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- * @Id: tput.1,v 1.75 2021/12/25 21:31:59 tom Exp @
+ * @Id: tput.1,v 1.97 2023/12/31 00:16:41 tom Exp @
+ * longname was added in October 1989.
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-<H1 class="no-header">tput 1</H1>
+<H1 class="no-header">tput 1 2023-12-30 ncurses 6.4 User commands</H1>
<PRE>
-<STRONG><A HREF="tput.1.html">tput(1)</A></STRONG> General Commands Manual <STRONG><A HREF="tput.1.html">tput(1)</A></STRONG>
+<STRONG><A HREF="tput.1.html">tput(1)</A></STRONG> User commands <STRONG><A HREF="tput.1.html">tput(1)</A></STRONG>
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG>, <STRONG>reset</STRONG> - initialize a terminal or query terminfo database
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG>, <STRONG>reset</STRONG> - initialize a terminal or query <EM>terminfo</EM> database
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> [<STRONG>-T</STRONG><EM>type</EM>] <EM>capname</EM> [<EM>parameters</EM>]
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> [<STRONG>-T</STRONG><EM>type</EM>] [<STRONG>-x</STRONG>] <STRONG>clear</STRONG>
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> [<STRONG>-T</STRONG><EM>type</EM>] <STRONG>init</STRONG>
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> [<STRONG>-T</STRONG><EM>type</EM>] <STRONG>reset</STRONG>
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> [<STRONG>-T</STRONG><EM>type</EM>] <STRONG>longname</STRONG>
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>-S</STRONG> <STRONG><<</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> [<STRONG>-T</STRONG> <EM>terminal-type</EM>] {<EM>cap-code</EM> [<EM>parameter</EM> ...]} ...
+
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> [<STRONG>-T</STRONG> <EM>terminal-type</EM>] [<STRONG>-x</STRONG>] <STRONG>clear</STRONG>
+
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> [<STRONG>-T</STRONG> <EM>terminal-type</EM>] <STRONG>init</STRONG>
+
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> [<STRONG>-T</STRONG> <EM>terminal-type</EM>] <STRONG>reset</STRONG>
+
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> [<STRONG>-T</STRONG> <EM>terminal-type</EM>] <STRONG>longname</STRONG>
+
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>-S</STRONG>
+
<STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>-V</STRONG>
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
- The <STRONG>tput</STRONG> utility uses the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database to make the values of
- terminal-dependent capabilities and information available to the shell
- (see <STRONG>sh(1)</STRONG>), to initialize or reset the terminal, or return the long
- name of the requested terminal type. The result depends upon the
- capability's type:
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> uses the <EM>terminfo</EM> library and database to make the values of
+ terminal-specific capabilities and information available to the shell,
+ to initialize or reset the terminal, or report the long name of the
+ current (or specified) terminal type. When retrieving capability
+ values, the result depends upon the capability's type.
- string
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> writes the string to the standard output. No trailing
- newline is supplied.
+ Boolean <STRONG>tput</STRONG> sets its exit status to <STRONG>0</STRONG> if the terminal possesses <EM>cap-</EM>
+ <EM>code,</EM> and <STRONG>1</STRONG> if it does not.
- integer
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> writes the decimal value to the standard output, with a
- trailing newline.
+ integer <STRONG>tput</STRONG> writes <EM>cap-code</EM>'s decimal value to the standard output
+ stream if defined (<STRONG>-1</STRONG> if it is not) followed by a newline.
- boolean
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> simply sets the exit code (<STRONG>0</STRONG> for TRUE if the terminal has
- the capability, <STRONG>1</STRONG> for FALSE if it does not), and writes nothing
- to the standard output.
+ string <STRONG>tput</STRONG> writes <EM>cap-code</EM>'s value to the standard output stream if
+ defined, without a trailing newline.
- Before using a value returned on the standard output, the application
- should test the exit code (e.g., <STRONG>$?</STRONG>, see <STRONG>sh(1)</STRONG>) to be sure it is <STRONG>0</STRONG>.
- (See the <STRONG>EXIT</STRONG> <STRONG>CODES</STRONG> and <STRONG>DIAGNOSTICS</STRONG> sections.) For a complete list of
- capabilities and the <EM>capname</EM> associated with each, see <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>.
