+The \fItermcap\fP library would store a copy of the terminal
+description in the area referenced by this pointer.
+However, ncurses stores its terminal descriptions in compiled
+binary form, which is not the same thing.
+.bP
+There is a difference in return codes.
+The \fItermcap\fP library does not check if the terminal
+description is marked with the \fIgeneric\fP capability,
+or if the terminal description has cursor-addressing.
+.RE
+.SS CAPABILITY VALUES
+.PP
+The \fBtgetflag\fR routine gets the boolean entry for \fIid\fR,
+or zero if it is not available.
+.PP
+The \fBtgetnum\fR routine gets the numeric entry for \fIid\fR,
+or \-1 if it is not available.
+.PP
+The \fBtgetstr\fR routine returns the string entry for \fIid\fR,
+or zero if it is not available.
+Use \fBtputs\fR to output the returned string.
+The \fIarea\fP parameter is used as follows:
+.RS 3
+.bP
+It is assumed to be the address of a pointer to a buffer managed by the
+calling application.
+.bP
+However, ncurses checks to ensure that \fBarea\fP is not NULL,
+and also that the resulting buffer pointer is not NULL.
+If either check fails, the \fIarea\fP parameter is ignored.
+.bP
+If the checks succeed, ncurses also copies the return value to
+the buffer pointed to by \fIarea\fR,
+and the \fIarea\fR value will be updated to point past the null ending
+this value.
+.bP
+The return value itself is an address in the terminal description which
+is loaded into memory.
+.RE
+.PP
+Only the first two characters of the \fBid\fR parameter of
+\fBtgetflag\fR,
+\fBtgetnum\fR and
+\fBtgetstr\fR are compared in lookups.
+.SS FORMATTING CAPABILITIES
+.PP
+The \fBtgoto\fR routine expands the given capability using the parameters.
+.bP
+Because the capability may have padding characters,
+the output of \fBtgoto\fP should be passed to \fBtputs\fR
+rather than some other output function such as \fBprintf\fP.
+.bP
+While \fBtgoto\fP is assumed to be used for the two-parameter
+cursor positioning capability,
+termcap applications also use it for single-parameter capabilities.
+.IP
+Doing this shows a quirk in \fBtgoto\fP: most hardware
+terminals use cursor addressing with \fIrow\fP first,
+but the original developers of the termcap interface chose to
+put the \fIcolumn\fP parameter first.
+The \fBtgoto\fP function swaps the order of parameters.
+It does this also for calls requiring only a single parameter.
+In that case, the first parameter is merely a placeholder.
+.bP
+Normally the ncurses library is compiled with terminfo support.
+In that case, \fBtgoto\fP uses \fBtparm\fP(3X) (a more capable formatter).
+.IP
+However, \fBtparm\fP is not a \fItermcap\fP feature,
+and portable \fItermcap\fP applications should not rely upon its availability.
+.PP