3 ****************************************************************************
4 * Copyright 2018-2022,2023 Thomas E. Dickey *
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30 ****************************************************************************
31 * @Id: curs_terminfo.3x,v 1.124 2023/12/23 17:34:39 tom Exp @
32 * ***************************************************************************
33 * ***************************************************************************
34 * ***************************************************************************
35 * ***************************************************************************
36 * ***************************************************************************
37 * ***************************************************************************
38 * ***************************************************************************
39 * ***************************************************************************
40 * See X/Open Curses Issue 4, Version 2, pp. 227-234.
41 * See X/Open Curses Issue 7, pp. 311-318.
42 * ***************************************************************************
43 * ***************************************************************************
44 * ***************************************************************************
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56 <H1 class="no-header">curs_terminfo 3x 2023-12-23 ncurses 6.4 Library calls</H1>
58 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG> Library calls <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
63 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
64 <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, <STRONG>putp</STRONG>, <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>,
65 <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiparm_s</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiscan_s</STRONG>, <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>,
66 <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>, <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG>, <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> - <EM>curses</EM> interfaces to
67 <EM>terminfo</EM> database
70 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
71 <STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>
72 <STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG><term.h></STRONG>
74 <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*cur_term;</STRONG>
76 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>boolnames[];</STRONG>
77 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>boolcodes[];</STRONG>
78 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>boolfnames[];</STRONG>
79 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>numnames[];</STRONG>
80 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>numcodes[];</STRONG>
81 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>numfnames[];</STRONG>
82 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>strnames[];</STRONG>
83 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>strcodes[];</STRONG>
84 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>strfnames[];</STRONG>
86 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>setupterm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>filedes</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>errret</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
87 <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*set_curterm(TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>nterm</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
88 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>del_curterm(TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>oterm</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
89 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>restartterm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>filedes</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>errret</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
91 <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*tparm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> ...<STRONG>);</STRONG>
92 <EM>/*</EM> <EM>or</EM> <EM>*/</EM>
93 <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*tparm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>long</STRONG> <EM>p1</EM> ... <STRONG>long</STRONG> <EM>p9</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
95 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>tputs(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>affcnt</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>(*</STRONG><EM>putc</EM><STRONG>)(int));</STRONG>
96 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>putp(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
98 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>vidputs(chtype</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>(*</STRONG><EM>putc</EM><STRONG>)(int));</STRONG>
99 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>vidattr(chtype</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
100 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>vid_puts(attr_t</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>short</STRONG> <EM>pair</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>void</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>opts</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>(*</STRONG><EM>putc</EM><STRONG>)(int));</STRONG>
101 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>vid_attr(attr_t</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>short</STRONG> <EM>pair</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>void</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>opts</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
103 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvcur(int</STRONG> <EM>oldrow</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>oldcol</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>newrow</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>newcol</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
105 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>tigetflag(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>capname</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
106 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>tigetnum(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>capname</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
107 <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*tigetstr(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>capname</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
109 <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*tiparm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> ...<STRONG>);</STRONG>
111 <EM>/*</EM> <EM>extensions</EM> <EM>*/</EM>
112 <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*tiparm_s(int</STRONG> <EM>expected</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>mask</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>...);</STRONG>
113 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>tiscan_s(int</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>expected</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>mask</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
115 <EM>/*</EM> <EM>deprecated</EM> <EM>*/</EM>
116 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>setterm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
119 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
120 These low-level routines must be called by programs that have to deal
121 directly with the <EM>terminfo</EM> database to handle certain terminal
122 capabilities, such as programming function keys. For all other
123 functionality, <EM>curses</EM> routines are more suitable and their use is
126 None of these functions use (or are aware of) multibyte character
127 strings such as UTF-8:
129 <STRONG>o</STRONG> capability names use the POSIX portable character set
131 <STRONG>o</STRONG> capability string values have no associated encoding; they are
132 strings of 8-bit characters.
135 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Initialization">Initialization</a></H3><PRE>
136 Initially, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> should be called. The high-level curses functions
137 <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> and <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> call <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> to initialize the low-level set of
138 terminal-dependent variables [listed in <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>].
140 Applications can use the terminal capabilities either directly (via
141 header definitions), or by special functions. The header files
142 <STRONG>curses.h</STRONG> and <STRONG>term.h</STRONG> should be included (in this order) to get the
143 definitions for these strings, numbers, and flags.
