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* t
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- * Copyright (c) 1998-2009,2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
+ * Copyright (c) 1998-2010,2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
* *
* Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a *
* copy of this software and associated documentation files (the *
* sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written *
* authorization. *
****************************************************************************
- * @Id: ncurses.3x,v 1.100 2010/10/02 23:30:31 tom Exp @
+ * @Id: ncurses.3x,v 1.106 2011/12/17 23:19:59 tom Exp @
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<HEAD>
sonable optimization. This implementation is ``new
curses'' (ncurses) and is the approved replacement for
4.4BSD classic curses, which has been discontinued. This
- describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 5.7 (patch 20101002).
+ describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 5.9 (patch 20120107).
The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library emulates the curses library of System
V Release 4 UNIX, and XPG4 (X/Open Portability Guide)
Among those, the most basic routines are <STRONG>move</STRONG> and <STRONG>addch</STRONG>.
More general versions of these routines are included with
names beginning with <STRONG>w</STRONG>, allowing the user to specify a
- window. The routines not beginning with <STRONG>w</STRONG> affect <STRONG>stdscr</STRONG>.
+ window. The routines not beginning with <STRONG>w</STRONG> affect <STRONG>stdscr</STRONG>.
- After using routines to manipulate a window, <STRONG>refresh</STRONG> is
- called, telling <STRONG>curses</STRONG> to make the user's CRT screen look
- like <STRONG>stdscr</STRONG>. The characters in a window are actually of
- type <STRONG>chtype</STRONG>, (character and attribute data) so that other
- information about the character may also be stored with
+ After using routines to manipulate a window, <STRONG>refresh</STRONG> is
+ called, telling <STRONG>curses</STRONG> to make the user's CRT screen look
+ like <STRONG>stdscr</STRONG>. The characters in a window are actually of
+ type <STRONG>chtype</STRONG>, (character and attribute data) so that other
+ information about the character may also be stored with
each character.
- Special windows called <EM>pads</EM> may also be manipulated.
+ Special windows called <EM>pads</EM> may also be manipulated.
These are windows which are not constrained to the size of
- the screen and whose contents need not be completely dis-
+ the screen and whose contents need not be completely dis-
played. See <STRONG><A HREF="curs_pad.3x.html">curs_pad(3x)</A></STRONG> for more information.
- In addition to drawing characters on the screen, video
- attributes and colors may be supported, causing the char-
- acters to show up in such modes as underlined, in reverse
- video, or in color on terminals that support such display
+ In addition to drawing characters on the screen, video
+ attributes and colors may be supported, causing the char-
+ acters to show up in such modes as underlined, in reverse
+ video, or in color on terminals that support such display
enhancements. Line drawing characters may be specified to
- be output. On input, <STRONG>curses</STRONG> is also able to translate
- arrow and function keys that transmit escape sequences
- into single values. The video attributes, line drawing
- characters, and input values use names, defined in
+ be output. On input, <STRONG>curses</STRONG> is also able to translate
+ arrow and function keys that transmit escape sequences
+ into single values. The video attributes, line drawing
+ characters, and input values use names, defined in
<STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>, such as <STRONG>A_REVERSE</STRONG>, <STRONG>ACS_HLINE</STRONG>, and <STRONG>KEY_LEFT</STRONG>.
If the environment variables <STRONG>LINES</STRONG> and <STRONG>COLUMNS</STRONG> are set, or
- if the program is executing in a window environment, line
- and column information in the environment will override
+ if the program is executing in a window environment, line
+ and column information in the environment will override
information read by <EM>terminfo</EM>. This would affect a program
- running in an AT&T 630 layer, for example, where the size
+ running in an AT&T 630 layer, for example, where the size
of a screen is changeable (see <STRONG>ENVIRONMENT</STRONG>).
- If the environment variable <STRONG>TERMINFO</STRONG> is defined, any pro-
- gram using <STRONG>curses</STRONG> checks for a local terminal definition
- before checking in the standard place. For example, if
+ If the environment variable <STRONG>TERMINFO</STRONG> is defined, any pro-
+ gram using <STRONG>curses</STRONG> checks for a local terminal definition
+ before checking in the standard place. For example, if
<STRONG>TERM</STRONG> is set to <STRONG>att4424</STRONG>, then the compiled terminal defini-
tion is found in
<STRONG>/usr/share/terminfo/a/att4424</STRONG>.
