- The tput utility uses the terminfo database to make the
- values of terminal-dependent capabilities and information
- available to the shell (see sh(1)), to initialize or reset
- the terminal, or return the long name of the requested
- terminal type. The result depends upon the capability's
- type:
-
- string
- tput writes the string to the standard output.
- No trailing newline is supplied.
-
- integer
- tput writes the decimal value to the standard
- output, with a trailing newline.
-
- boolean
- tput simply sets the exit code (0 for TRUE if
- the terminal has the capability, 1 for FALSE
- if it does not), and writes nothing to the
- standard output.
-
- Before using a value returned on the standard output, the
- application should test the exit code (e.g., $?, see
- sh(1)) to be sure it is 0. (See the EXITCODES and DIAG-
- NOSTICS sections.) For a complete list of capabilities
- and the capname associated with each, see terminfo(5).
-
- -Ttype indicates the type of terminal. Normally this
- option is unnecessary, because the default is taken
- from the environment variable TERM. If -T is spec-
- ified, then the shell variables LINES and COLUMNS
- will also be ignored.
-
- capname
- indicates the capability from the terminfo data-
- base. When termcap support is compiled in, the
- termcap name for the capability is also accepted.
-
- parms If the capability is a string that takes parame-
- ters, the arguments parms will be instantiated into
- the string.
-
- Most parameters are numbers. Only a few terminfo
- capabilities require string parameters; tput uses a
- table to decide which to pass as strings. Normally
- tput uses tparm (3x) to perform the substitution.
- If no parameters are given for the capability, tput
- writes the string without performing the substitu-
- tion.
-
- -S allows more than one capability per invocation of
- tput. The capabilities must be passed to tput from
- the standard input instead of from the command line
- (see example). Only one capname is allowed per
- line. The -S option changes the meaning of the 0
- and 1 boolean and string exit codes (see the EXIT
- CODES section).
-
- Again, tput uses a table and the presence of param-
- eters in its input to decide whether to use tparm
- (3x), and how to interpret the parameters.
-
- -V reports the version of ncurses which was used in
- this program, and exits.
-
- init If the terminfo database is present and an entry
- for the user's terminal exists (see -Ttype, above),
- the following will occur:
-
- (1) if present, the terminal's initialization
- strings will be output as detailed in the
- terminfo(5) section on TabsandInitializa-
- tion,
-
- (2) any delays (e.g., newline) specified in the
- entry will be set in the tty driver,
-
- (3) tabs expansion will be turned on or off
- according to the specification in the entry,
- and
-
- (4) if tabs are not expanded, standard tabs will
- be set (every 8 spaces).
-
- If an entry does not contain the information needed
- for any of the four above activities, that activity
- will silently be skipped.
-
- reset Instead of putting out initialization strings, the
- terminal's reset strings will be output if present
- (rs1, rs2, rs3, rf). If the reset strings are not
- present, but initialization strings are, the ini-
- tialization strings will be output. Otherwise,
- reset acts identically to init.
-
- longname
- If the terminfo database is present and an entry
- for the user's terminal exists (see -Ttype above),
- then the long name of the terminal will be put out.
- The long name is the last name in the first line of
- the terminal's description in the terminfo database
- [see term(5)].
-
- If tput is invoked by a link named reset, this has the
- same effect as tputreset. See tset for comparison, which
- has similar behavior.
+
+ tput uses the terminfo library and database to make terminal-specific
+ capabilities and information available to the shell, to initialize or
+ reset the terminal, or to report a description of the current (or
+ specified) terminal type. Terminal capabilities are accessed by cap-
+ code.
+ terminfo(5) discusses terminal capabilities at length and presents a
+ complete list of cap-codes.
-
- tputinit
- Initialize the terminal according to the type of ter-
- minal in the environmental variable TERM. This com-
- mand should be included in everyone's .profile after
- the environmental variable TERM has been exported, as
- illustrated on the profile(5) manual page.
+ When retrieving capability values, the result depends upon the
+ capability's type.
- tput-T5620reset
- Reset an AT&T 5620 terminal, overriding the type of
- terminal in the environmental variable TERM.
