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-<H1>terminfo 5 File Formats</H1>
-<HR>
+<H1 class="no-header">terminfo 5 File Formats</H1>
<PRE>
-<!-- Manpage converted by man2html 3.0.1 -->
<STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> File Formats <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
-</PRE>
-<H2>NAME</H2><PRE>
+</PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
terminfo - terminal capability data base
-</PRE>
-<H2>SYNOPSIS</H2><PRE>
+</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
/usr/share/terminfo/*/*
-</PRE>
-<H2>DESCRIPTION</H2><PRE>
+</PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
<EM>Terminfo</EM> is a data base describing terminals, used by
screen-oriented programs such as <STRONG>nvi(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG>rogue(1)</STRONG> and
libraries such as <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>. <EM>Terminfo</EM> describes termi-
nals by giving a set of capabilities which they have, by
specifying how to perform screen operations, and by speci-
fying padding requirements and initialization sequences.
- This describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 5.9 (patch 20140809).
-
- Entries in <EM>terminfo</EM> consist of a sequence of `,' separated
- fields (embedded commas may be escaped with a backslash or
- notated as \054). White space after the `,' separator is
- ignored. The first entry for each terminal gives the
- names which are known for the terminal, separated by `|'
- characters. The first name given is the most common
- abbreviation for the terminal, the last name given should
- be a long name fully identifying the terminal, and all
- others are understood as synonyms for the terminal name.
- All names but the last should be in lower case and contain
- no blanks; the last name may well contain upper case and
- blanks for readability.
-
- Lines beginning with a `#' in the first column are treated
- as comments. While comment lines are legal at any point,
- the output of <STRONG>captoinfo</STRONG> and <STRONG>infotocap</STRONG> (aliases for <STRONG>tic</STRONG>)
- will move comments so they occur only between entries.
-
- Newlines and leading tabs may be used for formatting
- entries for readability. These are removed from parsed
- entries. The <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option relies on this to format
- if-then-else expressions: the result can be read by <STRONG>tic</STRONG>.
+ This describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 6.0 (patch 20170401).
+
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminfo-Entry-Syntax">Terminfo Entry Syntax</a></H3><PRE>
+ Entries in <EM>terminfo</EM> consist of a sequence of fields:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Each field ends with a comma "," (embedded commas may
+ be escaped with a backslash or written as "\054").
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> White space between fields is ignored.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The first field in a <EM>terminfo</EM> entry begins in the
+ first column.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Newlines and leading whitespace (spaces or tabs) may
+ be used for formatting entries for readability. These
+ are removed from parsed entries.
+
+ The <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> <STRONG>-f</STRONG> and <STRONG>-W</STRONG> options rely on this to format
+ if-then-else expressions, or to enforce maximum line-
+ width. The resulting formatted terminal description
+ can be read by <STRONG>tic</STRONG>.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The first field for each terminal gives the names
+ which are known for the terminal, separated by "|"
+ characters.
+
+ The first name given is the most common abbreviation
+ for the terminal (its primary name), the last name
+ given should be a long name fully identifying the ter-
+ minal (see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">longname(3x)</A></STRONG>), and all others are treated
+ as synonyms (aliases) for the primary terminal name.
+
+ X/Open Curses advises that all names but the last
+ should be in lower case and contain no blanks; the
+ last name may well contain upper case and blanks for
+ readability.
+
+ This implementation is not so strict; it allows mixed
+ case in the primary name and aliases. If the last
+ name has no embedded blanks, it allows that to be both
+ an alias and a verbose name (but will warn about this
+ ambiguity).
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Lines beginning with a "#" in the first column are
+ treated as comments.
+
+ While comment lines are legal at any point, the output
+ of <STRONG>captoinfo</STRONG> and <STRONG>infotocap</STRONG> (aliases for <STRONG>tic</STRONG>) will move
+ comments so they occur only between entries.
Terminal names (except for the last, verbose entry) should
be chosen using the following conventions. The particular
-rv Reverse video c100-rv
-s Enable status line vt100-s
-vb Use visible bell instead of beep wy370-vb
-
-w Wide mode (> 80 columns, usually 132) vt100-w
For more on terminal naming conventions, see the <STRONG>term(7)</STRONG>
manual page.
- <STRONG>Predefined</STRONG> <STRONG>Capabilities</STRONG>
- The following is a complete table of the capabilities
- included in a terminfo description block and available to
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminfo-Capabilities-Syntax">Terminfo Capabilities Syntax</a></H3><PRE>
+ The terminfo entry consists of several <EM>capabilities</EM>, i.e.,
+ features that the terminal has, or methods for exercising
+ the terminal's features.
+
+ After the first field (giving the name(s) of the terminal
+ entry), there should be one or more <EM>capability</EM> fields.
+ These are boolean, numeric or string names with corre-
+ sponding values:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Boolean capabilities are true when present, false when
+ absent. There is no explicit value for boolean capa-
+ bilities.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Numeric capabilities have a "#" following the name,
+ then an unsigned decimal integer value.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> String capabilities have a "=" following the name,
+ then an string of characters making up the capability
+ value.
+
+ String capabilities can be split into multiple lines,
+ just as the fields comprising a terminal entry can be
+ split into multiple lines. While blanks between
+ fields are ignored, blanks embedded within a string
+ value are retained, except for leading blanks on a
+ line.
+
+ Any capability can be <EM>canceled</EM>, i.e., suppressed from the
+ terminal entry, by following its name with "@" rather than
+ a capability value.
+
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Similar-Terminals">Similar Terminals</a></H3><PRE>
+ If there are two very similar terminals, one (the variant)
+ can be defined as being just like the other (the base)
+ with certain exceptions. In the definition of the vari-
+ ant, the string capability <STRONG>use</STRONG> can be given with the name
+ of the base terminal:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The capabilities given before <STRONG>use</STRONG> override those in
+ the base type named by <STRONG>use</STRONG>.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If there are multiple <STRONG>use</STRONG> capabilities, they are
+ merged in reverse order. That is, the rightmost <STRONG>use</STRONG>
+ reference is processed first, then the one to its
+ left, and so forth.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Capabilities given explicitly in the entry override
+ those brought in by <STRONG>use</STRONG> references.
+
+ A capability can be canceled by placing <STRONG>xx@</STRONG> to the left of
+ the use reference that imports it, where <EM>xx</EM> is the capa-
+ bility. For example, the entry
+
+ 2621-nl, smkx@, rmkx@, use=2621,
+
+ defines a 2621-nl that does not have the <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> or <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG>
+ capabilities, and hence does not turn on the function key
+ labels when in visual mode. This is useful for different
+ modes for a terminal, or for different user preferences.
+
+ An entry included via <STRONG>use</STRONG> can contain canceled capabili-
+ ties, which have the same effect as if those cancels were
+ inline in the using terminal entry.
+
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Predefined-Capabilities">Predefined Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
+ The following is a complete table of the capabilities
+ included in a terminfo description block and available to
terminfo-using code. In each line of the table,
- The <STRONG>variable</STRONG> is the name by which the programmer (at the
+ The <STRONG>variable</STRONG> is the name by which the programmer (at the
terminfo level) accesses the capability.
- The <STRONG>capname</STRONG> is the short name used in the text of the
- database, and is used by a person updating the database.
- Whenever possible, capnames are chosen to be the same as
+ The <STRONG>capname</STRONG> is the short name used in the text of the
+ database, and is used by a person updating the database.
