'\" t
.\"***************************************************************************
-.\" Copyright (c) 1998-2011,2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
+.\" Copyright (c) 1998-2012,2013 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 *
.\" authorization. *
.\"***************************************************************************
.\"
-.\" $Id: ncurses.3x,v 1.107 2012/07/14 21:13:06 tom Exp $
+.\" $Id: ncurses.3x,v 1.110 2013/02/02 22:13:18 tom Exp $
.hy 0
.TH ncurses 3X ""
.de bP
XSI stands for X/Open System Interfaces Extension.
The \fBncurses\fR library is freely redistributable in source form.
Differences from the SVr4
-curses are summarized under the \fBEXTENSIONS\fP and \fBPORTABILITY\fP sections below and
-described in detail in the respective \fBEXTENSIONS\fP, \fBPORTABILITY\fP and \fBBUGS\fP sections
+curses are summarized under the
+\fBEXTENSIONS\fP and \fBPORTABILITY\fP sections below and
+described in detail in the respective
+\fBEXTENSIONS\fP, \fBPORTABILITY\fP and \fBBUGS\fP sections
of individual man pages.
.PP
The \fBncurses\fR library also provides many useful extensions,
.PP
All macros return the value of the \fBw\fR version, except \fBsetscrreg\fR,
\fBwsetscrreg\fR, \fBgetyx\fR, \fBgetbegyx\fR, and \fBgetmaxyx\fR.
-The return values of \fBsetscrreg\fR, \fBwsetscrreg\fR, \fBgetyx\fR, \fBgetbegyx\fR, and
+The return values of
+\fBsetscrreg\fR,
+\fBwsetscrreg\fR,
+\fBgetyx\fR,
+\fBgetbegyx\fR, and
\fBgetmaxyx\fR are undefined (i.e., these should not be used as the
right-hand side of assignment statements).
.PP
The most important ones have been already discussed in detail.
.TP 5
BAUDRATE
-The debugging library checks this environment symbol when the application
+The debugging library checks this environment variable when the application
has redirected output to a file.
-The symbol's numeric value is used for the baudrate.
+The variable's numeric value is used for the baudrate.
If no value is found, \fBncurses\fR uses 9600.
This allows testers to construct repeatable test-cases
that take into account costs that depend on baudrate.
CC
When set, change occurrences of the command_character
(i.e., the \fBcmdch\fP capability)
-of the loaded terminfo entries to the value of this symbol.
+of the loaded terminfo entries to the value of this variable.
Very few terminfo entries provide this feature.
.IP
Because this name is also used in development environments to represent
.br
3 = middle.
.sp
-This symbol lets you customize the mouse.
-The symbol must be three numeric digits 1\-3 in any order, e.g., 123 or 321.
+This variable lets you customize the mouse.
+The variable must be three numeric digits 1\-3 in any order, e.g., 123 or 321.
If it is not specified, \fBncurses\fR uses 132.
.TP 5
NCURSES_ASSUMED_COLORS
You may wish to use these descriptions,
but not want to pay the performance penalty.
.IP
-Set the NCURSES_NO_PADDING symbol to disable all but mandatory
+Set the NCURSES_NO_PADDING environment variable to disable all but mandatory
padding.
Mandatory padding is used as a part of special control
sequences such as \fIflash\fR.
This is a numeric capability which can be compiled using \fB@TIC@\ \-x\fP.
For example
.RS 5
+.ft CW
.sp
.nf
# linux console, if patched to provide working
# VT100 shift-in/shift-out, with corresponding font.
linux-vt100|linux console with VT100 line-graphics,
- U8#0, use=linux,
+ U8#0, use=linux,
.sp
# uxterm with vt100Graphics resource set to false
xterm-utf8|xterm relying on UTF-8 line-graphics,
- U8#1, use=xterm,
+ U8#1, use=xterm,
.fi
+.ft
.RE
.IP
The name "U8" is chosen to be two characters,
.TP 5
NCURSES_TRACE
During initialization, the \fBncurses\fR debugging library
-checks the NCURSES_TRACE symbol.
