- The command tic translates a terminfo file from source
- format into compiled format. The compiled format is nec-
- essary for use with the library routines in ncurses(3x).
+
+ The tic command translates a terminfo file from source format into com-
+ piled format. The compiled format is necessary for use with the
+ library routines in ncurses(3x).
+
+ As described in term(5), the database may be either a directory tree
+ (one file per terminal entry) or a hashed database (one record per
+ entry). The tic command writes only one type of entry, depending on
+ how it was built:
+
+ o For directory trees, the top-level directory, e.g., /usr/share/ter-
+ minfo, specifies the location of the database.
+
+ o For hashed databases, a filename is needed. If the given file is
+ not found by that name, but can be found by adding the suffix
+ ".db", then that is used.
+
+ The default name for the hashed database is the same as the default
+ directory name (only adding a ".db" suffix).
+
+ In either case (directory or hashed database), tic will create the con-
+ tainer if it does not exist. For a directory, this would be the "ter-
+ minfo" leaf, versus a "terminfo.db" file.
- The results are normally placed in the system terminfo
- directory /usr/share/terminfo. There are two ways to
- change this behavior.
+ The results are normally placed in the system terminfo database
+ /usr/share/terminfo. The compiled terminal description can be placed
+ in a different terminfo database. There are two ways to achieve this:
- First, you may override the system default by setting the
- variable TERMINFO in your shell environment to a valid
- (existing) directory name.
+ o First, you may override the system default either by using the -o
+ option, or by setting the variable TERMINFO in your shell environ-
+ ment to a valid database location.
- Secondly, if tic cannot get access to /usr/share/terminfo
- or your TERMINFO directory, it looks for the directory
- $HOME/.terminfo; if that directory exists, the entry is
- placed there.
+ o Secondly, if tic cannot write in /usr/share/terminfo or the loca-
+ tion specified using your TERMINFO variable, it looks for the
+ directory $HOME/.terminfo (or hashed database $HOME/.terminfo.db);
+ if that location exists, the entry is placed there.
- Libraries that read terminfo entries are expected to check
- for a TERMINFO directory first, look at $HOME/.terminfo if
- TERMINFO is not set, and finally look in /usr/share/ter-
- minfo.
+ Libraries that read terminfo entries are expected to check in succes-
+ sion
+
+ o a location specified with the TERMINFO environment variable,
+
+ o$HOME/.terminfo,
+
+ o directories listed in the TERMINFO_DIRS environment variable,
+
+ o a compiled-in list of directories (/usr/local/ncurses/share/ter-
+ minfo:/usr/share/terminfo), and
+
+ o the system terminfo database (/usr/share/terminfo).
+
+
+
+ -0 restricts the output to a single line
-1 restricts the output to a single column
- -a tells tic to retain commented-out capabilities
- rather than discarding them. Capabilities are com-
- mented by prefixing them with a period. This sets
- the -x option, because it treats the commented-out
- entries as user-defined names. If the source is
- termcap, accept the 2-character names required by
- version 6. Otherwise these are ignored.
-
- -C Force source translation to termcap format. Note:
- this differs from the -C option of infocmp(1m) in
- that it does not merely translate capability names,
- but also translates terminfo strings to termcap
- format. Capabilities that are not translatable are
- left in the entry under their terminfo names but
- commented out with two preceding dots.
-
- -c tells tic to only check file for errors, including
- syntax problems and bad use links. If you specify
- -C (-I) with this option, the code will print warn-
- ings about entries which, after use resolution, are
- more than 1023 (4096) bytes long. Due to a fixed
- buffer length in older termcap libraries (and a
- documented limit in terminfo), these entries may
- cause core dumps.
+ -a tells tic to retain commented-out capabilities rather than dis-
+ carding them. Capabilities are commented by prefixing them with
+ a period. This sets the -x option, because it treats the com-
+ mented-out entries as user-defined names. If the source is
+ termcap, accept the 2-character names required by version 6.