+ Whenever possible, capnames are chosen to be the same as
or similar to the ANSI X3.64-1979 standard (now superseded
- by ECMA-48, which uses identical or very similar names).
+ by ECMA-48, which uses identical or very similar names).
Semantics are also intended to match those of the specifi-
cation.
- The termcap code is the old <STRONG>termcap</STRONG> capability name (some
+ The termcap code is the old <STRONG>termcap</STRONG> capability name (some
capabilities are new, and have names which termcap did not
originate).
- Capability names have no hard length limit, but an infor-
- mal limit of 5 characters has been adopted to keep them
- short and to allow the tabs in the source file <STRONG>Caps</STRONG> to
+ Capability names have no hard length limit, but an infor-
+ mal limit of 5 characters has been adopted to keep them
+ short and to allow the tabs in the source file <STRONG>Caps</STRONG> to
line up nicely.
- Finally, the description field attempts to convey the
- semantics of the capability. You may find some codes in
+ Finally, the description field attempts to convey the
+ semantics of the capability. You may find some codes in
the description field:
(P) indicates that padding may be specified
- #[1-9] in the description field indicates that the string
+ #[1-9] in the description field indicates that the string
is passed through tparm with parms as given (#<EM>i</EM>).
- (P*) indicates that padding may vary in proportion to
+ (P*) indicates that padding may vary in proportion to
the number of lines affected
(#<EM>i</EM>) indicates the <EM>i</EM>th parameter.
by overwriting (hp)
col_addr_glitch xhpa YA only positive motion
for hpa/mhpa caps
-
-
-
cpi_changes_res cpix YF changing character
pitch changes reso-
lution
required
no_esc_ctlc xsb xb beehive (f1=escape,
f2=ctrl C)
+
+
no_pad_char npc NP pad character does
not exist
non_dest_scroll_region ndscr ND scrolling region is
status_line_esc_ok eslok es escape can be used
on the status line
tilde_glitch hz hz cannot print ~'s
- (hazeltine)
-
-
+ (Hazeltine)
transparent_underline ul ul underline character
overstrikes
xon_xoff xon xo terminal uses
color-pairs on the
screen
maximum_windows wnum MW maximum number of
- defineable windows
+ definable windows
no_color_video ncv NC video attributes
that cannot be used
with colors
width_status_line wsl ws number of columns in
status line
- The following numeric capabilities are present in the
- SVr4.0 term structure, but are not yet documented in the
+ The following numeric capabilities are present in the
+ SVr4.0 term structure, but are not yet documented in the
man page. They came in with SVr4's printer support.
dot_horz_spacing spinh Yc spacing of dots hor-
izontally in dots
per inch
-
dot_vert_spacing spinv Yb spacing of pins ver-
tically in pins per
inch
to #1
change_line_pitch lpi ZB Change number of
lines per inch to #1
+
change_res_horz chr ZC Change horizontal
resolution to #1
+
+
change_res_vert cvr ZD Change vertical res-
olution to #1
change_scroll_region csr cs change region to
home cursor (P*)
clr_bol el1 cb Clear to beginning
of line
-
-
clr_eol el ce clear to end of line
(P)
clr_eos ed cd clear to end of
char set
enter_alt_charset_mode smacs as start alternate
character set (P)
+
enter_am_mode smam SA turn on automatic
margins
enter_blink_mode blink mb turn on blinking
+
+
enter_bold_mode bold md turn on bold (extra
bright) mode
enter_ca_mode smcup ti string to start pro-
enter_italics_mode sitm ZH Enter italic mode
enter_leftward_mode slm ZI Start leftward car-
riage motion
-
enter_micro_mode smicm ZJ Start micro-motion
mode
enter_near_letter_quality snlq ZK Enter NLQ mode
ter motion
exit_xon_mode rmxon RX turn off xon/xoff
handshaking
+
+
fixed_pause pause PA pause for 2-3 sec-
onds
flash_hook hook fh flash switch hook
string
init_2string is2 is initialization
string
-
init_3string is3 i3 initialization
string
init_file if if name of initializa-
key_f1 kf1 k1 F1 function key
key_f10 kf10 k; F10 function key
key_f11 kf11 F1 F11 function key
+
key_f12 kf12 F2 F12 function key
key_f13 kf13 F3 F13 function key
key_f14 kf14 F4 F14 function key
key_f22 kf22 FC F22 function key
key_f23 kf23 FD F23 function key
key_f24 kf24 FE F24 function key
-
key_f25 kf25 FF F25 function key
key_f26 kf26 FG F26 function key
key_f27 kf27 FH F27 function key
key_ic kich1 kI insert-character key
key_il kil1 kA insert-line key
key_left kcub1 kl left-arrow key
+
key_ll kll kH lower-left key (home
down)
key_mark kmrk %2 mark key
key_previous kprv %8 previous key
key_print kprt %9 print key
key_redo krdo %0 redo key
-
key_reference kref &1 reference key
key_refresh krfr &2 refresh key
key_replace krpl &3 replace key
board_transmit' mode
keypad_xmit smkx ks enter 'key-
board_transmit' mode
+
+
lab_f0 lf0 l0 label on function
key f0 if not f0
lab_f1 lf1 l1 label on function
key f3 if not f3
lab_f4 lf4 l4 label on function
key f4 if not f4
-
-
lab_f5 lf5 l5 label on function
key f5 if not f5
lab_f6 lf6 l6 label on function
to the left (P)
parm_left_micro mcub Zg Like parm_left_cur-
sor in micro mode
+
+
parm_right_cursor cuf RI move #1 characters
to the right (P*)
parm_right_micro mcuf Zh Like parm_right_cur-
in micro mode
pkey_key pfkey pk program function key
#1 to type string #2
-
-
pkey_local pfloc pl program function key
#1 to execute string
#2
pair to #1
set_foreground setf Sf Set foreground color
#1
+
+
set_left_margin smgl ML set left soft margin
at current column.
See smgl. (ML is not
umn
set_right_margin_parm smgrp Zn Set right margin at
column #1
-
set_tab hts st set a tab in every
row, current columns
set_top_margin smgt Zo Set top margin at
zero_motion zerom Zx No motion for subse-
quent character
- The following string capabilities are present in the
- SVr4.0 term structure, but were originally not documented
+ The following string capabilities are present in the
+ SVr4.0 term structure, but were originally not documented
in the man page.
of same row
bit_image_newline binel Zz Move to next row
of the bit image
-
bit_image_repeat birep Xy Repeat bit image
cell #1 #2 times
char_set_names csnm Zy Produce #1'th item
multiple codesets
color_names colornm Yw Give name for
color #1
- define_bit_image_region defbi Yx Define rectan-
- gualar bit image
- region
+ define_bit_image_region defbi Yx Define rectangular
+ bit image region
device_type devt dv Indicate lan-
guage/codeset sup-
port
ANSI escape
set_color_band setcolor Yz Change to ribbon
color #1
+
set_lr_margin smglr ML Set both left and
right margins to
#1, #2. (ML is
cap).
set_page_length slines YZ Set page length to
#1 lines
-
set_tb_margin smgtb MT Sets both top and
bottom margins to
#1, #2
tations use sL for
termcap).
- <STRONG>User-Defined</STRONG> <STRONG>Capabilities</STRONG>
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-User-Defined-Capabilities">User-Defined Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
The preceding section listed the <EM>predefined</EM> capabilities.
They deal with some special features for terminals no
longer (or possibly never) produced. Occasionally there
of special named keys) is best done using the longer names
available using terminfo.