+ Before using a value returned on the standard output, the application
+ should test <STRONG>tput</STRONG>'s exit status (for example, using <STRONG>$?</STRONG> in <STRONG>sh(1)</STRONG>) to be
+ sure it is <STRONG>0</STRONG>; see sections "EXIT STATUS" and "DIAGNOSTICS" below. For
+ a complete list of <EM>cap-codes,</EM> see <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Options">Options</a></H3><PRE>
- <STRONG>-S</STRONG> allows more than one capability per invocation of <STRONG>tput</STRONG>. The
- capabilities must be passed to <STRONG>tput</STRONG> from the standard input
- instead of from the command line (see example). Only one
- <EM>capname</EM> is allowed per line. The <STRONG>-S</STRONG> option changes the meaning
- of the <STRONG>0</STRONG> and <STRONG>1</STRONG> boolean and string exit codes (see the EXIT CODES
- section).
-
- Because some capabilities may use <EM>string</EM> parameters rather than
+ <STRONG>-S</STRONG> allows more than one capability per invocation of <STRONG>tput</STRONG>. The
+ capabilities must be passed to <STRONG>tput</STRONG> from the standard input
+ instead of from the command line (see example). Only one <EM>cap-</EM>
+ <EM>code</EM> is allowed per line. The <STRONG>-S</STRONG> option changes the meaning of
+ the <STRONG>0</STRONG> and <STRONG>1</STRONG> Boolean and string exit statuses (see section "EXIT
+ STATUS" below).
+
+ Because some capabilities may use <EM>string</EM> parameters rather than
<EM>numbers</EM>, <STRONG>tput</STRONG> uses a table and the presence of parameters in its
- input to decide whether to use <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tparm(3x)</A></STRONG>, and how to interpret
+ input to decide whether to use <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tparm(3x)</A></STRONG>, and how to interpret
the parameters.
<STRONG>-T</STRONG><EM>type</EM> indicates the <EM>type</EM> of terminal. Normally this option is
- unnecessary, because the default is taken from the environment
- variable <STRONG>TERM</STRONG>. If <STRONG>-T</STRONG> is specified, then the shell variables
- <STRONG>LINES</STRONG> and <STRONG>COLUMNS</STRONG> will also be ignored.
+ unnecessary, because the default is taken from the environment
+ variable <EM>TERM</EM>. If <STRONG>-T</STRONG> is specified, then the shell variables
+ <EM>LINES</EM> and <EM>COLUMNS</EM> will also be ignored.
- <STRONG>-V</STRONG> reports the version of ncurses which was used in this program,
+ <STRONG>-V</STRONG> reports the version of <EM>ncurses</EM> which was used in this program,
and exits.
- <STRONG>-x</STRONG> do not attempt to clear the terminal's scrollback buffer using
- the extended "E3" capability.
+ <STRONG>-x</STRONG> prevents <STRONG>tput</STRONG> from attempting to clear the scrollback buffer.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Commands">Commands</a></H3><PRE>
<STRONG>reset</STRONG> resemble capability names, <STRONG>tput</STRONG> uses several capabilities to
perform these special functions.
- <EM>capname</EM>
+ <EM>cap-code</EM>
indicates the capability from the terminal database.
If the capability is a string that takes parameters, the
(2) if the window size cannot be obtained from the operating
system, but the terminal description (or environment, e.g.,
- <STRONG>LINES</STRONG> and <STRONG>COLUMNS</STRONG> variables specify this), update the
+ <EM>LINES</EM> and <EM>COLUMNS</EM> variables specify this), update the
operating system's notion of the window size.
(3) the terminal modes will be updated:
Otherwise, <STRONG>reset</STRONG> acts identically to <STRONG>init</STRONG>.
<STRONG>longname</STRONG>
- If the terminal database is present and an entry for the user's
- terminal exists (see <STRONG>-T</STRONG><EM>type</EM> above), then the long name of the
- terminal will be put out. The long name is the last name in the
- first line of the terminal's description in the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG>
- database [see <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>].
+ A terminfo entry begins with one or more names by which an
+ application can refer to the entry, before the list of terminal
+ capabilities. The names are separated by "|" characters.
+ X/Open states that the last name is the "long name" and also
+ that it may include blanks.
+
+ <STRONG>tic</STRONG> warns if the last name does not include blanks, to
+ accommodate old terminfo entries which treated the long name as
+ an optional feature. The long name is often referred to as the
+ description field.
+
+ If the terminal database is present and an entry for the user's
+ terminal exists (see <STRONG>-T</STRONG> <EM>type</EM> above), <STRONG>tput</STRONG> reports the terminal's
+ description (or "long name") to the standard output, without a
+ trailing newline. See <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Aliases">Aliases</a></H3><PRE>
<STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>reset</STRONG>. The <STRONG><A HREF="tset.1.html">tset(1)</A></STRONG> utility also treats a link named <STRONG>reset</STRONG>
specially.