(The <STRONG>a</STRONG> is copied from the first letter of <STRONG>att4424</STRONG> to avoid
- creation of huge directories.) However, if <STRONG>TERMINFO</STRONG> is
+ creation of huge directories.) However, if <STRONG>TERMINFO</STRONG> is
set to <STRONG>$HOME/myterms</STRONG>, <STRONG>curses</STRONG> first checks
<STRONG>$HOME/myterms/a/att4424</STRONG>,
<STRONG>/usr/share/terminfo/a/att4424</STRONG>.
- This is useful for developing experimental definitions or
+ This is useful for developing experimental definitions or
when write permission in <STRONG>/usr/share/terminfo</STRONG> is not avail-
able.
- The integer variables <STRONG>LINES</STRONG> and <STRONG>COLS</STRONG> are defined in
- <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG> and will be filled in by <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> with the size
+ The integer variables <STRONG>LINES</STRONG> and <STRONG>COLS</STRONG> are defined in
+ <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG> and will be filled in by <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> with the size
of the screen. The constants <STRONG>TRUE</STRONG> and <STRONG>FALSE</STRONG> have the val-
ues <STRONG>1</STRONG> and <STRONG>0</STRONG>, respectively.
- The <STRONG>curses</STRONG> routines also define the <STRONG>WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> variable
+ The <STRONG>curses</STRONG> routines also define the <STRONG>WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> variable
<STRONG>curscr</STRONG> which is used for certain low-level operations like
- clearing and redrawing a screen containing garbage. The
+ clearing and redrawing a screen containing garbage. The
<STRONG>curscr</STRONG> can be used in only a few routines.
<STRONG>Routine</STRONG> <STRONG>and</STRONG> <STRONG>Argument</STRONG> <STRONG>Names</STRONG>
- Many <STRONG>curses</STRONG> routines have two or more versions. The rou-
+ Many <STRONG>curses</STRONG> routines have two or more versions. The rou-
tines prefixed with <STRONG>w</STRONG> require a window argument. The rou-
tines prefixed with <STRONG>p</STRONG> require a pad argument. Those with-
out a prefix generally use <STRONG>stdscr</STRONG>.
The routines prefixed with <STRONG>mv</STRONG> require a <EM>y</EM> and <EM>x</EM> coordinate
- to move to before performing the appropriate action. The
- <STRONG>mv</STRONG> routines imply a call to <STRONG>move</STRONG> before the call to the
- other routine. The coordinate <EM>y</EM> always refers to the row
- (of the window), and <EM>x</EM> always refers to the column. The
+ to move to before performing the appropriate action. The
+ <STRONG>mv</STRONG> routines imply a call to <STRONG>move</STRONG> before the call to the
+ other routine. The coordinate <EM>y</EM> always refers to the row
+ (of the window), and <EM>x</EM> always refers to the column. The
upper left-hand corner is always (0,0), not (1,1).
The routines prefixed with <STRONG>mvw</STRONG> take both a window argument
- and <EM>x</EM> and <EM>y</EM> coordinates. The window argument is always
+ and <EM>x</EM> and <EM>y</EM> coordinates. The window argument is always
specified before the coordinates.
- In each case, <EM>win</EM> is the window affected, and <EM>pad</EM> is the
+ In each case, <EM>win</EM> is the window affected, and <EM>pad</EM> is the
pad affected; <EM>win</EM> and <EM>pad</EM> are always pointers to type <STRONG>WIN-</STRONG>
<STRONG>DOW</STRONG>.
Option setting routines require a Boolean flag <EM>bf</EM> with the
- value <STRONG>TRUE</STRONG> or <STRONG>FALSE</STRONG>; <EM>bf</EM> is always of type <STRONG>bool</STRONG>. Most of
- the data types used in the library routines, such as <STRONG>WIN-</STRONG>
- <STRONG>DOW</STRONG>, <STRONG>SCREEN</STRONG>, <STRONG>bool</STRONG>, and <STRONG>chtype</STRONG> are defined in <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>.
- Types used for the terminfo routines such as <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> are
+ value <STRONG>TRUE</STRONG> or <STRONG>FALSE</STRONG>; <EM>bf</EM> is always of type <STRONG>bool</STRONG>. Most of
+ the data types used in the library routines, such as <STRONG>WIN-</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>DOW</STRONG>, <STRONG>SCREEN</STRONG>, <STRONG>bool</STRONG>, and <STRONG>chtype</STRONG> are defined in <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>.
