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- * @Id: curs_terminfo.3x,v 1.95 2023/08/19 20:37:54 tom Exp @
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-<H1 class="no-header">curs_terminfo 3x 2023-08-19 ncurses 6.4 Library calls</H1>
+<H1 class="no-header">curs_terminfo 3x 2023-09-16 ncurses 6.4 Library calls</H1>
<PRE>
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG> Library calls <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
- <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, <STRONG>putp</STRONG>, <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>,
- <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiparm_s</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiscan_s</STRONG>, <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>,
- <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>, <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG>, <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> - <STRONG>curses</STRONG> interfaces to
- terminfo database
+ <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, <STRONG>putp</STRONG>, <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>,
+ <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiparm_s</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiscan_s</STRONG>, <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>,
+ <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>, <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG>, <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> - <EM>curses</EM> interfaces to
+ <EM>terminfo</EM> database
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
These low-level routines must be called by programs that have to deal
- directly with the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database to handle certain terminal capabil-
- ities, such as programming function keys. For all other functionality,
- <STRONG>curses</STRONG> routines are more suitable and their use is recommended.
+ directly with the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database to handle certain terminal
+ capabilities, such as programming function keys. For all other
+ functionality, <STRONG>curses</STRONG> routines are more suitable and their use is
+ recommended.
- None of these functions use (or are aware of) multibyte character
+ None of these functions use (or are aware of) multibyte character
strings such as UTF-8:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> capability names use the POSIX portable character set
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> capability string values have no associated encoding; they are
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> capability string values have no associated encoding; they are
strings of 8-bit characters.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Initialization">Initialization</a></H3><PRE>
Initially, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> should be called. The high-level curses functions
- <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> and <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> call <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> to initialize the low-level set of
+ <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> and <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> call <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> to initialize the low-level set of
terminal-dependent variables [listed in <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>].
- Applications can use the terminal capabilities either directly (via
- header definitions), or by special functions. The header files <STRONG>curs-</STRONG>
- <STRONG>es.h</STRONG> and <STRONG>term.h</STRONG> should be included (in this order) to get the defini-
- tions for these strings, numbers, and flags.
+ Applications can use the terminal capabilities either directly (via
+ header definitions), or by special functions. The header files
+ <STRONG>curses.h</STRONG> and <STRONG>term.h</STRONG> should be included (in this order) to get the
+ definitions for these strings, numbers, and flags.
- The <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> variables <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG> are initialized by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
+ The <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> variables <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG> are initialized by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
as follows:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> If <STRONG>use_env(FALSE)</STRONG> has been called, values for <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If <STRONG>use_env(FALSE)</STRONG> has been called, values for <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG>
specified in <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> are used.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Otherwise, if the environment variables <STRONG>LINES</STRONG> and <STRONG>COLUMNS</STRONG> exist,
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Otherwise, if the environment variables <STRONG>LINES</STRONG> and <STRONG>COLUMNS</STRONG> exist,
their values are used. If these environment variables do not exist
- and the program is running in a window, the current window size is
- used. Otherwise, if the environment variables do not exist, the
+ and the program is running in a window, the current window size is
+ used. Otherwise, if the environment variables do not exist, the
values for <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG> specified in the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database are
used.
- Parameterized strings should be passed through <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> to instantiate
- them. All <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> strings (including the output of <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>) should be
- printed with <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> or <STRONG>putp</STRONG>. Call <STRONG>reset_shell_mode</STRONG> to restore the tty
+ Parameterized strings should be passed through <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> to instantiate
+ them. All <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> strings (including the output of <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>) should be
+ printed with <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> or <STRONG>putp</STRONG>. Call <STRONG>reset_shell_mode</STRONG> to restore the tty
modes before exiting [see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_kernel.3x.html">curs_kernel(3x)</A></STRONG>].
