-<!--
+<!--
* t
* DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE BY HAND!
* It is generated from terminfo.head, ./../include/Caps ./../include/Caps-ncurses, and terminfo.tail.
* Note: this must be run through tbl before nroff.
* The magic cookie on the first line triggers this under some man programs.
****************************************************************************
- * Copyright (c) 1998-2018,2019 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
+ * Copyright 2018-2020,2021 Thomas E. Dickey *
+ * Copyright 1998-2016,2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
* *
* Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a *
* copy of this software and associated documentation files (the *
* sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written *
* authorization. *
****************************************************************************
- * @Id: terminfo.head,v 1.38 2019/07/27 11:51:04 tom Exp @
+ * @Id: terminfo.head,v 1.41 2021/08/15 19:32:53 tom Exp @
* Head of terminfo man page ends here
****************************************************************************
- * Copyright (c) 1998-2018,2019 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
+ * Copyright 2018-2020,2021 Thomas E. Dickey *
+ * Copyright 1998-2016,2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
* *
* Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a *
* copy of this software and associated documentation files (the *
* sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written *
* authorization. *
****************************************************************************
- * @Id: terminfo.tail,v 1.98 2019/11/30 20:54:32 tom Exp @
+ * @Id: terminfo.tail,v 1.108 2021/10/09 23:13:23 tom Exp @
*.in -2
*.in +2
*.in -2
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
- terminfo - terminal capability data base
+ terminfo - terminal capability database
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
- <EM>Terminfo</EM> is a data base describing terminals, used by screen-oriented
- programs such as <STRONG>nvi(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG>lynx(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG>mutt(1)</STRONG>, and other curses applica-
- tions, using high-level calls to libraries such as <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>. It is
- also used via low-level calls by non-curses applications which may be
- screen-oriented (such as <STRONG><A HREF="clear.1.html">clear(1)</A></STRONG>) or non-screen (such as <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG>).
+ <EM>Terminfo</EM> is a database describing terminals, used by screen-oriented
+ programs such as <STRONG>nvi(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG>lynx(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG>mutt(1)</STRONG>, and other curses
+ applications, using high-level calls to libraries such as <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>.
+ It is also used via low-level calls by non-curses applications which
+ may be screen-oriented (such as <STRONG><A HREF="clear.1.html">clear(1)</A></STRONG>) or non-screen (such as
+ <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG>).
<EM>Terminfo</EM> describes terminals by giving a set of capabilities which they
have, by specifying how to perform screen operations, and by specifying
padding requirements and initialization sequences.
- This manual describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 6.1 (patch 20200118).
+ This manual describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 6.2 (patch 20211009).
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminfo-Entry-Syntax">Terminfo Entry Syntax</a></H3><PRE>
Entries in <EM>terminfo</EM> consist of a sequence of fields:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Each field ends with a comma "," (embedded commas may be escaped
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Each field ends with a comma "," (embedded commas may be escaped
with a backslash or written as "\054").
<STRONG>o</STRONG> White space between fields is ignored.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The first field in a <EM>terminfo</EM> entry begins in the first column.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Newlines and leading whitespace (spaces or tabs) may be used for
- formatting entries for readability. These are removed from parsed
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Newlines and leading whitespace (spaces or tabs) may be used for
+ formatting entries for readability. These are removed from parsed
entries.
- The <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> <STRONG>-f</STRONG> and <STRONG>-W</STRONG> options rely on this to format if-then-else
- expressions, or to enforce maximum line-width. The resulting for-
- matted terminal description can be read by <STRONG>tic</STRONG>.
+ The <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> <STRONG>-f</STRONG> and <STRONG>-W</STRONG> options rely on this to format if-then-else
+ expressions, or to enforce maximum line-width. The resulting
+ formatted terminal description can be read by <STRONG>tic</STRONG>.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> The first field for each terminal gives the names which are known
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The first field for each terminal gives the names which are known
for the terminal, separated by "|" characters.
- The first name given is the most common abbreviation for the termi-
- nal (its primary name), the last name given should be a long name
- fully identifying the terminal (see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">longname(3x)</A></STRONG>), and all others
- are treated as synonyms (aliases) for the primary terminal name.
+ The first name given is the most common abbreviation for the
+ terminal (its primary name), the last name given should be a long
+ name fully identifying the terminal (see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">longname(3x)</A></STRONG>), and all
+ others are treated as synonyms (aliases) for the primary terminal
+ name.
X/Open Curses advises that all names but the last should be in
lower case and contain no blanks; the last name may well contain
it allows that to be both an alias and a verbose name (but will
warn about this ambiguity).
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Lines beginning with a "#" in the first column are treated as com-
- ments.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Lines beginning with a "#" in the first column are treated as
+ comments.
While comment lines are legal at any point, the output of <STRONG>captoinfo</STRONG>
and <STRONG>infotocap</STRONG> (aliases for <STRONG>tic</STRONG>) will move comments so they occur
only between entries.
Terminal names (except for the last, verbose entry) should be chosen
- using the following conventions. The particular piece of hardware mak-
- ing 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
- preferences, should be indicated by appending a hyphen and a mode suf-
- fix. Thus, a vt100 in 132-column mode would be vt100-w. The following
- suffixes should be used where possible:
+ 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 hyphens. Modes that the hardware can be in, or
+ user preferences, 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 possible:
<STRONG>Suffix</STRONG> <STRONG>Meaning</STRONG> <STRONG>Example</STRONG>
-<EM>nn</EM> Number of lines on the screen aaa-60
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminfo-Capabilities-Syntax">Terminfo Capabilities Syntax</a></H3><PRE>
The terminfo entry consists of several <EM>capabilities</EM>, i.e., features
- that the terminal has, or methods for exercising the terminal's fea-
- tures.
+ that the terminal has, or methods for exercising the terminal's
+ features.
After the first field (giving the name(s) of the terminal entry), there
should be one or more <EM>capability</EM> fields. These are boolean, numeric or
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Similar-Terminals">Similar Terminals</a></H3><PRE>
If there are two very similar terminals, one (the variant) can be
- defined as being just like the other (the base) with certain excep-
- tions. In the definition of the variant, the string capability <STRONG>use</STRONG> can
- be given with the name of the base terminal:
+ defined as being just like the other (the base) with certain
+ exceptions. In the definition of the variant, the string capability
+ <STRONG>use</STRONG> can be given with the name of the base terminal:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The capabilities given before <STRONG>use</STRONG> override those in the base type
named by <STRONG>use</STRONG>.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Capabilities given explicitly in the entry override those brought
in by <STRONG>use</STRONG> references.
- A capability can be canceled by placing <STRONG>xx@</STRONG> to the left of the use ref-
- erence that imports it, where <EM>xx</EM> is the capability. For example, the
- entry
+ 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 capability. For example,
+ the entry
2621-nl, smkx@, rmkx@, use=2621,
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). Semantics are also intended to match those of the specifica-
- tion.
+ names). Semantics are also intended to match those of the
+ specification.
The termcap code is the old <STRONG>termcap</STRONG> capability name (some capabilities
are new, and have names which termcap did not originate).
(P) indicates that padding may be specified
#[1-9] in the description field indicates that the string is passed
- through tparm with parms as given (#<EM>i</EM>).
+ through <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tparm(3x)</A></STRONG> with parameters as given (#<EM>i</EM>).
+
+ If no parameters are listed in the description, passing the
+ string through <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tparm(3x)</A></STRONG> may give unexpected results, e.g., if
+ it contains percent (%%) signs.
(P*) indicates that padding may vary in proportion to the number of
lines affected
<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-
- matic margins
- back_color_erase bce ut screen erased with
- background color
+ auto_left_margin bw bw cub1 wraps from
+ column 0 to last
+ column
+ auto_right_margin am am terminal has
+ automatic margins
+ back_color_erase bce ut screen erased with
+ background color
can_change ccc cc terminal can re-
- define existing col-
- ors
+ define existing
+ colors
ceol_standout_glitch xhp xs standout not erased
by overwriting (hp)
col_addr_glitch xhpa YA only positive motion
for hpa/mhpa caps
cpi_changes_res cpix YF changing character
- pitch changes reso-
- lution
+ pitch changes
+ resolution
cr_cancels_micro_mode crxm YB using cr turns off
micro mode
dest_tabs_magic_smso xt xt tabs destructive,
magic so char
(t1061)
eat_newline_glitch xenl xn newline ignored
- after 80 cols (con-
- cept)
- erase_overstrike eo eo can erase over-
- strikes with a blank
+ after 80 cols
+ (concept)
+ erase_overstrike eo eo can erase
+ overstrikes with a
+ blank
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
(i.e., sets 8th-bit)
- has_print_wheel daisy YC printer needs opera-
- tor to change char-
- acter set
+ has_print_wheel daisy YC printer needs
+ operator to change
+ character set
has_status_line hs hs has extra status
line
hue_lightness_saturation hls hl terminal uses only
HLS color notation
(Tektronix)
- insert_null_glitch in in insert mode distin-
- guishes nulls
+ insert_null_glitch in in insert mode
+ distinguishes nulls
lpi_changes_res lpix YG changing line pitch
changes resolution
memory_above da da display may be
not exist
non_dest_scroll_region ndscr ND scrolling region is
non-destructive
+
non_rev_rmcup nrrmc NR smcup does not
reverse rmcup
- over_strike os os terminal can over-
- strike
+ over_strike os os terminal can
+ overstrike
prtr_silent mc5i 5i printer will not
echo on screen
row_addr_glitch xvpa YD only positive motion
for vpa/mvpa caps
-
semi_auto_right_margin sam YE printing in last
column causes cr
status_line_esc_ok eslok es escape can be used
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
each bit-image row
bit_image_type bitype Yp type of bit-image
device
-
-
-
buffer_capacity bufsz Ya numbers of bytes
buffered before
printing
buttons btns BT number of buttons on
mouse
- dot_horz_spacing spinh Yc spacing of dots hor-
- izontally in dots
+ dot_horz_spacing spinh Yc spacing of dots
+ horizontally in dots
+ per inch
+ dot_vert_spacing spinv Yb spacing of pins
+ vertically in pins
per inch
- dot_vert_spacing spinv Yb spacing of pins ver-
- tically in pins per
- inch
max_micro_address maddr Yd maximum value in
micro_..._address
max_micro_jump mjump Ye maximum value in
in micro mode
number_of_pins npins Yh numbers of pins in
print-head
- output_res_char orc Yi horizontal resolu-
- tion in units per
- line
- output_res_horz_inch orhi Yk horizontal resolu-
- tion in units per
- inch
+ output_res_char orc Yi horizontal
+ resolution in units
+ per line
+ output_res_horz_inch orhi Yk horizontal
+ resolution in units
+ per inch
output_res_line orl Yj vertical resolution
in units per line
output_res_vert_inch orvi Yl vertical resolution
in units per inch
- print_rate cps Ym print rate in char-
- acters per second
+ print_rate cps Ym print rate in
+ characters per
+ second
wide_char_size widcs Yn character step size
when in double wide
mode
lines per inch to #1
change_res_horz chr ZC Change horizontal
resolution to #1
- change_res_vert cvr ZD Change vertical res-
- olution to #1
+
+
+ change_res_vert cvr ZD Change vertical
+ resolution to #1
change_scroll_region csr cs change region to
line #1 to line #2
(P)
char_padding rmp rP like ip but when in
insert mode
-
-
clear_all_tabs tbc ct clear all tab stops
(P)
clear_margins mgc MC clear right and left
prototype !?
