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-<TITLE>TERMINFO 5 File Formats</TITLE>
+<TITLE>terminfo 5 File Formats</TITLE>
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-<H1>TERMINFO 5 File Formats</H1>
+<H1>terminfo 5 File Formats</H1>
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<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>
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.
+ fying padding requirements and initialization sequences.
+ This describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 5.9 (patch 20130518).
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.
+ 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
+ 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>.
+
Terminal names (except for the last, verbose entry) should
be chosen using the following conventions. The particular
- piece of hardware making up the terminal should have a
- root name, thus ``hp2621''. This name should not contain
+ piece of hardware making up the terminal should have a
+ root name, thus "hp2621". This name should not contain
hyphens. Modes that the hardware can be in, or user pref-
- erences, should be indicated by appending a hyphen and a
- mode suffix. Thus, a vt100 in 132 column mode would be
+ erences, should be indicated by appending a hyphen and a
+ mode suffix. Thus, a vt100 in 132 column mode would be
vt100-w. The following suffixes should be used where pos-
sible:
-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>
+ For more on terminal naming conventions, see the <STRONG>term(7)</STRONG>
manual page.
- <STRONG>Capabilities</STRONG>
- The following is a complete table of the capabilities
- included in a terminfo description block and available to
+ <STRONG>Predefined</STRONG> <STRONG>Capabilities</STRONG>
+ 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.
These are the boolean capabilities:
- <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
- <STRONG>Booleans</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
- auto_left_margin bw bw cub1 wraps from col-
+
+ <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>Booleans</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
+ auto_left_margin bw bw cub1 wraps from col-
umn 0 to last column
- auto_right_margin am am terminal has auto-
+ auto_right_margin am am terminal has auto-
matic margins
- back_color_erase bce ut screen erased with
+ back_color_erase bce ut screen erased with
background color
- can_change ccc cc terminal can re-
+ can_change ccc cc terminal can re-
define existing col-
ors
-
- ceol_standout_glitch xhp xs standout not erased
+ ceol_standout_glitch xhp xs standout not erased
by overwriting (hp)
- col_addr_glitch xhpa YA only positive motion
+ col_addr_glitch xhpa YA only positive motion
for hpa/mhpa caps
- cpi_changes_res cpix YF changing character
+
+
+
+ cpi_changes_res cpix YF changing character
pitch changes reso-
lution
- cr_cancels_micro_mode crxm YB using cr turns off
+ cr_cancels_micro_mode crxm YB using cr turns off
micro mode
- dest_tabs_magic_smso xt xt tabs destructive,
+ dest_tabs_magic_smso xt xt tabs destructive,
magic so char
(t1061)
- eat_newline_glitch xenl xn newline ignored
+ eat_newline_glitch xenl xn newline ignored
after 80 cols (con-
cept)
- erase_overstrike eo eo can erase over-
+ erase_overstrike eo eo can erase over-
strikes with a blank
- generic_type gn gn generic line type
- hard_copy hc hc hardcopy terminal
- hard_cursor chts HC cursor is hard to
+ generic_type gn gn generic line type
+ hard_copy hc hc hardcopy terminal
+ hard_cursor chts HC cursor is hard to
see
- has_meta_key km km Has a meta key
+ has_meta_key km km Has a meta key
(i.e., sets 8th-bit)
- has_print_wheel daisy YC printer needs opera-
+ has_print_wheel daisy YC printer needs opera-
tor to change char-
acter set
- has_status_line hs hs has extra status
+ has_status_line hs hs has extra status
line
- hue_lightness_saturation hls hl terminal uses only
+ hue_lightness_saturation hls hl terminal uses only
HLS color notation
(Tektronix)
- insert_null_glitch in in insert mode distin-
+ insert_null_glitch in in insert mode distin-
guishes nulls
- lpi_changes_res lpix YG changing line pitch
+ lpi_changes_res lpix YG changing line pitch
changes resolution
- memory_above da da display may be
+ memory_above da da display may be
retained above the
screen
- memory_below db db display may be
+ memory_below db db display may be
retained below the
screen
- move_insert_mode mir mi safe to move while
+ move_insert_mode mir mi safe to move while
in insert mode
- move_standout_mode msgr ms safe to move while
+ move_standout_mode msgr ms safe to move while
in standout mode
- needs_xon_xoff nxon nx padding will not
+ needs_xon_xoff nxon nx padding will not
work, xon/xoff
required
- no_esc_ctlc xsb xb beehive (f1=escape,
+ no_esc_ctlc xsb xb beehive (f1=escape,
f2=ctrl C)
- no_pad_char npc NP pad character does
+ no_pad_char npc NP pad character does
not exist
-
-
- non_dest_scroll_region ndscr ND scrolling region is
+ non_dest_scroll_region ndscr ND scrolling region is
non-destructive
- non_rev_rmcup nrrmc NR smcup does not
+ non_rev_rmcup nrrmc NR smcup does not
reverse rmcup
- over_strike os os terminal can over-
+ over_strike os os terminal can over-
strike
- prtr_silent mc5i 5i printer will not
+ prtr_silent mc5i 5i printer will not
echo on screen
- row_addr_glitch xvpa YD only positive motion
+ row_addr_glitch xvpa YD only positive motion
for vpa/mvpa caps
- semi_auto_right_margin sam YE printing in last
+ semi_auto_right_margin sam YE printing in last
column causes cr
- status_line_esc_ok eslok es escape can be used
+ status_line_esc_ok eslok es escape can be used
on the status line
- tilde_glitch hz hz cannot print ~'s
+ tilde_glitch hz hz cannot print ~'s
(hazeltine)
- transparent_underline ul ul underline character
+
+
+ transparent_underline ul ul underline character
overstrikes
- xon_xoff xon xo terminal uses
+ xon_xoff xon xo terminal uses
xon/xoff handshaking
These are the numeric capabilities:
- <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
- <STRONG>Numeric</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
- columns cols co number of columns in
+
+ <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>Numeric</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
+ columns cols co number of columns in
a line
- init_tabs it it tabs initially every
+ init_tabs it it tabs initially every
# spaces
- label_height lh lh rows in each label
- label_width lw lw columns in each
+ label_height lh lh rows in each label
+ label_width lw lw columns in each
label
- lines lines li number of lines on
+ lines lines li number of lines on
screen or page
- lines_of_memory lm lm lines of memory if >
+ lines_of_memory lm lm lines of memory if >
line. 0 means varies
- magic_cookie_glitch xmc sg number of blank
+ magic_cookie_glitch xmc sg number of blank
characters left by
smso or rmso
- max_attributes ma ma maximum combined
+ max_attributes ma ma maximum combined
attributes terminal
can handle
- max_colors colors Co maximum number of
+ max_colors colors Co maximum number of
colors on screen
- max_pairs pairs pa maximum number of
+ max_pairs pairs pa maximum number of
color-pairs on the
screen
- maximum_windows wnum MW maximum number of
+ maximum_windows wnum MW maximum number of
defineable windows
- no_color_video ncv NC video attributes
+ no_color_video ncv NC video attributes
that cannot be used
with colors
-
-
- num_labels nlab Nl number of labels on
+ num_labels nlab Nl number of labels on
screen
- padding_baud_rate pb pb lowest baud rate
+ padding_baud_rate pb pb lowest baud rate
where padding needed
- virtual_terminal vt vt virtual terminal
+ virtual_terminal vt vt virtual terminal
number (CB/unix)
- width_status_line wsl ws number of columns in
+ 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.