Programs which use cursor addressing should
Programs which execute shell subprocesses should
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> call <STRONG>reset_shell_mode</STRONG> and output <STRONG>exit_ca_mode</STRONG> before the shell is
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> call <STRONG>reset_shell_mode</STRONG> and output <STRONG>exit_ca_mode</STRONG> before the shell is
called and
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> output <STRONG>enter_ca_mode</STRONG> and call <STRONG>reset_prog_mode</STRONG> after returning from
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> output <STRONG>enter_ca_mode</STRONG> and call <STRONG>reset_prog_mode</STRONG> after returning from
the shell.
- The <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> routine reads in the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database, initializing the
- <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> structures, but does not set up the output virtualization
+ The <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> routine reads in the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database, initializing the
+ <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> structures, but does not set up the output virtualization
structures used by <STRONG>curses</STRONG>. These are its parameters:
<EM>term</EM> is the terminal type, a character string. If <EM>term</EM> is null, the
environment variable <STRONG>TERM</STRONG> is used.
<EM>filedes</EM>
- is the file descriptor used for getting and setting terminal
+ is the file descriptor used for getting and setting terminal
I/O modes.
- Higher-level applications use <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">newterm(3x)</A></STRONG> for initializing the
- terminal, passing an output <EM>stream</EM> rather than a <EM>descriptor</EM>.
- In curses, the two are the same because <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> calls <STRONG>se-</STRONG>
- <STRONG>tupterm</STRONG>, passing the file descriptor derived from its output
+ Higher-level applications use <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">newterm(3x)</A></STRONG> for initializing the
+ terminal, passing an output <EM>stream</EM> rather than a <EM>descriptor</EM>.
+ In curses, the two are the same because <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> calls
+ <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>, passing the file descriptor derived from its output
stream parameter.
<EM>errret</EM>
- points to an optional location where an error status can be re-
- turned to the caller. If <EM>errret</EM> is not null, then <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
- returns <STRONG>OK</STRONG> or <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> and stores a status value in the integer
- pointed to by <EM>errret</EM>. A return value of <STRONG>OK</STRONG> combined with sta-
- tus of <STRONG>1</STRONG> in <EM>errret</EM> is normal.
+ points to an optional location where an error status can be
+ returned to the caller. If <EM>errret</EM> is not null, then <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
+ returns <STRONG>OK</STRONG> or <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> and stores a status value in the integer
+ pointed to by <EM>errret</EM>. A return value of <STRONG>OK</STRONG> combined with
+ status of <STRONG>1</STRONG> in <EM>errret</EM> is normal.
If <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> is returned, examine <EM>errret</EM>:
- <STRONG>1</STRONG> means that the terminal is hardcopy, cannot be used for
+ <STRONG>1</STRONG> means that the terminal is hardcopy, cannot be used for
curses applications.
- <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> determines if the entry is a hardcopy type by
+ <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> determines if the entry is a hardcopy type by
checking the <STRONG>hc</STRONG> (<STRONG>hardcopy</STRONG>) capability.
- <STRONG>0</STRONG> means that the terminal could not be found, or that it is
- a generic type, having too little information for curses
+ <STRONG>0</STRONG> means that the terminal could not be found, or that it is
+ a generic type, having too little information for curses
applications to run.
- <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> determines if the entry is a generic type by
+ <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> determines if the entry is a generic type by
checking the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (<STRONG>generic_type</STRONG>) capability.
<STRONG>-1</STRONG> means that the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database could not be found.
- If <EM>errret</EM> is null, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> prints an error message upon find-
- ing an error and exits. Thus, the simplest call is:
+ If <EM>errret</EM> is null, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> prints an error message upon
+ finding an error and exits. Thus, the simplest call is:
<STRONG>setupterm((char</STRONG> <STRONG>*)0,</STRONG> <STRONG>1,</STRONG> <STRONG>(int</STRONG> <STRONG>*)0);</STRONG>,
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-The-Terminal-State">The Terminal State</a></H3><PRE>
- The <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> routine stores its information about the terminal in a
- <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> structure pointed to by the global variable <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>. If it
- detects an error, or decides that the terminal is unsuitable (hardcopy
- or generic), it discards this information, making it not available to
+ The <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> routine stores its information about the terminal in a
+ <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> structure pointed to by the global variable <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>. If it
+ detects an error, or decides that the terminal is unsuitable (hardcopy
+ or generic), it discards this information, making it not available to
applications.
