3 * DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE BY HAND!
4 * It is generated from terminfo.head, ./../include/Caps ./../include/Caps-ncurses, and terminfo.tail.
5 * Note: this must be run through tbl before nroff.
6 * The magic cookie on the first line triggers this under some man programs.
7 ****************************************************************************
8 * Copyright 2018-2019,2020 Thomas E. Dickey *
9 * Copyright 1998-2016,2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
11 * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a *
12 * copy of this software and associated documentation files (the *
13 * "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including *
14 * without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, *
15 * distribute, distribute with modifications, sublicense, and/or sell *
16 * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is *
17 * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: *
19 * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included *
20 * in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. *
22 * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS *
23 * OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF *
24 * MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. *
25 * IN NO EVENT SHALL THE ABOVE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, *
26 * DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR *
27 * OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR *
28 * THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. *
30 * Except as contained in this notice, the name(s) of the above copyright *
31 * holders shall not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the *
32 * sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written *
34 ****************************************************************************
35 * @Id: terminfo.head,v 1.39 2020/02/02 23:34:34 tom Exp @
36 * Head of terminfo man page ends here
37 ****************************************************************************
38 * Copyright 2018-2019,2020 Thomas E. Dickey *
39 * Copyright 1998-2016,2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
41 * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a *
42 * copy of this software and associated documentation files (the *
43 * "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including *
44 * without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, *
45 * distribute, distribute with modifications, sublicense, and/or sell *
46 * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is *
47 * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: *
49 * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included *
50 * in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. *
52 * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS *
53 * OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF *
54 * MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. *
55 * IN NO EVENT SHALL THE ABOVE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, *
56 * DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR *
57 * OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR *
58 * THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. *
60 * Except as contained in this notice, the name(s) of the above copyright *
61 * holders shall not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the *
62 * sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written *
64 ****************************************************************************
65 * @Id: terminfo.tail,v 1.99 2020/02/02 23:34:34 tom Exp @
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77 <TITLE>terminfo 5 File Formats</TITLE>
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79 <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
82 <H1 class="no-header">terminfo 5 File Formats</H1>
84 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> File Formats <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
89 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
90 terminfo - terminal capability data base
93 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
94 /usr/share/terminfo/*/*
97 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
98 <EM>Terminfo</EM> is a data base describing terminals, used by screen-oriented
99 programs such as <STRONG>nvi(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG>lynx(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG>mutt(1)</STRONG>, and other curses applica-
100 tions, using high-level calls to libraries such as <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>. It is
101 also used via low-level calls by non-curses applications which may be
102 screen-oriented (such as <STRONG><A HREF="clear.1.html">clear(1)</A></STRONG>) or non-screen (such as <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG>).
104 <EM>Terminfo</EM> describes terminals by giving a set of capabilities which they
105 have, by specifying how to perform screen operations, and by specifying
106 padding requirements and initialization sequences.
108 This manual describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 6.2 (patch 20200215).
111 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminfo-Entry-Syntax">Terminfo Entry Syntax</a></H3><PRE>
112 Entries in <EM>terminfo</EM> consist of a sequence of fields:
114 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Each field ends with a comma "," (embedded commas may be escaped
115 with a backslash or written as "\054").
117 <STRONG>o</STRONG> White space between fields is ignored.
119 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The first field in a <EM>terminfo</EM> entry begins in the first column.
121 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Newlines and leading whitespace (spaces or tabs) may be used for
122 formatting entries for readability. These are removed from parsed
125 The <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> <STRONG>-f</STRONG> and <STRONG>-W</STRONG> options rely on this to format if-then-else
126 expressions, or to enforce maximum line-width. The resulting for-
127 matted terminal description can be read by <STRONG>tic</STRONG>.
129 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The first field for each terminal gives the names which are known
130 for the terminal, separated by "|" characters.
132 The first name given is the most common abbreviation for the termi-
133 nal (its primary name), the last name given should be a long name
134 fully identifying the terminal (see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">longname(3x)</A></STRONG>), and all others
135 are treated as synonyms (aliases) for the primary terminal name.
137 X/Open Curses advises that all names but the last should be in
138 lower case and contain no blanks; the last name may well contain
139 upper case and blanks for readability.
141 This implementation is not so strict; it allows mixed case in the
142 primary name and aliases. If the last name has no embedded blanks,
143 it allows that to be both an alias and a verbose name (but will
144 warn about this ambiguity).
146 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Lines beginning with a "#" in the first column are treated as com-
149 While comment lines are legal at any point, the output of <STRONG>captoinfo</STRONG>
150 and <STRONG>infotocap</STRONG> (aliases for <STRONG>tic</STRONG>) will move comments so they occur
151 only between entries.
153 Terminal names (except for the last, verbose entry) should be chosen
154 using the following conventions. The particular piece of hardware mak-
155 ing up the terminal should have a root name, thus "hp2621". This name
156 should not contain hyphens. Modes that the hardware can be in, or user
157 preferences, should be indicated by appending a hyphen and a mode suf-
158 fix. Thus, a vt100 in 132-column mode would be vt100-w. The following
159 suffixes should be used where possible:
161 <STRONG>Suffix</STRONG> <STRONG>Meaning</STRONG> <STRONG>Example</STRONG>
162 -<EM>nn</EM> Number of lines on the screen aaa-60
163 -<EM>n</EM>p Number of pages of memory c100-4p
164 -am With automargins (usually the default) vt100-am
165 -m Mono mode; suppress color ansi-m
166 -mc Magic cookie; spaces when highlighting wy30-mc
167 -na No arrow keys (leave them in local) c100-na
168 -nam Without automatic margins vt100-nam
169 -nl No status line att4415-nl
170 -ns No status line hp2626-ns
171 -rv Reverse video c100-rv
172 -s Enable status line vt100-s
173 -vb Use visible bell instead of beep wy370-vb
174 -w Wide mode (> 80 columns, usually 132) vt100-w
176 For more on terminal naming conventions, see the <STRONG><A HREF="term.7.html">term(7)</A></STRONG> manual page.
179 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminfo-Capabilities-Syntax">Terminfo Capabilities Syntax</a></H3><PRE>
180 The terminfo entry consists of several <EM>capabilities</EM>, i.e., features
181 that the terminal has, or methods for exercising the terminal's fea-
184 After the first field (giving the name(s) of the terminal entry), there
185 should be one or more <EM>capability</EM> fields. These are boolean, numeric or
186 string names with corresponding values:
188 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Boolean capabilities are true when present, false when absent.
189 There is no explicit value for boolean capabilities.
191 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Numeric capabilities have a "#" following the name, then an
192 unsigned decimal integer value.
194 <STRONG>o</STRONG> String capabilities have a "=" following the name, then an string
195 of characters making up the capability value.
197 String capabilities can be split into multiple lines, just as the
198 fields comprising a terminal entry can be split into multiple
199 lines. While blanks between fields are ignored, blanks embedded
200 within a string value are retained, except for leading blanks on a
203 Any capability can be <EM>canceled</EM>, i.e., suppressed from the terminal
204 entry, by following its name with "@" rather than a capability value.
207 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Similar-Terminals">Similar Terminals</a></H3><PRE>
208 If there are two very similar terminals, one (the variant) can be
209 defined as being just like the other (the base) with certain excep-
210 tions. In the definition of the variant, the string capability <STRONG>use</STRONG> can
211 be given with the name of the base terminal:
213 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The capabilities given before <STRONG>use</STRONG> override those in the base type
214 named by <STRONG>use</STRONG>.
216 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If there are multiple <STRONG>use</STRONG> capabilities, they are merged in reverse
217 order. That is, the rightmost <STRONG>use</STRONG> reference is processed first,
218 then the one to its left, and so forth.
220 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Capabilities given explicitly in the entry override those brought
221 in by <STRONG>use</STRONG> references.
223 A capability can be canceled by placing <STRONG>xx@</STRONG> to the left of the use ref-
224 erence that imports it, where <EM>xx</EM> is the capability. For example, the
227 2621-nl, smkx@, rmkx@, use=2621,
229 defines a 2621-nl that does not have the <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> or <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG> capabilities, and
230 hence does not turn on the function key labels when in visual mode.
231 This is useful for different modes for a terminal, or for different
234 An entry included via <STRONG>use</STRONG> can contain canceled capabilities, which have
235 the same effect as if those cancels were inline in the using terminal
239 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Predefined-Capabilities">Predefined Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
240 The following is a complete table of the capabilities included in a
241 terminfo description block and available to terminfo-using code. In
242 each line of the table,
244 The <STRONG>variable</STRONG> is the name by which the programmer (at the terminfo
245 level) accesses the capability.
247 The <STRONG>capname</STRONG> is the short name used in the text of the database, and is
248 used by a person updating the database. Whenever possible, capnames
249 are chosen to be the same as or similar to the ANSI X3.64-1979 standard
250 (now superseded by ECMA-48, which uses identical or very similar
251 names). Semantics are also intended to match those of the specifica-
254 The termcap code is the old <STRONG>termcap</STRONG> capability name (some capabilities
255 are new, and have names which termcap did not originate).
257 Capability names have no hard length limit, but an informal limit of 5
258 characters has been adopted to keep them short and to allow the tabs in
259 the source file <STRONG>Caps</STRONG> to line up nicely.
261 Finally, the description field attempts to convey the semantics of the
262 capability. You may find some codes in the description field:
264 (P) indicates that padding may be specified
266 #[1-9] in the description field indicates that the string is passed
267 through tparm with parms as given (#<EM>i</EM>).
269 (P*) indicates that padding may vary in proportion to the number of
272 (#<EM>i</EM>) indicates the <EM>i</EM>th parameter.