- <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
- <STRONG>Numeric</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
- bit_image_entwining bitwin Yo number of passes for
+
+ <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>Numeric</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
+ bit_image_entwining bitwin Yo number of passes for
each bit-image row
- bit_image_type bitype Yp type of bit-image
+ bit_image_type bitype Yp type of bit-image
device
- buffer_capacity bufsz Ya numbers of bytes
+ buffer_capacity bufsz Ya numbers of bytes
buffered before
printing
- buttons btns BT number of buttons on
+ buttons btns BT number of buttons on
mouse
- dot_horz_spacing spinh Yc spacing of dots hor-
+ dot_horz_spacing spinh Yc spacing of dots hor-
izontally in dots
per inch
- dot_vert_spacing spinv Yb spacing of pins ver-
+
+ dot_vert_spacing spinv Yb spacing of pins ver-
tically in pins per
inch
- max_micro_address maddr Yd maximum value in
+ max_micro_address maddr Yd maximum value in
micro_..._address
- max_micro_jump mjump Ye maximum value in
+ max_micro_jump mjump Ye maximum value in
parm_..._micro
- micro_col_size mcs Yf character step size
+ micro_col_size mcs Yf character step size
when in micro mode
- micro_line_size mls Yg line step size when
+ micro_line_size mls Yg line step size when
in micro mode
- number_of_pins npins Yh numbers of pins in
+ number_of_pins npins Yh numbers of pins in
print-head
- output_res_char orc Yi horizontal resolu-
+ output_res_char orc Yi horizontal resolu-
tion in units per
line
- output_res_horz_inch orhi Yk horizontal resolu-
+ output_res_horz_inch orhi Yk horizontal resolu-
tion in units per
inch
- output_res_line orl Yj vertical resolution
+ output_res_line orl Yj vertical resolution
in units per line
- output_res_vert_inch orvi Yl vertical resolution
+ output_res_vert_inch orvi Yl vertical resolution
in units per inch
- print_rate cps Ym print rate in char-
+ print_rate cps Ym print rate in char-
acters per second
-
-
- wide_char_size widcs Yn character step size
+ wide_char_size widcs Yn character step size
when in double wide
mode
These are the string capabilities:
+
<STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
<STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
acs_chars acsc ac graphics charset
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
prototype !?
create_window cwin CW define a window #1
from #2,#3 to #4,#5
- cursor_address cup cm move to row #1
- columns #2
+ cursor_address cup cm move to row #1 col-
+ umns #2
cursor_down cud1 do down one line
-
-
cursor_home home ho home cursor (if no
cup)
cursor_invisible civis vi make cursor invisi-
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
enter_normal_quality snrmq ZL Enter normal-quality
mode
flash_hook hook fh flash switch hook
flash_screen flash vb visible bell (may
not move cursor)
-
form_feed ff ff hardcopy terminal
page eject (P*)
from_status_line fsl fs return from status
string
init_2string is2 is initialization
string
+
init_3string is3 i3 initialization
string
init_file if if name of initializa-
in insert mode
key_end kend @7 end key
key_enter kent @8 enter/send key
-
-
key_eol kel kE clear-to-end-of-line
key
key_eos ked kS clear-to-end-of-
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_f5 kf5 k5 F5 function key
key_f50 kf50 Fe F50 function key
key_f51 kf51 Ff F51 function key
-
key_f52 kf52 Fg F52 function key
key_f53 kf53 Fh F53 function key
key_f54 kf54 Fi F54 function 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
key
key_select kslt *6 select key
key_send kEND *7 shifted end key
-
key_seol kEOL *8 shifted clear-to-
end-of-line key
key_sexit kEXT *9 shifted exit key
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
key f6 if not f6
lab_f7 lf7 l7 label on function
key f7 if not f7
-
-
lab_f8 lf8 l8 label on function
key f8 if not f8
lab_f9 lf9 l9 label on function
sor in micro mode
parm_rindex rin SR scroll back #1 lines
(P)
-
parm_up_cursor cuu UP up #1 lines (P*)
parm_up_micro mcuu Zi Like parm_up_cursor
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
line #1 or (if smgtp
is not given) #2
lines from bottom
-
set_clock sclk SC set clock, #1 hrs #2
mins #3 secs
set_color_pair scp sp Set current color
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
move past it
up_half_line hu hu half a line up
user0 u0 u0 User string #0
-
user1 u1 u1 User string #1
user2 u2 u2 User string #2
user3 u3 u3 User string #3
SVr4.0 term structure, but were originally not documented
in the man page.
+
<STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
<STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
alt_scancode_esc scesa S8 Alternate escape
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
mode
exit_pc_charset_mode rmpch S3 Exit PC character
display mode
-
exit_scancode_mode rmsc S5 Exit PC scancode
mode
get_mouse getm Gm Curses should get
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
- The XSI Curses standard added these. They are some
- post-4.1 versions of System V curses, e.g., Solaris 2.5
- and IRIX 6.x. The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> termcap names for them are
- invented; according to the XSI Curses standard, they have
- no termcap names. If your compiled terminfo entries use
- these, they may not be binary-compatible with System V
- terminfo entries after SVr4.1; beware!
+ The XSI Curses standard added these hardcopy capabili-
+ ties. They were used in some post-4.1 versions of System
+ V curses, e.g., Solaris 2.5 and IRIX 6.x. Except for <STRONG>YI</STRONG>,
+ the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> termcap names for them are invented. Accord-
+ ing to the XSI Curses standard, they have no termcap
+ names. If your compiled terminfo entries use these, they
+ may not be binary-compatible with System V terminfo
+ entries after SVr4.1; beware!
- <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
<STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
enter_horizontal_hl_mode ehhlm Xh Enter horizontal
highlight mode
set_a_attributes sgr1 sA Define second set of
video attributes
#1-#6
- set_pglen_inch slengthsL YI Set page length
- to #1 hundredth of
- an inch
-
+ set_pglen_inch slengthYI Set page length to
+ #1 hundredth of an
+ inch (some implemen-
+ tations use sL for
+ termcap).
+
+ <STRONG>User-Defined</STRONG> <STRONG>Capabilities</STRONG>
+ 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
+ are special features of newer terminals which are awkward
+ or impossible to represent by reusing the predefined capa-
+ bilities.
+
+ <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> addresses this limitation by allowing user-defined
+ capabilities. The <STRONG>tic</STRONG> and <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> programs provide the <STRONG>-x</STRONG>
+ option for this purpose. When <STRONG>-x</STRONG> is set, <STRONG>tic</STRONG> treats
+ unknown capabilities as user-defined. That is, if <STRONG>tic</STRONG>
+ encounters a capability name which it does not recognize,
+ it infers its type (boolean, number or string) from the
+ syntax and makes an extended table entry for that capabil-
+ ity. The <STRONG>use_extended_names</STRONG> function makes this informa-
+ tion conditionally available to applications. The ncurses
+ library provides the data leaving most of the behavior to
+ applications:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> User-defined capability strings whose name begins with
+ "k" are treated as function keys.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The types (boolean, number, string) determined by <STRONG>tic</STRONG>
+ can be inferred by successful calls on <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, etc.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the capability name happens to be two characters,
+ the capability is also available through the termcap
+ interface.
+
+ While termcap is said to be extensible because it does not
+ use a predefined set of capabilities, in practice it has
+ been limited to the capabilities defined by terminfo
+ implementations. As a rule, user-defined capabilities
+ intended for use by termcap applications should be limited
+ to booleans and numbers to avoid running past the 1023
+ byte limit assumed by termcap implementations and their
+ applications. In particular, providing extended sets of
+ function keys (past the 60 numbered keys and the handful
+ of special named keys) is best done using the longer names
+ available using terminfo.
<STRONG>A</STRONG> <STRONG>Sample</STRONG> <STRONG>Entry</STRONG>
The following entry, describing an ANSI-standard terminal,
Entries may continue onto multiple lines by placing white
space at the beginning of each line except the first.
- Comments may be included on lines beginning with ``#''.
- Capabilities in <EM>terminfo</EM> are of three types: Boolean capa-
- bilities which indicate that the terminal has some partic-
- ular feature, numeric capabilities giving the size of the
- terminal or the size of particular delays, and string
- capabilities, which give a sequence which can be used to
- perform particular terminal operations.
+ Comments may be included on lines beginning with "#".
+ Capabilities in <EM>terminfo</EM> are of three types:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Boolean capabilities which indicate that the terminal
+ has some particular feature,
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> numeric capabilities giving the size of the terminal
+ or the size of particular delays, and
+
+ <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>
All capabilities have names. For instance, the fact that
Both <STRONG>\E</STRONG> and <STRONG>\e</STRONG> map to an ESCAPE character, <STRONG>^x</STRONG> maps to a
control-x for any appropriate x, and the sequences <STRONG>\n</STRONG> <STRONG>\l</STRONG>
<STRONG>\r</STRONG> <STRONG>\t</STRONG> <STRONG>\b</STRONG> <STRONG>\f</STRONG> <STRONG>\s</STRONG> give a newline, line-feed, return, tab,
- backspace, form-feed, and space. Other escapes include <STRONG>\^</STRONG>
- for <STRONG>^</STRONG>, <STRONG>\\</STRONG> for <STRONG>\</STRONG>, <STRONG>\</STRONG>, for comma, <STRONG>\:</STRONG> for <STRONG>:</STRONG>, and <STRONG>\0</STRONG> for null.