+ Types used for the terminfo routines such as <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> are
defined in <STRONG><term.h></STRONG>.
- This manual page describes functions which may appear in
- any configuration of the library. There are two common
+ This manual page describes functions which may appear in
+ any configuration of the library. There are two common
configurations of the library:
ncurses
the "normal" library, which handles 8-bit
characters. The normal (8-bit) library stores
- characters combined with attributes in <STRONG>chtype</STRONG>
+ characters combined with attributes in <STRONG>chtype</STRONG>
data.
- Attributes alone (no corresponding character)
- may be stored in <STRONG>chtype</STRONG> or the equivalent
- <STRONG>attr_t</STRONG> data. In either case, the data is
+ Attributes alone (no corresponding character)
+ may be stored in <STRONG>chtype</STRONG> or the equivalent
+ <STRONG>attr_t</STRONG> data. In either case, the data is
stored in something like an integer.
- Each cell (row and column) in a <STRONG>WINDOW</STRONG> is
+ Each cell (row and column) in a <STRONG>WINDOW</STRONG> is
stored as a <STRONG>chtype</STRONG>.
ncursesw
- the so-called "wide" library, which handles
- multibyte characters (see the section on
+ the so-called "wide" library, which handles
+ multibyte characters (see the section on
<STRONG>ALTERNATE</STRONG> <STRONG>CONFIGURATIONS</STRONG>). The "wide" library
- includes all of the calls from the "normal"
- library. It adds about one third more calls
+ includes all of the calls from the "normal"
+ library. It adds about one third more calls
using data types which store multibyte charac-
ters:
<STRONG>cchar_t</STRONG>
- corresponds to <STRONG>chtype</STRONG>. However it is a
- structure, because more data is stored
- than can fit into an integer. The char-
+ corresponds to <STRONG>chtype</STRONG>. However it is a
+ structure, because more data is stored
+ than can fit into an integer. The char-
acters are large enough to require a full
- integer value - and there may be more
- than one character per cell. The video
- attributes and color are stored in sepa-
+ integer value - and there may be more
+ than one character per cell. The video
+ attributes and color are stored in sepa-
rate fields of the structure.
Each cell (row and column) in a <STRONG>WINDOW</STRONG> is
stored as a <STRONG>cchar_t</STRONG>.
<STRONG>wchar_t</STRONG>
- stores a "wide" character. Like <STRONG>chtype</STRONG>,
+ stores a "wide" character. Like <STRONG>chtype</STRONG>,
this may be an integer.
<STRONG>wint_t</STRONG>
- stores a <STRONG>wchar_t</STRONG> or <STRONG>WEOF</STRONG> - not the same,
+ stores a <STRONG>wchar_t</STRONG> or <STRONG>WEOF</STRONG> - not the same,
though both may have the same size.
The "wide" library provides new functions
- which are analogous to functions in the "nor-
- mal" library. There is a naming convention
- which relates many of the normal/wide vari-
- ants: a "_w" is inserted into the name. For
+ which are analogous to functions in the "nor-
+ mal" library. There is a naming convention
+ which relates many of the normal/wide vari-
+ ants: a "_w" is inserted into the name. For
example, <STRONG>waddch</STRONG> becomes <STRONG>wadd_wch</STRONG>.
+
<STRONG>Routine</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Index</STRONG>
The following table lists each <STRONG>curses</STRONG> routine and the name
- of the manual page on which it is described. Routines
- flagged with `*' are ncurses-specific, not described by
+ of the manual page on which it is described. Routines
+ flagged with `*' are ncurses-specific, not described by
XPG4 or present in SVr4.
