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+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN">
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+ * Copyright (c) 1998-2012,2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
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- * @Id: terminfo.head,v 1.18 2010/07/31 16:08:48 tom Exp @
+ * @Id: terminfo.head,v 1.21 2013/03/09 22:11:36 tom Exp @
* Head of terminfo man page ends here
- * @Id: terminfo.tail,v 1.51 2010/07/31 16:02:40 tom Exp @
+ * @Id: terminfo.tail,v 1.68 2013/11/09 15:20:48 tom Exp @
* Beginning of terminfo.tail file
* This file is part of ncurses.
* See "terminfo.head" for copyright.
</PRE>
<H2>DESCRIPTION</H2><PRE>
<EM>Terminfo</EM> is a data base describing terminals, used by
- screen-oriented programs such as <STRONG><A HREF="nvi.1.html">nvi(1)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="rogue.1.html">rogue(1)</A></STRONG> and
+ screen-oriented programs such as <STRONG>nvi(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG>rogue(1)</STRONG> and
libraries such as <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>. <EM>Terminfo</EM> describes termi-
nals by giving a set of capabilities which they have, by
specifying how to perform screen operations, and by speci-
fying padding requirements and initialization sequences.
- This describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 5.7 (patch 20100731).
+ This describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 5.9 (patch 20131221).
Entries in <EM>terminfo</EM> consist of a sequence of `,' separated
fields (embedded commas may be escaped with a backslash or
Terminal names (except for the last, verbose entry) should
be chosen using the following conventions. The particular
piece of hardware making up the terminal should have a
- root name, thus ``hp2621''. This name should not contain
+ root name, thus "hp2621". This name should not contain
hyphens. Modes that the hardware can be in, or user pref-
erences, should be indicated by appending a hyphen and a
mode suffix. Thus, a vt100 in 132 column mode would be
For more on terminal naming conventions, see the <STRONG>term(7)</STRONG>
manual page.
- <STRONG>Capabilities</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>Predefined</STRONG> <STRONG>Capabilities</STRONG>
The following is a complete table of the capabilities
included in a terminfo description block and available to
terminfo-using code. In each line of the table,
bottom margins to
#1, #2
- The XSI Curses standard added these. They are some
- post-4.1 versions of System V curses, e.g., Solaris 2.5
- and IRIX 6.x. The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> termcap names for them are
- invented; according to the XSI Curses standard, they have
- no termcap names. If your compiled terminfo entries use
- these, they may not be binary-compatible with System V
- terminfo entries after SVr4.1; beware!
+ The XSI Curses standard added these hardcopy capabili-
+ ties. They were used in some post-4.1 versions of System
+ V curses, e.g., Solaris 2.5 and IRIX 6.x. Except for <STRONG>YI</STRONG>,
+ the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> termcap names for them are invented. Accord-
+ ing to the XSI Curses standard, they have no termcap
+ names. If your compiled terminfo entries use these, they
+ may not be binary-compatible with System V terminfo
+ entries after SVr4.1; beware!
<STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
set_a_attributes sgr1 sA Define second set of
video attributes
#1-#6
- set_pglen_inch slengthsL YI Set page length
- to #1 hundredth of
- an inch
+ set_pglen_inch slengthYI Set page length to
+ #1 hundredth of an
+ inch (some implemen-
+ tations use sL for
+ termcap).
+
+ <STRONG>User-Defined</STRONG> <STRONG>Capabilities</STRONG>
+ The preceding section listed the <EM>predefined</EM> capabilities.
+ They deal with some special features for terminals no
+ longer (or possibly never) produced. Occasionally there
+ are special features of newer terminals which are awkward
+ or impossible to represent by reusing the predefined capa-
+ bilities.
+
+ <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> addresses this limitation by allowing user-defined
+ capabilities. The <STRONG>tic</STRONG> and <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> programs provide the <STRONG>-x</STRONG>
+ option for this purpose. When <STRONG>-x</STRONG> is set, <STRONG>tic</STRONG> treats
+ unknown capabilities as user-defined. That is, if <STRONG>tic</STRONG>
+ encounters a capability name which it does not recognize,
+ it infers its type (boolean, number or string) from the
+ syntax and makes an extended table entry for that capabil-
+ ity. The <STRONG>use_extended_names</STRONG> function makes this informa-
+ tion conditionally available to applications. The ncurses
+ library provides the data leaving most of the behavior to
+ applications:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> User-defined capability strings whose name begins with
+ "k" are treated as function keys.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The types (boolean, number, string) determined by <STRONG>tic</STRONG>
+ can be inferred by successful calls on <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, etc.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the capability name happens to be two characters,
+ the capability is also available through the termcap
+ interface.
+
+ While termcap is said to be extensible because it does not
+ use a predefined set of capabilities, in practice it has
+ been limited to the capabilities defined by terminfo
+ implementations. As a rule, user-defined capabilities
+ intended for use by termcap applications should be limited
+ to booleans and numbers to avoid running past the 1023
+ byte limit assumed by termcap implementations and their
+ applications. In particular, providing extended sets of
+ function keys (past the 60 numbered keys and the handful
+ of special named keys) is best done using the longer names
+ available using terminfo.
<STRONG>A</STRONG> <STRONG>Sample</STRONG> <STRONG>Entry</STRONG>
The following entry, describing an ANSI-standard terminal,
is representative of what a <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> entry for a modern
terminal typically looks like.
- ansi|ansi/pc-term compatible with color,
- mc5i,
- colors#8, ncv#3, pairs#64,
- cub=\E[%p1%dD, cud=\E[%p1%dB, cuf=\E[%p1%dC,
- cuu=\E[%p1%dA, dch=\E[%p1%dP, dl=\E[%p1%dM,
- ech=\E[%p1%dX, el1=\E[1K, hpa=\E[%p1%dG, ht=\E[I,
- ich=\E[%p1%d@, il=\E[%p1%dL, indn=\E[%p1%dS, .indn=\E[%p1%dT,
- kbs=^H, kcbt=\E[Z, kcub1=\E[D, kcud1=\E[B,
- kcuf1=\E[C, kcuu1=\E[A, kf1=\E[M, kf10=\E[V,
- kf11=\E[W, kf12=\E[X, kf2=\E[N, kf3=\E[O, kf4=\E[P,
- kf5=\E[Q, kf6=\E[R, kf7=\E[S, kf8=\E[T, kf9=\E[U,
- kich1=\E[L, mc4=\E[4i, mc5=\E[5i, nel=\r\E[S,
- op=\E[37;40m, rep=%p1%c\E[%p2%{1}%-%db,
- rin=\E[%p1%dT, s0ds=\E(B, s1ds=\E)B, s2ds=\E*B,
- s3ds=\E+B, setab=\E[4%p1%dm, setaf=\E[3%p1%dm,
- setb=\E[4%?%p1%{1}%=%t4%e%p1%{3}%=%t6%e%p1%{4}%=%t1%e%p1%{6}%=%t3%e%p1%d%;m,
- setf=\E[3%?%p1%{1}%=%t4%e%p1%{3}%=%t6%e%p1%{4}%=%t1%e%p1%{6}%=%t3%e%p1%d%;m,
- sgr=\E[0;10%?%p1%t;7%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p3%t;7%;%?%p4%t;5%;%?%p6%t;1%;%?%p7%t;8%;%?%p8%t;11%;%?%p9%t;12%;m,
- sgr0=\E[0;10m, tbc=\E[2g, u6=\E[%d;%dR, u7=\E[6n,
- u8=\E[?%[;0123456789]c, u9=\E[c, vpa=\E[%p1%dd,
+ ansi|ansi/pc-term compatible with color,
+ am, mc5i, mir, msgr,
+ colors#8, cols#80, it#8, lines#24, ncv#3, pairs#64,
+ acsc=+\020\,\021-\030.^Y0\333`\004a\261f\370g\361h\260
+ j\331k\277l\332m\300n\305o~p\304q\304r\304s_t\303
+ u\264v\301w\302x\263y\363z\362{\343|\330}\234~\376,
+ bel=^G, blink=\E[5m, bold=\E[1m, cbt=\E[Z, clear=\E[H\E[J,
+ cr=^M, cub=\E[%p1%dD, cub1=\E[D, cud=\E[%p1%dB, cud1=\E[B,
+ cuf=\E[%p1%dC, cuf1=\E[C, cup=\E[%i%p1%d;%p2%dH,
+ cuu=\E[%p1%dA, cuu1=\E[A, dch=\E[%p1%dP, dch1=\E[P,
+ dl=\E[%p1%dM, dl1=\E[M, ech=\E[%p1%dX, ed=\E[J, el=\E[K,
+ el1=\E[1K, home=\E[H, hpa=\E[%i%p1%dG, ht=\E[I, hts=\EH,
+ ich=\E[%p1%d@, il=\E[%p1%dL, il1=\E[L, ind=^J,
+ indn=\E[%p1%dS, invis=\E[8m, kbs=^H, kcbt=\E[Z, kcub1=\E[D,
+ kcud1=\E[B, kcuf1=\E[C, kcuu1=\E[A, khome=\E[H, kich1=\E[L,
+ mc4=\E[4i, mc5=\E[5i, nel=\r\E[S, op=\E[39;49m,
+ rep=%p1%c\E[%p2%{1}%-%db, rev=\E[7m, rin=\E[%p1%dT,
+ rmacs=\E[10m, rmpch=\E[10m, rmso=\E[m, rmul=\E[m,
+ s0ds=\E(B, s1ds=\E)B, s2ds=\E*B, s3ds=\E+B,
+ setab=\E[4%p1%dm, setaf=\E[3%p1%dm,
+ sgr=\E[0;10%?%p1%t;7%;
+ %?%p2%t;4%;
+ %?%p3%t;7%;
+ %?%p4%t;5%;
+ %?%p6%t;1%;
+ %?%p7%t;8%;
+ %?%p9%t;11%;m,
+ sgr0=\E[0;10m, smacs=\E[11m, smpch=\E[11m, smso=\E[7m,
+ smul=\E[4m, tbc=\E[3g, u6=\E[%i%d;%dR, u7=\E[6n,
+ u8=\E[?%[;0123456789]c, u9=\E[c, vpa=\E[%i%p1%dd,
Entries may continue onto multiple lines by placing white
space at the beginning of each line except the first.