- (<STRONG>\0</STRONG> will produce \200, which does not terminate a string
- but behaves as a null character on most terminals, provid-
- ing CS7 is specified. See <STRONG><A HREF="stty.1.html">stty(1)</A></STRONG>.) Finally, characters
- may be given as three octal digits after a <STRONG>\</STRONG>.
+ backspace, form-feed, and space. Other escapes include
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\^</STRONG> for <STRONG>^</STRONG>,
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\\</STRONG> for <STRONG>\</STRONG>,
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\</STRONG>, for comma,
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\:</STRONG> for <STRONG>:</STRONG>,
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>\0</STRONG> for null.
+
+ <STRONG>\0</STRONG> will produce \200, which does not terminate a
+ string but behaves as a null character on most termi-
+ nals, providing CS7 is specified. See <STRONG><A HREF="stty.1.html">stty(1)</A></STRONG>.
+
+ The reason for this quirk is to maintain binary com-
+ patibility of the compiled terminfo files with other
+ implementations, e.g., the SVr4 systems, which docu-
+ ment this. Compiled terminfo files use null-termi-
+ nated strings, with no lengths. Modifying this would
+ require a new binary format, which would not work with
+ other implementations.
+
+ Finally, characters may be given as three octal digits
+ after a <STRONG>\</STRONG>.
A delay in milliseconds may appear anywhere in a string
capability, enclosed in $<..> brackets, as in <STRONG>el</STRONG>=\EK$<5>,
example, see the second <STRONG>ind</STRONG> in the example above.
<STRONG>Fetching</STRONG> <STRONG>Compiled</STRONG> <STRONG>Descriptions</STRONG>
- If the environment variable TERMINFO is set, it is inter-
- preted as the pathname of a directory containing the com-
- piled description you are working on. Only that directory
- is searched.
-
- If TERMINFO is not set, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version of the ter-
- minfo reader code will instead look in the directory
- <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> for a compiled description. If it fails
- to find one there, and the environment variable TER-
- MINFO_DIRS is set, it will interpret the contents of that
- variable as a list of colon- separated directories to be
- searched (an empty entry is interpreted as a command to
- search <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>). If no description is found
- in any of the TERMINFO_DIRS directories, the fetch fails.
-
- If neither TERMINFO nor TERMINFO_DIRS is set, the last
- place tried will be the system terminfo directory,
- <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>.
-
- (Neither the <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> lookups nor TERMINFO_DIRS
- extensions are supported under stock System V ter-
- minfo/curses.)
+ 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
+ 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
+ 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-
+ tion.
+
+ <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
+ 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>
+ <EM>minfo</EM>.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Finally, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> searches these compiled-in locations:
+
+ <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
+ 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
+ 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
- capability. 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 termi-
- nals.) 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 carriage return, control M.) If there is a code
- to produce an audible signal (bell, beep, etc) give this
- as <STRONG>bel</STRONG>.
+ 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
+ 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
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,
- bel=^G, cols#72, cr=^M, cud1=^J, hc, ind=^J, os,
+ 33|tty33|tty|model 33 teletype,
+ bel=^G, cols#72, cr=^M, cud1=^J, hc, ind=^J, os,
while the Lear Siegler ADM-3 is described as
- adm3|3|lsi adm3,
- am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
- ind=^J, lines#24,
-
+ adm3|3|lsi adm3,
+ 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 <STRONG><A HREF="printf.3S.html">printf(3S)</A></STRONG> like escapes <STRONG>%x</STRONG> in it. For
- example, to address the cursor, the <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is
+ Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters
+ in the terminal are described by a parameterized string
+ capability, with <STRONG><A HREF="printf.3.html">printf(3)</A></STRONG> like escapes <STRONG>%x</STRONG> 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. Often more complex operations are necessary.
+ 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.
The <STRONG>%</STRONG> encodings have the following meanings:
- %% outputs `%'
- %<EM>[[</EM>:<EM>]flags][width[.precision]][</EM>doxXs<EM>]</EM>
- as in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>, flags are [-+#] and space
- %c print pop() like %c in printf()
- %s print pop() like %s in printf()
-
- %p[1-9] push <EM>i</EM>'th parm
- %P[a-z] set dynamic variable [a-z] to pop()
- %g[a-z] get dynamic variable [a-z] and push it
- %P[A-Z] set static variable [a-z] to pop()
- %g[A-Z] get static variable [a-z] and push it
- %'<EM>c</EM>' char constant <EM>c</EM>
- %{<EM>nn</EM>} integer constant <EM>nn</EM>
- %l push strlen(pop)
-
- %+ %- %* %/ %m
- arithmetic (%m is mod): push(pop() op pop())
- %& %| %^ bit operations: push(pop() op pop())
- %= %> %< logical operations: push(pop() op pop())
- %A, %O logical and & or operations (for conditionals)
- %! %~ unary operations push(op pop())
- %i add 1 to first two parameters (for ANSI terminals)
-
- %? expr %t thenpart %e elsepart %;
- if-then-else, %e elsepart is optional.
- else-if's are possible a la Algol 68:
- %? c1 %t b1 %e c2 %t b2 %e c3 %t b3 %e c4 %t b4 %e %;
- ci are conditions, bi are bodies.
+ %% outputs `%'
+
+ %<EM>[[</EM>:<EM>]flags][width[.precision]][</EM>doxXs<EM>]</EM>
+ as in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>, flags are [-+#] and space. 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>
+
+ %s print pop() like %s in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
+
+ %p[1-9]
+ push <EM>i</EM>'th parameter
+
+ %P[a-z]
+ set dynamic variable [a-z] to pop()
+
+ %g[a-z]
+ get dynamic variable [a-z] and push it
+
+ %P[A-Z]
+ set static variable [a-z] to pop()
+
+ %g[A-Z]
+ get static variable [a-z] 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.
+
+ %'<EM>c</EM>' char constant <EM>c</EM>
+
+ %{<EM>nn</EM>}
+ integer constant <EM>nn</EM>
+
+ %l push strlen(pop)
+
+ %+ %- %* %/ %m
+ arithmetic (%m is mod): push(pop() op pop())
+
+ %& %| %^
+ bit operations (AND, OR and exclusive-OR): push(pop()
+ op pop())
+
+ %= %> %<
+ logical operations: push(pop() op pop())
+
+ %A, %O
+ logical AND and OR operations (for conditionals)
+
+ %! %~
+ unary operations (logical and bit complement):
+ push(op pop())
+
+ %i add 1 to first two parameters (for ANSI terminals)
+
+ %? <EM>expr</EM> %t <EM>thenpart</EM> %e <EM>elsepart</EM> %;
+ This forms an if-then-else. The %e <EM>elsepart</EM> is
+ optional. Usually the %? <EM>expr</EM> part pushes a value
+ onto the stack, and %t pops it from the stack, test-
+ ing if it is nonzero (true). If it is zero (false),
+ control passes to the %e (else) part.
+
+ It is possible to form else-if's a la Algol 68:
+ %? c1 %t b1 %e c2 %t b2 %e c3 %t b3 %e c4 %t b4 %e %;
+
+ where ci are conditions, bi are bodies.
+
+ Use the <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> or <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> to see the struc-
+ ture of if-then-else's. Some strings, e.g., <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> can
+ be very complicated when written on one line. The <STRONG>-f</STRONG>
+ option splits the string into lines with the parts
+ indented.
Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands in
- the usual order. That is, to get x-5 one would use
- "%gx%{5}%-". %P and %g variables are persistent across
+ the usual order. That is, to get x-5 one would use
+ "%gx%{5}%-". %P and %g variables are persistent across
escape-string evaluations.
Consider the HP2645, which, to get to row 3 and column 12,
- needs to be sent \E&a12c03Y padded for 6 milliseconds.