275 These are the boolean capabilities:
278 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
279 <STRONG>Booleans</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
280 auto_left_margin bw bw cub1 wraps from col-
282 auto_right_margin am am terminal has auto-
284 back_color_erase bce ut screen erased with
289 can_change ccc cc terminal can re-
292 ceol_standout_glitch xhp xs standout not erased
294 col_addr_glitch xhpa YA only positive motion
296 cpi_changes_res cpix YF changing character
299 cr_cancels_micro_mode crxm YB using cr turns off
301 dest_tabs_magic_smso xt xt tabs destructive,
304 eat_newline_glitch xenl xn newline ignored
307 erase_overstrike eo eo can erase over-
309 generic_type gn gn generic line type
310 hard_copy hc hc hardcopy terminal
311 hard_cursor chts HC cursor is hard to
313 has_meta_key km km Has a meta key
315 has_print_wheel daisy YC printer needs opera-
318 has_status_line hs hs has extra status
320 hue_lightness_saturation hls hl terminal uses only
323 insert_null_glitch in in insert mode distin-
325 lpi_changes_res lpix YG changing line pitch
327 memory_above da da display may be
330 memory_below db db display may be
333 move_insert_mode mir mi safe to move while
335 move_standout_mode msgr ms safe to move while
337 needs_xon_xoff nxon nx padding will not
340 no_esc_ctlc xsb xb beehive (f1=escape,
342 no_pad_char npc NP pad character does
344 non_dest_scroll_region ndscr ND scrolling region is
346 non_rev_rmcup nrrmc NR smcup does not
348 over_strike os os terminal can over-
350 prtr_silent mc5i 5i printer will not
352 row_addr_glitch xvpa YD only positive motion
355 semi_auto_right_margin sam YE printing in last
357 status_line_esc_ok eslok es escape can be used
359 tilde_glitch hz hz cannot print ~'s
361 transparent_underline ul ul underline character
363 xon_xoff xon xo terminal uses
366 These are the numeric capabilities:
369 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
370 <STRONG>Numeric</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
371 columns cols co number of columns in
373 init_tabs it it tabs initially every
375 label_height lh lh rows in each label
376 label_width lw lw columns in each
378 lines lines li number of lines on
380 lines_of_memory lm lm lines of memory if >
382 magic_cookie_glitch xmc sg number of blank
385 max_attributes ma ma maximum combined
388 max_colors colors Co maximum number of
390 max_pairs pairs pa maximum number of
393 maximum_windows wnum MW maximum number of
395 no_color_video ncv NC video attributes
398 num_labels nlab Nl number of labels on
400 padding_baud_rate pb pb lowest baud rate
402 virtual_terminal vt vt virtual terminal
404 width_status_line wsl ws number of columns in
407 The following numeric capabilities are present in the SVr4.0 term
408 structure, but are not yet documented in the man page. They came in
409 with SVr4's printer support.
412 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
413 <STRONG>Numeric</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
414 bit_image_entwining bitwin Yo number of passes for
416 bit_image_type bitype Yp type of bit-image
421 buffer_capacity bufsz Ya numbers of bytes
424 buttons btns BT number of buttons on
426 dot_horz_spacing spinh Yc spacing of dots hor-
429 dot_vert_spacing spinv Yb spacing of pins ver-
432 max_micro_address maddr Yd maximum value in
434 max_micro_jump mjump Ye maximum value in
436 micro_col_size mcs Yf character step size
438 micro_line_size mls Yg line step size when
440 number_of_pins npins Yh numbers of pins in
442 output_res_char orc Yi horizontal resolu-
445 output_res_horz_inch orhi Yk horizontal resolu-
448 output_res_line orl Yj vertical resolution
450 output_res_vert_inch orvi Yl vertical resolution
452 print_rate cps Ym print rate in char-
454 wide_char_size widcs Yn character step size
458 These are the string capabilities:
461 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
462 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
463 acs_chars acsc ac graphics charset
466 back_tab cbt bt back tab (P)
467 bell bel bl audible signal
469 carriage_return cr cr carriage return (P*)
471 change_char_pitch cpi ZA Change number of
474 change_line_pitch lpi ZB Change number of
476 change_res_horz chr ZC Change horizontal
478 change_res_vert cvr ZD Change vertical res-
480 change_scroll_region csr cs change region to
483 char_padding rmp rP like ip but when in
487 clear_all_tabs tbc ct clear all tab stops
489 clear_margins mgc MC clear right and left
491 clear_screen clear cl clear screen and
493 clr_bol el1 cb Clear to beginning
495 clr_eol el ce clear to end of line
497 clr_eos ed cd clear to end of
499 column_address hpa ch horizontal position
501 command_character cmdch CC terminal settable
504 create_window cwin CW define a window #1
506 cursor_address cup cm move to row #1 col-
508 cursor_down cud1 do down one line
509 cursor_home home ho home cursor (if no
511 cursor_invisible civis vi make cursor invisi-
513 cursor_left cub1 le move left one space
514 cursor_mem_address mrcup CM memory relative cur-
517 cursor_normal cnorm ve make cursor appear
520 cursor_right cuf1 nd non-destructive
523 cursor_to_ll ll ll last line, first
525 cursor_up cuu1 up up one line
526 cursor_visible cvvis vs make cursor very
528 define_char defc ZE Define a character
531 delete_character dch1 dc delete character
533 delete_line dl1 dl delete line (P*)
534 dial_phone dial DI dial number #1
535 dis_status_line dsl ds disable status line
536 display_clock dclk DK display clock
537 down_half_line hd hd half a line down
538 ena_acs enacs eA enable alternate
540 enter_alt_charset_mode smacs as start alternate
542 enter_am_mode smam SA turn on automatic
544 enter_blink_mode blink mb turn on blinking
545 enter_bold_mode bold md turn on bold (extra
547 enter_ca_mode smcup ti string to start pro-
549 enter_delete_mode smdc dm enter delete mode
550 enter_dim_mode dim mh turn on half-bright
553 enter_doublewide_mode swidm ZF Enter double-wide
555 enter_draft_quality sdrfq ZG Enter draft-quality
557 enter_insert_mode smir im enter insert mode
558 enter_italics_mode sitm ZH Enter italic mode
559 enter_leftward_mode slm ZI Start leftward car-
561 enter_micro_mode smicm ZJ Start micro-motion
563 enter_near_letter_quality snlq ZK Enter NLQ mode
564 enter_normal_quality snrmq ZL Enter normal-quality
566 enter_protected_mode prot mp turn on protected
568 enter_reverse_mode rev mr turn on reverse
570 enter_secure_mode invis mk turn on blank mode
573 enter_shadow_mode sshm ZM Enter shadow-print
575 enter_standout_mode smso so begin standout mode
576 enter_subscript_mode ssubm ZN Enter subscript mode
577 enter_superscript_mode ssupm ZO Enter superscript
579 enter_underline_mode smul us begin underline mode
580 enter_upward_mode sum ZP Start upward car-
582 enter_xon_mode smxon SX turn on xon/xoff
584 erase_chars ech ec erase #1 characters
586 exit_alt_charset_mode rmacs ae end alternate char-
588 exit_am_mode rmam RA turn off automatic
590 exit_attribute_mode sgr0 me turn off all
592 exit_ca_mode rmcup te strings to end pro-
594 exit_delete_mode rmdc ed end delete mode
595 exit_doublewide_mode rwidm ZQ End double-wide mode
596 exit_insert_mode rmir ei exit insert mode
597 exit_italics_mode ritm ZR End italic mode
598 exit_leftward_mode rlm ZS End left-motion mode
599 exit_micro_mode rmicm ZT End micro-motion
601 exit_shadow_mode rshm ZU End shadow-print
603 exit_standout_mode rmso se exit standout mode
604 exit_subscript_mode rsubm ZV End subscript mode
605 exit_superscript_mode rsupm ZW End superscript mode
606 exit_underline_mode rmul ue exit underline mode
607 exit_upward_mode rum ZX End reverse charac-
609 exit_xon_mode rmxon RX turn off xon/xoff
611 fixed_pause pause PA pause for 2-3 sec-
613 flash_hook hook fh flash switch hook
614 flash_screen flash vb visible bell (may
616 form_feed ff ff hardcopy terminal
619 from_status_line fsl fs return from status
621 goto_window wingo WG go to window #1
622 hangup hup HU hang-up phone
623 init_1string is1 i1 initialization
625 init_2string is2 is initialization
627 init_3string is3 i3 initialization
629 init_file if if name of initializa-
631 init_prog iprog iP path name of program
633 initialize_color initc Ic initialize color #1
635 initialize_pair initp Ip Initialize color
639 insert_character ich1 ic insert character (P)
640 insert_line il1 al insert line (P*)
641 insert_padding ip ip insert padding after
643 key_a1 ka1 K1 upper left of keypad
644 key_a3 ka3 K3 upper right of key-
646 key_b2 kb2 K2 center of keypad
647 key_backspace kbs kb backspace key
648 key_beg kbeg @1 begin key
649 key_btab kcbt kB back-tab key
650 key_c1 kc1 K4 lower left of keypad
651 key_c3 kc3 K5 lower right of key-
653 key_cancel kcan @2 cancel key
654 key_catab ktbc ka clear-all-tabs key
655 key_clear kclr kC clear-screen or
657 key_close kclo @3 close key
658 key_command kcmd @4 command key
659 key_copy kcpy @5 copy key
660 key_create kcrt @6 create key
661 key_ctab kctab kt clear-tab key
662 key_dc kdch1 kD delete-character key
663 key_dl kdl1 kL delete-line key
664 key_down kcud1 kd down-arrow key
665 key_eic krmir kM sent by rmir or smir
667 key_end kend @7 end key
668 key_enter kent @8 enter/send key
669 key_eol kel kE clear-to-end-of-line