create_window cwin CW define a window #1
from #2,#3 to #4,#5
- cursor_address cup cm move to row #1 col-
- umns #2
+ cursor_address cup cm move to row #1
+ columns #2
cursor_down cud1 do down one line
cursor_home home ho home cursor (if no
cup)
- cursor_invisible civis vi make cursor invisi-
- ble
+ cursor_invisible civis vi make cursor
+ invisible
cursor_left cub1 le move left one space
- cursor_mem_address mrcup CM memory relative cur-
- sor addressing, move
- to row #1 columns #2
+ cursor_mem_address mrcup CM memory relative
+ cursor addressing,
+ move to row #1
+ columns #2
cursor_normal cnorm ve make cursor appear
normal (undo
civis/cvvis)
character set (P)
enter_am_mode smam SA turn on automatic
margins
+
enter_blink_mode blink mb turn on blinking
enter_bold_mode bold md turn on bold (extra
bright) mode
- enter_ca_mode smcup ti string to start pro-
- grams using cup
+ enter_ca_mode smcup ti string to start
+ programs using cup
enter_delete_mode smdc dm enter delete mode
enter_dim_mode dim mh turn on half-bright
mode
-
enter_doublewide_mode swidm ZF Enter double-wide
mode
enter_draft_quality sdrfq ZG Enter draft-quality
mode
enter_insert_mode smir im enter insert mode
enter_italics_mode sitm ZH Enter italic mode
- enter_leftward_mode slm ZI Start leftward car-
- riage motion
+ enter_leftward_mode slm ZI Start leftward
+ carriage motion
enter_micro_mode smicm ZJ Start micro-motion
mode
enter_near_letter_quality snlq ZK Enter NLQ mode
enter_reverse_mode rev mr turn on reverse
video mode
enter_secure_mode invis mk turn on blank mode
- (characters invisi-
- ble)
+ (characters
+ invisible)
enter_shadow_mode sshm ZM Enter shadow-print
mode
enter_standout_mode smso so begin standout mode
enter_superscript_mode ssupm ZO Enter superscript
mode
enter_underline_mode smul us begin underline mode
- enter_upward_mode sum ZP Start upward car-
- riage motion
+ enter_upward_mode sum ZP Start upward
+ carriage motion
enter_xon_mode smxon SX turn on xon/xoff
handshaking
erase_chars ech ec erase #1 characters
(P)
- exit_alt_charset_mode rmacs ae end alternate char-
- acter set (P)
+ exit_alt_charset_mode rmacs ae end alternate
+ character set (P)
exit_am_mode rmam RA turn off automatic
margins
exit_attribute_mode sgr0 me turn off all
attributes
- exit_ca_mode rmcup te strings to end pro-
- grams using cup
+ exit_ca_mode rmcup te strings to end
+ programs using cup
exit_delete_mode rmdc ed end delete mode
exit_doublewide_mode rwidm ZQ End double-wide mode
exit_insert_mode rmir ei exit insert mode
exit_subscript_mode rsubm ZV End subscript mode
exit_superscript_mode rsupm ZW End superscript mode
exit_underline_mode rmul ue exit underline mode
- exit_upward_mode rum ZX End reverse charac-
- ter motion
+ exit_upward_mode rum ZX End reverse
+ character motion
+
+
exit_xon_mode rmxon RX turn off xon/xoff
handshaking
- fixed_pause pause PA pause for 2-3 sec-
- onds
+ fixed_pause pause PA pause for 2-3
+ seconds
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
line
goto_window wingo WG go to window #1
string
init_3string is3 i3 initialization
string
- init_file if if name of initializa-
- tion file
+ init_file if if name of
+ initialization file
init_prog iprog iP path name of program
for initialization
initialize_color initc Ic initialize color #1
insert_padding ip ip insert padding after
inserted character
key_a1 ka1 K1 upper left of keypad
- key_a3 ka3 K3 upper right of key-
- pad
+ key_a3 ka3 K3 upper right of
+ keypad
key_b2 kb2 K2 center of keypad
key_backspace kbs kb backspace key
key_beg kbeg @1 begin key
key_btab kcbt kB back-tab key
key_c1 kc1 K4 lower left of keypad
- key_c3 kc3 K5 lower right of key-
- pad
+ key_c3 kc3 K5 lower right of
+ keypad
key_cancel kcan @2 cancel key
key_catab ktbc ka clear-all-tabs key
key_clear kclr kC clear-screen or
screen key
key_exit kext @9 exit key
key_f0 kf0 k0 F0 function key
+
key_f1 kf1 k1 F1 function key
key_f10 kf10 k; F10 function key
key_f11 kf11 F1 F11 function key
key_f15 kf15 F5 F15 function key
key_f16 kf16 F6 F16 function key
key_f17 kf17 F7 F17 function key
-
key_f18 kf18 F8 F18 function key
key_f19 kf19 F9 F19 function key
key_f2 kf2 k2 F2 function key
key_f9 kf9 k9 F9 function key
key_find kfnd @0 find key
key_help khlp %1 help key
+
key_home khome kh home key
key_ic kich1 kI insert-character key
key_il kil1 kA insert-line key
key_mark kmrk %2 mark key
key_message kmsg %3 message key
key_move kmov %4 move key
-
key_next knxt %5 next key
key_npage knp kN next-page key
key_open kopn %6 open key
key_scommand kCMD *1 shifted command key
key_scopy kCPY *2 shifted copy key
key_screate kCRT *3 shifted create key
- key_sdc kDC *4 shifted delete-char-
- acter key
+ key_sdc kDC *4 shifted delete-
+ character key
key_sdl kDL *5 shifted delete-line
key
key_select kslt *6 select key
key_sfind kFND *0 shifted find key
key_shelp kHLP #1 shifted help key
key_shome kHOM #2 shifted home key
- key_sic kIC #3 shifted insert-char-
- acter key
+ key_sic kIC #3 shifted insert-
+ character key
key_sleft kLFT #4 shifted left-arrow
key
key_smessage kMSG %a shifted message key
key_suspend kspd &7 suspend key
key_undo kund &8 undo key
key_up kcuu1 ku up-arrow key
- keypad_local rmkx ke leave 'key-
- board_transmit' mode
- keypad_xmit smkx ks enter 'key-
- board_transmit' mode
+
+ keypad_local rmkx ke leave
+ 'keyboard_transmit'
+ mode
+ keypad_xmit smkx ks enter
+ 'keyboard_transmit'
+ mode
lab_f0 lf0 l0 label on function
key f0 if not f0
lab_f1 lf1 l1 label on function
key f1 if not f1
-
-
lab_f10 lf10 la label on function
key f10 if not f10
lab_f2 lf2 l2 label on function
(P*)
parm_delete_line dl DL delete #1 lines (P*)
parm_down_cursor cud DO down #1 lines (P*)
- parm_down_micro mcud Zf Like parm_down_cur-
- sor in micro mode
+ parm_down_micro mcud Zf Like
+ parm_down_cursor in
+ micro mode
parm_ich ich IC insert #1 characters
(P*)
+
parm_index indn SF scroll forward #1
lines (P)
parm_insert_line il AL insert #1 lines (P*)
parm_left_cursor cub LE move #1 characters
to the left (P)
- parm_left_micro mcub Zg Like parm_left_cur-
- sor in micro mode
+ parm_left_micro mcub Zg Like
+ parm_left_cursor in
+ micro mode
parm_right_cursor cuf RI move #1 characters
to the right (P*)
- parm_right_micro mcuf Zh Like parm_right_cur-
- sor in micro mode
-
+ parm_right_micro mcuf Zh Like
+ parm_right_cursor in
+ micro mode
parm_rindex rin SR scroll back #1 lines
(P)
parm_up_cursor cuu UP up #1 lines (P*)
prtr_off mc4 pf turn off printer
prtr_on mc5 po turn on printer
pulse pulse PU select pulse dialing
- quick_dial qdial QD dial number #1 with-
- out checking
+ quick_dial qdial QD dial number #1
+ without checking
remove_clock rmclk RC remove clock
repeat_char rep rp repeat char #1 #2
times (P*)
#1
set_bottom_margin smgb Zk Set bottom margin at
current line
+
+
set_bottom_margin_parm smgbp Zl Set bottom margin at
line #1 or (if smgtp
is not given) #2
pair to #1
set_foreground setf Sf Set foreground color
#1
-
-
-
-
-
set_left_margin smgl ML set left soft margin
- at current col-
- umn. See smgl.
- (ML is not in BSD
- termcap).
+ at current
+ column. (ML is
+ not in BSD termcap).
set_left_margin_parm smglp Zm Set left (right)
margin at column #1
- set_right_margin smgr MR set right soft mar-
- gin at current col-
- umn
+ set_right_margin smgr MR set right soft
+ margin at current
+ column
set_right_margin_parm smgrp Zn Set right margin at
column #1
set_tab hts st set a tab in every
image graphics
stop_char_set_def rcsd Zt End definition of
character set #1
- subscript_characters subcs Zu List of subscript-
- able characters
- superscript_characters supcs Zv List of superscript-
- able characters
+ subscript_characters subcs Zu List of
+ subscriptable
+ characters
+ superscript_characters supcs Zv List of
+ superscriptable
+ characters
tab ht ta tab to next 8-space
hardware tab stop
these_cause_cr docr Zw Printing any of
user4 u4 u4 User string #4
user5 u5 u5 User string #5
user6 u6 u6 User string #6
+
user7 u7 u7 User string #7
user8 u8 u8 User string #8
user9 u9 u9 User string #9
wait_tone wait WA wait for dial-tone
xoff_character xoffc XF XOFF character
xon_character xonc XN XON character
- zero_motion zerom Zx No motion for subse-
- quent character
+ zero_motion zerom Zx No motion for
+ subsequent character
- The following string capabilities are present in the SVr4.0 term struc-
- ture, but were originally not documented in the man page.