+ Boolean tput sets its exit status to 0 if the terminal possesses cap-
+ code, and 1 if it does not.
- tputcup00
- Send the sequence to move the cursor to row 0, column
- 0 (the upper left corner of the screen, usually known
- as the "home" cursor position).
+ numeric tput writes cap-code's decimal value to the standard output
+ stream if defined (-1 if it is not) followed by a newline.
- tputclear
- Echo the clear-screen sequence for the current termi-
- nal.
+ string tput writes cap-code's value to the standard output stream if
+ defined, without a trailing newline.
- tputcols
- Print the number of columns for the current terminal.
+ Before using a value returned on the standard output, the application
+ should test tput's exit status to be sure it is 0; see section "EXIT
+ STATUS" below.
- tput-T450cols
- Print the number of columns for the 450 terminal.
- bold=`tputsmso`offbold=`tputrmso`
- Set the shell variables bold, to begin stand-out mode
- sequence, and offbold, to end standout mode sequence,
- for the current terminal. This might be followed by
- a prompt: echo"${bold}Pleasetypeinyourname:
- ${offbold}\c"
+
+ Generally, an operand is a cap-code, a capability code from the
+ terminal database, or a parameter thereto. Three others are specially
+ recognized by tput: init, reset, and longname. Although these resemble
+ capability codes, they in fact receive special handling; we term them
+ "pseudo-capabilities".
- tputhc
- Set exit code to indicate if the current terminal is
- a hard copy terminal.
+ cap-code indicates a capability from the terminal database.
- tputcup234
- Send the sequence to move the cursor to row 23, col-
- umn 4.
+ If cap-code is of string type and takes parameters, tput
+ interprets arguments following cap-code as the parameters,
+ up to the (fixed) quantity the capability requires.
- tputcup
- Send the terminfo string for cursor-movement, with no
- parameters substituted.
+ Most parameters are numeric. Only a few terminal
+ capabilities require string parameters; tput uses a table to
+ decide which to pass as strings. Normally tput uses
+ tparm(3x) to perform the substitution. If no parameters are
+ given for the capability, tput writes the string without
+ performing the substitution.
- tputlongname
- Print the long name from the terminfo database for
- the type of terminal specified in the environmental
- variable TERM.
+ init initializes the terminal. If the terminal database is
+ present and an entry for the user's terminal type exists,
+ the following occur.
- tput-S<<!
- >clear
- >cup1010
- >bold
- >!
+ (1) tput retrieves the terminal's mode settings. It
+ successively tests the file descriptors corresponding
+ to
- This example shows tput processing several capabili-
- ties in one invocation. It clears the screen, moves
- the cursor to position 10, 10 and turns on bold
- (extra bright) mode. The list is terminated by an
- exclamation mark (!) on a line by itself.
+ o the standard error stream,
+ o the standard output stream,
-
- /usr/share/terminfo
+ o the standard input stream, and
+
+ o/dev/tty
+
+ to obtain terminal settings. Having retrieved them,
+ tput remembers which descriptor to use for further
+ updates.
+
+ (2) If the terminal dimensions cannot be obtained from the
+ operating system, but the environment or terminal type
+ database entry describes them, tput updates the
+ operating system's notion of them.
+
+ (3) tput updates the terminal modes.
+
+ o Any delays specified in the entry (for example,
+ when a newline is sent) are set in the terminal
+ driver.
+
+ o Tab expansion is turned on or off per the
+ specification in the entry, and
+
+ o if tabs are not expanded, standard tabs (every 8
+ spaces) are set.
+
+ (4) If initialization capabilities, detailed in subsection
+ "Tabs and Initialization" of terminfo(5), are present,
+ tput writes them to the standard output stream.
+
+ (5) tput flushes the standard output stream.
+
+ If an entry lacks the information needed for an activity
+ above, that activity is silently skipped.
+
+ reset re-initializes the terminal. A reset differs from
+ initialization in two ways.
+
+ (1) tput sets the the terminal modes to a "sane" state,
+
+ o enabling cooked and echo modes,
+
+ o disabling cbreak and raw modes,
+
+ o enabling newline translation, and
+
+ o setting any unset special characters to their
+ default values.