- Before ncurses 6.1, the two utilities were different from each other:
+ Before <EM>ncurses</EM> 6.1, the two utilities were different from each other:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>tset</STRONG> utility reset the terminal modes and special characters (not
done with <STRONG>tput</STRONG>).
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program is usually an alias for <STRONG>tset</STRONG>, because of this
difference with resetting terminal modes and special characters.
- With the changes made for ncurses 6.1, the <EM>reset</EM> feature of the two
+ With the changes made for <EM>ncurses</EM> 6.1, the <EM>reset</EM> feature of the two
programs is (mostly) the same. A few differences remain:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The <STRONG>tset</STRONG> program waits one second when resetting, in case it
generally works, unless connecting via a serial line which does not
support <EM>NAWS</EM>: negotiations about window size).
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> finally, it inspects the environment variables <STRONG>LINES</STRONG> and <STRONG>COLUMNS</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> finally, it inspects the environment variables <EM>LINES</EM> and <EM>COLUMNS</EM>
which may override the terminal size.
If the <STRONG>-T</STRONG> option is given tput ignores the environment variables by
finally, the terminal database).
-</PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXAMPLES">EXAMPLES</a></H2><PRE>
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>init</STRONG>
- Initialize the terminal according to the type of terminal in the
- environmental variable <STRONG>TERM</STRONG>. This command should be included in
- everyone's .profile after the environmental variable <STRONG>TERM</STRONG> has been
- exported, as illustrated on the <STRONG>profile(5)</STRONG> manual page.
-
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>-T5620</STRONG> <STRONG>reset</STRONG>
- Reset an AT&T 5620 terminal, overriding the type of terminal in
- the environmental variable <STRONG>TERM</STRONG>.
-
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>cup</STRONG> <STRONG>0</STRONG> <STRONG>0</STRONG>
- Send the sequence to move the cursor to row <STRONG>0</STRONG>, column <STRONG>0</STRONG> (the upper
- left corner of the screen, usually known as the "home" cursor
- position).
-
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>clear</STRONG>
- Echo the clear-screen sequence for the current terminal.
-
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>cols</STRONG>
- Print the number of columns for the current terminal.
-
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>-T450</STRONG> <STRONG>cols</STRONG>
- Print the number of columns for the 450 terminal.
-
- <STRONG>bold=`tput</STRONG> <STRONG>smso`</STRONG> <STRONG>offbold=`tput</STRONG> <STRONG>rmso`</STRONG>
- Set the shell variables <STRONG>bold</STRONG>, to begin stand-out mode sequence,
- and <STRONG>offbold</STRONG>, to end standout mode sequence, for the current
- terminal. This might be followed by a prompt: <STRONG>echo</STRONG> <STRONG>"${bold}Please</STRONG>
- <STRONG>type</STRONG> <STRONG>in</STRONG> <STRONG>your</STRONG> <STRONG>name:</STRONG> <STRONG>${offbold}\c"</STRONG>
-
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>hc</STRONG>
- Set exit code to indicate if the current terminal is a hard copy
- terminal.
-
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>cup</STRONG> <STRONG>23</STRONG> <STRONG>4</STRONG>
- Send the sequence to move the cursor to row 23, column 4.
-
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>cup</STRONG>
- Send the terminfo string for cursor-movement, with no parameters
- substituted.
-
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>longname</STRONG>
- Print the long name from the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database for the type of
- terminal specified in the environmental variable <STRONG>TERM</STRONG>.
-
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>-S</STRONG> <STRONG><<!</STRONG>
- <STRONG>></STRONG> <STRONG>clear</STRONG>
- <STRONG>></STRONG> <STRONG>cup</STRONG> <STRONG>10</STRONG> <STRONG>10</STRONG>
- <STRONG>></STRONG> <STRONG>bold</STRONG>
- <STRONG>></STRONG> <STRONG>!</STRONG>
-
- This example shows <STRONG>tput</STRONG> processing several capabilities in one
- invocation. It clears the screen, moves the cursor to position
- 10, 10 and turns on bold (extra bright) mode. The list is
- terminated by an exclamation mark (<STRONG>!</STRONG>) on a line by itself.