+ The following string capabilities are present in the 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
- for scancode emu-
- lation
+ for scancode
+ emulation
bit_image_carriage_return bicr Yv Move to beginning
of same row
bit_image_newline binel Zz Move to next row
bit_image_repeat birep Xy Repeat bit image
cell #1 #2 times
char_set_names csnm Zy Produce #1'th item
- from list of char-
- acter set names
+ from list of
+ character set
+ names
code_set_init csin ci Init sequence for
multiple codesets
color_names colornm Yw Give name for
color #1
define_bit_image_region defbi Yx Define rectangular
bit image region
- device_type devt dv Indicate lan-
- guage/codeset sup-
- port
- display_pc_char dispc S1 Display PC charac-
- ter #1
+ device_type devt dv Indicate
+ language/codeset
+ support
+ display_pc_char dispc S1 Display PC
+ character #1
end_bit_image_region endbi Yy End a bit-image
region
enter_pc_charset_mode smpch S2 Enter PC character
string #3
req_mouse_pos reqmp RQ Request mouse
position
- scancode_escape scesc S7 Escape for scan-
- code emulation
+
+ scancode_escape scesc S7 Escape for
+ scancode emulation
set0_des_seq s0ds s0 Shift to codeset 0
(EUC set 0, ASCII)
set1_des_seq s1ds s1 Shift to codeset 1
set_a_foreground setaf AF Set foreground
color to #1, using
ANSI escape
-
set_color_band setcolor Yz Change to ribbon
color #1
set_lr_margin smglr ML Set both left and
right margins to
#1, #2. (ML is
- not in BSD term-
- cap).
+ not in BSD
+ termcap).
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 hardcopy capabilities. 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. According to the XSI Curses standard, they have no termcap
- names. If your compiled terminfo entries use these, they may not be
+ The XSI Curses standard added these hardcopy capabilities. 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. 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!
mode
enter_low_hl_mode elohlm Xo Enter low highlight
mode
- enter_right_hl_mode erhlm Xr Enter right high-
- light mode
+ enter_right_hl_mode erhlm Xr Enter right
+ highlight mode
enter_top_hl_mode ethlm Xt Enter top highlight
mode
- enter_vertical_hl_mode evhlm Xv Enter vertical high-
- light mode
+ enter_vertical_hl_mode evhlm Xv Enter vertical
+ highlight mode
set_a_attributes sgr1 sA Define second set of
video attributes
#1-#6
set_pglen_inch slength YI Set page length to
#1 hundredth of an
- inch (some implemen-
- tations use sL for
- termcap).
+ inch (some
+ implementations use
+ sL for termcap).
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-User-Defined-Capabilities">User-Defined Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
- The preceding section listed the <EM>predefined</EM> capabilities. They deal
- with some special features for terminals no longer (or possibly never)
- produced. Occasionally there are special features of newer terminals
- which are awkward or impossible to represent by reusing the predefined
+ 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
capabilities.
- <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> addresses this limitation by allowing user-defined capabili-
- ties. The <STRONG>tic</STRONG> and <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> programs provide the <STRONG>-x</STRONG> option for this pur-
- pose. 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 recog-
- nize, it infers its type (boolean, number or string) from the syntax
- and makes an extended table entry for that capability. The
- <STRONG><A HREF="curs_extend.3x.html">use_extended_names(3x)</A></STRONG> function makes this information conditionally
- available to applications. The ncurses library provides the data leav-
- ing most of the behavior to applications:
-
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> User-defined capability strings whose name begins with "k" are
+ <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 capability. The
+ <STRONG><A HREF="curs_extend.3x.html">use_extended_names(3x)</A></STRONG> function makes this information 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
+ <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 prede-
- fined set of capabilities, in practice it has been limited to the capa-
- bilities 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 particu-
- lar, 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.
+ 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.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-A-Sample-Entry">A Sample Entry</a></H3><PRE>
- The following entry, describing an ANSI-standard terminal, is represen-
- tative of what a <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> entry for a modern terminal typically looks
- like.
+ The following entry, describing an ANSI-standard terminal, is
+ representative of what a <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> entry for a modern terminal typically
+ looks like.
ansi|ansi/pc-term compatible with color,
am, mc5i, mir, msgr,
smul=\E[4m, tbc=\E[3g, u6=\E[%i%d;%dR, u7=\E[6n,
u8=\E[?%[;0123456789]c, u9=\E[c, vpa=\E[%i%p1%dd,
- Entries may continue onto multiple lines by placing white space at the
- beginning of each line except the first. Comments may be included on
+ 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:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Boolean capabilities which indicate that the terminal has some par-
- ticular feature,
+ <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
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> string capabilities, which give a sequence which can be used to
perform particular terminal operations.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Types-of-Capabilities">Types of Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
All capabilities have names. For instance, the fact that ANSI-standard
- terminals have <EM>automatic</EM> <EM>margins</EM> (i.e., an automatic return and line-
- feed when the end of a line is reached) is indicated by the capability
- <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Hence the description of ansi includes <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Numeric capabilities
- are followed by the character "#" and then a positive value. Thus
+ terminals have <EM>automatic</EM> <EM>margins</EM> (i.e., an automatic return and line-
+ feed when the end of a line is reached) is indicated by the capability
+ <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Hence the description of ansi includes <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Numeric capabilities
+ are followed by the character "#" and then a positive value. Thus
<STRONG>cols</STRONG>, which indicates the number of columns the terminal has, gives the
- value "80" for ansi. Values for numeric capabilities may be specified
- in decimal, octal or hexadecimal, using the C programming language con-
- ventions (e.g., 255, 0377 and 0xff or 0xFF).
+ value "80" for ansi. Values for numeric capabilities may be specified
+ in decimal, octal or hexadecimal, using the C programming language
+ conventions (e.g., 255, 0377 and 0xff or 0xFF).
- Finally, string valued capabilities, such as <STRONG>el</STRONG> (clear to end of line
- sequence) are given by the two-character code, an "=", and then a
+ Finally, string valued capabilities, such as <STRONG>el</STRONG> (clear to end of line
+ sequence) are given by the two-character code, an "=", and then a
string ending at the next following ",".
- A number of escape sequences are provided in the string valued capabil-
- ities for easy encoding of characters there:
+ A number of escape sequences are provided in the string valued
+ capabilities for easy encoding of characters there:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Both <STRONG>\E</STRONG> and <STRONG>\e</STRONG> map to an ESCAPE character,
respectively.
X/Open Curses does not say what "appropriate <EM>x</EM>" might be. In practice,
- that is a printable ASCII graphic character. The special case "^?" is
- interpreted as DEL (127). In all other cases, the character value is
- AND'd with 0x1f, mapping to ASCII control codes in the range 0 through
+ that is a printable ASCII graphic character. The special case "^?" is
+ interpreted as DEL (127). In all other cases, the character value is
+ AND'd with 0x1f, mapping to ASCII control codes in the range 0 through
31.
Other escapes include
<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 terminals, providing CS7 is specified.
+ as a null character on most terminals, providing CS7 is specified.
See <STRONG>stty(1)</STRONG>.
- The reason for this quirk is to maintain binary compatibility of
- the compiled terminfo files with other implementations, e.g., the
- SVr4 systems, which document this. Compiled terminfo files use
- null-terminated strings, with no lengths. Modifying this would
- require a new binary format, which would not work with other imple-
- mentations.
+ The reason for this quirk is to maintain binary compatibility of
+ the compiled terminfo files with other implementations, e.g., the
+ SVr4 systems, which document this. Compiled terminfo files use
+ null-terminated 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>, and padding characters
+ A delay in milliseconds may appear anywhere in a string capability,
+ enclosed in $<..> brackets, as in <STRONG>el</STRONG>=\EK$<5>, and padding characters
are supplied by <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tputs(3x)</A></STRONG> to provide this delay.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> The delay must be a number with at most one decimal place of preci-
- sion; it may be followed by suffixes "*" or "/" or both.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The delay must be a number with at most one decimal place of
+ precision; it may be followed by suffixes "*" or "/" or both.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "*" indicates that the padding required is proportional to the
- number of lines affected by the operation, and the amount given is
- the per-affected-unit padding required. (In the case of insert
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "*" indicates that the padding required is proportional to the
+ number of lines affected by the operation, and the amount given is
+ the per-affected-unit padding required. (In the case of insert
character, the factor is still the number of <EM>lines</EM> affected.)
Normally, padding is advisory if the device has the <STRONG>xon</STRONG> capability;
it is used for cost computation but does not trigger delays.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "/" suffix indicates that the padding is mandatory and forces a
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "/" suffix indicates that the padding is mandatory and forces a
delay of the given number of milliseconds even on devices for which
<STRONG>xon</STRONG> is present to indicate flow control.
- Sometimes individual capabilities must be commented out. To do this,
- put a period before the capability name. For example, see the second
+ Sometimes individual capabilities must be commented out. To do this,
+ put a period before the capability name. For example, see the second
<STRONG>ind</STRONG> in the example above.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Fetching-Compiled-Descriptions">Fetching Compiled Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
- The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library searches for terminal descriptions in several
- places. It uses only the first description found. The library has a
- compiled-in list of places to search which can be overridden by envi-
- ronment variables. Before starting to search, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> eliminates
+ 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
+ <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>o</STRONG> If TERMINFO is not set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> will instead look in the directory
<STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> for a compiled description.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Next, if the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS is set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
- will interpret the contents of that variable as a list of colon-
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Next, if the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS is set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
+ will interpret the contents of that variable 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 adjacent colons) is interpreted as the system
+ An empty directory name (i.e., if the variable begins or ends with
+ a colon, or contains adjacent colons) is interpreted as the system
location <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Finally, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> searches these compiled-in locations:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> a list of directories (/usr/local/ncurses/share/ter-
- minfo:/usr/share/terminfo), and
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> a list of directories (no default value), and
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> the system terminfo directory, <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM> (the com-
- piled-in default).
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> the system terminfo directory, <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM> (the
+ compiled-in default).
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Preparing-Descriptions">Preparing Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
wraps around to the beginning of the next line when it reaches the
right margin, then it should have the <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability. If the terminal
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 over-
- strikes (rather than clearing a position when a character is struck
+ 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 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 carriage return, control/M.) If there is a code to pro-
- duce an audible signal (bell, beep, etc) give this as <STRONG>bel</STRONG>.
+ 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>.
If there is a code to move the cursor one position to the left (such as
backspace) that capability should be given as <STRONG>cub1</STRONG>. Similarly, codes
the effect is undefined. This is useful for drawing 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 col-
- umn 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
+ 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" termi-
- nals. Thus the model 33 teletype is described as
+ These capabilities suffice to describe hard-copy and "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,
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Parameterized-Strings">Parameterized Strings</a></H3><PRE>
- Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters in the termi-
- nal are described by a parameterized string capability, with <EM>printf</EM>-
- like escapes such as <EM>%x</EM> in it. For example, to address the cursor, the
- <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is given, using two parameters: the row and column to
- address to. (Rows and columns are numbered from zero and refer to the
- physical screen visible to the user, not to any unseen memory.) If the
- terminal has memory relative cursor addressing, that can be indicated
- by <STRONG>mrcup</STRONG>.
+ Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters in the
+ terminal are described by a parameterized string capability, with
+ <EM>printf</EM>-like escapes such as <EM>%x</EM> in it. For example, to address the
+ cursor, the <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is 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 addressing, that
+ can be indicated by <STRONG>mrcup</STRONG>.
The parameter mechanism uses a stack and special <STRONG>%</STRONG> codes to manipulate
it. Typically a sequence will push one of the parameters onto the
- stack and then print it in some format. Print (e.g., "%d") is a spe-
- cial 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.
