- The ncurses library routines give the user a terminal-independent
- method of updating character screens with reasonable optimization.
- This implementation is "new curses" (ncurses) and is the approved
- replacement for 4.4BSD classic curses, which has been discontinued.
- This describes ncurses version 6.1 (patch 20191130).
-
- The ncurses library emulates the curses library of System V Release 4
- UNIX, and XPG4 (X/Open Portability Guide) curses (also known as XSI
- curses). XSI stands for X/Open System Interfaces Extension. The
- ncurses library is freely redistributable in source form. Differences
- from the SVr4 curses are summarized under the EXTENSIONS and PORTABIL-
- ITY sections below and described in detail in the respective EXTEN-
- SIONS, PORTABILITY and BUGS sections of individual man pages.
-
- The ncurses library also provides many useful extensions, i.e., fea-
- tures which cannot be implemented by a simple add-on library but which
- require access to the internals of the library.
-
- A program using these routines must be linked with the -lncurses
- option, or (if it has been generated) with the debugging library
- -lncurses_g. (Your system integrator may also have installed these
- libraries under the names -lcurses and -lcurses_g.) The ncurses_g
- library generates trace logs (in a file called 'trace' in the current
- directory) that describe curses actions. See also the section on
- ALTERNATECONFIGURATIONS.
-
- The ncurses package supports: overall screen, window and pad manipula-
- tion; output to windows and pads; reading terminal input; control over
- terminal and curses input and output options; environment query rou-
- tines; color manipulation; use of soft label keys; terminfo capabili-
- ties; and access to low-level terminal-manipulation routines.
+ The "new curses" library offers the programmer a terminal-independent
+ means of reading keyboard and mouse input and updating character-cell
+ terminals with output optimized to minimize screen updates. ncurses
+ replaces the curses libraries from System V Release 4 Unix ("SVr4") and
+ 4.4BSD Unix, the development of which ceased in the 1990s. This
+ document describes ncurses version 6.5 (patch 20240518).
+
+ ncurses permits control of the terminal screen's contents; abstraction
+ and subdivision thereof with windows and pads; acquisition of keyboard
+ and mouse events; control of terminal input and output options;
+ selection of color and rendering attributes (such as bold or
+ underline); the definition and use of softlabel keys; access to the
+ terminfo terminal capability database; a termcap compatibility
+ interface; and an abstraction of the system's API for manipulating the
+ terminal (such as termios(3)).
+
+ ncurses implements the interface described by X/Open Curses Issue 7.
+ In many behavioral details not standardized by X/Open, ncurses emulates
+ the curses library of SVr4 and provides numerous useful extensions.
+
+ ncurses man pages employ several sections to clarify matters of usage
+ and interoperability with other curses implementations.
+
+ o "NOTES" describes issues and caveats of which any user of the
+ ncurses API should be aware, such as limitations on the size of an
+ underlying integral type or the availability of a preprocessor
+ macro exclusive of a function definition (which prevents its
+ address from being taken). This section also describes
+ implementation details that will be significant to the programmer
+ but which are not standardized.
+
+ o "EXTENSIONS" presents ncurses innovations beyond the X/Open Curses
+ standard and/or the SVr4 curses implementation. They are termed
+ extensions to indicate that they cannot be implemented solely by
+ using the library API, but require access to the library's internal
+ state.
+
+ o "PORTABILITY" discusses matters (beyond the exercise of extensions)
+ that should be considered when writing to a curses standard, or for
+ multiple implementations.
+
+ o "HISTORY" examines points of detail in ncurses and other curses
+ implementations over the decades of their development, particularly
+ where precedent or inertia have frustrated better design (and, in a
+ few cases, where such inertia has been overcome).
+
+ A curses application must be linked with the library; use the -lncurses
+ option to your compiler or linker. A debugging version of the library
+ may be available; if so, link with it using -lncurses_g. (Your system
+ integrator may have installed these libraries such that you can use the
+ options -lcurses and -lcurses_g, respectively.) The ncurses_g library
+ generates trace logs (in a file called trace in the current directory)
+ that describe ncurses actions. See section "ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS"
+ below.
+
+
+
+ A curses application uses information from the system locale;
+ setlocale(3) prepares it for curses library calls.
+
+ setlocale(LC_ALL, "");
+
+ If the locale is not thus initialized, the library assumes that
+ characters are printable as in ISO 8859-1, to work with certain legacy
+ programs. You should initialize the locale; do not expect consistent
+ behavior from the library when the locale has not been set up.
+
+ initscr(3x) or newterm(3x) must be called to initialize curses before
+ use of any functions that deal with windows and screens.
+
+ To get character-at-a-time input without echoing--most interactive,
+ screen-oriented programs want this--use the following sequence.
+
+ initscr(); cbreak(); noecho();
+
+ Most applications perform further setup as follows.
+
+ intrflush(stdscr, FALSE);
+ keypad(stdscr, TRUE);
+
+ A curses program then often enters an event loop of some sort. Call
+ endwin(3x) before exiting.
+
+
+
+ A curses library abstracts the terminal screen by representing all or
+ part of it as a WINDOW data structure. A window is a rectangular grid
+ of character cells, addressed by row and column coordinates (y, x),
+ with the upper left corner as (0, 0). A window called stdscr, the same
+ size as the terminal screen, is always available. Create others with
+ newwin(3x).
+
+ A curses library does not manage overlapping windows (but see below).
+ You can either use stdscr to manage one screen-filling window, or tile
+ the screen into non-overlapping windows and not use stdscr at all.
+ Mixing the two approaches will result in unpredictable and undesired
+ effects.
+
+ Functions permit manipulation of a window and the cursor identifying
+ the cell within it at which the next output operation will occur.
+ Among those, the most basic are move(3x) and addch(3x): these place the
+ cursor and write a character to stdscr, respectively.
+
+ Frequent changes to the terminal screen can cause unpleasant flicker or
+ inefficient use of the communication channel to the device, so as a
+ rule the library does not update it automatically. Therefore, after
+ using curses functions to accumulate a set of desired updates that make
+ sense to present together, call refresh(3x) to tell the library to make
+ the user's screen look like stdscr. The library optimizes its output
+ by computing a minimal volume of operations to mutate the screen from
+ its state at the previous refresh to the new one. Effective
+ optimization demands accurate information about the terminal device:
+ the management of such information is the province of the terminfo(3x)
+ API, a feature of every standard curses implementation.
+
+ Special windows called pads may also be manipulated. These are not
+ constrained to the size of the terminal screen and their contents need
+ not be completely displayed. See curs_pad(3x).
+
+ Many terminals support configuration of character cell foreground and
+ background colors as well as rendering attributes, which cause
+ characters to show up in such modes as boldfaced, underlined, or in
+ reverse video. See curs_attr(3x).
+
+ curses predefines constants for a small set of forms-drawing graphics
+ corresponding to the DEC Alternate Character Set (ACS), a feature of
+ VT100 and other terminals. See addch(3x).
+
+ curses is implemented using the operating system's terminal driver; key
+ events are received not as scan codes but as byte sequences. Graphical
+ keycaps (alphanumeric and punctuation keys, and the space) appear as-
+ is. Everything else, including the tab, enter/return, keypad, arrow,
+ and function keys, appears as a control character or a multibyte escape
+ sequence.curses translates the latter into unique keycodes. See
+ getch(3x).
+
+ ncurses provides reimplementations of the SVr4 panel(3x), form(3x), and
+ menu(3x) libraries; they permit overlapping windows and ease
+ construction of user interfaces with curses.
- The library uses the locale which the calling program has initialized.