-
-
-</PRE><H2><a name="h2-FILES">FILES</a></H2><PRE>
- <STRONG>/usr/share/terminfo</STRONG>
- compiled terminal description database
-
- <STRONG>/usr/share/tabset/*</STRONG>
- tab settings for some terminals, in a format appropriate to be
- output to the terminal (escape sequences that set margins and
- tabs); for more information, see the <EM>Tabs</EM> <EM>and</EM> <EM>Initialization</EM>,
- section of <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
-
-
-</PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXIT-CODES">EXIT CODES</a></H2><PRE>
+</PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXIT-STATUS">EXIT STATUS</a></H2><PRE>
If the <STRONG>-S</STRONG> option is used, <STRONG>tput</STRONG> checks for errors from each line, and if
- any errors are found, will set the exit code to 4 plus the number of
- lines with errors. If no errors are found, the exit code is <STRONG>0</STRONG>. No
- indication of which line failed can be given so exit code <STRONG>1</STRONG> will never
- appear. Exit codes <STRONG>2</STRONG>, <STRONG>3</STRONG>, and <STRONG>4</STRONG> retain their usual interpretation. If
- the <STRONG>-S</STRONG> option is not used, the exit code depends on the type of
- <EM>capname</EM>:
-
- <EM>boolean</EM>
+ any errors are found, will set the exit status to 4 plus the number of
+ lines with errors. If no errors are found, the exit status is <STRONG>0</STRONG>. No
+ indication of which line failed can be given so exit status <STRONG>1</STRONG> will
+ never appear. Exit statuses <STRONG>2</STRONG>, <STRONG>3</STRONG>, and <STRONG>4</STRONG> retain their usual
+ interpretation. If the <STRONG>-S</STRONG> option is not used, the exit status depends
+ on the type of <EM>cap-code</EM>:
+
+ <EM>Boolean</EM>
a value of <STRONG>0</STRONG> is set for TRUE and <STRONG>1</STRONG> for FALSE.
- <EM>string</EM> a value of <STRONG>0</STRONG> is set if the <EM>capname</EM> is defined for this
- terminal <EM>type</EM> (the value of <EM>capname</EM> is returned on standard
- output); a value of <STRONG>1</STRONG> is set if <EM>capname</EM> is not defined for
+ <EM>string</EM> a value of <STRONG>0</STRONG> is set if the <EM>cap-code</EM> is defined for this
+ terminal <EM>type</EM> (the value of <EM>cap-code</EM> is returned on standard
+ output); a value of <STRONG>1</STRONG> is set if <EM>cap-code</EM> is not defined for
this terminal <EM>type</EM> (nothing is written to standard output).
<EM>integer</EM>
- a value of <STRONG>0</STRONG> is always set, whether or not <EM>capname</EM> is defined
- for this terminal <EM>type</EM>. To determine if <EM>capname</EM> is defined
- for this terminal <EM>type</EM>, the user must test the value written
- to standard output. A value of <STRONG>-1</STRONG> means that <EM>capname</EM> is not
- defined for this terminal <EM>type</EM>.
+ a value of <STRONG>0</STRONG> is always set, whether or not <EM>cap-code</EM> is
+ defined for this terminal <EM>type</EM>. To determine if <EM>cap-code</EM> is
+ defined for this terminal <EM>type</EM>, the user must test the value
+ written to standard output. A value of <STRONG>-1</STRONG> means that <EM>cap-</EM>
+ <EM>code</EM> is not defined for this terminal <EM>type</EM>.
<EM>other</EM> <STRONG>reset</STRONG> or <STRONG>init</STRONG> may fail to find their respective files. In
- that case, the exit code is set to 4 + <STRONG>errno</STRONG>.
+ that case, the exit status is set to 4 + <STRONG>errno</STRONG>.
- Any other exit code indicates an error; see the DIAGNOSTICS section.
+ Any other exit status indicates an error; see section "DIAGNOSTICS"
+ below.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-DIAGNOSTICS">DIAGNOSTICS</a></H2><PRE>
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> prints the following error messages and sets the corresponding
- exit codes.
-
- exit code error message
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
- <STRONG>0</STRONG> (<EM>capname</EM> is a numeric variable that is not specified in
- the <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> database for this terminal type, e.g.
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>-T450</STRONG> <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>-Thp2621</STRONG> <STRONG>xmc</STRONG>)
- <STRONG>1</STRONG> no error message is printed, see the <STRONG>EXIT</STRONG> <STRONG>CODES</STRONG> section.
- <STRONG>2</STRONG> usage error
- <STRONG>3</STRONG> unknown terminal <EM>type</EM> or no <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database
- <STRONG>4</STRONG> unknown <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> capability <EM>capname</EM>
- <STRONG>>4</STRONG> error occurred in -S
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> prints the following error messages and sets the corresponding
+ exit statuses.
+
+ exit status error message
+ ------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ <STRONG>0</STRONG> (<EM>cap-code</EM> is a numeric variable that is not specified in
+ the <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> database for this terminal type, e.g.
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>-T450</STRONG> <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>-Thp2621</STRONG> <STRONG>xmc</STRONG>)
+ <STRONG>1</STRONG> no error message is printed, see the <STRONG>EXIT</STRONG> <STRONG>STATUS</STRONG> section.