- If <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> is called repeatedly for the same terminal type, it will
- reuse the information. It maintains only one copy of a given termi-
- nal's capabilities in memory. If it is called for different terminal
- types, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> allocates new storage for each set of terminal capa-
- bilities.
+ If <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> is called repeatedly for the same terminal type, it will
+ reuse the information. It maintains only one copy of a given
+ terminal's capabilities in memory. If it is called for different
+ terminal types, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> allocates new storage for each set of
+ terminal capabilities.
- The <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG> routine sets <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG> to <EM>nterm</EM>, and makes all of the
- <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> boolean, numeric, and string variables use the values from
+ The <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG> routine sets <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG> to <EM>nterm</EM>, and makes all of the
+ <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> boolean, numeric, and string variables use the values from
<EM>nterm</EM>. It returns the old value of <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>.
- The <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG> routine frees the space pointed to by <EM>oterm</EM> and makes
- it available for further use. If <EM>oterm</EM> is the same as <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>, refer-
- ences to any of the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> boolean, numeric, and string variables
- thereafter may refer to invalid memory locations until another <STRONG>se-</STRONG>
- <STRONG>tupterm</STRONG> has been called.
+ The <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG> routine frees the space pointed to by <EM>oterm</EM> and makes
+ it available for further use. If <EM>oterm</EM> is the same as <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>,
+ references to any of the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> boolean, numeric, and string
+ variables thereafter may refer to invalid memory locations until
+ another <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> has been called.
- The <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> routine is similar to <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> and <STRONG>initscr</STRONG>, except
- that it is called after restoring memory to a previous state (for exam-
- ple, when reloading a game saved as a core image dump). <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG>
- assumes that the windows and the input and output options are the same
- as when memory was saved, but the terminal type and baud rate may be
- different. Accordingly, <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> saves various tty state bits,
- calls <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>, and then restores the bits.
+ The <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> routine is similar to <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> and <STRONG>initscr</STRONG>, except
+ that it is called after restoring memory to a previous state (for
+ example, when reloading a game saved as a core image dump).
+ <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> assumes that the windows and the input and output options
+ are the same as when memory was saved, but the terminal type and baud
+ rate may be different. Accordingly, <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> saves various tty
+ state bits, calls <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>, and then restores the bits.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Formatting-Output">Formatting Output</a></H3><PRE>
- The <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> routine instantiates the string <EM>str</EM> with parameters <EM>pi</EM>. A
- pointer is returned to the result of <EM>str</EM> with the parameters applied.
- Application developers should keep in mind these quirks of the inter-
- face:
+ The <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> routine instantiates the string <EM>str</EM> with parameters <EM>pi</EM>. A
+ pointer is returned to the result of <EM>str</EM> with the parameters applied.
+ Application developers should keep in mind these quirks of the
+ interface:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Although <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>'s actual parameters may be integers or strings, the
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Although <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>'s actual parameters may be integers or strings, the
prototype expects <STRONG>long</STRONG> (integer) values.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Aside from the <STRONG>set_attributes</STRONG> (<STRONG>sgr</STRONG>) capability, most terminal capa-
- bilities require no more than one or two parameters.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Aside from the <STRONG>set_attributes</STRONG> (<STRONG>sgr</STRONG>) capability, most terminal
+ capabilities require no more than one or two parameters.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Padding information is ignored by <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>; it is interpreted by
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Padding information is ignored by <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>; it is interpreted by
<STRONG>tputs</STRONG>.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> The capability string is null-terminated. Use "\200" where an
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The capability string is null-terminated. Use "\200" where an
ASCII NUL is needed in the output.
- <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> is a newer form of <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> which uses <EM><stdarg.h></EM> rather than a
+ <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> is a newer form of <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> which uses <EM><stdarg.h></EM> rather than a
fixed-parameter list. Its numeric parameters are integers (int) rather
than longs.
