<!--
****************************************************************************
- * Copyright 2018-2020,2021 Thomas E. Dickey *
+ * Copyright 2018-2021,2022 Thomas E. Dickey *
* Copyright 1998-2010,2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
* *
* Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a *
* sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written *
* authorization. *
****************************************************************************
- * @Id: curs_getstr.3x,v 1.33 2021/05/22 21:36:35 tom Exp @
+ * @Id: curs_getstr.3x,v 1.36 2022/02/12 20:07:29 tom Exp @
* X/Open says also until EOf
* X/Open says then an EOS is added to the result
* X/Open doesn't mention n<0
<HEAD>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name="generator" content="Manpage converted by man2html - see https://invisible-island.net/scripts/readme.html#others_scripts">
-<TITLE>curs_getstr 3X</TITLE>
+<TITLE>curs_getstr 3x</TITLE>
<link rel="author" href="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">
-<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
+
</HEAD>
<BODY>
-<H1 class="no-header">curs_getstr 3X</H1>
+<H1 class="no-header">curs_getstr 3x</H1>
<PRE>
-<B><A HREF="curs_getstr.3X.html">curs_getstr(3X)</A></B> <B><A HREF="curs_getstr.3X.html">curs_getstr(3X)</A></B>
+<STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG> <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
- <B>getstr</B>, <B>getnstr</B>, <B>wgetstr</B>, <B>wgetnstr</B>, <B>mvgetstr</B>, <B>mvgetnstr</B>, <B>mvwgetstr</B>,
- <B>mvwgetnstr</B> - accept character strings from <B>curses</B> terminal keyboard
+ <STRONG>getstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>wgetstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetnstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvwgetstr</STRONG>,
+ <STRONG>mvwgetnstr</STRONG> - accept character strings from <STRONG>curses</STRONG> terminal keyboard
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
- <B>#include</B> <B><curses.h></B>
+ <STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>
- <B>int</B> <B>getstr(char</B> <B>*</B><I>str</I><B>);</B>
- <B>int</B> <B>getnstr(char</B> <B>*</B><I>str</I><B>,</B> <B>int</B> <I>n</I><B>);</B>
- <B>int</B> <B>wgetstr(WINDOW</B> <B>*</B><I>win</I><B>,</B> <B>char</B> <B>*</B><I>str</I><B>);</B>
- <B>int</B> <B>wgetnstr(WINDOW</B> <B>*</B><I>win</I><B>,</B> <B>char</B> <B>*</B><I>str</I><B>,</B> <B>int</B> <I>n</I><B>);</B>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>getstr(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>getnstr(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>n</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>wgetstr(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>win</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>wgetnstr(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>win</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>n</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
- <B>int</B> <B>mvgetstr(int</B> <I>y</I><B>,</B> <B>int</B> <I>x</I><B>,</B> <B>char</B> <B>*</B><I>str</I><B>);</B>
- <B>int</B> <B>mvwgetstr(WINDOW</B> <B>*</B><I>win</I><B>,</B> <B>int</B> <I>y</I><B>,</B> <B>int</B> <I>x</I><B>,</B> <B>char</B> <B>*</B><I>str</I><B>);</B>
- <B>int</B> <B>mvgetnstr(int</B> <I>y</I><B>,</B> <B>int</B> <I>x</I><B>,</B> <B>char</B> <B>*</B><I>str</I><B>,</B> <B>int</B> <I>n</I><B>);</B>
- <B>int</B> <B>mvwgetnstr(WINDOW</B> <B>*</B><I>win</I><B>,</B> <B>int</B> <I>y</I><B>,</B> <B>int</B> <I>x</I><B>,</B> <B>char</B> <B>*</B><I>str</I><B>,</B> <B>int</B> <I>n</I><B>);</B>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvgetstr(int</STRONG> <EM>y</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>x</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvwgetstr(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>win</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>y</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>x</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvgetnstr(int</STRONG> <EM>y</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>x</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>n</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvwgetnstr(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>win</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>y</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>x</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>n</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
- The function <B>getstr</B> is equivalent to a series of calls to <B>getch</B>, until
+ The function <STRONG>getstr</STRONG> is equivalent to a series of calls to <STRONG>getch</STRONG>, until
a newline or carriage return is received (the terminating character is
not included in the returned string). The resulting value is placed in
- the area pointed to by the character pointer <I>str</I>, followed by a NUL.