+ Otherwise these are ignored.
+
+ -C Force source translation to termcap format. Note: this differs
+ from the -C option of infocmp(1m) in that it does not merely
+ translate capability names, but also translates terminfo strings
+ to termcap format. Capabilities that are not translatable are
+ left in the entry under their terminfo names but commented out
+ with two preceding dots. The actual format used incorporates
+ some improvements for escaped characters from terminfo format.
+ For a stricter BSD-compatible translation, add the -K option.
+
+ If this is combined with -c, tic makes additional checks to
+ report cases where the terminfo values do not have an exact
+ equivalent in termcap form. For example:
+
+ osgr usually will not convert, because termcap lacks the
+ ability to work with more than two parameters, and because
+ termcap lacks many of the arithmetic/logical operators used
+ in terminfo.
+
+ o capabilities with more than one delay or with delays before
+ the end of the string will not convert completely.
+
+ -c tells tic to only check file for errors, including syntax prob-
+ lems and bad use-links. If you specify -C (-I) with this
+ option, the code will print warnings about entries which, after
+ use resolution, are more than 1023 (4096) bytes long. Due to a
+ fixed buffer length in older termcap libraries, as well as buggy
+ checking for the buffer length (and a documented limit in ter-
+ minfo), these entries may cause core dumps with other implemen-
+ tations.
+
+ tic checks string capabilities to ensure that those with parame-
+ ters will be valid expressions. It does this check only for the
+ predefined string capabilities; those which are defined with the
+ -x option are ignored.
+
+ -D tells tic to print the database locations that it knows about,
+ and exit. The first location shown is the one to which it would
+ write compiled terminal descriptions. If tic is not able to
+ find a writable database location according to the rules summa-
+ rized above, it will print a diagnostic and exit with an error
+ rather than printing a list of database locations.
-enames
- Limit writes and translations to the following
- comma-separated list of terminals. If any name or
- alias of a terminal matches one of the names in the
- list, the entry will be written or translated as
- normal. Otherwise no output will be generated for
- it. The option value is interpreted as a file con-
- taining the list if it contains a '/'. (Note:
- depending on how tic was compiled, this option may
- require -I or -C.)
-
- -f Display complex terminfo strings which contain
- if/then/else/endif expressions indented for read-
- ability.
-
- -G Display constant literals in decimal form rather
- than their character equivalents.
-
- -g Display constant character literals in quoted form
- rather than their decimal equivalents.
+ Limit writes and translations to the following comma-separated
+ list of terminals. If any name or alias of a terminal matches
+ one of the names in the list, the entry will be written or
+ translated as normal. Otherwise no output will be generated for
+ it. The option value is interpreted as a file containing the
+ list if it contains a '/'. (Note: depending on how tic was com-
+ piled, this option may require -I or -C.)
+
+ -f Display complex terminfo strings which contain
+ if/then/else/endif expressions indented for readability.
+
+ -G Display constant literals in decimal form rather than their
+ character equivalents.
+
+ -g Display constant character literals in quoted form rather than
+ their decimal equivalents.
-I Force source translation to terminfo format.
- -L Force source translation to terminfo format using
- the long C variable names listed in <term.h>
-
- -N Disable smart defaults. Normally, when translating
- from termcap to terminfo, the compiler makes a num-
- ber of assumptions about the defaults of string
- capabilities reset1_string, carriage_return, cur-
- sor_left, cursor_down, scroll_forward, tab, new-
- line, key_backspace, key_left, and key_down, then
- attempts to use obsolete termcap capabilities to
- deduce correct values. It also normally suppresses
- output of obsolete termcap capabilities such as bs.
- This option forces a more literal translation that
+ -K Suppress some longstanding ncurses extensions to termcap format,
+ e.g., "\s" for space.