671 key_eos ked kS clear-to-end-of-
673 key_exit kext @9 exit key
674 key_f0 kf0 k0 F0 function key
675 key_f1 kf1 k1 F1 function key
676 key_f10 kf10 k; F10 function key
677 key_f11 kf11 F1 F11 function key
678 key_f12 kf12 F2 F12 function key
679 key_f13 kf13 F3 F13 function key
680 key_f14 kf14 F4 F14 function key
681 key_f15 kf15 F5 F15 function key
682 key_f16 kf16 F6 F16 function key
683 key_f17 kf17 F7 F17 function key
685 key_f18 kf18 F8 F18 function key
686 key_f19 kf19 F9 F19 function key
687 key_f2 kf2 k2 F2 function key
688 key_f20 kf20 FA F20 function key
689 key_f21 kf21 FB F21 function key
690 key_f22 kf22 FC F22 function key
691 key_f23 kf23 FD F23 function key
692 key_f24 kf24 FE F24 function key
693 key_f25 kf25 FF F25 function key
694 key_f26 kf26 FG F26 function key
695 key_f27 kf27 FH F27 function key
696 key_f28 kf28 FI F28 function key
697 key_f29 kf29 FJ F29 function key
698 key_f3 kf3 k3 F3 function key
699 key_f30 kf30 FK F30 function key
700 key_f31 kf31 FL F31 function key
701 key_f32 kf32 FM F32 function key
702 key_f33 kf33 FN F33 function key
703 key_f34 kf34 FO F34 function key
704 key_f35 kf35 FP F35 function key
705 key_f36 kf36 FQ F36 function key
706 key_f37 kf37 FR F37 function key
707 key_f38 kf38 FS F38 function key
708 key_f39 kf39 FT F39 function key
709 key_f4 kf4 k4 F4 function key
710 key_f40 kf40 FU F40 function key
711 key_f41 kf41 FV F41 function key
712 key_f42 kf42 FW F42 function key
713 key_f43 kf43 FX F43 function key
714 key_f44 kf44 FY F44 function key
715 key_f45 kf45 FZ F45 function key
716 key_f46 kf46 Fa F46 function key
717 key_f47 kf47 Fb F47 function key
718 key_f48 kf48 Fc F48 function key
719 key_f49 kf49 Fd F49 function key
720 key_f5 kf5 k5 F5 function key
721 key_f50 kf50 Fe F50 function key
722 key_f51 kf51 Ff F51 function key
723 key_f52 kf52 Fg F52 function key
724 key_f53 kf53 Fh F53 function key
725 key_f54 kf54 Fi F54 function key
726 key_f55 kf55 Fj F55 function key
727 key_f56 kf56 Fk F56 function key
728 key_f57 kf57 Fl F57 function key
729 key_f58 kf58 Fm F58 function key
730 key_f59 kf59 Fn F59 function key
731 key_f6 kf6 k6 F6 function key
732 key_f60 kf60 Fo F60 function key
733 key_f61 kf61 Fp F61 function key
734 key_f62 kf62 Fq F62 function key
735 key_f63 kf63 Fr F63 function key
736 key_f7 kf7 k7 F7 function key
737 key_f8 kf8 k8 F8 function key
738 key_f9 kf9 k9 F9 function key
739 key_find kfnd @0 find key
740 key_help khlp %1 help key
741 key_home khome kh home key
742 key_ic kich1 kI insert-character key
743 key_il kil1 kA insert-line key
744 key_left kcub1 kl left-arrow key
745 key_ll kll kH lower-left key (home
747 key_mark kmrk %2 mark key
748 key_message kmsg %3 message key
749 key_move kmov %4 move key
751 key_next knxt %5 next key
752 key_npage knp kN next-page key
753 key_open kopn %6 open key
754 key_options kopt %7 options key
755 key_ppage kpp kP previous-page key
756 key_previous kprv %8 previous key
757 key_print kprt %9 print key
758 key_redo krdo %0 redo key
759 key_reference kref &1 reference key
760 key_refresh krfr &2 refresh key
761 key_replace krpl &3 replace key
762 key_restart krst &4 restart key
763 key_resume kres &5 resume key
764 key_right kcuf1 kr right-arrow key
765 key_save ksav &6 save key
766 key_sbeg kBEG &9 shifted begin key
767 key_scancel kCAN &0 shifted cancel key
768 key_scommand kCMD *1 shifted command key
769 key_scopy kCPY *2 shifted copy key
770 key_screate kCRT *3 shifted create key
771 key_sdc kDC *4 shifted delete-char-
773 key_sdl kDL *5 shifted delete-line
775 key_select kslt *6 select key
776 key_send kEND *7 shifted end key
777 key_seol kEOL *8 shifted clear-to-
779 key_sexit kEXT *9 shifted exit key
780 key_sf kind kF scroll-forward key
781 key_sfind kFND *0 shifted find key
782 key_shelp kHLP #1 shifted help key
783 key_shome kHOM #2 shifted home key
784 key_sic kIC #3 shifted insert-char-
786 key_sleft kLFT #4 shifted left-arrow
788 key_smessage kMSG %a shifted message key
789 key_smove kMOV %b shifted move key
790 key_snext kNXT %c shifted next key
791 key_soptions kOPT %d shifted options key
792 key_sprevious kPRV %e shifted previous key
793 key_sprint kPRT %f shifted print key
794 key_sr kri kR scroll-backward key
795 key_sredo kRDO %g shifted redo key
796 key_sreplace kRPL %h shifted replace key
797 key_sright kRIT %i shifted right-arrow
799 key_srsume kRES %j shifted resume key
800 key_ssave kSAV !1 shifted save key
801 key_ssuspend kSPD !2 shifted suspend key
802 key_stab khts kT set-tab key
803 key_sundo kUND !3 shifted undo key
804 key_suspend kspd &7 suspend key
805 key_undo kund &8 undo key
806 key_up kcuu1 ku up-arrow key
807 keypad_local rmkx ke leave 'key-
809 keypad_xmit smkx ks enter 'key-
811 lab_f0 lf0 l0 label on function
813 lab_f1 lf1 l1 label on function
817 lab_f10 lf10 la label on function
819 lab_f2 lf2 l2 label on function
821 lab_f3 lf3 l3 label on function
823 lab_f4 lf4 l4 label on function
825 lab_f5 lf5 l5 label on function
827 lab_f6 lf6 l6 label on function
829 lab_f7 lf7 l7 label on function
831 lab_f8 lf8 l8 label on function
833 lab_f9 lf9 l9 label on function
835 label_format fln Lf label format
836 label_off rmln LF turn off soft labels
837 label_on smln LO turn on soft labels
838 meta_off rmm mo turn off meta mode
839 meta_on smm mm turn on meta mode
841 micro_column_address mhpa ZY Like column_address
843 micro_down mcud1 ZZ Like cursor_down in
845 micro_left mcub1 Za Like cursor_left in
847 micro_right mcuf1 Zb Like cursor_right in
849 micro_row_address mvpa Zc Like row_address #1
851 micro_up mcuu1 Zd Like cursor_up in
853 newline nel nw newline (behave like
855 order_of_pins porder Ze Match software bits
857 orig_colors oc oc Set all color pairs
859 orig_pair op op Set default pair to
861 pad_char pad pc padding char
863 parm_dch dch DC delete #1 characters
865 parm_delete_line dl DL delete #1 lines (P*)
866 parm_down_cursor cud DO down #1 lines (P*)
867 parm_down_micro mcud Zf Like parm_down_cur-
869 parm_ich ich IC insert #1 characters
871 parm_index indn SF scroll forward #1
873 parm_insert_line il AL insert #1 lines (P*)
874 parm_left_cursor cub LE move #1 characters
876 parm_left_micro mcub Zg Like parm_left_cur-
878 parm_right_cursor cuf RI move #1 characters
880 parm_right_micro mcuf Zh Like parm_right_cur-
883 parm_rindex rin SR scroll back #1 lines
885 parm_up_cursor cuu UP up #1 lines (P*)
886 parm_up_micro mcuu Zi Like parm_up_cursor
888 pkey_key pfkey pk program function key
890 pkey_local pfloc pl program function key
893 pkey_xmit pfx px program function key
896 plab_norm pln pn program label #1 to
898 print_screen mc0 ps print contents of
900 prtr_non mc5p pO turn on printer for
902 prtr_off mc4 pf turn off printer
903 prtr_on mc5 po turn on printer
904 pulse pulse PU select pulse dialing
905 quick_dial qdial QD dial number #1 with-
907 remove_clock rmclk RC remove clock
908 repeat_char rep rp repeat char #1 #2
910 req_for_input rfi RF send next input char
912 reset_1string rs1 r1 reset string
913 reset_2string rs2 r2 reset string
914 reset_3string rs3 r3 reset string
915 reset_file rf rf name of reset file
916 restore_cursor rc rc restore cursor to
919 row_address vpa cv vertical position #1
921 save_cursor sc sc save current cursor
923 scroll_forward ind sf scroll text up (P)
924 scroll_reverse ri sr scroll text down (P)
925 select_char_set scs Zj Select character
927 set_attributes sgr sa define video
930 set_background setb Sb Set background color
932 set_bottom_margin smgb Zk Set bottom margin at
934 set_bottom_margin_parm smgbp Zl Set bottom margin at
938 set_clock sclk SC set clock, #1 hrs #2
940 set_color_pair scp sp Set current color
942 set_foreground setf Sf Set foreground color
949 set_left_margin smgl ML set left soft margin
954 set_left_margin_parm smglp Zm Set left (right)
956 set_right_margin smgr MR set right soft mar-
959 set_right_margin_parm smgrp Zn Set right margin at
961 set_tab hts st set a tab in every
963 set_top_margin smgt Zo Set top margin at
965 set_top_margin_parm smgtp Zp Set top (bottom)
967 set_window wind wi current window is
970 start_bit_image sbim Zq Start printing bit
972 start_char_set_def scsd Zr Start character set
976 stop_bit_image rbim Zs Stop printing bit
978 stop_char_set_def rcsd Zt End definition of
980 subscript_characters subcs Zu List of subscript-
982 superscript_characters supcs Zv List of superscript-
984 tab ht ta tab to next 8-space
986 these_cause_cr docr Zw Printing any of
989 to_status_line tsl ts move to status line,
991 tone tone TO select touch tone
993 underline_char uc uc underline char and
995 up_half_line hu hu half a line up
996 user0 u0 u0 User string #0
997 user1 u1 u1 User string #1
998 user2 u2 u2 User string #2
999 user3 u3 u3 User string #3
1000 user4 u4 u4 User string #4
1001 user5 u5 u5 User string #5
1002 user6 u6 u6 User string #6
1003 user7 u7 u7 User string #7
1004 user8 u8 u8 User string #8
1005 user9 u9 u9 User string #9
1006 wait_tone wait WA wait for dial-tone
1007 xoff_character xoffc XF XOFF character
1008 xon_character xonc XN XON character
1009 zero_motion zerom Zx No motion for subse-
1012 The following string capabilities are present in the SVr4.0 term struc-
1013 ture, but were originally not documented in the man page.