- Comments may be included on lines beginning with ``#''.
- Capabilities in <EM>terminfo</EM> are of three types: Boolean capa-
- bilities which indicate that the terminal has some partic-
- ular feature, numeric capabilities giving the size of the
- terminal or the size of particular delays, and string
- capabilities, which give a sequence which can be used to
- perform particular terminal operations.
+ Comments may be included on lines beginning with "#".
+ Capabilities in <EM>terminfo</EM> are of three types:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Boolean capabilities which indicate that the terminal
+ has some particular feature,
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> numeric capabilities giving the size of the terminal
+ or the size of particular delays, and
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> string capabilities, which give a sequence which can
+ be used to perform particular terminal operations.
<STRONG>Types</STRONG> <STRONG>of</STRONG> <STRONG>Capabilities</STRONG>
All capabilities have names. For instance, the fact that
automatic return and line-feed when the end of a line is
reached) is indicated by the capability <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Hence the
description of ansi includes <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Numeric capabilities are
- followed by the character `#' and then a positive value.
+ followed by the character "#" and then a positive value.
Thus <STRONG>cols</STRONG>, which indicates the number of columns the ter-
- minal has, gives the value `80' for ansi. Values for
+ minal has, gives the value "80" for ansi. Values for
numeric capabilities may be specified in decimal, octal or
hexadecimal, using the C programming language conventions
(e.g., 255, 0377 and 0xff or 0xFF).
Finally, string valued capabilities, such as <STRONG>el</STRONG> (clear to
end of line sequence) are given by the two-character code,
- an `=', and then a string ending at the next following
- `,'.
+ an "=", and then a string ending at the next following
+ ",".
A number of escape sequences are provided in the string
valued capabilities for easy encoding of characters there.
Both <STRONG>\E</STRONG> and <STRONG>\e</STRONG> map to an ESCAPE character, <STRONG>^x</STRONG> maps to a
control-x for any appropriate x, and the sequences <STRONG>\n</STRONG> <STRONG>\l</STRONG>
<STRONG>\r</STRONG> <STRONG>\t</STRONG> <STRONG>\b</STRONG> <STRONG>\f</STRONG> <STRONG>\s</STRONG> give a newline, line-feed, return, tab,
- backspace, form-feed, and space. Other escapes include <STRONG>\^</STRONG>
- for <STRONG>^</STRONG>, <STRONG>\\</STRONG> for <STRONG>\</STRONG>, <STRONG>\</STRONG>, for comma, <STRONG>\:</STRONG> for <STRONG>:</STRONG>, and <STRONG>\0</STRONG> for null.
- (<STRONG>\0</STRONG> will produce \200, which does not terminate a string
- but behaves as a null character on most terminals, provid-
- ing CS7 is specified. See <STRONG><A HREF="stty.1.html">stty(1)</A></STRONG>.) Finally, characters
- may be given as three octal digits after a <STRONG>\</STRONG>.
+ backspace, form-feed, and space. Other escapes include
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\^</STRONG> for <STRONG>^</STRONG>,
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\\</STRONG> for <STRONG>\</STRONG>,
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\</STRONG>, for comma,
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\:</STRONG> for <STRONG>:</STRONG>,
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>\0</STRONG> for null.
+
+ <STRONG>\0</STRONG> will produce \200, which does not terminate a
+ string but behaves as a null character on most termi-
+ nals, providing CS7 is specified. See <STRONG>stty(1)</STRONG>.
+
+ The reason for this quirk is to maintain binary com-
+ patibility of the compiled terminfo files with other
+ implementations, e.g., the SVr4 systems, which docu-
+ ment this. Compiled terminfo files use null-termi-
+ nated strings, with no lengths. Modifying this would
+ require a new binary format, which would not work with
+ other implementations.
+
+ Finally, characters may be given as three octal digits
+ after a <STRONG>\</STRONG>.
A delay in milliseconds may appear anywhere in a string
capability, enclosed in $<..> brackets, as in <STRONG>el</STRONG>=\EK$<5>,
and padding characters are supplied by <EM>tputs</EM> to provide
this delay. The delay must be a number with at most one
decimal place of precision; it may be followed by suffixes
- `*' or '/' or both. A `*' indicates that the padding
+ "*" or "/" or both. A "*" indicates that the padding
required is proportional to the number of lines affected
by the operation, and the amount given is the per-
affected-unit padding required. (In the case of insert
character, the factor is still the number of <EM>lines</EM>
affected.) Normally, padding is advisory if the device
has the <STRONG>xon</STRONG> capability; it is used for cost computation
- but does not trigger delays. A `/' suffix indicates that
+ but does not trigger delays. A "/" suffix indicates that
the padding is mandatory and forces a delay of the given
number of milliseconds even on devices for which <STRONG>xon</STRONG> is
present to indicate flow control.
example, see the second <STRONG>ind</STRONG> in the example above.
<STRONG>Fetching</STRONG> <STRONG>Compiled</STRONG> <STRONG>Descriptions</STRONG>
- If the environment variable TERMINFO is set, it is inter-
- preted as the pathname of a directory containing the com-
- piled description you are working on. Only that directory
- is searched.
-
- If TERMINFO is not set, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version of the ter-
- minfo reader code will instead look in the directory
- <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> for a compiled description. If it fails
- to find one there, and the environment variable TER-
- MINFO_DIRS is set, it will interpret the contents of that
- variable as a list of colon- separated directories to be
- searched (an empty entry is interpreted as a command to
- search <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>). If no description is found
- in any of the TERMINFO_DIRS directories, the fetch fails.
-
- If neither TERMINFO nor TERMINFO_DIRS is set, the last
- place tried will be the system terminfo directory,
- <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>.
-
- (Neither the <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> lookups nor TERMINFO_DIRS
- extensions are supported under stock System V ter-
- minfo/curses.)
+ The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library searches for terminal descriptions in
+ several places. It uses only the first description found.
+ The library has a compiled-in list of places to search
+ which can be overridden by environment variables. Before
+ starting to search, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> eliminates duplicates in its
+ search list.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the environment variable TERMINFO is set, it is
+ interpreted as the pathname of a directory containing
+ the compiled description you are working on. Only
+ that directory is searched.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If TERMINFO is not set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> will instead look in
+ the directory <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> for a compiled descrip-
+ tion.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Next, if the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS is
+ set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> will interpret the contents of that vari-
+ able as a list of colon-separated directories (or
+ database files) to be searched.
+
+ An empty directory name (i.e., if the variable begins
+ or ends with a colon, or contains adacent colons) is
+ interpreted as the system location <EM>/usr/share/ter-</EM>
+ <EM>minfo</EM>.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Finally, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> searches these compiled-in locations:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> a list of directories
+ (/usr/local/ncurses/share/terminfo:/usr/share/ter-
+ minfo), and
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> the system terminfo directory, <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>
+ (the compiled-in default).
<STRONG>Preparing</STRONG> <STRONG>Descriptions</STRONG>
We now outline how to prepare descriptions of terminals.