+ 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:
these are simply two different sets of variables, whose values are
not reset between calls to <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tparm(3x)</A></STRONG>. However, that fact is not
documented in other implementations. Relying on it will adversely
- impact portability to other implementations.
+ impact portability to other implementations:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr2 curses supported <EM>dynamic</EM> variables. Those are set only
+ by a <STRONG>%P</STRONG> operator. A <STRONG>%g</STRONG> for a given variable without first
+ setting it with <STRONG>%P</STRONG> will give unpredictable results, because
+ dynamic variables are an uninitialized local array on the
+ stack in the <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> function.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr3.2 curses supported <EM>static</EM> variables. Those are an array
+ in the <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> structure (declared in <STRONG>term.h</STRONG>), and are zeroed
+ automatically when the <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> function allocates the data.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr4 curses made no further improvements to the <EM>dynamic/static</EM>
+ variable feature.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Solaris XPG4 curses does not distinguish between <EM>dynamic</EM> and
+ <EM>static</EM> variables. They are the same. Like SVr4 curses, XPG4
+ curses does not initialize these explicitly.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Before version 6.3, ncurses stores both <EM>dynamic</EM> and <EM>static</EM>
+ variables in persistent storage, initialized to zeros.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Beginning with version 6.3, ncurses stores <EM>static</EM> and <EM>dynamic</EM>
+ variables in the same manner as SVr4. Unlike other
+ implementations, ncurses zeros dynamic variables before the
+ first <STRONG>%g</STRONG> or <STRONG>%P</STRONG> operator.
<STRONG>%'</STRONG><EM>c</EM><STRONG>'</STRONG> char constant <EM>c</EM>
<STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> <STRONG>%t</STRONG> <EM>thenpart</EM> <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> <STRONG>%;</STRONG>
This forms an if-then-else. The <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> is optional. Usually
- the <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> part pushes a value onto the stack, and <STRONG>%t</STRONG> pops it
- from the stack, testing if it is nonzero (true). If it is zero
+ the <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> part pushes a value onto the stack, and <STRONG>%t</STRONG> pops it
+ from the stack, testing if it is nonzero (true). If it is zero
(false), control passes to the <STRONG>%e</STRONG> (else) part.
It is possible to form else-if's a la Algol 68:
where ci are conditions, bi are bodies.
- Use the <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> or <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> to see the structure of if-
+ Use the <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> or <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> to see the structure 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
+ 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}%-". <STRONG>%P</STRONG> and <STRONG>%g</STRONG> vari-
- ables are persistent across escape-string evaluations.
+ Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands in the usual
+ order. That is, to get x-5 one would use "%gx%{5}%-". <STRONG>%P</STRONG> and <STRONG>%g</STRONG>
+ 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 digits. Thus its <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is
+ 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 digits. 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 preceded by
- a <STRONG>^T</STRONG>, with the row and column simply encoded in binary,
- "cup=^T%p1%c%p2%c". Terminals which use "%c" need to be able to
- backspace the cursor (<STRONG>cub1</STRONG>), and to move the cursor up one line on the
- screen (<STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>). This is necessary because it is not always safe to
- transmit <STRONG>\n</STRONG> <STRONG>^D</STRONG> and <STRONG>\r</STRONG>, as the system may change or discard them. (The
- library routines dealing with terminfo set tty modes so that tabs are
- never expanded, so \t is safe to send. This turns out to be essential
+ The Microterm ACT-IV needs the current row and column sent preceded by
+ a <STRONG>^T</STRONG>, with the row and column simply encoded in binary,
+ "cup=^T%p1%c%p2%c". Terminals which use "%c" need to be able to
+ backspace the cursor (<STRONG>cub1</STRONG>), and to move the cursor up one line on the
+ screen (<STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>). This is necessary because it is not always safe to
+ transmit <STRONG>\n</STRONG> <STRONG>^D</STRONG> and <STRONG>\r</STRONG>, as the system may change or discard them. (The
+ library routines dealing with terminfo set tty modes so that tabs are
+ never expanded, so \t is safe to send. This turns out to be essential
for the Ann Arbor 4080.)
- A final example is the LSI ADM-3a, which uses row and column offset by
+ A final example is the LSI ADM-3a, which uses row and column offset by
a blank character, thus "cup=\E=%p1%' '%+%c%p2%' '%+%c". After sending
- "\E=", this pushes the first parameter, pushes the ASCII value for a
+ "\E=", this pushes the first parameter, pushes the ASCII value for a
space (32), adds them (pushing the sum on the stack in place of the two
- previous values) and outputs that value as a character. Then the same
- is done for the second parameter. More complex arithmetic is possible
+ previous values) and outputs that value as a character. Then the same
+ is done for the second parameter. More complex arithmetic is possible
using the stack.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Cursor-Motions">Cursor Motions</a></H3><PRE>
- If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very upper left
- corner of screen) then this can be given as <STRONG>home</STRONG>; similarly a fast way
- of getting to the lower left-hand corner can be given as <STRONG>ll</STRONG>; this may
+ If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very upper left
+ corner of screen) then this can be given as <STRONG>home</STRONG>; similarly a fast way
+ of getting to the lower left-hand corner can be given as <STRONG>ll</STRONG>; this may
involve going up with <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG> from the home position, but a program should
never do this itself (unless <STRONG>ll</STRONG> does) because it can make no assumption
- about the effect of moving up from the home position. Note that the
- home position is the same as addressing to (0,0): to the top left cor-
- ner of the screen, not of memory. (Thus, the \EH sequence on HP termi-
- nals cannot be used for <STRONG>home</STRONG>.)
+ about the effect of moving up from the home position. Note that the
+ home position is the same as addressing to (0,0): to the top left
+ corner of the screen, not of memory. (Thus, the \EH sequence on HP
+ terminals cannot be used for <STRONG>home</STRONG>.)
If the terminal has row or column absolute cursor addressing, these can
- be given as single parameter capabilities <STRONG>hpa</STRONG> (horizontal position
- absolute) and <STRONG>vpa</STRONG> (vertical position absolute). Sometimes these are
- shorter than the more general two parameter sequence (as with the
- hp2645) and can be used in preference to <STRONG>cup</STRONG>. If there are parameter-
- ized local motions (e.g., move <EM>n</EM> spaces to the right) these can be
- given as <STRONG>cud</STRONG>, <STRONG>cub</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuf</STRONG>, and <STRONG>cuu</STRONG> with a single parameter indicating how
- many spaces to move. These are primarily useful if the terminal does
- not have <STRONG>cup</STRONG>, such as the TEKTRONIX 4025.
-
- If the terminal needs to be in a special mode when running a program
+ be given as single parameter capabilities <STRONG>hpa</STRONG> (horizontal position
+ absolute) and <STRONG>vpa</STRONG> (vertical position absolute). Sometimes these are
+ shorter than the more general two parameter sequence (as with the
+ hp2645) and can be used in preference to <STRONG>cup</STRONG>. If there are
+ parameterized local motions (e.g., move <EM>n</EM> spaces to the right) these
+ can be given as <STRONG>cud</STRONG>, <STRONG>cub</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuf</STRONG>, and <STRONG>cuu</STRONG> with a single parameter
+ indicating how many spaces to move. These are primarily useful if the
+ terminal does not have <STRONG>cup</STRONG>, such as the TEKTRONIX 4025.
+
+ If the terminal needs to be in a special mode when running a program
that uses these capabilities, the codes to enter and exit this mode can
- be given as <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>. This arises, for example, from terminals
- like the Concept with more than one page of memory. If the terminal
- has only memory relative cursor addressing and not screen relative cur-
- sor addressing, a one screen-sized window must be fixed into the termi-
- nal for cursor addressing to work properly. This is also used for the
- TEKTRONIX 4025, where <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sets the command character to be the one
- used by terminfo. If the <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sequence will not restore the screen
- after an <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG> sequence is output (to the state prior to outputting
- <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>), specify <STRONG>nrrmc</STRONG>.
+ be given as <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>. This arises, for example, from terminals
+ like the Concept with more than one page of memory. If the terminal
+ has only memory relative cursor addressing and not screen relative
+ cursor addressing, a one screen-sized window must be fixed into the
+ terminal for cursor addressing to work properly. This is also used for
+ the TEKTRONIX 4025, where <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sets the command character to be the
+ one used by terminfo. If the <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sequence will not restore the
+ screen after an <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG> sequence is output (to the state prior to
+ outputting <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>), specify <STRONG>nrrmc</STRONG>.
+
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Margins">Margins</a></H3><PRE>
+ SVr4 (and X/Open Curses) list several string capabilities for setting
+ margins. Two were intended for use with terminals, and another six
+ were intended for use with printers.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The two terminal capabilities assume that the terminal may have the
+ capability of setting the left and/or right margin at the current
+ cursor column position.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The printer capabilities assume that the printer may have two types
+ of capability:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> the ability to set a top and/or bottom margin using the current
+ line position, and
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> parameterized capabilities for setting the top, bottom, left,
+ right margins given the number of rows or columns.
+
+ In practice, the categorization into "terminal" and "printer" is not
+ suitable:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The AT&T SVr4 terminal database uses <STRONG>smgl</STRONG> four times, for AT&T
+ hardware.
+
+ Three of the four are printers. They lack the ability to set
+ left/right margins by specifying the column.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Other (non-AT&T) terminals may support margins but using different
+ assumptions from AT&T.
+
+ For instance, the DEC VT420 supports left/right margins, but only
+ using a column parameter. As an added complication, the VT420 uses
+ two settings to fully enable left/right margins (left/right margin
+ mode, and origin mode). The former enables the margins, which
+ causes printed text to wrap within margins, but the latter is
+ needed to prevent cursor-addressing outside those margins.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Both DEC VT420 left/right margins are set with a single control
+ sequence. If either is omitted, the corresponding margin is set to
+ the left or right edge of the display (rather than leaving the
+ margin unmodified).
+
+ These are the margin-related capabilities:
+
+ <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
+ ------------------------------------------------------
+ smgl Set left margin at current column
+ smgr Set right margin at current column
+ smgb Set bottom margin at current line
+ smgt Set top margin at current line
+ smgbp Set bottom margin at line <EM>N</EM>
+ smglp Set left margin at column <EM>N</EM>
+ smgrp Set right margin at column <EM>N</EM>
+ smgtp Set top margin at line <EM>N</EM>
+ smglr Set both left and right margins to <EM>L</EM> and <EM>R</EM>
+ smgtb Set both top and bottom margins to <EM>T</EM> and <EM>B</EM>
+
+ When writing an application that uses these string capabilities, the
+ pairs should be first checked to see if each capability in the pair is
+ set or only one is set:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If both <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> are set, each is used with a single
+ argument, <EM>N</EM>, that gives the column number of the left and right
+ margin, respectively.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If both <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> are set, each is used to set the top and
+ bottom margin, respectively:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> is used with a single argument, <EM>N</EM>, the line number of the
+ top margin.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> is used with two arguments, <EM>N</EM> and <EM>M</EM>, that give the line
+ number of the bottom margin, the first counting from the top of
+ the page and the second counting from the bottom. This
+ accommodates the two styles of specifying the bottom margin in
+ different manufacturers' printers.
