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* t
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- * Copyright (c) 1998-2006,2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
+ * Copyright (c) 1998-2007,2008 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 1.89 2007/09/01 18:57:29 tom Exp @
+ * @Id: ncurses.3x,v 1.91 2008/10/11 20:43:11 tom Exp @
-->
<HTML>
<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 5.6 (patch 20080621).
+ describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 5.6 (patch 20081011).
The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library emulates the <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG> library of
System V Release 4 UNIX, and XPG4 (X/Open Portability
lation; use of soft label keys; terminfo capabilities; and
access to low-level terminal-manipulation routines.
- To initialize the routines, the routine <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG>
- must be called before any of the other routines that deal
- with windows and screens are used. The routine <STRONG>endwin</STRONG>
- must be called before exiting. To get character-at-a-time
- input without echoing (most interactive, screen oriented
- programs want this), the following sequence should be
- used:
+ The library uses the locale which the calling program has
+ initialized. That is normally done with <STRONG>setlocale</STRONG>:
+
+ <STRONG>setlocale(LC_ALL,</STRONG> <STRONG>"");</STRONG>
+
+ If the locale is not initialized, the library assumes that
+ characters are printable as in ISO-8859-1, to work with
+ certain legacy programs. You should initialize the locale
+ and not rely on specific details of the library when the
+ locale has not been setup.
+
+ The function <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> must be called to initial-
+ ize the library before any of the other routines that deal
+ with windows and screens are used. The routine <STRONG>endwin</STRONG>
+ must be called before exiting.
+
+ To get character-at-a-time input without echoing (most
+ interactive, screen oriented programs want this), the fol-
+ lowing sequence should be used:
<STRONG>initscr();</STRONG> <STRONG>cbreak();</STRONG> <STRONG>noecho();</STRONG>
<STRONG>intrflush(stdscr,</STRONG> <STRONG>FALSE);</STRONG>
<STRONG>keypad(stdscr,</STRONG> <STRONG>TRUE);</STRONG>
- Before a <STRONG>curses</STRONG> program is run, the tab stops of the
- terminal should be set and its initialization strings, if
+ Before a <STRONG>curses</STRONG> program is run, the tab stops of the ter-
+ minal should be set and its initialization strings, if
defined, must be output. This can be done by executing
the <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>init</STRONG> command after the shell environment variable
<STRONG>TERM</STRONG> has been exported. <STRONG>tset(1)</STRONG> is usually responsible
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_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>*
add_wchnstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_add_wchstr.3x.html">curs_add_wchstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
add_wchstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_add_wchstr.3x.html">curs_add_wchstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
addch <STRONG><A HREF="curs_addch.3x.html">curs_addch(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
addchnstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_addchstr.3x.html">curs_addchstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
addchstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_addchstr.3x.html">curs_addchstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
addnstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_addstr.3x.html">curs_addstr(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>
getbegy <STRONG><A HREF="curs_legacy.3x.html">curs_legacy(3x)</A></STRONG>*
getbegyx <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getyx.3x.html">curs_getyx(3x)</A></STRONG>
getbkgd <STRONG><A HREF="curs_bkgd.3x.html">curs_bkgd(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
getbkgrnd <STRONG><A HREF="curs_bkgrnd.3x.html">curs_bkgrnd(3x)</A></STRONG>
getcchar <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getcchar.3x.html">curs_getcchar(3x)</A></STRONG>
getch <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">curs_getch(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>*
is_wintouched <STRONG><A HREF="curs_touch.3x.html">curs_touch(3x)</A></STRONG>
isendwin <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">curs_initscr(3x)</A></STRONG>
key_defined <STRONG><A HREF="key_defined.3x.html">key_defined(3x)</A></STRONG>*
-
key_name <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">curs_util(3x)</A></STRONG>
keybound <STRONG><A HREF="keybound.3x.html">keybound(3x)</A></STRONG>*
keyname <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">curs_util(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>
mvwaddchstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_addchstr.3x.html">curs_addchstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvwaddnstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_addstr.3x.html">curs_addstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvwaddnwstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_addwstr.3x.html">curs_addwstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
mvwaddstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_addstr.3x.html">curs_addstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvwaddwstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_addwstr.3x.html">curs_addwstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvwchgat <STRONG><A HREF="curs_attr.3x.html">curs_attr(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>
resizeterm <STRONG><A HREF="resizeterm.3x.html">resizeterm(3x)</A></STRONG>*
restartterm <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
ripoffline <STRONG><A HREF="curs_kernel.3x.html">curs_kernel(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
savetty <STRONG><A HREF="curs_kernel.3x.html">curs_kernel(3x)</A></STRONG>
scanw <STRONG><A HREF="curs_scanw.3x.html">curs_scanw(3x)</A></STRONG>
scr_dump <STRONG><A HREF="curs_scr_dump.3x.html">curs_scr_dump(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>*
use_default_colors <STRONG><A HREF="default_colors.3x.html">default_colors(3x)</A></STRONG>*
use_env <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">curs_util(3x)</A></STRONG>
use_extended_names <STRONG><A HREF="curs_extend.3x.html">curs_extend(3x)</A></STRONG>*
-
use_legacy_coding <STRONG><A HREF="legacy_coding.3x.html">legacy_coding(3x)</A></STRONG>*
vid_attr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
vid_puts <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(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>
winnwstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inwstr.3x.html">curs_inwstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
wins_nwstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_ins_wstr.3x.html">curs_ins_wstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
wins_wch <STRONG><A HREF="curs_ins_wch.3x.html">curs_ins_wch(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
wins_wstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_ins_wstr.3x.html">curs_ins_wstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
winsch <STRONG><A HREF="curs_insch.3x.html">curs_insch(3x)</A></STRONG>
winsdelln <STRONG><A HREF="curs_deleteln.3x.html">curs_deleteln(3x)</A></STRONG>
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
+ 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
+ support for xterm, etc.