+
+ -L Force source translation to terminfo format using the long C
+ variable names listed in <term.h>
+
+ -N Disable smart defaults. Normally, when translating from termcap
+ to terminfo, the compiler makes a number of assumptions about
+ the defaults of string capabilities reset1_string, car-
+ riage_return, cursor_left, cursor_down, scroll_forward, tab,
+ newline, key_backspace, key_left, and key_down, then attempts to
+ use obsolete termcap capabilities to deduce correct values. It
+ also normally suppresses output of obsolete termcap capabilities
+ such as bs. This option forces a more literal translation that
also preserves the obsolete capabilities.
- -odir Write compiled entries to given directory. Over-
- rides the TERMINFO environment variable.
+ -odir Write compiled entries to given database location. Overrides
+ the TERMINFO environment variable.
+
+ -Qn Rather than show source in terminfo (text) format, print the
+ compiled (binary) format in hexadecimal or base64 form, depend-
+ ing on the option's value:
+
+ 1 hexadecimal
+
+ 2 base64
+
+ 3 hexadecimal and base64
+
+ -q Suppress comments and blank lines when showing translated
+ source.
-Rsubset
- Restrict output to a given subset. This option is
- for use with archaic versions of terminfo like
- those on SVr1, Ultrix, or HP/UX that do not support
- the full set of SVR4/XSI Curses terminfo; and out-
- right broken ports like AIX 3.x that have their own
- extensions incompatible with SVr4/XSI. Available
- subsets are "SVr1", "Ultrix", "HP", "BSD" and
- "AIX"; see terminfo(5) for details.
-
- -r Force entry resolution (so there are no remaining
- tc capabilities) even when doing translation to
- termcap format. This may be needed if you are
- preparing a termcap file for a termcap library
- (such as GNU termcap through version 1.3 or BSD
- termcap through 4.3BSD) that does not handle multi-
- ple tc capabilities per entry.
-
- -s Summarize the compile by showing the directory into
- which entries are written, and the number of
- entries which are compiled.
-
- -T eliminates size-restrictions on the generated text.
- This is mainly useful for testing and analysis,
- since the compiled descriptions are limited (e.g.,
- 1023 for termcap, 4096 for terminfo).
-
- -t tells tic to discard commented-out capabilities.
- Normally when translating from terminfo to termcap,
- untranslatable capabilities are commented-out.
-
- -U tells tic to not post-process the data after parsing
- the source file. Normally, it infers data which is
- commonly missing in older terminfo data, or in term-
- caps.
-
- -V reports the version of ncurses which was used in this
- program, and exits.
-
- -vn specifies that (verbose) output be written to stan-
- dard error trace information showing tic's progress.
- The optional parameter n is a number from 1 to 10,
- inclusive, indicating the desired level of detail of
- information. If n is omitted, the default level is
- 1. If n is specified and greater than 1, the level
- of detail is increased.
-
- -wn specifies the width of the output. The parameter is
- optional. If it is omitted, it defaults to 60.
-
- -x Treat unknown capabilities as user-defined. That is,
- if you supply a capability name which tic does not
- recognize, it will infer its type (boolean, number or
- string) from the syntax and make an extended table
- entry for that. User-defined capability strings
- whose name begins with ``k'' are treated as function
- keys.
-
- file contains one or more terminfo terminal descriptions
- in source format [see terminfo(5)]. Each description
- in the file describes the capabilities of a particu-
- lar terminal.
-
- The debug flag levels are as follows:
-
- 1 Names of files created and linked
-
- 2 Information related to the ``use'' facility
-
- 3 Statistics from the hashing algorithm
-
- 5 String-table memory allocations
-
- 7 Entries into the string-table
-
- 8 List of tokens encountered by scanner
-
- 9 All values computed in construction of the hash ta-
- ble
-
- If the debug level n is not given, it is taken to be one.
-
- All but one of the capabilities recognized by tic are doc-
- umented in terminfo(5). The exception is the use capabil-
- ity.