+ the area pointed to by the character pointer <EM>str</EM>, followed by a NUL.
- The <B>getnstr</B> function reads from the <I>stdscr</I> default window. The other
- functions, such as <B>wgetnstr</B>, read from the window given as a parameter.
+ The <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG> function reads from the <EM>stdscr</EM> default window. The other
+ functions, such as <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG>, read from the window given as a parameter.
- <B>getnstr</B> reads at most <I>n</I> characters, thus preventing a possible overflow
+ <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG> reads at most <EM>n</EM> characters, thus preventing a possible overflow
of the input buffer. Any attempt to enter more characters (other than
the terminating newline or carriage return) causes a beep. Function
keys also cause a beep and are ignored.
- The user's <I>erase</I> and <I>kill</I> characters are interpreted:
+ The user's <EM>erase</EM> and <EM>kill</EM> characters are interpreted:
- <B>o</B> The <I>erase</I> character (e.g., <B>^H</B>) erases the character at the end of
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The <EM>erase</EM> character (e.g., <STRONG>^H</STRONG>) erases the character at the end of
the buffer, moving the cursor to the left.
- If <I>keypad</I> mode is on for the window, <B>KEY_LEFT</B> and <B>KEY_BACKSPACE</B> are
+ If <EM>keypad</EM> mode is on for the window, <STRONG>KEY_LEFT</STRONG> and <STRONG>KEY_BACKSPACE</STRONG> are
both considered equivalent to the user's erase character.
- <B>o</B> The <I>kill</I> character (e.g., <B>^U</B>) erases the entire buffer, leaving the
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The <EM>kill</EM> character (e.g., <STRONG>^U</STRONG>) erases the entire buffer, leaving the
cursor at the beginning of the buffer.
- Characters input are echoed only if <B>echo</B> is currently on. In that
+ Characters input are echoed only if <STRONG>echo</STRONG> is currently on. In that
case, backspace is echoed as deletion of the previous character (typi-
cally a left motion).
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></H2><PRE>
- All routines return the integer <B>ERR</B> upon failure and an <B>OK</B> (SVr4 speci-
- fies only "an integer value other than <B>ERR</B>") upon successful comple-
+ All routines return the integer <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon failure and an <STRONG>OK</STRONG> (SVr4 speci-
+ fies only "an integer value other than <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>") upon successful comple-
tion.
X/Open defines no error conditions.
In this implementation, these functions return an error if the window
pointer is null, or if its timeout expires without having any data.
- This implementation provides an extension as well. If a <B>SIGWINCH</B> in-
- terrupts the function, it will return <B>KEY_RESIZE</B> rather than <B>OK</B> or <B>ERR</B>.
+ This implementation provides an extension as well. If a <STRONG>SIGWINCH</STRONG> in-
+ terrupts the function, it will return <STRONG>KEY_RESIZE</STRONG> rather than <STRONG>OK</STRONG> or <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>.
Functions with a "mv" prefix first perform a cursor movement using
- <B>wmove</B>, and return an error if the position is outside the window, or if
+ <STRONG>wmove</STRONG>, and return an error if the position is outside the window, or if
the window pointer is null.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-NOTES">NOTES</a></H2><PRE>
- Note that <B>getstr</B>, <B>mvgetstr</B>, and <B>mvwgetstr</B> may be macros.
+ Note that <STRONG>getstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetstr</STRONG>, and <STRONG>mvwgetstr</STRONG> may be macros.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
These functions are described in the XSI Curses standard, Issue 4.
They read single-byte characters only. The standard does not define
- any error conditions. This implementation returns <B>ERR</B> if the window
- pointer is null, or if the lower-level <B><A HREF="curs_getch.3X.html">wgetch(3X)</A></B> call returns an <B>ERR</B>.
+ any error conditions. This implementation returns <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> if the window
+ pointer is null, or if the lower-level <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">wgetch(3x)</A></STRONG> call returns an <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>.
SVr3 and early SVr4 curses implementations did not reject function
keys; the SVr4.0 documentation claimed that "special keys" (such as
- function keys, "home" key, "clear" key, <I>etc</I>.) are "interpreted", with-
+ function keys, "home" key, "clear" key, <EM>etc</EM>.) are "interpreted", with-
out giving details. It lied. In fact, the "character" value appended
to the string by those implementations was predictable but not useful
(being, in fact, the low-order eight bits of the key's KEY_ value).