145 The <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> variables <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG> are initialized by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
148 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If <STRONG>use_env(FALSE)</STRONG> has been called, values for <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG>
149 specified in <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> are used.
151 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Otherwise, if the environment variables <EM>LINES</EM> and <EM>COLUMNS</EM> exist,
152 their values are used. If these environment variables do not exist
153 and the program is running in a window, the current window size is
154 used. Otherwise, if the environment variables do not exist, the
155 values for <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG> specified in the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database are
158 Parameterized strings should be passed through <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> to instantiate
159 them. All <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> strings (including the output of <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>) should be
160 printed with <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> or <STRONG>putp</STRONG>. Call <STRONG>reset_shell_mode</STRONG> to restore the tty
161 modes before exiting [see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_kernel.3x.html">curs_kernel(3x)</A></STRONG>].
163 Programs which use cursor addressing should
165 <STRONG>o</STRONG> output <STRONG>enter_ca_mode</STRONG> upon startup and
167 <STRONG>o</STRONG> output <STRONG>exit_ca_mode</STRONG> before exiting.
169 Programs which execute shell subprocesses should
171 <STRONG>o</STRONG> call <STRONG>reset_shell_mode</STRONG> and output <STRONG>exit_ca_mode</STRONG> before the shell is
174 <STRONG>o</STRONG> output <STRONG>enter_ca_mode</STRONG> and call <STRONG>reset_prog_mode</STRONG> after returning from
177 The <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> routine reads in the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database, initializing the
178 <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> structures, but does not set up the output virtualization
179 structures used by <STRONG>curses</STRONG>. These are its parameters:
181 <EM>term</EM> is the terminal type, a character string. If <EM>term</EM> is null, the
182 environment variable <EM>TERM</EM> is used.
185 is the file descriptor used for getting and setting terminal
188 Higher-level applications use <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">newterm(3x)</A></STRONG> for initializing the
189 terminal, passing an output <EM>stream</EM> rather than a <EM>descriptor</EM>.
190 In curses, the two are the same because <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> calls
191 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>, passing the file descriptor derived from its output
195 points to an optional location where an error status can be
196 returned to the caller. If <EM>errret</EM> is not null, then <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
197 returns <STRONG>OK</STRONG> or <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> and stores a status value in the integer
198 pointed to by <EM>errret</EM>. A return value of <STRONG>OK</STRONG> combined with
199 status of <STRONG>1</STRONG> in <EM>errret</EM> is normal.
201 If <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> is returned, examine <EM>errret</EM>:
203 <STRONG>1</STRONG> means that the terminal is hardcopy, cannot be used for
204 <EM>curses</EM> applications.
206 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> determines if the entry is a hardcopy type by
207 checking the <STRONG>hc</STRONG> (<STRONG>hardcopy</STRONG>) capability.
209 <STRONG>0</STRONG> means that the terminal could not be found, or that it is
210 a generic type, having too little information for <EM>curses</EM>
213 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> determines if the entry is a generic type by
214 checking the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (<STRONG>generic_type</STRONG>) capability.
216 <STRONG>-1</STRONG> means that the <EM>terminfo</EM> database could not be found.
218 If <EM>errret</EM> is null, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> prints an error message upon
219 finding an error and exits. Thus, the simplest call is:
221 <STRONG>setupterm((char</STRONG> <STRONG>*)0,</STRONG> <STRONG>1,</STRONG> <STRONG>(int</STRONG> <STRONG>*)0);</STRONG>,
223 which uses all the defaults and sends the output to <STRONG>stdout</STRONG>.
226 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-The-Terminal-State">The Terminal State</a></H3><PRE>
227 The <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> routine stores its information about the terminal in a
228 <EM>TERMINAL</EM> structure pointed to by the global variable <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>. If it
229 detects an error, or decides that the terminal is unsuitable (hardcopy
230 or generic), it discards this information, making it not available to
233 If <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> is called repeatedly for the same terminal type, it will
234 reuse the information. It maintains only one copy of a given
235 terminal's capabilities in memory. If it is called for different
236 terminal types, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> allocates new storage for each set of
237 terminal capabilities.
239 The <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG> routine sets <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG> to <EM>nterm</EM>, and makes all of the
240 <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> boolean, numeric, and string variables use the values from
241 <EM>nterm</EM>. It returns the old value of <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>.