- <STRONG>A</STRONG> <STRONG>Sample</STRONG> <STRONG>Entry</STRONG>
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-A-Sample-Entry">A Sample Entry</a></H3><PRE>
The following entry, describing an ANSI-standard terminal,
is representative of what a <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> entry for a modern
terminal typically looks like.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> string capabilities, which give a sequence which can
be used to perform particular terminal operations.
- <STRONG>Types</STRONG> <STRONG>of</STRONG> <STRONG>Capabilities</STRONG>
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Types-of-Capabilities">Types of Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
All capabilities have names. For instance, the fact that
ANSI-standard terminals have <EM>automatic</EM> <EM>margins</EM> (i.e., an
automatic return and line-feed when the end of a line is
A delay in milliseconds may appear anywhere in a string
capability, enclosed in $<..> brackets, as in <STRONG>el</STRONG>=\EK$<5>,
- and padding characters are supplied by <EM>tputs</EM> to provide
- this delay. The delay must be a number with at most one
- decimal place of precision; it may be followed by suffixes
- "*" or "/" or both. A "*" indicates that the padding
- required is proportional to the number of lines affected
- by the operation, and the amount given is the per-
- affected-unit padding required. (In the case of insert
- character, the factor is still the number of <EM>lines</EM>
- affected.) Normally, padding is advisory if the device
- has the <STRONG>xon</STRONG> capability; it is used for cost computation
- but does not trigger delays. A "/" suffix indicates that
- the padding is mandatory and forces a delay of the given
- number of milliseconds even on devices for which <STRONG>xon</STRONG> is
- present to indicate flow control.
-
- Sometimes individual capabilities must be commented out.
- To do this, put a period before the capability name. For
+ and padding characters are supplied by <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tputs(3x)</A></STRONG> to pro-
+ vide this delay.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The delay must be a number with at most one decimal
+ place of precision; it may be followed by suffixes "*"
+ or "/" or both.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "*" indicates that the padding required is propor-
+ tional to the number of lines affected by the opera-
+ tion, and the amount given is the per-affected-unit
+ padding required. (In the case of insert character,
+ the factor is still the number of <EM>lines</EM> affected.)
+
+ Normally, padding is advisory if the device has the
+ <STRONG>xon</STRONG> capability; it is used for cost computation but
+ does not trigger delays.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "/" suffix indicates that the padding is mandatory
+ and forces a delay of the given number of milliseconds
+ even on devices for which <STRONG>xon</STRONG> is present to indicate
+ flow control.
+
+ Sometimes individual capabilities must be commented out.
+ To do this, put a period before the capability name. For
example, see the second <STRONG>ind</STRONG> in the example above.
- <STRONG>Fetching</STRONG> <STRONG>Compiled</STRONG> <STRONG>Descriptions</STRONG>
- The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library searches for terminal descriptions in
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Fetching-Compiled-Descriptions">Fetching Compiled Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
+ The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library searches for terminal descriptions in
several places. It uses only the first description found.
- The library has a compiled-in list of places to search
- which can be overridden by environment variables. Before
- starting to search, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> eliminates duplicates in its
+ The library has a compiled-in list of places to search
+ which can be overridden by environment variables. Before
+ starting to search, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> eliminates duplicates in its
search list.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the environment variable TERMINFO is set, it is
- interpreted as the pathname of a directory containing
- the compiled description you are working on. Only
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the environment variable TERMINFO is set, it is
+ interpreted as the pathname of a directory containing
+ the compiled description you are working on. Only
that directory is searched.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> If TERMINFO is not set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> will instead look in
- the directory <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> for a compiled descrip-
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If TERMINFO is not set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> will instead look in
+ the directory <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> for a compiled descrip-
tion.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Next, if the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS is
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Next, if the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS is
set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> will interpret the contents of that vari-
- able as a list of colon-separated directories (or
+ able as a list of colon-separated directories (or
database files) to be searched.
- An empty directory name (i.e., if the variable begins
- or ends with a colon, or contains adacent colons) is
- interpreted as the system location <EM>/usr/share/ter-</EM>
+ An empty directory name (i.e., if the variable begins
+ or ends with a colon, or contains adjacent colons) is
+ interpreted as the system location <EM>/usr/share/ter-</EM>
<EM>minfo</EM>.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Finally, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> searches these compiled-in locations:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> a list of directories
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> a list of directories
(/usr/local/ncurses/share/terminfo:/usr/share/ter-
minfo), and
<STRONG>o</STRONG> the system terminfo directory, <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>
(the compiled-in default).
- <STRONG>Preparing</STRONG> <STRONG>Descriptions</STRONG>
- We now outline how to prepare descriptions of terminals.
- The most effective way to prepare a terminal description
- is by imitating the description of a similar terminal in
- <EM>terminfo</EM> and to build up a description gradually, using
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Preparing-Descriptions">Preparing Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
+ We now outline how to prepare descriptions of terminals.
+ The most effective way to prepare a terminal description
+ is by imitating the description of a similar terminal in
+ <EM>terminfo</EM> and to build up a description gradually, using
partial descriptions with <EM>vi</EM> or some other screen-oriented
- program to check that they are correct. Be aware that a
+ program to check that they are correct. Be aware that a
very unusual terminal may expose deficiencies in the abil-
- ity of the <EM>terminfo</EM> file to describe it or bugs in the
+ ity of the <EM>terminfo</EM> file to describe it or bugs in the
screen-handling code of the test program.
- To get the padding for insert line right (if the terminal
+ To get the padding for insert line right (if the terminal
manufacturer did not document it) a severe test is to edit
- a large file at 9600 baud, delete 16 or so lines from the
- middle of the screen, then hit the "u" key several times
- quickly. If the terminal messes up, more padding is usu-
- ally needed. A similar test can be used for insert char-
+ a large file at 9600 baud, delete 16 or so lines from the
+ middle of the screen, then hit the "u" key several times
+ quickly. If the terminal messes up, more padding is usu-
+ ally needed. A similar test can be used for insert char-
acter.
- <STRONG>Basic</STRONG> <STRONG>Capabilities</STRONG>
- The number of columns on each line for the terminal is
- given by the <STRONG>cols</STRONG> numeric capability. If the terminal is
- a CRT, then the number of lines on the screen is given by
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Basic-Capabilities">Basic Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
+ The number of columns on each line for the terminal is
+ given by the <STRONG>cols</STRONG> numeric capability. If the terminal is
+ a CRT, then the number of lines on the screen is given by
the <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability. If the terminal wraps around to the
- beginning of the next line when it reaches the right mar-
+ beginning of the next line when it reaches the right mar-
gin, then it should have the <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability. If the termi-
- nal can clear its screen, leaving the cursor in the home
- position, then this is given by the <STRONG>clear</STRONG> string capabil-
- ity. If the terminal overstrikes (rather than clearing a
- position when a character is struck over) then it should
- have the <STRONG>os</STRONG> capability. If the terminal is a printing
- terminal, with no soft copy unit, give it both <STRONG>hc</STRONG> and <STRONG>os</STRONG>.
- (<STRONG>os</STRONG> applies to storage scope terminals, such as TEKTRONIX
- 4010 series, as well as hard copy and APL terminals.) If
+ nal can clear its screen, leaving the cursor in the home
+ position, then this is given by the <STRONG>clear</STRONG> string capabil-
+ ity. If the terminal overstrikes (rather than clearing a
+ position when a character is struck over) then it should
+ have the <STRONG>os</STRONG> capability. If the terminal is a printing
+ terminal, with no soft copy unit, give it both <STRONG>hc</STRONG> and <STRONG>os</STRONG>.