+
+ When designing a terminfo entry for a printer that has a settable
+ bottom margin, only the first or second argument should be used,
+ depending on the printer. When developing an application that uses
+ <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> to set the bottom margin, both arguments must be given.
+
+ Conversely, when only one capability in the pair is set:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If only one of <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> is set, then it is used with two
+ arguments, the column number of the left and right margins, in that
+ order.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Likewise, if only one of <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> is set, then it is used
+ with two arguments that give the top and bottom margins, in that
+ order, counting from the top of the page.
+
+ When designing a terminfo entry for a printer that requires setting
+ both left and right or top and bottom margins simultaneously, only
+ one capability in the pairs <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> or <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG>
+ should be defined, leaving the other unset.
+
+ Except for very old terminal descriptions, e.g., those developed for
+ SVr4, the scheme just described should be considered obsolete. An
+ improved set of capabilities was added late in the SVr4 releases (<STRONG>smglr</STRONG>
+ and <STRONG>smgtb</STRONG>), which explicitly use two parameters for setting the
+ left/right or top/bottom margins.
+
+ When setting margins, the line- and column-values are zero-based.
+
+ The <STRONG>mgc</STRONG> string capability should be defined. Applications such as
+ <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG> rely upon this to reset all margins.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Area-Clears">Area Clears</a></H3><PRE>
- If the terminal can clear from the current position to the end of the
- line, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be given as <STRONG>el</STRONG>. If
- the terminal can clear from the beginning of the line to the current
- position inclusive, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be
- given as <STRONG>el1</STRONG>. If the terminal can clear from the current position to
- the end of the display, then this should be given as <STRONG>ed</STRONG>. <STRONG>Ed</STRONG> is only
+ If the terminal can clear from the current position to the end of the
+ line, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be given as <STRONG>el</STRONG>. If
+ the terminal can clear from the beginning of the line to the current
+ position inclusive, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be
+ given as <STRONG>el1</STRONG>. If the terminal can clear from the current position to
+ the end of the display, then this should be given as <STRONG>ed</STRONG>. <STRONG>Ed</STRONG> is only
defined from the first column of a line. (Thus, it can be simulated by
- a request to delete a large number of lines, if a true <STRONG>ed</STRONG> is not avail-
- able.)
+ a request to delete a large number of lines, if a true <STRONG>ed</STRONG> is not
+ available.)
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Insert_delete-line-and-vertical-motions">Insert/delete line and vertical motions</a></H3><PRE>
- If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line where the
- cursor is, this should be given as <STRONG>il1</STRONG>; this is done only from the
- first position of a line. The cursor must then appear on the newly
- blank line. If the terminal can delete the line which the cursor is
- on, then this should be given as <STRONG>dl1</STRONG>; this is done only from the first
+ If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line where the
+ cursor is, this should be given as <STRONG>il1</STRONG>; this is done only from the
+ first position of a line. The cursor must then appear on the newly
+ blank line. If the terminal can delete the line which the cursor is
+ on, then this should be given as <STRONG>dl1</STRONG>; this is done only from the first
position on the line to be deleted. Versions of <STRONG>il1</STRONG> and <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> which take
a single parameter and insert or delete that many lines can be given as
<STRONG>il</STRONG> and <STRONG>dl</STRONG>.
- If the terminal has a settable scrolling region (like the vt100) the
- command to set this can be described with the <STRONG>csr</STRONG> capability, which
+ If the terminal has a settable scrolling region (like the vt100) the
+ command to set this can be described with the <STRONG>csr</STRONG> capability, which
takes two parameters: the top and bottom lines of the scrolling region.
The cursor position is, alas, undefined after using this command.
- It is possible to get the effect of insert or delete line using <STRONG>csr</STRONG> on
- a properly chosen region; the <STRONG>sc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (save and restore cursor) com-
- mands may be useful for ensuring that your synthesized insert/delete
- string does not move the cursor. (Note that the <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG> library
- does this synthesis automatically, so you need not compose
+ It is possible to get the effect of insert or delete line using <STRONG>csr</STRONG> on
+ a properly chosen region; the <STRONG>sc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (save and restore cursor)
+ commands may be useful for ensuring that your synthesized insert/delete
+ string does not move the cursor. (Note that the <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG> library
+ does this synthesis automatically, so you need not compose
insert/delete strings for an entry with <STRONG>csr</STRONG>).
- Yet another way to construct insert and delete might be to use a combi-
- nation of index with the memory-lock feature found on some terminals
- (like the HP-700/90 series, which however also has insert/delete).
+ Yet another way to construct insert and delete might be to use a
+ combination of index with the memory-lock feature found on some
+ terminals (like the HP-700/90 series, which however also has
+ insert/delete).
Inserting lines at the top or bottom of the screen can also be done
using <STRONG>ri</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG> on many terminals without a true insert/delete line,
and is often faster even on terminals with those features.
- The boolean <STRONG>non_dest_scroll_region</STRONG> should be set if each scrolling win-
- dow is effectively a view port on a screen-sized canvas. To test for
- this capability, create a scrolling region in the middle of the screen,
- write something to the bottom line, move the cursor to the top of the
- region, and do <STRONG>ri</STRONG> followed by <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG>. If the data scrolled off the
- bottom of the region by the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> re-appears, then scrolling is non-
- destructive. System V and XSI Curses expect that <STRONG>ind</STRONG>, <STRONG>ri</STRONG>, <STRONG>indn</STRONG>, and
- <STRONG>rin</STRONG> will simulate destructive scrolling; their documentation cautions
- you not to define <STRONG>csr</STRONG> unless this is true. This <STRONG>curses</STRONG> implementation
- is more liberal and will do explicit erases after scrolling if <STRONG>ndsrc</STRONG> is
- defined.
+ The boolean <STRONG>non_dest_scroll_region</STRONG> should be set if each scrolling
+ window is effectively a view port on a screen-sized canvas. To test
+ for this capability, create a scrolling region in the middle of the
+ screen, write something to the bottom line, move the cursor to the top
+ of the region, and do <STRONG>ri</STRONG> followed by <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG>. If the data scrolled
+ off the bottom of the region by the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> re-appears, then scrolling is
+ non-destructive. System V and XSI Curses expect that <STRONG>ind</STRONG>, <STRONG>ri</STRONG>, <STRONG>indn</STRONG>,
+ and <STRONG>rin</STRONG> will simulate destructive scrolling; their documentation
+ cautions you not to define <STRONG>csr</STRONG> unless this is true. This <STRONG>curses</STRONG>
+ implementation is more liberal and will do explicit erases after
+ scrolling if <STRONG>ndsrc</STRONG> is defined.
If the terminal has the ability to define a window as part of memory,
which all commands affect, it should be given as the parameterized
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Insert_Delete-Character">Insert/Delete Character</a></H3><PRE>
There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with respect to
insert/delete character which can be described using <EM>terminfo.</EM> The
- most common insert/delete character operations affect only the charac-
- ters on the current line and shift characters off the end of the line
- rigidly. Other terminals, such as the Concept 100 and the Perkin 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 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 sec-
- ond 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
+ most common insert/delete character operations affect only the
+ characters on the current line and shift characters off the end of the
+ line rigidly. Other terminals, such as the Concept 100 and the Perkin
+ 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 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 blank position on the
+ Terminfo can describe both terminals which have an insert mode, and
+ terminals which send a simple sequence to open a blank position on the
current line. Give as <STRONG>smir</STRONG> the sequence to get into insert mode. Give
- as <STRONG>rmir</STRONG> the sequence to leave insert mode. Now give as <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> any
- sequence needed to be sent just before sending the character to be
- inserted. Most terminals with a true insert mode will not give <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>;
- terminals which send a sequence to open a screen position should give
+ as <STRONG>rmir</STRONG> the sequence to leave insert mode. Now give as <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> any
+ sequence needed to be sent just before sending the character to be
+ inserted. Most terminals with a true insert mode will not give <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>;
+ terminals which send a sequence to open a screen position should give
it here.
- If your terminal has both, insert mode is usually preferable to <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>.
- Technically, you should not give both unless the terminal actually
- requires both to be used in combination. Accordingly, some non-curses
- applications get confused if both are present; the symptom is doubled
- characters in an update using insert. This requirement is now rare;
- most <STRONG>ich</STRONG> sequences do not require previous smir, and most smir insert
- modes do not require <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> before each character. Therefore, the new
- <STRONG>curses</STRONG> actually assumes this is the case and uses either <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> or
- <STRONG>ich</STRONG>/<STRONG>ich1</STRONG> as appropriate (but not both). If you have to write an entry
- to be used under new curses for a terminal old enough to need both,
+ If your terminal has both, insert mode is usually preferable to <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>.
+ Technically, you should not give both unless the terminal actually
+ requires both to be used in combination. Accordingly, some non-curses
+ applications get confused if both are present; the symptom is doubled
+ characters in an update using insert. This requirement is now rare;
+ most <STRONG>ich</STRONG> sequences do not require previous smir, and most smir insert
+ modes do not require <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> before each character. Therefore, the new
+ <STRONG>curses</STRONG> actually assumes this is the case and uses either <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> or
+ <STRONG>ich</STRONG>/<STRONG>ich1</STRONG> as appropriate (but not both). If you have to write an entry
+ to be used under new curses for a terminal old enough to need both,
include the <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> sequences in <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>.
If post insert padding is needed, give this as a number of milliseconds
- in <STRONG>ip</STRONG> (a string option). Any other sequence which may need to be sent
+ in <STRONG>ip</STRONG> (a string option). Any other sequence which may need to be sent
after an insert of a single character may also be given in <STRONG>ip</STRONG>. If your
- terminal needs both to be placed into an "insert mode" and a special
- code to precede each inserted character, then both <STRONG>smir</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmir</STRONG> and <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>
- can be given, and both will be used. The <STRONG>ich</STRONG> capability, with one
+ terminal needs both to be placed into an "insert mode" and a special
+ code to precede each inserted character, then both <STRONG>smir</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmir</STRONG> and <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>
+ can be given, and both will be used. The <STRONG>ich</STRONG> capability, with one
parameter, <EM>n</EM>, will repeat the effects of <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> <EM>n</EM> times.
- If padding is necessary between characters typed while not in insert
+ If padding is necessary between characters typed while not in insert
mode, give this as a number of milliseconds padding in <STRONG>rmp</STRONG>.