- That is normally done with setlocale:
-
- setlocale(LC_ALL,"");
-
- If the locale is not initialized, the library assumes that characters
- are printable as in ISO-8859-1, to work with certain legacy programs.
- You should initialize the locale and not rely on specific details of
- the library when the locale has not been setup.
-
- The function initscr or newterm must be called to initialize the
- library before any of the other routines that deal with windows and
- screens are used. The routine endwin(3x) must be called before exit-
- ing.
-
- To get character-at-a-time input without echoing (most interactive,
- screen oriented programs want this), the following sequence should be
- used:
-
- initscr();cbreak();noecho();
-
- Most programs would additionally use the sequence:
-
- nonl();
- intrflush(stdscr,FALSE);
- keypad(stdscr,TRUE);
-
- Before a curses 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 tputinit command after the shell environ-
- ment variable TERM has been exported. tset(1) is usually responsible
- for doing this. [See terminfo(5) for further details.]
-
-
-
- The ncurses library permits manipulation of data structures, called
- windows, which can be thought of as two-dimensional arrays of charac-
- ters representing all or part of a CRT screen. A default window called
- stdscr, which is the size of the terminal screen, is supplied. Others
- may be created with newwin.
-
- Note that curses does not handle overlapping windows, that's done by
- the panel(3x) library. This means that you can either use stdscr or
- divide the screen into tiled windows and not using stdscr at all. Mix-
- ing the two will result in unpredictable, and undesired, effects.
-
- Windows are referred to by variables declared as WINDOW*. These data
- structures are manipulated with routines described here and elsewhere
- in the ncurses manual pages. Among those, the most basic routines are
- move and addch. More general versions of these routines are included
- with names beginning with w, allowing the user to specify a window.
- The routines not beginning with w affect stdscr.
-
- After using routines to manipulate a window, refresh(3x) is called,
- telling curses to make the user's CRT screen look like stdscr. The
- characters in a window are actually of type chtype, (character and
- attribute data) so that other information about the character may also
- be stored with each character.
-
- Special windows called pads may also be manipulated. These are windows
- which are not constrained to the size of the screen and whose contents
- need not be completely displayed. See curs_pad(3x) for more informa-
- tion.
-
- In addition to drawing characters on the screen, video attributes and
- colors may be supported, causing the characters to show up in such
- modes as underlined, in reverse video, or in color on terminals that
- support such display enhancements. Line drawing characters may be
- specified to be output. On input, curses is also able to translate
- arrow and function keys that transmit escape sequences into single val-
- ues. The video attributes, line drawing characters, and input values
- use names, defined in <curses.h>, such as A_REVERSE, ACS_HLINE, and
- KEY_LEFT.
-
-
-
- If the environment variables LINES and COLUMNS are set, or if the pro-
- gram is executing in a window environment, line and column information
- in the environment will override information read by terminfo. This
- would affect a program running in an AT&T 630 layer, for example, where
- the size of a screen is changeable (see ENVIRONMENT).
-
- If the environment variable TERMINFO is defined, any program using
- curses checks for a local terminal definition before checking in the
- standard place. For example, if TERM is set to att4424, then the com-
- piled terminal definition is found in
-
- /usr/share/terminfo/a/att4424.
-
- (The a is copied from the first letter of att4424 to avoid creation of
- huge directories.) However, if TERMINFO is set to $HOME/myterms,
- curses first checks
-
- $HOME/myterms/a/att4424,
-
- and if that fails, it then checks
-
- /usr/share/terminfo/a/att4424.
-
- This is useful for developing experimental definitions or when write
- permission in /usr/share/terminfo is not available.
-
- The integer variables LINES and COLS are defined in <curses.h> and will
- be filled in by initscr with the size of the screen. The constants
- TRUE and FALSE have the values 1 and 0, respectively.
-
- The curses routines also define the WINDOW* variable curscr which is
- used for certain low-level operations like clearing and redrawing a
- screen containing garbage. The curscr can be used in only a few rou-
- tines.
-
-
-
- Many curses routines have two or more versions. The routines prefixed
- with w require a window argument. The routines prefixed with p require
- a pad argument. Those without a prefix generally use stdscr.
-
- The routines prefixed with mv require a y and x coordinate to move to
- before performing the appropriate action. The mv routines imply a call
- to move before the call to the other routine. The coordinate y always
- refers to the row (of the window), and x always refers to the column.
- The upper left-hand corner is always (0,0), not (1,1).
-
- The routines prefixed with mvw take both a window argument and x and y
- coordinates. The window argument is always specified before the coor-
- dinates.
-
- In each case, win is the window affected, and pad is the pad affected;
- win and pad are always pointers to type WINDOW.
-
- Option setting routines require a Boolean flag bf with the value TRUE
- or FALSE; bf is always of type bool. Most of the data types used in
- the library routines, such as WINDOW, SCREEN, bool, and chtype are
- defined in <curses.h>. Types used for the terminfo routines such as
- TERMINAL are defined in <term.h>.
-
- This manual page describes functions which may appear in any configura-
- tion of the library. There are two common configurations of the
- library:
-
- ncurses
- the "normal" library, which handles 8-bit characters. The nor-
- mal (8-bit) library stores characters combined with attributes
- in chtype data.
-
- Attributes alone (no corresponding character) may be stored in
- chtype or the equivalent attr_t data. In either case, the data
- is stored in something like an integer.
-
- Each cell (row and column) in a WINDOW is stored as a chtype.
-
- ncursesw
- the so-called "wide" library, which handles multibyte charac-
- ters (see the section on ALTERNATECONFIGURATIONS). The "wide"
- library includes all of the calls from the "normal" library.
- It adds about one third more calls using data types which store
- multibyte characters:
-
- cchar_t
- corresponds to chtype. However it is a structure, because
- more data is stored than can fit into an integer. The
- characters are large enough to require a full integer
- value - and there may be more than one character per cell.
- The video attributes and color are stored in separate
- fields of the structure.
-
- Each cell (row and column) in a WINDOW is stored as a
- cchar_t.
-
- The setcchar(3x) and getcchar(3x) functions store and
- retrieve the data from a cchar_t structure.
-
- wchar_t
- stores a "wide" character. Like chtype, this may be an
- integer.
-
- wint_t
- stores a wchar_t or WEOF - not the same, though both may
- have the same size.
-
- The "wide" library provides new functions which are analogous
- to functions in the "normal" library. There is a naming con-
- vention which relates many of the normal/wide variants: a "_w"
- is inserted into the name. For example, waddch becomes
- wadd_wch.
-
-
-
- The following table lists each curses routine and the name of the man-
- ual page on which it is described. Routines flagged with "*" are
- ncurses-specific, not described by XPG4 or present in SVr4.
-
- curses Routine Name Manual Page Name
+ The selection of an appropriate value of TERM in the process
+ environment is essential to correct curses and terminfo library
+ operation. A well-configured system selects a correct TERM value
+ automatically; tset(1) may assist with troubleshooting exotic
+ situations.
+
+ If you change the terminal type, export the shell's TERM variable, then
+ run tset(1) or the "tputinit" command. See subsection "Tabs and
+ Initialization" of terminfo(5).
+
+ If the environment variables LINES and COLUMNS are set, or if the
+ curses program is executing in a graphical windowing environment, the
+ information obtained thence overrides that obtained by terminfo. An
+ ncurses extension supports resizable terminals; see wresize(3x).
+
+ If the environment variable TERMINFO is defined, a curses program
+ checks first for a terminal type description in the location it
+ identifies. TERMINFO is useful for developing type descriptions or
+ when write permission to /usr/share/terminfo is not available.
