- initscr is normally the first curses routine to call when
- initializing a program. A few special routines sometimes
- need to be called before it; these are slk_init, filter,
- ripoffline, use_env. For multiple-terminal applications,
- newterm may be called before initscr.
+ initscr is normally the first curses routine to call when
+ initializing a program. A few special routines sometimes
+ need to be called before it; these are slk_init, filter,
+ ripoffline, use_env. For multiple-terminal applications,
+ newterm may be called before initscr.
The initscr code determines the terminal type and initial-
- izes all curses data structures. initscr also causes the
- first call to refresh to clear the screen. If errors
- occur, initscr writes an appropriate error message to
+ izes all curses data structures. initscr also causes the
+ first call to refresh to clear the screen. If errors
+ occur, initscr writes an appropriate error message to
standard error and exits; otherwise, a pointer is returned
- to stdscr.
+ to stdscr.
- A program that outputs to more than one terminal should
- use the newterm routine for each terminal instead of
- initscr. A program that needs to inspect capabilities, so
+ A program that outputs to more than one terminal should
+ use the newterm routine for each terminal instead of
+ initscr. A program that needs to inspect capabilities, so
it can continue to run in a line-oriented mode if the ter-
minal cannot support a screen-oriented program, would also
- use newterm. The routine newterm should be called once
- for each terminal. It returns a variable of type SCREEN*
- which should be saved as a reference to that terminal.
- The arguments are the type of the terminal to be used in
- place of $TERM, a file pointer for output to the terminal,
- and another file pointer for input from the terminal (if
- type is NULL, $TERM will be used). The program must also
- call endwin for each terminal being used before exiting
- from curses. If newterm is called more than once for the
- same terminal, the first terminal referred to must be the
- last one for which endwin is called.
-
- A program should always call endwin before exiting or
- escaping from curses mode temporarily. This routine
- restores tty modes, moves the cursor to the lower left-
+ use newterm. The routine newterm should be called once
+ for each terminal. It returns a variable of type SCREEN*
+ which should be saved as a reference to that terminal.
+ The arguments are the type of the terminal to be used in
+ place of $TERM, a file pointer for output to the terminal,
+ and another file pointer for input from the terminal (if
+ type is NULL, $TERM will be used). The program must also
+ call endwin for each terminal being used before exiting
+ from curses. If newterm is called more than once for the
+ same terminal, the first terminal referred to must be the
+ last one for which endwin is called.
+
+ A program should always call endwin before exiting or
+ escaping from curses mode temporarily. This routine
+ restores tty modes, moves the cursor to the lower left-
hand corner of the screen and resets the terminal into the
- proper non-visual mode. Calling refresh or doupdate after
- a temporary escape causes the program to resume visual
+ proper non-visual mode. Calling refresh or doupdate after
+ a temporary escape causes the program to resume visual
mode.
- The isendwin routine returns TRUE if endwin has been
- called without any subsequent calls to wrefresh, and FALSE
+ The isendwin routine returns TRUE if endwin has been
+ called without any subsequent calls to wrefresh, and FALSE
otherwise.
- The set_term routine is used to switch between different
- terminals. The screen reference new becomes the new cur-
- rent terminal. The previous terminal is returned by the
- routine. This is the only routine which manipulates
- SCREEN pointers; all other routines affect only the cur-
+ The set_term routine is used to switch between different
+ terminals. The screen reference new becomes the new cur-
+ rent terminal. The previous terminal is returned by the
+ routine. This is the only routine which manipulates
+ SCREEN pointers; all other routines affect only the cur-
rent terminal.
- The delscreen routine frees storage associated with the
- SCREEN data structure. The endwin routine does not do
- this, so delscreen should be called after endwin if a par-
- ticular SCREEN is no longer needed.
+ The delscreen routine frees storage associated with the
+ SCREEN data structure. The endwin routine does not do
+ this, so delscreen should be called after endwin if a par-
+ ticular SCREEN is no longer needed.
RETURN VALUE
- endwin returns the integer ERR upon failure and OK upon
+ endwin returns the integer ERR upon failure and OK upon
successful completion.
- Routines that return pointers always return NULL on error.
+ Routines that return pointers always return NULL on error.
NOTES
- Note that initscr and newterm may be macros.
+ Note that initscr and newterm may be macros.
PORTABILITY
- These functions are described in the XSI Curses standard,
+ These functions are described in the XSI Curses standard,
Issue 4. It specifies that portable applications must not
- call initscr more than once.
+ call initscr more than once.
Old versions of curses, e.g., BSD 4.4, may have returned a
- null pointer from initscr when an error is detected,
- rather than exiting. It is safe but redundant to check
- the return value of initscr in XSI Curses.
+ null pointer from initscr when an error is detected,
+ rather than exiting. It is safe but redundant to check
+ the return value of initscr in XSI Curses.