+
+ (2) If any reset capabilities are defined for the terminal
+ type, tput writes them to the output stream.
+ Otherwise, tput uses any defined initialization
+ capabilities. Reset capabilities are detailed in
+ subsection "Tabs and Initialization" of terminfo(5).
+
+ longname A terminfo entry begins with one or more names by which an
+ application can refer to the entry, before the list of
+ terminal capabilities. The names are separated by "|"
+ characters. X/Open Curses terms the last name the "long
+ name", and indicates that it may include blanks.
+
+ tic warns if the last name does not include blanks, to
+ accommodate old terminfo entries that treated the long name
+ as an optional feature. The long name is often referred to
+ as the description field.
+
+ If the terminal database is present and an entry for the
+ user's terminal type exists, tput reports its description to
+ the standard output stream, without a trailing newline. See
+ terminfo(5).
+
+ Note: Redirecting the output of "tputinit" or "tputreset" to a file
+ will capture only part of their actions. Changes to the terminal modes
+ are not affected by file descriptor redirection, since the terminal
+ modes are altered via ioctl(2).
+
+
+
+ If tput is invoked via link with any of the names clear, init, or
+ reset, it operates as if run with the corresponding (pseudo-)capability
+ operand. For example, executing a link named reset that points to tput
+ has the same effect as "tputreset".
+
+ This feature was introduced by ncurses 5.2 in 2000. It is rarely used:
+
+ clear is a separate program, which is both smaller and more frequently
+ executed.
+
+ init has the same name as another program in widespread use.
+
+ reset is provided by the tset(1) utility (also via a link named
+ reset).
+
+
+
+ Besides the pseudo-capabilities (such as init), tput treats the lines
+ and colscap-codes specially: it may call setupterm(3x) to obtain the
+ terminal size.
+
+ o First, tput attempts to obtain these capabilities from the terminal
+ database. This generally fails for terminal emulators, which lack
+ a fixed window size and thus omit the capabilities.
+
+ o It then asks the operating system for the terminal's size, which
+ generally works, unless the connection is via a serial line that
+ does not support "NAWS": negotiations about window size.
+
+ o Finally, it inspects the environment variables LINES and COLUMNS,
+ which may override the terminal size.
+
+ If the -T option is given, tput ignores the environment variables by
+ calling use_tioctl(TRUE), relying upon the operating system (or,
+ ultimately, the terminal database).
+
+
+
+ -S retrieves more than one capability per invocation of tput.
+ The capabilities must be passed to tput from the standard
+ input stream instead of from the command line (see section
+ "EXAMPLES" below). Only one cap-code is allowed per line.
+ The -S option changes the meanings of the 0 and 1 exit
+ statuses (see section "EXIT STATUS" below).
+
+ Some capabilities use string parameters rather than numeric
+ ones. tput employs a built-in table and the presence of
+ parameters in its input to decide how to interpret them, and
+ whether to use tparm(3x).
+
+ -Ttype indicates the terminal's type. Normally this option is
+ unnecessary, because a default is taken from the TERM
+ environment variable. If specified, the environment variables
+ LINES and COLUMNS are also ignored.
+
+ -V reports the version of ncurses associated with tput, and exits
+ with a successful status.
+
+ -x prevents "tputclear" from attempting to clear the scrollback
+ buffer.
+
+
+
+ tput reads one environment variable.
+
+ TERM denotes the terminal type. Each terminal type is distinct,
+ though many are similar. The -T option overrides its value.
+
+
+
+ /usr/share/tabset
+ tab stop initialization database
+
+ /usr/share/terminfo
compiled terminal description database
- /usr/share/tabset/*
- tab settings for some terminals, in a format appro-
- priate to be output to the terminal (escape
- sequences that set margins and tabs); for more
- information, see the "Tabs and Initialization" sec-
- tion of terminfo(5)
+
+ Over time ncursestput has differed from that of System V in two
+ important respects, one now mostly historical.
