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+<!--
+ * t
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- * Copyright 2018-2019,2020 Thomas E. Dickey *
+ * Copyright 2018-2023,2024 Thomas E. Dickey *
* Copyright 2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
* *
* Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a *
* sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written *
* authorization. *
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- * @Id: user_caps.5,v 1.12 2020/02/02 23:34:34 tom Exp @
+ * @Id: user_caps.5,v 1.49 2024/03/16 15:35:01 tom Exp @
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-<H1 class="no-header">user_caps 5</H1>
+<H1 class="no-header">user_caps 5 2024-03-16 ncurses 6.4 File formats</H1>
<PRE>
-<STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG>
File Formats Manual <STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG>
+<STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG>
File formats <STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG>
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
- user_caps - user-defined terminfo capabilities
+ user_caps - user-defined <EM>terminfo</EM> capability format
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
- <STRONG>tic</STRONG> <STRONG>-x,</STRONG> <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> <STRONG>-x</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> <STRONG>-x</STRONG>
+
+ <STRONG>tic</STRONG> <STRONG>-x</STRONG>
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Background">Background</a></H3><PRE>
- Before ncurses 5.0, terminfo databases used a <EM>fixed</EM> <EM>repertoire</EM> of ter-
- minal capabilities designed for the SVr2 terminal database in 1984, and
- extended in stages through SVr4 (1989), and standardized in the Single
- Unix Specification beginning in 1995.
+ Before <EM>ncurses</EM> 5.0, terminfo databases used a <EM>fixed</EM> <EM>repertoire</EM> of
+ terminal capabilities designed for the SVr2 terminal database in 1984,
+ and extended in stages through SVr4 (1989), and standardized in the
+ Single Unix Specification beginning in 1995.
Most of the <EM>extensions</EM> in this fixed repertoire were additions to the
- tables of boolean, numeric and string capabilities. Rather than change
- the meaning of an existing capability, a new name was added. The ter-
- minfo database uses a binary format; binary compatibility was ensured
- by using a header which gave the number of items in the tables for each
- type of capability. The standardization was incomplete:
+ tables of Boolean, numeric and string capabilities. Rather than change
+ the meaning of an existing capability, a new name was added. The
+ terminfo database uses a binary format; binary compatibility was
+ ensured by using a header which gave the number of items in the tables
+ for each type of capability. The standardization was incomplete:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> The <EM>binary</EM> <EM>format</EM> itself is not described in the X/Open Curses doc-
- umentation. Only the <EM>source</EM> <EM>format</EM> is described.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The <EM>binary</EM> <EM>format</EM> itself is not described in the X/Open Curses
+ documentation. Only the <EM>source</EM> <EM>format</EM> is described.
Library developers rely upon the SVr4 documentation, and reverse-
engineering the compiled terminfo files to match the binary format.
needed, while others were added (out of order) to comply with
X/Open Curses.
- While ncurses' repertoire of predefined capabilities is closest to
+ While <EM>ncurses</EM>' repertoire of predefined capabilities is closest to
Solaris, Solaris's terminfo database has a few differences from the
- list published by X/Open Curses. For example, ncurses can be con-
- figured with tables which match the terminal databases for AIX, HP-
- UX or OSF/1, rather than the default Solaris-like configuration.
+ list published by X/Open Curses. For example, <EM>ncurses</EM> can be
+ configured with tables which match the terminal databases for AIX,
+ HP-UX or OSF/1, rather than the default Solaris-like configuration.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> In SVr4 curses and ncurses, the terminal database is defined at
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> In SVr4 curses and <EM>ncurses</EM>, the terminal database is defined at
compile-time using a text file which lists the different terminal
capabilities.
In principle, the text-file can be extended, but doing this
requires recompiling and reinstalling the library. The text-file
- used in ncurses for terminal capabilities includes details for var-
- ious systems past the documented X/Open Curses features. For exam-
- ple, ncurses supports these capabilities in each configuration:
+ used in <EM>ncurses</EM> for terminal capabilities includes details for
+ various systems past the documented X/Open Curses features. For
+ example, <EM>ncurses</EM> supports these capabilities in each configuration:
memory_lock
(meml) lock memory above cursor
(box1) box characters primary set
The memory lock/unlock capabilities were included because they were
- used in the X11R6 terminal description for <STRONG>xterm</STRONG>. The <EM>box1</EM> capa-
- bility is used in tic to help with terminal descriptions written
- for AIX.