To get the padding for insert line right (if the terminal
manufacturer did not document it) a severe test is to edit
a large file at 9600 baud, delete 16 or so lines from the
- middle of the screen, then hit the `u' key several times
+ middle of the screen, then hit the "u" key several times
quickly. If the terminal messes up, more padding is usu-
ally needed. A similar test can be used for insert char-
acter.
as <STRONG>cub1</STRONG>. Similarly, codes to move to the right, up, and
down should be given as <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>, and <STRONG>cud1</STRONG>. These local
cursor motions should not alter the text they pass over,
- for example, you would not normally use `<STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>= ' because
+ for example, you would not normally use "<STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>= " because
the space would erase the character moved over.
A very important point here is that the local cursor
described as
33|tty33|tty|model 33 teletype,
- bel=^G, cols#72, cr=^M, cud1=^J, hc, ind=^J, os,
+ bel=^G, cols#72, cr=^M, cud1=^J, hc, ind=^J, os,
while the Lear Siegler ADM-3 is described as
adm3|3|lsi adm3,
- am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
- ind=^J, lines#24,
+ am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
+ ind=^J, lines#24,
<STRONG>Parameterized</STRONG> <STRONG>Strings</STRONG>
Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters
in the terminal are described by a parameterized string
- capability, with <STRONG><A HREF="printf.3.html">printf(3)</A></STRONG> like escapes <STRONG>%x</STRONG> in it. For
- example, to address the cursor, the <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is
+ capability, with <EM>printf</EM>-like escapes such as <EM>%x</EM> in it.
+ For example, to address the cursor, the <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is
given, using two parameters: the row and column to address
to. (Rows and columns are numbered from zero and refer to
the physical screen visible to the user, not to any unseen
The <STRONG>%</STRONG> encodings have the following meanings:
- %% outputs `%'
+ <STRONG>%%</STRONG> outputs "%"
- %<EM>[[</EM>:<EM>]flags][width[.precision]][</EM>doxXs<EM>]</EM>
- as in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>, flags are [-+#] and space. Use a `:'
- to allow the next character to be a `-' flag, avoid-
+ <STRONG>%</STRONG><EM>[[</EM>:<EM>]flags][width[.precision]][</EM><STRONG>doxXs</STRONG><EM>]</EM>
+ as in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>, flags are <EM>[-+#]</EM> and <EM>space</EM>. Use a ":"
+ to allow the next character to be a "-" flag, avoid-
ing interpreting "%-" as an operator.
%c print pop() like %c in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
- %s print pop() like %s in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>%s</STRONG> print pop() like %s in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
- %p[1-9]
+ <STRONG>%p</STRONG><EM>[1-9]</EM>
push <EM>i</EM>'th parameter
- %P[a-z]
- set dynamic variable [a-z] to pop()
+ <STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[a-z]</EM>
+ set dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to pop()
- %g[a-z]
- get dynamic variable [a-z] and push it
+ <STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[a-z]/</EM>
+ get dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
- %P[A-Z]
- set static variable [a-z] to pop()
+ <STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
+ set static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to <EM>pop()</EM>
- %g[A-Z]
- get static variable [a-z] and push it
+ <STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
+ get static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
The terms "static" and "dynamic" are misleading.
Historically, these are simply two different sets of
other implementations. Relying on it will adversely
impact portability to other implementations.
- %'<EM>c</EM>' char constant <EM>c</EM>
+ <STRONG>%'</STRONG><EM>c</EM><STRONG>'</STRONG> char constant <EM>c</EM>
- %{<EM>nn</EM>}
+ <STRONG>%{</STRONG><EM>nn</EM><STRONG>}</STRONG>
integer constant <EM>nn</EM>
- %l push strlen(pop)
+ <STRONG>%l</STRONG> push strlen(pop)
- %+ %- %* %/ %m
- arithmetic (%m is mod): push(pop() op pop())
+ <STRONG>%+</STRONG>, <STRONG>%-</STRONG>, <STRONG>%*</STRONG>, <STRONG>%/</STRONG>, <STRONG>%m</STRONG>
+ arithmetic (%m is mod): <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
- %& %| %^
- bit operations (AND, OR and exclusive-OR): push(pop()
- op pop())
+ <STRONG>%&</STRONG>, <STRONG>%|</STRONG>, <STRONG>%^</STRONG>
+ bit operations (AND, OR and exclusive-OR): <EM>push(pop()</EM>
+ <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
- %= %> %<
- logical operations: push(pop() op pop())
+ <STRONG>%=</STRONG>, <STRONG>%></STRONG>, <STRONG>%<</STRONG>
+ logical operations: <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
- %A, %O
+ <STRONG>%A</STRONG>, <STRONG>%O</STRONG>
logical AND and OR operations (for conditionals)
- %! %~
+ <STRONG>%!</STRONG>, <STRONG>%~</STRONG>
unary operations (logical and bit complement):
push(op pop())
- %i add 1 to first two parameters (for ANSI terminals)
+ <STRONG>%i</STRONG> add 1 to first two parameters (for ANSI terminals)
- %? <EM>expr</EM> %t <EM>thenpart</EM> %e <EM>elsepart</EM> %;
- This forms an if-then-else. The %e <EM>elsepart</EM> is
- optional. Usually the %? <EM>expr</EM> part pushes a value
- onto the stack, and %t pops it from the stack, test-
+ <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> <STRONG>%t</STRONG> <EM>thenpart</EM> <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> <STRONG>%;</STRONG>
+ This forms an if-then-else. The <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> is
+ optional. Usually the <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> part pushes a value
+ onto the stack, and <STRONG>%t</STRONG> pops it from the stack, test-
ing if it is nonzero (true). If it is zero (false),
- control passes to the %e (else) part.
+ control passes to the <STRONG>%e</STRONG> (else) part.
It is possible to form else-if's a la Algol 68:
- %? c1 %t b1 %e c2 %t b2 %e c3 %t b3 %e c4 %t b4 %e %;
+ <STRONG>%?</STRONG> c1 <STRONG>%t</STRONG> b1 <STRONG>%e</STRONG> c2 <STRONG>%t</STRONG> b2 <STRONG>%e</STRONG> c3 <STRONG>%t</STRONG> b3 <STRONG>%e</STRONG> c4 <STRONG>%t</STRONG> b4 <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <STRONG>%;</STRONG>
where ci are conditions, bi are bodies.
Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands in
the usual order. That is, to get x-5 one would use
- "%gx%{5}%-". %P and %g variables are persistent across
+ "%gx%{5}%-". <STRONG>%P</STRONG> and <STRONG>%g</STRONG> variables are persistent across
escape-string evaluations.
Consider the HP2645, which, to get to row 3 and column 12,
A final example is the LSI ADM-3a, which uses row and col-
umn offset by a blank character, thus "cup=\E=%p1%'
- '%+%c%p2%' '%+%c". After sending `\E=', this pushes the
+ '%+%c%p2%' '%+%c". After sending "\E=", this pushes the
first parameter, pushes the ASCII value for a space (32),
adds them (pushing the sum on the stack in place of the
two previous values) and outputs that value as a charac-
Elmer Owl, make a distinction between typed and untyped
blanks on the screen, shifting upon an insert or delete
only to an untyped blank on the screen which is either
- eliminated, or expanded to two untyped blanks. You can
- determine the kind of terminal you have by clearing the
- screen and then typing text separated by cursor motions.
- Type "abc def" using local cursor motions (not spaces)
- between the "abc" and the "def". Then position the cursor
- before the "abc" and put the terminal in insert mode. If
- typing characters causes the rest of the line to shift
- rigidly and characters to fall off the end, then your ter-
- minal does not distinguish between blanks and untyped
- positions. If the "abc" shifts over to the "def" which
- then move together around the end of the current line and
- onto the next as you insert, you have the second type of
- terminal, and should give the capability <STRONG>in</STRONG>, which stands
- for "insert null". While these are two logically separate
- attributes (one line versus multi-line insert mode, and
- special treatment of untyped spaces) we have seen no ter-
- minals whose insert mode cannot be described with the sin-
- gle attribute.
+ eliminated, or expanded to two untyped blanks.
+
+ You can determine the kind of terminal you have by clear-
+ ing the screen and then typing text separated by cursor
+ motions. Type "abc def" using local cursor motions
+ (not spaces) between the "abc" and the "def". Then posi-
+ tion the cursor before the "abc" and put the terminal in
+ insert mode. If typing characters causes the rest of the
+ line to shift rigidly and characters to fall off the end,
+ then your terminal does not distinguish between blanks and
+ untyped positions. If the "abc" shifts over to the "def"
+ which then move together around the end of the current
+ line and onto the next as you insert, you have the second
+ type of terminal, and should give the capability <STRONG>in</STRONG>, which
+ stands for "insert null".
+
+ While these are two logically separate attributes (one
+ line versus multi-line insert mode, and special treatment
+ of untyped spaces) we have seen no terminals whose insert
+ mode cannot be described with the single attribute.