+
+ See section "ENVIRONMENT" below.
+
+
+
+ curses offers many functions in variant forms using a regular set of
+ alternatives to the name of an elemental one. Those prefixed with "w"
+ require a WINDOW pointer argument; those with a "mv" prefix first
+ perform cursor movement using wmove(3x); a "mvw" prefix indicates both.
+ The "w" function is typically the elemental one; the removal of this
+ prefix usually indicates operation on stdscr.
+
+ Four functions prefixed with "p" require a pad argument.
+
+ In function synopses, ncurses man pages apply the following names to
+ parameters.
+
+ bf a bool (TRUE or FALSE)
+ c a char or int
+ ch a chtype
+ wc a wchar_t or wint_t
+ wch a cchar_t
+ win pointer to a WINDOW
+ pad pointer to a WINDOW that is a pad
+
+
+
+ This man page primarily surveys functions that appear in any
+ configuration of the library. There are two common configurations; see
+ section "ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS" below.
+
+ ncurses is the library in its "non-wide" configuration, handling only
+ eight-bit characters. It stores a character combined with
+ attributes and a color pair in a chtype datum, which is often
+ an alias of int. A string of curses characters is similar to
+ a C char string; a chtype string ends with an integral 0, the
+ null curses character.
+
+ Attributes and a color pair selection (with no corresponding
+ character) can be stored in variables of chtype or attr_t
+ type. In either case, they are accessed via an integral bit
+ mask.
+
+ Each cell of a WINDOW is stored as a chtype.
+
+ ncursesw is the library in its "wide" configuration, which handles
+ character encodings requiring a larger data type than char (a
+ byte-sized type) can represent. It adds about one third more
+ calls using additional data types that can store such
+ multibyte characters.
+
+ cchar_t corresponds to the non-wide configuration's chtype.
+ It always a structure type, because it stores more
+ data than fit into a standard scalar type. A
+ character code may not be representable as a char,
+ and moreover more than one character may occupy a
+ cell (as with accent marks and other diacritics).
+ Each character is of type wchar_t; a complex
+ character contains one spacing character and zero or
+ more non-spacing characters (see below). A string
+ of complex characters ends with a cchar_t whose
+ wchar_t member is the null wide character.
+ Attributes and a color pair selection are stored in
+ separate fields of the structure, not combined into
+ an integer as in chtype.
+
+ Each cell of a WINDOW is stored as a cchar_t.
+
+ setcchar(3x) and getcchar(3x) store and retrieve cchar_t
+ data. The wide library API of ncurses depends on two data
+ types standardized by ISO C95.
+
+ wchar_t stores a wide character. Like chtype, it may be an
+ alias of int. Depending on the character encoding,
+ a wide character may be spacing, meaning that it
+ occupies a character cell by itself and typically
+ accompanies cursor advancement, or non-spacing,
+ meaning that it occupies the same cell as a spacing
+ character, is often regarded as a "modifier" of the
+ base glyph with which it combines, and typically
+ does not advance the cursor.
+
+ wint_t can store a wchar_t or the constant WEOF,
+ analogously to the int-sized character manipulation
+ functions of ISO C and its constant EOF.
+
+ The wide library provides additional functions that
+ complement those in the non-wide library where the size of
+ the underlying character type is significant. A somewhat
+ regular naming convention relates many of the wide variants
+ to their non-wide counterparts; where a non-wide function
+ name contains "ch" or "str", prefix it with "_w" to obtain
+ the wide counterpart. For example, waddch becomes wadd_wch.
+ (Exceptions that add only "w" comprise addwstr, inwstr, and
+ their variants.)
+
+ This convention is inapplicable to some non-wide function
+ names, so other transformations are used for the wide
+ configuration: the window background management function
+ "bkgd" becomes "bkgrnd"; the window border-drawing and
+ -clearing functions are suffixed with "_set"; and character
+ attribute manipulation functions like "attron" become
+ "attr_on".
+
+
+
- Routines that return an integer return ERR upon failure and an integer
- value other than ERR upon successful completion, unless otherwise noted
- in the routine descriptions.
-
- As a general rule, routines check for null pointers passed as parame-
- ters, and handle this as an error.
+ The availability of some extensions is configurable when ncurses is
+ compiled; see sections "ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS" and "EXTENSIONS"
+ below.
- All macros return the value of the w version, except setscrreg,
- wsetscrreg, getyx, getbegyx, and getmaxyx. The return values of
- setscrreg, wsetscrreg, getyx, getbegyx, and getmaxyx are undefined
- (i.e., these should not be used as the right-hand side of assignment
- statements).
- Routines that return pointers return NULL on error.
+
+ Unless otherwise noted, functions that return integers return the
+ constants OK on success and ERR on failure; see curs_variables(3x).
+ Functions that return pointers return NULL on failure. Typically,
+ ncurses treats a null pointer passed as a function parameter as a
+ failure. Functions prefixed with "mv" first perform cursor movement
+ and fail if the position (y, x) is outside the window boundaries.
- The following environment symbols are useful for customizing the run-
- time behavior of the ncurses library. The most important ones have
- been already discussed in detail.
-
-
-
- When set, change occurrences of the command_character (i.e., the cmdch
- capability) of the loaded terminfo entries to the value of this vari-
- able. Very few terminfo entries provide this feature.
-
- Because this name is also used in development environments to represent
- the C compiler's name, ncurses ignores it if it does not happen to be a
- single character.
-
-
-
- The debugging library checks this environment variable when the appli-
- cation has redirected output to a file. The variable's numeric value
- is used for the baudrate. If no value is found, ncurses uses 9600.
- This allows testers to construct repeatable test-cases that take into
- account costs that depend on baudrate.
-
-
-
- Specify the width of the screen in characters. Applications running in
- a windowing environment usually are able to obtain the width of the
- window in which they are executing. If neither the COLUMNS value nor
- the terminal's screen size is available, ncurses uses the size which
- may be specified in the terminfo database (i.e., the cols capability).
-
- It is important that your application use a correct size for the
- screen. This is not always possible because your application may be
- running on a host which does not honor NAWS (Negotiations About Window
- Size), or because you are temporarily running as another user. How-
- ever, setting COLUMNS and/or LINES overrides the library's use of the
- screen size obtained from the operating system.
-
- Either COLUMNS or LINES symbols may be specified independently. This
- is mainly useful to circumvent legacy misfeatures of terminal descrip-
- tions, e.g., xterm which commonly specifies a 65 line screen. For best
- results, lines and cols should not be specified in a terminal descrip-
- tion for terminals which are run as emulations.
-
- Use the use_env function to disable all use of external environment
- (but not including system calls) to determine the screen size. Use the
- use_tioctl function to update COLUMNS or LINES to match the screen size
- obtained from system calls or the terminal database.
-
-
-
- Specifies the total time, in milliseconds, for which ncurses will await
- a character sequence, e.g., a function key. The default value, 1000
- milliseconds, is enough for most uses. However, it is made a variable
- to accommodate unusual applications.
-
- The most common instance where you may wish to change this value is to
- work with slow hosts, e.g., running on a network. If the host cannot
- read characters rapidly enough, it will have the same effect as if the
- terminal did not send characters rapidly enough. The library will
- still see a timeout.
-
- Note that xterm mouse events are built up from character sequences
- received from the xterm. If your application makes heavy use of multi-
- ple-clicking, you may wish to lengthen this default value because the
- timeout applies to the composed multi-click event as well as the indi-
- vidual clicks.