+ used in the X11R6 terminal description for <STRONG>xterm(1)</STRONG>. The <EM>box1</EM>
+ capability is used in tic to help with terminal descriptions
+ written for AIX.
During the 1990s, some users were reluctant to use terminfo in spite of
its performance advantages over termcap:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> The fixed repertoire prevented users from adding features for unan-
- ticipated terminal improvements (or required them to reuse existing
- capabilities as a workaround).
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The fixed repertoire prevented users from adding features for
+ unanticipated terminal improvements (or required them to reuse
+ existing capabilities as a workaround).
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The limitation to 16-bit signed integers was also mentioned.
Because termcap stores everything as a string, it could represent
Although termcap's extensibility was rarely used (it was never the
<EM>speaker</EM> who had actually used the feature), the criticism had a point.
- ncurses 5.0 provided a way to detect nonstandard capabilities, deter-
- mine their type and optionally store and retrieve them in a way which
- did not interfere with other applications. These are referred to as
- <EM>user-defined</EM> <EM>capabilities</EM> because no modifications to the toolset's
+ <EM>ncurses</EM> 5.0 provided a way to detect nonstandard capabilities,
+ determine their type and optionally store and retrieve them in a way
+ which did not interfere with other applications. These are referred to
+ as <EM>user-defined</EM> <EM>capabilities</EM> because no modifications to the toolset's
predefined capability names are needed.
- The ncurses utilities <STRONG>tic</STRONG> and <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> have a command-line option "-x"
+ The <EM>ncurses</EM> utilities <STRONG>tic</STRONG> and <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> have a command-line option "-x"
to control whether the nonstandard capabilities are stored or
retrieved. A library function <STRONG>use_extended_names</STRONG> is provided for the
same purpose.
When compiling a terminal database, if "-x" is set, <STRONG>tic</STRONG> will store a
- user-defined capability if the capability name is not one of the prede-
- fined names.
+ user-defined capability if the capability name is not one of the
+ predefined names.
- Because ncurses provides a termcap library interface, these user-
+ Because <EM>ncurses</EM> provides a termcap library interface, these user-
defined capabilities may be visible to termcap applications:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The termcap interface (like all implementations of termcap)
requires that the capability names are 2-characters.
- When the capability is simple enough for use in a termcap applica-
- tion, it is provided as a 2-character name.
+ When the capability is simple enough for use in a termcap
+ application, it is provided as a 2-character name.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> There are other user-defined capabilities which refer to features
not usable in termcap, e.g., parameterized strings that use more
only capability names with 3 or more characters.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Some terminals can send distinct strings for special keys (cursor-,
- keypad- or function-keys) depending on modifier keys (shift, con-
- trol, etc.). While terminfo and termcap have a set of 60 prede-
- fined function-key names, to which a series of keys can be
- assigned, that is insufficient for more than a dozen keys multi-
- plied by more than a couple of modifier combinations. The ncurses
- database uses a convention based on <STRONG>xterm</STRONG> to provide extended spe-
- cial-key names.
+ keypad- or function-keys) depending on modifier keys (shift,
+ control, etc.). While terminfo and termcap have a set of 60
+ predefined function-key names, to which a series of keys can be
+ assigned, that is insufficient for more than a dozen keys
+ multiplied by more than a couple of modifier combinations. The
+ <EM>ncurses</EM> database uses a convention based on <STRONG>xterm(1)</STRONG> to provide
+ extended special-key names.
Fitting that into termcap's limitation of 2-character names would
- be pointless. These extended keys are available only with ter-
- minfo.
+ be pointless. These extended keys are available only with
+ terminfo.
-</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Recognized-
capabilities">Recognized capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
- The ncurses library uses the user-definable capabilities. While the
- terminfo database may have other extensions, ncurses makes explicit
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Recognized-
Capabilities">Recognized Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
+ The <EM>ncurses</EM> library uses the user-definable capabilities. While the
+ terminfo database may have other extensions, <EM>ncurses</EM> makes explicit
checks for these:
- AX <EM>boolean</EM>, asserts that the terminal interprets SGR 39 and SGR 49
+ AX <EM>Boolean</EM>, asserts that the terminal interprets SGR 39 and SGR 49
by resetting the foreground and background color, respectively,
to the default.