1016 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
1017 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
1018 alt_scancode_esc scesa S8 Alternate escape
1021 bit_image_carriage_return bicr Yv Move to beginning
1023 bit_image_newline binel Zz Move to next row
1025 bit_image_repeat birep Xy Repeat bit image
1027 char_set_names csnm Zy Produce #1'th item
1030 code_set_init csin ci Init sequence for
1032 color_names colornm Yw Give name for
1034 define_bit_image_region defbi Yx Define rectangular
1036 device_type devt dv Indicate lan-
1039 display_pc_char dispc S1 Display PC charac-
1041 end_bit_image_region endbi Yy End a bit-image
1043 enter_pc_charset_mode smpch S2 Enter PC character
1045 enter_scancode_mode smsc S4 Enter PC scancode
1047 exit_pc_charset_mode rmpch S3 Exit PC character
1049 exit_scancode_mode rmsc S5 Exit PC scancode
1051 get_mouse getm Gm Curses should get
1055 key_mouse kmous Km Mouse event has
1057 mouse_info minfo Mi Mouse status
1059 pc_term_options pctrm S6 PC terminal
1061 pkey_plab pfxl xl Program function
1065 req_mouse_pos reqmp RQ Request mouse
1067 scancode_escape scesc S7 Escape for scan-
1069 set0_des_seq s0ds s0 Shift to codeset 0
1071 set1_des_seq s1ds s1 Shift to codeset 1
1072 set2_des_seq s2ds s2 Shift to codeset 2
1073 set3_des_seq s3ds s3 Shift to codeset 3
1074 set_a_background setab AB Set background
1077 set_a_foreground setaf AF Set foreground
1081 set_color_band setcolor Yz Change to ribbon
1083 set_lr_margin smglr ML Set both left and
1088 set_page_length slines YZ Set page length to
1090 set_tb_margin smgtb MT Sets both top and
1094 The XSI Curses standard added these hardcopy capabilities. They were
1095 used in some post-4.1 versions of System V curses, e.g., Solaris 2.5
1096 and IRIX 6.x. Except for <STRONG>YI</STRONG>, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> termcap names for them are
1097 invented. According to the XSI Curses standard, they have no termcap
1098 names. If your compiled terminfo entries use these, they may not be
1099 binary-compatible with System V terminfo entries after SVr4.1; beware!
1102 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
1103 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
1104 enter_horizontal_hl_mode ehhlm Xh Enter horizontal
1106 enter_left_hl_mode elhlm Xl Enter left highlight
1108 enter_low_hl_mode elohlm Xo Enter low highlight
1110 enter_right_hl_mode erhlm Xr Enter right high-
1112 enter_top_hl_mode ethlm Xt Enter top highlight
1114 enter_vertical_hl_mode evhlm Xv Enter vertical high-
1116 set_a_attributes sgr1 sA Define second set of
1119 set_pglen_inch slength YI Set page length to
1121 inch (some implemen-
1126 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-User-Defined-Capabilities">User-Defined Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
1127 The preceding section listed the <EM>predefined</EM> capabilities. They deal
1128 with some special features for terminals no longer (or possibly never)
1129 produced. Occasionally there are special features of newer terminals
1130 which are awkward or impossible to represent by reusing the predefined
1133 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> addresses this limitation by allowing user-defined capabili-
1134 ties. The <STRONG>tic</STRONG> and <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> programs provide the <STRONG>-x</STRONG> option for this pur-
1135 pose. When <STRONG>-x</STRONG> is set, <STRONG>tic</STRONG> treats unknown capabilities as user-defined.
1136 That is, if <STRONG>tic</STRONG> encounters a capability name which it does not recog-
1137 nize, it infers its type (boolean, number or string) from the syntax
1138 and makes an extended table entry for that capability. The
1139 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_extend.3x.html">use_extended_names(3x)</A></STRONG> function makes this information conditionally
1140 available to applications. The ncurses library provides the data leav-
1141 ing most of the behavior to applications:
1143 <STRONG>o</STRONG> User-defined capability strings whose name begins with "k" are
1144 treated as function keys.
1146 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The types (boolean, number, string) determined by <STRONG>tic</STRONG> can be
1147 inferred by successful calls on <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, etc.
1149 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the capability name happens to be two characters, the capability
1150 is also available through the termcap interface.
1152 While termcap is said to be extensible because it does not use a prede-
1153 fined set of capabilities, in practice it has been limited to the capa-
1154 bilities defined by terminfo implementations. As a rule, user-defined
1155 capabilities intended for use by termcap applications should be limited
1156 to booleans and numbers to avoid running past the 1023 byte limit
1157 assumed by termcap implementations and their applications. In particu-
1158 lar, providing extended sets of function keys (past the 60 numbered
1159 keys and the handful of special named keys) is best done using the
1160 longer names available using terminfo.
1163 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-A-Sample-Entry">A Sample Entry</a></H3><PRE>
1164 The following entry, describing an ANSI-standard terminal, is represen-
1165 tative of what a <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> entry for a modern terminal typically looks
1168 ansi|ansi/pc-term compatible with color,
1169 am, mc5i, mir, msgr,
1170 colors#8, cols#80, it#8, lines#24, ncv#3, pairs#64,
1171 acsc=+\020\,\021-\030.^Y0\333`\004a\261f\370g\361h\260
1172 j\331k\277l\332m\300n\305o~p\304q\304r\304s_t\303
1173 u\264v\301w\302x\263y\363z\362{\343|\330}\234~\376,
1174 bel=^G, blink=\E[5m, bold=\E[1m, cbt=\E[Z, clear=\E[H\E[J,
1175 cr=^M, cub=\E[%p1%dD, cub1=\E[D, cud=\E[%p1%dB, cud1=\E[B,
1176 cuf=\E[%p1%dC, cuf1=\E[C, cup=\E[%i%p1%d;%p2%dH,
1177 cuu=\E[%p1%dA, cuu1=\E[A, dch=\E[%p1%dP, dch1=\E[P,
1178 dl=\E[%p1%dM, dl1=\E[M, ech=\E[%p1%dX, ed=\E[J, el=\E[K,
1179 el1=\E[1K, home=\E[H, hpa=\E[%i%p1%dG, ht=\E[I, hts=\EH,
1180 ich=\E[%p1%d@, il=\E[%p1%dL, il1=\E[L, ind=^J,
1181 indn=\E[%p1%dS, invis=\E[8m, kbs=^H, kcbt=\E[Z, kcub1=\E[D,
1182 kcud1=\E[B, kcuf1=\E[C, kcuu1=\E[A, khome=\E[H, kich1=\E[L,
1183 mc4=\E[4i, mc5=\E[5i, nel=\r\E[S, op=\E[39;49m,
1184 rep=%p1%c\E[%p2%{1}%-%db, rev=\E[7m, rin=\E[%p1%dT,
1185 rmacs=\E[10m, rmpch=\E[10m, rmso=\E[m, rmul=\E[m,
1186 s0ds=\E(B, s1ds=\E)B, s2ds=\E*B, s3ds=\E+B,
1187 setab=\E[4%p1%dm, setaf=\E[3%p1%dm,
1188 sgr=\E[0;10%?%p1%t;7%;
1195 sgr0=\E[0;10m, smacs=\E[11m, smpch=\E[11m, smso=\E[7m,
1196 smul=\E[4m, tbc=\E[3g, u6=\E[%i%d;%dR, u7=\E[6n,
1197 u8=\E[?%[;0123456789]c, u9=\E[c, vpa=\E[%i%p1%dd,
1199 Entries may continue onto multiple lines by placing white space at the
1200 beginning of each line except the first. Comments may be included on
1201 lines beginning with "#". Capabilities in <EM>terminfo</EM> are of three types:
1203 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Boolean capabilities which indicate that the terminal has some par-
1206 <STRONG>o</STRONG> numeric capabilities giving the size of the terminal or the size of
1207 particular delays, and
1209 <STRONG>o</STRONG> string capabilities, which give a sequence which can be used to
1210 perform particular terminal operations.
1213 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Types-of-Capabilities">Types of Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
1214 All capabilities have names. For instance, the fact that ANSI-standard
1215 terminals have <EM>automatic</EM> <EM>margins</EM> (i.e., an automatic return and line-
1216 feed when the end of a line is reached) is indicated by the capability
1217 <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Hence the description of ansi includes <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Numeric capabilities
1218 are followed by the character "#" and then a positive value. Thus
1219 <STRONG>cols</STRONG>, which indicates the number of columns the terminal has, gives the
1220 value "80" for ansi. Values for numeric capabilities may be specified
1221 in decimal, octal or hexadecimal, using the C programming language con-
1222 ventions (e.g., 255, 0377 and 0xff or 0xFF).
1224 Finally, string valued capabilities, such as <STRONG>el</STRONG> (clear to end of line
1225 sequence) are given by the two-character code, an "=", and then a
1226 string ending at the next following ",".
1228 A number of escape sequences are provided in the string valued capabil-
1229 ities for easy encoding of characters there:
1231 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Both <STRONG>\E</STRONG> and <STRONG>\e</STRONG> map to an ESCAPE character,
1233 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>^x</STRONG> maps to a control-x for any appropriate <EM>x</EM>, and
1235 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the sequences
1237 <STRONG>\n</STRONG>, <STRONG>\l</STRONG>, <STRONG>\r</STRONG>, <STRONG>\t</STRONG>, <STRONG>\b</STRONG>, <STRONG>\f</STRONG>, and <STRONG>\s</STRONG>
1241 <EM>newline</EM>, <EM>line-feed</EM>, <EM>return</EM>, <EM>tab</EM>, <EM>backspace</EM>, <EM>form-feed</EM>, and <EM>space</EM>,
1245 X/Open Curses does not say what "appropriate <EM>x</EM>" might be. In practice,
1246 that is a printable ASCII graphic character. The special case "^?" is
1247 interpreted as DEL (127). In all other cases, the character value is
1248 AND'd with 0x1f, mapping to ASCII control codes in the range 0 through
1251 Other escapes include
1253 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\^</STRONG> for <STRONG>^</STRONG>,
1255 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\\</STRONG> for <STRONG>\</STRONG>,
1257 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\</STRONG>, for comma,
1259 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\:</STRONG> for <STRONG>:</STRONG>,
1261 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>\0</STRONG> for null.
1263 <STRONG>\0</STRONG> will produce \200, which does not terminate a string but behaves
1264 as a null character on most terminals, providing CS7 is specified.
1265 See <STRONG>stty(1)</STRONG>.
1267 The reason for this quirk is to maintain binary compatibility of
1268 the compiled terminfo files with other implementations, e.g., the
1269 SVr4 systems, which document this. Compiled terminfo files use
1270 null-terminated strings, with no lengths. Modifying this would
1271 require a new binary format, which would not work with other imple-
1274 Finally, characters may be given as three octal digits after a <STRONG>\</STRONG>.
1276 A delay in milliseconds may appear anywhere in a string capability,
1277 enclosed in $<..> brackets, as in <STRONG>el</STRONG>=\EK$<5>, and padding characters
1278 are supplied by <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tputs(3x)</A></STRONG> to provide this delay.
1280 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The delay must be a number with at most one decimal place of preci-
1281 sion; it may be followed by suffixes "*" or "/" or both.
1283 <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "*" indicates that the padding required is proportional to the
1284 number of lines affected by the operation, and the amount given is
1285 the per-affected-unit padding required. (In the case of insert
1286 character, the factor is still the number of <EM>lines</EM> affected.)
1288 Normally, padding is advisory if the device has the <STRONG>xon</STRONG> capability;
1289 it is used for cost computation but does not trigger delays.