+ (<STRONG>os</STRONG> applies to storage scope terminals, such as TEKTRONIX
+ 4010 series, as well as hard copy and APL terminals.) If
there is a code to move the cursor to the left edge of the
current row, give this as <STRONG>cr</STRONG>. (Normally this will be car-
- riage return, control M.) If there is a code to produce
+ riage return, control M.) If there is a code to produce
an audible signal (bell, beep, etc) give this as <STRONG>bel</STRONG>.
- If there is a code to move the cursor one position to the
- left (such as backspace) that capability should be given
- as <STRONG>cub1</STRONG>. Similarly, codes to move to the right, up, and
+ If there is a code to move the cursor one position to the
+ left (such as backspace) that capability should be given
+ as <STRONG>cub1</STRONG>. Similarly, codes to move to the right, up, and
down should be given as <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>, and <STRONG>cud1</STRONG>. These local
- cursor motions should not alter the text they pass over,
- for example, you would not normally use "<STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>= " because
+ cursor motions should not alter the text they pass over,
+ for example, you would not normally use "<STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>= " because
the space would erase the character moved over.
- A very important point here is that the local cursor
- motions encoded in <EM>terminfo</EM> are undefined at the left and
- top edges of a CRT terminal. Programs should never
- attempt to backspace around the left edge, unless <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is
+ A very important point here is that the local cursor
+ motions encoded in <EM>terminfo</EM> are undefined at the left and
+ top edges of a CRT terminal. Programs should never
+ attempt to backspace around the left edge, unless <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is
given, and never attempt to go up locally off the top. In
- order to scroll text up, a program will go to the bottom
+ order to scroll text up, a program will go to the bottom
left corner of the screen and send the <STRONG>ind</STRONG> (index) string.
To scroll text down, a program goes to the top left corner
- of the screen and sends the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> (reverse index) string.
- The strings <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG> are undefined when not on their
+ of the screen and sends the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> (reverse index) string.
+ The strings <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG> are undefined when not on their
respective corners of the screen.
Parameterized versions of the scrolling sequences are <STRONG>indn</STRONG>
and <STRONG>rin</STRONG> which have the same semantics as <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG> except
- that they take one parameter, and scroll that many lines.
- They are also undefined except at the appropriate edge of
+ that they take one parameter, and scroll that many lines.
+ They are also undefined except at the appropriate edge of
the screen.
- The <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability tells whether the cursor sticks at the
- right edge of the screen when text is output, but this
+ The <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability tells whether the cursor sticks at the
+ right edge of the screen when text is output, but this
does not necessarily apply to a <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG> from the last column.
- The only local motion which is defined from the left edge
- is if <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is given, then a <STRONG>cub1</STRONG> from the left edge will
- move to the right edge of the previous row. If <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is not
- given, the effect is undefined. This is useful for draw-
- ing a box around the edge of the screen, for example. If
- the terminal has switch selectable automatic margins, the
- <EM>terminfo</EM> file usually assumes that this is on; i.e., <STRONG>am</STRONG>.
- If the terminal has a command which moves to the first
- column of the next line, that command can be given as <STRONG>nel</STRONG>
- (newline). It does not matter if the command clears the
- remainder of the current line, so if the terminal has no
- <STRONG>cr</STRONG> and <STRONG>lf</STRONG> it may still be possible to craft a working <STRONG>nel</STRONG>
+ The only local motion which is defined from the left edge
+ is if <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is given, then a <STRONG>cub1</STRONG> from the left edge will
+ move to the right edge of the previous row. If <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is not
+ given, the effect is undefined. This is useful for draw-
+ ing a box around the edge of the screen, for example. If
+ the terminal has switch selectable automatic margins, the
+ <EM>terminfo</EM> file usually assumes that this is on; i.e., <STRONG>am</STRONG>.
+ If the terminal has a command which moves to the first
+ column of the next line, that command can be given as <STRONG>nel</STRONG>
+ (newline). It does not matter if the command clears the
+ remainder of the current line, so if the terminal has no
+ <STRONG>cr</STRONG> and <STRONG>lf</STRONG> it may still be possible to craft a working <STRONG>nel</STRONG>
out of one or both of them.
These capabilities suffice to describe hard-copy and
- "glass-tty" terminals. Thus the model 33 teletype is
+ "glass-tty" terminals. Thus the model 33 teletype is
described as
33|tty33|tty|model 33 teletype,
am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
ind=^J, lines#24,
- <STRONG>Parameterized</STRONG> <STRONG>Strings</STRONG>
- Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters
- in the terminal are described by a parameterized string
- capability, with <EM>printf</EM>-like escapes such as <EM>%x</EM> in it.
- For example, to address the cursor, the <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Parameterized-Strings">Parameterized Strings</a></H3><PRE>
+ Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters
+ in the terminal are described by a parameterized string
+ capability, with <EM>printf</EM>-like escapes such as <EM>%x</EM> in it.
+ For example, to address the cursor, the <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is
given, using two parameters: the row and column to address
to. (Rows and columns are numbered from zero and refer to
the physical screen visible to the user, not to any unseen
- memory.) If the terminal has memory relative cursor
+ memory.) If the terminal has memory relative cursor
addressing, that can be indicated by <STRONG>mrcup</STRONG>.
- The parameter mechanism uses a stack and special <STRONG>%</STRONG> codes
- to manipulate it. Typically a sequence will push one of
- the parameters onto the stack and then print it in some
- format. Print (e.g., "%d") is a special case. Other
- operations, including "%t" pop their operand from the
+ The parameter mechanism uses a stack and special <STRONG>%</STRONG> codes
+ to manipulate it. Typically a sequence will push one of
+ the parameters onto the stack and then print it in some
+ format. Print (e.g., "%d") is a special case. Other
+ operations, including "%t" pop their operand from the
stack. It is noted that more complex operations are often
necessary, e.g., in the <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> string.
<STRONG>%%</STRONG> outputs "%"
<STRONG>%</STRONG><EM>[[</EM>:<EM>]flags][width[.precision]][</EM><STRONG>doxXs</STRONG><EM>]</EM>
- as in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>, flags are <EM>[-+#]</EM> and <EM>space</EM>. Use a ":"
- to allow the next character to be a "-" flag, avoid-
+ as in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>, flags are <EM>[-+#]</EM> and <EM>space</EM>. Use a ":"
+ to allow the next character to be a "-" flag, avoid-
ing interpreting "%-" as an operator.
- %c print pop() like %c in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
+ %c print <EM>pop()</EM> like %c in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
- <STRONG>%s</STRONG> print pop() like %s in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>%s</STRONG> print <EM>pop()</EM> like %s in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
<STRONG>%p</STRONG><EM>[1-9]</EM>
push <EM>i</EM>'th parameter
<STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[a-z]</EM>
- set dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to pop()
+ set dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to <EM>pop()</EM>
<STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[a-z]/</EM>
get dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
<STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
get static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
- The terms "static" and "dynamic" are misleading.
- Historically, these are simply two different sets of
- variables, whose values are not reset between calls
- to <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>. However, that fact is not documented in
- other implementations. Relying on it will adversely
- impact portability to other implementations.
+ The terms "static" and "dynamic" are misleading.
+ Historically, these are simply two different sets of
+ variables, whose values are not reset between calls
+ to <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tparm(3x)</A></STRONG>. However, that fact is not documented
+ in other implementations. Relying on it will
+ adversely impact portability to other implementa-
+ tions.