- Both <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> and <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> assume that the application passes parameters
- consistent with the terminal description. Two extensions are provided
+ Both <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> and <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> assume that the application passes parameters
+ consistent with the terminal description. Two extensions are provided
as alternatives to deal with untrusted data:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>tiparm_s</STRONG> is an extension which is a safer formatting function than
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>tiparm_s</STRONG> is an extension which is a safer formatting function than
<STRONG>tparm</STRONG> or <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>, because it allows the developer to tell the curses
- library how many parameters to expect in the parameter list, and
+ library how many parameters to expect in the parameter list, and
which may be string parameters.
- The <EM>mask</EM> parameter has one bit set for each of the parameters (up
+ The <EM>mask</EM> parameter has one bit set for each of the parameters (up
to 9) which will be passed as char* rather than numbers.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> The extension <STRONG>tiscan_s</STRONG> allows the application to inspect a format-
- ting capability to see what the curses library would assume.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The extension <STRONG>tiscan_s</STRONG> allows the application to inspect a
+ formatting capability to see what the curses library would assume.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Output-Functions">Output Functions</a></H3><PRE>
- The <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> routine applies padding information (i.e., by interpreting
- marker embedded in the terminfo capability such as "$<5>" as 5 mil-
- liseconds) to the string <EM>str</EM> and outputs it:
+ The <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> routine applies padding information (i.e., by interpreting
+ marker embedded in the terminfo capability such as "$<5>" as 5
+ milliseconds) to the string <EM>str</EM> and outputs it:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> The <EM>str</EM> parameter must be a terminfo string variable or the return
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The <EM>str</EM> parameter must be a terminfo string variable or the return
value from <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tgetstr</STRONG>, or <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG>.
- The <STRONG>tgetstr</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG> functions are part of the <EM>termcap</EM> interface,
- which happens to share this function name with the <EM>terminfo</EM> inter-
- face.
+ The <STRONG>tgetstr</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG> functions are part of the <EM>termcap</EM> interface,
+ which happens to share this function name with the <EM>terminfo</EM>
+ interface.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>affcnt</EM> is the number of lines affected, or 1 if not applicable.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>putc</EM> is a <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>-like routine to which the characters are passed,
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>putc</EM> is a <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>-like routine to which the characters are passed,
one at a time.
- The <STRONG>putp</STRONG> routine calls <STRONG>tputs(</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>1,</STRONG> <STRONG>putchar)</STRONG>. The output of <STRONG>putp</STRONG> al-
- ways goes to <STRONG>stdout</STRONG>, rather than the <EM>filedes</EM> specified in <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>.
+ The <STRONG>putp</STRONG> routine calls <STRONG>tputs(</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>1,</STRONG> <STRONG>putchar)</STRONG>. The output of <STRONG>putp</STRONG>
+ always goes to <STRONG>stdout</STRONG>, rather than the <EM>filedes</EM> specified in <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>.
- The <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> routine displays the string on the terminal in the video
+ The <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> routine displays the string on the terminal in the video
attribute mode <EM>attrs</EM>, which is any combination of the attributes listed
- in <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>. The characters are passed to the <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>-like routine
+ in <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>. The characters are passed to the <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>-like routine
<EM>putc</EM>.
The <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> routine is like the <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> routine, except that it outputs
through <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>.
- The <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> routines correspond to vidattr and vidputs,
- respectively. They use a set of arguments for representing the video
+ The <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> routines correspond to vidattr and vidputs,
+ respectively. They use a set of arguments for representing the video
attributes plus color, i.e.,
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM> of type <STRONG>attr_t</STRONG> for the attributes and
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>pair</EM> of type <STRONG>short</STRONG> for the color-pair number.
- The <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> routines are designed to use the attribute
+ The <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> routines are designed to use the attribute
constants with the <STRONG>WA_</STRONG> prefix.
- X/Open Curses reserves the <EM>opts</EM> argument for future use, saying that
- applications must provide a null pointer for that argument. As an ex-
- tension, this implementation allows <EM>opts</EM> to be used as a pointer to
+ X/Open Curses reserves the <EM>opts</EM> argument for future use, saying that
+ applications must provide a null pointer for that argument. As an
+ extension, this implementation allows <EM>opts</EM> to be used as a pointer to
<STRONG>int</STRONG>, which overrides the <EM>pair</EM> (<STRONG>short</STRONG>) argument.