-
- In addition to the environment variable, this implementation provides a
- global variable with the same name. Portable applications should not
- rely upon the presence of ESCDELAY in either form, but setting the
- environment variable rather than the global variable does not create
- problems when compiling an application.
-
-
-
- Tells ncurses where your home directory is. That is where it may read
- and write auxiliary terminal descriptions:
-
- $HOME/.termcap
- $HOME/.terminfo
-
-
-
- This applies only to the OS/2 EMX port. It specifies the order of but-
- tons on the mouse. OS/2 numbers a 3-button mouse inconsistently from
- other platforms:
-
- 1 = left
- 2 = right
- 3 = middle.
-
- 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 speci-
- fied, ncurses uses 132.
-
-
-
- Override the compiled-in assumption that the terminal's default colors
- are white-on-black (see default_colors(3x)). You may set the fore-
- ground and background color values with this environment variable by
- proving a 2-element list: foreground,background. For example, to tell
- ncurses to not assume anything about the colors, set this to "-1,-1".
- To make it green-on-black, set it to "2,0". Any positive value from
- zero to the terminfo max_colors value is allowed.
-
+ The following symbols from the process environment customize the
+ runtime behavior of ncurses applications. The library may be
+ configured to disregard the variables TERMINFO, TERMINFO_DIRS,
+ TERMPATH, and HOME, if the user is the superuser (root), or the
+ application uses setuid(2) or setgid(2).
-
- This applies only to the MinGW port of ncurses.
- The Console2 program's handling of the Microsoft Console API call Cre-
- ateConsoleScreenBuffer 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 NCGDB has the same
- effect.
+
+ The debugging library checks this variable when the application has
+ redirected output to a file. Its integral value is used for the baud
+ rate. If that value is absent or invalid, ncurses uses 9600. This
+ feature allows developers to construct repeatable test cases that take
+ into account optimization decisions that depend on baud rate.
-
- This applies only to ncurses configured to use the GPM interface.
-
- If present, the environment variable is a list of one or more terminal
- names against which the TERM environment variable is matched. Setting
- it to an empty value disables the GPM interface; using the built-in
- support for xterm, etc.
-
- If the environment variable is absent, ncurses will attempt to open GPM
- if TERM contains "linux".
-
-
-
- Ncurses may use tabs as part of the cursor movement optimization. In
- some cases, your terminal driver may not handle these properly. Set
- this environment variable to disable the feature. You can also adjust
- your stty settings to avoid the problem.
-
-
-
- Some terminals use a magic-cookie feature which requires special han-
- dling to make highlighting and other video attributes display properly.
- You can suppress the highlighting entirely for these terminals by set-
- ting this environment variable.
+
+ When set, the command_character (cmdch) capability value of loaded
+ terminfo entries changes to the value of this variable. Very few term-
+ info entries provide this feature.
+ Because this name is also used in development environments to represent
+ the C compiler's name, ncurses ignores its value if it is not one
+ character in length.
+
+
+
+ This variable specifies the width of the screen in characters.
+ Applications running in a windowing environment usually are able to
+ obtain the width of the window in which they are executing. If COLUMNS
+ is not defined and the terminal's screen size is not available from the
+ terminal driver, ncurses uses the size specified by the columns (cols)
+ capability of the terminal type's entry in the terminfo database, if
+ any.
+
+ It is important that your application use the correct screen size.
+ Automatic detection thereof is not always possible because an
+ application may be running on a host that does not honor NAWS
+ (Negotiations About Window Size) or as a different user ID than the
+ owner of the terminal device file. Setting COLUMNS and/or LINES
+ overrides the library's use of the screen size obtained from the
+ operating system.
+
+ The COLUMNS and LINES variables may be specified independently. This
+ property is useful to circumvent misfeatures of legacy terminal type
+ descriptions; xterm(1) descriptions specifying 65 lines were once
+ notorious. For best results, avoid specifying cols and lines
+ capability codes in terminfo descriptions of terminal emulators.
+
+ use_env(3x) can disable use of the process environment in determining
+ the screen size. use_tioctl(3x) can update COLUMNS and LINES to match
+ the screen size obtained from system calls or the terminal database.
+
+
+
+ For curses to distinguish the ESC character resulting from a user's
+ press of the "Escape" key on the input device from one beginning an
+ escapesequence (as commonly produced by function keys), it waits after
+ receiving the escape character to see if further characters are
+ available on the input stream within a short interval. A global
+ variable ESCDELAY stores this interval in milliseconds. The default
+ value of 1000 (one second) is adequate for most uses. This environment
+ variable overrides it.
-
- Most of the terminal descriptions in the terminfo database are written
- for real "hardware" terminals. Many people use terminal emulators
- which run in a windowing environment and use curses-based applications.
- Terminal emulators can duplicate all of the important aspects of a
- hardware terminal, but they do not have the same limitations. The
- chief limitation of a hardware terminal from the standpoint of your
- application is the management of dataflow, i.e., timing. Unless a
+ The most common instance where you may wish to change this value is to
+ work with a remote host over a slow communication channel. If the host
+ running a curses application does not receive the characters of an
+ escape sequence in a timely manner, the library can interpret them as
+ multiple key stroke events.
+
+ xterm(1) mouse events are a form of escape sequence; therefore, if your
+ application makes heavy use of multiple-clicking, you may wish to
+ lengthen the default value because the delay applies to the composite
+ multi-click event as well as the individual clicks.
+
+ Portable applications should not rely upon the presence of ESCDELAY in
+ either form, but setting the environment variable rather than the
+ global variable does not create problems when compiling an application.
+
+ If keypad(3x) is disabled for the curses window receiving input, a
+ program must disambiguate escape sequences itself.
+
+
+
+ This counterpart to COLUMNS specifies the height of the screen in
+ characters. The corresponding terminfo capability and code is lines.
+ See the description of the COLUMNS variable above.
+
+
+
+ (OS/2 EMX port only) OS/2 numbers a three-button mouse inconsistently
+ with other platforms, such that 1 is the left button, 2 the right, and
+ 3 the middle. This variable customizes the mouse button numbering.
+ Its value must be three digits 1-3 in any order. By default, ncurses
+ assumes a numbering of "132".
+
+
+
+ If set, this variable overrides the ncurses library's compiled-in
+ assumption that the terminal's default colors are white on black; see
+ default_colors(3x). Set the foreground and background color values
+ with this environment variable by assigning it two integer values
+ separated by a comma, indicating foregound and background color
+ numbers, respectively.
+
+ For example, to tell ncurses not to assume anything about the colors,
+ use a value of "-1,-1". To make the default color scheme green on
+ black, use "2,0". ncurses accepts integral values from -1 up to the
+ value of the terminfomax_colors (colors) capability.
+
+
+
+ (MinGW port only) The Console2 program defectively handles the
+ Microsoft Console API call CreateConsoleScreenBuffer. Applications
+ that use it 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 NCGDB
+ has the same effect.
+
+
+
+ (Linux only) When ncurses is configured to use the GPM interface, this
+ variable may list one or more terminal type names against which the
+ TERM variable (see below) is matched. An empty value disables the GPM
+ interface, using ncurses's built-in support for xterm(1) mouse
+ protocols instead. If the variable is absent, ncurses attempts to open
+ GPM if TERM contains "linux".
+
+
+
+ ncurses may use tab characters in cursor movement optimization. In
+ some cases, your terminal driver may not handle them properly. Set
+ this environment variable to any value to disable the feature. You can
+ also adjust your stty(1) settings to avoid the problem.