+
+ o "tputcap-code" writes to the standard output, which need not be a
+ terminal device. However, the operands that manipulate terminal
+ modes might not use the standard output.
+
+ System V tput's init and reset operands use logic from 4.1cBSD
+ tset, manipulating terminal modes. It checks the same file
+ descriptors (and /dev/tty) for association with a terminal device
+ as ncurses now does, and if none are, finally assumes a 1200 baud
+ terminal. When updating terminal modes, it ignores errors.
+
+ Until ncurses 6.1 (see section "HISTORY" below), tput did not
+ modify terminal modes. It now employs a scheme similar to
+ System V, using functions shared with tset (and ultimately based on
+ 4.4BSD tset). If it is not able to open a terminal (for instance,
+ when run by cron(1)), tput exits with an error status.
+
+ o System V tput assumes that the type of a cap-code operand is
+ numeric if all the characters of its value are decimal numbers; if
+ they are not, it treats cap-code as a string capability.
-
- If the -S option is used, tput checks for errors from each
- line, and if any errors are found, will set the exit code
- to 4 plus the number of lines with errors. If no errors
- are found, the exit code is 0. No indication of which
- line failed can be given so exit code 1 will never appear.
- Exit codes 2, 3, and 4 retain their usual interpretation.
- If the -S option is not used, the exit code depends on the
- type of capname:
-
- boolean
- a value of 0 is set for TRUE and 1 for FALSE.
-
- string a value of 0 is set if the capname is defined
- for this terminal type (the value of capname
- is returned on standard output); a value of 1
- is set if capname is not defined for this ter-
- minal type (nothing is written to standard
- output).
-
- integer
- a value of 0 is always set, whether or not
- capname is defined for this terminal type. To
- determine if capname is defined for this ter-
- minal type, the user must test the value writ-
- ten to standard output. A value of -1 means
- that capname is not defined for this terminal
- type.
-
- otherreset or init may fail to find their respec-
- tive files. In that case, the exit code is
- set to 4 + errno.
-
- Any other exit code indicates an error; see the DIAGNOS-
- TICS section.
+ Most implementations that provide support for cap-code operands use
+ the tparm(3x) function to expand its parameters. That function
+ expects a mixture of numeric and string parameters, requiring tput
+ to know which type to use.
+ ncursestput uses a table to determine the parameter types for the
+ standard cap-code operands, and an internal function to analyze
+ nonstandard cap-code operands.
-
- tput prints the following error messages and sets the cor-
- responding exit codes.
-
- exit code error message
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
- 0 (capname is a numeric variable that is not specified in
- the terminfo(5) database for this terminal type, e.g.
- tput-T450lines and tput-T2621xmc)
- 1 no error message is printed, see the EXITCODES section.
- 2 usage error
- 3 unknown terminal type or no terminfo database
- 4 unknown terminfo capability capname
- >4 error occurred in -S
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ While more reliable than System V's utility, a portability problem
+ is introduced by this analysis. An OpenBSD developer adapted the
+ internal library function from ncurses to port NetBSD's termcap-
+ based tput to terminfo, and modified it to interpret multiple cap-
+ codes (and parameters) on the command line. Portable applications
+ should not rely upon this feature; ncurses offers it to support
+ applications written specifically for OpenBSD.
+
+ This implementation, unlike others, accepts both termcap and terminfo
+ cap-codes if termcap support is compiled in. In that case, however,
+ the predefined termcap and terminfo codes have two ambiguities; ncurses
+ assumes the terminfo code.
+
+ o The cap-codedl means delete_line to termcap but parm_delete_line
+ to terminfo. termcap uses the code DL for parm_delete_line. term-
+ info uses the code dl1 for delete_line.
+
+ o The cap-codeed means exit_delete_mode to termcap but clr_eos to
+ terminfo. termcap uses the code cd for clr_eos. terminfo uses the
+ code rmdc for exit_delete_mode.
+
+ The longname operand, -S option, and the parameter-substitution
+ features used in the cup example below, were not supported in AT&T/USL
+ curses before SVr4 (1989). Later, 4.3BSD-Reno (1990) added support for
+ longname, and in 1994, NetBSD added support for the parameter-
+ substitution features.