The command "<STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>clear</STRONG>" does the same thing.
+ NQ <EM>Boolean</EM>, used to suppress a consistency check in tic for the
+ <EM>ncurses</EM> capabilities in user6 through user9 (u6, u7, u8 and u9)
+ which tell how to query the terminal's cursor position and its
+ device attributes.
+
RGB
- <EM>boolean</EM>, <EM>number</EM> <STRONG>or</STRONG> <EM>string</EM>, to assert that the <STRONG>set_a_foreground</STRONG>
- and <STRONG>set_a_background</STRONG> capabilities correspond to <EM>direct</EM> <EM>colors</EM>,
- using an RGB (red/green/blue) convention. This capability allows
- the <STRONG>color_content</STRONG> function to return appropriate values without
- requiring the application to initialize colors using <STRONG>init_color</STRONG>.
+ <EM>Boolean</EM>, <EM>number</EM> <STRONG>or</STRONG> <EM>string</EM>, used to assert that the
+ <STRONG>set_a_foreground</STRONG> and <STRONG>set_a_background</STRONG> capabilities correspond to
+ <EM>direct</EM> <EM>colors</EM>, using an RGB (red/green/blue) convention. This
+ capability allows the <STRONG>color_content</STRONG> function to return
+ appropriate values without requiring the application to
+ initialize colors using <STRONG>init_color</STRONG>.
- The capability type determines the values which ncurses sees:
+ The capability type determines the values which <EM>ncurses</EM> sees:
- <EM>boolean</EM>
+ <EM>Boolean</EM>
implies that the number of bits for red, green and blue are
- the same. Using the maximum number of colors, ncurses adds
+ the same. Using the maximum number of colors, <EM>ncurses</EM> adds
two, divides that sum by three, and assigns the result to red,
green and blue in that order.
comparison to red.
<EM>number</EM>
- tells ncurses what result to add to red, green and blue. If
- ncurses runs out of bits, blue (and green) lose just as in the
- <EM>boolean</EM> case.
+ tells <EM>ncurses</EM> what result to add to red, green and blue. If
+ <EM>ncurses</EM> runs out of bits, blue (and green) lose just as in the
+ <EM>Boolean</EM> case.
<EM>string</EM>
explicitly list the number of bits used for red, green and
could define <STRONG>RGB#1</STRONG> to represent the standard eight ANSI colors,
i.e., one bit per color.
- U8 <EM>number</EM>, asserts that ncurses must use Unicode values for line-
- drawing characters, and that it should ignore the alternate char-
- acter set capabilities when the locale uses UTF-8 encoding. For
- more information, see the discussion of <STRONG>NCURSES_NO_UTF8_ACS</STRONG> in
- <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG>.
+ U8 <EM>number</EM>, asserts that <EM>ncurses</EM> must use Unicode values for line-
+ drawing characters, and that it should ignore the alternate
+ character set capabilities when the locale uses UTF-8 encoding.
+ For more information, see the discussion of <STRONG>NCURSES_NO_UTF8_ACS</STRONG>
+
in <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG>.
Set this capability to a nonzero value to enable it.
- XM <EM>string</EM>, override ncurses's built-in string which enables/disables
- <STRONG>xterm</STRONG> mouse mode.
+ XM <EM>string</EM>, override <EM>ncurses</EM>'s built-in string which enables/disables
+ <STRONG>xterm(1)</STRONG> mouse mode.
- ncurses sends a character sequence to the terminal to initialize
+ <EM>ncurses</EM> sends a character sequence to the terminal to initialize
mouse mode, and when the user clicks the mouse buttons or (in
certain modes) moves the mouse, handles the characters sent back
by the terminal to tell it what was done with the mouse.