- The <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> routine provides low-level cursor motion. It takes effect
- immediately (rather than at the next refresh). Unlike the other low-
- level output functions, which either write to the standard output or
+ The <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> routine provides low-level cursor motion. It takes effect
+ immediately (rather than at the next refresh). Unlike the other low-
+ level output functions, which either write to the standard output or
pass an output function parameter, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> uses an output file descriptor
derived from the output stream parameter of <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">newterm(3x)</A></STRONG>.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminal-Capability-Functions">Terminal Capability Functions</a></H3><PRE>
- The <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG> and <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG> routines return the value of the
- capability corresponding to the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> <EM>capname</EM> passed to them, such
- as <STRONG>xenl</STRONG>. The <EM>capname</EM> for each capability is given in the table column
+ The <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG> and <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG> routines return the value of the
+ capability corresponding to the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> <EM>capname</EM> passed to them, such
+ as <STRONG>xenl</STRONG>. The <EM>capname</EM> for each capability is given in the table column
entitled <EM>capname</EM> code in the capabilities section of <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>.
These routines return special values to denote errors.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Releasing-Memory">Releasing Memory</a></H3><PRE>
Each successful call to <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> allocates memory to hold the terminal
- description. As a side-effect, it sets <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG> to point to this memo-
- ry. If an application calls
+ description. As a side-effect, it sets <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG> to point to this
+ memory. If an application calls
<STRONG>del_curterm(cur_term);</STRONG>
the memory will be freed.
- The formatting functions <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> and <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> extend the storage allocated
+ The formatting functions <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> and <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> extend the storage allocated
by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> the "static" terminfo variables [a-z]. Before ncurses 6.3, those
- were shared by all screens. With ncurses 6.3, those are allocated
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> the "static" terminfo variables [a-z]. Before ncurses 6.3, those
+ were shared by all screens. With ncurses 6.3, those are allocated
per screen. See <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> for details.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> to improve performance, ncurses 6.3 caches the result of analyzing
- terminfo strings for their parameter types. That is stored as a
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> to improve performance, ncurses 6.3 caches the result of analyzing
+ terminfo strings for their parameter types. That is stored as a
binary tree referenced from the <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> structure.
The higher-level <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> and <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> functions use <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>. Normally
- they do not free this memory, but it is possible to do that using the
+ they do not free this memory, but it is possible to do that using the
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">delscreen(3x)</A></STRONG> function.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></H2><PRE>
- Routines that return an integer return <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon failure and <STRONG>OK</STRONG> (SVr4
- only specifies "an integer value other than <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>") upon successful com-
- pletion, unless otherwise noted in the preceding routine descriptions.
+ Routines that return an integer return <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon failure and <STRONG>OK</STRONG> (SVr4
+ only specifies "an integer value other than <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>") upon successful
+ completion, unless otherwise noted in the preceding routine
+ descriptions.
Routines that return pointers always return <STRONG>NULL</STRONG> on error.
<STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
returns an error if it cannot allocate enough memory, or create
- the initial windows (stdscr, curscr, newscr). Other error con-
- ditions are documented above.
+ the initial windows (stdscr, curscr, newscr). Other error
+ conditions are documented above.
<STRONG>tparm</STRONG>
- returns a null if the capability would require unexpected pa-
- rameters, e.g., too many, too few, or incorrect types (strings
- where integers are expected, or vice versa).
+ returns a null if the capability would require unexpected
+ parameters, e.g., too many, too few, or incorrect types
+ (strings where integers are expected, or vice versa).