+ <STRONG>2</STRONG> usage error
+ <STRONG>3</STRONG> unknown terminal <EM>type</EM> or no <EM>terminfo</EM> database
+ <STRONG>4</STRONG> unknown <EM>terminfo</EM> capability <EM>cap-code</EM>
+ <STRONG>>4</STRONG> error occurred in -S
+ ------------------------------------------------------------------------
-</PRE><H2><a name="h2-HISTORY">HISTORY</a></H2><PRE>
- The <STRONG>tput</STRONG> command was begun by Bill Joy in 1980. The initial version
- only cleared the screen.
-
- AT&T System V provided a different <STRONG>tput</STRONG> command:
-
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr2 provided a rudimentary <STRONG>tput</STRONG> which checked the parameter
- against each predefined capability and returned the corresponding
- value. This version of <STRONG>tput</STRONG> did not use <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tparm(3x)</A></STRONG> for the
- capabilities which are parameterized.
-
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr3 replaced that, a year later, by a more extensive program whose
- <STRONG>init</STRONG> and <STRONG>reset</STRONG> subcommands (more than half the program) were
- incorporated from the <STRONG>reset</STRONG> feature of BSD <STRONG>tset</STRONG> written by Eric
- Allman.
-
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr4 added color initialization using the <STRONG>orig_colors</STRONG> and <STRONG>orig_pair</STRONG>
- capabilities in the <STRONG>init</STRONG> subcommand.
-
- Keith Bostic replaced the BSD <STRONG>tput</STRONG> command in 1989 with a new
- implementation based on the AT&T System V program <STRONG>tput</STRONG>. Like the AT&T
- program, Bostic's version accepted some parameters named for <EM>terminfo</EM>
- capabilities (<STRONG>clear</STRONG>, <STRONG>init</STRONG>, <STRONG>longname</STRONG> and <STRONG>reset</STRONG>). However (because he
- had only <EM>termcap</EM> available), it accepted <EM>termcap</EM> names for other
- capabilities. Also, Bostic's BSD <STRONG>tput</STRONG> did not modify the terminal I/O
- modes as the earlier BSD <STRONG>tset</STRONG> had done.
-
- At the same time, Bostic added a shell script named "clear", which used
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> to clear the screen.
-
- Both of these appeared in 4.4BSD, becoming the "modern" BSD
- implementation of <STRONG>tput</STRONG>.
+</PRE><H2><a name="h2-FILES">FILES</a></H2><PRE>
+ <EM>/usr/share/tabset</EM>
+ tab stop initialization database
- This implementation of <STRONG>tput</STRONG> began from a different source than AT&T or
- BSD: Ross Ridge's <EM>mytinfo</EM> package, published on <EM>comp.sources.unix</EM> in
- December 1992. Ridge's program made more sophisticated use of the
- terminal capabilities than the BSD program. Eric Raymond used that
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG> program (and other parts of <EM>mytinfo</EM>) in ncurses in June 1995.
- Using the portions dealing with terminal capabilities almost without
- change, Raymond made improvements to the way the command-line
- parameters were handled.
+ <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>
+ compiled terminal description database
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
This implementation of <STRONG>tput</STRONG> differs from AT&T <STRONG>tput</STRONG> in two important
areas:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <EM>capname</EM> writes to the standard output. That need not be a
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <EM>cap-code</EM> writes to the standard output. That need not be a
regular terminal. However, the subcommands which manipulate
terminal modes may not use the standard output.
before falling back to "/dev/tty" and finally just assumes a 1200Bd
terminal. When updating terminal modes, it ignores errors.
- Until changes made after ncurses 6.0, <STRONG>tput</STRONG> did not modify terminal
+ Until changes made after <EM>ncurses</EM> 6.0, <STRONG>tput</STRONG> did not modify terminal
modes. <STRONG>tput</STRONG> now uses a similar scheme, using functions shared with
<STRONG>tset</STRONG> (and ultimately based on the 4.4BSD <STRONG>tset</STRONG>). If it is not able
to open a terminal, e.g., when running in <STRONG>cron(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG>tput</STRONG> will return
an error.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> AT&T <STRONG>tput</STRONG> guesses the type of its <EM>capname</EM> operands by seeing if all
- of the characters are numeric, or not.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> AT&T <STRONG>tput</STRONG> guesses the type of its <EM>cap-code</EM> operands by seeing if
+ all of the characters are numeric, or not.