Terminfo can describe both terminals which have an insert
mode, and terminals which send a simple sequence to open a
milliseconds in <STRONG>ip</STRONG> (a string option). Any other sequence
which may need to be sent after an insert of a single
character may also be given in <STRONG>ip</STRONG>. If your terminal needs
- both to be placed into an `insert mode' and a special code
+ both to be placed into an "insert mode" and a special code
to precede each inserted character, then both <STRONG>smir</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmir</STRONG>
and <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> can be given, and both will be used. The <STRONG>ich</STRONG>
capability, with one parameter, <EM>n</EM>, will repeat the effects
Putting this all together into the sgr sequence gives:
- sgr=\E[0%?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;
- %?%p4%t;5%;%?%p7%t;8%;m%?%p9%t\016%e\017%;,
+ sgr=\E[0%?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p4%t;5%;
+ %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;%?%p7%t;8%;m%?%p9%t\016%e\017%;,
Remember that if you specify sgr, you must also specify
sgr0. Also, some implementations rely on sgr being given
assumes that sgr0 does not exit alternate character set
mode.
- Terminals with the ``magic cookie'' glitch (<STRONG>xmc</STRONG>) deposit
- special ``cookies'' when they receive mode-setting
+ Terminals with the "magic cookie" glitch (<STRONG>xmc</STRONG>) deposit
+ special "cookies" when they receive mode-setting
sequences, which affect the display algorithm rather than
having extra bits for each character. Some terminals,
such as the HP 2621, automatically leave standout mode
unshifted HP 2621 keys). If the keypad can be set to
transmit or not transmit, give these codes as <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> and
<STRONG>rmkx</STRONG>. Otherwise the keypad is assumed to always transmit.
- The codes sent by the left arrow, right arrow, up arrow,
- down arrow, and home keys can be given as <STRONG>kcub1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuf1,</STRONG>
- <STRONG>kcuu1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcud1,</STRONG> and <STRONG>khome</STRONG> respectively. If there are func-
- tion keys such as f0, f1, ..., f10, the codes they send
- can be given as <STRONG>kf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf10</STRONG>. If these keys have
- labels other than the default f0 through f10, the labels
- can be given as <STRONG>lf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf10</STRONG>. The codes transmit-
- ted by certain other special keys can be given: <STRONG>kll</STRONG> (home
- down), <STRONG>kbs</STRONG> (backspace), <STRONG>ktbc</STRONG> (clear all tabs), <STRONG>kctab</STRONG>
- (clear the tab stop in this column), <STRONG>kclr</STRONG> (clear screen or
- erase key), <STRONG>kdch1</STRONG> (delete character), <STRONG>kdl1</STRONG> (delete line),
- <STRONG>krmir</STRONG> (exit insert mode), <STRONG>kel</STRONG> (clear to end of line), <STRONG>ked</STRONG>
- (clear to end of screen), <STRONG>kich1</STRONG> (insert character or enter
- insert mode), <STRONG>kil1</STRONG> (insert line), <STRONG>knp</STRONG> (next page), <STRONG>kpp</STRONG>
- (previous page), <STRONG>kind</STRONG> (scroll forward/down), <STRONG>kri</STRONG> (scroll
- backward/up), <STRONG>khts</STRONG> (set a tab stop in this column). In
- addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3 array of keys includ-
- ing the four arrow keys, the other five keys can be given
- as <STRONG>ka1</STRONG>, <STRONG>ka3</STRONG>, <STRONG>kb2</STRONG>, <STRONG>kc1</STRONG>, and <STRONG>kc3</STRONG>. These keys are useful
- when the effects of a 3 by 3 directional pad are needed.
-
- Strings to program function keys can be given as <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG>,
- <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG>, and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG>. A string to program screen labels should
- be specified as <STRONG>pln</STRONG>. Each of these strings takes two
- parameters: the function key number to program (from 0 to
- 10) and the string to program it with. Function key num-
- bers out of this range may program undefined keys in a
- terminal dependent manner. The difference between the
- capabilities is that <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG> causes pressing the given key
- to be the same as the user typing the given string; <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG>
+
+ The codes sent by the left arrow, right arrow, up arrow,
+ down arrow, and home keys can be given as <STRONG>kcub1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuf1,</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>kcuu1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcud1,</STRONG> and <STRONG>khome</STRONG> respectively. If there are func-
+ tion keys such as f0, f1, ..., f10, the codes they send
+ can be given as <STRONG>kf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf10</STRONG>. If these keys have
+ labels other than the default f0 through f10, the labels
+ can be given as <STRONG>lf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf10</STRONG>.
+
+ The codes transmitted by certain other special keys can be
+ given:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kll</STRONG> (home down),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kbs</STRONG> (backspace),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ktbc</STRONG> (clear all tabs),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kctab</STRONG> (clear the tab stop in this column),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kclr</STRONG> (clear screen or erase key),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdch1</STRONG> (delete character),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdl1</STRONG> (delete line),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>krmir</STRONG> (exit insert mode),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kel</STRONG> (clear to end of line),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ked</STRONG> (clear to end of screen),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kich1</STRONG> (insert character or enter insert mode),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kil1</STRONG> (insert line),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>knp</STRONG> (next page),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kpp</STRONG> (previous page),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kind</STRONG> (scroll forward/down),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kri</STRONG> (scroll backward/up),
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>khts</STRONG> (set a tab stop in this column).
+
+ In addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3 array of keys
+ including the four arrow keys, the other five keys can be
+ given as <STRONG>ka1</STRONG>, <STRONG>ka3</STRONG>, <STRONG>kb2</STRONG>, <STRONG>kc1</STRONG>, and <STRONG>kc3</STRONG>. These keys are use-
+ ful when the effects of a 3 by 3 directional pad are
+ needed.
+
+ Strings to program function keys can be given as <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG>,
+ <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG>, and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG>. A string to program screen labels should
+ be specified as <STRONG>pln</STRONG>. Each of these strings takes two
+ parameters: the function key number to program (from 0 to
+ 10) and the string to program it with. Function key num-
+ bers out of this range may program undefined keys in a
+ terminal dependent manner. The difference between the
+ capabilities is that <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG> causes pressing the given key
+ to be the same as the user typing the given string; <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG>
causes the string to be executed by the terminal in local;
- and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG> causes the string to be transmitted to the com-
+ and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG> causes the string to be transmitted to the com-
puter.
The capabilities <STRONG>nlab</STRONG>, <STRONG>lw</STRONG> and <STRONG>lh</STRONG> define the number of pro-
- grammable screen labels and their width and height. If
- there are commands to turn the labels on and off, give
- them in <STRONG>smln</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmln</STRONG>. <STRONG>smln</STRONG> is normally output after one
+ grammable screen labels and their width and height. If
+ there are commands to turn the labels on and off, give
+ them in <STRONG>smln</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmln</STRONG>. <STRONG>smln</STRONG> is normally output after one
or more pln sequences to make sure that the change becomes
visible.
<STRONG>Tabs</STRONG> <STRONG>and</STRONG> <STRONG>Initialization</STRONG>
- If the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance
- to the next tab stop can be given as <STRONG>ht</STRONG> (usually control
- I). A ``back-tab'' command which moves leftward to the
- preceding tab stop can be given as <STRONG>cbt</STRONG>. By convention, if
- the teletype modes indicate that tabs are being expanded
- by the computer rather than being sent to the terminal,
- programs should not use <STRONG>ht</STRONG> or <STRONG>cbt</STRONG> even if they are
- present, since the user may not have the tab stops prop-
- erly set. If the terminal has hardware tabs which are
- initially set every <EM>n</EM> spaces when the terminal is powered
- up, the numeric parameter <STRONG>it</STRONG> is given, showing the number
- of spaces the tabs are set to. This is normally used by
- the <EM>tset</EM> command to determine whether to set the mode for
- hardware tab expansion, and whether to set the tab stops.
- If the terminal has tab stops that can be saved in non-
- volatile memory, the terminfo description can assume that
+ If the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance
+ to the next tab stop can be given as <STRONG>ht</STRONG> (usually control
+ I). A "back-tab" command which moves leftward to the pre-
+ ceding tab stop can be given as <STRONG>cbt</STRONG>. By convention, if
+ the teletype modes indicate that tabs are being expanded
+ by the computer rather than being sent to the terminal,
+ programs should not use <STRONG>ht</STRONG> or <STRONG>cbt</STRONG> even if they are
+ present, since the user may not have the tab stops prop-
+ erly set. If the terminal has hardware tabs which are
+ initially set every <EM>n</EM> spaces when the terminal is powered
+ up, the numeric parameter <STRONG>it</STRONG> is given, showing the number
+ of spaces the tabs are set to. This is normally used by
+ the <EM>tset</EM> command to determine whether to set the mode for
+ hardware tab expansion, and whether to set the tab stops.