- The functions <B>getnstr</B>, <B>mvgetnstr</B>, and <B>mvwgetnstr</B> were present but not
+ The functions <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetnstr</STRONG>, and <STRONG>mvwgetnstr</STRONG> were present but not
documented in SVr4.
X/Open Curses, Issue 5 (2007) stated that these functions "read at most
- <I>n</I> bytes" but did not state whether the terminating NUL is counted in
+ <EM>n</EM> bytes" but did not state whether the terminating NUL is counted in
that limit. X/Open Curses, Issue 7 (2009) changed that to say they
- "read at most <I>n</I>-1 bytes" to allow for the terminating NUL. As of 2018,
+ "read at most <EM>n</EM>-1 bytes" to allow for the terminating NUL. As of 2018,
some implementations do, some do not count it:
- <B>o</B> ncurses 6.1 and PDCurses do not count the NUL in the given limit,
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> ncurses 6.1 and PDCurses do not count the NUL in the given limit,
while
- <B>o</B> Solaris SVr4 and NetBSD curses count the NUL as part of the limit.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Solaris SVr4 and NetBSD curses count the NUL as part of the limit.
- <B>o</B> Solaris xcurses provides both: its wide-character <B>wget_nstr</B> re-
- serves a NUL, but its <B>wgetnstr</B> does not count the NUL consistently.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Solaris xcurses provides both: its wide-character <STRONG>wget_nstr</STRONG> re-
+ serves a NUL, but its <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG> does not count the NUL consistently.
- In SVr4 curses, a negative value of <I>n</I> tells <B>wgetnstr</B> to assume that the
+ In SVr4 curses, a negative value of <EM>n</EM> tells <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG> to assume that the
caller's buffer is large enough to hold the result, i.e., to act like
- <B>wgetstr</B>. X/Open Curses does not mention this (or anything related to
- negative or zero values of <I>n</I>), however most implementations use the
+ <STRONG>wgetstr</STRONG>. X/Open Curses does not mention this (or anything related to
+ negative or zero values of <EM>n</EM>), however most implementations use the
feature, with different limits:
- <B>o</B> Solaris SVr4 curses and PDCurses limit the result to 255 bytes.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Solaris SVr4 curses and PDCurses limit the result to 255 bytes.
Other Unix systems than Solaris are likely to use the same limit.
- <B>o</B> Solaris xcurses limits the result to <B>LINE_MAX</B> bytes.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Solaris xcurses limits the result to <STRONG>LINE_MAX</STRONG> bytes.
- <B>o</B> NetBSD 7 assumes no particular limit for the result from <B>wgetstr</B>.
- However, it limits the <B>wgetnstr</B> parameter <I>n</I> to ensure that it is
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> NetBSD 7 assumes no particular limit for the result from <STRONG>wgetstr</STRONG>.
+ However, it limits the <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG> parameter <EM>n</EM> to ensure that it is
greater than zero.
A comment in NetBSD's source code states that this is specified in
SUSv2.
- <B>o</B> ncurses (before 6.2) assumes no particular limit for the result
- from <B>wgetstr</B>, and treats the <I>n</I> parameter of <B>wgetnstr</B> like SVr4
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> ncurses (before 6.2) assumes no particular limit for the result
+ from <STRONG>wgetstr</STRONG>, and treats the <EM>n</EM> parameter of <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG> like SVr4
curses.
- <B>o</B> ncurses 6.2 uses <B>LINE_MAX</B>, or a larger (system-dependent) value
- which the <B>sysconf</B> function may provide. If neither <B>LINE_MAX</B> or
- <B>sysconf</B> is available, ncurses uses the POSIX value for <B>LINE_MAX</B> (a
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> ncurses 6.2 uses <STRONG>LINE_MAX</STRONG>, or a larger (system-dependent) value
+ which the <STRONG>sysconf</STRONG> function may provide. If neither <STRONG>LINE_MAX</STRONG> or
+ <STRONG>sysconf</STRONG> is available, ncurses uses the POSIX value for <STRONG>LINE_MAX</STRONG> (a
2048 byte limit). In either case, it reserves a byte for the ter-
minating NUL.