243 The <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG> routine frees the space pointed to by <EM>oterm</EM> and makes
244 it available for further use. If <EM>oterm</EM> is the same as <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>,
245 references to any of the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> boolean, numeric, and string
246 variables thereafter may refer to invalid memory locations until
247 another <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> has been called.
249 The <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> routine is similar to <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> and <STRONG>initscr</STRONG>, except
250 that it is called after restoring memory to a previous state (for
251 example, when reloading a game saved as a core image dump).
252 <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> assumes that the windows and the input and output options
253 are the same as when memory was saved, but the terminal type and baud
254 rate may be different. Accordingly, <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> saves various tty
255 state bits, calls <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>, and then restores the bits.
258 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Formatting-Output">Formatting Output</a></H3><PRE>
259 The <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> routine instantiates the string <EM>str</EM> with parameters <EM>pi</EM>. A
260 pointer is returned to the result of <EM>str</EM> with the parameters applied.
261 Application developers should keep in mind these quirks of the
264 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Although <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>'s actual parameters may be integers or strings, the
265 prototype expects <STRONG>long</STRONG> (integer) values.
267 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Aside from the <STRONG>set_attributes</STRONG> (<STRONG>sgr</STRONG>) capability, most terminal
268 capabilities require no more than one or two parameters.
270 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Padding information is ignored by <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>; it is interpreted by
271 <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>.
273 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The capability string is null-terminated. Use "\200" where an
274 ASCII NUL is needed in the output.
276 <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> is a newer form of <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> which uses <EM><stdarg.h></EM> rather than a
277 fixed-parameter list. Its numeric parameters are integers (int) rather
280 Both <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> and <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> assume that the application passes parameters
281 consistent with the terminal description. Two extensions are provided
282 as alternatives to deal with untrusted data:
284 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>tiparm_s</STRONG> is an extension which is a safer formatting function than
285 <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> or <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>, because it allows the developer to tell the curses
286 library how many parameters to expect in the parameter list, and
287 which may be string parameters.
289 The <EM>mask</EM> parameter has one bit set for each of the parameters (up
290 to 9) which will be passed as char* rather than numbers.
292 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The extension <STRONG>tiscan_s</STRONG> allows the application to inspect a
293 formatting capability to see what the curses library would assume.
296 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Output-Functions">Output Functions</a></H3><PRE>
297 String capabilities can contain padding information, a time delay
298 (accommodating performance limitations of hardware terminals) expressed
299 as <STRONG>$<</STRONG><EM>n</EM><STRONG>></STRONG>, where <EM>n</EM> is a nonnegative integral count of milliseconds. If <EM>n</EM>
300 exceeds 30,000 (thirty seconds), it is capped at that value.
302 The <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> routine interprets time-delay information in the string <EM>str</EM>
303 and outputs it, executing the delays:
305 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The <EM>str</EM> parameter must be a terminfo string variable or the return
306 value from <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tgetstr</STRONG>, or <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG>.
308 The <STRONG>tgetstr</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG> functions are part of the <EM>termcap</EM> interface,
309 which happens to share this function name with the <EM>terminfo</EM>
312 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>affcnt</EM> is the number of lines affected, or 1 if not applicable.
314 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>putc</EM> is a <EM>putchar</EM>-like function to which the characters are passed,
317 If <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> processes a time-delay, it uses the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">delay_output(3x)</A></STRONG>
318 function, routing any resulting padding characters through this
321 The <STRONG>putp</STRONG> routine calls <STRONG>tputs(</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>1,</STRONG> <STRONG>putchar)</STRONG>. The output of <STRONG>putp</STRONG>
322 always goes to <STRONG>stdout</STRONG>, rather than the <EM>filedes</EM> specified in <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>.
324 The <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> routine displays the string on the terminal in the video
325 attribute mode <EM>attrs</EM>, which is any combination of the attributes listed
326 in <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>. The characters are passed to the <EM>putchar</EM>-like function
329 The <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> routine is like the <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> routine, except that it outputs
330 through <EM>putchar</EM>.
332 The <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> routines correspond to vidattr and vidputs,
333 respectively. They use a set of arguments for representing the video
334 attributes plus color, i.e.,
336 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM> of type <STRONG>attr_t</STRONG> for the attributes and
338 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>pair</EM> of type <STRONG>short</STRONG> for the color pair number.
340 The <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> routines are designed to use the attribute
341 constants with the <STRONG>WA_</STRONG> prefix.