+
+
+
+ Many terminals store video attributes as a property of a character
+ cell, as curses does. Historically, some recorded changes in video
+ attributes as data that logically occupies character cells on the
+ display, switching attributes on or off, similarly to tags in a markup
+ language; these are termed "magic cookies", and must be subsequently
+ overprinted. If the terminfo entry for your terminal type does not
+ adequately describe its handling of magic cookies, set this variable to
+ any value to instruct ncurses to disable attributes entirely.
+
+
+
+ Most terminal type descriptions in the terminfo database detail
+ hardware devices. Many people use curses-based applications in
+ terminal emulator programs that run in a windowing environment. These
+ programs can duplicate all of the important features of a hardware
+ terminal, but often lack their limitations. Chief among these absent
+ drawbacks is the problem of data flow management; that is, limiting the
+ speed of communication to what the hardware could handle. Unless a
hardware terminal is interfaced into a terminal concentrator (which
- does flow control), it (or your application) must manage dataflow, pre-
- venting overruns. The cheapest solution (no hardware cost) is for your
- program to do this by pausing after operations that the terminal does
- slowly, such as clearing the display.
-
- As a result, many terminal descriptions (including the vt100) have
- delay times embedded. You may wish to use these descriptions, but not
- want to pay the performance penalty.
-
- Set the NCURSES_NO_PADDING environment variable to disable all but
- mandatory padding. Mandatory padding is used as a part of special con-
- trol sequences such as flash.
-
-
-
- This setting is obsolete. Before changes
-
- o started with 5.9 patch 20120825 and
-
- o continued though 5.9 patch 20130126
-
- ncurses enabled buffered output during terminal initialization. This
- was done (as in SVr4 curses) for performance reasons. For testing pur-
- poses, both of ncurses and certain applications, this feature was made
- optional. Setting the NCURSES_NO_SETBUF variable disabled output
- buffering, leaving the output in the original (usually line buffered)
- mode.
-
- 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.
-
- The reason for the change was to make the behavior for interrupts and
- other signals more robust. One drawback is that certain nonconven-
- tional 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 putp still
- use the standard output. But high-level curses calls do not.
-
-
-
- During initialization, the ncurses library checks for special cases
- where VT100 line-drawing (and the corresponding alternate character set
- capabilities) described in the terminfo are known to be missing.
- Specifically, when running in a UTF-8 locale, the Linux console emula-
- tor and the GNU screen program ignore these. Ncurses checks the TERM
- environment variable for these. For other special cases, you should
- set this environment variable. Doing this tells ncurses to use Unicode
- values which correspond to the VT100 line-drawing glyphs. That works
- for the special cases cited, and is likely to work for terminal emula-
- tors.
-
- When setting this variable, you should set it to a nonzero value. Set-
- ting it to zero (or to a nonnumber) disables the special check for
- "linux" and "screen".
-
- As an alternative to the environment variable, ncurses checks for an
- extended terminfo capability U8. This is a numeric capability which
- can be compiled using tic-x. For example
+ does flow control), an application must manage flow itself to prevent
+ overruns and data loss.
+
+ A solution that comes at no hardware cost is for an application to
+ pause after directing a terminal to execute an operation that it
+ performs slowly, such as clearing the display. Many terminal type
+ descriptions, including that for the VT100, embed delay specifications
+ in capabilities. You may wish to use these terminal descriptions
+ without paying the performance penalty. Set NCURSES_NO_PADDING to any
+ value to disable all but mandatory padding. Mandatory padding is used
+ by such terminal capabilities as flash_screen (flash).
+
+
+
+ (Obsolete) Prior to internal changes developed in ncurses 5.9 (patches
+ 20120825 through 20130126), the library used setbuf(3) to enable fully
+ buffered output when initializing the terminal. This was done, as in
+ SVr4 curses, to increase performance. For testing purposes, both of
+ ncurses and of certain applications, this feature was made optional.
+ Setting this variable disabled output buffering, leaving the output
+ stream in the original (usually line-buffered) mode.
+
+ Nowadays, ncurses performs its own buffering and does not require this
+ workaround; it does not modify the buffering of the standard output
+ stream. This approach makes signal handling, as for interrupts, more
+ robust. A drawback is that certain unconventional programs mixed
+ stdio(3) calls with ncurses calls and (usually) got the behavior they
+ expected. This is no longer the case; ncurses does not write to the
+ standard output file descriptor through a stdio-buffered stream.
+
+ As a special case, low-level API calls such as putp(3x) still use the
+ standard output stream. High-level curses calls such as printw(3x) do
+ not.
+
+
+
+ At initialization, ncurses inspects the TERM environment variable for
+ special cases where VT100 forms-drawing characters (and the
+ corresponding alternate character set terminfo capabilities) are known
+ to be unsupported by terminal types that otherwise claim VT100
+ compatibility. Specifically, when running in a UTF-8 locale, the Linux
+ virtual console device and the GNU screen(1) program ignore them. Set
+ this variable to a nonzero value to instruct ncurses that the
+ terminal's ACS support is broken; the library then outputs Unicode code
+ points that correspond to the forms-drawing characters. Set it to zero
+ (or a non-integer) to disable the special check for terminal type names
+ matching "linux" or "screen", directing ncurses to assume that the ACS
+ feature works if the terminal type description advertises it.
+
+ As an alternative to use of this variable, ncurses checks for an
+ extended terminfo numeric capability U8 that can be compiled using "tic
+ -x". Examples follow.
# linux console, if patched to provide working
# VT100 shift-in/shift-out, with corresponding font.
@@ -987,171 +1035,141 @@
xterm-utf8|xterm relying on UTF-8 line-graphics,
U8#1, use=xterm,
- The name "U8" is chosen to be two characters, to permit it to be used
- by applications that use ncurses' termcap interface.
-
-
-
- During initialization, the ncurses debugging library checks the
- NCURSES_TRACE environment variable. If it is defined, to a numeric
- value, ncurses calls the trace function, using that value as the argu-
- ment.
-
- The argument values, which are defined in curses.h, provide several
- types of information. When running with traces enabled, your applica-
- tion will write the file trace to the current directory.
-
- See curs_trace(3x) for more information.
-
-
-
- Denotes your terminal type. Each terminal type is distinct, though
- many are similar.
-
- TERM is commonly set by terminal emulators to help applications find a
- workable terminal description. Some of those choose a popular approxi-
- mation, 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.
-
- If you set TERM 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 (xterm being a rare
- exception), terminal emulators which allow you to specify TERM as a
- parameter or configuration value do not change their behavior to match
- that setting.
+ The two-character name "U8" was chosen to permit its use via ncurses's
+ termcap interface.
-
- If the ncurses library has been configured with termcap support,
- ncurses will check for a terminal's description in termcap form if it
- is not available in the terminfo database.
+
+ At initialization, ncurses (in its debugging configuration) checks for
+ this variable's presence. If defined with an integral value, the
+ library calls curses_trace(3x) with that value as the argument.
- The TERMCAP environment variable contains either a terminal description
- (with newlines stripped out), or a file name telling where the informa-
- tion denoted by the TERM environment variable exists. In either case,
- setting it directs ncurses to ignore the usual place for this informa-
- tion, e.g., /etc/termcap.
+
+ The TERM variable denotes the terminal type. Each is distinct, though
+ many are similar. It is commonly set by terminal emulators to help
+ applications find a workable terminal description. Some choose a
+ popular approximation such as "ansi", "vt100", or "xterm" rather than
+ an exact fit to their capabilities. Not infrequently, an application
+ will have problems with that approach; for example, a key stroke may
+ not operate correctly, or produce no effect but seeming garbage
+ characters on the screen.
-
- ncurses can be configured to read from multiple terminal databases.
