-.\" $Id: terminfo.tail,v 1.38 2003/01/05 22:47:05 tom Exp $
+.\" $Id: terminfo.tail,v 1.50 2009/09/19 19:56:15 tom Exp $
.\" Beginning of terminfo.tail file
+.\" This file is part of ncurses.
+.\" See "terminfo.head" for copyright.
.ps +1
-.PP
+.
.SS A Sample Entry
-.PP
+.
The following entry, describing an ANSI-standard terminal, is representative
of what a \fBterminfo\fR entry for a modern terminal typically looks like.
.PP
.DT
.nf
.ft CW
-.in -7
- \s-133\||\|tty33\||\|tty\||\|model 33 teletype,
+.\".in -2
+\s-133\||\|tty33\||\|tty\||\|model 33 teletype,
bel=^G, cols#72, cr=^M, cud1=^J, hc, ind=^J, os,\s+1
-.in +7
+.\".in +2
.ft R
.PP
-while the Lear Siegler \s-1ADM\-3\s0 is described as
+while the Lear Siegler \s-1ADM-3\s0 is described as
.PP
.DT
.nf
.ft CW
-.in -7
- \s-1adm3\||\|3\||\|lsi adm3,
+.\".in -2
+\s-1adm3\||\|3\||\|lsi adm3,
am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
ind=^J, lines#24,\s+1
-.in +7
+.\".in +2
.ft R
.fi
.PP
Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters
in the terminal are described by a
parameterized string capability, with
-.IR printf (3S)
+.IR printf (3)
like escapes \fB%x\fR in it.
For example, to address the cursor, the
.B cup
outputs `%'
.TP
%\fI[[\fP:\fI]flags][width[.precision]][\fPdoxXs\fI]\fP
-as in \fBprintf\fP, flags are [-+#] and space
+as in \fBprintf\fP, flags are [-+#] and space.
+Use a `:' to allow the next character to be a `-' flag,
+avoiding interpreting "%-" as an operator.
.TP
%c
print pop() like %c in \fBprintf\fP
arithmetic (%m is mod): push(pop() op pop())
.TP
%& %| %^
-bit operations: push(pop() op pop())
+bit operations (AND, OR and exclusive-OR): push(pop() op pop())
.TP
%= %> %<
logical operations: push(pop() op pop())
.TP
%A, %O
-logical and & or operations (for conditionals)
+logical AND and OR operations (for conditionals)
.TP
%! %~
-unary operations push(op pop())
+unary operations (logical and bit complement): push(op pop())
.TP
%i
add 1 to first two parameters (for ANSI terminals)
.TP
%? \fIexpr\fP %t \fIthenpart\fP %e \fIelsepart\fP %;
-if-then-else, %e \fIelsepart\fP is optional.
-else-if's are possible a la Algol 68:
-.br
+This forms an if-then-else.
+The %e \fIelsepart\fP is optional.
+Usually the %? \fIexpr\fP part pushes a value onto the stack,
+and %t pops it from the stack, testing if it is nonzero (true).
+If it is zero (false), control passes to the %e (else) part.
+.IP
+It is possible to form else-if's a la Algol 68:
+.RS
%? c\d1\u %t b\d1\u %e c\d2\u %t b\d2\u %e c\d3\u %t b\d3\u %e c\d4\u %t b\d4\u %e %;
-.br
-c\di\u are conditions, b\di\u are bodies.
+.RE
+.IP
+where c\di\u are conditions, b\di\u are bodies.
+.IP
+Use the \fB-f\fP option of \fBtic\fP or \fB@INFOCMP@\fP to see
+the structure of if-the-else's.
+Some strings, e.g., \fBsgr\fP can be very complicated when written
+on one line.
+The \fB-f\fP option splits the string into lines with the parts indented.
.PP
Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands in the usual order.
That is, to get x-5 one would use "%gx%{5}%-".
.PP
.TS
center;
-l c c
-l c c
-lw28 lw6 lw2 lw20.
+l l l
+l l l
+lw18 lw14 lw18.
\fBtparm parameter attribute escape sequence\fP
none none \\E[0m
.PP
.TS
center;
-l c c
-l c c
-lw28 lw6 lw2 lw20.
+l l l
+l l l
+lw18 lw14 lw18.
\fBsequence when to output terminfo translation\fP
\\E[0 always \\E[0
.fi
.PP
Remember that if you specify sgr, you must also specify sgr0.
+Also, some implementations rely on sgr being given if sgr0 is,
+Not all terminfo entries necessarily have an sgr string, however.
+Many terminfo entries are derived from termcap entries
+which have no sgr string.
+The only drawback to adding an sgr string is that termcap also
+assumes that sgr0 does not exit alternate character set mode.
.PP
Terminals with the ``magic cookie'' glitch
.RB ( xmc )
They are normally sent to the terminal, by the
.I init
option of the
-.IR tput
+.IR @TPUT@
program, each time the user logs in.
They will be printed in the following order:
+.RS
+.TP
run the program
-.BR iprog ;
+.BR iprog
+.TP
output
-.BR is1 ;
-.BR is2 ;
+.BR is1
+.BR is2
+.TP
set the margins using
.BR mgc ,
.BR smgl
and
-.BR smgr ;
+.BR smgr
+.TP
set tabs using
.B tbc
and
-.BR hts ;
+.BR hts
+.TP
print the file
-.BR if ;
+.BR if
+.TP
and finally
output
.BR is3 .
+.RE
.PP
Most initialization is done with
.BR is2 .
.B is1
and
.BR is3 .
