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-<H1 class="no-header">term 5 2023-12-02 ncurses 6.4 File formats</H1>
+<H1 class="no-header">term 5 2023-12-16 ncurses 6.4 File formats</H1>
<PRE>
<STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG> File formats <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-STORAGE-LOCATION">STORAGE LOCATION</a></H3><PRE>
Compiled terminfo descriptions are placed under the directory
<STRONG>/usr/share/terminfo</STRONG>. Two configurations are supported (when building
- the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> libraries):
+ the <EM>ncurses</EM> libraries):
<STRONG>directory</STRONG> <STRONG>tree</STRONG>
A two-level scheme is used to avoid a linear search of a huge Unix
with the terminfo's primary name as a key, and records containing
only aliases pointing to the primary name.
- If built to write hashed databases, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> can still read
+ If built to write hashed databases, <EM>ncurses</EM> can still read
terminfo databases organized as a directory tree, but cannot write
entries into the directory tree. It can write (or rewrite)
entries in the hashed database.
- <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> distinguishes the two cases in the <EM>TERMINFO</EM> and
+ <EM>ncurses</EM> distinguishes the two cases in the <EM>TERMINFO</EM> and
<EM>TERMINFO</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>DIRS</EM> environment variable by assuming a directory tree
for entries that correspond to an existing directory, and hashed
database otherwise.
binary format is used in all modern Unix systems. Each system uses a
predefined set of boolean, number or string capabilities.
- The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> libraries and applications support extended terminfo binary
+ The <EM>ncurses</EM> libraries and applications support extended terminfo binary
format, allowing users to define capabilities which are loaded at
runtime. This extension is made possible by using the fact that the
other implementations stop reading the terminfo data when they have
- reached the end of the size given in the header. <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> checks the
+ reached the end of the size given in the header. <EM>ncurses</EM> checks the
size, and if it exceeds that due to the predefined data, continues to
parse according to its own scheme.
The count- and size-values for the extended string table include the
extended capability <EM>names</EM> as well as extended capability <EM>values</EM>.
- Using the counts and sizes, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> allocates arrays and reads data for
+ Using the counts and sizes, <EM>ncurses</EM> allocates arrays and reads data for
the extended capabilities in the same order as the header information.
The extended string table contains values for string capabilities.
extended capabilities in order, e.g., booleans, then numbers and
finally strings.
- By storing terminal descriptions in this way, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> is able to
+ By storing terminal descriptions in this way, <EM>ncurses</EM> is able to
provide a database useful with legacy applications, as well as
providing data for applications which need more than the predefined
- capabilities. See <STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG> for an overview of the way <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> uses
+ capabilities. See <STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG> for an overview of the way <EM>ncurses</EM> uses
this extended information.
Applications which manipulate terminal data can use the definitions
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-EXTENDED-NUMBER-FORMAT">EXTENDED NUMBER FORMAT</a></H3><PRE>
- On occasion, 16-bit signed integers are not large enough. With <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
+ On occasion, 16-bit signed integers are not large enough. With <EM>ncurses</EM>
6.1, a new format was introduced by making a few changes to the legacy
format:
This implementation is by default compatible with the binary terminfo
format used by Solaris curses, except in a few less-used details where
it was found that the latter did not match X/Open Curses. The format
- used by the other Unix versions can be matched by building ncurses with
+ used by the other Unix versions can be matched by building <EM>ncurses</EM> with
different configuration options.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Mixed-case-terminal-names">Mixed-case terminal names</a></H3><PRE>
A small number of terminal descriptions use uppercase characters in
their names. If the underlying filesystem ignores the difference
- between uppercase and lowercase, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> represents the "first
+ between uppercase and lowercase, <EM>ncurses</EM> represents the "first
character" of the terminal name used as the intermediate level of a
directory tree in (two-character) hexadecimal form.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Limits">Limits</a></H3><PRE>
- <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> stores compiled terminal descriptions in three related formats,
+ <EM>ncurses</EM> stores compiled terminal descriptions in three related formats,
described in the sections
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>LEGACY</STRONG> <STRONG>STORAGE</STRONG> <STRONG>FORMAT</STRONG>, and
The legacy storage format and the extended number format differ by the
types of numeric capability which they can store (i.e., 16-bit versus
- 32-bit integers). The extended storage format introduced by ncurses
+ 32-bit integers). The extended storage format introduced by <EM>ncurses</EM>
5.0 adds data to either of these formats.
Some limitations apply:
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></H2><PRE>
Thomas E. Dickey
- extended terminfo format for ncurses 5.0
- hashed database support for ncurses 5.6
- extended number support for ncurses 6.1
+ extended terminfo format for <EM>ncurses</EM> 5.0
+ hashed database support for <EM>ncurses</EM> 5.6
+ extended number support for <EM>ncurses</EM> 6.1
Eric S. Raymond
documented legacy terminfo format, e.g., from <EM>pcurses</EM>.
-ncurses 6.4 2023-12-
02 <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>
+ncurses 6.4 2023-12-
16 <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>
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