- The TERMINFO variable overrides the location for the default terminal
- database. Terminal descriptions (in terminal format) are stored in
- terminal databases:
+ Setting TERM has no effect on hardware operation; it affects the way
+ applications communicate with the terminal. Likewise, as a general
+ rule (xterm(1) being a rare exception), terminal emulators that allow
+ you to specify TERM as a parameter or configuration value do not change
+ their behavior to match that setting.
- o Normally these are stored in a directory tree, using subdirectories
- named by the first letter of the terminal names therein.
- This is the scheme used in System V, which legacy Unix systems use,
- and the TERMINFO variable is used by curses applications on those
- systems to override the default location of the terminal database.
+
+ If ncurses is configured with termcap support, it checks for a terminal
+ type description in termcap format if one in terminfo format is not
+ available. Setting this variable directs ncurses to ignore the usual
+ termcap database location, /etc/termcap; see TERMPATH below. TERMCAP
+ should contain either a terminal description (with newlines stripped
+ out), or a file name indicating where the information required by the
+ TERM environment variable is stored.
- o If ncurses is built to use hashed databases, then each entry in
- this list may be the path of a hashed database file, e.g.,
- /usr/share/terminfo.db
+
+ ncurses can be configured to read terminal type description databases
+ in various locations using different formats. This variable overrides
+ the default location.
- rather than
+ o Descriptions in terminfo format are normally stored in a directory
+ tree using subdirectories named by the common first letters of the
+ terminal types named therein. This is the scheme used in System V.
- /usr/share/terminfo/
+ o If ncurses is configured to use hashed databases, then TERMINFO may
+ name its location, such as /usr/share/terminfo.db, rather than
+ /usr/share/terminfo/.
- The hashed database uses less disk-space and is a little faster
- than the directory tree. However, some applications assume the
- existence of the directory tree, reading it directly rather than
- using the terminfo library calls.
+ The hashed database uses less disk space and is a little faster than
+ the directory tree. However, some applications assume the existence of
+ the directory tree, and read it directly rather than using the terminfo
+ API.
- o If ncurses is built with a support for reading termcap files
- directly, then an entry in this list may be the path of a termcap
- file.
+ o If ncurses is configured with termcap support, this variable may
+ contain the location of a termcap file.
- o If the TERMINFO variable begins with "hex:" or "b64:", ncurses uses
- the remainder of that variable as a compiled terminal description.
- You might produce the base64 format using infocmp(1m):
+ o If the value of TERMINFO begins with "hex:" or "b64:", ncurses uses
+ the remainder of the value as a compiled terminfo description. You
+ might produce the base64 format using infocmp(1m).
- TERMINFO="$(infocmp -0 -Q2 -q)"
- export TERMINFO
+ TERMINFO=$(infocmp -0 -Q2 -q)
+ export TERMINFO
- The compiled description is used if it corresponds to the terminal
- identified by the TERM variable.
+ The compiled description is used only if it corresponds to the
+ terminal type identified by TERM.
- Setting TERMINFO is the simplest, but not the only way to set location
- of the default terminal database. The complete list of database loca-
- tions in order follows:
+ Setting TERMINFO is the simplest, but not the only, way to direct
+ ncurses to a terminal database. The search path is as follows.
- o the last terminal database to which ncurses wrote, if any, is
- searched first
+ o the last terminal database to which the running ncurses application
+ wrote, if any
- o the location specified by the TERMINFO environment variable
+ o the location specified by the TERMINFO environment variable
- o $HOME/.terminfo
+ o$HOME/.terminfo
- o locations listed in the TERMINFO_DIRS environment variable
+ o locations listed in the TERMINFO_DIRS environment variable
- o one or more locations whose names are configured and compiled
- into the ncurses library, i.e.,
+ o location(s) configured and compiled into ncurses
- o /usr/local/ncurses/share/terminfo:/usr/share/terminfo (corre-
- sponding to the TERMINFO_DIRS variable)
+ o/usr/share/terminfo
- o /usr/share/terminfo (corresponding to the TERMINFO variable)
+
+ This variable specifies a list of locations, akin to PATH, in which
+ ncurses searches for the terminal type descriptions described by
+ TERMINFO above. The list items are separated by colons on Unix and
+ semicolons on OS/2 EMX. System V terminfo lacks a corresponding
+ feature; TERMINFO_DIRS is an ncurses extension.
-
- Specifies a list of locations to search for terminal descriptions.
- Each location in the list is a terminal database as described in the
- section on the TERMINFO variable. The list is separated by colons
- (i.e., ":") on Unix, semicolons on OS/2 EMX.
- There is no corresponding feature in System V terminfo; it is an exten-
- sion developed for ncurses.
+
+ If TERMCAP does not hold a terminal type description or file name, then
+ ncurses checks the contents of TERMPATH, a list of locations, akin to
+ PATH, in which it searches for termcap terminal type descriptions. The
+ list items are separated by colons on Unix and semicolons on OS/2 EMX.
-
-
- If TERMCAP does not hold a file name then ncurses checks the TERMPATH
- environment variable. This is a list of filenames separated by spaces
- or colons (i.e., ":") on Unix, semicolons on OS/2 EMX.
-
- If the TERMPATH environment variable is not set, ncurses looks in the
- files
-
- /etc/termcap, /usr/share/misc/termcap and $HOME/.termcap,
-
- in that order.
-
- 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:
-
- $TERMINFO, $TERMINFO_DIRS, $TERMPATH, as well as $HOME.
+ If both TERMCAP and TERMPATH are unset or invalid, ncurses searches for
+ the files /etc/termcap, /usr/share/misc/termcap, and $HOME/.termcap, in
+ that order.
- Several different configurations are possible, depending on the config-
- ure script options used when building ncurses. There are a few main
- options whose effects are visible to the applications developer using
- ncurses:
+ Many different ncurses configurations are possible, determined by the
+ options given to the configure script when building the library. Run
+ the script with the --help option to peruse them all. A few are of
+ particular significance to the application developer employing ncurses.
- --disable-overwrite
- The standard include for ncurses is as noted in SYNOPSIS:
+ --disable-overwrite
+ The standard C preprocessor inclusion for the curses library is as
+ follows.
#include<curses.h>
- This option is used to avoid filename conflicts when ncurses is
- not the main implementation of curses of the computer. If ncurses
- is installed disabling overwrite, it puts its headers in a subdi-
- rectory, e.g.,
+ This option is used to avoid file name conflicts between ncurses
+ and an existing curses installation on the system. If ncurses is
+ installed disabling overwrite, it puts its header files in a
+ subdirectory. Here is an example.
#include<ncurses/curses.h>
- It also omits a symbolic link which would allow you to use
- -lcurses to build executables.
+ Installation also omits a symbolic link that would cause the
+ compiler's -lcurses option to link object files with ncurses
+ instead of the system curses library.
+
+ The directory used by this configuration of ncurses is shown in
+ section "SYNOPSIS" above.
- --enable-widec
- The configure script renames the library and (if the --dis-
- able-overwrite option is used) puts the header files in a differ-
- ent subdirectory. All of the library names have a "w" appended to
- them, i.e., instead of
+ --enable-widec
+ The configure script renames the library and (if the
+ --disable-overwrite 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
-lncurses
@@ -1162,7 +1180,7 @@
You must also enable the wide-character features in the header
file when compiling for the wide-character library to use the
extended (wide-character) functions. The symbol which enables
- these features has changed since XSI Curses, Issue 4:
+ these features has changed since X/Open Curses, Issue 4:
o Originally, the wide-character feature required the symbol
_XOPEN_SOURCE_EXTENDED but that was only valid for XPG4
@@ -1180,17 +1198,17 @@
than curses.h may require a specific value for _XOPEN_SOURCE
(or a system-specific symbol).