<STRONG>tputs</STRONG>
returns an error if the string parameter is null. It does not
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Compatibility-macros">Compatibility macros</a></H3><PRE>
- This implementation provides a few macros for compatibility with sys-
- tems before SVr4 (see <EM>HISTORY</EM>). Those include <STRONG>crmode</STRONG>, <STRONG>fixterm</STRONG>,
+ This implementation provides a few macros for compatibility with
+ systems before SVr4 (see <EM>HISTORY</EM>). Those include <STRONG>crmode</STRONG>, <STRONG>fixterm</STRONG>,
<STRONG>gettmode</STRONG>, <STRONG>nocrmode</STRONG>, <STRONG>resetterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>saveterm</STRONG>, and <STRONG>setterm</STRONG>.
In SVr4, those are found in <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>, but except for <STRONG>setterm</STRONG>, are
<STRONG>setupterm(</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>1,</STRONG> <STRONG>(int</STRONG> <STRONG>*)0)</STRONG>
- provides the same functionality as <STRONG>setterm(</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>)</STRONG>, and is not recommend-
- ed for new programs. This implementation provides each of those sym-
- bols as macros for BSD compatibility,
+ provides the same functionality as <STRONG>setterm(</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>)</STRONG>, and is not
+ recommended for new programs. This implementation provides each of
+ those symbols as macros for BSD compatibility,
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-HISTORY">HISTORY</a></H2><PRE>
<STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
------------------------------------------------------------
fixterm restore tty to "in curses" state
+
gettmode establish current tty modes
mvcur low level cursor motion
- putp utility function that uses <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> to send char-
- acters via <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>.
+ putp utility function that uses <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> to send
+ characters via <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>.
resetterm set tty modes to "out of curses" state
resetty reset tty flags to stored value
saveterm save current modes as "in curses" state
Early terminfo programs obtained capability values from the <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG>
structure initialized by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>.
- SVr3 extended terminfo by adding functions to retrieve capability val-
- ues (like the termcap interface), and reusing tgoto and tputs:
+ SVr3 extended terminfo by adding functions to retrieve capability
+ values (like the termcap interface), and reusing tgoto and tputs:
<STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
-------------------------------------------
setterm setupterm
SVr3 kept the <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> functions, along with <STRONG>putp</STRONG>,
- <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> and <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>. The latter were needed to support padding, and han-
- dling functions such as <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> (which used more than the two parame-
- ters supported by <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG>).
+ <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> and <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>. The latter were needed to support padding, and
+ handling functions such as <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> (which used more than the two
+ parameters supported by <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG>).
- SVr3 introduced the functions for switching between terminal descrip-
- tions, e.g., <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG>. Some of that was incremental improvements to
- the SVr2 library:
+ SVr3 introduced the functions for switching between terminal
+ descriptions, e.g., <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG>. Some of that was incremental
+ improvements to the SVr2 library:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> type definition was introduced in SVr3.01, for the
<STRONG>term</STRONG> structure provided in SVr2.
SVr4 added the <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> functions.
There are other low-level functions declared in the curses header files
- on Unix systems, but none were documented. The functions marked "obso-
- lete" remained in use by the Unix <STRONG>vi(1)</STRONG> editor.
+ on Unix systems, but none were documented. The functions marked
+ "obsolete" remained in use by the Unix <STRONG>vi(1)</STRONG> editor.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Extensions">Extensions</a></H3><PRE>
The functions marked as extensions were designed for <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG>, and
- are not found in SVr4 curses, 4.4BSD curses, or any other previous ver-
- sion of curses.
+ are not found in SVr4 curses, 4.4BSD curses, or any other previous
+ version of curses.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Legacy-functions">Legacy functions</a></H3><PRE>
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Output-buffering">Output buffering</a></H3><PRE>
Older versions of <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> assumed that the file descriptor passed to
<STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> from <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> uses buffered I/O, and would write to
- the corresponding stream. In addition to the limitation that the ter-
- minal was left in block-buffered mode on exit (like System V curses),
- it was problematic because <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> did not allow a reliable way to
- cleanup on receiving SIGTSTP.
+ the corresponding stream. In addition to the limitation that the
+ terminal was left in block-buffered mode on exit (like System V
+ curses), it was problematic because <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> did not allow a reliable
+ way to cleanup on receiving SIGTSTP.
