-<!--
+<!--
+ * t
****************************************************************************
- * Copyright (c) 1998-2018,2019 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
+ * Copyright 2018-2023,2024 Thomas E. Dickey *
+ * Copyright 1998-2016,2017 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: term.5,v 1.32 2019/01/12 23:11:08 tom Exp @
+ * @Id: term.5,v 1.78 2024/05/11 20:39:53 tom Exp @
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-<H1 class="no-header">term 5</H1>
+<H1 class="no-header">term 5 2024-05-11 ncurses 6.5 File formats</H1>
<PRE>
-<STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>
File Formats Manual <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>
+<STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>
File formats <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
- term - format of compiled term file.
-
-
-</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
- <STRONG>term</STRONG>
+ term - compiled <EM>terminfo</EM> terminal description
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
+ <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1)</A></STRONG> compiles a <EM>terminfo</EM> terminal type description, and <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">setupterm(3x)</A></STRONG>
+ reads it. A compiled description may be stored in a file or in a
+ database of, potentially, many such descriptions. Further, a compiled
+ description may be in one of two formats: one similar to that used by
+ System V, and a newer, extensible format employed exclusively by
+ <EM>ncurses</EM>.
+
-</PRE><H3><a name="h3-S
TORAGE-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):
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-S
torage-Location">Storage Location</a></H3><PRE>
+ Compiled <EM>terminfo</EM> <EM>descriptions</EM> <EM>are</EM> <EM>placed</EM> under the directory
+ <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>. One of two configurations is selected when
+ building 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
- system directory: <STRONG>/usr/share/terminfo/c/name</STRONG> where <EM>name</EM> is the
+ A two-level scheme is used to avoid a linear search of a huge Unix
+ system directory: <EM>/usr/share/terminfo/</EM>c<EM>/</EM>name where <EM>name</EM> is the
name of the terminal, and <EM>c</EM> is the first character of <EM>name</EM>. Thus,
- <EM>act4</EM> can be found in the file <STRONG>/usr/share/terminfo/a/act4</STRONG>. Syn-
- onyms for the same terminal are implemented by multiple links to
- the same compiled file.
+ the compiled description of terminal type "act4" is found in the
+ file <EM>/usr/share/terminfo/a/act4</EM>. Synonyms for the same terminal
+ are implemented by multiple links to the same compiled file.
<STRONG>hashed</STRONG> <STRONG>database</STRONG>
- Using Berkeley database, two types of records are stored: the ter-
- minfo data in the same format as stored in a directory tree 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 ter-
- minfo databases organized as a directory tree, but cannot write
- entries into the directory tree. It can write (or rewrite)
+ Using the Berkeley database API, two types of records are stored:
+ the <EM>terminfo</EM> data in the same format as that stored in a directory
+ tree with the terminal's primary type name as a key, and records
+ containing only aliases pointing to the primary name.
+
+ If built to write hashed databases, <EM>ncurses</EM> can still read <EM>term-</EM>
+ <EM>info</EM> 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 TERMINFO and TER-
- MINFO_DIRS environment variable by assuming a directory tree for
- entries that correspond to an existing directory, and hashed data-
- base otherwise.
+ <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 a hashed
+ database otherwise.
-</PRE><H3><a name="h3-L
EGACY-STORAGE-FORMAT">LEGACY STORAGE FORMAT</a></H3><PRE>
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-L
egacy-Storage-Format">Legacy Storage Format</a></H3><PRE>
The format has been chosen so that it will be the same on all hardware.
- An 8 or more bit byte is assumed, but no assumptions about byte order-
- ing or sign extension are made.
+ A byte of at least eight bits' width is assumed, but no assumptions
+ about bit ordering or sign extension are made.
+
+ The file is divided into six parts:
+
+ (a) <EM>header</EM>,
+
+ (b) <EM>terminal</EM> <EM>names</EM>,
+
+ (c) <EM>Boolean</EM> <EM>flags</EM>,
- The compiled file is created with the <STRONG>tic</STRONG> program, and read by the rou-
- tine <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">setupterm(3x)</A></STRONG>. The file is divided into six parts: the header,
- terminal names, boolean flags, numbers, strings, and string table.
+ (d) <EM>numbers</EM>,
- The header section begins the file. This section contains six short
+ (e) <EM>strings</EM>, and
+
+ (f) a <EM>string</EM> <EM>table</EM>.
