+
Terminfo is a data base describing terminals, used by
screen-oriented programs such as nvi(1), rogue(1) and
libraries such as curses(3x). Terminfo describes termi-
nals by giving a set of capabilities which they have, by
specifying how to perform screen operations, and by speci-
fying padding requirements and initialization sequences.
- This describes ncurses version 5.9 (patch 20141220).
+ This describes ncurses version 5.9 (patch 20150215).
Entries in terminfo consist of a sequence of `,' separated
fields (embedded commas may be escaped with a backslash or
@@ -132,7 +133,9 @@
For more on terminal naming conventions, see the term(7)
manual page.
- Predefined Capabilities
+
+
+
The following is a complete table of the capabilities
included in a terminfo description block and available to
terminfo-using code. In each line of the table,
@@ -1022,7 +1025,9 @@
tations use sL for
termcap).
- User-Defined Capabilities
+
+
+
The preceding section listed the predefined capabilities.
They deal with some special features for terminals no
longer (or possibly never) produced. Occasionally there
@@ -1064,7 +1069,9 @@
of special named keys) is best done using the longer names
available using terminfo.
- A Sample Entry
+
+
+
The following entry, describing an ANSI-standard terminal,
is representative of what a terminfo entry for a modern
terminal typically looks like.
@@ -1114,7 +1121,9 @@
o string capabilities, which give a sequence which can
be used to perform particular terminal operations.
- Types of Capabilities
+
+
+
All capabilities have names. For instance, the fact that
ANSI-standard terminals have automatic margins (i.e., an
automatic return and line-feed when the end of a line is
@@ -1185,7 +1194,9 @@
To do this, put a period before the capability name. For
example, see the second ind in the example above.
- Fetching Compiled Descriptions
+
+
+
The ncurses library searches for terminal descriptions in
several places. It uses only the first description found.
The library has a compiled-in list of places to search
@@ -1221,7 +1232,9 @@
o the system terminfo directory, /usr/share/terminfo
(the compiled-in default).
- Preparing Descriptions
+
+
+
We now outline how to prepare descriptions of terminals.
The most effective way to prepare a terminal description
is by imitating the description of a similar terminal in
@@ -1240,7 +1253,9 @@
ally needed. A similar test can be used for insert char-
acter.
- Basic Capabilities
+
+
+
The number of columns on each line for the terminal is
given by the cols numeric capability. If the terminal is
a CRT, then the number of lines on the screen is given by
@@ -1317,7 +1332,9 @@
am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
ind=^J, lines#24,
- Parameterized Strings
+
+
+
Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters
in the terminal are described by a parameterized string
capability, with printf-like escapes such as %x in it.
@@ -1446,7 +1463,9 @@
ter. Then the same is done for the second parameter.
More complex arithmetic is possible using the stack.
- Cursor Motions
+
+
+
If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very
upper left corner of screen) then this can be given as
home; similarly a fast way of getting to the lower left-
@@ -1485,7 +1504,9 @@
rmcup sequence is output (to the state prior to outputting
rmcup), specify nrrmc.
- Area Clears
+
+
+
If the terminal can clear from the current position to the
end of the line, leaving the cursor where it is, this
should be given as el. If the terminal can clear from the
@@ -1497,7 +1518,9 @@
(Thus, it can be simulated by a request to delete a large
number of lines, if a true ed is not available.)
- Insert/delete line and vertical motions
+
+
+
If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line
where the cursor is, this should be given as il1; this is
done only from the first position of a line. The cursor
@@ -1559,7 +1582,9 @@
lines up from below or that scrolling back with ri may
bring down non-blank lines.
- Insert/Delete Character
+
+
+
There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with
respect to insert/delete character which can be described
using terminfo. The most common insert/delete character
@@ -1647,7 +1672,9 @@
n blanks without moving the cursor) can be given as ech
with one parameter.
- Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells
+
+
+
If your terminal has one or more kinds of display
attributes, these can be represented in a number of dif-
ferent ways. You should choose one display form as stand-
@@ -1774,7 +1801,9 @@
erasable with a blank, then this should be indicated by
giving eo.
- Keypad and Function Keys
+
+
+
If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes when the
keys are pressed, this information can be given. Note
that it is not possible to handle terminals where the key-
@@ -1854,7 +1883,9 @@
or more pln sequences to make sure that the change becomes
visible.
- Tabs and Initialization
+
+
+
If the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance
to the next tab stop can be given as ht (usually control
I). A "back-tab" command which moves leftward to the pre-
@@ -1932,7 +1963,9 @@
described by this, the sequence can be placed in is2 or
if.
- Delays and Padding
+
+
+
Many older and slower terminals do not support either
XON/XOFF or DTR handshaking, including hard copy terminals
and some very archaic CRTs (including, for example, DEC
@@ -1958,7 +1991,9 @@
ter as a pad, then this can be given as pad. Only the
first character of the pad string is used.
- Status Lines
+
+
+
Some terminals have an extra "status line" which is not
normally used by software (and thus not counted in the
terminal's lines capability).
@@ -1993,7 +2028,9 @@
capabilities. They are documented here in case they ever
become important.
- Line Graphics
+
+
+
Many terminals have alternate character sets useful for
forms-drawing. Terminfo and curses build in support for
the drawing characters supported by the VT100, with some
@@ -2043,7 +2080,9 @@
acter pairs right to left in sequence; these become the
ACSC string.
- Color Handling
+
+
+
Most color terminals are either "Tektronix-like" or "HP-
like". Tektronix-like terminals have a predefined set of
N colors (where N usually 8), and can set character-cell
@@ -2166,7 +2205,9 @@
SVr4 curses does nothing with ncv, ncurses recognizes it
and optimizes the output in favor of colors.
- Miscellaneous
+
+
+
If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) charac-
ter as a pad, then this can be given as pad. Only the
first character of the pad string is used. If the termi-
@@ -2239,7 +2280,9 @@
text, including mc4, is transparently passed to the
printer while an mc5p is in effect.
- Glitches and Braindamage
+
+
+
Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow "~" characters to
be displayed should indicate hz.
@@ -2271,7 +2314,9 @@
Other specific terminal problems may be corrected by
adding more capabilities of the form xx.
- Similar Terminals
+
+
+
If there are two very similar terminals, one (the variant)
can be defined as being just like the other (the base)
with certain exceptions. In the definition of the vari-
@@ -2295,7 +2340,9 @@
labels when in visual mode. This is useful for different
modes for a terminal, or for different user preferences.
- Pitfalls of Long Entries
+
+
+
Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to
date, no entry has even approached terminfo's 4096-byte
string-table maximum. Unfortunately, the termcap transla-
@@ -2380,7 +2427,9 @@
(check) option also checks resolved (after tc expansion)
lengths.
- Binary Compatibility
+
+
+
It is not wise to count on portability of binary terminfo
entries between commercial UNIX versions. The problem is
that there are at least two versions of terminfo (under
@@ -2391,7 +2440,7 @@
-EXTENSIONS
+
Searching for terminal descriptions in $HOME/.terminfo and
TERMINFO_DIRS is not supported by older implementations.
@@ -2461,19 +2510,19 @@
-FILES
+
/usr/share/terminfo/?/* files containing terminal
descriptions
-SEE ALSO
+
tic(1m), infocmp(1m), curses(3x), printf(3), term(5).
term_variables(3x).
-AUTHORS
+
Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.
Based on pcurses by Pavel Curtis.
@@ -2481,7 +2530,43 @@
terminfo(5)
-
-Man(1) output converted with man2html
+