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+<TITLE>curs_getch 3x</TITLE>
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+<H1>curs_getch 3x</H1>
+<HR>
<PRE>
<!-- Manpage converted by man2html 3.0.1 -->
</PRE>
<H2>NAME</H2><PRE>
- <B>getch</B>, <B>wgetch</B>, <B>mvgetch</B>, <B>mvwgetch</B>, <B>ungetch</B>, <B>has_key</B> - get
- (or push back) characters from <B>curses</B> terminal keyboard
+ <STRONG>getch</STRONG>, <STRONG>wgetch</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetch</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvwgetch</STRONG>, <STRONG>ungetch</STRONG>, <STRONG>has_key</STRONG> - get
+ (or push back) characters from <STRONG>curses</STRONG> terminal keyboard
</PRE>
<H2>SYNOPSIS</H2><PRE>
- <B>#include</B> <B><curses.h></B>
+ <STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>
- <B>int</B> <B>getch(void);</B>
- <B>int</B> <B>wgetch(WINDOW</B> <B>*win);</B>
- <B>int</B> <B>mvgetch(int</B> <B>y,</B> <B>int</B> <B>x);</B>
- <B>int</B> <B>mvwgetch(WINDOW</B> <B>*win,</B> <B>int</B> <B>y,</B> <B>int</B> <B>x);</B>
- <B>int</B> <B>ungetch(int</B> <B>ch);</B>
- <B>int</B> <B>has_key(int</B> <B>ch);</B>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>getch(void);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>wgetch(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*win);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvgetch(int</STRONG> <STRONG>y,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>x);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvwgetch(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*win,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>y,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>x);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>ungetch(int</STRONG> <STRONG>ch);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>has_key(int</STRONG> <STRONG>ch);</STRONG>
</PRE>
<H2>DESCRIPTION</H2><PRE>
- The <B>getch</B>, <B>wgetch</B>, <B>mvgetch</B> and <B>mvwgetch</B>, routines read a
+ The <STRONG>getch</STRONG>, <STRONG>wgetch</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetch</STRONG> and <STRONG>mvwgetch</STRONG>, routines read a
character from the window. In no-delay mode, if no input
- is waiting, the value <B>ERR</B> is returned. In delay mode, the
+ is waiting, the value <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> is returned. In delay mode, the
program waits until the system passes text through to the
- program. Depending on the setting of <B>cbreak</B>, this is
+ program. Depending on the setting of <STRONG>cbreak</STRONG>, this is
after one character (cbreak mode), or after the first new-
line (nocbreak mode). In half-delay mode, the program
waits until a character is typed or the specified timeout
has been reached.
- Unless <B>noecho</B> has been set, then the character will also
+ Unless <STRONG>noecho</STRONG> has been set, then the character will also
be echoed into the designated window according to the fol-
lowing rules: If the character is the current erase char-
acter, left arrow, or backspace, the cursor is moved one
space to the left and that screen position is erased as if
- <B>delch</B> had been called. If the character value is any
- other <B>KEY_</B> define, the user is alerted with a <B>beep</B> call.
+ <STRONG>delch</STRONG> had been called. If the character value is any
+ other <STRONG>KEY_</STRONG> define, the user is alerted with a <STRONG>beep</STRONG> call.
Otherwise the character is simply output to the screen.
If the window is not a pad, and it has been moved or modi-
- fied since the last call to <B>wrefresh</B>, <B>wrefresh</B> will be
+ fied since the last call to <STRONG>wrefresh</STRONG>, <STRONG>wrefresh</STRONG> will be
called before another character is read.
- If <B>keypad</B> is <B>TRUE</B>, and a function key is pressed, the
+ If <STRONG>keypad</STRONG> is <STRONG>TRUE</STRONG>, and a function key is pressed, the
token for that function key is returned instead of the raw
characters. Possible function keys are defined in
- <B><curses.h></B> as macros with values outside the range of
- 8-bit characters whose names begin with <B>KEY_.</B> Thus, a
+ <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG> as macros with values outside the range of
+ 8-bit characters whose names begin with <STRONG>KEY_.</STRONG> Thus, a
variable intended to hold the return value of a function
key must be of short size or larger.
When a character that could be the beginning of a function
key is received (which, on modern terminals, means an
- escape character), <B>curses</B> sets a timer. If the remainder
+ escape character), <STRONG>curses</STRONG> sets a timer. If the remainder
of the sequence does not come in within the designated
time, the character is passed through; otherwise, the
function key value is returned. For this reason, many
presses the escape key and the escape is returned to the
program.