- Most implementations which provide support for <EM>capname</EM> operands use
- the <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> function to expand parameters in it. That function
+ Most implementations which provide support for <EM>cap-code</EM> operands
+ use the <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> function to expand parameters in it. That function
expects a mixture of numeric and string parameters, requiring <STRONG>tput</STRONG>
to know which type to use.
This implementation uses a table to determine the parameter types
- for the standard <EM>capname</EM> operands, and an internal library function
- to analyze nonstandard <EM>capname</EM> operands.
+ for the standard <EM>cap-code</EM> operands, and an internal library
+ function to analyze nonstandard <EM>cap-code</EM> operands.
Besides providing more reliable operation than AT&T's utility, a
portability problem is introduced by this analysis: An OpenBSD
- developer adapted the internal library function from ncurses to
+ developer adapted the internal library function from <EM>ncurses</EM> to
port NetBSD's termcap-based <STRONG>tput</STRONG> to terminfo. That had been
modified to interpret multiple commands on a line. Portable
- applications should not rely upon this feature; ncurses provides it
+ applications should not rely upon this feature; <EM>ncurses</EM> provides it
to support applications written specifically for OpenBSD.
This implementation (unlike others) can accept both <EM>termcap</EM> and
- <EM>terminfo</EM> names for the <EM>capname</EM> feature, if <EM>termcap</EM> support is compiled
+ <EM>terminfo</EM> names for the <EM>cap-code</EM> feature, if <EM>termcap</EM> support is compiled
in. However, the predefined <EM>termcap</EM> and <EM>terminfo</EM> names have two
ambiguities in this case (and the <EM>terminfo</EM> name is assumed):
end of screen).
The <STRONG>longname</STRONG> and <STRONG>-S</STRONG> options, and the parameter-substitution features
- used in the <STRONG>cup</STRONG> example, were not supported in BSD curses before
- 4.3reno (1989) or in AT&T/USL curses before SVr4 (1988).
+ used in the <STRONG>cup</STRONG> example, were not supported in AT&T/USL <EM>curses</EM> before
+ SVr4 (1989). Later, 4.3BSD-Reno (1990) added support for <STRONG>longname</STRONG>, and
+ NetBSD (1994) added support for the parameter-substitution features.
- IEEE Std 1003.1/The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7
- (POSIX.1-2008) documents only the operands for <STRONG>clear</STRONG>, <STRONG>init</STRONG> and <STRONG>reset</STRONG>.
+ IEEE Std 1003.1/The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7
+ (POSIX.1-2008) documents only the operands for <STRONG>clear</STRONG>, <STRONG>init</STRONG> and <STRONG>reset</STRONG>.
There are a few interesting observations to make regarding that:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> In this implementation, <STRONG>clear</STRONG> is part of the <EM>capname</EM> support. The
- others (<STRONG>init</STRONG> and <STRONG>longname</STRONG>) do not correspond to terminal
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> In this implementation, <STRONG>clear</STRONG> is part of the <EM>cap-code</EM> support. The
+ others (<STRONG>init</STRONG> and <STRONG>longname</STRONG>) do not correspond to terminal
capabilities.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Other implementations of <STRONG>tput</STRONG> on SVr4-based systems such as
- Solaris, IRIX64 and HPUX as well as others such as AIX and Tru64
- provide support for <EM>capname</EM> operands.
+ Solaris, IRIX64 and HP-UX as well as others such as AIX and Tru64
+ provide support for <EM>cap-code</EM> operands.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> A few platforms such as FreeBSD recognize termcap names rather than
terminfo capability names in their respective <STRONG>tput</STRONG> commands. Since
- 2010, NetBSD's <STRONG>tput</STRONG> uses terminfo names. Before that, it (like
+ 2010, NetBSD's <STRONG>tput</STRONG> uses terminfo names. Before that, it (like
FreeBSD) recognized termcap names.
- Beginning in 2021, FreeBSD uses the ncurses <STRONG>tput</STRONG>, configured for
+ Beginning in 2021, FreeBSD uses the <EM>ncurses</EM> <STRONG>tput</STRONG>, configured for
both terminfo (tested first) and termcap (as a fallback).
