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30 .\" $Id: curs_get_wstr.3x,v 1.46 2024/04/13 22:14:06 tom Exp $
31 .TH curs_get_wstr 3X 2024-04-13 "ncurses @NCURSES_MAJOR@.@NCURSES_MINOR@" "Library calls"
55 \fB\%mvwgetn_wstr\fP \-
56 get a wide-character string from a \fIcurses\fR terminal keyboard
59 \fB#include <curses.h>
61 \fBint get_wstr(wint_t *\fIwstr\fP);
62 \fBint getn_wstr(wint_t *\fIwstr\fP, int \fIn\fP);
63 \fBint wget_wstr(WINDOW *\fIwin\fP, wint_t *\fIwstr\fP);
64 \fBint wgetn_wstr(WINDOW *\fIwin\fP, wint_t *\fIwstr\fP, int \fIn\fP);
66 \fBint mvget_wstr(int \fIy\fP, int \fIx\fP, wint_t *\fIwstr\fP);
67 \fBint mvgetn_wstr(int \fIy\fP, int \fIx\fP, wint_t *\fIwstr\fP, int \fIn\fP);
68 \fBint mvwget_wstr(WINDOW *\fIwin\fP, int \fIy\fP, int \fIx\fP, wint_t *\fIwstr\fP);
69 \fBint mvwgetn_wstr(WINDOW *\fIwin\fP, int \fIy\fP, int \fIx\fP, wint_t *\fIwstr\fP, int \fIn\fP);
74 is equivalent to a series of calls to
76 until a newline or carriage return terminates the series:
78 The terminating character is not included in the returned string.
80 An end-of-file condition is represented by \fBWEOF\fP,
81 as defined in \fB<wchar.h>\fP.
83 In all instances, the end of the string is terminated
84 by a null \fBwchar_t\fP.
86 The function stores the result in the area pointed to
87 by the \fIwstr\fP parameter.
89 The function reads at most \fIn\fP characters,
90 thus preventing a possible overflow of the input buffer.
92 Any attempt to enter more characters
93 (other than the terminating newline or carriage return)
96 Function keys also cause a beep and are ignored.
98 The user's \fIerase\fP and \fIkill\fP characters are interpreted:
100 The \fIerase\fP character (e.g., \fB^H\fP) erases the character
101 at the end of the buffer, moving the cursor to the left.
103 If \fIkeypad\fP mode is on for the window,
104 \fBKEY_LEFT\fP and \fBKEY_BACKSPACE\fP
105 are both considered equivalent to the user's \fIerase\fP character.
107 The \fIkill\fP character (e.g., \fB^U\fP) erases the entire buffer,
108 leaving the cursor at the beginning of the buffer.
110 Characters input are echoed only if \fBecho\fP is currently on.
112 backspace is echoed as deletion of the previous character
113 (typically a left motion).
118 \fBmvwgetn_wstr\fP, and
120 functions are identical
124 \fBmvwget_wstr\fP, and
126 functions, respectively,
129 versions read at most
131 characters, letting the application prevent overflow of the
134 All of these functions return the integer \fBOK\fP upon successful completion.
135 If unsuccessful, they return \fBERR\fP.
137 X/Open defines no error conditions.
139 In this implementation,
140 these functions return an error
142 if the window pointer is null,
144 if its timeout expires without having any data, or
146 if the associated call to
150 Functions with a \*(``mv\*('' prefix first perform a cursor movement using
151 \fBwmove\fP, and return an error if the position is outside the window,
152 or if the window pointer is null.
154 Any of these functions other than
161 \fBmvwget_wstr\fP, or
164 overflows the array pointed to by
171 \fBmvwgetn_wstr\fP, or
173 respectively, is recommended.
175 These functions cannot return \fBKEY_\fP values because there
176 is no way to distinguish a \fBKEY_\fP value from a valid \fBwchar_t\fP value.
178 These functions are described in The Single Unix Specification, Version 2.
179 No error conditions are defined.
181 This implementation returns \fBERR\fP if the window pointer is null,
182 or if the lower-level \fBwget_wch\fP call returns an \fBERR\fP.
184 an \fBERR\fP return without other data is treated as an end-of-file condition,
185 and the returned array contains a \fBWEOF\fP followed by a null \fBwchar_t\fP.
187 X/Open curses documented these functions to pass an array of \fBwchar_t\fP
188 in 1997, but that was an error because of this part of the description:
191 The effect of \fBget_wstr\fP is as though a series of calls to
192 \fBget_wch\fP were made, until a newline character, end-of-line character, or
193 end-of-file character is processed.
196 The latter function \fIget_wch\fP can return a negative value,
197 while \fBwchar_t\fP is a unsigned type.
198 All of the vendors implement this using \fBwint_t\fP, following the standard.
200 X/Open Curses, Issue 7 (2009) is unclear regarding whether
201 the terminating \fInull \fBwchar_t\fR
202 value is counted in the length parameter \fIn\fP.
203 X/Open Curses, Issue 7 revised the corresponding description
204 of \fBwgetnstr\fP to address this issue.
205 The unrevised description of \fBwget_nwstr\fP can be interpreted either way.
206 This implementation counts the terminator in the length.
208 X/Open Curses does not specify what happens if the length \fIn\fP is negative.
210 For analogy with \fBwgetnstr\fP,
211 \fI\%ncurses\fP 6.2 uses a limit (based on \fBLINE_MAX\fP).
213 Some other implementations (such as Solaris xcurses) do the same,
214 while others (PDCurses) do not allow this.
216 NetBSD 7 curses imitates \fI\%ncurses\fP 6.1 in this regard,
217 treating a \fB\-1\fP as an indefinite number of characters.
219 \fB\%curs_getstr\fP(3X) describes comparable functions of the
221 library in its non-wide-character configuration.
224 \fB\%curs_get_wch\fP(3X)