+
+ The <EM>header</EM> section begins the file. This section contains six short
integers in the format described below. These integers are
- (1) the magic number (octal 0432);
-
- (2) the size, in bytes, of the names section;
-
- (3) the number of bytes in the boolean section;
-
- (4) the number of short integers in the numbers section;
-
- (5) the number of offsets (short integers) in the strings section;
-
- (6) the size, in bytes, of the string table.
-
- Short integers are stored in two 8-bit bytes. The first byte contains
- the least significant 8 bits of the value, and the second byte contains
- the most significant 8 bits. (Thus, the value represented is 256*sec-
- ond+first.) The value -1 is represented by the two bytes 0377, 0377;
- other negative values are illegal. This value generally means that the
- corresponding capability is missing from this terminal. Note that this
- format corresponds to the hardware of the VAX and PDP-11 (that is, lit-
- tle-endian machines). Machines where this does not correspond to the
- hardware must read the integers as two bytes and compute the little-
- endian value.
-
- The terminal names section comes next. It contains the first line of
- the terminfo description, listing the various names for the terminal,
- separated by the "|" character. The section is terminated with an
- ASCII NUL character.
-
- The boolean flags have one byte for each flag. This byte is either 0
- or 1 as the flag is present or absent. The capabilities are in the
- same order as the file <term.h>.
-
- Between the boolean section and the number section, a null byte will be
- inserted, if necessary, to ensure that the number section begins on an
- even byte (this is a relic of the PDP-11's word-addressed architecture,
- originally designed in to avoid IOT traps induced by addressing a word
- on an odd byte boundary). All short integers are aligned on a short
- word boundary.
-
- The numbers section is similar to the flags section. Each capability
- takes up two bytes, and is stored as a little-endian short integer. If
- the value represented is -1, the capability is taken to be missing.
-
- The strings section is also similar. Each capability is stored as a
- short integer, in the format above. A value of -1 means the capability
- is missing. Otherwise, the value is taken as an offset from the begin-
- ning of the string table. Special characters in ^X or \c notation are
- stored in their interpreted form, not the printing representation.
- Padding information $<nn> and parameter information %x are stored
- intact in uninterpreted form.
-
- The final section is the string table. It contains all the values of
- string capabilities referenced in the string section. Each string is
- null terminated.
-
-
-</PRE><H3><a name="h3-EXTENDED-STORAGE-FORMAT">EXTENDED STORAGE FORMAT</a></H3><PRE>
- The previous section describes the conventional terminfo binary format.
- With some minor variations of the offsets (see PORTABILITY), the same
- 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
- format, allowing users to define capabilities which are loaded at run-
- time. 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 size, and
- if it exceeds that due to the predefined data, continues to parse
+ (1) the <EM>magic</EM> <EM>number</EM>
+ (octal 0432);
+
+ (2) the size,
+ in bytes, of the <EM>terminal</EM> <EM>names</EM> section;
+
+ (3) the number of bytes in the <EM>Boolean</EM> <EM>flags</EM> section;
+
+ (4) the number of short integers in the <EM>numbers</EM> section;
+
+ (5) the number of offsets
+ (short integers) in the <EM>strings</EM> section;
+
+ (6) the size,
+ in bytes, of the <EM>string</EM> <EM>table</EM>.
+
+ The capabilities in the <EM>Boolean</EM> <EM>flags</EM>, <EM>numbers</EM>, and <EM>strings</EM> sections
+ are in the same order as in the header file <EM>term.h</EM>.
+
+ Short integers are signed, in the range -32768 to 32767, and stored in
+ little-endian format.
+
+ Numbers in a terminal description, whether they are entries in the
+ <EM>numbers</EM> or <EM>strings</EM> table, are positive integers. Boolean flags are
+ treated as positive one-byte integers. In each case, those positive
+ integers represent a terminal capability. The terminal compiler <EM>tic</EM>
+ uses negative integers to handle the cases where a capability is not
+ available:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If a capability is absent from this terminal, <EM>tic</EM> stores a -1 in
+ the corresponding table.
+
+ The integer value -1 is represented by two bytes 0377, 0377.
+ Absent Boolean values are represented by the byte 0 (false).
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If a capability has been canceled from this terminal, <EM>tic</EM> stores a
+ -2 in the corresponding table.