343 X/Open Curses reserves the <EM>opts</EM> argument for future use, saying that
344 applications must provide a null pointer for that argument. As an
345 extension, this implementation allows <EM>opts</EM> to be used as a pointer to
346 <STRONG>int</STRONG>, which overrides the <EM>pair</EM> (<STRONG>short</STRONG>) argument.
348 The <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> routine provides low-level cursor motion. It takes effect
349 immediately (rather than at the next refresh). Unlike the other low-
350 level output functions, which either write to the standard output or
351 pass an output function parameter, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> uses an output file descriptor
352 derived from the output stream parameter of <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">newterm(3x)</A></STRONG>.
354 While <STRONG>putp</STRONG> and <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> are low-level functions which do not use the high-
355 level curses state, they are declared in <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG> because System V
356 did this (see <EM>HISTORY</EM>).
359 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminal-Capability-Functions">Terminal Capability Functions</a></H3><PRE>
360 The <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG> and <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG> routines return the value of the
361 capability corresponding to the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> <EM>capname</EM> passed to them, such
362 as <STRONG>xenl</STRONG>. The <EM>capname</EM> for each capability is given in the table column
363 entitled <EM>capname</EM> code in the capabilities section of <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>.
365 These routines return special values to denote errors.
367 The <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG> routine returns
369 <STRONG>-1</STRONG> if <EM>capname</EM> is not a boolean capability, or
371 <STRONG>0</STRONG> if it is canceled or absent from the terminal description.
373 The <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG> routine returns
375 <STRONG>-2</STRONG> if <EM>capname</EM> is not a numeric capability, or
377 <STRONG>-1</STRONG> if it is canceled or absent from the terminal description.
379 The <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG> routine returns
381 <STRONG>(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*)-1</STRONG>
382 if <EM>capname</EM> is not a string capability, or
384 <STRONG>0</STRONG> if it is canceled or absent from the terminal description.
387 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminal-Capability-Names">Terminal Capability Names</a></H3><PRE>
388 These null-terminated arrays contain
390 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the short <EM>terminfo</EM> names ("codes"),
392 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the <EM>termcap</EM> names ("names"), and
394 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the long <EM>terminfo</EM> names ("fnames")
396 for each of the predefined <EM>terminfo</EM> variables:
398 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*boolnames[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*boolcodes[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*boolfnames[]</STRONG>
399 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*numnames[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*numcodes[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*numfnames[]</STRONG>
400 <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*strnames[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*strcodes[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*strfnames[]</STRONG>
403 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Releasing-Memory">Releasing Memory</a></H3><PRE>
404 Each successful call to <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> allocates memory to hold the terminal
405 description. As a side-effect, it sets <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG> to point to this
406 memory. If an application calls
408 <STRONG>del_curterm(cur_term);</STRONG>
410 the memory will be freed.
412 The formatting functions <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> and <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> extend the storage allocated
413 by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>:
415 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the "static" terminfo variables [a-z]. Before <EM>ncurses</EM> 6.3, those
416 were shared by all screens. With <EM>ncurses</EM> 6.3, those are allocated
417 per screen. See <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> for details.
419 <STRONG>o</STRONG> to improve performance, <EM>ncurses</EM> 6.3 caches the result of analyzing
420 terminfo strings for their parameter types. That is stored as a
421 binary tree referenced from the <EM>TERMINAL</EM> structure.
423 The higher-level <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> and <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> functions use <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>. Normally
424 they do not free this memory, but it is possible to do that using the
425 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">delscreen(3x)</A></STRONG> function.
428 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></H2><PRE>
429 Routines that return an integer return <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon failure and <STRONG>OK</STRONG> (SVr4
430 only specifies "an integer value other than <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>") upon successful
431 completion, unless otherwise noted in the preceding routine
434 Routines that return pointers always return <STRONG>NULL</STRONG> on error.
436 X/Open defines no error conditions. In this implementation
438 <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG>
439 returns an error if its terminal parameter is null.
441 <STRONG>putp</STRONG> calls <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>, returning the same error-codes.
443 <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG>
444 returns an error if the associated call to <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> returns an
447 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
448 returns an error if it cannot allocate enough memory, or create
449 the initial windows (stdscr, curscr, newscr). Other error
450 conditions are documented above.
452 <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>
453 returns a null if the capability would require unexpected
454 parameters, e.g., too many, too few, or incorrect types
455 (strings where integers are expected, or vice versa).