+
<STRONG>curses</STRONG> Routine Name Manual Page Name
--------------------------------------------
COLOR_PAIR <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG>
PAIR_NUMBER <STRONG><A HREF="curs_attr.3x.html">curs_attr(3x)</A></STRONG>
_nc_free_and_exit <STRONG><A HREF="curs_memleaks.3x.html">curs_memleaks(3x)</A></STRONG>*
+
_nc_freeall <STRONG><A HREF="curs_memleaks.3x.html">curs_memleaks(3x)</A></STRONG>*
_nc_tracebits <STRONG><A HREF="curs_trace.3x.html">curs_trace(3x)</A></STRONG>*
-
_traceattr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_trace.3x.html">curs_trace(3x)</A></STRONG>*
_traceattr2 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_trace.3x.html">curs_trace(3x)</A></STRONG>*
_tracechar <STRONG><A HREF="curs_trace.3x.html">curs_trace(3x)</A></STRONG>*
echo <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>
echo_wchar <STRONG><A HREF="curs_add_wch.3x.html">curs_add_wch(3x)</A></STRONG>
echochar <STRONG><A HREF="curs_addch.3x.html">curs_addch(3x)</A></STRONG>
+
endwin <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">curs_initscr(3x)</A></STRONG>
erase <STRONG><A HREF="curs_clear.3x.html">curs_clear(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
erasechar <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">curs_termattrs(3x)</A></STRONG>
erasewchar <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">curs_termattrs(3x)</A></STRONG>
filter <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">curs_util(3x)</A></STRONG>
intrflush <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>
inwstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inwstr.3x.html">curs_inwstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
is_cleared <STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">curs_opaque(3x)</A></STRONG>*
+
is_idcok <STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">curs_opaque(3x)</A></STRONG>*
is_idlok <STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">curs_opaque(3x)</A></STRONG>*
-
is_immedok <STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">curs_opaque(3x)</A></STRONG>*
is_keypad <STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">curs_opaque(3x)</A></STRONG>*
is_leaveok <STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">curs_opaque(3x)</A></STRONG>*
mvinsch <STRONG><A HREF="curs_insch.3x.html">curs_insch(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvinsnstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_insstr.3x.html">curs_insstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvinsstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_insstr.3x.html">curs_insstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
+
mvinstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_instr.3x.html">curs_instr(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvinwstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inwstr.3x.html">curs_inwstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
mvprintw <STRONG><A HREF="curs_printw.3x.html">curs_printw(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvscanw <STRONG><A HREF="curs_scanw.3x.html">curs_scanw(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvvline <STRONG><A HREF="curs_border.3x.html">curs_border(3x)</A></STRONG>
pair_content <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG>
pechochar <STRONG><A HREF="curs_pad.3x.html">curs_pad(3x)</A></STRONG>
pnoutrefresh <STRONG><A HREF="curs_pad.3x.html">curs_pad(3x)</A></STRONG>
+
prefresh <STRONG><A HREF="curs_pad.3x.html">curs_pad(3x)</A></STRONG>
printw <STRONG><A HREF="curs_printw.3x.html">curs_printw(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
putp <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
putwin <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">curs_util(3x)</A></STRONG>
qiflush <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>
tigetstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
timeout <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>
touchline <STRONG><A HREF="curs_touch.3x.html">curs_touch(3x)</A></STRONG>
+
touchwin <STRONG><A HREF="curs_touch.3x.html">curs_touch(3x)</A></STRONG>
tparm <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
tputs <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termcap.3x.html">curs_termcap(3x)</A></STRONG>
tputs <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
trace <STRONG><A HREF="curs_trace.3x.html">curs_trace(3x)</A></STRONG>*
wgetbkgrnd <STRONG><A HREF="curs_bkgrnd.3x.html">curs_bkgrnd(3x)</A></STRONG>
wgetch <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">curs_getch(3x)</A></STRONG>
wgetn_wstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_get_wstr.3x.html">curs_get_wstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
+
wgetnstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
wgetstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
whline <STRONG><A HREF="curs_border.3x.html">curs_border(3x)</A></STRONG>
whline_set <STRONG><A HREF="curs_border_set.3x.html">curs_border_set(3x)</A></STRONG>
win_wch <STRONG><A HREF="curs_in_wch.3x.html">curs_in_wch(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
<H2>RETURN VALUE</H2><PRE>
- Routines that return an integer return <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon failure
- and an integer value other than <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon successful com-
- pletion, unless otherwise noted in the routine descrip-
+ Routines that return an integer return <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon failure
+ and an integer value other than <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon successful com-
+ pletion, unless otherwise noted in the routine descrip-
tions.
+ As a general rule, routines check for null pointers passed
+ as parameters, and handle this as an error.