+
+ The integer value -2 is represented by two bytes 0377, 0376.
+ The Boolean value -2 is represented by the byte 0376.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Other negative values are illegal.
+
+ The <EM>terminal</EM> <EM>names</EM> section comes after the <EM>header</EM>. It contains the
+ first line of the <EM>terminfo</EM> description, listing the various names for
+ the terminal, separated by the "|" character. The <EM>terminal</EM> <EM>names</EM>
+ section is terminated with an ASCII NUL character.
+
+ The <EM>Boolean</EM> <EM>flags</EM> section has one byte for each flag. Boolean
+ capabilities are either 1 or 0 (true or false) according to whether the
+ terminal supports the given capability or not.
+
+ Between the <EM>Boolean</EM> <EM>flags</EM> section and the <EM>number</EM> section, a null byte
+ will be inserted, if necessary, to ensure that the <EM>number</EM> section
+ begins on an even byte This is a relic of the PDP-11's word-addressed
+ architecture, originally designed to avoid traps induced by addressing
+ a word on an odd byte boundary. All short integers are aligned on a
+ short word boundary.
+
+ The <EM>numbers</EM> section is similar to the <EM>Boolean</EM> <EM>flags</EM> section. Each
+ capability takes up two bytes, and is stored as a little-endian short
+ integer.
+
+ The <EM>strings</EM> section is also similar. Each capability is stored as a
+ short integer. The capability value is an index into the <EM>string</EM> <EM>table</EM>.
+
+ The <EM>string</EM> <EM>table</EM> is the last section. It contains all of the values of
+ string capabilities referenced in the <EM>strings</EM> section. Each string is
+ null-terminated. Special characters in ^X or \c notation are stored in
+ their interpreted form, not the printing representation. Padding
+ information <STRONG>$<</STRONG><EM>nn</EM><STRONG>></STRONG> and parameter information <STRONG>%x</STRONG> are stored intact in
+ uninterpreted form.
+
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Extended-Storage-Format">Extended Storage Format</a></H3><PRE>
+ The previous section describes the conventional <EM>terminfo</EM> binary format.
+ With some minor variations of the offsets (see PORTABILITY), the same
+ binary format is used in all modern Unix systems. Each system uses a
+ predefined set of Boolean, number or string capabilities.
+
+ The <EM>ncurses</EM> libraries and applications support extended <EM>terminfo</EM> binary
+ format, allowing users to define capabilities that are loaded at
+ runtime. This extension is made possible by using the fact that the
+ other implementations stop reading the <EM>terminfo</EM> data when they reach
+ 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.
First, it reads the extended header (5 short integers):
- (1) count of extended boolean capabilities
+ (1) count of extended Boolean capabilities
(2) count of extended numeric capabilities
(5) size of the extended string table in bytes
- The count- and size-values for the extended string table include the
+ 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.
- After the end of these values, it contains the names for each of the
- extended capabilities in order, e.g., booleans, then numbers and
- finally strings.
+ The extended string table contains values for string capabilities.
+ After the end of these values, it contains the names for each of the
+ extended capabilities in order: Boolean, numeric, and string.
+
+ 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 that require more information about a
+ terminal type than was anticipated by X/Open Curses. 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
- described in <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG> which associate the long capability
- names with members of a <STRONG>TERMTYPE</STRONG> structure.
+ Applications that manipulate terminal data can use the definitions
+ described in <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG> associating the long capability names
+ with members of a <EM>TERMTYPE</EM> structure.
-</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>
- 6.1, a new format was introduced by making a few changes to the legacy
- format:
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Extended-Number-Format">Extended Number Format</a></H3><PRE>
+ On occasion, 16-bit signed integers are not large enough. <EM>ncurses</EM> 6.1
+ introduced a new format by making a few changes to the legacy format:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> a different magic number (octal 01036)
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> changing the type for the <EM>number</EM> array from signed 16-bit integers
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> changing the type for the <EM>number</EM> array from signed 16-bit integers
to signed 32-bit integers.
- To maintain compatibility, the library presents the same data struc-
- tures to direct users of the <STRONG>TERMTYPE</STRONG> structure as in previous formats.
- However, that cannot provide callers with the extended numbers. The
- library uses a similar but hidden data structure <STRONG>TERMTYPE2</STRONG> to provide
- data for the terminfo functions.