1291 <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "/" suffix indicates that the padding is mandatory and forces a
1292 delay of the given number of milliseconds even on devices for which
1293 <STRONG>xon</STRONG> is present to indicate flow control.
1295 Sometimes individual capabilities must be commented out. To do this,
1296 put a period before the capability name. For example, see the second
1297 <STRONG>ind</STRONG> in the example above.
1300 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Fetching-Compiled-Descriptions">Fetching Compiled Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
1301 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library searches for terminal descriptions in several
1302 places. It uses only the first description found. The library has a
1303 compiled-in list of places to search which can be overridden by envi-
1304 ronment variables. Before starting to search, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> eliminates
1305 duplicates in its search list.
1307 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the environment variable TERMINFO is set, it is interpreted as
1308 the pathname of a directory containing the compiled description you
1309 are working on. Only that directory is searched.
1311 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If TERMINFO is not set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> will instead look in the directory
1312 <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> for a compiled description.
1314 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Next, if the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS is set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
1315 will interpret the contents of that variable as a list of colon-
1316 separated directories (or database files) to be searched.
1318 An empty directory name (i.e., if the variable begins or ends with
1319 a colon, or contains adjacent colons) is interpreted as the system
1320 location <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>.
1322 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Finally, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> searches these compiled-in locations:
1324 <STRONG>o</STRONG> a list of directories (/usr/local/ncurses/share/ter-
1325 minfo:/usr/share/terminfo), and
1327 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the system terminfo directory, <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM> (the com-
1331 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Preparing-Descriptions">Preparing Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
1332 We now outline how to prepare descriptions of terminals. The most
1333 effective way to prepare a terminal description is by imitating the
1334 description of a similar terminal in <EM>terminfo</EM> and to build up a
1335 description gradually, using partial descriptions with <EM>vi</EM> or some other
1336 screen-oriented program to check that they are correct. Be aware that
1337 a very unusual terminal may expose deficiencies in the ability of the
1338 <EM>terminfo</EM> file to describe it or bugs in the screen-handling code of the
1341 To get the padding for insert line right (if the terminal manufacturer
1342 did not document it) a severe test is to edit a large file at 9600
1343 baud, delete 16 or so lines from the middle of the screen, then hit the
1344 "u" key several times quickly. If the terminal messes up, more padding
1345 is usually needed. A similar test can be used for insert character.
1348 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Basic-Capabilities">Basic Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
1349 The number of columns on each line for the terminal is given by the
1350 <STRONG>cols</STRONG> numeric capability. If the terminal is a CRT, then the number of
1351 lines on the screen is given by the <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability. If the terminal
1352 wraps around to the beginning of the next line when it reaches the
1353 right margin, then it should have the <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability. If the terminal
1354 can clear its screen, leaving the cursor in the home position, then
1355 this is given by the <STRONG>clear</STRONG> string capability. If the terminal over-
1356 strikes (rather than clearing a position when a character is struck
1357 over) then it should have the <STRONG>os</STRONG> capability. If the terminal is a
1358 printing terminal, with no soft copy unit, give it both <STRONG>hc</STRONG> and <STRONG>os</STRONG>. (<STRONG>os</STRONG>
1359 applies to storage scope terminals, such as TEKTRONIX 4010 series, as
1360 well as hard copy and APL terminals.) If there is a code to move the
1361 cursor to the left edge of the current row, give this as <STRONG>cr</STRONG>. (Normally
1362 this will be carriage return, control/M.) If there is a code to pro-
1363 duce an audible signal (bell, beep, etc) give this as <STRONG>bel</STRONG>.
1365 If there is a code to move the cursor one position to the left (such as
1366 backspace) that capability should be given as <STRONG>cub1</STRONG>. Similarly, codes
1367 to move to the right, up, and down should be given as <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>, and
1368 <STRONG>cud1</STRONG>. These local cursor motions should not alter the text they pass
1369 over, for example, you would not normally use "<STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>= " because the
1370 space would erase the character moved over.
1372 A very important point here is that the local cursor motions encoded in
1373 <EM>terminfo</EM> are undefined at the left and top edges of a CRT terminal.
1374 Programs should never attempt to backspace around the left edge, unless
1375 <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is given, and never attempt to go up locally off the top. In order
1376 to scroll text up, a program will go to the bottom left corner of the
1377 screen and send the <STRONG>ind</STRONG> (index) string.
1379 To scroll text down, a program goes to the top left corner of the
1380 screen and sends the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> (reverse index) string. The strings <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG>
1381 are undefined when not on their respective corners of the screen.
1383 Parameterized versions of the scrolling sequences are <STRONG>indn</STRONG> and <STRONG>rin</STRONG>
1384 which have the same semantics as <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG> except that they take one
1385 parameter, and scroll that many lines. They are also undefined except
1386 at the appropriate edge of the screen.
1388 The <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability tells whether the cursor sticks at the right edge of
1389 the screen when text is output, but this does not necessarily apply to
1390 a <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG> from the last column. The only local motion which is defined
1391 from the left edge is if <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is given, then a <STRONG>cub1</STRONG> from the left edge
1392 will move to the right edge of the previous row. If <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is not given,
1393 the effect is undefined. This is useful for drawing a box around the
1394 edge of the screen, for example. If the terminal has switch selectable
1395 automatic margins, the <EM>terminfo</EM> file usually assumes that this is on;
1396 i.e., <STRONG>am</STRONG>. If the terminal has a command which moves to the first col-
1397 umn of the next line, that command can be given as <STRONG>nel</STRONG> (newline). It
1398 does not matter if the command clears the remainder of the current
1399 line, so if the terminal has no <STRONG>cr</STRONG> and <STRONG>lf</STRONG> it may still be possible to
1400 craft a working <STRONG>nel</STRONG> out of one or both of them.
1402 These capabilities suffice to describe hard-copy and "glass-tty" termi-
1403 nals. Thus the model 33 teletype is described as
1405 33|tty33|tty|model 33 teletype,
1406 bel=^G, cols#72, cr=^M, cud1=^J, hc, ind=^J, os,
1408 while the Lear Siegler ADM-3 is described as
1411 am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
1415 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Parameterized-Strings">Parameterized Strings</a></H3><PRE>
1416 Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters in the termi-
1417 nal are described by a parameterized string capability, with <EM>printf</EM>-
1418 like escapes such as <EM>%x</EM> in it. For example, to address the cursor, the
1419 <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is given, using two parameters: the row and column to
1420 address to. (Rows and columns are numbered from zero and refer to the
1421 physical screen visible to the user, not to any unseen memory.) If the
1422 terminal has memory relative cursor addressing, that can be indicated
1423 by <STRONG>mrcup</STRONG>.
1425 The parameter mechanism uses a stack and special <STRONG>%</STRONG> codes to manipulate
1426 it. Typically a sequence will push one of the parameters onto the
1427 stack and then print it in some format. Print (e.g., "%d") is a spe-
1428 cial case. Other operations, including "%t" pop their operand from the
1429 stack. It is noted that more complex operations are often necessary,
1430 e.g., in the <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> string.
1432 The <STRONG>%</STRONG> encodings have the following meanings:
1434 <STRONG>%%</STRONG> outputs "%"
1436 <STRONG>%</STRONG><EM>[[</EM>:<EM>]flags][width[.precision]][</EM><STRONG>doxXs</STRONG><EM>]</EM>
1437 as in <STRONG>printf(3)</STRONG>, flags are <EM>[-+#]</EM> and <EM>space</EM>. Use a ":" to allow
1438 the next character to be a "-" flag, avoiding interpreting "%-" as
1441 %c print <EM>pop()</EM> like %c in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
1443 <STRONG>%s</STRONG> print <EM>pop()</EM> like %s in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
1445 <STRONG>%p</STRONG><EM>[1-9]</EM>
1446 push <EM>i</EM>'th parameter
1448 <STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[a-z]</EM>
1449 set dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to <EM>pop()</EM>
1451 <STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[a-z]/</EM>
1452 get dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
1454 <STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
1455 set static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to <EM>pop()</EM>
1457 <STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
1458 get static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
1460 The terms "static" and "dynamic" are misleading. Historically,
1461 these are simply two different sets of variables, whose values are
1462 not reset between calls to <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tparm(3x)</A></STRONG>. However, that fact is not
1463 documented in other implementations. Relying on it will adversely
1464 impact portability to other implementations.
1466 <STRONG>%'</STRONG><EM>c</EM><STRONG>'</STRONG> char constant <EM>c</EM>
1468 <STRONG>%{</STRONG><EM>nn</EM><STRONG>}</STRONG>
1469 integer constant <EM>nn</EM>
1471 <STRONG>%l</STRONG> push strlen(pop)
1473 <STRONG>%+</STRONG>, <STRONG>%-</STRONG>, <STRONG>%*</STRONG>, <STRONG>%/</STRONG>, <STRONG>%m</STRONG>
1474 arithmetic (%m is <EM>mod</EM>): <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1476 <STRONG>%&</STRONG>, <STRONG>%|</STRONG>, <STRONG>%^</STRONG>
1477 bit operations (AND, OR and exclusive-OR): <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1479 <STRONG>%=</STRONG>, <STRONG>%></STRONG>, <STRONG>%<</STRONG>
1480 logical operations: <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1482 <STRONG>%A</STRONG>, <STRONG>%O</STRONG>
1483 logical AND and OR operations (for conditionals)
1485 <STRONG>%!</STRONG>, <STRONG>%~</STRONG>
1486 unary operations (logical and bit complement): <EM>push(op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1488 <STRONG>%i</STRONG> add 1 to first two parameters (for ANSI terminals)
1490 <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> <STRONG>%t</STRONG> <EM>thenpart</EM> <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> <STRONG>%;</STRONG>
1491 This forms an if-then-else. The <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> is optional. Usually
1492 the <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> part pushes a value onto the stack, and <STRONG>%t</STRONG> pops it
1493 from the stack, testing if it is nonzero (true). If it is zero
1494 (false), control passes to the <STRONG>%e</STRONG> (else) part.
1496 It is possible to form else-if's a la Algol 68:
1497 <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>
1499 where ci are conditions, bi are bodies.
1501 Use the <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> or <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> to see the structure of if-
1502 then-else's. Some strings, e.g., <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> can be very complicated when
1503 written on one line. The <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option splits the string into lines
1504 with the parts indented.
1506 Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands in the usual
1507 order. That is, to get x-5 one would use "%gx%{5}%-". <STRONG>%P</STRONG> and <STRONG>%g</STRONG> vari-
1508 ables are persistent across escape-string evaluations.