+
+ IEEE Std 1003.1/The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7
+ (POSIX.1-2008) documents only the clear, init, and reset operands. A
+ few observations of interest arise from that selection.
+
+ oncurses supports clear as it does any other standard cap-code. The
+ others (init and longname) do not correspond to terminal
+ capabilities.
+
+ o The tput on SVr4-based systems such as Solaris, IRIX64, and HP-UX,
+ as well as others such as AIX and Tru64, also support standard cap-
+ code operands.
+
+ o A few platforms such as FreeBSD recognize termcap codes rather than
+ terminfo capability codes in their respective tput commands. Since
+ 2010, NetBSD's tput uses terminfo codes. Before that, it (like
+ FreeBSD) recognized termcap codes.
+
+ Beginning in 2021, FreeBSD uses ncursestput, configured for both
+ terminfo (tested first) and termcap (as a fallback).
+
+ Because (apparently) all certified Unix systems support the full set of
+ capability codes, the reason for documenting only a few may not be
+ apparent.
+
+ o X/Open Curses Issue 7 documents tput differently, with cap-code and
+ the other features used in this implementation.
+
+ o That is, there are two standards for tput: POSIX (a subset) and
+ X/Open Curses (the full implementation). POSIX documents a subset
+ to avoid the complication of including X/Open Curses and the
+ terminal capability database.
+
+ o While it is certainly possible to write a tput program without
+ using curses, no system with a curses implementation provides a
+ tput utility that does not also support standard cap-codes.
+
+ X/Open Curses Issue 7 (2009) is the first version to document
+ utilities. However that part of X/Open Curses does not follow existing
+ practice (that is, System V curses behavior).
+
+ o It assigns exit status 4 to "invalid operand", which may have the
+ same meaning as "unknown capability". For instance, the source
+ code for Solaris xcurses uses the term "invalid" in this case.
+
+ o It assigns exit status 255 to a numeric variable that is not
+ specified in the terminfo database. That likely is a documentation
+ error, mistaking the "-1" written to the standard output to
+ indicate an absent or cancelled numeric capability for an
+ (unsigned) exit status.
+
+ The various System V implementations (AIX, HP-UX, Solaris) use the same
+ exit statuses as ncurses.
+
+ NetBSD curses documents exit statuses that correspond to neither
+ ncurses nor X/Open Curses.
+
+
+
+ Bill Joy wrote a tput command during development of 4BSD in October
+ 1980. This initial version only cleared the screen, and did not ship
+ with official distributions.
+
+ System V developed a different tput command.
+ o SVr2 (1984) provided a rudimentary tput that checked the parameter
+ against each predefined capability and returned the corresponding
+ value. This version of tput did not use tparm(3x) for
+ parameterized capabilities.
-
- The longname and -S options, and the parameter-substitu-
- tion features used in the cup example, are not supported
- in BSD curses or in AT&T/USL curses before SVr4.
-
- X/Open documents only the operands for clear, init and
- reset. In this implementation, clear is part of the cap-
- name support. Other implementations of tput on SVr4-based
- systems such as Solaris, IRIX64 and HPUX as well as others
- such as AIX and Tru64 provide support for capname oper-
- ands.
-
- A few platforms such as FreeBSD and NetBSD recognize term-
- cap names rather than terminfo capability names in their
- respective tput commands.
-
- Most implementations which provide support for capname op-
- erands use the tparm function to expand parameters in it.
- That function expects a mixture of numeric and string
- parameters, requiring tput to know which type to use.
- This implementation uses a table to determine that for the
- standard capname operands, and an internal library func-
- tion to analyze nonstandard capname operands. Other
- implementations may simply guess that an operand contain-
- ing only digits is intended to be a number.
+ o SVr3 (1987) replaced that with a more extensive program whose
+ support for init and reset operands (more than half the program)
+ incorporated the reset feature of BSD tset written by Eric Allman.
+ o SVr4 (1989) added color initialization by using the orig_colors
+ (oc) and orig_pair (op) capabilities in its init logic.