+
All macros return the value of the <STRONG>w</STRONG> version, except
<STRONG>setscrreg</STRONG>, <STRONG>wsetscrreg</STRONG>, <STRONG>getyx</STRONG>, <STRONG>getbegyx</STRONG>, and <STRONG>getmaxyx</STRONG>. The
return values of <STRONG>setscrreg</STRONG>, <STRONG>wsetscrreg</STRONG>, <STRONG>getyx</STRONG>, <STRONG>getbegyx</STRONG>,
LINES
Like COLUMNS, specify the height of the screen in
- characters. See COLUMNS for a detailed description.
+ characters. See COLUMNS for a detailed description.
MOUSE_BUTTONS_123
This applies only to the OS/2 EMX port. It specifies
- the order of buttons on the mouse. OS/2 numbers a
+ the order of buttons on the mouse. OS/2 numbers a
3-button mouse inconsistently from other platforms:
1 = left
3 = middle.
This symbol lets you customize the mouse. The symbol
- must be three numeric digits 1-3 in any order, e.g.,
- 123 or 321. If it is not specified, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> uses
+ must be three numeric digits 1-3 in any order, e.g.,
+ 123 or 321. If it is not specified, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> uses
132.
NCURSES_ASSUMED_COLORS
- Override the compiled-in assumption that the termi-
- nal's default colors are white-on-black (see
- <STRONG><A HREF="default_colors.3x.html">default_colors(3x)</A></STRONG>). You may set the foreground and
- background color values with this environment vari-
- able by proving a 2-element list: foreground,back-
- ground. For example, to tell ncurses to not assume
- anything about the colors, set this to "-1,-1". To
- make it green-on-black, set it to "2,0". Any posi-
+ Override the compiled-in assumption that the termi-
+ nal's default colors are white-on-black (see
+ <STRONG><A HREF="default_colors.3x.html">default_colors(3x)</A></STRONG>). You may set the foreground and
+ background color values with this environment vari-
+ able by proving a 2-element list: foreground,back-
+ ground. For example, to tell ncurses to not assume
+ anything about the colors, set this to "-1,-1". To
+ make it green-on-black, set it to "2,0". Any posi-
tive value from zero to the terminfo <STRONG>max_colors</STRONG> value
is allowed.
NCURSES_GPM_TERMS
- This applies only to ncurses configured to use the
+ This applies only to ncurses configured to use the
GPM interface.
If present, the environment variable is a list of one
- or more terminal names against which the TERM envi-
- ronment variable is matched. Setting it to an empty
- value disables the GPM interface; using the built-in
+ or more terminal names against which the TERM envi-
+ ronment variable is matched. Setting it to an empty
+ value disables the GPM interface; using the built-in
support for xterm, etc.
- If the environment variable is absent, ncurses will
+ If the environment variable is absent, ncurses will
attempt to open GPM if TERM contains "linux".
NCURSES_NO_HARD_TABS
- <STRONG>Ncurses</STRONG> may use tabs as part of the cursor movement
- optimization. In some cases, your terminal driver
- may not handle these properly. Set this environment
+ <STRONG>Ncurses</STRONG> may use tabs as part of the cursor movement
+ optimization. In some cases, your terminal driver
+ may not handle these properly. Set this environment
variable to disable the feature. You can also adjust
your <STRONG>stty</STRONG> settings to avoid the problem.
NCURSES_NO_MAGIC_COOKIES
Some terminals use a magic-cookie feature which
- requires special handling to make highlighting and
- other video attributes display properly. You can
- suppress the highlighting entirely for these termi-
- nals by setting this environment variable.
+ requires special handling to make highlighting and
+ other video attributes display properly. You can
+ suppress the highlighting entirely for these
+ terminals by setting this environment variable.
NCURSES_NO_PADDING
- Most of the terminal descriptions in the terminfo
- database are written for real "hardware" terminals.
- Many people use terminal emulators which run in a
- windowing environment and use curses-based applica-
- tions. Terminal emulators can duplicate all of the
+ Most of the terminal descriptions in the terminfo
+ database are written for real "hardware" terminals.