1510 Consider the HP2645, which, to get to row 3 and column 12, needs to be
1511 sent \E&a12c03Y padded for 6 milliseconds. Note that the order of the
1512 rows and columns is inverted here, and that the row and column are
1513 printed as two digits. Thus its <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is
1514 "cup=6\E&%p2%2dc%p1%2dY".
1516 The Microterm ACT-IV needs the current row and column sent preceded by
1517 a <STRONG>^T</STRONG>, with the row and column simply encoded in binary,
1518 "cup=^T%p1%c%p2%c". Terminals which use "%c" need to be able to
1519 backspace the cursor (<STRONG>cub1</STRONG>), and to move the cursor up one line on the
1520 screen (<STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>). This is necessary because it is not always safe to
1521 transmit <STRONG>\n</STRONG> <STRONG>^D</STRONG> and <STRONG>\r</STRONG>, as the system may change or discard them. (The
1522 library routines dealing with terminfo set tty modes so that tabs are
1523 never expanded, so \t is safe to send. This turns out to be essential
1524 for the Ann Arbor 4080.)
1526 A final example is the LSI ADM-3a, which uses row and column offset by
1527 a blank character, thus "cup=\E=%p1%' '%+%c%p2%' '%+%c". After sending
1528 "\E=", this pushes the first parameter, pushes the ASCII value for a
1529 space (32), adds them (pushing the sum on the stack in place of the two
1530 previous values) and outputs that value as a character. Then the same
1531 is done for the second parameter. More complex arithmetic is possible
1535 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Cursor-Motions">Cursor Motions</a></H3><PRE>
1536 If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very upper left
1537 corner of screen) then this can be given as <STRONG>home</STRONG>; similarly a fast way
1538 of getting to the lower left-hand corner can be given as <STRONG>ll</STRONG>; this may
1539 involve going up with <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG> from the home position, but a program should
1540 never do this itself (unless <STRONG>ll</STRONG> does) because it can make no assumption
1541 about the effect of moving up from the home position. Note that the
1542 home position is the same as addressing to (0,0): to the top left cor-
1543 ner of the screen, not of memory. (Thus, the \EH sequence on HP termi-
1544 nals cannot be used for <STRONG>home</STRONG>.)
1546 If the terminal has row or column absolute cursor addressing, these can
1547 be given as single parameter capabilities <STRONG>hpa</STRONG> (horizontal position
1548 absolute) and <STRONG>vpa</STRONG> (vertical position absolute). Sometimes these are
1549 shorter than the more general two parameter sequence (as with the
1550 hp2645) and can be used in preference to <STRONG>cup</STRONG>. If there are parameter-
1551 ized local motions (e.g., move <EM>n</EM> spaces to the right) these can be
1552 given as <STRONG>cud</STRONG>, <STRONG>cub</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuf</STRONG>, and <STRONG>cuu</STRONG> with a single parameter indicating how
1553 many spaces to move. These are primarily useful if the terminal does
1554 not have <STRONG>cup</STRONG>, such as the TEKTRONIX 4025.
1556 If the terminal needs to be in a special mode when running a program
1557 that uses these capabilities, the codes to enter and exit this mode can
1558 be given as <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>. This arises, for example, from terminals
1559 like the Concept with more than one page of memory. If the terminal
1560 has only memory relative cursor addressing and not screen relative cur-
1561 sor addressing, a one screen-sized window must be fixed into the termi-
1562 nal for cursor addressing to work properly. This is also used for the
1563 TEKTRONIX 4025, where <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sets the command character to be the one
1564 used by terminfo. If the <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sequence will not restore the screen
1565 after an <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG> sequence is output (to the state prior to outputting
1566 <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>), specify <STRONG>nrrmc</STRONG>.
1569 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Area-Clears">Area Clears</a></H3><PRE>
1570 If the terminal can clear from the current position to the end of the
1571 line, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be given as <STRONG>el</STRONG>. If
1572 the terminal can clear from the beginning of the line to the current
1573 position inclusive, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be
1574 given as <STRONG>el1</STRONG>. If the terminal can clear from the current position to
1575 the end of the display, then this should be given as <STRONG>ed</STRONG>. <STRONG>Ed</STRONG> is only
1576 defined from the first column of a line. (Thus, it can be simulated by
1577 a request to delete a large number of lines, if a true <STRONG>ed</STRONG> is not avail-
1581 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Insert_delete-line-and-vertical-motions">Insert/delete line and vertical motions</a></H3><PRE>
1582 If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line where the
1583 cursor is, this should be given as <STRONG>il1</STRONG>; this is done only from the
1584 first position of a line. The cursor must then appear on the newly
1585 blank line. If the terminal can delete the line which the cursor is
1586 on, then this should be given as <STRONG>dl1</STRONG>; this is done only from the first
1587 position on the line to be deleted. Versions of <STRONG>il1</STRONG> and <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> which take
1588 a single parameter and insert or delete that many lines can be given as
1589 <STRONG>il</STRONG> and <STRONG>dl</STRONG>.
1591 If the terminal has a settable scrolling region (like the vt100) the
1592 command to set this can be described with the <STRONG>csr</STRONG> capability, which
1593 takes two parameters: the top and bottom lines of the scrolling region.
1594 The cursor position is, alas, undefined after using this command.
1596 It is possible to get the effect of insert or delete line using <STRONG>csr</STRONG> on
1597 a properly chosen region; the <STRONG>sc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (save and restore cursor) com-
1598 mands may be useful for ensuring that your synthesized insert/delete
1599 string does not move the cursor. (Note that the <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG> library
1600 does this synthesis automatically, so you need not compose
1601 insert/delete strings for an entry with <STRONG>csr</STRONG>).
1603 Yet another way to construct insert and delete might be to use a combi-
1604 nation of index with the memory-lock feature found on some terminals
1605 (like the HP-700/90 series, which however also has insert/delete).
1607 Inserting lines at the top or bottom of the screen can also be done
1608 using <STRONG>ri</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG> on many terminals without a true insert/delete line,
1609 and is often faster even on terminals with those features.
1611 The boolean <STRONG>non_dest_scroll_region</STRONG> should be set if each scrolling win-
1612 dow is effectively a view port on a screen-sized canvas. To test for
1613 this capability, create a scrolling region in the middle of the screen,
1614 write something to the bottom line, move the cursor to the top of the
1615 region, and do <STRONG>ri</STRONG> followed by <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG>. If the data scrolled off the
1616 bottom of the region by the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> re-appears, then scrolling is non-
1617 destructive. System V and XSI Curses expect that <STRONG>ind</STRONG>, <STRONG>ri</STRONG>, <STRONG>indn</STRONG>, and
1618 <STRONG>rin</STRONG> will simulate destructive scrolling; their documentation cautions
1619 you not to define <STRONG>csr</STRONG> unless this is true. This <STRONG>curses</STRONG> implementation
1620 is more liberal and will do explicit erases after scrolling if <STRONG>ndsrc</STRONG> is
1623 If the terminal has the ability to define a window as part of memory,
1624 which all commands affect, it should be given as the parameterized
1625 string <STRONG>wind</STRONG>. The four parameters are the starting and ending lines in
1626 memory and the starting and ending columns in memory, in that order.
1628 If the terminal can retain display memory above, then the <STRONG>da</STRONG> capability
1629 should be given; if display memory can be retained below, then <STRONG>db</STRONG>
1630 should be given. These indicate that deleting a line or scrolling may
1631 bring non-blank lines up from below or that scrolling back with <STRONG>ri</STRONG> may
1632 bring down non-blank lines.
1635 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Insert_Delete-Character">Insert/Delete Character</a></H3><PRE>
1636 There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with respect to
1637 insert/delete character which can be described using <EM>terminfo.</EM> The
1638 most common insert/delete character operations affect only the charac-
1639 ters on the current line and shift characters off the end of the line
1640 rigidly. Other terminals, such as the Concept 100 and the Perkin Elmer
1641 Owl, make a distinction between typed and untyped blanks on the screen,
1642 shifting upon an insert or delete only to an untyped blank on the
1643 screen which is either eliminated, or expanded to two untyped blanks.
1645 You can determine the kind of terminal you have by clearing the screen
1646 and then typing text separated by cursor motions. Type "abc def"
1647 using local cursor motions (not spaces) between the "abc" and the
1648 "def". Then position the cursor before the "abc" and put the terminal
1649 in insert mode. If typing characters causes the rest of the line to
1650 shift rigidly and characters to fall off the end, then your terminal
1651 does not distinguish between blanks and untyped positions. If the
1652 "abc" shifts over to the "def" which then move together around the end
1653 of the current line and onto the next as you insert, you have the sec-
1654 ond type of terminal, and should give the capability <STRONG>in</STRONG>, which stands
1657 While these are two logically separate attributes (one line versus
1658 multi-line insert mode, and special treatment of untyped spaces) we
1659 have seen no terminals whose insert mode cannot be described with the
1662 Terminfo can describe both terminals which have an insert mode, and
1663 terminals which send a simple sequence to open a blank position on the
1664 current line. Give as <STRONG>smir</STRONG> the sequence to get into insert mode. Give
1665 as <STRONG>rmir</STRONG> the sequence to leave insert mode. Now give as <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> any
1666 sequence needed to be sent just before sending the character to be
1667 inserted. Most terminals with a true insert mode will not give <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>;
1668 terminals which send a sequence to open a screen position should give
1671 If your terminal has both, insert mode is usually preferable to <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>.
1672 Technically, you should not give both unless the terminal actually
1673 requires both to be used in combination. Accordingly, some non-curses
1674 applications get confused if both are present; the symptom is doubled
1675 characters in an update using insert. This requirement is now rare;
1676 most <STRONG>ich</STRONG> sequences do not require previous smir, and most smir insert
1677 modes do not require <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> before each character. Therefore, the new
1678 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> actually assumes this is the case and uses either <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> or
1679 <STRONG>ich</STRONG>/<STRONG>ich1</STRONG> as appropriate (but not both). If you have to write an entry
1680 to be used under new curses for a terminal old enough to need both,
1681 include the <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> sequences in <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>.
1683 If post insert padding is needed, give this as a number of milliseconds
1684 in <STRONG>ip</STRONG> (a string option). Any other sequence which may need to be sent
1685 after an insert of a single character may also be given in <STRONG>ip</STRONG>. If your
1686 terminal needs both to be placed into an "insert mode" and a special
1687 code to precede each inserted character, then both <STRONG>smir</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmir</STRONG> and <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>
1688 can be given, and both will be used. The <STRONG>ich</STRONG> capability, with one
1689 parameter, <EM>n</EM>, will repeat the effects of <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> <EM>n</EM> times.