- Note that the order of the rows and columns is inverted
- here, and that the row and column are printed as two dig-
+ needs to be sent \E&a12c03Y padded for 6 milliseconds.
+ Note that the order of the rows and columns is inverted
+ here, and that the row and column are printed as two dig-
its. Thus its <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is "cup=6\E&%p2%2dc%p1%2dY".
The Microterm ACT-IV needs the current row and column sent
ter. Then the same is done for the second parameter.
More complex arithmetic is possible using the stack.
-
<STRONG>Cursor</STRONG> <STRONG>Motions</STRONG>
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>rmcup</STRONG> sequence is output (to the state prior to outputting
<STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>), specify <STRONG>nrrmc</STRONG>.
-
<STRONG>Area</STRONG> <STRONG>Clears</STRONG>
If the terminal can clear from the current position to the
end of the line, leaving the cursor where it is, this
(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>
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
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>
There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with
respect to insert/delete character which can be described
Elmer Owl, make a distinction between typed and untyped
blanks on the screen, shifting upon an insert or delete
only to an untyped blank on the screen which is either
- eliminated, or expanded to two untyped blanks. You can
- determine the kind of terminal you have by clearing the
- screen and then typing text separated by cursor motions.
- Type "abc def" using local cursor motions (not spaces)
- between the "abc" and the "def". Then position the cursor
- before the "abc" and put the terminal in insert mode. If
- typing characters causes the rest of the line to shift
- rigidly and characters to fall off the end, then your ter-
- minal does not distinguish between blanks and untyped
- positions. If the "abc" shifts over to the "def" which
- then move together around the end of the current line and
- onto the next as you insert, you have the second type of
- terminal, and should give the capability <STRONG>in</STRONG>, which stands
- for "insert null". While these are two logically separate
- attributes (one line versus multi-line insert mode, and
- special treatment of untyped spaces) we have seen no ter-
- minals whose insert mode cannot be described with the sin-
- gle attribute.
+ eliminated, or expanded to two untyped blanks.
+
+ You can determine the kind of terminal you have by clear-
+ ing the screen and then typing text separated by cursor
+ motions. Type "abc def" using local cursor motions
+ (not spaces) between the "abc" and the "def". Then posi-
+ tion the cursor before the "abc" and put the terminal in
+ insert mode. If typing characters causes the rest of the
+ line to shift rigidly and characters to fall off the end,
+ then your terminal does not distinguish between blanks and
+ untyped positions. If the "abc" shifts over to the "def"
+ which then move together around the end of the current
+ line and onto the next as you insert, you have the second
+ type of terminal, and should give the capability <STRONG>in</STRONG>, which
+ stands for "insert null".
+
+ While these are two logically separate attributes (one
+ line versus multi-line insert mode, and special treatment
+ of untyped spaces) we have seen no terminals whose insert
+ mode cannot be described with the single attribute.
Terminfo can describe both terminals which have an insert
mode, and terminals which send a simple sequence to open a
of <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> <EM>n</EM> times.
If padding is necessary between characters typed while not
- in insert mode, give this as a number of milliseconds
- padding in <STRONG>rmp</STRONG>.
+ in insert mode, give this as a number of milliseconds pad-
+ ding in <STRONG>rmp</STRONG>.
It is occasionally necessary to move around while in
insert mode to delete characters on the same line (e.g.,
<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>
If your terminal has one or more kinds of display
attributes, these can be represented in a number of dif-
plus half-bright is good, or reverse video alone.) The
sequences to enter and exit standout mode are given as
<STRONG>smso</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmso</STRONG>, respectively. If the code to change into
- or out of standout mode leaves one or even two blank
- spaces on the screen, as the TVI 912 and Teleray 1061 do,
+ or out of standout mode leaves one or even two blank spa-
+ ces on the screen, as the TVI 912 and Teleray 1061 do,
then <STRONG>xmc</STRONG> should be given to tell how many spaces are left.
- Codes to begin underlining and end underlining can be
- given as <STRONG>smul</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmul</STRONG> respectively. If the terminal has
- a code to underline the current character and move the
+ Codes to begin underlining and end underlining can be
+ given as <STRONG>smul</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmul</STRONG> respectively. If the terminal has
+ a code to underline the current character and move the
cursor one space to the right, such as the Microterm Mime,
this can be given as <STRONG>uc</STRONG>.
- Other capabilities to enter various highlighting modes
- include <STRONG>blink</STRONG> (blinking) <STRONG>bold</STRONG> (bold or extra bright) <STRONG>dim</STRONG>
- (dim or half-bright) <STRONG>invis</STRONG> (blanking or invisible text)
- <STRONG>prot</STRONG> (protected) <STRONG>rev</STRONG> (reverse video) <STRONG>sgr0</STRONG> (turn off <EM>all</EM>
- attribute modes) <STRONG>smacs</STRONG> (enter alternate character set
- mode) and <STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> (exit alternate character set mode).
- Turning on any of these modes singly may or may not turn
+ Other capabilities to enter various highlighting modes
+ include <STRONG>blink</STRONG> (blinking) <STRONG>bold</STRONG> (bold or extra bright) <STRONG>dim</STRONG>
+ (dim or half-bright) <STRONG>invis</STRONG> (blanking or invisible text)
+ <STRONG>prot</STRONG> (protected) <STRONG>rev</STRONG> (reverse video) <STRONG>sgr0</STRONG> (turn off <EM>all</EM>
+ attribute modes) <STRONG>smacs</STRONG> (enter alternate character set
+ mode) and <STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> (exit alternate character set mode).
+ Turning on any of these modes singly may or may not turn
off other modes.
- If there is a sequence to set arbitrary combinations of
- modes, this should be given as <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> (set attributes), tak-
- ing 9 parameters. Each parameter is either 0 or nonzero,
+ If there is a sequence to set arbitrary combinations of
+ modes, this should be given as <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> (set attributes), tak-
+ ing 9 parameters. Each parameter is either 0 or nonzero,
as the corresponding attribute is on or off. The 9 param-
- eters are, in order: standout, underline, reverse, blink,
- dim, bold, blank, protect, alternate character set. Not
- all modes need be supported by <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>, only those for which
+ eters are, in order: standout, underline, reverse, blink,
+ dim, bold, blank, protect, alternate character set. Not
+ all modes need be supported by <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>, only those for which
corresponding separate attribute commands exist.
For example, the DEC vt220 supports most of the modes:
- <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> <STRONG>parameter</STRONG> <STRONG>attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>escape</STRONG> <STRONG>sequence</STRONG>
-
- none none \E[0m
- p1 standout \E[0;1;7m
- p2 underline \E[0;4m
- p3 reverse \E[0;7m
- p4 blink \E[0;5m
- p5 dim not available
- p6 bold \E[0;1m
- p7 invis \E[0;8m
- p8 protect not used
- p9 altcharset ^O (off) ^N (on)
-
- We begin each escape sequence by turning off any existing
- modes, since there is no quick way to determine whether
+ <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> <STRONG>parameter</STRONG> <STRONG>attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>escape</STRONG> <STRONG>sequence</STRONG>
+
+ none none \E[0m
+ p1 standout \E[0;1;7m
+ p2 underline \E[0;4m
+ p3 reverse \E[0;7m
+ p4 blink \E[0;5m
+ p5 dim not available
+ p6 bold \E[0;1m
+ p7 invis \E[0;8m
+ p8 protect not used
+ p9 altcharset ^O (off) ^N (on)
+
+ We begin each escape sequence by turning off any existing
+ modes, since there is no quick way to determine whether
they are active. Standout is set up to be the combination
- of reverse and bold. The vt220 terminal has a protect
- mode, though it is not commonly used in sgr because it
- protects characters on the screen from the host's era-
- sures. The altcharset mode also is different in that it
- is either ^O or ^N, depending on whether it is off or on.
- If all modes are turned on, the resulting sequence is
+ of reverse and bold. The vt220 terminal has a protect
+ mode, though it is not commonly used in sgr because it
+ protects characters on the screen from the host's era-
+ sures. The altcharset mode also is different in that it
+ is either ^O or ^N, depending on whether it is off or on.