457 <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>
458 returns an error if the string parameter is null. It does not
459 detect I/O errors: X/Open states that <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> ignores the return
460 value of the output function <EM>putc</EM>.
463 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-NOTES">NOTES</a></H2><PRE>
464 According to X/Open Curses, any of the <EM>enhanced</EM> <EM>curses</EM> functions may be
465 implemented as macros. The term "enhanced" refers to features not
466 found in SVr4 curses.
468 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> uses macros
470 <STRONG>o</STRONG> for functions which return values via their parameters,
472 <STRONG>o</STRONG> to support obsolete features,
474 <STRONG>o</STRONG> to reuse functions, e.g., those that move the cursor before another
477 <STRONG>o</STRONG> a few special cases.
479 The <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> function in <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> is a special case. It was originally
480 implemented based on a draft of X/Open Curses, as a macro, before other
481 parts of the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> wide-character API were developed.
484 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></H2><PRE>
485 The functions marked as extensions were designed for <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG>, and
486 are not found in SVr4 <EM>curses</EM>, 4.4BSD <EM>curses</EM>, or any other previous
487 curses implementation.
490 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
491 <STRONG>setterm</STRONG> is not described by X/Open and must be considered non-portable.
492 All other functions are as described by X/Open.
495 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Compatibility-Macros">Compatibility Macros</a></H3><PRE>
496 This implementation provides a few macros for compatibility with
497 systems before SVr4 (see section "HISTORY" below). They include
498 <STRONG>Bcrmode</STRONG>, <STRONG>Bfixterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>Bgettmode</STRONG>, <STRONG>Bnocrmode</STRONG>, <STRONG>Bresetterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>Bsaveterm</STRONG>, and
499 <STRONG>Bsetterm</STRONG>.
501 In SVr4, these are found in <EM>curses.h</EM>, but except for <STRONG>setterm</STRONG>, are
502 likewise macros. The one function, <STRONG>setterm</STRONG>, is mentioned in the manual
503 page. It further notes that <STRONG>setterm</STRONG> was replaced by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>, stating
505 setupterm(<EM>term</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>1,</STRONG> <STRONG>(int</STRONG> <STRONG>*)0)</STRONG>
506 provides the same functionality as <STRONG>setterm(</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>)</STRONG>, discouraging the
507 latter for new programs. <EM>ncurses</EM> implements each of these symbols as
508 macros for BSD <EM>curses</EM> compatibility.
511 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Legacy-Data">Legacy Data</a></H3><PRE>
512 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> copies the terminal name to the array <STRONG>ttytype</STRONG>. This is not
513 part of X/Open Curses, but is assumed by some applications.
515 Other implementions may not declare the capability name arrays. Some
516 provide them without declaring them. X/Open does not specify them.
518 Extended terminal capability names, e.g., as defined by <STRONG>tic</STRONG> <STRONG>-x</STRONG>, are not
519 stored in the arrays described here.
522 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Output-Buffering">Output Buffering</a></H3><PRE>
523 Older versions of <EM>ncurses</EM> assumed that the file descriptor passed to
524 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> from <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> uses buffered I/O, and would write to
525 the corresponding stream. In addition to the limitation that the
526 terminal was left in block-buffered mode on exit (like System V
527 curses), it was problematic because <EM>ncurses</EM> did not allow a reliable
528 way to cleanup on receiving SIGTSTP.
530 The current version (ncurses6) uses output buffers managed directly by
531 <EM>ncurses</EM>. Some of the low-level functions described in this manual page
532 write to the standard output. They are not signal-safe. The high-
533 level functions in <EM>ncurses</EM> use alternate versions of these functions
534 using the more reliable buffering scheme.
537 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Function-Prototypes">Function Prototypes</a></H3><PRE>
538 The X/Open Curses prototypes are based on the SVr4 curses header
539 declarations, which were defined at the same time the C language was
540 first standardized in the late 1980s.
542 <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses uses <STRONG>const</STRONG> less effectively than a later design
543 might, in some cases applying it needlessly to values are already
544 constant, and in most cases overlooking parameters which normally
545 would use <STRONG>const</STRONG>. Using constant parameters for functions which do
546 not use <STRONG>const</STRONG> may prevent the program from compiling. On the other
547 hand, <EM>writable</EM> <EM>strings</EM> are an obsolescent feature.