-
- clear(1), stty(1), tabs(1), terminfo(5), curs_termcap(3x).
+ Keith Bostic refactored BSD tput for shipment in 4.3BSD-Tahoe (1988),
+ then replaced it the next year with a new implementation based on
+ System V tput. Bostic's version similarly accepted some parameters
+ named for terminfo (pseudo-)capabilities: clear, init, longname, and
+ reset. However, because he had only termcap available, it accepted
+ termcap codes for other capabilities. Also, Bostic's BSD tput did not
+ modify the terminal modes as the earlier BSD tset had done.
+
+ At the same time, Bostic added a shell script named "clear" that used
+ tput to clear the screen. Both of these appeared in 4.4BSD, becoming
+ the "modern" BSD implementation of tput.
+
+ The origin of ncursestput lies outside both System V and BSD, in Ross
+ Ridge's mytinfo package, published on comp.sources.unix in December
+ 1992. Ridge's program made more sophisticated use of the terminal
+ capabilities than the BSD program. Eric Raymond used that tput program
+ (and other parts of mytinfo) in ncurses in June 1995. Incorporating
+ the portions dealing with terminal capabilities almost without change,
+ Raymond made improvements to the way command-line parameters were
+ handled.
+
+ Before ncurses 6.1 (2018), its tset and tput utilities differed.
+
+ otset was more effective, resetting the terminal modes and special
+ characters.
+
+ o On the other hand, tset's repertoire of terminal capabilities for
+ resetting the terminal was more limited; it had only equivalents of
+ reset_1string (rs1), reset_2string (rs2), and reset_file (rf), and
+ not the tab stop and margin update features of tput.
- This describes ncurses version 6.0 (patch 20151024).
+ The reset program is traditionally an alias for tset due to its ability
+ to reset terminal modes and special characters.
+ As of ncurses 6.1, the "reset" features of the two programs are
+ (mostly) the same. Two minor differences remain.
+
+ o The tset program waits one second when resetting, in case the
+ terminal happens to be a hardware device.
+
+ o The two programs write the terminal initialization strings to
+ different streams; that is, standard error for tset and standard
+ output for tput.
+
+
+
+ tputinit
+ Initialize the terminal according to the type of terminal in the
+ TERM environment variable. If the system does not reliably
+ initialize the terminal upon login, this command can be included
+ in $HOME/.profile after exporting the TERM environment variable.
+
+ tput-T5620reset
+ Reset an AT&T 5620 terminal, overriding the terminal type in the
+ TERM environment variable.
+ tputcnorm
+ Set cursor to normal visibility.
- tput(1)
+ tputhome
+ Move the cursor to row 0, column 0: the upper left corner of the
+ screen, usually known as the "home" cursor position.
+
+ tputclear
+ Clear the screen: write the clear_screen capability's value to
+ the standard output stream.
+
+ tputcols
+ Report the number of columns used by the current terminal type.
+
+ tput-Tadm3acols
+ Report the number of columns used by an ADM-3A terminal.
+
+ strong=`tputsmso`normal=`tputrmso`
+ Set shell variables to capability values: strong and normal, to
+ begin and end, respectively, stand-out mode for the terminal.
+ One might use these to present a prompt.
+
+ printf "${strong}Username:${normal} "
+
+ tputhc
+ Indicate via exit status whether the terminal is a hard copy
+ device.
+
+ tputcup234
+ Move the cursor to row 23, column 4.
+
+ tputcup
+ Report the value of the cursor_address (cup) capability (used
+ for cursor movement), with no parameters substituted.
+
+ tputlongname
+ Report the terminfo database's description of the terminal type
+ specified in the TERM environment variable.
+
+ tput-S
+ Process multiple capabilities. The -S option can be profitably
+ used with a shell "here document".
+
+ $ tput-S<<!
+ > clear
+ > cup1010
+ > bold
+ > !
+
+ The foregoing clears the screen, moves the cursor to position
+ (10, 10) and turns on bold (extra bright) mode.
+
+ tputclearcup1010bold
+ Perform the same actions as the foregoing "tput-S" example.
+
+
+