1691 If padding is necessary between characters typed while not in insert
1692 mode, give this as a number of milliseconds padding in <STRONG>rmp</STRONG>.
1694 It is occasionally necessary to move around while in insert mode to
1695 delete characters on the same line (e.g., if there is a tab after the
1696 insertion position). If your terminal allows motion while in insert
1697 mode you can give the capability <STRONG>mir</STRONG> to speed up inserting in this
1698 case. Omitting <STRONG>mir</STRONG> will affect only speed. Some terminals (notably
1699 Datamedia's) must not have <STRONG>mir</STRONG> because of the way their insert mode
1702 Finally, you can specify <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to delete a single character, <STRONG>dch</STRONG> with
1703 one parameter, <EM>n</EM>, to delete <EM>n</EM> <EM>characters,</EM> and delete mode by giving
1704 <STRONG>smdc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmdc</STRONG> to enter and exit delete mode (any mode the terminal
1705 needs to be placed in for <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to work).
1707 A command to erase <EM>n</EM> characters (equivalent to outputting <EM>n</EM> blanks
1708 without moving the cursor) can be given as <STRONG>ech</STRONG> with one parameter.
1711 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Highlighting_-Underlining_-and-Visible-Bells">Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells</a></H3><PRE>
1712 If your terminal has one or more kinds of display attributes, these can
1713 be represented in a number of different ways. You should choose one
1714 display form as <EM>standout</EM> <EM>mode</EM>, representing a good, high contrast,
1715 easy-on-the-eyes, format for highlighting error messages and other
1716 attention getters. (If you have a choice, reverse video plus half-
1717 bright is good, or reverse video alone.) The sequences to enter and
1718 exit standout mode are given as <STRONG>smso</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmso</STRONG>, respectively. If the
1719 code to change into or out of standout mode leaves one or even two
1720 blank spaces on the screen, as the TVI 912 and Teleray 1061 do, then
1721 <STRONG>xmc</STRONG> should be given to tell how many spaces are left.
1723 Codes to begin underlining and end underlining can be given as <STRONG>smul</STRONG> and
1724 <STRONG>rmul</STRONG> respectively. If the terminal has a code to underline the current
1725 character and move the cursor one space to the right, such as the
1726 Microterm Mime, this can be given as <STRONG>uc</STRONG>.
1728 Other capabilities to enter various highlighting modes include <STRONG>blink</STRONG>
1729 (blinking) <STRONG>bold</STRONG> (bold or extra bright) <STRONG>dim</STRONG> (dim or half-bright) <STRONG>invis</STRONG>
1730 (blanking or invisible text) <STRONG>prot</STRONG> (protected) <STRONG>rev</STRONG> (reverse video) <STRONG>sgr0</STRONG>
1731 (turn off <EM>all</EM> attribute modes) <STRONG>smacs</STRONG> (enter alternate character set
1732 mode) and <STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> (exit alternate character set mode). Turning on any of
1733 these modes singly may or may not turn off other modes.
1735 If there is a sequence to set arbitrary combinations of modes, this
1736 should be given as <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> (set attributes), taking 9 parameters. Each
1737 parameter is either 0 or nonzero, as the corresponding attribute is on
1738 or off. The 9 parameters are, in order: standout, underline, reverse,
1739 blink, dim, bold, blank, protect, alternate character set. Not all
1740 modes need be supported by <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>, only those for which corresponding sep-
1741 arate attribute commands exist.
1743 For example, the DEC vt220 supports most of the modes:
1745 <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> <STRONG>parameter</STRONG> <STRONG>attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>escape</STRONG> <STRONG>sequence</STRONG>
1748 p1 standout \E[0;1;7m
1749 p2 underline \E[0;4m
1752 p5 dim not available
1756 p9 altcharset ^O (off) ^N (on)
1758 We begin each escape sequence by turning off any existing modes, since
1759 there is no quick way to determine whether they are active. Standout
1760 is set up to be the combination of reverse and bold. The vt220 termi-
1761 nal has a protect mode, though it is not commonly used in sgr because
1762 it protects characters on the screen from the host's erasures. The
1763 altcharset mode also is different in that it is either ^O or ^N,
1764 depending on whether it is off or on. If all modes are turned on, the
1765 resulting sequence is \E[0;1;4;5;7;8m^N.
1767 Some sequences are common to different modes. For example, ;7 is out-
1768 put when either p1 or p3 is true, that is, if either standout or
1769 reverse modes are turned on.
1771 Writing out the above sequences, along with their dependencies yields
1773 <STRONG>sequence</STRONG> <STRONG>when</STRONG> <STRONG>to</STRONG> <STRONG>output</STRONG> <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> <STRONG>translation</STRONG>
1776 ;1 if p1 or p6 %?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;
1777 ;4 if p2 %?%p2%|%t;4%;
1778 ;5 if p4 %?%p4%|%t;5%;
1779 ;7 if p1 or p3 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;
1780 ;8 if p7 %?%p7%|%t;8%;
1782 ^N or ^O if p9 ^N, else ^O %?%p9%t^N%e^O%;
1784 Putting this all together into the sgr sequence gives:
1786 sgr=\E[0%?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p4%t;5%;
1787 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;%?%p7%t;8%;m%?%p9%t\016%e\017%;,
1789 Remember that if you specify sgr, you must also specify sgr0. Also,
1790 some implementations rely on sgr being given if sgr0 is, Not all ter-
1791 minfo entries necessarily have an sgr string, however. Many terminfo
1792 entries are derived from termcap entries which have no sgr string. The
1793 only drawback to adding an sgr string is that termcap also assumes that
1794 sgr0 does not exit alternate character set mode.
1796 Terminals with the "magic cookie" glitch (<STRONG>xmc</STRONG>) deposit special "cook-
1797 ies" when they receive mode-setting sequences, which affect the display
1798 algorithm rather than having extra bits for each character. Some ter-
1799 minals, such as the HP 2621, automatically leave standout mode when
1800 they move to a new line or the cursor is addressed. Programs using
1801 standout mode should exit standout mode before moving the cursor or
1802 sending a newline, unless the <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> capability, asserting that it is
1803 safe to move in standout mode, is present.
1805 If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indicate an error
1806 quietly (a bell replacement) then this can be given as <STRONG>flash</STRONG>; it must
1807 not move the cursor.
1809 If the cursor needs to be made more visible than normal when it is not
1810 on the bottom line (to make, for example, a non-blinking underline into
1811 an easier to find block or blinking underline) give this sequence as
1812 <STRONG>cvvis</STRONG>. If there is a way to make the cursor completely invisible, give
1813 that as <STRONG>civis</STRONG>. The capability <STRONG>cnorm</STRONG> should be given which undoes the
1814 effects of both of these modes.
1816 If your terminal correctly generates underlined characters (with no
1817 special codes needed) even though it does not overstrike, then you
1818 should give the capability <STRONG>ul</STRONG>. If a character overstriking another
1819 leaves both characters on the screen, specify the capability <STRONG>os</STRONG>. If
1820 overstrikes are erasable with a blank, then this should be indicated by
1821 giving <STRONG>eo</STRONG>.
1824 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Keypad-and-Function-Keys">Keypad and Function Keys</a></H3><PRE>
1825 If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes when the keys are
1826 pressed, this information can be given. Note that it is not possible
1827 to handle terminals where the keypad only works in local (this applies,
1828 for example, to the unshifted HP 2621 keys). If the keypad can be set
1829 to transmit or not transmit, give these codes as <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG>. Other-
1830 wise the keypad is assumed to always transmit.
1832 The codes sent by the left arrow, right arrow, up arrow, down arrow,
1833 and home keys can be given as <STRONG>kcub1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuu1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcud1,</STRONG> and <STRONG>khome</STRONG>
1834 respectively. If there are function keys such as f0, f1, ..., f10, the
1835 codes they send can be given as <STRONG>kf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf10</STRONG>. If these keys
1836 have labels other than the default f0 through f10, the labels can be
1837 given as <STRONG>lf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf10</STRONG>.
1839 The codes transmitted by certain other special keys can be given:
1841 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kll</STRONG> (home down),
1843 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kbs</STRONG> (backspace),
1845 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ktbc</STRONG> (clear all tabs),
1847 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kctab</STRONG> (clear the tab stop in this column),
1849 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kclr</STRONG> (clear screen or erase key),
1851 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdch1</STRONG> (delete character),
1853 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdl1</STRONG> (delete line),
1855 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>krmir</STRONG> (exit insert mode),
1857 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kel</STRONG> (clear to end of line),
1859 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ked</STRONG> (clear to end of screen),
1861 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kich1</STRONG> (insert character or enter insert mode),
1863 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kil1</STRONG> (insert line),
1865 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>knp</STRONG> (next page),
1867 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kpp</STRONG> (previous page),
1869 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kind</STRONG> (scroll forward/down),
1871 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kri</STRONG> (scroll backward/up),
1873 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>khts</STRONG> (set a tab stop in this column).
1875 In addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3 array of keys including the
1876 four arrow keys, the other five keys can be given as <STRONG>ka1</STRONG>, <STRONG>ka3</STRONG>, <STRONG>kb2</STRONG>,
1877 <STRONG>kc1</STRONG>, and <STRONG>kc3</STRONG>. These keys are useful when the effects of a 3 by 3
1878 directional pad are needed.
1880 Strings to program function keys can be given as <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG>, <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG>, and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG>.
1881 A string to program screen labels should be specified as <STRONG>pln</STRONG>. Each of
1882 these strings takes two parameters: the function key number to program
1883 (from 0 to 10) and the string to program it with. Function key numbers
1884 out of this range may program undefined keys in a terminal dependent
1885 manner. The difference between the capabilities is that <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG> causes
1886 pressing the given key to be the same as the user typing the given
1887 string; <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG> causes the string to be executed by the terminal in
1888 local; and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG> causes the string to be transmitted to the computer.
1890 The capabilities <STRONG>nlab</STRONG>, <STRONG>lw</STRONG> and <STRONG>lh</STRONG> define the number of programmable
1891 screen labels and their width and height. If there are commands to
1892 turn the labels on and off, give them in <STRONG>smln</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmln</STRONG>. <STRONG>smln</STRONG> is nor-
1893 mally output after one or more pln sequences to make sure that the
1894 change becomes visible.