- It is occasionally necessary to move around while in insert mode to
- delete characters on the same line (e.g., if there is a tab after the
- insertion position). If your terminal allows motion while in insert
- mode you can give the capability <STRONG>mir</STRONG> to speed up inserting in this
- case. Omitting <STRONG>mir</STRONG> will affect only speed. Some terminals (notably
- Datamedia's) must not have <STRONG>mir</STRONG> because of the way their insert mode
+ It is occasionally necessary to move around while in insert mode to
+ delete characters on the same line (e.g., if there is a tab after the
+ insertion position). If your terminal allows motion while in insert
+ mode you can give the capability <STRONG>mir</STRONG> to speed up inserting in this
+ case. Omitting <STRONG>mir</STRONG> will affect only speed. Some terminals (notably
+ Datamedia's) must not have <STRONG>mir</STRONG> because of the way their insert mode
works.
- Finally, you can specify <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to delete a single character, <STRONG>dch</STRONG> with
- one parameter, <EM>n</EM>, to delete <EM>n</EM> <EM>characters,</EM> and delete mode by giving
- <STRONG>smdc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmdc</STRONG> to enter and exit delete mode (any mode the terminal
+ Finally, you can specify <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to delete a single character, <STRONG>dch</STRONG> with
+ one parameter, <EM>n</EM>, to delete <EM>n</EM> <EM>characters,</EM> and delete mode by giving
+ <STRONG>smdc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmdc</STRONG> to enter and exit delete mode (any mode the terminal
needs to be placed in for <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to work).
- A command to erase <EM>n</EM> characters (equivalent to outputting <EM>n</EM> blanks
+ A command to erase <EM>n</EM> characters (equivalent to outputting <EM>n</EM> blanks
without moving the cursor) can be given as <STRONG>ech</STRONG> with one parameter.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Highlighting_-Underlining_-and-Visible-Bells">Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells</a></H3><PRE>
If your terminal has one or more kinds of display attributes, these can
- be represented in a number of different ways. You should choose one
- display form as <EM>standout</EM> <EM>mode</EM>, representing a good, high contrast,
- easy-on-the-eyes, format for highlighting error messages and other
- attention getters. (If you have a choice, reverse video 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, then
+ be represented in a number of different ways. You should choose one
+ display form as <EM>standout</EM> <EM>mode</EM>, representing a good, high contrast,
+ easy-on-the-eyes, format for highlighting error messages and other
+ attention getters. (If you have a choice, reverse video 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, 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 cursor one space to the right, such as the
+ 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
+ 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), taking 9 parameters. Each
- parameter is either 0 or nonzero, as the corresponding attribute is on
- or off. The 9 parameters 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 sep-
- arate attribute commands exist.
+ If there is a sequence to set arbitrary combinations of modes, this
+ should be given as <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> (set attributes), taking 9 parameters. Each
+ parameter is either 0 or nonzero, as the corresponding attribute is on
+ or off. The 9 parameters 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:
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 termi-
- nal has a protect mode, though it is not commonly used in sgr because
- it protects characters on the screen from the host's erasures. 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
+ 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 erasures.
+ 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 example, ;7 is out-
- put when either p1 or p3 is true, that is, if either standout or
+ Some sequences are common to different modes. For example, ;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 dependencies yields
sgr=\E[0%?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p4%t;5%;
%?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;%?%p7%t;8%;m%?%p9%t\016%e\017%;,
- Remember that if you specify sgr, you must also specify sgr0. Also,
- some implementations rely on sgr being given if sgr0 is, Not all ter-
- minfo 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 "cook-
- ies" when they receive mode-setting sequences, which affect the display
- algorithm rather than having extra bits for each character. Some ter-
- minals, 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
+ 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 indicate an error
- quietly (a bell replacement) then this can be given as <STRONG>flash</STRONG>; it must
+ If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indicate 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 when it is not
+ 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 blinking underline) give this sequence as
+ 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
- that as <STRONG>civis</STRONG>. The capability <STRONG>cnorm</STRONG> should be given which undoes the
+ 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 the screen, specify the capability <STRONG>os</STRONG>. If
+ 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 the screen, specify the capability <STRONG>os</STRONG>. If
overstrikes are erasable with a blank, then this should be indicated by
giving <STRONG>eo</STRONG>.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Keypad-and-Function-Keys">Keypad and Function Keys</a></H3><PRE>
- If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes when the keys are
- pressed, this information can be given. Note that it is not possible
+ If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes when the keys are
+ pressed, this information can be given. Note that it is not possible
to handle terminals where the keypad 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 <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG>. Other-
- wise the keypad is assumed to always transmit.
+ 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 <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>
+ 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
+ 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>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
+ 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
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
+ 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 numbers
- 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
+ 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 computer.
- The capabilities <STRONG>nlab</STRONG>, <STRONG>lw</STRONG> and <STRONG>lh</STRONG> define the number of programmable
- 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 nor-
- mally output after one or more pln sequences to make sure that the
+ The capabilities <STRONG>nlab</STRONG>, <STRONG>lw</STRONG> and <STRONG>lh</STRONG> define the number of programmable
+ 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.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Tabs-and-Initialization">Tabs and Initialization</a></H3><PRE>
A few capabilities are used only for tabs:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance to the
+ <STRONG>o</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).
<STRONG>o</STRONG> 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 present, since
+ 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 properly set.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal has hardware tabs which are initially set every <EM>n</EM>
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> 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.
The <STRONG>it</STRONG> capability is normally used by the <STRONG>tset</STRONG> command to determine
- whether to set the mode for hardware tab expansion, and whether to
+ 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
+ in non-volatile memory, the terminfo description can assume that
they are properly set.
Other capabilities include
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, and <STRONG>is3</STRONG>, initialization strings for the terminal,
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, the path name of a program to be run to initialize the ter-
- minal,
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, the path name of a program to be run to initialize the
+ terminal,
<STRONG>o</STRONG> 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 <STRONG>tput</STRONG> program, each time the
+ 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 <STRONG>tput</STRONG> program, each time the
user logs in. They will be printed in the following order:
run the program
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
+ 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 set of sequences that does a harder reset from a totally unknown
+ 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>, analogous to <STRONG>is1</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>is2</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>if</STRONG>
- and <STRONG>is3</STRONG> respectively. These strings are output by <EM>reset</EM> option of
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG>, or by the <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program (an alias of <STRONG>tset</STRONG>), which is used when
+ and <STRONG>is3</STRONG> respectively. These strings are output by <EM>reset</EM> option of
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG>, or by the <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program (an alias of <STRONG>tset</STRONG>), 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 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
+ 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 <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program writes strings including <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, etc., in the same
- order as the <EM>init</EM> program, using <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, etc., instead of <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, etc. If
- any of <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, or <STRONG>rf</STRONG> reset capability strings are missing, the
- <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program falls back upon the corresponding initialization capabil-
- ity string.
+ The <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program writes strings including <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, etc., in the same
+ order as the <EM>init</EM> program, using <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, etc., instead of <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, etc. If
+ any of <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, or <STRONG>rf</STRONG> reset capability strings are missing, the
+ <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program falls back upon the corresponding initialization
+ capability string.
- If there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can be given as
+ 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 complex sequence is needed to set the tabs
+ of every row). If a more complex 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>.
- The <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>reset</STRONG> command uses the same capability strings as the <STRONG>reset</STRONG>
- command, although the two programs (<STRONG>tput</STRONG> and <STRONG>reset</STRONG>) provide different
+ The <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>reset</STRONG> command uses the same capability strings as the <STRONG>reset</STRONG>
+ command, although the two programs (<STRONG>tput</STRONG> and <STRONG>reset</STRONG>) provide different
command-line options.
- In practice, these terminfo capabilities are not often used in initial-
- ization of tabs (though they are required for the <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> program):
+ In practice, these terminfo capabilities are not often used in
+ initialization of tabs (though they are required for the <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> program):
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Almost all hardware terminals (at least those which supported tabs)
initialized those to every <EM>eight</EM> columns:
- The only exception was the AT&T 2300 series, which set tabs to
+ The only exception was the AT&T 2300 series, which set tabs to
every <EM>five</EM> columns.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> In particular, developers of the hardware terminals which are com-
- monly used as models for modern terminal emulators provided docu-
- mentation demonstrating that <EM>eight</EM> columns were the standard.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> In particular, developers of the hardware terminals which are
+ commonly used as models for modern terminal emulators provided
+ documentation demonstrating that <EM>eight</EM> columns were the standard.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Because of this, the terminal initialization programs <STRONG>tput</STRONG> and <STRONG>tset</STRONG>
- use the <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (<STRONG>clear_all_tabs</STRONG>) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (<STRONG>set_tab</STRONG>) capabilities
- directly only when the <STRONG>it</STRONG> (<STRONG>init_tabs</STRONG>) capability is set to a value
+ use the <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (<STRONG>clear_all_tabs</STRONG>) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (<STRONG>set_tab</STRONG>) capabilities
+ directly only when the <STRONG>it</STRONG> (<STRONG>init_tabs</STRONG>) capability is set to a value
other than <EM>eight</EM>.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Delays-and-Padding">Delays and Padding</a></H3><PRE>
- Many older and slower terminals do not support either XON/XOFF or DTR
- handshaking, including hard copy terminals and some very archaic CRTs
- (including, for example, DEC VT100s). These may require padding char-
- acters after certain cursor motions and screen changes.
+ 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 certain 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 its input buffers are
- close to full), set <STRONG>xon</STRONG>. This capability suppresses the emission of
- padding. You can also set it for memory-mapped console devices effec-
- tively that do not have a speed limit. Padding information should
- still be included so that routines can make better decisions about rel-
- ative costs, but actual pad characters will not be transmitted.
+ automatically emits ^S back to the host when its input buffers are
+ close to full), set <STRONG>xon</STRONG>. This capability 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 decisions 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
+ 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) character as a pad,
- then this can be given as <STRONG>pad</STRONG>. Only the first character of the <STRONG>pad</STRONG>
+ If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
+ then this can be given as <STRONG>pad</STRONG>. Only the first character of the <STRONG>pad</STRONG>
string is used.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Status-Lines">Status Lines</a></H3><PRE>
- Some terminals have an extra "status line" which is not normally used
+ 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
+ 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
+ status line of this kind, as would a 24-line VT100 with a 23-line
scrolling region set up on initialization. This situation is indicated
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 string with single parameter
- <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> which takes the cursor to a given zero-origin column on the status
- line. The capability <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> must return to the main-screen cursor posi-
- tions 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.
+ Some terminals with status lines need special sequences to 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 capability <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> 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 specify it with the
+ 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 specified as <STRONG>dsl</STRONG>.
- The boolean capability <STRONG>eslok</STRONG> specifies that escape sequences, tabs,
+ 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.
+ The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation does not yet use any of these capabilities.
They are documented here in case they ever become important.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Line-Graphics">Line Graphics</a></H3><PRE>
- Many terminals have alternate character sets useful for forms-drawing.
- Terminfo and <STRONG>curses</STRONG> have built-in support for most of the drawing char-
- acters supported by the VT100, with some characters from the AT&T
- 4410v1 added. This alternate character set may be specified by the
+ Many terminals have alternate character sets useful for forms-drawing.
