'\" t
.\"***************************************************************************
-.\" Copyright (c) 1998-2010,2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
+.\" Copyright (c) 1998-2013,2014 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 1.105 2011/07/30 23:38:59 tom Exp $
+.\" $Id: ncurses.3x,v 1.119 2014/08/09 20:54:30 tom Exp $
.hy 0
.TH ncurses 3X ""
+.ie \n(.g .ds `` \(lq
+.el .ds `` ``
+.ie \n(.g .ds '' \(rq
+.el .ds '' ''
.de bP
.IP \(bu 4
..
.SH DESCRIPTION
The \fBncurses\fR library routines give the user a terminal-independent method
of updating character screens with reasonable optimization.
-This implementation is ``new curses'' (ncurses) and
+This implementation is \*(``new curses\*('' (ncurses) and
is the approved replacement for
4.4BSD classic curses, which has been discontinued.
This describes \fBncurses\fR
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,
.sp
Before a \fBcurses\fR program is run, the tab stops of the terminal
should be set and its initialization strings, if defined, must be output.
-This can be done by executing the \fBtput init\fR command
+This can be done by executing the \fB@TPUT@ init\fR command
after the shell environment variable \fBTERM\fR has been exported.
-\fBtset(1)\fR is usually responsible for doing this.
+\fB@TSET@(1)\fR is usually responsible for doing this.
[See \fBterminfo\fR(\*n) for further details.]
.PP
The \fBncurses\fR library permits manipulation of data structures,
use_env/\fBcurs_util\fR(3X)
use_extended_names/\fBcurs_extend\fR(3X)*
use_legacy_coding/\fBlegacy_coding\fR(3X)*
+use_tioctl/\fBcurs_util\fR(3X)
vid_attr/\fBcurs_terminfo\fR(3X)
vid_puts/\fBcurs_terminfo\fR(3X)
vidattr/\fBcurs_terminfo\fR(3X)
.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
runtime behavior of the \fBncurses\fR library.
The most important ones have been already discussed in detail.
.TP 5
-BAUDRATE
-The debugging library checks this environment symbol when the application
-has redirected output to a file.
-The symbol'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.
-.TP 5
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
the C compiler's name, \fBncurses\fR ignores it if it does not happen to
be a single character.
.TP 5
+BAUDRATE
+The debugging library checks this environment variable when the application
+has redirected output to a file.
+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.
+.TP 5
COLUMNS
Specify the width of the screen in characters.
Applications running in a windowing environment usually are able to
a terminal description for terminals which are run as emulations.
.IP
Use the \fBuse_env\fR function to disable all use of external environment
-(including system calls) to determine the screen size.
+(but not including system calls) to determine the screen size.
+Use the \fBuse_tioctl\fR function to update \fBCOLUMNS\fP or \fBLINES\fP
+to match the screen size obtained from system calls or the terminal database.
.TP 5
ESCDELAY
Specifies the total time, in milliseconds, for which ncurses will
.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
To make it green-on-black, set it to "2,0".
Any positive value from zero to the terminfo \fBmax_colors\fR value is allowed.
.TP 5
+NCURSES_CONSOLE2
+This applies only to the MinGW port of ncurses.
+.IP
+The \fBConsole2\fP program's handling of the Microsoft Console API call
+\fBCreateConsoleScreenBuffer\fP is defective.
+Applications which use this will hang.
+However, it is possible to simulate the action of this call by
+mapping coordinates,
+explicitly saving and restoring the original screen contents.
+Setting the environment variable \fBNCGDB\fP has the same effect.
+.TP 5
NCURSES_GPM_TERMS
This applies only to ncurses configured to use the GPM interface.
.IP
Set this environment variable to disable the feature.
You can also adjust your \fBstty\fP settings to avoid the problem.
.TP 5
-NCURSES_NO_MAGIC_COOKIES
+NCURSES_NO_MAGIC_COOKIE
Some terminals use a magic-cookie feature which requires special handling
to make highlighting and other video attributes display properly.
You can suppress the highlighting entirely for these terminals by
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.
.TP 5
NCURSES_NO_SETBUF
-Normally \fBncurses\fR enables buffered output during terminal initialization.
-This is done (as in SVr4 curses) for performance reasons.
+This setting is obsolete.
+Before changes
+.RS
+.bP
+started with 5.9 patch 20120825
+and
+.bP
+continued
+though 5.9 patch 20130126
+.RE
+.IP
+\fBncurses\fR enabled buffered output during terminal initialization.
+This was done (as in SVr4 curses) for performance reasons.
For testing purposes, both of \fBncurses\fR and certain applications,
-this feature is made optional.
+this feature was made optional.
Setting the NCURSES_NO_SETBUF variable
-disables output buffering, leaving the output in the original (usually
+disabled output buffering, leaving the output in the original (usually
line buffered) mode.
+.IP
+In the current implementation,
+ncurses performs its own buffering and does not require this workaround.
+It does not modify the buffering of the standard output.
+.IP
+The reason for the change was to make the behavior for interrupts and
+other signals more robust.
+One drawback is that certain nonconventional programs would mix
+ordinary stdio calls with ncurses calls and (usually) work.
+This is no longer possible since ncurses is not using
+the buffered standard output but its own output (to the same file descriptor).
+As a special case, the low-level calls such as \fBputp\fP still use the
+standard output.
+But high-level curses calls do not.
.TP 5
NCURSES_NO_UTF8_ACS
During initialization, the \fBncurses\fR library
.IP
As an alternative to the environment variable,
ncurses checks for an extended terminfo capability \fBU8\fP.
-This is a numeric capability which can be compiled using \fBtic\ \-x\fP.
+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
TERM
Denotes your terminal type.
Each terminal type is distinct, though many are similar.
+.IP
+\fBTERM\fP is commonly set by terminal emulators to help
+applications find a workable terminal description.
+Some of those choose a popular approximation, e.g.,
+\*(``ansi\*('', \*(``vt100\*('', \*(``xterm\*('' rather than an exact fit.
+Not infrequently, your application will have problems with that approach,
+e.g., incorrect function-key definitions.
+.IP
+If you set \fBTERM\fP in your environment,
+it has no effect on the operation of the terminal emulator.
+It only affects the way applications work within the terminal.
+Likewise, as a general rule (\fBxterm\fP being a rare exception),
+terminal emulators which allow you to
+specify \fBTERM\fP as a parameter or configuration value do
+not change their behavior to match that setting.
.TP 5
TERMCAP
If the \fBncurses\fR library has been configured with \fItermcap\fR
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
to allow applications to be built using either library
from the same set of headers.
.TP 5
+\-\-with\-pthread
+The configure script renames the library.
+All of the library names have a "t" appended to them
+(before any "w" added by \fB\-\-enable\-widec\fP).
+.IP
+The global variables such as \fBLINES\fP are replaced by macros to
+allow read-only access.
+At the same time, setter-functions are provided to set these values.
+Some applications (very few) may require changes to work with this convention.
+.TP 5
\-\-with\-shared
.TP
\-\-with\-normal
@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
projects / ncurses.git / blobdiff