-A pair of sequences that does a harder reset from a totally unknown state
-can be analogously given as
+.PP
+A set of sequences that does a harder reset from a totally unknown state
+can be given as
.BR rs1 ,
.BR rs2 ,
-.BR rf ,
+.BR rf
and
.BR rs3 ,
analogous to
-.B is2
+.B is1 ,
+.B is2 ,
+.B if
and
-.BR if .
+.BR is3
+respectively.
These strings are output by the
.IR reset
program, which is used when the terminal gets into a wedged state.
but it causes an annoying glitch of the screen and is not normally
needed since the terminal is usually already in 80 column mode.
.PP
+The
+.IR reset
+program writes strings
+including
+.BR iprog ,
+etc., in the same order as the
+.IR init
+program, using
+.BR rs1 ,
+etc., instead of
+.BR is1 ,
+etc.
+If any of
+.BR rs1 ,
+.BR rs2 ,
+.BR rs3 ,
+or
+.BR rf
+reset capability strings are missing, the
+.IR reset
+program falls back upon the corresponding initialization capability string.
+.PP
If there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can be given as
.B tbc
(clear all tab stops)
.BR if .
.SS Delays and Padding
.PP
-Many older and slower terminals don't support either XON/XOFF or DTR
+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
.BR xon .
This capability suppresses the emission of padding.
You can also set it
-for memory-mapped console devices effectively that don't have a speed limit.
+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 decisions about relative costs, but actual pad characters will
not be transmitted.
.PP
.TS H
center expand;
-c l l c
-c l l c
-lw28 lw6 lw2 lw20.
+l l l l
+l l l l
+lw25 lw10 lw6 lw6.
.\".TH
\fBGlyph ACS Ascii VT100\fR
\fBName Name Default Name\fR
.SS Pitfalls of Long Entries
.PP
Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to date, no entry has even
-approached terminfo's 4K string-table maximum.
+approached terminfo's 4096-byte string-table maximum.
Unfortunately, the termcap
-translations are much more strictly limited (to 1K), thus termcap translations
+translations are much more strictly limited (to 1023 bytes), thus termcap translations
of long terminfo entries can cause problems.
.PP
-The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions of tgetent() instruct the user to
-allocate a 1K buffer for the termcap entry.
+The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions of \fBtgetent()\fP 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 where in the termcap file the terminal type that tgetent()
+being used does, and where in the termcap file the terminal type that \fBtgetent()\fP
is searching for is, several bad things can happen.
.PP
Some termcap libraries print a warning message or exit if they find an
-entry that's longer than 1023 bytes; others don't; others truncate the
+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 don't.
+the recommended 1K for the termcap entry; others do not.
.PP
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 doesn't use the "tc"
+If a termcap entry does not use the "tc"
capability, then of course the two lengths are the same.
.PP
The "before tc expansion" length is the most important one, because it
affects more than just users of that particular terminal.
This is the
length of the entry as it exists in /etc/termcap, minus the
-backslash-newline pairs, which tgetent() strips out while reading it.
+backslash-newline pairs, which \fBtgetent()\fP strips out while reading it.
Some termcap libraries strip off the final newline, too (GNU termcap does not).
Now suppose:
.TP 5
*
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's the entry it wants,
+if it is the entry it wants,
.TP 5
*
-and tgetent() is searching for a terminal type that either is the
+and \fBtgetent()\fP is searching for a terminal type that either is the
long entry, appears in the termcap file after the long entry, or
-doesn't appear in the file at all (so that tgetent() has to search
+does not appear in the file at all (so that \fBtgetent()\fP has to search
the whole termcap file).
.PP
-Then tgetent() will overwrite memory, perhaps its stack, and probably core dump
+Then \fBtgetent()\fP 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.
.PP
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 tgetent() only does "tc" expansion once it's found the
+type, since \fBtgetent()\fP only does "tc" expansion once it is found the
terminal type it was looking for, not while searching.
.PP
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's too long even before
+If it is too long even before
"tc" expansion, it will have this effect even for users of some other
terminal types and users whose TERM variable does not have a termcap
entry.
.PP
When in -C (translate to termcap) mode, the \fBncurses\fR implementation of
-\fBtic\fR(1) issues warning messages when the pre-tc length of a termcap
+\fB@TIC@\fR(1M) 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) lengths.
SVr1, and have added extension capabilities to the string table that (in the
binary format) collide with System V and XSI Curses extensions.
.SH EXTENSIONS
-Some SVr4 \fBcurses\fR implementations, and all previous to SVr4, don't
+Some SVr4 \fBcurses\fR implementations, and all previous to SVr4, do not
interpret the %A and %O operators in parameter strings.
.PP
SVr4/XPG4 do not specify whether \fBmsgr\fR licenses movement while in
an alternate-character-set mode (such modes may, among other things, map
-CR and NL to characters that don't trigger local motions).
+CR and NL to characters that do not trigger local motions).
The \fBncurses\fR implementation ignores \fBmsgr\fR in \fBALTCHARSET\fR
mode.
This raises the possibility that an XPG4
\*d/?/*
files containing terminal descriptions
.SH SEE ALSO
-\fBtic\fR(1M), \fBcurses\fR(3X), \fBprintf\fR(3S), \fBterm\fR(\*n).
+\fB@TIC@\fR(1M),
+\fB@INFOCMP@\fR(1M),
+\fBcurses\fR(3X),
+\fBprintf\fR(3),
+\fBterm\fR(\*n).
.SH AUTHORS
Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.
Based on pcurses by Pavel Curtis.