549 As an extension, this implementation can be configured to change
550 the function prototypes to use the <STRONG>const</STRONG> keyword. The <EM>ncurses</EM> ABI
551 6 enables this feature by default.
553 <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses prototypes <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> with a fixed number of parameters,
554 rather than a variable argument list.
556 This implementation uses a variable argument list, but can be
557 configured to use the fixed-parameter list. Portable applications
558 should provide 9 parameters after the format; zeroes are fine for
561 In response to review comments by Thomas E. Dickey, X/Open Curses
562 Issue 7 proposed the <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> function in mid-2009.
564 While <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> is always provided in <EM>ncurses</EM>, the older form is only
565 available as a build-time configuration option. If not specially
566 configured, <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> is the same as <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>.
568 Both forms of <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> have drawbacks:
570 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Most of the calls to <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> use only one or two parameters. Passing
571 nine on each call is awkward.
573 Using <STRONG>long</STRONG> for the numeric parameter type is a workaround to make
574 the parameter use the same amount of stack as a pointer. That
575 approach dates back to the mid-1980s, before C was standardized.
576 Since then, there is a standard (and pointers are not required to
579 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Providing the right number of parameters for a variadic function
580 such as <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> can be a problem, in particular for string
581 parameters. However, only a few terminfo capabilities use string
582 parameters (e.g., the ones used for programmable function keys).
584 The <EM>ncurses</EM> library checks usage of these capabilities, and returns
585 an error if the capability mishandles string parameters. But it
586 cannot check if a calling program provides strings in the right
587 places for the <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> calls.
589 The <STRONG><A HREF="tput.1.html">tput(1)</A></STRONG> program checks its use of these capabilities with a
590 table, so that it calls <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> correctly.
592 <STRONG>Special</STRONG> <EM>TERM</EM> <STRONG>treatment</STRONG>
593 If configured to use the terminal-driver, e.g., for the MinGW port,
595 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> interprets a missing/empty <EM>TERM</EM> variable as the special
598 SVr4 curses uses the special value "dumb".
600 The difference between the two is that the former uses the <STRONG>gn</STRONG>
601 (<STRONG>generic_type</STRONG>) terminfo capability, while the latter does not. A
602 generic terminal is unsuitable for full-screen applications.
604 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> allows explicit use of the the windows console driver by
605 checking if <STRONG>$TERM</STRONG> is set to "#win32con" or an abbreviation of that
609 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Other-Portability-Issues">Other Portability Issues</a></H3><PRE>
610 In System V Release 4, <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG> has an <STRONG>int</STRONG> return type and returns
611 <STRONG>OK</STRONG> or <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>. We have chosen to implement the X/Open Curses semantics.
613 In System V Release 4, the third argument of <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> has the type <STRONG>int</STRONG>
614 <STRONG>(*putc)(char)</STRONG>.
616 At least one implementation of X/Open Curses (Solaris) returns a value
617 other than <STRONG>OK</STRONG>/<STRONG>ERR</STRONG> from <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>. That returns the length of the string,
618 and does no error-checking.
620 X/Open notes that after calling <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, the curses state may not match
621 the actual terminal state, and that an application should touch and
622 refresh the window before resuming normal curses calls. Both <EM>ncurses</EM>
623 and System V Release 4 curses implement <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> using the <EM>SCREEN</EM> data
624 allocated in either <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG>. So though it is documented as
625 a terminfo function, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> is really a curses function which is not
628 X/Open states that the old location must be given for <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>. This
629 implementation allows the caller to use -1's for the old ordinates. In
630 that case, the old location is unknown.
633 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-HISTORY">HISTORY</a></H2><PRE>
634 SVr2 introduced the terminfo feature. Its programming manual mentioned
635 the following low-level functions.
637 <STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
638 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
639 <STRONG>fixterm</STRONG> restore tty to "in curses" state
640 <STRONG>gettmode</STRONG> establish current tty modes
641 <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> low level cursor motion
642 <STRONG>putp</STRONG> utility function that uses <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> to send characters via
644 <STRONG>resetterm</STRONG> set tty modes to "out of curses" state
645 <STRONG>resetty</STRONG> reset tty flags to stored value
646 <STRONG>saveterm</STRONG> save current modes as "in curses" state
647 <STRONG>savetty</STRONG> store current tty flags
648 <STRONG>setterm</STRONG> establish terminal with given type
649 <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> establish terminal with given type
650 <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> instantiate a string expression with parameters
651 <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> apply padding information to a string
652 <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> like <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG>, but outputs through <EM>putchar</EM>
653 <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> output a string to put terminal in a specified video
656 The programming manual also mentioned functions provided for <EM>termcap</EM>
657 compatibility (commenting that they "may go away at a later date").