+ If all modes are turned on, the resulting sequence is
\E[0;1;4;5;7;8m^N.
- Some sequences are common to different modes. For exam-
- ple, ;7 is output when either p1 or p3 is true, that is,
+ Some sequences are common to different modes. For exam-
+ ple, ;7 is output when either p1 or p3 is true, that is,
if either standout or reverse modes are turned on.
- Writing out the above sequences, along with their depen-
+ Writing out the above sequences, along with their depen-
dencies yields
- <STRONG>sequence</STRONG> <STRONG>when</STRONG> <STRONG>to</STRONG> <STRONG>output</STRONG> <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> <STRONG>translation</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>sequence</STRONG> <STRONG>when</STRONG> <STRONG>to</STRONG> <STRONG>output</STRONG> <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> <STRONG>translation</STRONG>
- \E[0 always \E[0
- ;1 if p1 or p6 %?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;
- ;4 if p2 %?%p2%|%t;4%;
- ;5 if p4 %?%p4%|%t;5%;
- ;7 if p1 or p3 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;
- ;8 if p7 %?%p7%|%t;8%;
- m always m
- ^N or ^O if p9 ^N, else ^O %?%p9%t^N%e^O%;
+ \E[0 always \E[0
+ ;1 if p1 or p6 %?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;
+ ;4 if p2 %?%p2%|%t;4%;
+ ;5 if p4 %?%p4%|%t;5%;
+ ;7 if p1 or p3 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;
+ ;8 if p7 %?%p7%|%t;8%;
+ m always m
+ ^N or ^O if p9 ^N, else ^O %?%p9%t^N%e^O%;
Putting this all together into the sgr sequence gives:
sgr=\E[0%?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;
%?%p4%t;5%;%?%p7%t;8%;m%?%p9%t\016%e\017%;,
- Remember that if you specify sgr, you must also specify
- sgr0.
-
- Terminals with the ``magic cookie'' glitch (<STRONG>xmc</STRONG>) deposit
- special ``cookies'' when they receive mode-setting
- sequences, which affect the display algorithm rather than
- having extra bits for each character. Some terminals,
- such as the HP 2621, automatically leave standout mode
- when they move to a new line or the cursor is addressed.
- Programs using standout mode should exit standout mode
- before moving the cursor or sending a newline, unless the
- <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> capability, asserting that it is safe to move in
+ Remember that if you specify sgr, you must also specify
+ sgr0. Also, some implementations rely on sgr being given
+ if sgr0 is, Not all terminfo entries necessarily have an
+ sgr string, however. Many terminfo entries are derived
+ from termcap entries which have no sgr string. The only
+ drawback to adding an sgr string is that termcap also
+ assumes that sgr0 does not exit alternate character set
+ mode.
+
+ Terminals with the "magic cookie" glitch (<STRONG>xmc</STRONG>) deposit
+ special "cookies" when they receive mode-setting
+ sequences, which affect the display algorithm rather than
+ having extra bits for each character. Some terminals,
+ such as the HP 2621, automatically leave standout mode
+ when they move to a new line or the cursor is addressed.
+ Programs using standout mode should exit standout mode
+ before moving the cursor or sending a newline, unless the
+ <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> capability, asserting that it is safe to move in
standout mode, is present.
- If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indi-
- cate an error quietly (a bell replacement) then this can
+ If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indi-
+ cate an error quietly (a bell replacement) then this can
be given as <STRONG>flash</STRONG>; it must not move the cursor.
- If the cursor needs to be made more visible than normal
+ If the cursor needs to be made more visible than normal
when it is not on the bottom line (to make, for example, a
- non-blinking underline into an easier to find block or
+ non-blinking underline into an easier to find block or
blinking underline) give this sequence as <STRONG>cvvis</STRONG>. If there
- is a way to make the cursor completely invisible, give
+ is a way to make the cursor completely invisible, give
that as <STRONG>civis</STRONG>. The capability <STRONG>cnorm</STRONG> should be given which
undoes the effects of both of these modes.
If your terminal correctly generates underlined characters
- (with no special codes needed) even though it does not
- overstrike, then you should give the capability <STRONG>ul</STRONG>. If a
- character overstriking another leaves both characters on
+ (with no special codes needed) even though it does not
+ overstrike, then you should give the capability <STRONG>ul</STRONG>. If a
+ character overstriking another leaves both characters on
the screen, specify the capability <STRONG>os</STRONG>. If overstrikes are
- erasable with a blank, then this should be indicated by
+ 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>
If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes when the
- keys are pressed, this information can be given. Note
+ keys are pressed, this information can be given. Note
that it is not possible to handle terminals where the key-
pad only works in local (this applies, for example, to the
- unshifted HP 2621 keys). If the keypad can be set to
- transmit or not transmit, give these codes as <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> and
+ unshifted HP 2621 keys). If the keypad can be set to
+ transmit or not transmit, give these codes as <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> and
<STRONG>rmkx</STRONG>. Otherwise the keypad is assumed to always transmit.
+
The codes sent by the left arrow, right arrow, up arrow,
down arrow, and home keys can be given as <STRONG>kcub1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuf1,</STRONG>
- <STRONG>kcuu1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcud1,</STRONG> and <STRONG>khome</STRONG> respectively. If there are
- function keys such as f0, f1, ..., f10, the codes they
- send can be given as <STRONG>kf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf10</STRONG>. If these keys
- have labels other than the default f0 through f10, the
- labels can be given as <STRONG>lf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf10</STRONG>. The codes
- transmitted by certain other special keys can be given:
- <STRONG>kll</STRONG> (home down), <STRONG>kbs</STRONG> (backspace), <STRONG>ktbc</STRONG> (clear all tabs),
- <STRONG>kctab</STRONG> (clear the tab stop in this column), <STRONG>kclr</STRONG> (clear
- screen or erase key), <STRONG>kdch1</STRONG> (delete character), <STRONG>kdl1</STRONG>
- (delete line), <STRONG>krmir</STRONG> (exit insert mode), <STRONG>kel</STRONG> (clear to end
- of line), <STRONG>ked</STRONG> (clear to end of screen), <STRONG>kich1</STRONG> (insert
- character or enter insert mode), <STRONG>kil1</STRONG> (insert line), <STRONG>knp</STRONG>
- (next page), <STRONG>kpp</STRONG> (previous page), <STRONG>kind</STRONG> (scroll for-
- ward/down), <STRONG>kri</STRONG> (scroll backward/up), <STRONG>khts</STRONG> (set a tab stop
- in this column). In addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3
- array of keys including the four arrow keys, the other
- five keys can be given as <STRONG>ka1</STRONG>, <STRONG>ka3</STRONG>, <STRONG>kb2</STRONG>, <STRONG>kc1</STRONG>, and <STRONG>kc3</STRONG>.
- These keys are useful when the effects of a 3 by 3 direc-
- tional pad are needed.
-
- Strings to program function keys can be given as <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG>,
- <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG>, and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG>. A string to program screen labels should
- be specified as <STRONG>pln</STRONG>. Each of these strings takes two
- parameters: the function key number to program (from 0 to
- 10) and the string to program it with. Function key num-
- bers out of this range may program undefined keys in a
- terminal dependent manner. The difference between the
- capabilities is that <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG> causes pressing the given key
- to be the same as the user typing the given string; <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>kcuu1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcud1,</STRONG> and <STRONG>khome</STRONG> respectively. If there are func-
+ tion keys such as f0, f1, ..., f10, the codes they send
+ can be given as <STRONG>kf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf10</STRONG>. If these keys have
+ labels other than the default f0 through f10, the labels
+ can be given as <STRONG>lf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf10</STRONG>.
+
+ The codes transmitted by certain other special keys can be
+ given:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kll</STRONG> (home down),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kbs</STRONG> (backspace),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ktbc</STRONG> (clear all tabs),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kctab</STRONG> (clear the tab stop in this column),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kclr</STRONG> (clear screen or erase key),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdch1</STRONG> (delete character),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdl1</STRONG> (delete line),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>krmir</STRONG> (exit insert mode),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kel</STRONG> (clear to end of line),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ked</STRONG> (clear to end of screen),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kich1</STRONG> (insert character or enter insert mode),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kil1</STRONG> (insert line),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>knp</STRONG> (next page),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kpp</STRONG> (previous page),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kind</STRONG> (scroll forward/down),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kri</STRONG> (scroll backward/up),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>khts</STRONG> (set a tab stop in this column).