<STRONG>%'</STRONG><EM>c</EM><STRONG>'</STRONG> char constant <EM>c</EM>
<STRONG>%l</STRONG> push strlen(pop)
<STRONG>%+</STRONG>, <STRONG>%-</STRONG>, <STRONG>%*</STRONG>, <STRONG>%/</STRONG>, <STRONG>%m</STRONG>
- arithmetic (%m is mod): <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
+ arithmetic (%m is <EM>mod</EM>): <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
<STRONG>%&</STRONG>, <STRONG>%|</STRONG>, <STRONG>%^</STRONG>
bit operations (AND, OR and exclusive-OR): <EM>push(pop()</EM>
<STRONG>%!</STRONG>, <STRONG>%~</STRONG>
unary operations (logical and bit complement):
- push(op pop())
+ <EM>push(op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
<STRONG>%i</STRONG> add 1 to first two parameters (for ANSI terminals)
ter. Then the same is done for the second parameter.
More complex arithmetic is possible using the stack.
- <STRONG>Cursor</STRONG> <STRONG>Motions</STRONG>
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Cursor-Motions">Cursor Motions</a></H3><PRE>
If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very
upper left corner of screen) then this can be given as
<STRONG>home</STRONG>; similarly a fast way of getting to the lower left-
<STRONG>rmcup</STRONG> sequence is output (to the state prior to outputting
<STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>), specify <STRONG>nrrmc</STRONG>.
- <STRONG>Area</STRONG> <STRONG>Clears</STRONG>
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Area-Clears">Area Clears</a></H3><PRE>
If the terminal can clear from the current position to the
end of the line, leaving the cursor where it is, this
should be given as <STRONG>el</STRONG>. If the terminal can clear from the
(Thus, it can be simulated by a request to delete a large
number of lines, if a true <STRONG>ed</STRONG> is not available.)
- <STRONG>Insert/delete</STRONG> <STRONG>line</STRONG> <STRONG>and</STRONG> <STRONG>vertical</STRONG> <STRONG>motions</STRONG>
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Insert_delete-line-and-vertical-motions">Insert/delete line and vertical motions</a></H3><PRE>
If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line
where the cursor is, this should be given as <STRONG>il1</STRONG>; this is
done only from the first position of a line. The cursor
late destructive scrolling; their documentation cautions
you not to define <STRONG>csr</STRONG> unless this is true. This <STRONG>curses</STRONG>
implementation is more liberal and will do explicit erases
- after scrolling if <STRONG>ndstr</STRONG> is defined.
+ after scrolling if <STRONG>ndsrc</STRONG> is defined.
If the terminal has the ability to define a window as part
of memory, which all commands affect, it should be given
lines up from below or that scrolling back with <STRONG>ri</STRONG> may
bring down non-blank lines.
- <STRONG>Insert/Delete</STRONG> <STRONG>Character</STRONG>
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Insert_Delete-Character">Insert/Delete Character</a></H3><PRE>
There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with
respect to insert/delete character which can be described
using <EM>terminfo.</EM> The most common insert/delete character
<EM>n</EM> blanks without moving the cursor) can be given as <STRONG>ech</STRONG>
with one parameter.
- <STRONG>Highlighting,</STRONG> <STRONG>Underlining,</STRONG> <STRONG>and</STRONG> <STRONG>Visible</STRONG> <STRONG>Bells</STRONG>
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Highlighting_-Underlining_-and-Visible-Bells">Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells</a></H3><PRE>
If your terminal has one or more kinds of display
attributes, these can be represented in a number of dif-
ferent ways. You should choose one display form as <EM>stand-</EM>
erasable with a blank, then this should be indicated by
giving <STRONG>eo</STRONG>.
- <STRONG>Keypad</STRONG> <STRONG>and</STRONG> <STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Keys</STRONG>
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Keypad-and-Function-Keys">Keypad and Function Keys</a></H3><PRE>
If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes when the
keys are pressed, this information can be given. Note
that it is not possible to handle terminals where the key-
or more pln sequences to make sure that the change becomes
visible.
- <STRONG>Tabs</STRONG> <STRONG>and</STRONG> <STRONG>Initialization</STRONG>
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Tabs-and-Initialization">Tabs and Initialization</a></H3><PRE>
If the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance
to the next tab stop can be given as <STRONG>ht</STRONG> (usually control
I). A "back-tab" command which moves leftward to the pre-
initially set every <EM>n</EM> spaces when the terminal is powered
up, the numeric parameter <STRONG>it</STRONG> is given, showing the number
of spaces the tabs are set to. This is normally used by
- the <EM>tset</EM> command to determine whether to set the mode for
+ the <STRONG>tset</STRONG> command to determine whether to set the mode for
hardware tab expansion, and whether to set the tab stops.
If the terminal has tab stops that can be saved in non-
volatile memory, the terminfo description can assume that
These strings are expected to set the terminal into modes
consistent with the rest of the terminfo description.
They are normally sent to the terminal, by the <EM>init</EM> option
- of the <EM>tput</EM> program, each time the user logs in. They
+ of the <STRONG>tput</STRONG> program, each time the user logs in. They
will be printed in the following order:
run the program
A set of sequences that does a harder reset from a totally
unknown state can be given as <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rf</STRONG> and <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, analo-
gous to <STRONG>is1</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>is2</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>if</STRONG> and <STRONG>is3</STRONG> respectively. These
- strings are output by the <EM>reset</EM> program, which is used
+ strings are output by the <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program, which is used
when the terminal gets into a wedged state. Commands are
normally placed in <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG> <STRONG>rs3</STRONG> and <STRONG>rf</STRONG> only if they pro-
duce annoying effects on the screen and are not necessary
normally needed since the terminal is usually already in
80 column mode.
- The <EM>reset</EM> program writes strings including <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, etc., in
+ The <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program writes strings including <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, etc., in
the same order as the <EM>init</EM> program, using <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, etc.,
instead of <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, etc. If any of <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, or <STRONG>rf</STRONG> reset
- capability strings are missing, the <EM>reset</EM> program falls
+ capability strings are missing, the <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program falls
back upon the corresponding initialization capability
string.
described by this, the sequence can be placed in <STRONG>is2</STRONG> or
<STRONG>if</STRONG>.
- <STRONG>Delays</STRONG> <STRONG>and</STRONG> <STRONG>Padding</STRONG>
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Delays-and-Padding">Delays and Padding</a></H3><PRE>
Many older and slower terminals do not support either
XON/XOFF or DTR handshaking, including hard copy terminals
and some very archaic CRTs (including, for example, DEC
ter as a pad, then this can be given as <STRONG>pad</STRONG>. Only the
first character of the <STRONG>pad</STRONG> string is used.
- <STRONG>Status</STRONG> <STRONG>Lines</STRONG>
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Status-Lines">Status Lines</a></H3><PRE>
Some terminals have an extra "status line" which is not
normally used by software (and thus not counted in the
terminal's <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability).
capabilities. They are documented here in case they ever
become important.
- <STRONG>Line</STRONG> <STRONG>Graphics</STRONG>
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Line-Graphics">Line Graphics</a></H3><PRE>
Many terminals have alternate character sets useful for
forms-drawing. Terminfo and <STRONG>curses</STRONG> build in support for
the drawing characters supported by the VT100, with some
diamond ACS_DIAMOND + `
greater-than-or-equal-to ACS_GEQUAL > z
greek pi ACS_PI * {
+
horizontal line ACS_HLINE - q
lantern symbol ACS_LANTERN # i
large plus or crossover ACS_PLUS + n
acter pairs right to left in sequence; these become the
ACSC string.