-
- When a use=entry-name field is discovered in a terminal
- entry currently being compiled, tic reads in the binary
- from /usr/share/terminfo to complete the entry. (Entries
- created from file will be used first. If the environment
- variable TERMINFO is set, that directory is searched
- instead of /usr/share/terminfo.) tic duplicates the capa-
- bilities in entry-name for the current entry, with the
- exception of those capabilities that explicitly are
- defined in the current entry.
-
- When an entry, e.g., entry_name_1, contains a
- use=entry_name_2 field, any canceled capabilities in
- entry_name_2 must also appear in entry_name_1 before use=
- for these capabilities to be canceled in entry_name_1.
-
- If the environment variable TERMINFO is set, the compiled
- results are placed there instead of /usr/share/terminfo.
-
- Total compiled entries cannot exceed 4096 bytes. The name
- field cannot exceed 512 bytes. Terminal names exceeding
- the maximum alias length (32 characters on systems with
- long filenames, 14 characters otherwise) will be truncated
- to the maximum alias length and a warning message will be
- printed.
+ Restrict output to a given subset. This option is for use with
+ archaic versions of terminfo like those on SVr1, Ultrix, or
+ HP/UX that do not support the full set of SVR4/XSI Curses ter-
+ minfo; and outright broken ports like AIX 3.x that have their
+ own extensions incompatible with SVr4/XSI. Available subsets
+ are "SVr1", "Ultrix", "HP", "BSD" and "AIX"; see terminfo(5) for
+ details.
+ -r Force entry resolution (so there are no remaining tc capabili-
+ ties) even when doing translation to termcap format. This may
+ be needed if you are preparing a termcap file for a termcap
+ library (such as GNU termcap through version 1.3 or BSD termcap
+ through 4.3BSD) that does not handle multiple tc capabilities
+ per entry.
-
-
COMPATIBILITY
- There is some evidence that historic tic implementations
- treated description fields with no whitespace in them as
- additional aliases or short names. This tic does not do
- that, but it does warn when description fields may be
- treated that way and check them for dangerous characters.
+ -s Summarize the compile by showing the database location into
+ which entries are written, and the number of entries which are
+ compiled.
+ -T eliminates size-restrictions on the generated text. This is
+ mainly useful for testing and analysis, since the compiled
+ descriptions are limited (e.g., 1023 for termcap, 4096 for ter-
+ minfo).
-
-
EXTENSIONS
- Unlike the stock SVr4 tic command, this implementation can
- actually compile termcap sources. In fact, entries in
- terminfo and termcap syntax can be mixed in a single
- source file. See terminfo(5) for the list of termcap
- names taken to be equivalent to terminfo names.
-
- The SVr4 manual pages are not clear on the resolution
- rules for use capabilities. This implementation of tic
- will find use targets anywhere in the source file, or any-
- where in the file tree rooted at TERMINFO (if TERMINFO is
- defined), or in the user's $HOME/.terminfo directory (if
- it exists), or (finally) anywhere in the system's file
- tree of compiled entries.
-
- The error messages from this tic have the same format as
- GNU C error messages, and can be parsed by GNU Emacs's
- compile facility.
-
- The -C, -G, -I, -N, -R, -T, -V, -a, -e, -f, -g, -o, -r,
- -s, -t and -x options are not supported under SVr4. The
- SVr4 -c mode does not report bad use links.
-
- System V does not compile entries to or read entries from
- your $HOME/.terminfo directory unless TERMINFO is explic-
- itly set to it.
+ -t tells tic to discard commented-out capabilities. Normally when
+ translating from terminfo to termcap, untranslatable capabili-
+ ties are commented-out.
+ -U tells tic to not post-process the data after parsing the source
+ file. Normally, it infers data which is commonly missing in older
+ terminfo data, or in termcaps.
-
-
FILES
+ -V reports the version of ncurses which was used in this program, and
+ exits.
+
+ -vn specifies that (verbose) output be written to standard error trace
+ information showing tic's progress.