+ To maintain compatibility, the library presents the same data
+ structures to direct users of the <EM>TERMTYPE</EM> structure as in previous
+ formats. However, that cannot provide callers with the extended
+ numbers. The library uses a similar but hidden data structure
+ <EM>TERMTYPE2</EM> to provide data for the <EM>terminfo</EM> functions.
+
+
+</PRE><H2><a name="h2-FILES">FILES</a></H2><PRE>
+ <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>
+ compiled terminal description database
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-setupterm">setupterm</a></H3><PRE>
- Note that it is possible for <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> to expect a different set of
- capabilities than are actually present in the file. Either the data-
- base may have been updated since <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> has been recompiled (result-
- ing in extra unrecognized entries in the file) or the program may have
- been recompiled more recently than the database was updated (resulting
- in missing entries). The routine <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> must be prepared for both
- possibilities - this is why the numbers and sizes are included. Also,
- new capabilities must always be added at the end of the lists of bool-
- ean, number, and string capabilities.
-
-
-</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Binary-
format">Binary format</a></H3><PRE>
- X/Open Curses does not specify a format for the terminfo database.
- UNIX System V curses used a directory-tree of binary files, one per
- terminal description.
-
- Despite the consistent use of little-endian for numbers and the other-
- wise self-describing format, it is not wise to count on portability of
- binary terminfo entries between commercial UNIX versions. The problem
- is that there are at least three versions of terminfo (under HP-UX,
- AIX, and OSF/1) which diverged from System V terminfo after SVr1, and
- have added extension capabilities to the string table that (in the
- binary format) collide with System V and XSI Curses extensions. See
- <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> for detailed discussion of terminfo source compatibility
+ Note that it is possible for <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> to expect a different set of
+ capabilities than are actually present in the file. Either the
+ database may have been updated since <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> was recompiled
+ (resulting in extra unrecognized entries in the file) or the program
+ may have been recompiled more recently than the database was updated
+ (resulting in missing entries). The routine <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> must be prepared
+ for both possibilities - this is why the numbers and sizes are
+ included. Also, new capabilities must always be added at the end of
+ the lists of Boolean, number, and string capabilities.
+
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Binary-
Format">Binary Format</a></H3><PRE>
+ X/Open Curses does not specify a format for the <EM>terminfo</EM> database.
+ System V <EM>curses</EM> used a directory-tree of binary files, one per terminal
+ description.
+
+ Despite the consistent use of little-endian numbers and the otherwise
+ self-describing format, it is not wise to count on portability of
+ binary <EM>terminfo</EM> entries between commercial Unix versions. The problem
+ is that there are at least three versions of <EM>terminfo</EM> (under HP-UX,
+ AIX, and OSF/1) each of which diverged from System V <EM>terminfo</EM> after
+ SVr1, and added extension capabilities to the string table that (in the
+ binary format) collide with System V and X/Open Curses extensions. See
+ <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> for detailed discussion of <EM>terminfo</EM> source compatibility
issues.
- 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
+ This implementation is by default compatible with the binary <EM>terminfo</EM>
+ format used by Solaris <EM>curses</EM>, 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 <EM>ncurses</EM> with
different configuration options.
-</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Magic-
codes">Magic codes</a></H3><PRE>
- The magic number in a binary terminfo file is the first 16-bits (two
- bytes). Besides making it more reliable for the library to check that
- a file is terminfo, utilities such as <STRONG>file</STRONG> also use that to tell what
- the file-format is. System V defined more than one magic number, with
- 0433, 0435 as screen-dumps (see <STRONG><A HREF="scr_dump.5.html">scr_dump(5)</A></STRONG>). This implementation uses
- 01036 as a continuation of that sequence, but with a different high-
- order byte to avoid confusion.
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Magic-
Codes">Magic Codes</a></H3><PRE>
+ The magic number in a binary <EM>terminfo</EM> file is the first 16 bits (two
+ bytes). Besides making it more reliable for the library to check that
+ a file is <EM>terminfo</EM>, utilities such as <STRONG>file(1)</STRONG> also use that to tell
+ what the file-format is. System V defined more than one magic number,
+ with 0433, 0435 as screen-dumps (see <STRONG><A HREF="scr_dump.5.html">scr_dump(5)</A></STRONG>). This implementation
+ uses 01036 as a continuation of that sequence, but with a different
+ high-order byte to avoid confusion.