+ If the terminal has tab stops that can be saved in non-
+ volatile memory, the terminfo description can assume that
they are properly set.
- Other capabilities include <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, and <STRONG>is3</STRONG>, initializa-
- tion strings for the terminal, <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, the path name of a
- program to be run to initialize the terminal, and <STRONG>if</STRONG>, the
- name of a file containing long initialization strings.
- These strings are expected to set the terminal into modes
- consistent with the rest of the terminfo description.
+ Other capabilities include <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, and <STRONG>is3</STRONG>, initializa-
+ tion strings for the terminal, <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, the path name of a
+ program to be run to initialize the terminal, and <STRONG>if</STRONG>, the
+ name of a file containing long initialization strings.
+ These strings are expected to set the terminal into modes
+ consistent with the rest of the terminfo description.
They are normally sent to the terminal, by the <EM>init</EM> option
- of the <EM>tput</EM> program, each time the user logs in. They
+ of the <EM>tput</EM> program, each time the user logs in. They
will be printed in the following order:
run the program
and finally
output <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
- Most initialization is done with <STRONG>is2</STRONG>. Special terminal
+ Most initialization is done with <STRONG>is2</STRONG>. Special terminal
modes can be set up without duplicating strings by putting
- the common sequences in <STRONG>is2</STRONG> and special cases in <STRONG>is1</STRONG> and
+ the common sequences in <STRONG>is2</STRONG> and special cases in <STRONG>is1</STRONG> and
<STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
A set of sequences that does a harder reset from a totally
unknown state can be given as <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rf</STRONG> and <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, analo-
- gous to <STRONG>is1</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>is2</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>if</STRONG> and <STRONG>is3</STRONG> respectively. These
- strings are output by the <EM>reset</EM> program, which is used
- when the terminal gets into a wedged state. Commands are
- normally placed in <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG> <STRONG>rs3</STRONG> and <STRONG>rf</STRONG> only if they pro-
- duce annoying effects on the screen and are not necessary
- when logging in. For example, the command to set the
- vt100 into 80-column mode would normally be part of <STRONG>is2</STRONG>,
- but it causes an annoying glitch of the screen and is not
- normally needed since the terminal is usually already in
+ gous to <STRONG>is1</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>is2</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>if</STRONG> and <STRONG>is3</STRONG> respectively. These
+ strings are output by the <EM>reset</EM> program, which is used
+ when the terminal gets into a wedged state. Commands are
+ normally placed in <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG> <STRONG>rs3</STRONG> and <STRONG>rf</STRONG> only if they pro-
+ duce annoying effects on the screen and are not necessary
+ when logging in. For example, the command to set the
+ vt100 into 80-column mode would normally be part of <STRONG>is2</STRONG>,
+ but it causes an annoying glitch of the screen and is not
+ normally needed since the terminal is usually already in
80 column mode.
The <EM>reset</EM> program writes strings including <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, etc., in
- the same order as the <EM>init</EM> program, using <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, etc.,
+ the same order as the <EM>init</EM> program, using <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, etc.,
instead of <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, etc. If any of <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, or <STRONG>rf</STRONG> reset
- capability strings are missing, the <EM>reset</EM> program falls
+ capability strings are missing, the <EM>reset</EM> program falls
back upon the corresponding initialization capability
string.
If there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can
- be given as <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (clear all tab stops) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (set a tab
- stop in the current column of every row). If a more com-
- plex sequence is needed to set the tabs than can be
- described by this, the sequence can be placed in <STRONG>is2</STRONG> or
+ be given as <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (clear all tab stops) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (set a tab
+ stop in the current column of every row). If a more com-
+ plex sequence is needed to set the tabs than can be
+ described by this, the sequence can be placed in <STRONG>is2</STRONG> or
<STRONG>if</STRONG>.
<STRONG>Delays</STRONG> <STRONG>and</STRONG> <STRONG>Padding</STRONG>
- Many older and slower terminals do not support either
+ Many older and slower terminals do not support either
XON/XOFF or DTR handshaking, including hard copy terminals
- and some very archaic CRTs (including, for example, DEC
- VT100s). These may require padding characters after cer-
+ and some very archaic CRTs (including, for example, DEC
+ VT100s). These may require padding characters after cer-
tain cursor motions and screen changes.
If the terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking for flow control
- (that is, it automatically emits ^S back to the host when
+ (that is, it automatically emits ^S back to the host when
its input buffers are close to full), set <STRONG>xon</STRONG>. This capa-
- bility suppresses the emission of padding. You can also
- set it for memory-mapped console devices effectively that
- do not have a speed limit. Padding information should
- still be included so that routines can make better deci-
+ bility suppresses the emission of padding. You can also
+ set it for memory-mapped console devices effectively that
+ do not have a speed limit. Padding information should
+ still be included so that routines can make better deci-
sions about relative costs, but actual pad characters will
not be transmitted.
- If <STRONG>pb</STRONG> (padding baud rate) is given, padding is suppressed
- at baud rates below the value of <STRONG>pb</STRONG>. If the entry has no
- padding baud rate, then whether padding is emitted or not
+ If <STRONG>pb</STRONG> (padding baud rate) is given, padding is suppressed
+ at baud rates below the value of <STRONG>pb</STRONG>. If the entry has no
+ padding baud rate, then whether padding is emitted or not
is completely controlled by <STRONG>xon</STRONG>.
- If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) charac-
- ter as a pad, then this can be given as <STRONG>pad</STRONG>. Only the
+ If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) charac-
+ ter as a pad, then this can be given as <STRONG>pad</STRONG>. Only the
first character of the <STRONG>pad</STRONG> string is used.
<STRONG>Status</STRONG> <STRONG>Lines</STRONG>
- Some terminals have an extra `status line' which is not
- normally used by software (and thus not counted in the
+ Some terminals have an extra "status line" which is not
+ normally used by software (and thus not counted in the
terminal's <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability).
- The simplest case is a status line which is cursor-
- addressable but not part of the main scrolling region on
- the screen; the Heathkit H19 has a status line of this
- kind, as would a 24-line VT100 with a 23-line scrolling
- region set up on initialization. This situation is indi-
+ The simplest case is a status line which is cursor-
+ addressable but not part of the main scrolling region on
+ the screen; the Heathkit H19 has a status line of this
+ kind, as would a 24-line VT100 with a 23-line scrolling
+ region set up on initialization. This situation is indi-
cated by the <STRONG>hs</STRONG> capability.
Some terminals with status lines need special sequences to
- access the status line. These may be expressed as a
+ access the status line. These may be expressed as a
string with single parameter <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> which takes the cursor to
- a given zero-origin column on the status line. The capa-
+ a given zero-origin column on the status line. The capa-
bility <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> must return to the main-screen cursor positions
- before the last <STRONG>tsl</STRONG>. You may need to embed the string
- values of <STRONG>sc</STRONG> (save cursor) and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (restore cursor) in <STRONG>tsl</STRONG>
+ before the last <STRONG>tsl</STRONG>. You may need to embed the string
+ values of <STRONG>sc</STRONG> (save cursor) and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (restore cursor) in <STRONG>tsl</STRONG>
and <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> to accomplish this.
- The status line is normally assumed to be the same width
- as the width of the terminal. If this is untrue, you can
+ The status line is normally assumed to be the same width
+ as the width of the terminal. If this is untrue, you can
specify it with the numeric capability <STRONG>wsl</STRONG>.
- A command to erase or blank the status line may be speci-
+ A command to erase or blank the status line may be speci-
fied as <STRONG>dsl</STRONG>.
- The boolean capability <STRONG>eslok</STRONG> specifies that escape
+ The boolean capability <STRONG>eslok</STRONG> specifies that escape
sequences, tabs, etc., work ordinarily in the status line.
- The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation does not yet use any of these
- capabilities. They are documented here in case they ever
+ The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation does not yet use any of these
+ capabilities. They are documented here in case they ever
become important.
<STRONG>Line</STRONG> <STRONG>Graphics</STRONG>
- Many terminals have alternate character sets useful for
- forms-drawing. Terminfo and <STRONG>curses</STRONG> build in support for
- the drawing characters supported by the VT100, with some
- characters from the AT&T 4410v1 added. This alternate
+ Many terminals have alternate character sets useful for
+ forms-drawing. Terminfo and <STRONG>curses</STRONG> build in support for
+ the drawing characters supported by the VT100, with some
+ characters from the AT&T 4410v1 added. This alternate
character set may be specified by the <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> capability.