+
+ The optional parameter n is a number from 1 to 10, inclusive,
+ indicating the desired level of detail of information. If ncurses
+ is built without tracing support, the optional parameter is
+ ignored. If n is omitted, the default level is 1. If n is speci-
+ fied and greater than 1, the level of detail is increased.
+
+ The debug flag levels are as follows:
+
+ 1 Names of files created and linked
+
+ 2 Information related to the "use" facility
+
+ 3 Statistics from the hashing algorithm
+
+ 5 String-table memory allocations
+
+ 7 Entries into the string-table
+
+ 8 List of tokens encountered by scanner
+
+ 9 All values computed in construction of the hash table
+
+ If the debug level n is not given, it is taken to be one.
+
+ -W By itself, the -w option will not force long strings to be
+ wrapped. Use the -W option to do this.
+
+ If you specify both -f and -W options, the latter is ignored when
+ -f has already split the line.
+
+ -wn specifies the width of the output. The parameter is optional. If
+ it is omitted, it defaults to 60.
+
+ -x Treat unknown capabilities as user-defined. That is, if you sup-
+ ply a capability name which tic does not recognize, it will infer
+ its type (boolean, number or string) from the syntax and make an
+ extended table entry for that. User-defined capability strings
+ whose name begins with "k" are treated as function keys.
+
+
+
+ file contains one or more terminfo terminal descriptions in source
+ format [see terminfo(5)]. Each description in the file
+ describes the capabilities of a particular terminal.
+
+ If file is "-", then the data is read from the standard input.
+ The file parameter may also be the path of a character-device.
+
+
+
+ All but one of the capabilities recognized by tic are documented in
+ terminfo(5). The exception is the use capability.
+
+ When a use=entry-name field is discovered in a terminal entry currently
+ being compiled, tic reads in the binary from /usr/share/terminfo to
+ complete the entry. (Entries created from file will be used first.
+ tic duplicates the capabilities in entry-name for the current entry,
+ with the exception of those capabilities that explicitly are defined in
+ the current entry.
+
+ When an entry, e.g., entry_name_1, contains a use=entry_name_2 field,
+ any canceled capabilities in entry_name_2 must also appear in
+ entry_name_1 before use= for these capabilities to be canceled in
+ entry_name_1.
+
+ Total compiled entries cannot exceed 4096 bytes. The name field cannot
+ exceed 512 bytes. Terminal names exceeding the maximum alias length
+ (32 characters on systems with long filenames, 14 characters otherwise)
+ will be truncated to the maximum alias length and a warning message
+ will be printed.
+
+
+
+ There is some evidence that historic tic implementations treated
+ description fields with no whitespace in them as additional aliases or
+ short names. This tic does not do that, but it does warn when descrip-
+ tion fields may be treated that way and check them for dangerous char-
+ acters.
+
+
+
+ Unlike the SVr4 tic command, this implementation can actually compile
+ termcap sources. In fact, entries in terminfo and termcap syntax can
+ be mixed in a single source file. See terminfo(5) for the list of
+ termcap names taken to be equivalent to terminfo names.
+
+ The SVr4 manual pages are not clear on the resolution rules for use
+ capabilities. This implementation of tic will find use targets any-
+ where in the source file, or anywhere in the file tree rooted at TER-
+ MINFO (if TERMINFO is defined), or in the user's $HOME/.terminfo data-
+ base (if it exists), or (finally) anywhere in the system's file tree of
+ compiled entries.
+
+ The error messages from this tic have the same format as GNU C error
+ messages, and can be parsed by GNU Emacs's compile facility.
+
+ The -0, -1, -C, -G, -I, -N, -R, -T, -V, -a, -e, -f, -g, -o, -r, -s, -t
+ and -x options are not supported under SVr4. The SVr4 -c mode does not
+ report bad use links.
+
+ System V does not compile entries to or read entries from your
+ $HOME/.terminfo database unless TERMINFO is explicitly set to it.
+
+
+