The tic command 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).
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 writes only one
- type of entry, depending on how it was built:
+ 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/terminfo, specifies the location of the
@@ -79,16 +76,20 @@
as the default directory name (only adding a ".db"
suffix).
- 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:
+ In either case (directory or hashed database), tic will
+ create the container if it does not exist. For a direc-
+ tory, this would be the "terminfo" leaf, versus a "ter-
+ minfo.db" file.
- o First, you may override the system default by setting
- the variable TERMINFO in your shell environment to a
- valid database location, e.g., an existing directory
- (for directory trees) or valid location for a hashed
- database.
+ The results are normally placed in the system terminfo
+ database /usr/share/terminfo. The compiled terminal
+ description can be placed in a different terminfo data-
+ base. There are two ways to achieve this:
+
+ o First, you may override the system default either by
+ using the -o option, or by setting the variable TER-
+ MINFO in your shell environment to a valid database
+ location.
o Secondly, if tic cannot write in /usr/share/terminfo
or the location specified using your TERMINFO vari-
@@ -97,10 +98,24 @@
exists, the entry is placed there.
Libraries that read terminfo entries are expected to check
- for a location specified with the TERMINFO variable first,
- look at $HOME/.terminfo if TERMINFO is not set, and
- finally look in /usr/share/terminfo.
+ in succession
+
+ o a location specified with the TERMINFO environment
+ variable,
+
+ o$HOME/.terminfo,
+
+ o directories listed in the TERMINFO_DIRS environment
+ variable,
+
+ o a compiled-in list of directories
+ (/usr/local/ncurses/share/terminfo:/usr/share/ter-
+ minfo), 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
@@ -125,174 +140,211 @@
stricter BSD-compatible translation, add the -K
option.
- -c tells tic to only check file for errors, including
- syntax problems and bad use links. If you specify
+ 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 ter-
+ minfo.
+
+ 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 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, as well
+ 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 doc-
umented limit in terminfo), these entries may cause
core dumps with other implementations.
- -D tells tic to print the database locations that it
+ tic checks string capabilities to ensure that those
+ with parameters will be valid expressions. It does
+ this check only for the predefined string capabili-
+ ties; 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
+ 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
- summarized above, it will print a diagnostic and
- exit with an error rather than printing a list of
+ writable database location according to the rules
+ summarized 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
+ 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
+ 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
+ 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-
+ if/then/else/endif expressions indented for read-
ability.
- -G Display constant literals in decimal form rather
+ -G Display constant literals in decimal form rather
than their character equivalents.
- -g Display constant character literals in quoted form
+ -g Display constant character literals in quoted form
rather than their decimal equivalents.
-I Force source translation to terminfo format.
- -K Suppress some longstanding ncurses extensions to
+ -K Suppress some longstanding ncurses extensions to
termcap format, e.g., "\s" for space.
- -L Force source translation to terminfo format using
+ -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,
- newline, key_backspace, key_left, and key_down,
- then attempts to use obsolete termcap capabilities
- to deduce correct values. It also normally sup-
- presses output of obsolete termcap capabilities
- such as bs. This option forces a more literal
- translation that also preserves the obsolete capa-
- bilities.
+ 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
+ also preserves the obsolete capabilities.
-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, depending 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
+ 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-
+ 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
+ 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.
+ -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 pre-
+ paring 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.
-s Summarize the compile by showing the database loca-
tion 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.,
+ 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.
+ -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-
+ -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
+ -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.
+ The debug flag levels are as follows:
- -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.
+ 1 Names of files created and linked
- 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.
+ 2 Information related to the "use" facility
- The debug flag levels are as follows:
+ 3 Statistics from the hashing algorithm
- 1 Names of files created and linked
+ 5 String-table memory allocations
- 2 Information related to the ``use'' facility
+ 7 Entries into the string-table
- 3 Statistics from the hashing algorithm
+ 8 List of tokens encountered by scanner
- 5 String-table memory allocations
+ 9 All values computed in construction of the
+ hash table
+
+ If the debug level n is not given, it is taken to be
+ one.
+
+ -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.
- 7 Entries into the string-table
- 8 List of tokens encountered by scanner
+
+ file contains one or more terminfo terminal descriptions
+ in source format [see terminfo(5)]. Each descrip-
+ tion in the file describes the capabilities of a
+ particular terminal.
- 9 All values computed in construction of the hash ta-
- ble
+ If file is "-", then the data is read from the
+ standard input. The file parameter may also be the
+ path of a character-device.
- 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 database location is
- searched instead of /usr/share/terminfo.) tic duplicates
- the capabilities in entry-name for the current entry, with
- the exception of those capabilities that explicitly are
+ 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=
+ 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
@@ -301,60 +353,55 @@
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 description fields may be
- treated that way and check them for dangerous characters.
+ treated that way and check them for dangerous characters.
-
-
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
+
+ Unlike the SVr4 tic command, this implementation can actu-
+ ally compile termcap sources. In fact, entries in ter-
+ minfo 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
+ where in the file tree rooted at TERMINFO (if TERMINFO is
defined), or in the user's $HOME/.terminfo database (if it
- exists), or (finally) anywhere in the system's file tree
+ 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
+ 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
+ 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 explic-
+ System V does not compile entries to or read entries from
+ your $HOME/.terminfo database unless TERMINFO is explic-
itly set to it.
-