- The <B>ungetch</B> routine places <I>ch</I> back onto the input queue to
- be returned by the next call to <B>wgetch</B>. Note that there
- is, in effect, just one input queue for all windows.
+ The <STRONG>ungetch</STRONG> routine places <EM>ch</EM> back onto the input queue to
+ be returned by the next call to <STRONG>wgetch</STRONG>. There is just one
+ input queue for all windows.
- <B>Function</B> <B>Keys</B>
- The following function keys, defined in <B><curses.h></B>, might
- be returned by <B>getch</B> if <B>keypad</B> has been enabled. Note
+ <STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Keys</STRONG>
+ The following function keys, defined in <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>, might
+ be returned by <STRONG>getch</STRONG> if <STRONG>keypad</STRONG> has been enabled. Note
that not all of these are necessarily supported on any
particular terminal.
- <I>Name</I> <I>Key</I> <I>name</I>
+ <EM>Name</EM> <EM>Key</EM> <EM>name</EM>
KEY_BREAK Break key
KEY_DOWN The four arrow keys ...
KEY_BACKSPACE Backspace
KEY_F0 Function keys; space for 64 keys
is reserved.
- KEY_F(<I>n</I>) For 0 <= <I>n</I> <= 63
+ KEY_F(<EM>n</EM>) For 0 <= <EM>n</EM> <= 63
KEY_DL Delete line
KEY_IL Insert line
KEY_DC Delete character
Keypad is arranged like this:
+-----+------+-------+
- | <B>A1</B> | <B>up</B> | <B>A3</B> |
+ | <STRONG>A1</STRONG> | <STRONG>up</STRONG> | <STRONG>A3</STRONG> |
+-----+------+-------+
- |<B>left</B> | <B>B2</B> | <B>right</B> |
+ |<STRONG>left</STRONG> | <STRONG>B2</STRONG> | <STRONG>right</STRONG> |
+-----+------+-------+
- | <B>C1</B> | <B>down</B> | <B>C3</B> |
+ | <STRONG>C1</STRONG> | <STRONG>down</STRONG> | <STRONG>C3</STRONG> |
+-----+------+-------+
- The <B>has_key</B> routine takes a key value from the above list,
- and returns TRUE or FALSE according as the current termi-
- nal type recognizes a key with that value.
+ The <STRONG>has_key</STRONG> routine takes a key value from the above list,
+ and returns TRUE or FALSE according to whether the current
+ terminal type recognizes a key with that value.
</PRE>
<H2>RETURN VALUE</H2><PRE>
- All routines return the integer <B>ERR</B> upon failure and an
- integer value other than <B>ERR</B> (<B>OK</B> in the case of ungetch())
+ All routines return the integer <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon failure and an
+ integer value other than <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> (<STRONG>OK</STRONG> in the case of ungetch())
upon successful completion.
up to one second while the keypad code looks for a follow-
ing function-key sequence.
- When using <B>getch</B>, <B>wgetch</B>, <B>mvgetch</B>, or <B>mvwgetch</B>, nocbreak
- mode (<B>nocbreak</B>) and echo mode (<B>echo</B>) should not be used at
- the same time. Depending on the state of the tty driver
- when each character is typed, the program may produce
+ Note that some keys may be the same as commonly used con-
+ trol keys, e.g., KEY_ENTER versus control/M, KEY_BACKSPACE
+ versus control/H. Some curses implementations may differ
+ according to whether they treat these control keys spe-
+ cially (and ignore the terminfo), or use the terminfo def-
+ initions. <STRONG>Ncurses</STRONG> uses the terminfo definition. If it
+ says that KEY_ENTER is control/M, <STRONG>getch</STRONG>, will return
+ KEY_ENTER when you press control/M.
+
+ When using <STRONG>getch</STRONG>, <STRONG>wgetch</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetch</STRONG>, or <STRONG>mvwgetch</STRONG>, nocbreak
+ mode (<STRONG>nocbreak</STRONG>) and echo mode (<STRONG>echo</STRONG>) should not be used at
+ the same time. Depending on the state of the tty driver
+ when each character is typed, the program may produce
undesirable results.
- Note that <B>getch</B>, <B>mvgetch</B>, and <B>mvwgetch</B> may be macros.
+ Note that <STRONG>getch</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetch</STRONG>, and <STRONG>mvwgetch</STRONG> may be macros.
Historically, the set of keypad macros was largely defined
- by the extremely function-key-rich keyboard of the AT&T
- 7300, aka 3B1, aka Safari 4. Modern personal computers
- usually have only a small subset of these. IBM PC-style
- consoles typically support little more than <B>KEY_UP</B>,
- <B>KEY_DOWN</B>, <B>KEY_LEFT</B>, <B>KEY_RIGHT</B>, <B>KEY_HOME</B>, <B>KEY_END</B>,
- <B>KEY_NPAGE</B>, <B>KEY_PPAGE</B>, and function keys 1 through 12. The
- Ins key is usually mapped to <B>KEY_IC</B>.