+
+ In addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3 array of keys
+ including the four arrow keys, the other five keys can be
+ given as <STRONG>ka1</STRONG>, <STRONG>ka3</STRONG>, <STRONG>kb2</STRONG>, <STRONG>kc1</STRONG>, and <STRONG>kc3</STRONG>. These keys are use-
+ ful when the effects of a 3 by 3 directional pad are
+ needed.
+
+ Strings to program function keys can be given as <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG>,
+ <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG>, and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG>. A string to program screen labels should
+ be specified as <STRONG>pln</STRONG>. Each of these strings takes two
+ parameters: the function key number to program (from 0 to
+ 10) and the string to program it with. Function key num-
+ bers out of this range may program undefined keys in a
+ terminal dependent manner. The difference between the
+ capabilities is that <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG> causes pressing the given key
+ to be the same as the user typing the given string; <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG>
causes the string to be executed by the terminal in local;
- and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG> causes the string to be transmitted to the com-
+ and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG> causes the string to be transmitted to the com-
puter.
The capabilities <STRONG>nlab</STRONG>, <STRONG>lw</STRONG> and <STRONG>lh</STRONG> define the number of pro-
- grammable screen labels and their width and height. If
- there are commands to turn the labels on and off, give
- them in <STRONG>smln</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmln</STRONG>. <STRONG>smln</STRONG> is normally output after one
+ grammable screen labels and their width and height. If
+ there are commands to turn the labels on and off, give
+ them in <STRONG>smln</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmln</STRONG>. <STRONG>smln</STRONG> is normally output after one
or more pln sequences to make sure that the change becomes
visible.
-
<STRONG>Tabs</STRONG> <STRONG>and</STRONG> <STRONG>Initialization</STRONG>
- 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
- preceding tab stop can be given as <STRONG>cbt</STRONG>. By convention, if
- the teletype modes indicate that tabs are being expanded
- by the computer rather than being sent to the terminal,
- programs should not use <STRONG>ht</STRONG> or <STRONG>cbt</STRONG> even if they are pre-
- sent, since the user may not have the tab stops properly
- set. If the terminal has hardware tabs which are ini-
- tially 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
- 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
+ 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-
+ ceding tab stop can be given as <STRONG>cbt</STRONG>. By convention, if
+ the teletype modes indicate that tabs are being expanded
+ by the computer rather than being sent to the terminal,
+ programs should not use <STRONG>ht</STRONG> or <STRONG>cbt</STRONG> even if they are
+ present, since the user may not have the tab stops prop-
+ erly set. If the terminal has hardware tabs which are
+ 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
+ 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
they are properly set.
- Other capabilities include <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, and <STRONG>is3</STRONG>, initializa-
- tion strings for the terminal, <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, the path name of a
- program to be run to initialize the terminal, and <STRONG>if</STRONG>, the
- name of a file containing long initialization strings.
- These strings are expected to set the terminal into modes
- consistent with the rest of the terminfo description.
+ Other capabilities include <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, and <STRONG>is3</STRONG>, initializa-
+ tion strings for the terminal, <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, the path name of a
+ program to be run to initialize the terminal, and <STRONG>if</STRONG>, the
+ name of a file containing long initialization strings.
+ 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
- will be printed in the following order: run the program
- <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>; output <STRONG>is1</STRONG>; <STRONG>is2</STRONG>; set the margins using <STRONG>mgc</STRONG>, <STRONG>smgl</STRONG>
- and <STRONG>smgr</STRONG>; set tabs using <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> and <STRONG>hts</STRONG>; print the file <STRONG>if</STRONG>;
- and finally output <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
+ of the <EM>tput</EM> program, each time the user logs in. They
+ will be printed in the following order:
+
+ run the program
+ <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>
+
+ output <STRONG>is1</STRONG> <STRONG>is2</STRONG>
+
+ set the margins using
+ <STRONG>mgc</STRONG>, <STRONG>smgl</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgr</STRONG>
+
+ set tabs using
+ <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> and <STRONG>hts</STRONG>
+
+ print the file
+ <STRONG>if</STRONG>
+
+ and finally
+ output <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
Most initialization is done with <STRONG>is2</STRONG>. Special terminal
modes can be set up without duplicating strings by putting
the common sequences in <STRONG>is2</STRONG> and special cases in <STRONG>is1</STRONG> and
- <STRONG>is3</STRONG>. A pair of sequences that does a harder reset from a
- totally unknown state can be analogously given as <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>,
- <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rf</STRONG>, and <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, analogous to <STRONG>is2</STRONG> and <STRONG>if</STRONG>. These strings
- are output by the <EM>reset</EM> 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 produce annoy-
- ing effects on the screen and are not necessary when log-
- ging in. For example, the command to set the vt100 into
- 80-column mode would normally be part of <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, but it
- causes an annoying glitch of the screen and is not nor-
- mally needed since the terminal is usually already in 80
- column mode.
+ <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
+
+ 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
+ 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
+ when logging in. For example, the command to set the
+ vt100 into 80-column mode would normally be part of <STRONG>is2</STRONG>,
+ but it causes an annoying glitch of the screen and is not
+ 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 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
+ back upon the corresponding initialization capability
+ string.
If there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can
- be given as <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (clear all tab stops) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (set a tab
- stop in the current column of every row). If a more com-
- plex sequence is needed to set the tabs than can be
- described by this, the sequence can be placed in <STRONG>is2</STRONG> or
+ be given as <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (clear all tab stops) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (set a tab
+ stop in the current column of every row). If a more com-
+ plex sequence is needed to set the tabs than can be
+ 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>
- Many older and slower terminals don't support either
+ 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
- VT100s). These may require padding characters after cer-
+ and some very archaic CRTs (including, for example, DEC
+ VT100s). These may require padding characters after cer-
tain cursor motions and screen changes.
If the terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking for flow control
- (that is, it automatically emits ^S back to the host when
+ (that is, it automatically emits ^S back to the host when
its input buffers are close to full), set <STRONG>xon</STRONG>. This capa-
- bility suppresses the emission of padding. You can also
- set it for memory-mapped console devices effectively that
- don't have a speed limit. Padding information should
- still be included so that routines can make better deci-
+ bility suppresses the emission of padding. You can also
+ set it for memory-mapped console devices effectively that
+ do not have a speed limit. Padding information should
+ still be included so that routines can make better deci-
sions about relative costs, but actual pad characters will
not be transmitted.
- If <STRONG>pb</STRONG> (padding baud rate) is given, padding is suppressed
- at baud rates below the value of <STRONG>pb</STRONG>. If the entry has no
- padding baud rate, then whether padding is emitted or not
+ If <STRONG>pb</STRONG> (padding baud rate) is given, padding is suppressed
+ at baud rates below the value of <STRONG>pb</STRONG>. If the entry has no
+ padding baud rate, then whether padding is emitted or not
is completely controlled by <STRONG>xon</STRONG>.
- If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) charac-
- ter as a pad, then this can be given as <STRONG>pad</STRONG>. Only the
+ If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) charac-
+ 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>
- Some terminals have an extra `status line' which is not
- normally used by software (and thus not counted in the
+ 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).
- The simplest case is a status line which is cursor-
- addressable but not part of the main scrolling region on
- the screen; the Heathkit H19 has a status line of this
- kind, as would a 24-line VT100 with a 23-line scrolling
- region set up on initialization. This situation is indi-
+ The simplest case is a status line which is cursor-
+ addressable but not part of the main scrolling region on
+ the screen; the Heathkit H19 has a status line of this
+ kind, as would a 24-line VT100 with a 23-line scrolling
+ region set up on initialization. This situation is indi-
cated by the <STRONG>hs</STRONG> capability.