- Although <B>getnstr</B> is equivalent to a series of calls to <B>getch</B>, it also
+ Although <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG> is equivalent to a series of calls to <STRONG>getch</STRONG>, it also
makes changes to the curses modes to allow simple editing of the input
buffer:
- <B>o</B> <B>getnstr</B> saves the current value of the <B>nl</B>, <B>echo</B>, <B>raw</B> and <B>cbreak</B>
- modes, and sets <B>nl</B>, <B>noecho</B>, <B>noraw</B>, and <B>cbreak</B>.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG> saves the current value of the <STRONG>nl</STRONG>, <STRONG>echo</STRONG>, <STRONG>raw</STRONG> and <STRONG>cbreak</STRONG>
+ modes, and sets <STRONG>nl</STRONG>, <STRONG>noecho</STRONG>, <STRONG>noraw</STRONG>, and <STRONG>cbreak</STRONG>.
- <B>getnstr</B> handles the echoing of characters, rather than relying on
+ <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG> handles the echoing of characters, rather than relying on
the caller to set an appropriate mode.
- <B>o</B> It also obtains the <I>erase</I> and <I>kill</I> characters from <B>erasechar</B> and
- <B>killchar</B>, respectively.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> It also obtains the <EM>erase</EM> and <EM>kill</EM> characters from <STRONG>erasechar</STRONG> and
+ <STRONG>killchar</STRONG>, respectively.
- <B>o</B> On return, <B>getnstr</B> restores the modes to their previous values.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> On return, <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG> restores the modes to their previous values.
Other implementations differ in their treatment of special characters:
- <B>o</B> While they may set the <I>echo</I> mode, other implementations do not mod-
- ify the <I>raw</I> mode, They may take the <I>cbreak</I> mode set by the caller
- into account when deciding whether to handle echoing within <B>getnstr</B>
- or as a side-effect of the <B>getch</B> calls.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> While they may set the <EM>echo</EM> mode, other implementations do not mod-
+ ify the <EM>raw</EM> mode, They may take the <EM>cbreak</EM> mode set by the caller
+ into account when deciding whether to handle echoing within <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG>
+ or as a side-effect of the <STRONG>getch</STRONG> calls.
- <B>o</B> The original ncurses (as pcurses in 1986) set <B>noraw</B> and <B>cbreak</B> when
- accepting input for <B>getnstr</B>. That may have been done to make func-
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The original ncurses (as <EM>pcurses</EM> in 1986) set <STRONG>noraw</STRONG> and <STRONG>cbreak</STRONG> when
+ accepting input for <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG>. That may have been done to make func-
tion- and cursor-keys work; it is not necessary with ncurses.
Since 1995, ncurses has provided signal handlers for INTR and QUIT
- (e.g., <B>^C</B> or <B>^\</B>). With the <B>noraw</B> and <B>cbreak</B> settings, those may
+ (e.g., <STRONG>^C</STRONG> or <STRONG>^\</STRONG>). With the <STRONG>noraw</STRONG> and <STRONG>cbreak</STRONG> settings, those may
catch a signal and stop the program, where other implementations
allow one to enter those characters in the buffer.
- <B>o</B> Starting in 2021 (ncurses 6.3), <B>getnstr</B> sets <B>raw</B>, rather than <B>noraw</B>
- and <B>cbreak</B> for better compatibility with SVr4-curses, e.g., allow-
- ing one to enter a <B>^C</B> into the buffer.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Starting in 2021 (ncurses 6.3), <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG> sets <STRONG>raw</STRONG>, rather than <STRONG>noraw</STRONG>
+ and <STRONG>cbreak</STRONG> for better compatibility with SVr4-curses, e.g., allow-
+ ing one to enter a <STRONG>^C</STRONG> into the buffer.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
- <B><A HREF="curses.3X.html">curses(3X)</A></B>, <B><A HREF="curs_getch.3X.html">curs_getch(3X)</A></B>, <B><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3X.html">curs_termattrs(3X)</A></B>, <B><A HREF="curs_variables.3X.html">curs_variables(3X)</A></B>.
+ <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">curs_getch(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">curs_termattrs(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_variables.3x.html">curs_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>.
- <B><A HREF="curs_getstr.3X.html">curs_getstr(3X)</A></B>
+ <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
<div class="nav">
<ul>