Because (apparently) <EM>all</EM> of the certified Unix systems support the full
- set of capability names, the reasoning for documenting only a few may
+ set of capability names, the reasoning for documenting only a few may
not be apparent.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses Issue 7 documents <STRONG>tput</STRONG> differently, with <EM>capname</EM> and
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses Issue 7 documents <STRONG>tput</STRONG> differently, with <EM>cap-code</EM> and
the other features used in this implementation.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> That is, there are two standards for <STRONG>tput</STRONG>: POSIX (a subset) and
- X/Open Curses (the full implementation). POSIX documents a subset
- to avoid the complication of including X/Open Curses and the
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> That is, there are two standards for <STRONG>tput</STRONG>: POSIX (a subset) and
+ X/Open Curses (the full implementation). POSIX documents a subset
+ to avoid the complication of including X/Open Curses and the
terminal capabilities database.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> While it is certainly possible to write a <STRONG>tput</STRONG> program without
- using curses, none of the systems which have a curses
- implementation provide a <STRONG>tput</STRONG> utility which does not provide the
- <EM>capname</EM> feature.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> While it is certainly possible to write a <STRONG>tput</STRONG> program without
+ using <EM>curses,</EM> no system with a <EM>curses</EM> implementation provides a
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> utility that does not also supply the <EM>cap-code</EM> feature.
X/Open Curses Issue 7 (2009) is the first version to document
utilities. However that part of X/Open Curses does not follow existing
- practice (i.e., Unix features documented in SVID 3):
+ practice (that is, System V <EM>curses</EM> behavior).
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> It assigns exit code 4 to "invalid operand", which may be the same
- as <EM>unknown</EM> <EM>capability</EM>. For instance, the source code for Solaris'
- xcurses uses the term "invalid" in this case.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> It assigns exit status 4 to "invalid operand", which may be the
+ same as <EM>unknown</EM> <EM>capability</EM>. For instance, the source code for
+ Solaris' xcurses uses the term "invalid" in this case.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> It assigns exit code 255 to a numeric variable that is not
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> It assigns exit status 255 to a numeric variable that is not
specified in the terminfo database. That likely is a documentation
error, confusing the <STRONG>-1</STRONG> written to the standard output for an
- absent or cancelled numeric value versus an (unsigned) exit code.
+ absent or cancelled numeric value versus an (unsigned) exit status.
- The various Unix systems (AIX, HPUX, Solaris) use the same exit-codes
- as ncurses.
+ The various Unix systems (AIX, HP-UX, Solaris) use the same exit
+ statuses as <EM>ncurses</EM>.
- NetBSD curses documents different exit codes which do not correspond to
- either ncurses or X/Open.
+ NetBSD curses documents different exit statuses which do not correspond
+ to either <EM>ncurses</EM> or X/Open.
-</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
- <STRONG><A HREF="clear.1.html">clear(1)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>stty(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="tset.1.html">tset(1)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termcap.3x.html">curs_termcap(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>.
+</PRE><H2><a name="h2-HISTORY">HISTORY</a></H2><PRE>
+ The <STRONG>tput</STRONG> command was begun by Bill Joy in 1980. The initial version
+ only cleared the screen.
+
+ AT&T System V provided a different <STRONG>tput</STRONG> command:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr2 provided a rudimentary <STRONG>tput</STRONG> which checked the parameter
+ against each predefined capability and returned the corresponding
+ value. This version of <STRONG>tput</STRONG> did not use <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tparm(3x)</A></STRONG> for the
+ capabilities which are parameterized.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr3 replaced that, a year later, by a more extensive program whose
+ <STRONG>init</STRONG> and <STRONG>reset</STRONG> subcommands (more than half the program) were
+ incorporated from the <STRONG>reset</STRONG> feature of BSD <STRONG>tset</STRONG> written by Eric
+ Allman.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr4 added color initialization using the <STRONG>orig_colors</STRONG> and <STRONG>orig_pair</STRONG>
+ capabilities in the <STRONG>init</STRONG> subcommand.
+
+ Keith Bostic replaced the BSD <STRONG>tput</STRONG> command in 1989 with a new
+ implementation based on the AT&T System V program <STRONG>tput</STRONG>. Like the AT&T
+ program, Bostic's version accepted some parameters named for <EM>terminfo</EM>
+ capabilities (<STRONG>clear</STRONG>, <STRONG>init</STRONG>, <STRONG>longname</STRONG> and <STRONG>reset</STRONG>). However (because he
+ had only <EM>termcap</EM> available), it accepted <EM>termcap</EM> names for other
+ capabilities. Also, Bostic's BSD <STRONG>tput</STRONG> did not modify the terminal I/O
+ modes as the earlier BSD <STRONG>tset</STRONG> had done.
+
+ At the same time, Bostic added a shell script named "clear", which used
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> to clear the screen.
+
+ Both of these appeared in 4.4BSD, becoming the "modern" BSD
+ implementation of <STRONG>tput</STRONG>.
+
+ This implementation of <STRONG>tput</STRONG> began from a different source than AT&T or
+ BSD: Ross Ridge's <EM>mytinfo</EM> package, published on <EM>comp.sources.unix</EM> in
+ December 1992. Ridge's program made more sophisticated use of the
+ terminal capabilities than the BSD program. Eric Raymond used that
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> program (and other parts of <EM>mytinfo</EM>) in <EM>ncurses</EM> in June 1995.
