>o</STRONG> some simply truncate the entries to 1023 bytes.
2534 Some application programs allocate more than the recommended 1K for the
2535 termcap entry; others do not.
2537 Each termcap entry has two important sizes associated with it: before
2538 "tc" expansion, and after "tc" expansion. "tc" is the capability that
2539 tacks on another termcap entry to the end of the current one, to add on
2540 its capabilities. If a termcap entry does not use the "tc" capability,
2541 then of course the two lengths are the same.
2543 The "before tc expansion" length is the most important one, because it
2544 affects more than just users of that particular terminal. This is the
2545 length of the entry as it exists in /etc/termcap, minus the backslash-
2546 newline pairs, which <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> strips out while reading it. Some termcap
2547 libraries strip off the final newline, too (GNU termcap does not). Now
2550 <STRONG>o</STRONG> a termcap entry before expansion is more than 1023 bytes long,
2552 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the application has only allocated a 1k buffer,
2554 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the termcap library (like the one in BSD/OS 1.1 and GNU) reads
2555 the whole entry into the buffer, no matter what its length, to see
2556 if it is the entry it wants,
2558 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> is searching for a terminal type that either is the
2559 long entry, appears in the termcap file after the long entry, or
2560 does not appear in the file at all (so that <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> has to search
2561 the whole termcap file).
2563 Then <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> will overwrite memory, perhaps its stack, and probably
2564 core dump the program. Programs like telnet are particularly
2565 vulnerable; modern telnets pass along values like the terminal type
2566 automatically. The results are almost as undesirable with a termcap
2567 library, like SunOS 4.1.3 and Ultrix 4.4, that prints warning messages
2568 when it reads an overly long termcap entry. If a termcap library
2569 truncates long entries, like OSF/1 3.0, it is immune to dying here but
2570 will return incorrect data for the terminal.
2572 The "after tc expansion" length will have a similar effect to the
2573 above, but only for people who actually set TERM to that terminal type,
2574 since <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> only does "tc" expansion once it is found the terminal
2575 type it was looking for, not while searching.
2577 In summary, a termcap entry that is longer than 1023 bytes can cause,
2578 on various combinations of termcap libraries and applications, a core
2579 dump, warnings, or incorrect operation. If it is too long even before
2580 "tc" expansion, it will have this effect even for users of some other
2581 terminal types and users whose TERM variable does not have a termcap
2584 When in -C (translate to termcap) mode, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation of
2585 <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG> issues warning messages when the pre-tc length of a termcap
2586 translation is too long. The -c (check) option also checks resolved
2587 (after tc expansion) lengths.
2590 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Binary-Compatibility">Binary Compatibility</a></H3><PRE>
2591 It is not wise to count on portability of binary terminfo entries
2592 between commercial UNIX versions. The problem is that there are at
2593 least two versions of terminfo (under HP-UX and AIX) which diverged
2594 from System V terminfo after SVr1, and have added extension
2595 capabilities to the string table that (in the binary format) collide
2596 with System V and XSI Curses extensions.
2599 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></H2><PRE>
2600 Searching for terminal descriptions in <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> and
2601 TERMINFO_DIRS is not supported by older implementations.
2603 Some SVr4 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> implementations, and all previous to SVr4, do not
2604 interpret the %A and %O operators in parameter strings.
2606 SVr4/XPG4 do not specify whether <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> licenses movement while in an
2607 alternate-character-set mode (such modes may, among other things, map
2608 CR and NL to characters that do not trigger local motions). The
2609 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation ignores <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> in <STRONG>ALTCHARSET</STRONG> mode. This raises
2610 the possibility that an XPG4 implementation making the opposite
2611 interpretation may need terminfo entries made for <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> to have <STRONG>msgr</STRONG>
2614 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library handles insert-character and insert-character modes
2615 in a slightly non-standard way to get better update efficiency. See
2616 the <STRONG>Insert/Delete</STRONG> <STRONG>Character</STRONG> subsection above.
2618 The parameter substitutions for <STRONG>set_clock</STRONG> and <STRONG>display_clock</STRONG> are not
2619 documented in SVr4 or the XSI Curses standard. They are deduced from
2620 the documentation for the AT&T 505 terminal.
2622 Be careful assigning the <STRONG>kmous</STRONG> capability. The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library wants
2623 to interpret it as <STRONG>KEY_MOUSE</STRONG>, for use by terminals and emulators like
2624 xterm that can return mouse-tracking information in the keyboard-input
2627 X/Open Curses does not mention italics. Portable applications must
2628 assume that numeric capabilities are signed 16-bit values. This
2629 includes the <EM>no</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>color</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>video</EM> (<STRONG>ncv</STRONG>) capability. The 32768 mask value
2630 used for italics with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> can be confused with an absent or cancelled
2631 <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>. If italics should work with colors, then the <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> value must be
2632 specified, even if it is zero.