+ by the extremely function-key-rich keyboard of the AT&T
+ 7300, aka 3B1, aka Safari 4. Modern personal computers
+ usually have only a small subset of these. IBM PC-style
+ consoles typically support little more than <STRONG>KEY_UP</STRONG>,
+ <STRONG>KEY_DOWN</STRONG>, <STRONG>KEY_LEFT</STRONG>, <STRONG>KEY_RIGHT</STRONG>, <STRONG>KEY_HOME</STRONG>, <STRONG>KEY_END</STRONG>,
+ <STRONG>KEY_NPAGE</STRONG>, <STRONG>KEY_PPAGE</STRONG>, and function keys 1 through 12. The
+ Ins key is usually mapped to <STRONG>KEY_IC</STRONG>.
</PRE>
<H2>PORTABILITY</H2><PRE>
- The *get* functions are described in the XSI Curses stan-
- dard, Issue 4. They read single-byte characters only.
- The standard specifies that they return <B>ERR</B> on failure,
+ The *get* functions are described in the XSI Curses stan-
+ dard, Issue 4. They read single-byte characters only.
+ The standard specifies that they return <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> on failure,
but specifies no error conditions.
- The echo behavior of these functions on input of <B>KEY_</B> or
- backspace characters was not specified in the SVr4 docu-
- mentation. This description is adopted from the XSI
+ The echo behavior of these functions on input of <STRONG>KEY_</STRONG> or
+ backspace characters was not specified in the SVr4 docu-
+ mentation. This description is adopted from the XSI
Curses standard.
- The behavior of <B>getch</B> and friends in the presence of han-
- dled signals is unspecified in the SVr4 and XSI Curses
- documentation. Under historical curses implementations,
- it varied depending on whether the operating system's
- implementation of handled signal receipt interrupts a
- <B><A HREF="read.2.html">read(2)</A></B> call in progress or not, and also (in some imple-
- mentations) depending on whether an input timeout or non-
+ The behavior of <STRONG>getch</STRONG> and friends in the presence of han-
+ dled signals is unspecified in the SVr4 and XSI Curses
+ documentation. Under historical curses implementations,
+ it varied depending on whether the operating system's
+ implementation of handled signal receipt interrupts a
+ <STRONG><A HREF="read.2.html">read(2)</A></STRONG> call in progress or not, and also (in some imple-
+ mentations) depending on whether an input timeout or non-
blocking mode hsd been set.
Programmers concerned about portability should be prepared
- for either of two cases: (a) signal receipt does not
- interrupt <B>getch</B>; (b) signal receipt interrupts <B>getch</B> and
- causes it to return ERR with <B>errno</B> set to <B>EINTR</B>. Under
- the <B>ncurses</B> implementation, handled signals never inter-
- rupt <B>getch</B>.
+ for either of two cases: (a) signal receipt does not
+ interrupt <STRONG>getch</STRONG>; (b) signal receipt interrupts <STRONG>getch</STRONG> and
+ causes it to return ERR with <STRONG>errno</STRONG> set to <STRONG>EINTR</STRONG>. Under
+ the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation, handled signals never inter-
+ rupt <STRONG>getch</STRONG>.
- The <B>has_key</B> function is unique to <B>ncurses</B>. We recommend
- that any code using it be conditionalized on the
- <B>NCURSES_VERSION</B> feature macro.
+ The <STRONG>has_key</STRONG> function is unique to <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>. We recommend
+ that any code using it be conditionalized on the
+ <STRONG>NCURSES_VERSION</STRONG> feature macro.
</PRE>
<H2>SEE ALSO</H2><PRE>
- <B><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></B>, <B><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></B>, <B><A HREF="curs_mouse.3x.html">curs_mouse(3x)</A></B>,
- <B><A HREF="curs_move.3x.html">curs_move(3x)</A></B>, <B><A HREF="curs_refresh.3x.html">curs_refresh(3x)</A></B>. <B><A HREF="resizeterm.3x.html">resizeterm(3x)</A></B>.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
+ <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_mouse.3x.html">curs_mouse(3x)</A></STRONG>,
+ <STRONG><A HREF="curs_move.3x.html">curs_move(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_refresh.3x.html">curs_refresh(3x)</A></STRONG>. <STRONG><A HREF="resizeterm.3x.html">resizeterm(3x)</A></STRONG>.