+ <STRONG>The</STRONG> <EM>TERMTYPE</EM> <STRONG>Structure</STRONG>
+ Direct access to the <EM>TERMTYPE</EM> structure is provided for legacy
+ applications. Portable applications should use <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tigetflag(3x)</A></STRONG> and
+ related functions to read terminal capabilities.
-</PRE><H3><a name="h3-The-TERMTYPE-structure">The TERMTYPE structure</a></H3><PRE>
- Direct access to the <STRONG>TERMTYPE</STRONG> structure is provided for legacy applica-
- tions. Portable applications should use the <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG> and related
- functions described in <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG> for reading terminal capabili-
- ties.
-
-</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Mixed-case-terminal-names">Mixed-case terminal names</a></H3><PRE>
+</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 charac-
- ter" of the terminal name used as the intermediate level of a directory
- tree in (two-character) hexadecimal form.
-
-
-</PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXAMPLE">EXAMPLE</a></H2><PRE>
- As an example, here is a description for the Lear-Siegler ADM-3, a pop-
- ular though rather stupid early terminal:
-
- adm3a|lsi adm3a,
- am,
- cols#80, lines#24,
- bel=^G, clear= 32$<1>, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
- cuf1=^L, cup=\E=%p1%{32}%+%c%p2%{32}%+%c, cuu1=^K,
- home=^^, ind=^J,
-
-
- and a hexadecimal dump of the compiled terminal description:
-
- 0000 1a 01 10 00 02 00 03 00 82 00 31 00 61 64 6d 33 ........ ..1.adm3
- 0010 61 7c 6c 73 69 20 61 64 6d 33 61 00 00 01 50 00 a|lsi ad m3a...P.
- 0020 ff ff 18 00 ff ff 00 00 02 00 ff ff ff ff 04 00 ........ ........
- 0030 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 0a 00 25 00 27 00 ff ff ........ ..%.'...
- 0040 29 00 ff ff ff ff 2b 00 ff ff 2d 00 ff ff ff ff ).....+. ..-.....
- 0050 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
- 0060 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
- 0070 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
- 0080 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
- 0090 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
- 00a0 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
- 00b0 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
- 00c0 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
- 00d0 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
- 00e0 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
- 00f0 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
- 0100 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
- 0110 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
- 0120 ff ff ff ff ff ff 2f 00 07 00 0d 00 1a 24 3c 31 ....../. .....$<1
- 0130 3e 00 1b 3d 25 70 31 25 7b 33 32 7d 25 2b 25 63 >..=%p1% {32}%+%c
- 0140 25 70 32 25 7b 33 32 7d 25 2b 25 63 00 0a 00 1e %p2%{32} %+%c....
- 0150 00 08 00 0c 00 0b 00 0a 00 ........ .
-
-
-
-</PRE><H2><a name="h2-LIMITS">LIMITS</a></H2><PRE>
- Some limitations:
-
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> total compiled entries cannot exceed 4096 bytes in the legacy for-
- mat.
-
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> total compiled entries cannot exceed 32768 bytes in the extended
- format.
+ their names. If the underlying file system ignores the difference
+ 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.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> the name field cannot exceed 128 bytes.
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Limits">Limits</a></H3><PRE>
+ <EM>ncurses</EM> stores compiled terminal descriptions in three related formats,
+ described in the subsections
-</PRE><H2><a name="h2-FILES">FILES</a></H2><PRE>
- /usr/share/terminfo/*/* compiled terminal capability data base
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>Legacy</STRONG> <STRONG>Storage</STRONG> <STRONG>Format</STRONG>, and
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>Extended</STRONG> <STRONG>Storage</STRONG> <STRONG>Format</STRONG>, and
-</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="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>Extended</STRONG> <STRONG>Number</STRONG> <STRONG>Format</STRONG>.
+
+ The legacy storage format and the extended number format differ by the
+ types of numeric capability that they can store (for example, 16-
+ versus 32-bit integers). The extended storage format introduced by
+ <EM>ncurses</EM> 5.0 adds data to either of these formats.
+
+ Some limitations apply:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> total compiled entries cannot exceed 4096 bytes in the legacy
+ format.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> total compiled entries cannot exceed 32768 bytes in the extended
+ format.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> the name field cannot exceed 128 bytes.