<STRONG>Glyph</STRONG> <STRONG>ACS</STRONG> <STRONG>Ascii</STRONG> <STRONG>VT100</STRONG>
tee pointing right ACS_LTEE + t
tee pointing up ACS_BTEE + v
upper left corner ACS_ULCORNER + l
-
upper right corner ACS_URCORNER + k
vertical line ACS_VLINE | x
- The best way to define a new device's graphics set is to
- add a column to a copy of this table for your terminal,
- giving the character which (when emitted between
- <STRONG>smacs</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> switches) will be rendered as the correspond-
- ing graphic. Then read off the VT100/your terminal char-
- acter pairs right to left in sequence; these become the
+ The best way to define a new device's graphics set is to
+ add a column to a copy of this table for your terminal,
+ giving the character which (when emitted between
+ <STRONG>smacs</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> switches) will be rendered as the correspond-
+ ing graphic. Then read off the VT100/your terminal char-
+ acter pairs right to left in sequence; these become the
ACSC string.
<STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>Handling</STRONG>
- Most color terminals are either `Tektronix-like' or `HP-
- like'. Tektronix-like terminals have a predefined set of
- N colors (where N usually 8), and can set character-cell
+ Most color terminals are either "Tektronix-like" or "HP-
+ like". Tektronix-like terminals have a predefined set of
+ N colors (where N usually 8), and can set character-cell
foreground and background characters independently, mixing
- them into N * N color-pairs. On HP-like terminals, the
+ them into N * N color-pairs. On HP-like terminals, the
use must set each color pair up separately (foreground and
- background are not independently settable). Up to M
- color-pairs may be set up from 2*M different colors.
+ background are not independently settable). Up to M
+ color-pairs may be set up from 2*M different colors.
ANSI-compatible terminals are Tektronix-like.
Some basic color capabilities are independent of the color
method. The numeric capabilities <STRONG>colors</STRONG> and <STRONG>pairs</STRONG> specify
- the maximum numbers of colors and color-pairs that can be
- displayed simultaneously. The <STRONG>op</STRONG> (original pair) string
- resets foreground and background colors to their default
- values for the terminal. The <STRONG>oc</STRONG> string resets all colors
- or color-pairs to their default values for the terminal.
- Some terminals (including many PC terminal emulators)
- erase screen areas with the current background color
- rather than the power-up default background; these should
+ the maximum numbers of colors and color-pairs that can be
+ displayed simultaneously. The <STRONG>op</STRONG> (original pair) string
+ resets foreground and background colors to their default
+ values for the terminal. The <STRONG>oc</STRONG> string resets all colors
+ or color-pairs to their default values for the terminal.
+ Some terminals (including many PC terminal emulators)
+ erase screen areas with the current background color
+ rather than the power-up default background; these should
have the boolean capability <STRONG>bce</STRONG>.
- To change the current foreground or background color on a
- Tektronix-type terminal, use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> (set ANSI foreground)
- and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> (set ANSI background) or <STRONG>setf</STRONG> (set foreground)
- and <STRONG>setb</STRONG> (set background). These take one parameter, the
+ To change the current foreground or background color on a
+ Tektronix-type terminal, use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> (set ANSI foreground)
+ and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> (set ANSI background) or <STRONG>setf</STRONG> (set foreground)
+ and <STRONG>setb</STRONG> (set background). These take one parameter, the
color number. The SVr4 documentation describes only
- <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>; the XPG4 draft says that "If the terminal
+ <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>; the XPG4 draft says that "If the terminal
supports ANSI escape sequences to set background and fore-
- ground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>, respec-
- tively. If the terminal supports other escape sequences
- to set background and foreground, they should be coded as
- <STRONG>setf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setb</STRONG>, respectively. The <EM>vidputs()</EM> function and
- the refresh functions use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> if they are
+ ground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>, respec-
+ tively. If the terminal supports other escape sequences
+ to set background and foreground, they should be coded as
+ <STRONG>setf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setb</STRONG>, respectively. The <EM>vidputs()</EM> function and
+ the refresh functions use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> if they are
defined."
- The <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> and <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> capabilities take a single
+ The <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> and <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> capabilities take a single
numeric argument each. Argument values 0-7 of <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>
- are portably defined as follows (the middle column is the
+ are portably defined as follows (the middle column is the
symbolic #define available in the header for the <STRONG>curses</STRONG> or
- <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> libraries). The terminal hardware is free to map
- these as it likes, but the RGB values indicate normal
+ <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> libraries). The terminal hardware is free to map
+ these as it likes, but the RGB values indicate normal
locations in color space.
<STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
cyan <STRONG>COLOR_CYAN</STRONG> 6 0,max,max
white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max,max,max
- The argument values of <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> historically correspond
+ The argument values of <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> historically correspond
to a different mapping, i.e.,
<STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
magenta <STRONG>COLOR_MAGENTA</STRONG> 5 max,0,max
yellow <STRONG>COLOR_YELLOW</STRONG> 6 max,max,0
white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max,max,max
+
It is important to not confuse the two sets of color capa-
- bilities; otherwise red/blue will be interchanged on the
+ bilities; otherwise red/blue will be interchanged on the
display.
- On an HP-like terminal, use <STRONG>scp</STRONG> with a color-pair number
+ On an HP-like terminal, use <STRONG>scp</STRONG> with a color-pair number
parameter to set which color pair is current.
- On a Tektronix-like terminal, the capability <STRONG>ccc</STRONG> may be
- present to indicate that colors can be modified. If so,
+ On a Tektronix-like terminal, the capability <STRONG>ccc</STRONG> may be
+ present to indicate that colors can be modified. If so,
the <STRONG>initc</STRONG> capability will take a color number (0 to <STRONG>colors</STRONG>
- - 1)and three more parameters which describe the color.
+ - 1)and three more parameters which describe the color.
These three parameters default to being interpreted as RGB
- (Red, Green, Blue) values. If the boolean capability <STRONG>hls</STRONG>
+ (Red, Green, Blue) values. If the boolean capability <STRONG>hls</STRONG>
is present, they are instead as HLS (Hue, Lightness, Satu-
ration) indices. The ranges are terminal-dependent.
- On an HP-like terminal, <STRONG>initp</STRONG> may give a capability for
- changing a color-pair value. It will take seven parame-
- ters; a color-pair number (0 to <STRONG>max_pairs</STRONG> - 1), and two
- triples describing first background and then foreground
- colors. These parameters must be (Red, Green, Blue) or
+ On an HP-like terminal, <STRONG>initp</STRONG> may give a capability for
+ changing a color-pair value. It will take seven parame-
+ ters; a color-pair number (0 to <STRONG>max_pairs</STRONG> - 1), and two
+ triples describing first background and then foreground
+ colors. These parameters must be (Red, Green, Blue) or
(Hue, Lightness, Saturation) depending on <STRONG>hls</STRONG>.
- On some color terminals, colors collide with highlights.
+ On some color terminals, colors collide with highlights.
You can register these collisions with the <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> capability.
- This is a bit-mask of attributes not to be used when col-
- ors are enabled. The correspondence with the attributes
+ This is a bit-mask of attributes not to be used when col-
+ ors are enabled. The correspondence with the attributes
understood by <STRONG>curses</STRONG> is as follows:
- <STRONG>Attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>Bit</STRONG> <STRONG>Decimal</STRONG>
- A_STANDOUT 0 1
- A_UNDERLINE 1 2
- A_REVERSE 2 4
- A_BLINK 3 8
- A_DIM 4 16
- A_BOLD 5 32
- A_INVIS 6 64
- A_PROTECT 7 128
- A_ALTCHARSET 8 256
-
- For example, on many IBM PC consoles, the underline
- attribute collides with the foreground color blue and is
- not available in color mode. These should have an <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>Attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>Bit</STRONG> <STRONG>Decimal</STRONG> <STRONG>Set</STRONG> <STRONG>by</STRONG>
+ A_STANDOUT 0 1 sgr
+ A_UNDERLINE 1 2 sgr
+ A_REVERSE 2 4 sgr
+ A_BLINK 3 8 sgr
+ A_DIM 4 16 sgr
+ A_BOLD 5 32 sgr
+ A_INVIS 6 64 sgr
+ A_PROTECT 7 128 sgr
+ A_ALTCHARSET 8 256 sgr
+ A_HORIZONTAL 9 512 sgr1
+ A_LEFT 10 1024 sgr1
+ A_LOW 11 2048 sgr1
+ A_RIGHT 12 4096 sgr1
+ A_TOP 13 8192 sgr1
+ A_VERTICAL 14 16384 sgr1
+ A_ITALIC 15 32768 sitm
+
+ For example, on many IBM PC consoles, the underline
+ attribute collides with the foreground color blue and is
+ not available in color mode. These should have an <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>
capability of 2.
- SVr4 curses does nothing with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>, ncurses recognizes it
+ SVr4 curses does nothing with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>, ncurses recognizes it
and optimizes the output in favor of colors.