- <STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>Handling</STRONG>
- Most color terminals are either "Tektronix-like" or "HP-
- like". Tektronix-like terminals have a predefined set of
- N colors (where N usually 8), and can set character-cell
- foreground and background characters independently, mixing
- them into N * N color-pairs. On HP-like terminals, the
- use must set each color pair up separately (foreground and
- background are not independently settable). Up to M
- color-pairs may be set up from 2*M different colors.
- ANSI-compatible terminals are Tektronix-like.
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Color-Handling">Color Handling</a></H3><PRE>
+ The curses library functions <STRONG>init_pair</STRONG> and <STRONG>init_color</STRONG>
+ manipulate the <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> and <EM>color</EM> <EM>values</EM> discussed in
+ this section (see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG> for details on these and
+ related functions).
+
+ Most color terminals are either "Tektronix-like" or "HP-
+ like":
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Tektronix-like terminals have a predefined set of <EM>N</EM>
+ colors (where <EM>N</EM> is usually 8), and can set character-
+ cell foreground and background characters indepen-
+ dently, mixing them into <EM>N</EM> * <EM>N</EM> color-pairs.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> On HP-like terminals, the user must set each color
+ pair up separately (foreground and background are not
+ independently settable). Up to <EM>M</EM> color-pairs may be
+ set up from 2*<EM>M</EM> different colors. ANSI-compatible
+ terminals are Tektronix-like.
Some basic color capabilities are independent of the color
method. The numeric capabilities <STRONG>colors</STRONG> and <STRONG>pairs</STRONG> specify
- the maximum numbers of colors and color-pairs that can be
- displayed simultaneously. The <STRONG>op</STRONG> (original pair) string
- resets foreground and background colors to their default
- values for the terminal. The <STRONG>oc</STRONG> string resets all colors
- or color-pairs to their default values for the terminal.
- Some terminals (including many PC terminal emulators)
- erase screen areas with the current background color
- rather than the power-up default background; these should
+ the maximum numbers of colors and color-pairs that can be
+ displayed simultaneously. The <STRONG>op</STRONG> (original pair) string
+ resets foreground and background colors to their default
+ values for the terminal. The <STRONG>oc</STRONG> string resets all colors
+ or color-pairs to their default values for the terminal.
+ Some terminals (including many PC terminal emulators)
+ erase screen areas with the current background color
+ rather than the power-up default background; these should
have the boolean capability <STRONG>bce</STRONG>.
- To change the current foreground or background color on a
- Tektronix-type terminal, use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> (set ANSI foreground)
- and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> (set ANSI background) or <STRONG>setf</STRONG> (set foreground)
- and <STRONG>setb</STRONG> (set background). These take one parameter, the
- color number. The SVr4 documentation describes only
- <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>; the XPG4 draft says that "If the terminal
- supports ANSI escape sequences to set background and fore-
- ground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>, respec-
- tively. If the terminal supports other escape sequences
- to set background and foreground, they should be coded as
- <STRONG>setf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setb</STRONG>, respectively. The <EM>vidputs()</EM> function and
- the refresh functions use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> if they are
- defined."
+ While the curses library works with <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> (reflect-
+ ing the inability of some devices to set foreground and
+ background colors independently), there are separate capa-
+ bilities for setting these features:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> To change the current foreground or background color
+ on a Tektronix-type terminal, use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> (set ANSI
+ foreground) and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> (set ANSI background) or <STRONG>setf</STRONG>
+ (set foreground) and <STRONG>setb</STRONG> (set background). These
+ take one parameter, the color number. The SVr4 docu-
+ mentation describes only <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>; the XPG4 draft
+ says that "If the terminal supports ANSI escape
+ sequences to set background and foreground, they
+ should be coded as <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>, respectively.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal supports other escape sequences to set
+ background and foreground, they should be coded as
+ <STRONG>setf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setb</STRONG>, respectively. The <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> and the
+ <STRONG><A HREF="curs_refresh.3x.html">refresh(3x)</A></STRONG> functions use the <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> capabil-
+ ities if they are defined.
The <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> and <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> capabilities take a single
numeric argument each. Argument values 0-7 of <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>
On an HP-like terminal, use <STRONG>scp</STRONG> with a color-pair number
parameter to set which color pair is current.
- On a Tektronix-like terminal, the capability <STRONG>ccc</STRONG> may be
- present to indicate that colors can be modified. If so,
- the <STRONG>initc</STRONG> capability will take a color number (0 to <STRONG>colors</STRONG>
- - 1)and three more parameters which describe the color.
- These three parameters default to being interpreted as RGB
- (Red, Green, Blue) values. If the boolean capability <STRONG>hls</STRONG>
- is present, they are instead as HLS (Hue, Lightness, Satu-
- ration) indices. The ranges are terminal-dependent.
-
- On an HP-like terminal, <STRONG>initp</STRONG> may give a capability for
- changing a color-pair value. It will take seven parame-
- ters; a color-pair number (0 to <STRONG>max_pairs</STRONG> - 1), and two
- triples describing first background and then foreground
- colors. These parameters must be (Red, Green, Blue) or
- (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) depending on <STRONG>hls</STRONG>.
+ Some terminals allow the <EM>color</EM> <EM>values</EM> to be modified:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> On a Tektronix-like terminal, the capability <STRONG>ccc</STRONG> may
+ be present to indicate that colors can be modified.
+ If so, the <STRONG>initc</STRONG> capability will take a color number
+ (0 to <STRONG>colors</STRONG> - 1)and three more parameters which
+ describe the color. These three parameters default to
+ being interpreted as RGB (Red, Green, Blue) values.
+ If the boolean capability <STRONG>hls</STRONG> is present, they are
+ instead as HLS (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) indices.
+ The ranges are terminal-dependent.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> On an HP-like terminal, <STRONG>initp</STRONG> may give a capability
+ for changing a color-pair value. It will take seven
+ parameters; a color-pair number (0 to <STRONG>max_pairs</STRONG> - 1),
+ and two triples describing first background and then
+ foreground colors. These parameters must be (Red,
+ Green, Blue) or (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) depending
+ on <STRONG>hls</STRONG>.
On some color terminals, colors collide with highlights.
You can register these collisions with the <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> capability.
SVr4 curses does nothing with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>, ncurses recognizes it
and optimizes the output in favor of colors.
- <STRONG>Miscellaneous</STRONG>
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</a></H3><PRE>
If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) charac-
ter as a pad, then this can be given as pad. Only the
first character of the pad string is used. If the termi-
text, including <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>, is transparently passed to the
printer while an <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> is in effect.
- <STRONG>Glitches</STRONG> <STRONG>and</STRONG> <STRONG>Braindamage</STRONG>
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Glitches-and-Braindamage">Glitches and Braindamage</a></H3><PRE>
Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow "~" characters to
be displayed should indicate <STRONG>hz</STRONG>.
Other specific terminal problems may be corrected by
adding more capabilities of the form <STRONG>x</STRONG><EM>x</EM>.
- <STRONG>Similar</STRONG> <STRONG>Terminals</STRONG>
- If there are two very similar terminals, one (the variant)
- can be defined as being just like the other (the base)
- with certain exceptions. In the definition of the vari-
- ant, the string capability <STRONG>use</STRONG> can be given with the name
- of the base terminal. The capabilities given before <STRONG>use</STRONG>
- override those in the base type named by <STRONG>use</STRONG>. If there
- are multiple <STRONG>use</STRONG> capabilities, they are merged in reverse
- order. That is, the rightmost <STRONG>use</STRONG> reference is processed
- first, then the one to its left, and so forth. Capabili-
- ties given explicitly in the entry override those brought
- in by <STRONG>use</STRONG> references.