The current version (ncurses6) uses output buffers managed directly by
<STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>. Some of the low-level functions described in this manual page
- write to the standard output. They are not signal-safe. The high-lev-
- el functions in <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> use alternate versions of these functions using
- the more reliable buffering scheme.
+ write to the standard output. They are not signal-safe. The high-
+ level functions in <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> use alternate versions of these functions
+ using the more reliable buffering scheme.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Function-prototypes">Function prototypes</a></H3><PRE>
- The X/Open Curses prototypes are based on the SVr4 curses header decla-
- rations, which were defined at the same time the C language was first
- standardized in the late 1980s.
+ The X/Open Curses prototypes are based on the SVr4 curses header
+ declarations, which were defined at the same time the C language was
+ first standardized in the late 1980s.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses uses <STRONG>const</STRONG> less effectively than a later design
might, in some cases applying it needlessly to values are already
<STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses prototypes <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> with a fixed number of parameters,
rather than a variable argument list.
- This implementation uses a variable argument list, but can be con-
- figured to use the fixed-parameter list. Portable applications
+ This implementation uses a variable argument list, but can be
+ configured to use the fixed-parameter list. Portable applications
should provide 9 parameters after the format; zeroes are fine for
this purpose.
nine on each call is awkward.
Using <STRONG>long</STRONG> for the numeric parameter type is a workaround to make
- the parameter use the same amount of stack as a pointer. That ap-
- proach dates back to the mid-1980s, before C was standardized.
+ the parameter use the same amount of stack as a pointer. That
+ approach dates back to the mid-1980s, before C was standardized.
Since then, there is a standard (and pointers are not required to
fit in a long).
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Providing the right number of parameters for a variadic function
- such as <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> can be a problem, in particular for string parame-
- ters. However, only a few terminfo capabilities use string parame-
- ters (e.g., the ones used for programmable function keys).
+ such as <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> can be a problem, in particular for string
+ parameters. However, only a few terminfo capabilities use string
+ parameters (e.g., the ones used for programmable function keys).
The ncurses library checks usage of these capabilities, and returns
an error if the capability mishandles string parameters. But it
cannot check if a calling program provides strings in the right
places for the <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> calls.
- The <STRONG><A HREF="tput.1.html">tput(1)</A></STRONG> program checks its use of these capabilities with a ta-
- ble, so that it calls <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> correctly.
+ The <STRONG><A HREF="tput.1.html">tput(1)</A></STRONG> program checks its use of these capabilities with a
+ table, so that it calls <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> correctly.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Special-TERM-treatment">Special TERM treatment</a></H3><PRE>
and does no error-checking.
X/Open notes that after calling <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, the curses state may not match
- the actual terminal state, and that an application should touch and re-
- fresh the window before resuming normal curses calls. Both <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> and
- System V Release 4 curses implement <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> using the SCREEN data allo-
- cated in either <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG>. So though it is documented as a
- terminfo function, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> is really a curses function which is not well
- specified.
-
- X/Open states that the old location must be given for <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>. This im-
- plementation allows the caller to use -1's for the old ordinates. In
+ the actual terminal state, and that an application should touch and
+ refresh the window before resuming normal curses calls. Both <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
+ and System V Release 4 curses implement <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> using the SCREEN data
+ allocated in either <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG>. So though it is documented as
+ a terminfo function, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> is really a curses function which is not
+ well specified.
+
+ X/Open states that the old location must be given for <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>. This
+ implementation allows the caller to use -1's for the old ordinates. In
that case, the old location is unknown.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
<STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">curs_initscr(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_kernel.3x.html">curs_kernel(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_memleaks.3x.html">curs_memleaks(3x)</A></STRONG>,
- <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termcap.3x.html">curs_termcap(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_variables.3x.html">curs_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>putc(3)</STRONG>, <STRONG>ter-</STRONG>
- <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">minfo(5)</A></STRONG>
+ <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termcap.3x.html">curs_termcap(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_variables.3x.html">curs_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>putc(3)</STRONG>,
+ <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
-ncurses 6.4 2023-0
8-19 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
+ncurses 6.4 2023-0
9-16 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
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