<STRONG>Miscellaneous</STRONG>
- If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) charac-
- ter as a pad, then this can be given as pad. Only the
- first character of the pad string is used. If the termi-
+ If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) charac-
+ ter as a pad, then this can be given as pad. Only the
+ first character of the pad string is used. If the termi-
nal does not have a pad character, specify npc. Note that
- ncurses implements the termcap-compatible <STRONG>PC</STRONG> variable;
- though the application may set this value to something
- other than a null, ncurses will test <STRONG>npc</STRONG> first and use
+ ncurses implements the termcap-compatible <STRONG>PC</STRONG> variable;
+ though the application may set this value to something
+ other than a null, ncurses will test <STRONG>npc</STRONG> first and use
napms if the terminal has no pad character.
- If the terminal can move up or down half a line, this can
- be indicated with <STRONG>hu</STRONG> (half-line up) and <STRONG>hd</STRONG> (half-line
+ If the terminal can move up or down half a line, this can
+ be indicated with <STRONG>hu</STRONG> (half-line up) and <STRONG>hd</STRONG> (half-line
down). This is primarily useful for superscripts and sub-
- scripts on hard-copy terminals. If a hard-copy terminal
- can eject to the next page (form feed), give this as <STRONG>ff</STRONG>
+ scripts on hard-copy terminals. If a hard-copy terminal
+ can eject to the next page (form feed), give this as <STRONG>ff</STRONG>
(usually control L).
- If there is a command to repeat a given character a given
- number of times (to save time transmitting a large number
- of identical characters) this can be indicated with the
- parameterized string <STRONG>rep</STRONG>. The first parameter is the
- character to be repeated and the second is the number of
- times to repeat it. Thus, tparm(repeat_char, 'x', 10) is
- the same as `xxxxxxxxxx'.
+ If there is a command to repeat a given character a given
+ number of times (to save time transmitting a large number
+ of identical characters) this can be indicated with the
+ parameterized string <STRONG>rep</STRONG>. The first parameter is the
+ character to be repeated and the second is the number of
+ times to repeat it. Thus, tparm(repeat_char, 'x', 10) is
+ the same as "xxxxxxxxxx".
- If the terminal has a settable command character, such as
- the TEKTRONIX 4025, this can be indicated with <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG>. A
+ If the terminal has a settable command character, such as
+ the TEKTRONIX 4025, this can be indicated with <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG>. A
prototype command character is chosen which is used in all
- capabilities. This character is given in the <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG> capa-
- bility to identify it. The following convention is sup-
- ported on some UNIX systems: The environment is to be
- searched for a <STRONG>CC</STRONG> variable, and if found, all occurrences
+ capabilities. This character is given in the <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG> capa-
+ bility to identify it. The following convention is sup-
+ ported on some UNIX systems: The environment is to be
+ searched for a <STRONG>CC</STRONG> variable, and if found, all occurrences
of the prototype character are replaced with the character
in the environment variable.
- Terminal descriptions that do not represent a specific
+ Terminal descriptions that do not represent a specific
kind of known terminal, such as <EM>switch</EM>, <EM>dialup</EM>, <EM>patch</EM>, and
- <EM>network</EM>, should include the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (generic) capability so
- that programs can complain that they do not know how to
- talk to the terminal. (This capability does not apply to
- <EM>virtual</EM> terminal descriptions for which the escape
+ <EM>network</EM>, should include the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (generic) capability so
+ that programs can complain that they do not know how to
+ talk to the terminal. (This capability does not apply to
+ <EM>virtual</EM> terminal descriptions for which the escape
sequences are known.)
- If the terminal has a ``meta key'' which acts as a shift
- key, setting the 8th bit of any character transmitted,
- this fact can be indicated with <STRONG>km</STRONG>. Otherwise, software
+ If the terminal has a "meta key" which acts as a shift
+ key, setting the 8th bit of any character transmitted,
+ this fact can be indicated with <STRONG>km</STRONG>. Otherwise, software
will assume that the 8th bit is parity and it will usually
- be cleared. If strings exist to turn this ``meta mode''
- on and off, they can be given as <STRONG>smm</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmm</STRONG>.
+ be cleared. If strings exist to turn this "meta mode" on
+ and off, they can be given as <STRONG>smm</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmm</STRONG>.
- If the terminal has more lines of memory than will fit on
- the screen at once, the number of lines of memory can be
- indicated with <STRONG>lm</STRONG>. A value of <STRONG>lm</STRONG>#0 indicates that the
+ If the terminal has more lines of memory than will fit on
+ the screen at once, the number of lines of memory can be
+ indicated with <STRONG>lm</STRONG>. A value of <STRONG>lm</STRONG>#0 indicates that the
number of lines is not fixed, but that there is still more
memory than fits on the screen.
If the terminal is one of those supported by the UNIX vir-
- tual terminal protocol, the terminal number can be given
+ tual terminal protocol, the terminal number can be given
as <STRONG>vt</STRONG>.
Media copy strings which control an auxiliary printer con-
nected to the terminal can be given as <STRONG>mc0</STRONG>: print the con-
- tents of the screen, <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>: turn off the printer, and <STRONG>mc5</STRONG>:
- turn on the printer. When the printer is on, all text
- sent to the terminal will be sent to the printer. It is
+ tents of the screen, <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>: turn off the printer, and <STRONG>mc5</STRONG>:
+ turn on the printer. When the printer is on, all text
+ sent to the terminal will be sent to the printer. It is
undefined whether the text is also displayed on the termi-
nal screen when the printer is on. A variation <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> takes
one parameter, and leaves the printer on for as many char-
- acters as the value of the parameter, then turns the
- printer off. The parameter should not exceed 255. All
+ acters as the value of the parameter, then turns the
+ printer off. The parameter should not exceed 255. All
text, including <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>, is transparently passed to the
printer while an <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> is in effect.
<STRONG>Glitches</STRONG> <STRONG>and</STRONG> <STRONG>Braindamage</STRONG>
- Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow `~' characters to
+ Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow "~" characters to
be displayed should indicate <STRONG>hz</STRONG>.
Terminals which ignore a line-feed immediately after an <STRONG>am</STRONG>
wrap, such as the Concept and vt100, should indicate <STRONG>xenl</STRONG>.
- If <STRONG>el</STRONG> is required to get rid of standout (instead of
- merely writing normal text on top of it), <STRONG>xhp</STRONG> should be
+ If <STRONG>el</STRONG> is required to get rid of standout (instead of
+ merely writing normal text on top of it), <STRONG>xhp</STRONG> should be
given.
- Teleray terminals, where tabs turn all characters moved
- over to blanks, should indicate <STRONG>xt</STRONG> (destructive tabs).
- Note: the variable indicating this is now
- `dest_tabs_magic_smso'; in older versions, it was tel-
+ Teleray terminals, where tabs turn all characters moved
+ over to blanks, should indicate <STRONG>xt</STRONG> (destructive tabs).
+ Note: the variable indicating this is now
+ "dest_tabs_magic_smso"; in older versions, it was tel-
eray_glitch. This glitch is also taken to mean that it is
- not possible to position the cursor on top of a ``magic
- cookie'', that to erase standout mode it is instead neces-
+ not possible to position the cursor on top of a "magic
+ cookie", that to erase standout mode it is instead neces-
sary to use delete and insert line. The ncurses implemen-
tation ignores this glitch.
- The Beehive Superbee, which is unable to correctly trans-
- mit the escape or control C characters, has <STRONG>xsb</STRONG>, indicat-
- ing that the f1 key is used for escape and f2 for control
- C. (Only certain Superbees have this problem, depending
- on the ROM.) Note that in older terminfo versions, this
- capability was called `beehive_glitch'; it is now
- `no_esc_ctl_c'.
+ The Beehive Superbee, which is unable to correctly trans-
+ mit the escape or control C characters, has <STRONG>xsb</STRONG>, indicat-
+ ing that the f1 key is used for escape and f2 for control
+ C. (Only certain Superbees have this problem, depending
+ on the ROM.) Note that in older terminfo versions, this
+ capability was called "beehive_glitch"; it is now
+ "no_esc_ctl_c".
- Other specific terminal problems may be corrected by
+ Other specific terminal problems may be corrected by
adding more capabilities of the form <STRONG>x</STRONG><EM>x</EM>.