Some terminals with status lines need special sequences to
- access the status line. These may be expressed as a
+ access the status line. These may be expressed as a
string with single parameter <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> which takes the cursor to
- a given zero-origin column on the status line. The capa-
+ a given zero-origin column on the status line. The capa-
bility <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> must return to the main-screen cursor positions
- before the last <STRONG>tsl</STRONG>. You may need to embed the string
- values of <STRONG>sc</STRONG> (save cursor) and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (restore cursor) in <STRONG>tsl</STRONG>
+ before the last <STRONG>tsl</STRONG>. You may need to embed the string
+ values of <STRONG>sc</STRONG> (save cursor) and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (restore cursor) in <STRONG>tsl</STRONG>
and <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> to accomplish this.
- The status line is normally assumed to be the same width
- as the width of the terminal. If this is untrue, you can
+ The status line is normally assumed to be the same width
+ as the width of the terminal. If this is untrue, you can
specify it with the numeric capability <STRONG>wsl</STRONG>.
- A command to erase or blank the status line may be speci-
+ A command to erase or blank the status line may be speci-
fied as <STRONG>dsl</STRONG>.
- The boolean capability <STRONG>eslok</STRONG> specifies that escape
+ The boolean capability <STRONG>eslok</STRONG> specifies that escape
sequences, tabs, etc., work ordinarily in the status line.
The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation does not yet use any of these
capabilities. They are documented here in case they ever
become important.
-
<STRONG>Line</STRONG> <STRONG>Graphics</STRONG>
Many terminals have alternate character sets useful for
forms-drawing. Terminfo and <STRONG>curses</STRONG> build in support for
characters from the AT&T 4410v1 added. This alternate
character set may be specified by the <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> capability.
- <STRONG>Glyph</STRONG> <STRONG>ACS</STRONG> <STRONG>Ascii</STRONG> <STRONG>VT100</STRONG>
- <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Default</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG>
- UK pound sign ACS_STERLING f }
- arrow pointing down ACS_DARROW v .
- arrow pointing left ACS_LARROW < ,
- arrow pointing right ACS_RARROW > +
- arrow pointing up ACS_UARROW ^ -
- board of squares ACS_BOARD # h
- bullet ACS_BULLET o ~
- checker board (stipple) ACS_CKBOARD : a
- degree symbol ACS_DEGREE \ f
- 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
- less-than-or-equal-to ACS_LEQUAL < y
- lower left corner ACS_LLCORNER + m
- lower right corner ACS_LRCORNER + j
- not-equal ACS_NEQUAL ! |
- plus/minus ACS_PLMINUS # g
- scan line 1 ACS_S1 ~ o
- scan line 3 ACS_S3 - p
- scan line 7 ACS_S7 - r
- scan line 9 ACS_S9 _ s
- solid square block ACS_BLOCK # 0
- tee pointing down ACS_TTEE + w
- tee pointing left ACS_RTEE + u
- tee pointing right ACS_LTEE + t
- tee pointing up ACS_BTEE + v
- upper left corner ACS_ULCORNER + l
- upper right corner ACS_URCORNER + k
- vertical line ACS_VLINE | x
+ <STRONG>Glyph</STRONG> <STRONG>ACS</STRONG> <STRONG>Ascii</STRONG> <STRONG>VT100</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Default</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG>
+ UK pound sign ACS_STERLING f }
+ arrow pointing down ACS_DARROW v .
+ arrow pointing left ACS_LARROW < ,
+ arrow pointing right ACS_RARROW > +
+ arrow pointing up ACS_UARROW ^ -
+ board of squares ACS_BOARD # h
+ bullet ACS_BULLET o ~
+ checker board (stipple) ACS_CKBOARD : a
+ degree symbol ACS_DEGREE \ f
+ 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
+ less-than-or-equal-to ACS_LEQUAL < y
+ lower left corner ACS_LLCORNER + m
+ lower right corner ACS_LRCORNER + j
+ not-equal ACS_NEQUAL ! |
+ plus/minus ACS_PLMINUS # g
+ scan line 1 ACS_S1 ~ o
+ scan line 3 ACS_S3 - p
+ scan line 7 ACS_S7 - r
+ scan line 9 ACS_S9 _ s
+ solid square block ACS_BLOCK # 0
+ tee pointing down ACS_TTEE + w
+ tee pointing left ACS_RTEE + u
+ tee pointing right ACS_LTEE + t
+ tee pointing up ACS_BTEE + v
+ upper left corner ACS_ULCORNER + l
+ upper right corner ACS_URCORNER + k
+ vertical line ACS_VLINE | x
The best way to define a new device's graphics set is to
add a column to a copy of this table for your terminal,
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
+ 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.
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 are portably
- defined as follows (the middle column is the symbolic
- #define available in the header for the <STRONG>curses</STRONG> or <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
- libraries). The terminal hardware is free to map these as
- it likes, but the RGB values indicate normal locations in
- color space.
+ numeric argument each. Argument values 0-7 of <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>
+ are portably defined as follows (the middle column is the
+ symbolic #define available in the header for the <STRONG>curses</STRONG> or
+ <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> libraries). The terminal hardware is free to map
+ these as it likes, but the RGB values indicate normal
+ locations in color space.
<STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
black <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> 0 0, 0, 0
cyan <STRONG>COLOR_CYAN</STRONG> 6 0,max,max
white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max,max,max
- On an HP-like terminal, use <STRONG>scp</STRONG> with a color-pair number
+ The argument values of <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> historically correspond
+ to a different mapping, i.e.,
+
+ <STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
+ black <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> 0 0, 0, 0
+ blue <STRONG>COLOR_BLUE</STRONG> 1 0,0,max
+ green <STRONG>COLOR_GREEN</STRONG> 2 0,max,0
+ cyan <STRONG>COLOR_CYAN</STRONG> 3 0,max,max
+ red <STRONG>COLOR_RED</STRONG> 4 max,0,0
+ magenta <STRONG>COLOR_MAGENTA</STRONG> 5 max,0,max
+ yellow <STRONG>COLOR_YELLOW</STRONG> 6 max,max,0
+ white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max,max,max
+
+ It is important to not confuse the two sets of color capa-
+ bilities; otherwise red/blue will be interchanged on the
+ display.
+
+ 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,
+ 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.
+ - 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>
+ (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
+ 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>.
- On some color terminals, colors collide with highlights.
+ On some color terminals, colors collide with highlights.
You can register these collisions with the <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> capability.
- This is a bit-mask of attributes not to be used when col-
- ors are enabled. The correspondence with the attributes
+ This is a bit-mask of attributes not to be used when col-
+ ors are enabled. The correspondence with the attributes
understood by <STRONG>curses</STRONG> is as follows:
- <STRONG>Attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>Bit</STRONG> <STRONG>Decimal</STRONG>
- A_STANDOUT 0 1
- A_UNDERLINE 1 2
- A_REVERSE 2 4
- A_BLINK 3 8
- A_DIM 4 16
- A_BOLD 5 32
- A_INVIS 6 64
- A_PROTECT 7 128
- A_ALTCHARSET 8 256
-
- For example, on many IBM PC consoles, the underline
- attribute collides with the foreground color blue and is
- not available in color mode. These should have an <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>Attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>Bit</STRONG> <STRONG>Decimal</STRONG>
+ A_STANDOUT 0 1
+ A_UNDERLINE 1 2
+ A_REVERSE 2 4
+ A_BLINK 3 8
+ A_DIM 4 16
+ A_BOLD 5 32
+ A_INVIS 6 64
+ A_PROTECT 7 128
+ A_ALTCHARSET 8 256
+
+ For example, on many IBM PC consoles, the underline
+ attribute collides with the foreground color blue and is
+ not available in color mode. These should have an <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>
capability of 2.
- SVr4 curses does nothing with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>, ncurses recognizes it
+ SVr4 curses does nothing with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>, ncurses recognizes it
and optimizes the output in favor of colors.
-
<STRONG>Miscellaneous</STRONG>
- 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-
+ 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-
nal does not have a pad character, specify npc. Note that
- ncurses implements the termcap-compatible <STRONG>PC</STRONG> variable;
- though the application may set this value to something
- other than a null, ncurses will test <STRONG>npc</STRONG> first and use
+ ncurses implements the termcap-compatible <STRONG>PC</STRONG> variable;
+ though the application may set this value to something
+ other than a null, ncurses will test <STRONG>npc</STRONG> first and use
napms if the terminal has no pad character.