- The curses.h file which is installed for the wide-character
- library is designed to be compatible with the normal library's
- header. Only the size of the WINDOW structure differs, and very
- few applications require more than a pointer to WINDOWs.
+ The curses.h header file installed for the wide-character library
+ is designed to be compatible with the non-wide library's header.
+ Only the size of the WINDOW structure differs; few applications
+ require more than pointers to WINDOWs.
- If the headers are installed allowing overwrite, the wide-charac-
- ter library's headers should be installed last, to allow applica-
- tions to be built using either library from the same set of head-
- ers.
+ If the headers are installed allowing overwrite, the wide-
+ character library's headers should be installed last, to allow
+ applications to be built using either library from the same set of
+ headers.
- --with-pthread
+ --with-pthread
The configure script renames the library. All of the library
names have a "t" appended to them (before any "w" added by
--enable-widec).
@@ -1200,145 +1218,280 @@
to set these values. Some applications (very few) may require
changes to work with this convention.
- --with-shared
+ --with-shared
+ --with-normal
+ --with-debug
+ --with-profile
+ The shared and normal (static) library names differ by their
+ suffixes, e.g., libncurses.so and libncurses.a. The debug and
+ profiling libraries add a "_g" and a "_p" to the root names
+ respectively, e.g., libncurses_g.a and libncurses_p.a.
+
+ --with-termlib
+ Low-level functions which do not depend upon whether the library
+ supports wide-characters, are provided in the tinfo library.
+
+ By doing this, it is possible to share the tinfo library between
+ wide/normal configurations as well as reduce the size of the
+ library when only low-level functions are needed.
- --with-normal
+ Those functions are described in these pages:
- --with-debug
+ ocurs_extend(3x) - miscellaneous curses extensions
- --with-profile
- The shared and normal (static) library names differ by their suf-
- fixes, e.g., libncurses.so and libncurses.a. The debug and pro-
- filing libraries add a "_g" and a "_p" to the root names respec-
- tively, e.g., libncurses_g.a and libncurses_p.a.
+ ocurs_inopts(3x) - curses input options
- --with-trace
- The trace function normally resides in the debug library, but it
- is sometimes useful to configure this in the shared library. Con-
- figure scripts should check for the function's existence rather
+ ocurs_kernel(3x) - low-level curses routines
+
+ ocurs_termattrs(3x) - curses environment query routines
+
+ ocurs_termcap(3x) - curses emulation of termcap
+
+ ocurs_terminfo(3x) - curses interface to terminfo database
+
+ ocurs_util(3x) - miscellaneous curses utility routines
+
+ --with-trace
+ The trace function normally resides in the debug library, but it
+ is sometimes useful to configure this in the shared library.
+ Configure scripts should check for the function's existence rather
than assuming it is always in the debug library.
- terminfo(5) and related pages whose names begin "curs_" for detailed
- routine descriptions.
- curs_variables(3x)
- user_caps(5) for user-defined capabilities
+
+
+ X/Open Curses permits most functions it specifies to be made available
+ as macros as well. ncurses does so
+
+ o for functions that return values via their parameters,
+
+ o to support obsolete features,
+
+ o to reuse functions (for example, those that move the cursor before
+ another operation), and
+
+ o in a few special cases.
+
+ If the standard output file descriptor of an ncurses program is
+ redirected to something that is not a terminal device, the library
+ writes screen updates to the standard error file descriptor. This was
+ an undocumented feature of SVr3 curses.
+
+ See subsection "Header Files" below regarding symbols exposed by
+ inclusion of curses.h.
- The ncurses library can be compiled with an option (-DUSE_GETCAP) that
- falls back to the old-style /etc/termcap file if the terminal setup
- code cannot find a terminfo entry corresponding to TERM. Use of this
- feature is not recommended, as it essentially includes an entire term-
- cap compiler in the ncurses startup code, at significant cost in core
- and startup cycles.
-
- The ncurses library includes facilities for capturing mouse events on
- certain terminals (including xterm). See the curs_mouse(3x) manual
- page for details.
-
- The ncurses library includes facilities for responding to window resiz-
- ing events, e.g., when running in an xterm. See the resizeterm(3x) and
- wresize(3x) manual pages for details. In addition, the library may be
- configured with a SIGWINCH handler.
-
- The ncurses library extends the fixed set of function key capabilities
- of terminals by allowing the application designer to define additional
- key sequences at runtime. See the define_key(3x)key_defined(3x), and
- keyok(3x) manual pages for details.
-
- The ncurses library can exploit the capabilities of terminals which
- implement the ISO-6429 SGR 39 and SGR 49 controls, which allow an
- application to reset the terminal to its original foreground and back-
- ground colors. From the users' perspective, the application is able to
- draw colored text on a background whose color is set independently,
- providing better control over color contrasts. See the default_col-
- ors(3x) manual page for details.
-
- The ncurses library includes a function for directing application out-
- put to a printer attached to the terminal device. See the
- curs_print(3x) manual page for details.
+ ncurses enables an application to capture mouse events on certain
+ terminals, including xterm(1); see curs_mouse(3x).
+
+ ncurses provides a means of responding to window resizing events, as
+ when running in a GUI terminal emulator application such as xterm; see
+ resizeterm(3x) and wresize(3x).
+
+ ncurses allows an application to query the terminal for the presence of
+ a wide variety of special keys; see has_key(3x).
+
+ ncurses extends the fixed set of function key capabilities specified by
+ X/Open Curses by allowing the application programmer to define
+ additional key events at runtime; see define_key(3x), key_defined(3x),
+ keybound(3x), and keyok(3x).
+
+ ncurses can exploit the capabilities of terminals implementing
+ ISO 6429/ECMA-48 SGR 39 and SGR 49 sequences, which allow an
+ application to reset the terminal to its original foreground and
+ background colors. From a user's perspective, the application is able
+ to draw colored text on a background whose color is set independently,
+ providing better control over color contrasts. See default_colors(3x).
+
+ An ncurses application can eschew knowledge of WINDOW structure
+ internals, instead using accessor functions such as is_scrollok(3x).
+
+ ncurses enables an application to direct its output to a printer
+ attached to the terminal device; see curs_print(3x).
+
+ ncurses offers slk_attr(3x) as a counterpart of attr_get(3x) for soft-
+ label key lines, and extended_slk_color(3x) as a form of slk_color(3x)
+ that can gather color information from them when many colors are
+ supported.
+
+ Some extensions are available only if ncurses permits modification of
+ unctrl(3x)'s behavior; see use_legacy_coding(3x). ncurses is compiled
+ to support them; section "ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS" describes how.
+
+ ncurses permits modification of unctrl(3x)'s behavior; see
+ use_legacy_coding(3x).
+
+ Rudimentary support for multi-threaded applications may be available;
+ see curs_threads(3x).
+
+ Functions that ease the management of multiple screens can be exposed;
+ see curs_sp_funcs(3x).
+
+ To aid applications to debug their memory usage, ncurses optionally
+ offers functions to more aggressively free memory it dynamically
+ allocates itself; see curs_memleaks(3x).
+
+ The library facilitates auditing and troubleshooting of its behavior;
+ see curs_trace(3x).
+
+ Compiling ncurses with the option -DUSE_GETCAP causes it to fall back
+ to reading /etc/termcap if the terminal setup code cannot find a term-
+ info entry corresponding to TERM. Use of this feature is not
+ recommended, as it essentially includes an entire termcap compiler in
+ the ncurses startup code, at a cost in memory usage and application
+ launch latency.