- The mouse protocol is enabled when the <EM>mask</EM> passed in the <STRONG>mouse-</STRONG>
- <STRONG>mask</STRONG> function is nonzero. By default, ncurses handles the
+ The mouse protocol is enabled when the <EM>mask</EM> passed in the
+ <STRONG>mousemask</STRONG> function is nonzero. By default, <EM>ncurses</EM> handles the
responses for the X11 xterm mouse protocol. It also knows about
the <EM>SGR</EM> <EM>1006</EM> xterm mouse protocol, but must to be told to look
for this specifically. It will not be able to guess which mode
- is used, because the responses are enough alike that only confu-
- sion would result.
+ is used, because the responses are enough alike that only
+ confusion would result.
The <STRONG>XM</STRONG> capability has a single parameter. If nonzero, the mouse
protocol should be enabled. If zero, the mouse protocol should
- be disabled. ncurses inspects this capability if it is present,
+ be disabled. <EM>ncurses</EM> inspects this capability if it is present,
to see whether the 1006 protocol is used. If so, it expects the
responses to use the <EM>SGR</EM> <EM>1006</EM> xterm mouse protocol.
The xterm mouse protocol is used by other terminal emulators.
The terminal database uses building-blocks for the various xterm
- mouse protocols which can be used in customized terminal descrip-
- tions.
+ mouse protocols which can be used in customized terminal
+ descriptions.
The terminal database building blocks for this mouse feature also
have an experimental capability <EM>xm</EM>. The "xm" capability
describes the mouse response. Currently there is no interpreter
- which would use this information to make the mouse support com-
- pletely data-driven.
+ which would use this information to make the mouse support
+ completely data-driven.
<EM>xm</EM> shows the format of the mouse responses. In this experimental
capability, the parameters are
<EM>p8</EM> x-ordinate ending region
- Here are examples from the terminal database for the most com-
- monly used xterm mouse protocols:
+ Here are examples from the terminal database for the most
+ commonly used xterm mouse protocols:
xterm+x11mouse|X11 xterm mouse protocol,
kmous=\E[M, XM=\E[?1000%?%p1%{1}%=%th%el%;,
%?%p4%tM%em%;,
-</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Extended-
key-definitions">Extended key-definitions</a></H3><PRE>
- Several terminals provide the ability to send distinct strings for com-
- binations of modified special keys. There is no standard for what
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Extended-
Key-Definitions">Extended Key Definitions</a></H3><PRE>
+ Several terminals provide the ability to send distinct strings for
+ combinations of modified special keys. There is no standard for what
those keys can send.
- Since 1999, <STRONG>xterm</STRONG> has supported <EM>shift</EM>, <EM>control</EM>, <EM>alt</EM>, and <EM>meta</EM> modifiers
- which produce distinct special-key strings. In a terminal description,
- ncurses has no special knowledge of the modifiers used. Applications
- can use the <EM>naming</EM> <EM>convention</EM> established for <STRONG>xterm</STRONG> to find these spe-
- cial keys in the terminal description.
-
- Starting with the curses convention that <EM>key</EM> <EM>names</EM> begin with "k" and
- that shifted special keys are an uppercase name, ncurses' terminal
- database defines these names to which a suffix is added:
-
- <EM>Name</EM> <EM>Description</EM>
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
- kDC special form of kdch1 (delete character)
- kDN special form of kcud1 (cursor down)
- kEND special form of kend (End)
- kHOM special form of khome (Home)
- kLFT special form of kcub1 (cursor-left or cursor-back)
- kNXT special form of knext (Next, or Page-Down)
- kPRV special form of kprev (Prev, or Page-Up)
- kRIT special form of kcuf1 (cursor-right, or cursor-forward)
- kUP special form of kcuu1 (cursor-up)
+ Since 1999, <STRONG>xterm(1)</STRONG> has supported <EM>shift</EM>, <EM>control</EM>, <EM>alt</EM>, and <EM>meta</EM>
+ modifiers which produce distinct special-key strings. In a terminal
+ description, <EM>ncurses</EM> has no special knowledge of the modifiers used.
+ Applications can use the <EM>naming</EM> <EM>convention</EM> established for <STRONG>xterm</STRONG> to
+ find these special keys in the terminal description.
+
+ Starting with the <EM>curses</EM> convention that capability codes describing
+ the input generated by a terminal's key caps begin with "k", and that
+ shifted special keys use uppercase letters in their names, <EM>ncurses</EM>'s
+ terminal database defines the following names and codes to which a
+ suffix is added.