+ Terminfo and <STRONG>curses</STRONG> have built-in support for most of the drawing
+ characters supported by the VT100, with some 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>acsc</STRONG> <STRONG>acsc</STRONG>
board of squares ACS_BOARD # h 0x68
lantern symbol ACS_LANTERN # i 0x69
lower right corner ACS_LRCORNER + j 0x6a
+
upper right corner ACS_URCORNER + k 0x6b
upper left corner ACS_ULCORNER + l 0x6c
lower left corner ACS_LLCORNER + m 0x6d
A few notes apply to the table itself:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses incorrectly states that the mapping for <EM>lantern</EM> is
- uppercase "I" although Unix implementations use the lowercase "i"
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses incorrectly states that the mapping for <EM>lantern</EM> is
+ uppercase "I" although Unix implementations use the lowercase "i"
mapping.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> The DEC VT100 implemented graphics using the alternate character
- set feature, temporarily switching <EM>modes</EM> and sending characters in
- the range 0x60 (96) to 0x7e (126) (the <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> column in the ta-
- ble).
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The DEC VT100 implemented graphics using the alternate character
+ set feature, temporarily switching <EM>modes</EM> and sending characters in
+ the range 0x60 (96) to 0x7e (126) (the <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> column in the
+ table).
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The AT&T terminal added graphics characters outside that range.
- Some of the characters within the range do not match the VT100;
- presumably they were used in the AT&T terminal: <EM>board</EM> <EM>of</EM> <EM>squares</EM>
- replaces the VT100 <EM>newline</EM> symbol, while <EM>lantern</EM> <EM>symbol</EM> replaces
+ Some of the characters within the range do not match the VT100;
+ presumably they were used in the AT&T terminal: <EM>board</EM> <EM>of</EM> <EM>squares</EM>
+ replaces the VT100 <EM>newline</EM> symbol, while <EM>lantern</EM> <EM>symbol</EM> replaces
the VT100 <EM>vertical</EM> <EM>tab</EM> symbol. The other VT100 symbols for control
- characters (<EM>horizontal</EM> <EM>tab</EM>, <EM>carriage</EM> <EM>return</EM> and <EM>line-feed</EM>) are not
+ characters (<EM>horizontal</EM> <EM>tab</EM>, <EM>carriage</EM> <EM>return</EM> and <EM>line-feed</EM>) are not
(re)used in curses.
- 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, giving the character which
- (when emitted between <STRONG>smacs</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> switches) will be rendered as the
+ 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, giving the character which
+ (when emitted between <STRONG>smacs</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> switches) will be rendered as the
corresponding graphic. Then read off the VT100/your terminal character
pairs right to left in sequence; these become the ACSC string.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Color-Handling">Color Handling</a></H3><PRE>
- The curses library functions <STRONG>init_pair</STRONG> and <STRONG>init_color</STRONG> manipulate the
- <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> and <EM>color</EM> <EM>values</EM> discussed in this section (see
+ The curses library functions <STRONG>init_pair</STRONG> and <STRONG>init_color</STRONG> manipulate the
+ <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> and <EM>color</EM> <EM>values</EM> discussed in this section (see
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG> for details on these and related functions).
Most color terminals are either "Tektronix-like" or "HP-like":
is usually 8), and can set character-cell foreground and background
characters independently, mixing them into <EM>N</EM> * <EM>N</EM> color-pairs.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> On HP-like terminals, the user must set each color pair up sepa-
- rately (foreground and background are not independently settable).
- Up to <EM>M</EM> color-pairs may be set up from 2*<EM>M</EM> different colors. ANSI-
- compatible terminals are Tektronix-like.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> On HP-like terminals, the user must set each color pair up
+ separately (foreground and background are not independently
+ settable). Up to <EM>M</EM> color-pairs may be set up from 2*<EM>M</EM> different
+ colors. ANSI-compatible terminals are Tektronix-like.
Some basic color capabilities are independent of the color method. The
- numeric capabilities <STRONG>colors</STRONG> and <STRONG>pairs</STRONG> specify the maximum numbers of
- colors and color-pairs that can be displayed simultaneously. The <STRONG>op</STRONG>
+ numeric capabilities <STRONG>colors</STRONG> and <STRONG>pairs</STRONG> specify the maximum numbers of
+ colors and color-pairs that can be displayed simultaneously. The <STRONG>op</STRONG>
(original pair) string resets foreground and background colors to their
- default values for the terminal. The <STRONG>oc</STRONG> string resets all colors or
- color-pairs to their default values for the terminal. Some terminals
- (including many PC terminal emulators) erase screen areas with the cur-
- rent background color rather than the power-up default background;
+ default values for the terminal. The <STRONG>oc</STRONG> string resets all colors or
+ color-pairs to their default values for the terminal. Some terminals
+ (including many PC terminal emulators) erase screen areas with the
+ current background color rather than the power-up default background;
these should have the boolean capability <STRONG>bce</STRONG>.
- While the curses library works with <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> (reflecting the inabil-
- ity of some devices to set foreground and background colors indepen-
- dently), there are separate capabilities for setting these features:
+ While the curses library works with <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> (reflecting the
+ inability of some devices to set foreground and background colors
+ independently), there are separate capabilities for setting these
+ features:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> To change the current foreground or background color on a Tek-
- tronix-type terminal, use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> (set ANSI foreground) and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>
- (set ANSI background) or <STRONG>setf</STRONG> (set foreground) and <STRONG>setb</STRONG> (set back-
- ground). These take one parameter, the color number. The SVr4
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> To change the current foreground or background color on a
+ Tektronix-type terminal, use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> (set ANSI foreground) and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>
+ (set ANSI background) or <STRONG>setf</STRONG> (set foreground) and <STRONG>setb</STRONG> (set
+ background). These take one parameter, the color number. The SVr4
documentation describes only <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>; the XPG4 draft says that
"If the terminal supports ANSI escape sequences to set background
- and foreground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>, respec-
- tively.
+ and foreground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>,
+ respectively.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal supports other escape sequences to set background
- and foreground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setb</STRONG>, respec-
- tively. The <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> and the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_refresh.3x.html">refresh(3x)</A></STRONG> functions use the <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>
- and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> capabilities if they are defined.
+ and foreground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setb</STRONG>,
+ respectively. The <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> and the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_refresh.3x.html">refresh(3x)</A></STRONG> functions use the
+ <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> capabilities if they are defined.
- The <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> and <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> capabilities take a single numeric argu-
- ment 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
+ The <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> and <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> capabilities take a single numeric
+ argument each. Argument values 0-7 of <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> 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 loca-
- tions in color space.
+ 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
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 capabilities; oth-
- erwise red/blue will be interchanged on the display.
+ It is important to not confuse the two sets of color capabilities;
+ 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.
indicate that colors can be modified. If so, the <STRONG>initc</STRONG> capability
will take a color number (0 to <STRONG>colors</STRONG> - 1)and three more parameters
which describe the color. These three parameters default to being
- interpreted as RGB (Red, Green, Blue) values. If the boolean capa-
- bility <STRONG>hls</STRONG> is present, they are instead as HLS (Hue, Lightness,
+ interpreted as RGB (Red, Green, Blue) values. If the boolean
+ capability <STRONG>hls</STRONG> is present, they are instead as HLS (Hue, Lightness,
Saturation) indices. The ranges are terminal-dependent.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> On an HP-like terminal, <STRONG>initp</STRONG> may give a capability for changing a
- color-pair value. It will take seven parameters; a color-pair num-
- ber (0 to <STRONG>max_pairs</STRONG> - 1), and two triples describing first back-
- ground and then foreground colors. These parameters must be (Red,
- Green, Blue) or (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) depending on <STRONG>hls</STRONG>.
+ color-pair value. It will take seven parameters; a color-pair
+ number (0 to <STRONG>max_pairs</STRONG> - 1), and two triples describing first
+ background and then foreground colors. These parameters must be
+ (Red, Green, Blue) or (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) depending on
+ <STRONG>hls</STRONG>.
- On some color terminals, colors collide with highlights. You can reg-
- ister these collisions with the <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> capability. This is a bit-mask of
- attributes not to be used when colors are enabled. The correspondence
- with the attributes understood by <STRONG>curses</STRONG> is as follows:
+ 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 colors are enabled. The
+ correspondence with the attributes understood by <STRONG>curses</STRONG> is as follows:
<STRONG>Attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>Bit</STRONG> <STRONG>Decimal</STRONG> <STRONG>Set</STRONG> <STRONG>by</STRONG>
A_STANDOUT 0 1 sgr
A_BOLD 5 32 sgr
A_INVIS 6 64 sgr
A_PROTECT 7 128 sgr
-
A_ALTCHARSET 8 256 sgr
A_HORIZONTAL 9 512 sgr1
A_LEFT 10 1024 sgr1
A_VERTICAL 14 16384 sgr1
A_ITALIC 15 32768 sitm
- For example, on many IBM PC consoles, the underline attribute collides
- with the foreground color blue and is not available in color mode.
+ 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 and optimizes
+ SVr4 curses does nothing with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>, ncurses recognizes it and optimizes
the output in favor of colors.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</a></H3><PRE>
- If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
- then this can be given as pad. Only the first character of the pad
+ If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
+ then this can be given as pad. Only the first character of the pad
string is used. If the terminal 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 napms if the terminal has no
+ 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 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 down). This is primarily use-
- ful for superscripts and subscripts 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 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 subscripts 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 charac-
- ters) 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 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 prototype command character
- is chosen which is used in all capabilities. This character is given
- in the <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG> capability to identify it. The following convention is
+ 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> capability to identify it. The following convention is
supported 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
+ <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 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 sequences are
+ 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 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 will assume that the 8th bit is parity and it
- will usually be cleared. If strings exist to turn this "meta mode" on
+ 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>.
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
+ 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 virtual terminal
+ If the terminal is one of those supported by the UNIX virtual terminal
protocol, the terminal number can be given as <STRONG>vt</STRONG>.
- Media copy strings which control an auxiliary printer connected to the
- terminal can be given as <STRONG>mc0</STRONG>: print the contents 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 terminal screen
- when the printer is on. A variation <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> takes one parameter, and
- leaves the printer on for as many characters as the value of the param-
- eter, 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.
+ Media copy strings which control an auxiliary printer connected to the
+ terminal can be given as <STRONG>mc0</STRONG>: print the contents 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 terminal screen
+ when the printer is on. A variation <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> takes one parameter, and
+ leaves the printer on for as many characters 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.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Glitches-and-Braindamage">Glitches and Braindamage</a></H3><PRE>
- Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow "~" characters to be displayed
+ 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> wrap, such
+ Terminals which ignore a line-feed immediately after an <STRONG>am</STRONG> wrap, such
as the Concept and vt100, should indicate <STRONG>xenl</STRONG>.
- If <STRONG>el</STRONG> is required to get rid of standout (instead of merely writing
+ If <STRONG>el</STRONG> is required to get rid of standout (instead of merely writing
normal text on top of it), <STRONG>xhp</STRONG> should be given.
Teleray terminals, where tabs turn all characters moved over to blanks,
- should indicate <STRONG>xt</STRONG> (destructive tabs). 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 stand-
- out mode it is instead necessary to use delete and insert line. The
- ncurses implementation ignores this glitch.