+
+ 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
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
- 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
- cost) is for your program to do this by pausing after
- operations that the terminal does slowly, such as
- clearing the display.
+ windowing environment and use curses-based
+ applications. 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 application is the management of dataflow,
+ i.e., timing. Unless a hardware terminal is inter-
+ faced into a terminal concentrator (which does flow
+ control), it (or your application) must manage
+ dataflow, preventing 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 clearing the display.
As a result, many terminal descriptions (including
the vt100) have delay times embedded. You may wish
extended (wide-character) functions. The <STRONG>curses.h</STRONG>
file which is installed for the wide-character
library is designed to be compatible with the normal
- library's header. Only the size of the <STRONG>WINDOW</STRONG>
- structure differs, and very few applications require
- more than a pointer to <STRONG>WINDOW</STRONG>s. If the headers are
+ library's header. Only the size of the <STRONG>WINDOW</STRONG> struc-
+ ture differs, and very few applications require more
+ than a pointer to <STRONG>WINDOW</STRONG>s. If the headers are
installed allowing overwrite, the wide-character
library's headers should be installed last, to allow
applications to be built using either library from
trols, which allow an application to reset the terminal to
its original foreground and background colors. From the
users' perspective, the application is able to draw col-
- ored text on a background whose color is set
- independently, providing better control over color con-
- trasts. See the <STRONG><A HREF="default_colors.3x.html">default_colors(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page for
- details.
+ ored text on a background whose color is set indepen-
+ dently, providing better control over color contrasts.
+ See the <STRONG><A HREF="default_colors.3x.html">default_colors(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page for details.
- The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library includes a function for directing
- application output to a printer attached to the terminal
+ The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library includes a function for directing
+ application output to a printer attached to the terminal
device. See the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_print.3x.html">curs_print(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page for details.
</PRE>
<H2>PORTABILITY</H2><PRE>
- The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library is intended to be BASE-level confor-
+ The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library is intended to be BASE-level confor-
mant with XSI Curses. The EXTENDED XSI Curses functional-
ity (including color support) is supported.
- A small number of local differences (that is, individual
- differences between the XSI Curses and <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> calls) are
- described in <STRONG>PORTABILITY</STRONG> sections of the library man
+ A small number of local differences (that is, individual
+ differences between the XSI Curses and <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> calls) are
+ described in <STRONG>PORTABILITY</STRONG> sections of the library man
pages.
This implementation also contains several extensions:
- 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
+ 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.
- 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
+ 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.
- The routines <STRONG>getmouse</STRONG>, <STRONG>mousemask</STRONG>, <STRONG>ungetmouse</STRONG>, <STRONG>mou-</STRONG>
- <STRONG>seinterval</STRONG>, and <STRONG>wenclose</STRONG> relating to mouse interfac-
- ing are 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
+ The routines <STRONG>getmouse</STRONG>, <STRONG>mousemask</STRONG>, <STRONG>ungetmouse</STRONG>, <STRONG>mou-</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>seinterval</STRONG>, and <STRONG>wenclose</STRONG> relating to mouse interfac-
+ ing are 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.
- The routine <STRONG>mcprint</STRONG> was not present in any previous
+ 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.
- The routine <STRONG>wresize</STRONG> is not part of XPG4, nor is it
+ 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.
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
+ 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.
- In historic curses versions, delays embedded in the capa-
+ 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
- delay bits in the UNIX tty driver. In this implementa-
- tion, all padding is done by sending NUL bytes. This
- method is slightly more expensive, but narrows the inter-
- face to the UNIX kernel significantly and increases the
+ delay bits in the UNIX tty driver. In this implementa-
+ tion, all padding is done by sending NUL bytes. This
+ method is slightly more expensive, but narrows the inter-
+ face to the UNIX kernel significantly and increases the
package's portability correspondingly.
</PRE>
<H2>NOTES</H2><PRE>
- The header file <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG> automatically includes the
+ The header file <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG> automatically includes the
header files <STRONG><stdio.h></STRONG> and <STRONG><unctrl.h></STRONG>.
- If standard output from a <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> program is re-directed
- to something which is not a tty, screen updates will be
+ If standard output from a <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> program is re-directed
+ to something which is not a tty, screen updates will be
directed to standard error. This was an undocumented fea-
ture of AT&T System V Release 3 curses.
</PRE>
<H2>AUTHORS</H2><PRE>
- Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.
+ Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.
Based on pcurses by Pavel Curtis.