+
+ PDCurses and NetBSD curses incorporate some ncurses extensions.
+ Individual man pages indicate where this is the case.
- The ncurses library is intended to be BASE-level conformant with XSI
- Curses. The EXTENDED XSI Curses functionality (including color sup-
- port) is supported.
+ X/Open Curses defines two levels of conformance, "base" and "enhanced".
+ The latter includes several additional features, such as wide-character
+ and color support. ncurses intends base-level conformance with X/Open
+ Curses, and supports all features of its enhanced level except the
+ untic utility.
- A small number of local differences (that is, individual differences
- between the XSI Curses and ncurses calls) are described in PORTABILITY
- sections of the library man pages.
+ Differences between X/Open Curses and ncurses are documented in the
+ "PORTABILITY" sections of applicable man pages.
- Unlike other implementations, this one checks parameters such as point-
- ers to WINDOW structures to ensure they are not null. The main reason
- for providing this behavior is to guard against programmer error. The
- standard interface does not provide a way for the library to tell an
- application which of several possible errors were detected. Relying on
- this (or some other) extension will adversely affect the portability of
- curses applications.
- This implementation also contains several extensions:
+
+ In many cases, X/Open Curses is vague about error conditions, omitting
+ some of the SVr4 documentation.
- o The routine has_key is not part of XPG4, nor is it present in SVr4.
- See the curs_getch(3x) manual page for details.
+ Unlike other implementations, ncurses checks pointer parameters, such
+ as those to WINDOW structures, to ensure that they are not null. This
+ is done primarily to guard against programmer error. The standard
+ interface does not provide a way for the library to tell an application
+ which of several possible errors occurred. An application that relies
+ on ncurses to check its function parameters for validity limits its
+ portability and robustness.
- o The routine slk_attr is not part of XPG4, nor is it present in
- SVr4. See the curs_slk(3x) manual page for details.
- o The routines getmouse, mousemask, ungetmouse, mouseinterval, and
- wenclose relating to mouse interfacing are not part of XPG4, nor
- are they present in SVr4. See the curs_mouse(3x) manual page for
- details.
+
+ In historical curses implementations, delays embedded in the terminfo
+ capabilities carriage_return (cr), scroll_forward (ind), cursor_left
+ (cub1), form_feed (ff), and tab (ht) activated corresponding delay bits
+ in the Unix terminal driver. ncurses performs all padding by sending
+ NUL bytes to the device. This method is slightly more expensive, but
+ narrows the interface to the Unix kernel significantly and
+ correspondingly increases the package's portability.
- o The routine mcprint was not present in any previous curses imple-
- mentation. See the curs_print(3x) manual page for details.
- o The routine wresize is not part of XPG4, nor is it present in SVr4.
- See the wresize(3x) manual page for details.
+
+ The header file curses.h itself includes the header files stdio.h and
+ unctrl.h.
- o The WINDOW structure's internal details can be hidden from applica-
- tion programs. See curs_opaque(3x) for the discussion of is_scrol-
- lok, etc.
+ X/Open Curses has more to say,
- o This implementation can be configured to provide rudimentary sup-
- port for multi-threaded applications. See curs_threads(3x) for
- details.
+ The inclusion of curses.h may make visible all symbols from the
+ headers stdio.h, term.h, termios.h, and wchar.h.
- o This implementation can also be configured to provide a set of
- functions which improve the ability to manage multiple screens.
- See curs_sp_funcs(3x) for details.
+ but does not finish the story. A more complete account follows.
- In historic curses versions, delays embedded in the capabilities cr,
- ind, cub1, ff and tab activated corresponding delay bits in the UNIX
- tty driver. In this implementation, all padding is done by sending NUL
- bytes. This method is slightly more expensive, but narrows the inter-
- face to the UNIX kernel significantly and increases the package's
- portability correspondingly.
+ o Starting with 4BSD curses (1980) all implementations have provided
+ a curses.h file.
+ BSD curses code included curses.h and unctrl.h from an internal
+ header file curses.ext, where "ext" abbreviated "externs".
-
- The header file <curses.h> automatically includes the header files
- <stdio.h> and <unctrl.h>.
+ The implementations of printw and scanw used undocumented internal
+ functions of the standard I/O library (_doprnt and _doscan), but
+ nothing in curses.h itself relied upon stdio.h.
+
+ o SVr2 curses added newterm, which relies upon stdio.h because its
+ function prototype employs the FILE type.
+
+ SVr4 curses added putwin and getwin, which also use stdio.h.
+
+ X/Open Curses specifies all three of these functions.
+
+ SVr4 curses and X/Open Curses do not require the developer to
+ include stdio.h before curses.h. Both document use of curses as
+ requiring only curses.h.
+
+ As a result, standard curses.h always includes stdio.h.
+
+ o X/Open Curses and SVr4 curses are inconsistent with respect to
+ unctrl.h.
+
+ As noted in curs_util(3x), ncurses includes unctrl.h from curses.h
+ (as SVr4 does).
+
+ o X/Open Curses's comments about term.h and termios.h may refer to
+ HP-UX and AIX.
+
+ HP-UX curses includes term.h from curses.h to declare setupterm in
+ curses.h, but ncurses and Solaris curses do not.
+
+ AIX curses includes term.h and termios.h. Again, ncurses and
+ Solaris curses do not.
+
+ o X/Open Curses says that curses.hmay include term.h, but does not
+ require it to do so.
- If standard output from a ncurses program is re-directed to something
- which is not a tty, screen updates will be directed to standard error.
- This was an undocumented feature of AT&T System V Release 3 curses.
+ Some programs use functions declared in both curses.h and term.h,
+ and must include both header files in the same module. Very old
+ versions of AIX curses required inclusion of curses.h before
+ term.h.
+
+ The header files supplied by ncurses include the standard library
+ headers required for its declarations, so ncurses's own header
+ files can be included in any order. But for portability, you
+ should include curses.h before term.h.
+
+ o X/Open Curses says "may make visible" because including a header
+ file does not necessarily make visible all of the symbols in it
+ (consider #ifdef and similar).
+
+ For instance, ncurses's curses.hmay include wchar.h if the proper
+ symbol is defined, and if ncurses is configured for wide-character
+ support. If wchar.h is included, its symbols may be made visible
+ depending on the value of the _XOPEN_SOURCE feature test macro.
+
+ o X/Open Curses mandates an application's inclusion of one standard C
+ library header in a special case: stdarg.h before curses.h to
+ prototype the functions vw_printw and vw_scanw (as well as the
+ obsolete vwprintw and vwscanw). Each of these takes a variadic
+ argument list, a va_list parameter, like that of printf(3).
+
+ SVr3 curses introduced the two obsolete functions, and X/Open
+ Curses the others. In between, SVr4 curses provided for the
+ possibility that an application might include either varargs.h or
+ stdarg.h. These represented contrasting approaches to handling
+ variadic argument lists. The older interface, varargs.h, used a
+ pointer to char for variadic functions' va_list parameter. Later,
+ the list acquired its own standard data type, va_list, defined in
+ stdarg.h, empowering the compiler to check the types of a function
+ call's actual parameters against the formal ones declared in its
+ prototype.
+
+ No conforming implementations of X/Open Curses require an
+ application to include stdarg.h before curses.h because they either
+ have allowed for a special type, or, like ncurses, they include
+ stdarg.h themselves to provide a portable interface.
- Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey. Based on pcurses
+ Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey. Based on pcurses
by Pavel Curtis.
+