.\"***************************************************************************
-.\" Copyright 2018-2019,2020 Thomas E. Dickey *
+.\" Copyright 2018-2023,2024 Thomas E. Dickey *
.\" Copyright 1998-2011,2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
.\" *
.\" Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a *
.\" authorization. *
.\"***************************************************************************
.\"
-.\" $Id: term.7,v 1.28 2020/02/02 23:34:34 tom Exp $
-.TH term 7
-.ie \n(.g .ds `` \(lq
-.el .ds `` ``
-.ie \n(.g .ds '' \(rq
-.el .ds '' ''
-.ds n 5
+.\" $Id: term.7,v 1.48 2024/03/16 15:35:01 tom Exp $
+.TH term 7 2024-03-16 "ncurses @NCURSES_MAJOR@.@NCURSES_MINOR@" Miscellaneous
+.ie \n(.g \{\
+.ds `` \(lq
+.ds '' \(rq
+.\}
+.el \{\
+.ie t .ds `` ``
+.el .ds `` ""
+.ie t .ds '' ''
+.el .ds '' ""
+.\}
+.
.ds d @TERMINFO@
.SH NAME
-term \- conventions for naming terminal types
+term \-
+conventions for naming terminal types
+.\"SH SYNOPSIS
.SH DESCRIPTION
-.PP
-The environment variable \fBTERM\fR should normally contain the type name of
-the terminal, console or display-device type you are using.
+The environment variable \fITERM\fP should normally contain the type
+name of the terminal,
+console or display-device type you are using.
This information
is critical for all screen-oriented programs, including your editor and mailer.
.PP
-A default \fBTERM\fR value will be set on a per-line basis by either
-\fB/etc/inittab\fR (e.g., System\-V-like UNIXes)
-or \fB/etc/ttys\fR (BSD UNIXes).
+A default \fITERM\fP value will be set on a per-line basis by either
+\fB/etc/inittab\fP (e.g., System\-V-like Unices)
+or \fB/etc/ttys\fP (BSD Unices).
This will nearly always suffice for workstation and microcomputer consoles.
.PP
If you use a dialup line, the type of device attached to it may vary.
-Older UNIX systems pre-set a very dumb terminal type
+Older Unix systems pre-set a very dumb terminal type
like \*(``dumb\*('' or \*(``dialup\*('' on dialup lines.
Newer ones may pre-set \*(``vt100\*('', reflecting the prevalence of DEC
VT100-compatible terminals and personal-computer emulators.
.PP
-Modern telnets pass your \fBTERM\fR environment variable from the local side to
-the remote one.
+Modern telnets pass your \fITERM\fP environment variable from the local
+side to the remote one.
There can be problems if the remote terminfo or termcap entry
for your type is not compatible with yours, but this situation is rare and
can almost always be avoided by explicitly exporting \*(``vt100\*(''
(assuming you are in fact using a VT100-superset console,
-terminal, or terminal emulator.)
+terminal, or terminal emulator).
.PP
-In any case, you are free to override the system \fBTERM\fR setting to your
-taste in your shell profile.
+In any case, you are free to override the system \fITERM\fP setting to
+your taste in your shell profile.
The \fB@TSET@\fP(1) utility may be of assistance;
you can give it a set of rules for deducing or requesting a terminal type based
on the tty device and baud rate.
.PP
-Setting your own \fBTERM\fR value may also be useful if you have created a
-custom entry incorporating options (such as visual bell or reverse-video)
+Setting your own \fITERM\fP value may also be useful if you have created
+a custom entry incorporating options
+(such as visual bell or reverse-video)
which you wish to override the system default type for your line.
.PP
Terminal type descriptions are stored as files of capability data underneath
\*d.
To browse a list of all terminal names recognized by the system, do
.sp
- @TOE@ | more
+ @TOE@ | more
.sp
from your shell.
These capability files are in a binary format optimized for
-retrieval speed (unlike the old text-based \fBtermcap\fR format they replace);
-to examine an entry, you must use the \fB@INFOCMP@\fR(1M) command.
+retrieval speed (unlike the old text-based \fBtermcap\fP format they replace);
+to examine an entry, you must use the \fB@INFOCMP@\fP(1M) command.
Invoke it as follows:
.sp
- @INFOCMP@ \fIentry_name\fR
+ @INFOCMP@ \fIentry_name\fP
.sp
-where \fIentry_name\fR is the name of the type you wish to examine (and the
+where \fIentry_name\fP is the name of the type you wish to examine (and the
name of its capability file the subdirectory of \*d named for its first
letter).
This command dumps a capability file in the text format described by
-\fBterminfo\fR(\*n).