-
- The Beehive Superbee, which is unable to correctly transmit the escape
- or control/C characters, has <STRONG>xsb</STRONG>, indicating that the f1 key is used
- for escape and f2 for control/C. (Only certain Superbees have this
- problem, depending on the ROM.) Note that in older terminfo versions,
+ should indicate <STRONG>xt</STRONG> (destructive tabs). Note: the variable indicating
+ this is now "dest_tabs_magic_smso"; in older versions, it was
+ teleray_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 necessary to use delete and insert
+ line. The ncurses implementation ignores this glitch.
+
+ The Beehive Superbee, which is unable to correctly transmit the escape
+ or control/C characters, has <STRONG>xsb</STRONG>, indicating that the f1 key is used
+ for escape and f2 for control/C. (Only certain Superbees have this
+ problem, depending on the ROM.) Note that in older terminfo versions,
this capability was called "beehive_glitch"; it is now "no_esc_ctl_c".
- Other specific terminal problems may be corrected by adding more capa-
- bilities of the form <STRONG>x</STRONG><EM>x</EM>.
+ Other specific terminal problems may be corrected by adding more
+ capabilities of the form <STRONG>x</STRONG><EM>x</EM>.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Pitfalls-of-Long-Entries">Pitfalls of Long Entries</a></H3><PRE>
- Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to date, no entry
- has even approached terminfo's 4096-byte string-table maximum. Unfor-
- tunately, the termcap translations are much more strictly limited (to
- 1023 bytes), thus termcap translations of long terminfo entries can
+ Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to date, no entry
+ has even approached terminfo's 4096-byte string-table maximum.
+ Unfortunately, the termcap translations 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,
+ 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
+ Some termcap libraries print a warning message or exit if they find an
entry that's longer than 1023 bytes; others do not; others truncate the
- entries to 1023 bytes. Some application programs allocate more than
+ entries to 1023 bytes. Some application programs allocate more than
the recommended 1K for the termcap entry; others do not.
- Each termcap entry has two important sizes associated with it: before
- "tc" expansion, and after "tc" expansion. "tc" is the capability that
+ Each termcap entry has two important sizes associated with it: before
+ "tc" expansion, and after "tc" expansion. "tc" is the capability that
tacks on another termcap entry to the end of the current one, to add on
its capabilities. If a termcap entry does not use the "tc" capability,
then 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 particular terminal. This is the
- length of the entry as it exists in /etc/termcap, minus the backslash-
+ The "before tc expansion" length is the most important one, because it
+ affects more than just users of that particular terminal. This is the
+ length of the entry as it exists in /etc/termcap, minus the backslash-
newline pairs, which <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> strips out while reading it. Some termcap
libraries strip off the final newline, too (GNU termcap does not). Now
suppose:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> and the application has only allocated a 1k buffer,
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the termcap library (like the one in BSD/OS 1.1 and GNU) reads
- the whole entry into the buffer, no matter what its length, to see
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the termcap library (like the one in BSD/OS 1.1 and GNU) reads
+ the whole entry into the buffer, no matter what its length, to see
if it is the entry it wants,
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> is searching for a terminal type that either is the
- long entry, appears in the termcap file after the long entry, or
- does not appear in the file at all (so that <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> has to search
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> is searching for a terminal type that either is the
+ long entry, appears in the termcap file after the long entry, or
+ does not appear in the file at all (so that <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> has to search
the whole termcap file).
- Then <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> will overwrite memory, perhaps its stack, and probably
- core dump the program. Programs like telnet are particularly vulnera-
- ble; modern telnets pass along values like the terminal type automati-
- cally. The results are almost as undesirable with a termcap library,
- like SunOS 4.1.3 and Ultrix 4.4, that prints warning messages when it
- reads an overly long termcap entry. If a termcap library truncates
- long entries, like OSF/1 3.0, it is immune to dying here but will
- return incorrect data for the terminal.
+ Then <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> will overwrite memory, perhaps its stack, and probably
+ core dump the program. Programs like telnet are particularly
+ vulnerable; modern telnets pass along values like the terminal type
+ automatically. The results are almost as undesirable with a termcap
+ library, like SunOS 4.1.3 and Ultrix 4.4, that prints warning messages
+ when it reads an overly long termcap entry. If a termcap library
+ truncates long entries, like OSF/1 3.0, it is immune to dying here but
+ will return incorrect data for the terminal.
- The "after tc expansion" length will have a similar effect to the
+ The "after tc expansion" length will have a similar effect to the
above, but only for people who actually set TERM to that terminal type,
- since <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> only does "tc" expansion once it is found the terminal
+ since <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> only does "tc" expansion once it is found the terminal
type it was looking for, not while searching.
- In summary, a termcap entry that is longer than 1023 bytes can cause,
- on various combinations of termcap libraries and applications, a core
- dump, warnings, or incorrect operation. If it is too long even before
- "tc" expansion, it will have this effect even for users of some other
- terminal types and users whose TERM variable does not have a termcap
+ In summary, a termcap entry that is longer than 1023 bytes can cause,
+ on various combinations of termcap libraries and applications, a core
+ dump, warnings, or incorrect operation. If it is too long even before
+ "tc" expansion, it will have this effect even for users of some other
+ terminal types and users whose TERM variable does not have a termcap
entry.
- When in -C (translate to termcap) mode, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation 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
+ When in -C (translate to termcap) mode, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation 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><H3><a name="h3-Binary-Compatibility">Binary Compatibility</a></H3><PRE>
- It is not wise to count on portability of binary terminfo entries
- between commercial UNIX versions. The problem is that there are at
- least two versions of terminfo (under HP-UX and AIX) which diverged
- from System V terminfo after SVr1, and have added extension capabili-
- ties to the string table that (in the binary format) collide with Sys-
- tem V and XSI Curses extensions.
+ It is not wise to count on portability of binary terminfo entries
+ between commercial UNIX versions. The problem is that there are at
+ least two versions of terminfo (under HP-UX and AIX) which diverged
+ from System V terminfo after SVr1, and have added extension
+ capabilities to the string table that (in the binary format) collide
+ with System V and XSI Curses extensions.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></H2><PRE>
- Searching for terminal descriptions in <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> and TER-
- MINFO_DIRS is not supported by older implementations.
+ 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
+ Some SVr4 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> implementations, and all previous to SVr4, do not
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 do not trigger local motions). The
- <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation ignores <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> in <STRONG>ALTCHARSET</STRONG> mode. This raises
- the possibility that an XPG4 implementation making the opposite inter-
- pretation may need terminfo entries made for <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> to have <STRONG>msgr</STRONG>
+ SVr4/XPG4 do not specify whether <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> licenses movement while in an
+ alternate-character-set mode (such modes may, among other things, map
+ CR and NL to characters that do not trigger local motions). The
+ <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation ignores <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> in <STRONG>ALTCHARSET</STRONG> mode. This raises
+ the possibility 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-character modes
- in a slightly non-standard way to get better update efficiency. See
+ in a slightly non-standard way to get better update efficiency. See
the <STRONG>Insert/Delete</STRONG> <STRONG>Character</STRONG> subsection above.
- The parameter substitutions for <STRONG>set_clock</STRONG> and <STRONG>display_clock</STRONG> are not
- documented in SVr4 or the XSI Curses standard. They are deduced from
+ The parameter substitutions for <STRONG>set_clock</STRONG> and <STRONG>display_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> library wants
- to interpret it as <STRONG>KEY_MOUSE</STRONG>, for use by terminals and emulators like
- xterm that can return mouse-tracking information in the keyboard-input
+ Be careful assigning the <STRONG>kmous</STRONG> capability. The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library wants
+ to interpret it as <STRONG>KEY_MOUSE</STRONG>, for use by terminals and emulators like
+ xterm that can return mouse-tracking information in the keyboard-input
stream.
- X/Open Curses does not mention italics. Portable applications must
- assume that numeric capabilities are signed 16-bit values. This
- includes the <EM>no</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>color</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>video</EM> (ncv) capability. The 32768 mask value
- used for italics with ncv can be confused with an absent or cancelled
- ncv. If italics should work with colors, then the ncv value must be
+ X/Open Curses does not mention italics. Portable applications must
+ assume that numeric capabilities are signed 16-bit values. This
+ includes the <EM>no</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>color</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>video</EM> (ncv) capability. The 32768 mask value
+ used for italics with ncv can be confused with an absent or cancelled
+ ncv. If italics should work with colors, then the ncv value must be
specified, even if it is zero.
- Different commercial ports of terminfo and curses support different
- subsets of the XSI Curses standard and (in some cases) different exten-
- sion sets. Here is a summary, accurate as of October 1995:
+ 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, accurate as of October 1995:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SVR4,</STRONG> <STRONG>Solaris,</STRONG> <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> -- These support all SVr4 capabilities.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SGI</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr4 set, adds one undocumented extended string
capability (<STRONG>set_pglen</STRONG>).
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SVr1,</STRONG> <STRONG>Ultrix</STRONG> -- These support a restricted subset of terminfo capa-
- bilities. The booleans end with <STRONG>xon_xoff</STRONG>; the numerics with
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SVr1,</STRONG> <STRONG>Ultrix</STRONG> -- These support a restricted subset of terminfo
+ capabilities. The booleans end with <STRONG>xon_xoff</STRONG>; the numerics with
<STRONG>width_status_line</STRONG>; and the strings with <STRONG>prtr_non</STRONG>.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>HP/UX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus the SVr[234] numerics
- <STRONG>num_labels</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_height</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_width</STRONG>, plus function keys 11
- through 63, plus <STRONG>plab_norm</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_on</STRONG>, and <STRONG>label_off</STRONG>, plus some
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>HP/UX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus the SVr[234] numerics
+ <STRONG>num_labels</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_height</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_width</STRONG>, plus function keys 11
+ through 63, plus <STRONG>plab_norm</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_on</STRONG>, and <STRONG>label_off</STRONG>, plus some
incompatible extensions in the string table.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>AIX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11 through 63,
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>AIX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11 through 63,
plus a number of incompatible string table extensions.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>OSF</STRONG> -- Supports both the SVr4 set and the AIX extensions.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
- <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</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="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>curs_vari-</STRONG>
- <STRONG><A HREF="curs_variables.3x.html">ables(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>printf(3)</STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>. <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>. <STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG>.
+ <STRONG><A HREF="infocmp.1m.html">infocmp(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG>,
+ <STRONG><A HREF="curs_variables.3x.html">curs_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>printf(3)</STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>. <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>.
+ <STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG>.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></H2><PRE>
<li><a href="#h3-Basic-Capabilities">Basic Capabilities</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Parameterized-Strings">Parameterized Strings</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Cursor-Motions">Cursor Motions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Margins">Margins</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Area-Clears">Area Clears</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Insert_delete-line-and-vertical-motions">Insert/delete line and vertical motions</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Insert_Delete-Character">Insert/Delete Character</a></li>
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