+checks the NCURSES_TRACE environment variable.
If it is defined, to a numeric value, \fBncurses\fR calls the \fBtrace\fR
function, using that value as the argument.
.IP
support, \fBncurses\fR will check for a terminal's description in
termcap form if it is not available in the terminfo database.
.IP
-The TERMCAP symbol contains either a terminal description (with
+The TERMCAP environment variable contains either a terminal description (with
newlines stripped out),
-or a file name telling where the information denoted by the TERM symbol exists.
+or a file name telling where the information denoted by
+the TERM environment variable exists.
In either case, setting it directs \fBncurses\fR to ignore
the usual place for this information, e.g., /etc/termcap.
.TP 5
.bP
the last directory to which \fBncurses\fR wrote, if any, is searched first
.bP
-the directory specified by the TERMINFO symbol
+the directory specified by the TERMINFO environment variable
.bP
$HOME/.terminfo
.bP
-directories listed in the TERMINFO_DIRS symbol
+directories listed in the TERMINFO_DIRS environment variable
.bP
one or more directories whose names are configured and compiled into the
-ncurses library, e.g.,
-@TERMINFO@
+ncurses library, i.e.,
+.RS
+.bP
+@TERMINFO_DIRS@ (corresponding to the TERMINFO_DIRS variable)
+.bP
+@TERMINFO@ (corresponding to the TERMINFO variable)
+.RE
.RE
.TP 5
TERMINFO_DIRS
Specifies a list of directories to search for terminal descriptions.
The list is separated by colons (i.e., ":") on Unix, semicolons on OS/2 EMX.
-All of the terminal descriptions are in terminfo form, which makes
-a subdirectory named for the first letter of the terminal names therein.
+.IP
+All of the terminal descriptions are in terminfo form.
+Normally these are stored in a directory tree,
+using subdirectories named by the first letter of the terminal names therein.
.IP
If \fBncurses\fP is built with a hashed database,
then each entry in this list can also be the path of the corresponding
.TP 5
TERMPATH
If TERMCAP does not hold a file name then \fBncurses\fR checks
-the TERMPATH symbol.
-This is a list of filenames separated by spaces or colons (i.e., ":") on Unix, semicolons on OS/2 EMX.
-If the TERMPATH symbol is not set, \fBncurses\fR looks in the files
+the TERMPATH environment variable.
+This is a list of filenames separated by spaces or colons (i.e., ":") on Unix,
+semicolons on OS/2 EMX.
+.IP
+If the TERMPATH environment variable is not set,
+\fBncurses\fR looks in the files
/etc/termcap, /usr/share/misc/termcap and $HOME/.termcap, in that order.
.PP
The library may be configured to disregard the following variables when the
current user is the superuser (root), or if the application uses setuid or
setgid permissions:
+.IP
$TERMINFO, $TERMINFO_DIRS, $TERMPATH, as well as $HOME.
.SH ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS
Several different configurations are possible,
to build executables.
.TP 5
\-\-enable\-widec
-The configure script renames the library and (if the \fB\-\-disable\-overwrite\fP
-option is used) puts the header files in a different subdirectory.
+The configure script renames the library and
+(if the \fB\-\-disable\-overwrite\fP option is used)
+puts the header files in a different subdirectory.
All of the library names have a "w" appended to them,
i.e., instead of
.RS
@TERMINFO@
terminal capability database
.SH SEE ALSO
-\fBterminfo\fR(\*n) and related pages whose names begin "curs_" for detailed routine
-descriptions.
+\fBterminfo\fR(\*n) and related pages whose names begin
+"curs_" for detailed routine descriptions.
.br
\fBcurs_variables\fR(3X)
.SH EXTENSIONS