+ Using the portions dealing with terminal capabilities almost without
+ change, Raymond made improvements to the way the command-line
+ parameters were handled.
+
+
+</PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXAMPLES">EXAMPLES</a></H2><PRE>
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>init</STRONG>
+ Initialize the terminal according to the type of terminal in the
+ environment variable <EM>TERM</EM>. This command should be included in
+ everyone's .profile after the environment variable <EM>TERM</EM> has been
+ exported, as illustrated on the <STRONG>profile(5)</STRONG> manual page.
+
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>-T5620</STRONG> <STRONG>reset</STRONG>
+ Reset an AT&T 5620 terminal, overriding the type of terminal in
+ the environment variable <EM>TERM</EM>.
+
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>cup</STRONG> <STRONG>0</STRONG> <STRONG>0</STRONG>
+ Send the sequence to move the cursor to row <STRONG>0</STRONG>, column <STRONG>0</STRONG> (the upper
+ left corner of the screen, usually known as the "home" cursor
+ position).
+
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>clear</STRONG>
+ Echo the clear-screen sequence for the current terminal.
+
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>cols</STRONG>
+ Print the number of columns for the current terminal.
+
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>-T450</STRONG> <STRONG>cols</STRONG>
+ Print the number of columns for the 450 terminal.
+
+ <STRONG>bold=`tput</STRONG> <STRONG>smso`</STRONG> <STRONG>offbold=`tput</STRONG> <STRONG>rmso`</STRONG>
+ Set the shell variables <STRONG>bold</STRONG>, to begin stand-out mode sequence,
+ and <STRONG>offbold</STRONG>, to end standout mode sequence, for the current
+ terminal. This might be followed by a prompt: <STRONG>echo</STRONG> <STRONG>"${bold}Please</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>type</STRONG> <STRONG>in</STRONG> <STRONG>your</STRONG> <STRONG>name:</STRONG> <STRONG>${offbold}\c"</STRONG>
- This describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 6.3 (patch 20220101).
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>hc</STRONG>
+ Set exit status to indicate if the current terminal is a hard copy
+ terminal.
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>cup</STRONG> <STRONG>23</STRONG> <STRONG>4</STRONG>
+ Send the sequence to move the cursor to row 23, column 4.
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>cup</STRONG>
+ Send the terminfo string for cursor-movement, with no parameters
+ substituted.
- <STRONG><A HREF="tput.1.html">tput(1)</A></STRONG>
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>longname</STRONG>
+ Print the long name from the <EM>terminfo</EM> database for the type of
+ terminal specified in the environment variable <EM>TERM</EM>.
+
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>-S</STRONG>
+ The <STRONG>-S</STRONG> option can be profitably used with a shell "here document".
+
+ $ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>-S</STRONG> <STRONG><<!</STRONG>
+ > <STRONG>clear</STRONG>
+ > <STRONG>cup</STRONG> <STRONG>10</STRONG> <STRONG>10</STRONG>
+ > <STRONG>bold</STRONG>
+ > <STRONG>!</STRONG>
+
+ We see <STRONG>tput</STRONG> processing several capabilities in one invocation. It
+ clears the screen, moves the cursor to position (10, 10) and turns
+ on bold (extra bright) mode.
+
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>clear</STRONG> <STRONG>cup</STRONG> <STRONG>10</STRONG> <STRONG>10</STRONG> <STRONG>bold</STRONG>
+ Perform the same actions as the foregoing "<STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>-S</STRONG>" example.
+
+
+</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
+ <STRONG><A HREF="clear.1.html">clear(1)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>stty(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="tset.1.html">tset(1)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termcap.3x.html">curs_termcap(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
+
+
+
+ncurses 6.4 2023-12-30 <STRONG><A HREF="tput.1.html">tput(1)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
<div class="nav">
<ul>
<li><a href="#h3-Terminal-Size">Terminal Size</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
-<li><a href="#h2-EXAMPLES">EXAMPLES</a></li>
-<li><a href="#h2-FILES">FILES</a></li>
-<li><a href="#h2-EXIT-CODES">EXIT CODES</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h2-EXIT-STATUS">EXIT STATUS</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-DIAGNOSTICS">DIAGNOSTICS</a></li>
-<li><a href="#h2-HISTORY">HISTORY</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h2-FILES">FILES</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h2-HISTORY">HISTORY</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h2-EXAMPLES">EXAMPLES</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
</ul>
</div>