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30 * Author: Thomas E. Dickey <dickey@clark.net> 1997,1999,2000
31 * @Id: default_colors.3x,v 1.16 2002/02/16 22:39:52 tom Exp @
35 <TITLE>default_colors 3x</TITLE>
36 <link rev=made href="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">
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40 <H1>default_colors 3x</H1>
43 <!-- Manpage converted by man2html 3.0.1 -->
47 <STRONG>use_default_colors</STRONG>, <STRONG>assume_default_colors</STRONG> - use terminal's
52 <H2>SYNOPSIS</H2><PRE>
53 <STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>
55 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>use_default_colors(void);</STRONG>
56 <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>assume_default_colors(int</STRONG> <STRONG>fg,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>bg);</STRONG>
60 <H2>DESCRIPTION</H2><PRE>
61 The <EM>use</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>default</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>colors()</EM> and <EM>assume</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>default</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>colors()</EM> func-
62 tions are extensions to the curses library. They are used
63 with terminals that support ISO 6429 color, or equivalent.
64 These terminals allow the application to reset color to an
65 unspecified default value (e.g., with SGR 39 or SGR 49).
67 Applications that paint a colored background over the
68 whole screen do not take advantage of SGR 39 and SGR 49.
69 Some applications are designed to work with the default
70 background, using colors only for text. For example,
71 there are several implementations of the <STRONG>ls</STRONG> program which
72 use colors to denote different file types or permissions.
73 These "color ls" programs do not necessarily modify the
74 background color, typically using only the <EM>setaf</EM> terminfo
75 capability to set the foreground color. Full-screen
76 applications that use default colors can achieve similar
79 The first function, <EM>use</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>default</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>colors()</EM> tells the curses
80 library to assign terminal default foreground/background
81 colors to color number -1. So init_pair(x,COLOR_RED,-1)
82 will initialize pair x as red on default background and
83 init_pair(x,-1,COLOR_BLUE) will initialize pair x as
84 default foreground on blue.
86 The other, <EM>assume</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>default</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>colors()</EM> is a refinement which
87 tells which colors to paint for color pair 0. This func-
88 tion recognizes a special color number -1, which denotes
89 the default terminal color.
91 The following are equivalent:
92 <EM>use</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>default</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>colors();</EM>
93 <EM>assume</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>default</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>colors(-1,-1);</EM>
95 These are ncurses extensions. For other curses implemen-
96 tations, color number -1 does not mean anything, just as
97 for ncurses before a successful call of <EM>use</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>default</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>col-</EM>
98 <EM>ors()</EM> or <EM>assume</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>default</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>colors()</EM>.
100 Other curses implementations do not allow an application
101 to modify color pair 0. They assume that the background
102 is COLOR_BLACK, but do not ensure that the color pair 0 is
103 painted to match the assumption. If your application does
104 not use either <EM>use</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>default</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>colors()</EM> or <EM>assume</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>default</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>col-</EM>
105 <EM>ors()</EM> ncurses will paint a white foreground (text) with
106 black background for color pair 0.
110 <H2>RETURN VALUE</H2><PRE>
111 These functions return the integer <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon failure and <STRONG>OK</STRONG>
112 on success. They will fail if either the terminal does
113 not support the <EM>orig</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>pair</EM> or <EM>orig</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>colors</EM> capability. If
114 the <EM>initialize</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>pair</EM> capability is found, this causes an
120 Associated with this extension, the <STRONG><A HREF="init_pair.3x.html">init_pair(3x)</A></STRONG> function
121 accepts negative arguments to specify default foreground
122 or background colors.
126 <H2>PORTABILITY</H2><PRE>
127 These routines are specific to ncurses. They were not
128 supported on Version 7, BSD or System V implementations.
129 It is recommended that any code depending on them be con-
130 ditioned using NCURSES_VERSION.
134 <H2>SEE ALSO</H2><PRE>
135 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="ded.1.html">ded(1)</A></STRONG>.
140 Thomas Dickey (from an analysis of the requirements for
141 color xterm for XFree86 3.1.2C, February 1996).
171 Man(1) output converted with
172 <a href="http://www.oac.uci.edu/indiv/ehood/man2html.html">man2html</a>