+\fBterminfo\fP(5).
.PP
-The first line of a \fBterminfo\fR(\*n) description gives the names by which
+The first line of a \fBterminfo\fP(5) description gives the names by which
terminfo knows a terminal,
separated by \*(``|\*('' (pipe-bar) characters with the last
name field terminated by a comma.
The first name field is the type's
-\fIprimary name\fR, and is the one to use when setting \fBTERM\fR. The last
-name field (if distinct from the first) is actually a description of the
+\fIprimary name\fP,
+and is the one to use when setting \fITERM\fP.
+The last name field
+(if distinct from the first)
+is actually a description of the
terminal type (it may contain blanks; the others must be single words).
Name
fields between the first and last (if present) are aliases for the terminal,
name; some historical terminfo names use it.
.PP
The root name for a terminal or workstation console type should almost always
-begin with a vendor prefix (such as \fBhp\fR for Hewlett-Packard, \fBwy\fR for
-Wyse, or \fBatt\fR for AT&T terminals), or a common name of the terminal line
-(\fBvt\fR for the VT series of terminals from DEC, or \fBsun\fR for Sun
-Microsystems workstation consoles, or \fBregent\fR for the ADDS Regent series.
+begin with a vendor prefix (such as \fBhp\fP for Hewlett-Packard, \fBwy\fP for
+Wyse, or \fBatt\fP for AT&T terminals), or a common name of the terminal line
+(\fBvt\fP for the VT series of terminals from DEC, or \fBsun\fP for Sun
+Microsystems workstation consoles, or \fBregent\fP for the ADDS Regent series.
You can list the terminfo tree to see what prefixes are already in common use.
The root name prefix should be followed when appropriate by a model number;
-thus \fBvt100\fR, \fBhp2621\fR, \fBwy50\fR.
+thus \fBvt100\fP, \fBhp2621\fP, \fBwy50\fP.
.PP
The root name for a PC-Unix console type should be the OS name,
-i.e., \fBlinux\fR, \fBbsdos\fR, \fBfreebsd\fR, \fBnetbsd\fR. It should
-\fInot\fR be \fBconsole\fR or any other generic that might cause confusion in a
+i.e., \fBlinux\fP, \fBbsdos\fP, \fBfreebsd\fP, \fBnetbsd\fP. It should
+\fInot\fP be \fBconsole\fP or any other generic that might cause confusion in a
multi-platform environment! If a model number follows, it should indicate
either the OS release level or the console driver release level.
.PP
The root name for a terminal emulator (assuming it does not fit one of the
standard ANSI or vt100 types) should be the program name or a readily
-recognizable abbreviation of it (i.e., \fBversaterm\fR, \fBctrm\fR).
+recognizable abbreviation of it (i.e., \fBversaterm\fP, \fBctrm\fP).
.PP
Following the root name, you may add any reasonable number of hyphen-separated
feature suffixes.
line height, that suffix should go first.
So, for a hypothetical FuBarCo
model 2317 terminal in 30-line mode with reverse video, best form would be
-\fBfubar\-30\-rv\fR (rather than, say, \*(``fubar\-rv\-30\*('').
+\fBfubar\-30\-rv\fP (rather than, say, \*(``fubar\-rv\-30\*('').
.PP
Terminal types that are written not as standalone entries, but rather as
components to be plugged into other entries via \fBuse\fP capabilities,
Commands which use a terminal type to control display often accept a \-T
option that accepts a terminal name argument.
Such programs should fall back
-on the \fBTERM\fR environment variable when no \-T option is specified.
+on the \fITERM\fP environment variable when no \-T option is specified.
+.SH FILES
+.TP
+.I \*d
+compiled terminal description database
+.TP
+.I /etc/inittab
+tty line initialization (AT&T-like Unices)
+.TP
+.I /etc/ttys
+tty line initialization (BSD-like Unices)
.SH PORTABILITY
-For maximum compatibility with older System V UNIXes, names and aliases
+For maximum compatibility with older System V Unices, names and aliases
should be unique within the first 14 characters.
-.SH FILES
-.TP 5
-\*d/?/*
-compiled terminal capability data base
-.TP 5
-/etc/inittab
-tty line initialization (AT&T-like UNIXes)
-.TP 5
-/etc/ttys
-tty line initialization (BSD-like UNIXes)
.SH SEE ALSO
-\fBcurses\fR(3X), \fBterminfo\fR(\*n), \fBterm\fR(\*n).
+\fB\%curses\fP(3X),
+\fB\%term\fP(5),
+\fB\%terminfo\fP(5)
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