+
+ Compiled entries are limited to 32768 bytes because offsets into the
+ <EM>strings</EM> <EM>table</EM> use two-byte integers. The legacy format could have
+ supported 32768-byte entries, but was limited to a virtual memory
+ page's 4096 bytes.
+
+
+</PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXAMPLES">EXAMPLES</a></H2><PRE>
+ Here is a <EM>terminfo</EM> description of the Lear-Siegler ADM-3, a popular
+ though rather stupid early terminal.
+
+ adm3a|lsi adm3a,
+ am,
+ cols#80, lines#24,
+ bel=^G, clear=\032$<1>, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
+ cuf1=^L, cup=\E=%p1%{32}%+%c%p2%{32}%+%c, cuu1=^K,
+ home=^^, ind=^J,
+
+ A hexadecimal dump of its compiled terminal description (in legacy
+ format) follows.
+
+ 0000 1a 01 10 00 02 00 03 00 82 00 31 00 61 64 6d 33 ........ ..1.adm3
+ 0010 61 7c 6c 73 69 20 61 64 6d 33 61 00 00 01 50 00 a|lsi ad m3a...P.
+ 0020 ff ff 18 00 ff ff 00 00 02 00 ff ff ff ff 04 00 ........ ........
+ 0030 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 0a 00 25 00 27 00 ff ff ........ ..%.'...
+ 0040 29 00 ff ff ff ff 2b 00 ff ff 2d 00 ff ff ff ff ).....+. ..-.....
+ 0050 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
+ 0060 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
+ 0070 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
+ 0080 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
+ 0090 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
+ 00a0 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
+ 00b0 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
+ 00c0 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
+ 00d0 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
+ 00e0 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
+ 00f0 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
+ 0100 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
+ 0110 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ........ ........
+ 0120 ff ff ff ff ff ff 2f 00 07 00 0d 00 1a 24 3c 31 ....../. .....$<1
+ 0130 3e 00 1b 3d 25 70 31 25 7b 33 32 7d 25 2b 25 63 >..=%p1% {32}%+%c
+ 0140 25 70 32 25 7b 33 32 7d 25 2b 25 63 00 0a 00 1e %p2%{32} %+%c....
+ 0150 00 08 00 0c 00 0b 00 0a 00 ........ .
</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 <EM>terminfo</EM> 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 pcurses.
+ documented legacy <EM>terminfo</EM> format (that used by <EM>pcurses</EM>).
+</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_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG>
+
- <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>
+
+ncurses 6.5 2024-05-11 <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
<div class="nav">
<ul>
<li><a href="#h2-NAME">NAME</a></li>
-<li><a href="#h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a>
<ul>
-<li><a href="#h3-STORAGE-LOCATION">STORAGE LOCATION</a></li>
-<li><a href="#h3-LEGACY-STORAGE-FORMAT">LEGACY STORAGE FORMAT</a></li>
-<li><a href="#h3-EXTENDED-STORAGE-FORMAT">EXTENDED STORAGE FORMAT</a></li>
-<li><a href="#h3-EXTENDED-NUMBER-FORMAT">EXTENDED NUMBER FORMAT</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Storage-Location">Storage Location</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Legacy-Storage-Format">Legacy Storage Format</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Extended-Storage-Format">Extended Storage Format</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Extended-Number-Format">Extended Number Format</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
+<li><a href="#h2-FILES">FILES</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#h3-setupterm">setupterm</a></li>
-<li><a href="#h3-Binary-format">Binary format</a></li>
-<li><a href="#h3-Magic-codes">Magic codes</a></li>
-<li><a href="#h3-The-TERMTYPE-structure">The TERMTYPE structure</a></li>
-<li><a href="#h3-Mixed-case-terminal-names">Mixed-case terminal names</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Binary-Format">Binary Format</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Magic-Codes">Magic Codes</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Mixed-case-Terminal-Names">Mixed-case Terminal Names</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Limits">Limits</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
-<li><a href="#h2-EXAMPLE">EXAMPLE</a></li>
-<li><a href="#h2-LIMITS">LIMITS</a></li>
-<li><a href="#h2-FILES">FILES</a></li>
-<li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h2-EXAMPLES">EXAMPLES</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</BODY>
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