-
- A capability can be canceled by placing <STRONG>xx@</STRONG> to the left of
- the use reference that imports it, where <EM>xx</EM> is the capa-
- bility. For example, the entry
-
- 2621-nl, smkx@, rmkx@, use=2621,
- defines a 2621-nl that does not have the <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> or <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG>
- capabilities, and hence does not turn on the function key
- labels when in visual mode. This is useful for different
- modes for a terminal, or for different user preferences.
-
- <STRONG>Pitfalls</STRONG> <STRONG>of</STRONG> <STRONG>Long</STRONG> <STRONG>Entries</STRONG>
- Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to
- date, no entry has even approached terminfo's 4096-byte
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Pitfalls-of-Long-Entries">Pitfalls of Long Entries</a></H3><PRE>
+ Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to
+ date, no entry has even approached terminfo's 4096-byte
string-table maximum. Unfortunately, the termcap transla-
tions are much more strictly limited (to 1023 bytes), thus
- termcap translations of long terminfo entries can cause
+ termcap translations of long terminfo entries can cause
problems.
- The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions of <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG>
- instruct the user to allocate a 1024-byte buffer for the
- termcap entry. The entry gets null-terminated by the
+ The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions of <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG>
+ instruct the user to allocate a 1024-byte buffer for the
+ termcap entry. The entry gets null-terminated by the
termcap library, so that makes the maximum safe length for
- a termcap entry 1k-1 (1023) bytes. Depending on what the
- application and the termcap library being used does, and
- where in the termcap file the terminal type that <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG>
+ a termcap entry 1k-1 (1023) bytes. Depending on what the
+ application and the termcap library being used does, and
+ where in the termcap file the terminal type that <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG>
is searching for is, several bad things can happen.
- Some termcap libraries print a warning message or exit if
- they find an entry that's longer than 1023 bytes; others
- do not; others truncate the entries to 1023 bytes. Some
+ Some termcap libraries print a warning message or exit if
+ they find an entry that's longer than 1023 bytes; others
+ do not; others truncate the entries to 1023 bytes. Some
application programs allocate more than the recommended 1K
for the termcap entry; others do not.
Each termcap entry has two important sizes associated with
it: before "tc" expansion, and after "tc" expansion. "tc"
- is the capability that tacks on another termcap entry to
- the end of the current one, to add on its capabilities.
- If a termcap entry does not use the "tc" capability, then
+ is the capability that tacks on another termcap entry to
+ the end of the current one, to add on its capabilities.
+ If a termcap entry does not use the "tc" capability, then
of course the two lengths are the same.
- The "before tc expansion" length is the most important
- one, because it affects more than just users of that par-
- ticular terminal. This is the length of the entry as it
+ The "before tc expansion" length is the most important
+ one, because it affects more than just users of that par-
+ ticular terminal. This is the length of the entry as it
exists in /etc/termcap, minus the backslash-newline pairs,
- which <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> strips out while reading it. Some termcap
- libraries strip off the final newline, too (GNU termcap
+ which <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> strips out while reading it. Some termcap
+ libraries strip off the final newline, too (GNU termcap
does not). Now suppose:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> a termcap entry before expansion is more than 1023
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> a termcap entry before expansion is more than 1023
bytes long,
<STRONG>o</STRONG> and the application has only allocated a 1k buffer,
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the termcap library (like the one in BSD/OS 1.1
- and GNU) reads the whole entry into the buffer, no
- matter what its length, to see if it is the entry it
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the termcap library (like the one in BSD/OS 1.1
+ and GNU) reads the whole entry into the buffer, no
+ matter what its length, to see if it is the entry it
wants,
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> is searching for a terminal type that
- either is the long entry, appears in the termcap file
- after the long entry, or does not appear in the file
- at all (so that <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> has to search the whole
- termcap file).
-
- Then <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> will overwrite memory, perhaps its stack,
- and probably core dump the program. Programs like telnet
- are particularly vulnerable; modern telnets pass along
- values like the terminal type automatically. The results
- are almost as undesirable with a termcap library, like
- SunOS 4.1.3 and Ultrix 4.4, that prints warning messages
- when it reads an overly long termcap entry. If a termcap
- library truncates long entries, like OSF/1 3.0, it is
- immune to dying here but will return incorrect data for
- the terminal.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> is searching for a terminal type that
+ either is the long entry, appears in the termcap file
+ after the long entry, or does not appear in the file
+ at all (so that <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> has to search the whole term-
+ cap file).
+
+ Then <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> will overwrite memory, perhaps its stack, and
+ probably core dump the program. Programs like telnet are
+ particularly vulnerable; modern telnets pass along values
+ like the terminal type automatically. The results are
+ almost as undesirable with a termcap library, like SunOS
+ 4.1.3 and Ultrix 4.4, that prints warning messages when it
+ reads an overly long termcap entry. If a termcap library
+ truncates long entries, like OSF/1 3.0, it is immune to
+ dying here but will return incorrect data for the termi-
+ nal.
The "after tc expansion" length will have a similar effect
to the above, but only for people who actually set TERM to
- that terminal type, since <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> only does "tc" expan-
- sion once it is found the terminal type it was looking
- for, not while searching.
+ that terminal type, since <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> only does "tc" expansion
+ once it is found the terminal type it was looking for, not
+ while searching.
In summary, a termcap entry that is longer than 1023 bytes
- can cause, on various combinations of termcap libraries
- and applications, a core dump, warnings, or incorrect
- operation. If it is too long even before "tc" expansion,
+ can cause, on various combinations of termcap libraries
+ and applications, a core dump, warnings, or incorrect
+ operation. If it is too long even before "tc" expansion,
it will have this effect even for users of some other ter-
- minal types and users whose TERM variable does not have a
+ minal types and users whose TERM variable does not have a
termcap entry.
When in -C (translate to termcap) mode, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> imple-
mentation of <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG> issues warning messages when the pre-
- tc length of a termcap translation is too long. The -c
- (check) option also checks resolved (after tc expansion)
+ tc length of a termcap translation is too long. The -c
+ (check) option also checks resolved (after tc expansion)
lengths.
- <STRONG>Binary</STRONG> <STRONG>Compatibility</STRONG>
- It is not wise to count on portability of binary terminfo
- entries between commercial UNIX versions. The problem is
- that there are at least two versions of terminfo (under
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Binary-Compatibility">Binary Compatibility</a></H3><PRE>
+ It is not wise to count on portability of binary terminfo
+ entries between commercial UNIX versions. The problem is
+ that there are at least two versions of terminfo (under
HP-UX and AIX) 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
+ SVr1, and have added extension capabilities to the string
+ table that (in the binary format) collide with System V
and XSI Curses extensions.
-</PRE>
-<H2>EXTENSIONS</H2><PRE>
+</PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></H2><PRE>
Searching for terminal descriptions in <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> and
TERMINFO_DIRS is not supported by older implementations.
- Some SVr4 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> implementations, and all previous to
- SVr4, do not interpret the %A and %O operators in parame-
+ Some SVr4 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> implementations, and all previous to
+ SVr4, do not interpret the %A and %O operators in parame-
ter strings.