- If the terminal can move up or down half a line, this can
- be indicated with <STRONG>hu</STRONG> (half-line up) and <STRONG>hd</STRONG> (half-line
+ If the terminal can move up or down half a line, this can
+ be indicated with <STRONG>hu</STRONG> (half-line up) and <STRONG>hd</STRONG> (half-line
down). This is primarily useful for superscripts and sub-
- scripts on hard-copy terminals. If a hard-copy terminal
- can eject to the next page (form feed), give this as <STRONG>ff</STRONG>
+ scripts on hard-copy terminals. If a hard-copy terminal
+ can eject to the next page (form feed), give this as <STRONG>ff</STRONG>
(usually control L).
- If there is a command to repeat a given character a given
- number of times (to save time transmitting a large number
- of identical characters) this can be indicated with the
- parameterized string <STRONG>rep</STRONG>. The first parameter is the
- character to be repeated and the second is the number of
- times to repeat it. Thus, tparm(repeat_char, 'x', 10) is
+ If there is a command to repeat a given character a given
+ number of times (to save time transmitting a large number
+ of identical characters) this can be indicated with the
+ parameterized string <STRONG>rep</STRONG>. The first parameter is the
+ character to be repeated and the second is the number of
+ times to repeat it. Thus, tparm(repeat_char, 'x', 10) is
the same as `xxxxxxxxxx'.
- If the terminal has a settable command character, such as
- the TEKTRONIX 4025, this can be indicated with <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG>. A
+ If the terminal has a settable command character, such as
+ the TEKTRONIX 4025, this can be indicated with <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG>. A
prototype command character is chosen which is used in all
- capabilities. This character is given in the <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG> capa-
- bility to identify it. The following convention is sup-
- ported on some UNIX systems: The environment is to be
- searched for a <STRONG>CC</STRONG> variable, and if found, all occurrences
+ capabilities. This character is given in the <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG> capa-
+ bility to identify it. The following convention is sup-
+ ported on some UNIX systems: The environment is to be
+ searched for a <STRONG>CC</STRONG> variable, and if found, all occurrences
of the prototype character are replaced with the character
in the environment variable.
- Terminal descriptions that do not represent a specific
+ Terminal descriptions that do not represent a specific
kind of known terminal, such as <EM>switch</EM>, <EM>dialup</EM>, <EM>patch</EM>, and
- <EM>network</EM>, should include the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (generic) capability so
- that programs can complain that they do not know how to
- talk to the terminal. (This capability does not apply to
- <EM>virtual</EM> terminal descriptions for which the escape
+ <EM>network</EM>, should include the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (generic) capability so
+ that programs can complain that they do not know how to
+ talk to the terminal. (This capability does not apply to
+ <EM>virtual</EM> terminal descriptions for which the escape
sequences are known.)
- If the terminal has a ``meta key'' which acts as a shift
- key, setting the 8th bit of any character transmitted,
- this fact can be indicated with <STRONG>km</STRONG>. Otherwise, software
+ If the terminal has a "meta key" which acts as a shift
+ key, setting the 8th bit of any character transmitted,
+ this fact can be indicated with <STRONG>km</STRONG>. Otherwise, software
will assume that the 8th bit is parity and it will usually
- be cleared. If strings exist to turn this ``meta mode''
- on and off, they can be given as <STRONG>smm</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmm</STRONG>.
+ be cleared. If strings exist to turn this "meta mode" on
+ and off, they can be given as <STRONG>smm</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmm</STRONG>.
- If the terminal has more lines of memory than will fit on
- the screen at once, the number of lines of memory can be
- indicated with <STRONG>lm</STRONG>. A value of <STRONG>lm</STRONG>#0 indicates that the
+ If the terminal has more lines of memory than will fit on
+ the screen at once, the number of lines of memory can be
+ indicated with <STRONG>lm</STRONG>. A value of <STRONG>lm</STRONG>#0 indicates that the
number of lines is not fixed, but that there is still more
memory than fits on the screen.
If the terminal is one of those supported by the UNIX vir-
- tual terminal protocol, the terminal number can be given
+ tual terminal protocol, the terminal number can be given
as <STRONG>vt</STRONG>.
Media copy strings which control an auxiliary printer con-
nected to the terminal can be given as <STRONG>mc0</STRONG>: print the con-
- tents of the screen, <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>: turn off the printer, and <STRONG>mc5</STRONG>:
- turn on the printer. When the printer is on, all text
- sent to the terminal will be sent to the printer. It is
+ tents of the screen, <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>: turn off the printer, and <STRONG>mc5</STRONG>:
+ turn on the printer. When the printer is on, all text
+ sent to the terminal will be sent to the printer. It is
undefined whether the text is also displayed on the termi-
nal screen when the printer is on. A variation <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> takes
one parameter, and leaves the printer on for as many char-
- acters as the value of the parameter, then turns the
- printer off. The parameter should not exceed 255. All
+ acters as the value of the parameter, then turns the
+ printer off. The parameter should not exceed 255. All
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>
- Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow `~' characters to
+ Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow `~' characters to
be displayed should indicate <STRONG>hz</STRONG>.
Terminals which ignore a line-feed immediately after an <STRONG>am</STRONG>
Note: the variable indicating this is now
`dest_tabs_magic_smso'; in older versions, it was tel-
eray_glitch. This glitch is also taken to mean that it is
- not possible to position the cursor on top of a ``magic
- cookie'', that to erase standout mode it is instead neces-
+ not possible to position the cursor on top of a "magic
+ cookie", that to erase standout mode it is instead neces-
sary to use delete and insert line. The ncurses implemen-
tation ignores this glitch.
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)
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,
+
+ 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 4K string-
- table maximum. Unfortunately, the termcap translations
- are much more strictly limited (to 1K), thus termcap
- translations of long terminfo entries can cause problems.
-
- The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions of tgetent()
- instruct the user to allocate a 1K buffer for the termcap
- entry. The entry gets null-terminated by the termcap
- library, so that makes the maximum safe length for a term-
- cap entry 1k-1 (1023) bytes. Depending on what the appli-
- cation and the termcap library being used does, and where
- in the termcap file the terminal type that tgetent() is
- searching for is, several bad things can happen.
+ 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
+ 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
+ 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>
+ 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
- don't; others truncate the entries to 1023 bytes. Some
+ do not; others truncate the entries to 1023 bytes. Some
application programs allocate more than the recommended 1K
- for the termcap entry; others don't.
+ 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 doesn't use the "tc" capability, then
+ 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
exists in /etc/termcap, minus the backslash-newline pairs,
- which tgetent() strips out while reading it. Some 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:
- * a termcap entry before expansion is more than 1023
- bytes long,
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> a termcap entry before expansion is more than 1023
+ bytes long,
- * and the application has only allocated a 1k buffer,
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the application has only allocated a 1k buffer,
- * 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's the entry it
- wants,
+ <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,
- * and tgetent() is searching for a terminal type that
- either is the long entry, appears in the termcap file
- after the long entry, or doesn't appear in the file
- at all (so that tgetent() has to search the whole
- termcap file).
+ <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 tgetent() will overwrite memory, perhaps its stack,
+ 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
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 tgetent() only does "tc" expan-
- sion once it's found the terminal type it was looking for,
- not while searching.
+ 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.
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's too long even before "tc" expansion,
+ 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
termcap entry.
When in -C (translate to termcap) mode, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> imple-
- mentation of <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1.html">tic(1)</A></STRONG> issues warning messages when the pre-
+ 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)
lengths.
</PRE>
<H2>EXTENSIONS</H2><PRE>
- Some SVr4 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> implementations, and all previous to
- SVr4, don't interpret the %A and %O operators in parameter
- 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 don't
- 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>
+ 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-
+ 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>
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
+ 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.
- 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>SGI</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr4 set, adds one undocumented
+ <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>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>HP/UX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus the SVr[234]
+ <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
+ 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>AIX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11
- through 63, plus a number of incompatible string table
+ <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>OSF</STRONG> -- Supports both the SVr4 set and the AIX extensions.
</PRE>
descriptions
-
</PRE>
<H2>SEE ALSO</H2><PRE>
- <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="printf.3S.html">printf(3S)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>.
+ <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="printf.3.html">printf(3)</A></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>
- Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.
+ Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.
Based on pcurses by Pavel Curtis.
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</PRE>
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