<STRONG>Similar</STRONG> <STRONG>Terminals</STRONG>
If there are two very similar terminals, one (the variant)
- can be defined as being just like the other (the base)
- with certain exceptions. In the definition of the vari-
- ant, the string capability <STRONG>use</STRONG> can be given with the name
- of the base terminal. The capabilities given before <STRONG>use</STRONG>
- override those in the base type named by <STRONG>use</STRONG>. If there
- are multiple <STRONG>use</STRONG> capabilities, they are merged in reverse
- order. That is, the rightmost <STRONG>use</STRONG> reference is processed
- first, then the one to its left, and so forth. Capabili-
- ties given explicitly in the entry override those brought
+ can be defined as being just like the other (the base)
+ with certain exceptions. In the definition of the vari-
+ ant, the string capability <STRONG>use</STRONG> can be given with the name
+ of the base terminal. The capabilities given before <STRONG>use</STRONG>
+ override those in the base type named by <STRONG>use</STRONG>. If there
+ are multiple <STRONG>use</STRONG> capabilities, they are merged in reverse
+ order. That is, the rightmost <STRONG>use</STRONG> reference is processed
+ first, then the one to its left, and so forth. Capabili-
+ ties given explicitly in the entry override those brought
in by <STRONG>use</STRONG> references.
A capability can be canceled by placing <STRONG>xx@</STRONG> to the left of
- the use reference that imports it, where <EM>xx</EM> is the capa-
+ the use reference that imports it, where <EM>xx</EM> is the capa-
bility. For example, the entry
- 2621-nl, smkx@, rmkx@, use=2621,
+ 2621-nl, smkx@, rmkx@, use=2621,
- defines a 2621-nl that does not have the <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> or <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG>
- capabilities, and hence does not turn on the function key
- labels when in visual mode. This is useful for different
+ defines a 2621-nl that does not have the <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> or <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG>
+ capabilities, and hence does not turn on the function key
+ labels when in visual mode. This is useful for different
modes for a terminal, or for different user preferences.
<STRONG>Pitfalls</STRONG> <STRONG>of</STRONG> <STRONG>Long</STRONG> <STRONG>Entries</STRONG>
- Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to
- date, no entry has even approached terminfo's 4096-byte
+ Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to
+ date, no entry has even approached terminfo's 4096-byte
string-table maximum. Unfortunately, the termcap transla-
tions are much more strictly limited (to 1023 bytes), thus
- termcap translations of long terminfo entries can cause
+ termcap translations of long terminfo entries can cause
problems.
- The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions of <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG>
- instruct the user to allocate a 1024-byte buffer for the
- termcap entry. The entry gets null-terminated by the
+ The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions of <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG>
+ instruct the user to allocate a 1024-byte buffer for the
+ termcap entry. The entry gets null-terminated by the
termcap library, so that makes the maximum safe length for
- a termcap entry 1k-1 (1023) bytes. Depending on what the
- application and the termcap library being used does, and
+ a termcap entry 1k-1 (1023) bytes. Depending on what the
+ application and the termcap library being used does, and
where in the termcap file the terminal type that <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG>
is searching for is, several bad things can happen.
- Some termcap libraries print a warning message or exit if
- they find an entry that's longer than 1023 bytes; others
- do not; others truncate the entries to 1023 bytes. Some
+ Some termcap libraries print a warning message or exit if
+ they find an entry that's longer than 1023 bytes; others
+ do not; others truncate the entries to 1023 bytes. Some
application programs allocate more than the recommended 1K
for the termcap entry; others do not.
Each termcap entry has two important sizes associated with
it: before "tc" expansion, and after "tc" expansion. "tc"
- is the capability that tacks on another termcap entry to
- the end of the current one, to add on its capabilities.
- If a termcap entry does not use the "tc" capability, then
+ is the capability that tacks on another termcap entry to
+ the end of the current one, to add on its capabilities.
+ If a termcap entry does not use the "tc" capability, then
of course the two lengths are the same.
- The "before tc expansion" length is the most important
- one, because it affects more than just users of that par-
- ticular terminal. This is the length of the entry as it
+ The "before tc expansion" length is the most important
+ one, because it affects more than just users of that par-
+ ticular terminal. This is the length of the entry as it
exists in /etc/termcap, minus the backslash-newline pairs,
which <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> strips out while reading it. Some termcap
- libraries strip off the final newline, too (GNU termcap
+ libraries strip off the final newline, too (GNU termcap
does not). Now suppose:
- * a termcap entry before expansion is more than 1023
- bytes long,
-
- * and the application has only allocated a 1k buffer,
-
- * and the termcap library (like the one in BSD/OS 1.1
- and GNU) reads the whole entry into the buffer, no
- matter what its length, to see if it is the entry it
- wants,
-
- * and <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> is searching for a terminal type that
- either is the long entry, appears in the termcap file
- after the long entry, or does not appear in the file
- at all (so that <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> has to search the whole
- termcap file).
-
- Then <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> will overwrite memory, perhaps its stack,
- and probably core dump the program. Programs like telnet
- are particularly vulnerable; modern telnets pass along
- values like the terminal type automatically. The results
- are almost as undesirable with a termcap library, like
- SunOS 4.1.3 and Ultrix 4.4, that prints warning messages
- when it reads an overly long termcap entry. If a termcap
- library truncates long entries, like OSF/1 3.0, it is
- immune to dying here but will return incorrect data for
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> a termcap entry before expansion is more than 1023
+ bytes long,
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the application has only allocated a 1k buffer,
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the termcap library (like the one in BSD/OS 1.1
+ and GNU) reads the whole entry into the buffer, no
+ matter what its length, to see if it is the entry it
+ wants,
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> is searching for a terminal type that
+ either is the long entry, appears in the termcap file
+ after the long entry, or does not appear in the file
+ at all (so that <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> has to search the whole
+ termcap file).
+
+ Then <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> will overwrite memory, perhaps its stack,
+ and probably core dump the program. Programs like telnet
+ are particularly vulnerable; modern telnets pass along
+ values like the terminal type automatically. The results
+ are almost as undesirable with a termcap library, like
+ SunOS 4.1.3 and Ultrix 4.4, that prints warning messages
+ when it reads an overly long termcap entry. If a termcap
+ library truncates long entries, like OSF/1 3.0, it is
+ immune to dying here but will return incorrect data for
the terminal.
The "after tc expansion" length will have a similar effect
to the above, but only for people who actually set TERM to
- that terminal type, since <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> only does "tc" expan-
- sion once it is found the terminal type it was looking
+ that terminal type, since <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> only does "tc" expan-
+ sion once it is found the terminal type it was looking
for, not while searching.
In summary, a termcap entry that is longer than 1023 bytes
- can cause, on various combinations of termcap libraries
- and applications, a core dump, warnings, or incorrect
- operation. If it is too long even before "tc" expansion,
+ can cause, on various combinations of termcap libraries
+ and applications, a core dump, warnings, or incorrect
+ operation. If it is too long even before "tc" expansion,
it will have this effect even for users of some other ter-
- minal types and users whose TERM variable does not have a
+ minal types and users whose TERM variable does not have a
termcap entry.
When in -C (translate to termcap) mode, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> imple-
mentation of <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG> issues warning messages when the pre-
- tc length of a termcap translation is too long. The -c
- (check) option also checks resolved (after tc expansion)
+ tc length of a termcap translation is too long. The -c
+ (check) option also checks resolved (after tc expansion)
lengths.
<STRONG>Binary</STRONG> <STRONG>Compatibility</STRONG>
- It is not wise to count on portability of binary terminfo
- entries between commercial UNIX versions. The problem is
- that there are at least two versions of terminfo (under
+ It is not wise to count on portability of binary terminfo
+ entries between commercial UNIX versions. The problem is
+ that there are at least two versions of terminfo (under
HP-UX and AIX) which diverged from System V terminfo after
- SVr1, and have added extension capabilities to the string
- table that (in the binary format) collide with System V
+ SVr1, and have added extension capabilities to the string
+ table that (in the binary format) collide with System V
and XSI Curses extensions.
</PRE>
<H2>EXTENSIONS</H2><PRE>
+ Searching for terminal descriptions in <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> and
+ TERMINFO_DIRS is not supported by older implementations.
+
Some SVr4 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> implementations, and all previous to
SVr4, do not interpret the %A and %O operators in parame-
ter strings.
and emulators like xterm that can return mouse-tracking
information in the keyboard-input stream.
+ X/Open Curses does not mention italics. Portable applica-
+ tions must assume that numeric capabilities are signed
+ 16-bit values. This includes the <EM>no</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>color</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>video</EM> (ncv)
+ capability. The 32768 mask value used for italics with
+ ncv can be confused with an absent or cancelled ncv. If
+ italics should work with colors, then the ncv value must
+ be specified, even if it is zero.
+
Different commercial ports of terminfo and curses support
different subsets of the XSI Curses standard and (in some
cases) different extension sets. Here is a summary, accu-
</PRE>
<H2>SEE ALSO</H2><PRE>
- <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="infocmp.1m.html">infocmp(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="printf.3.html">printf(3)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>.
+ <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="infocmp.1m.html">infocmp(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>printf(3)</STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>.
+ <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>.
</PRE>
<H2>AUTHORS</H2><PRE>
- Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.
+ Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.
Based on pcurses by Pavel Curtis.