2634 Different commercial ports of terminfo and curses support different
2635 subsets of the XSI Curses standard and (in some cases) different
2636 extension sets. Here is a summary, accurate as of October 1995:
2638 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SVR4,</STRONG> <STRONG>Solaris,</STRONG> <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> -- These support all SVr4 capabilities.
2640 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SGI</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr4 set, adds one undocumented extended string
2641 capability (<STRONG>set_pglen</STRONG>).
2643 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SVr1,</STRONG> <STRONG>Ultrix</STRONG> -- These support a restricted subset of terminfo
2644 capabilities. The booleans end with <STRONG>xon_xoff</STRONG>; the numerics with
2645 <STRONG>width_status_line</STRONG>; and the strings with <STRONG>prtr_non</STRONG>.
2647 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>HP/UX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus the SVr[234] numerics
2648 <STRONG>num_labels</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_height</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_width</STRONG>, plus function keys 11
2649 through 63, plus <STRONG>plab_norm</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_on</STRONG>, and <STRONG>label_off</STRONG>, plus some
2650 incompatible extensions in the string table.
2652 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>AIX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11 through 63,
2653 plus a number of incompatible string table extensions.
2655 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>OSF</STRONG> -- Supports both the SVr4 set and the AIX extensions.
2658 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-FILES">FILES</a></H2><PRE>
2659 /usr/share/terminfo/?/* files containing terminal descriptions
2662 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
2663 <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>,
2664 <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>.
2665 <STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG>.
2668 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></H2><PRE>
2669 Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey. Based on <EM>pcurses</EM>
2674 ncurses 6.4 2023-07-01 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
2678 <li><a href="#h2-NAME">NAME</a></li>
2679 <li><a href="#h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li>
2680 <li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a>
2682 <li><a href="#h3-Terminfo-Entry-Syntax">Terminfo Entry Syntax</a></li>
2683 <li><a href="#h3-Terminfo-Capabilities-Syntax">Terminfo Capabilities Syntax</a></li>
2684 <li><a href="#h3-Similar-Terminals">Similar Terminals</a></li>
2685 <li><a href="#h3-Predefined-Capabilities">Predefined Capabilities</a></li>
2686 <li><a href="#h3-User-Defined-Capabilities">User-Defined Capabilities</a></li>
2687 <li><a href="#h3-A-Sample-Entry">A Sample Entry</a></li>
2688 <li><a href="#h3-Types-of-Capabilities">Types of Capabilities</a></li>
2689 <li><a href="#h3-Fetching-Compiled-Descriptions">Fetching Compiled Descriptions</a></li>
2690 <li><a href="#h3-Preparing-Descriptions">Preparing Descriptions</a></li>
2691 <li><a href="#h3-Basic-Capabilities">Basic Capabilities</a></li>
2692 <li><a href="#h3-Parameterized-Strings">Parameterized Strings</a></li>
2693 <li><a href="#h3-Cursor-Motions">Cursor Motions</a></li>
2694 <li><a href="#h3-Margins">Margins</a></li>
2695 <li><a href="#h3-Area-Clears">Area Clears</a></li>
2696 <li><a href="#h3-Insert_delete-line-and-vertical-motions">Insert/delete line and vertical motions</a></li>
2697 <li><a href="#h3-Insert_Delete-Character">Insert/Delete Character</a></li>
2698 <li><a href="#h3-Highlighting_-Underlining_-and-Visible-Bells">Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells</a></li>
2699 <li><a href="#h3-Keypad-and-Function-Keys">Keypad and Function Keys</a></li>
2700 <li><a href="#h3-Tabs-and-Initialization">Tabs and Initialization</a></li>
2701 <li><a href="#h3-Delays-and-Padding">Delays and Padding</a></li>
2702 <li><a href="#h3-Status-Lines">Status Lines</a></li>
2703 <li><a href="#h3-Line-Graphics">Line Graphics</a></li>
2704 <li><a href="#h3-Color-Handling">Color Handling</a></li>
2705 <li><a href="#h3-Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</a></li>
2706 <li><a href="#h3-Glitches-and-Braindamage">Glitches and Braindamage</a></li>
2707 <li><a href="#h3-Pitfalls-of-Long-Entries">Pitfalls of Long Entries</a></li>
2708 <li><a href="#h3-Binary-Compatibility">Binary Compatibility</a></li>
2711 <li><a href="#h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></li>
2712 <li><a href="#h2-FILES">FILES</a></li>
2713 <li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
2714 <li><a href="#h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></li>
projects / ncurses.git / blob