+ Many people use terminal emulators which run in a
+ windowing environment and use curses-based applica-
+ tions. Terminal emulators can duplicate all of the
important aspects of a hardware terminal, but they do
- not have the same limitations. The chief limitation
- of a hardware terminal from the standpoint of your
+ not have the same limitations. The chief limitation
+ of a hardware terminal from the standpoint of your
application is the management of dataflow, i.e., tim-
ing. Unless a hardware terminal is interfaced into a
- terminal concentrator (which does flow control), it
- (or your application) must manage dataflow, prevent-
- ing overruns. The cheapest solution (no hardware
+ terminal concentrator (which does flow control), it
+ (or your application) must manage dataflow, prevent-
+ ing overruns. The cheapest solution (no hardware
cost) is for your program to do this by pausing after
- operations that the terminal does slowly, such as
+ operations that the terminal does slowly, such as
clearing the display.
- As a result, many terminal descriptions (including
- the vt100) have delay times embedded. You may wish
- to use these descriptions, but not want to pay the
+ As a result, many terminal descriptions (including
+ the vt100) have delay times embedded. You may wish
+ to use these descriptions, but not want to pay the
performance penalty.
- Set the NCURSES_NO_PADDING symbol to disable all but
- mandatory padding. Mandatory padding is used as a
+ Set the NCURSES_NO_PADDING symbol to disable all but
+ mandatory padding. Mandatory padding is used as a
part of special control sequences such as <EM>flash</EM>.
NCURSES_NO_SETBUF
- Normally <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> enables buffered output during ter-
- minal initialization. This is done (as in SVr4
- curses) for performance reasons. For testing pur-
+ Normally <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> enables buffered output during ter-
+ minal initialization. This is done (as in SVr4
+ curses) for performance reasons. For testing pur-
poses, both of <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> and certain applications, this
feature is made optional. Setting the
NCURSES_NO_SETBUF variable disables output buffering,
- leaving the output in the original (usually line
+ leaving the output in the original (usually line
buffered) mode.
NCURSES_NO_UTF8_ACS
During initialization, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library checks for
- special cases where VT100 line-drawing (and the cor-
- responding alternate character set capabilities)
- described in the terminfo are known to be missing.
- Specifically, when running in a UTF-8 locale, the
- Linux console emulator and the GNU screen program
- ignore these. Ncurses checks the TERM environment
- variable for these. For other special cases, you
- should set this environment variable. Doing this
- tells ncurses to use Unicode values which correspond
+ special cases where VT100 line-drawing (and the cor-
+ responding alternate character set capabilities)
+ described in the terminfo are known to be missing.
+ Specifically, when running in a UTF-8 locale, the
+ Linux console emulator and the GNU screen program
+ ignore these. Ncurses checks the TERM environment
+ variable for these. For other special cases, you
+ should set this environment variable. Doing this
+ tells ncurses to use Unicode values which correspond
to the VT100 line-drawing glyphs. That works for the
special cases cited, and is likely to work for termi-
nal emulators.
- When setting this variable, you should set it to a
- nonzero value. Setting it to zero (or to a nonnum-
- ber) disables the special check for "linux" and
+ When setting this variable, you should set it to a
+ nonzero value. Setting it to zero (or to a nonnum-
+ ber) disables the special check for "linux" and
"screen".
+ As an alternative to the environment variable,
+ ncurses checks for an extended terminfo capability
+ <STRONG>U8</STRONG>. This is a numeric capability which can be com-
+ piled using <STRONG>tic</STRONG> <STRONG>-x</STRONG>. For example
+
+ # linux console, if patched to provide working
+ # VT100 shift-in/shift-out, with corresponding font.
+ linux-vt100|linux console with VT100 line-graphics,
+ U8#0, use=linux,
+
+ # uxterm with vt100Graphics resource set to false
+ xterm-utf8|xterm relying on UTF-8 line-graphics,
+ U8#1, use=xterm,
+
+ The name "U8" is chosen to be two characters, to per-
+ mit it to be used by applications that use ncurses'
+ termcap interface.
+
NCURSES_TRACE
During initialization, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> debugging library
checks the NCURSES_TRACE symbol. If it is defined,
makes a subdirectory named for the first letter of
the terminal names therein.
+ If <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> is built with a hashed database, then each
+ entry in this list can also be the path of the corre-
+ sponding database file.
+
+ If <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> is built with a support for reading term-
+ cap files directly, then an entry in this list may be
+ the path of a termcap file.