- SVr4/XPG4 do not specify whether <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> licenses movement
- while in an alternate-character-set mode (such modes may,
- among other things, map CR and NL to characters that do
- not trigger local motions). The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation
- ignores <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> in <STRONG>ALTCHARSET</STRONG> mode. This raises the possi-
- bility that an XPG4 implementation making the opposite
- interpretation may need terminfo entries made for <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
+ SVr4/XPG4 do not specify whether <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> licenses movement
+ while in an alternate-character-set mode (such modes may,
+ among other things, map CR and NL to characters that do
+ not trigger local motions). The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation
+ ignores <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> in <STRONG>ALTCHARSET</STRONG> mode. This raises the possi-
+ bility that an XPG4 implementation making the opposite
+ interpretation may need terminfo entries made for <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
to have <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> turned off.
- The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library handles insert-character and insert-
+ The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library handles insert-character and insert-
character modes in a slightly non-standard way to get bet-
- ter update efficiency. See the <STRONG>Insert/Delete</STRONG> <STRONG>Character</STRONG>
+ ter update efficiency. See the <STRONG>Insert/Delete</STRONG> <STRONG>Character</STRONG>
subsection above.
- The parameter substitutions for <STRONG>set_clock</STRONG> and <STRONG>dis-</STRONG>
- <STRONG>play_clock</STRONG> are not documented in SVr4 or the XSI Curses
+ The parameter substitutions for <STRONG>set_clock</STRONG> and <STRONG>dis-</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>play_clock</STRONG> are not documented in SVr4 or the XSI Curses
standard. They are deduced from the documentation for the
AT&T 505 terminal.
- Be careful assigning the <STRONG>kmous</STRONG> capability. The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
- wants to interpret it as <STRONG>KEY_MOUSE</STRONG>, for use by terminals
- and emulators like xterm that can return mouse-tracking
- information in the keyboard-input stream.
+ Be careful assigning the <STRONG>kmous</STRONG> capability. The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
+ library wants to interpret it as <STRONG>KEY_MOUSE</STRONG>, for use by
+ terminals and emulators like xterm that can return mouse-
+ tracking information in the keyboard-input stream.
X/Open Curses does not mention italics. Portable applica-
- tions must assume that numeric capabilities are signed
- 16-bit values. This includes the <EM>no</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>color</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>video</EM> (ncv)
- capability. The 32768 mask value used for italics with
- ncv can be confused with an absent or cancelled ncv. If
- italics should work with colors, then the ncv value must
+ tions must assume that numeric capabilities are signed
+ 16-bit values. This includes the <EM>no</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>color</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>video</EM> (ncv)
+ capability. The 32768 mask value used for italics with
+ ncv can be confused with an absent or cancelled ncv. If
+ italics should work with colors, then the ncv value must
be specified, even if it is zero.
- Different commercial ports of terminfo and curses support
- different subsets of the XSI Curses standard and (in some
+ Different commercial ports of terminfo and curses support
+ different subsets of the XSI Curses standard and (in some
cases) different extension sets. Here is a summary, accu-
rate as of October 1995:
- <STRONG>SVR4,</STRONG> <STRONG>Solaris,</STRONG> <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> -- These support all SVr4 capabili-
- ties.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SVR4,</STRONG> <STRONG>Solaris,</STRONG> <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> -- These support all SVr4 capa-
+ bilities.
- <STRONG>SGI</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr4 set, adds one undocumented
- extended string capability (<STRONG>set_pglen</STRONG>).
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SGI</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr4 set, adds one undocumented
+ extended string capability (<STRONG>set_pglen</STRONG>).
- <STRONG>SVr1,</STRONG> <STRONG>Ultrix</STRONG> -- These support a restricted subset of ter-
- minfo capabilities. The booleans end with <STRONG>xon_xoff</STRONG>; the
- numerics with <STRONG>width_status_line</STRONG>; and the strings with
- <STRONG>prtr_non</STRONG>.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SVr1,</STRONG> <STRONG>Ultrix</STRONG> -- These support a restricted subset of
+ terminfo capabilities. The booleans end with
+ <STRONG>xon_xoff</STRONG>; the numerics with <STRONG>width_status_line</STRONG>; and the
+ strings with <STRONG>prtr_non</STRONG>.
- <STRONG>HP/UX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus the SVr[234]
- numerics <STRONG>num_labels</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_height</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_width</STRONG>, plus func-
- tion keys 11 through 63, plus <STRONG>plab_norm</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_on</STRONG>, and
- <STRONG>label_off</STRONG>, plus some incompatible extensions in the string
- table.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>HP/UX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus the SVr[234]
+ numerics <STRONG>num_labels</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_height</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_width</STRONG>, plus
+ function keys 11 through 63, plus <STRONG>plab_norm</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_on</STRONG>,
+ and <STRONG>label_off</STRONG>, plus some incompatible extensions in
+ the string table.
- <STRONG>AIX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11
- through 63, plus a number of incompatible string table
- extensions.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>AIX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11
+ through 63, plus a number of incompatible string table
+ extensions.
- <STRONG>OSF</STRONG> -- Supports both the SVr4 set and the AIX extensions.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>OSF</STRONG> -- Supports both the SVr4 set and the AIX exten-
+ sions.
-</PRE>
-<H2>FILES</H2><PRE>
+</PRE><H2><a name="h2-FILES">FILES</a></H2><PRE>
/usr/share/terminfo/?/* files containing terminal
descriptions
-</PRE>
-<H2>SEE ALSO</H2><PRE>
- <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="infocmp.1m.html">infocmp(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>printf(3)</STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>.
- <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>.
+</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
+ <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="infocmp.1m.html">infocmp(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG>,
+ <STRONG>printf(3)</STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>. <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>.
-</PRE>
-<H2>AUTHORS</H2><PRE>
+</PRE><H2><a name="h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></H2><PRE>
Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.
Based on pcurses by Pavel Curtis.
<STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
-<HR>
-<ADDRESS>
-Man(1) output converted with
-<a href="http://www.oac.uci.edu/indiv/ehood/man2html.html">man2html</a>
-</ADDRESS>
+<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-Terminfo-Entry-Syntax">Terminfo Entry Syntax</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Terminfo-Capabilities-Syntax">Terminfo Capabilities Syntax</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Similar-Terminals">Similar Terminals</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Predefined-Capabilities">Predefined Capabilities</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-User-Defined-Capabilities">User-Defined Capabilities</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-A-Sample-Entry">A Sample Entry</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Types-of-Capabilities">Types of Capabilities</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Fetching-Compiled-Descriptions">Fetching Compiled Descriptions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Preparing-Descriptions">Preparing Descriptions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Basic-Capabilities">Basic Capabilities</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Parameterized-Strings">Parameterized Strings</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Cursor-Motions">Cursor Motions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Area-Clears">Area Clears</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Insert_delete-line-and-vertical-motions">Insert/delete line and vertical motions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Insert_Delete-Character">Insert/Delete Character</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Highlighting_-Underlining_-and-Visible-Bells">Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Keypad-and-Function-Keys">Keypad and Function Keys</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Tabs-and-Initialization">Tabs and Initialization</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Delays-and-Padding">Delays and Padding</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Status-Lines">Status Lines</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Line-Graphics">Line Graphics</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Color-Handling">Color Handling</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Glitches-and-Braindamage">Glitches and Braindamage</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Pitfalls-of-Long-Entries">Pitfalls of Long Entries</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Binary-Compatibility">Binary Compatibility</a></li>
+</ul>
+</li>
+<li><a href="#h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h2-FILES">FILES</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></li>
+</ul>
+</div>
</BODY>
</HTML>
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