+
+ <STRONG>Code</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
+ -------------------------------------------------------------------
+ <STRONG>kDC</STRONG> shifted kdch1 (delete character)
+ <STRONG>kDN</STRONG> shifted kcud1 (cursor down)
+ <STRONG>kEND</STRONG> shifted kend (end)
+ <STRONG>kHOM</STRONG> shifted khome (home)
+ <STRONG>kLFT</STRONG> shifted kcub1 (cursor back)
+ <STRONG>kNXT</STRONG> shifted knext (next)
+ <STRONG>kPRV</STRONG> shifted kprev (previous)
+ <STRONG>kRIT</STRONG> shifted kcuf1 (cursor forward)
+ <STRONG>kUP</STRONG> shifted kcuu1 (cursor up)
+
+ Keycap nomenclature on the Unix systems for which <EM>curses</EM> was developed
+ differs from today's ubiquitous descendants of the IBM PC/AT keyboard
+ layout. In the foregoing, interpret "backward" as "left", "forward" as
+ "right", "next" as "page down", and "prev(ious)" as "page up".
These are the suffixes used to denote the modifiers:
- <EM>Value</EM> <EM>Description</EM>
+ <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
----------------------------------
2 Shift
3 Alt
15 Meta + Ctrl + Alt
16 Meta + Ctrl + Alt + Shift
- None of these are predefined; terminal descriptions can refer to <EM>names</EM>
- which ncurses will allocate at runtime to <EM>key-codes</EM>. To use these keys
- in an ncurses program, an application could do this:
+ None of these are predefined; terminal descriptions can refer to <EM>names</EM>
+ which <EM>ncurses</EM> will allocate at runtime to <EM>key-codes</EM>. To use these keys
+ in an <EM>ncurses</EM> program, an application could do this:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> using a list of extended key <EM>names</EM>, ask <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tigetstr(3x)</A></STRONG> for their val-
- ues, and
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> using a list of extended key <EM>names</EM>, ask <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tigetstr(3x)</A></STRONG> for their
+ values, and
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> given the list of values, ask <STRONG><A HREF="key_defined.3x.html">key_defined(3x)</A></STRONG> for the <EM>key-code</EM>
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> given the list of values, ask <STRONG><A HREF="key_defined.3x.html">key_defined(3x)</A></STRONG> for the <EM>key-code</EM>
which would be returned for those keys by <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">wgetch(3x)</A></STRONG>.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
- The "-x" extension feature of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> and <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> has been adopted in Net-
- BSD curses. That implementation stores user-defined capabilities, but
- makes no use of these capabilities itself.
+ The "-x" extension feature of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> and <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> has been adopted in
+ NetBSD curses. That implementation stores user-defined capabilities,
+ but makes no use of these capabilities itself.
+
+
+</PRE><H2><a name="h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></H2><PRE>
+ Thomas E. Dickey
+ beginning with <EM>ncurses</EM> 5.0 (1999)
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
- <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="infocmp.1m.html">infocmp(1m)</A></STRONG>.
+ <STRONG><A HREF="infocmp.1m.html">infocmp(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG>
+ The terminal database section <EM>NCURSES</EM> <EM>USER-DEFINABLE</EM> <EM>CAPABILITIES</EM>
+ summarizes commonly-used user-defined capabilities which are used in
+ the terminal descriptions. Some of those features are mentioned in
+ <STRONG>screen(1)</STRONG> or <STRONG>tmux(1)</STRONG>.
-</PRE><H2><a name="h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></H2><PRE>
- Thomas E. Dickey
- beginning with ncurses 5.0 (1999)
+ <EM>XTerm</EM> <EM>Control</EM> <EM>Sequences</EM> provides further information on the <STRONG>xterm(1)</STRONG>
+ features that are used in these extended capabilities.
-
<STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG>
+
ncurses 6.4 2024-03-16 <STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
<div class="nav">
<ul>
<li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#h3-Background">Background</a></li>
-<li><a href="#h3-Recognized-capabilities">Recognized capabilities</a></li>
-<li><a href="#h3-Extended-key-definitions">Extended key-definitions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Recognized-Capabilities">Recognized Capabilities</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Extended-Key-Definitions">Extended Key Definitions</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></li>
-<li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</BODY>
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