+
TERMPATH
If TERMCAP does not hold a file name then <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
checks the TERMPATH symbol. This is a list of file-
--with-profile
The shared and normal (static) library names differ
- by their suffixes, e.g., <STRONG>libncurses.so</STRONG> and <STRONG>libn-</STRONG>
- <STRONG>curses.a</STRONG>. The debug and profiling libraries add a
- "_g" and a "_p" to the root names respectively, e.g.,
- <STRONG>libncurses_g.a</STRONG> and <STRONG>libncurses_p.a</STRONG>.
+ by their suffixes, e.g., <STRONG>libncurses.so</STRONG> and
+ <STRONG>libncurses.a</STRONG>. The debug and profiling libraries add
+ a "_g" and a "_p" to the root names respectively,
+ e.g., <STRONG>libncurses_g.a</STRONG> and <STRONG>libncurses_p.a</STRONG>.
--with-trace
The <STRONG>trace</STRONG> function normally resides in the debug
described in <STRONG>PORTABILITY</STRONG> sections of the library man
pages.
+ Unlike other implementations, this one checks parameters
+ such as pointers to WINDOW structures to ensure they are
+ not null. The main reason for providing this behavior is
+ to guard against programmer error. The standard interface
+ does not provide a way for the library to tell an applica-
+ tion which of several possible errors were detected.
+ Relying on this (or some other) extension will adversely
+ affect the portability of curses applications.
+
This implementation also contains several extensions:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> The routine <STRONG>has_key</STRONG> is not part of XPG4, nor is it
- present in SVr4. See the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">curs_getch(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The routine <STRONG>has_key</STRONG> is not part of XPG4, nor is it
+ present in SVr4. See the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">curs_getch(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page
for details.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> The routine <STRONG>slk_attr</STRONG> is not part of XPG4, nor is it
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The routine <STRONG>slk_attr</STRONG> is not part of XPG4, nor is it
present in SVr4. See the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_slk.3x.html">curs_slk(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page for
details.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The routines <STRONG>getmouse</STRONG>, <STRONG>mousemask</STRONG>, <STRONG>ungetmouse</STRONG>, <STRONG>mousein-</STRONG>
<STRONG>terval</STRONG>, and <STRONG>wenclose</STRONG> relating to mouse interfacing are
- not part of XPG4, nor are they present in SVr4. See
+ not part of XPG4, nor are they present in SVr4. See
the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_mouse.3x.html">curs_mouse(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page for details.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> The routine <STRONG>mcprint</STRONG> was not present in any previous
- curses implementation. See the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_print.3x.html">curs_print(3x)</A></STRONG> manual
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The routine <STRONG>mcprint</STRONG> was not present in any previous
+ curses implementation. See the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_print.3x.html">curs_print(3x)</A></STRONG> manual
page for details.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> The routine <STRONG>wresize</STRONG> is not part of XPG4, nor is it
- present in SVr4. See the <STRONG><A HREF="wresize.3x.html">wresize(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page for
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The routine <STRONG>wresize</STRONG> is not part of XPG4, nor is it
+ present in SVr4. See the <STRONG><A HREF="wresize.3x.html">wresize(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page for
details.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> The WINDOW structure's internal details can be hidden
- from application programs. See <STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">curs_opaque(3x)</A></STRONG> for
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The WINDOW structure's internal details can be hidden
+ from application programs. See <STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">curs_opaque(3x)</A></STRONG> for
the discussion of <STRONG>is_scrollok</STRONG>, etc.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> This implementation can be configured to provide rudi-
- mentary support for multi-threaded applications. See
+ mentary support for multi-threaded applications. See
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_threads.3x.html">curs_threads(3x)</A></STRONG> for details.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> This implementation can also be configured to provide
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> This implementation can also be configured to provide
a set of functions which improve the ability to manage
- multiple screens. See <STRONG><A HREF="curs_sp_funcs.3x.html">curs_sp_funcs(3x)</A></STRONG> for details.
+ multiple
screens. See <STRONG><A HREF="curs_sp_funcs.3x.html">curs_sp_funcs(3x)</A></STRONG> for details.
In historic curses versions, delays embedded in the capa-
bilities <STRONG>cr</STRONG>, <STRONG>ind</STRONG>, <STRONG>cub1</STRONG>, <STRONG>ff</STRONG> and <STRONG>tab</STRONG> activated corresponding
projects / ncurses.git / blobdiff