659 <STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
660 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
661 <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> look up <EM>termcap</EM> entry for given <EM>name</EM>
662 <STRONG>tgetflag</STRONG> get boolean entry for given <EM>id</EM>
663 <STRONG>tgetnum</STRONG> get numeric entry for given <EM>id</EM>
664 <STRONG>tgetstr</STRONG> get string entry for given <EM>id</EM>
665 <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG> apply parameters to given capability
666 <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> apply padding to capability, calling a function to put
669 Early terminfo programs obtained capability values from the <EM>TERMINAL</EM>
670 structure initialized by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>.
672 SVr3 extended terminfo by adding functions to retrieve capability
673 values (like the termcap interface), and reusing <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG> and <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>:
675 <STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
676 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
678 <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG> get boolean entry for given <EM>id</EM>
679 <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG> get numeric entry for given <EM>id</EM>
680 <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG> get string entry for given <EM>id</EM>
682 SVr3 also replaced several of the SVr2 <EM>terminfo</EM> functions which had no
683 counterpart in the <EM>termcap</EM> interface, documenting them as obsolete.
685 <STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Replaced</STRONG> <STRONG>by</STRONG>
686 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
688 fixterm reset_prog_mode
689 gettmode <EM>n/a</EM>
691 resetterm reset_shell_mode
692 saveterm def_prog_mode
695 SVr3 kept the <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> functions, along with <STRONG>putp</STRONG>,
696 <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> and <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>. The latter were needed to support padding, and
697 handling functions such as <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> (which used more than the two
698 parameters supported by <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG>).
700 SVr3 introduced the functions for switching between terminal
701 descriptions, e.g., <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG>. Some of that was incremental
702 improvements to the SVr2 library:
704 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The <EM>TERMINAL</EM> type definition was introduced in SVr3.01, for the
705 <STRONG>term</STRONG> structure provided in SVr2.
707 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The various global variables such as <STRONG>boolnames</STRONG> were mentioned in
708 the programming manual at this point, though the variables were
711 SVr4 added the <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> functions.
713 There are other low-level functions declared in the <EM>curses</EM> header files
714 on Unix systems, but none were documented. The functions marked
715 "obsolete" remained in use by the Unix <STRONG>vi(1)</STRONG> editor.
718 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
719 <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">curs_initscr(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_kernel.3x.html">curs_kernel(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_memleaks.3x.html">curs_memleaks(3x)</A></STRONG>,
720 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termcap.3x.html">curs_termcap(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_variables.3x.html">curs_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>putc(3)</STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>,
721 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
725 ncurses 6.4 2023-12-23 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
729 <li><a href="#h2-NAME">NAME</a></li>
730 <li><a href="#h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li>
731 <li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a>
733 <li><a href="#h3-Initialization">Initialization</a></li>
734 <li><a href="#h3-The-Terminal-State">The Terminal State</a></li>
735 <li><a href="#h3-Formatting-Output">Formatting Output</a></li>
736 <li><a href="#h3-Output-Functions">Output Functions</a></li>
737 <li><a href="#h3-Terminal-Capability-Functions">Terminal Capability Functions</a></li>
738 <li><a href="#h3-Terminal-Capability-Names">Terminal Capability Names</a></li>
739 <li><a href="#h3-Releasing-Memory">Releasing Memory</a></li>
742 <li><a href="#h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></li>
743 <li><a href="#h2-NOTES">NOTES</a></li>
744 <li><a href="#h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></li>
745 <li><a href="#h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a>
747 <li><a href="#h3-Compatibility-Macros">Compatibility Macros</a></li>
748 <li><a href="#h3-Legacy-Data">Legacy Data</a></li>
749 <li><a href="#h3-Output-Buffering">Output Buffering</a></li>
750 <li><a href="#h3-Function-Prototypes">Function Prototypes</a></li>
751 <li><a href="#h3-Other-Portability-Issues">Other Portability Issues</a></li>
754 <li><a href="#h2-HISTORY">HISTORY</a></li>
755 <li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
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