1897 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Tabs-and-Initialization">Tabs and Initialization</a></H3><PRE>
1898 A few capabilities are used only for tabs:
1900 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance to the
1901 next tab stop can be given as <STRONG>ht</STRONG> (usually control/I).
1903 <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "back-tab" command which moves leftward to the preceding tab stop
1904 can be given as <STRONG>cbt</STRONG>.
1906 By convention, if the teletype modes indicate that tabs are being
1907 expanded by the computer rather than being sent to the terminal,
1908 programs should not use <STRONG>ht</STRONG> or <STRONG>cbt</STRONG> even if they are present, since
1909 the user may not have the tab stops properly set.
1911 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal has hardware tabs which are initially set every <EM>n</EM>
1912 spaces when the terminal is powered up, the numeric parameter <STRONG>it</STRONG> is
1913 given, showing the number of spaces the tabs are set to.
1915 The <STRONG>it</STRONG> capability is normally used by the <STRONG>tset</STRONG> command to determine
1916 whether to set the mode for hardware tab expansion, and whether to
1917 set the tab stops. If the terminal has tab stops that can be saved
1918 in non-volatile memory, the terminfo description can assume that
1919 they are properly set.
1921 Other capabilities include
1923 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, and <STRONG>is3</STRONG>, initialization strings for the terminal,
1925 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, the path name of a program to be run to initialize the ter-
1928 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>if</STRONG>, the name of a file containing long initialization strings.
1930 These strings are expected to set the terminal into modes consistent
1931 with the rest of the terminfo description. They are normally sent to
1932 the terminal, by the <EM>init</EM> option of the <STRONG>tput</STRONG> program, each time the
1933 user logs in. They will be printed in the following order:
1936 <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>
1939 <STRONG>is1</STRONG> and
1940 <STRONG>is2</STRONG>
1942 set the margins using
1943 <STRONG>mgc</STRONG> or
1944 <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> or
1945 <STRONG>smgl</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgr</STRONG>
1948 <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> and <STRONG>hts</STRONG>
1954 <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
1956 Most initialization is done with <STRONG>is2</STRONG>. Special terminal modes can be
1957 set up without duplicating strings by putting the common sequences in
1958 <STRONG>is2</STRONG> and special cases in <STRONG>is1</STRONG> and <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
1960 A set of sequences that does a harder reset from a totally unknown
1961 state can be given as <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rf</STRONG> and <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, analogous to <STRONG>is1</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>is2</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>if</STRONG>
1962 and <STRONG>is3</STRONG> respectively. These strings are output by <EM>reset</EM> option of
1963 <STRONG>tput</STRONG>, or by the <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program (an alias of <STRONG>tset</STRONG>), which is used when
1964 the terminal gets into a wedged state. Commands are normally placed in
1965 <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG> <STRONG>rs3</STRONG> and <STRONG>rf</STRONG> only if they produce annoying effects on the screen
1966 and are not necessary when logging in. For example, the command to set
1967 the vt100 into 80-column mode would normally be part of <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, but it
1968 causes an annoying glitch of the screen and is not normally needed
1969 since the terminal is usually already in 80-column mode.
1971 The <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program writes strings including <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, etc., in the same
1972 order as the <EM>init</EM> program, using <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, etc., instead of <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, etc. If
1973 any of <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, or <STRONG>rf</STRONG> reset capability strings are missing, the
1974 <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program falls back upon the corresponding initialization capabil-
1977 If there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can be given as
1978 <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (clear all tab stops) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (set a tab stop in the current column
1979 of every row). If a more complex sequence is needed to set the tabs
1980 than can be described by this, the sequence can be placed in <STRONG>is2</STRONG> or <STRONG>if</STRONG>.
1982 The <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>reset</STRONG> command uses the same capability strings as the <STRONG>reset</STRONG>
1983 command, although the two programs (<STRONG>tput</STRONG> and <STRONG>reset</STRONG>) provide different
1984 command-line options.
1986 In practice, these terminfo capabilities are not often used in initial-
1987 ization of tabs (though they are required for the <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> program):
1989 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Almost all hardware terminals (at least those which supported tabs)
1990 initialized those to every <EM>eight</EM> columns:
1992 The only exception was the AT&T 2300 series, which set tabs to
1993 every <EM>five</EM> columns.
1995 <STRONG>o</STRONG> In particular, developers of the hardware terminals which are com-
1996 monly used as models for modern terminal emulators provided docu-
1997 mentation demonstrating that <EM>eight</EM> columns were the standard.
1999 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Because of this, the terminal initialization programs <STRONG>tput</STRONG> and <STRONG>tset</STRONG>
2000 use the <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (<STRONG>clear_all_tabs</STRONG>) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (<STRONG>set_tab</STRONG>) capabilities
2001 directly only when the <STRONG>it</STRONG> (<STRONG>init_tabs</STRONG>) capability is set to a value
2002 other than <EM>eight</EM>.
2005 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Delays-and-Padding">Delays and Padding</a></H3><PRE>
2006 Many older and slower terminals do not support either XON/XOFF or DTR
2007 handshaking, including hard copy terminals and some very archaic CRTs
2008 (including, for example, DEC VT100s). These may require padding char-
2009 acters after certain cursor motions and screen changes.
2011 If the terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking for flow control (that is, it
2012 automatically emits ^S back to the host when its input buffers are
2013 close to full), set <STRONG>xon</STRONG>. This capability suppresses the emission of
2014 padding. You can also set it for memory-mapped console devices effec-
2015 tively that do not have a speed limit. Padding information should
2016 still be included so that routines can make better decisions about rel-
2017 ative costs, but actual pad characters will not be transmitted.
2019 If <STRONG>pb</STRONG> (padding baud rate) is given, padding is suppressed at baud rates
2020 below the value of <STRONG>pb</STRONG>. If the entry has no padding baud rate, then
2021 whether padding is emitted or not is completely controlled by <STRONG>xon</STRONG>.
2023 If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
2024 then this can be given as <STRONG>pad</STRONG>. Only the first character of the <STRONG>pad</STRONG>
2028 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Status-Lines">Status Lines</a></H3><PRE>
2029 Some terminals have an extra "status line" which is not normally used
2030 by software (and thus not counted in the terminal's <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability).
2032 The simplest case is a status line which is cursor-addressable but not
2033 part of the main scrolling region on the screen; the Heathkit H19 has a
2034 status line of this kind, as would a 24-line VT100 with a 23-line
2035 scrolling region set up on initialization. This situation is indicated
2036 by the <STRONG>hs</STRONG> capability.
2038 Some terminals with status lines need special sequences to access the
2039 status line. These may be expressed as a string with single parameter
2040 <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> which takes the cursor to a given zero-origin column on the status
2041 line. The capability <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> must return to the main-screen cursor posi-
2042 tions before the last <STRONG>tsl</STRONG>. You may need to embed the string values of
2043 <STRONG>sc</STRONG> (save cursor) and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (restore cursor) in <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> and <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> to accomplish
2046 The status line is normally assumed to be the same width as the width
2047 of the terminal. If this is untrue, you can specify it with the
2048 numeric capability <STRONG>wsl</STRONG>.
2050 A command to erase or blank the status line may be specified as <STRONG>dsl</STRONG>.
2052 The boolean capability <STRONG>eslok</STRONG> specifies that escape sequences, tabs,
2053 etc., work ordinarily in the status line.
2055 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation does not yet use any of these capabilities.
2056 They are documented here in case they ever become important.
2059 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Line-Graphics">Line Graphics</a></H3><PRE>
2060 Many terminals have alternate character sets useful for forms-drawing.
2061 Terminfo and <STRONG>curses</STRONG> have built-in support for most of the drawing char-
2062 acters supported by the VT100, with some characters from the AT&T
2063 4410v1 added. This alternate character set may be specified by the
2064 <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> capability.
2066 <STRONG>Glyph</STRONG> <STRONG>ACS</STRONG> <STRONG>Ascii</STRONG> <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> <STRONG>acsc</STRONG>
2067 <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Default</STRONG> <STRONG>Char</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG>
2068 --------------------------------------------------------------------
2069 arrow pointing right ACS_RARROW > + 0x2b
2070 arrow pointing left ACS_LARROW < , 0x2c
2071 arrow pointing up ACS_UARROW ^ - 0x2d
2072 arrow pointing down ACS_DARROW v . 0x2e
2073 solid square block ACS_BLOCK # 0 0x30
2074 diamond ACS_DIAMOND + ` 0x60
2075 checker board (stipple) ACS_CKBOARD : a 0x61
2076 degree symbol ACS_DEGREE \ f 0x66
2077 plus/minus ACS_PLMINUS # g 0x67
2078 board of squares ACS_BOARD # h 0x68
2079 lantern symbol ACS_LANTERN # i 0x69
2080 lower right corner ACS_LRCORNER + j 0x6a
2081 upper right corner ACS_URCORNER + k 0x6b
2082 upper left corner ACS_ULCORNER + l 0x6c
2083 lower left corner ACS_LLCORNER + m 0x6d
2084 large plus or crossover ACS_PLUS + n 0x6e
2085 scan line 1 ACS_S1 ~ o 0x6f
2086 scan line 3 ACS_S3 - p 0x70
2087 horizontal line ACS_HLINE - q 0x71
2088 scan line 7 ACS_S7 - r 0x72
2089 scan line 9 ACS_S9 _ s 0x73
2090 tee pointing right ACS_LTEE + t 0x74
2091 tee pointing left ACS_RTEE + u 0x75
2092 tee pointing up ACS_BTEE + v 0x76
2093 tee pointing down ACS_TTEE + w 0x77
2094 vertical line ACS_VLINE | x 0x78
2095 less-than-or-equal-to ACS_LEQUAL < y 0x79
2096 greater-than-or-equal-to ACS_GEQUAL > z 0x7a
2097 greek pi ACS_PI * { 0x7b
2098 not-equal ACS_NEQUAL ! | 0x7c
2099 UK pound sign ACS_STERLING f } 0x7d
2100 bullet ACS_BULLET o ~ 0x7e
2102 A few notes apply to the table itself:
2104 <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses incorrectly states that the mapping for <EM>lantern</EM> is
2105 uppercase "I" although Unix implementations use the lowercase "i"
2108 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The DEC VT100 implemented graphics using the alternate character
2109 set feature, temporarily switching <EM>modes</EM> and sending characters in
2110 the range 0x60 (96) to 0x7e (126) (the <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> column in the ta-
2113 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The AT&T terminal added graphics characters outside that range.
2115 Some of the characters within the range do not match the VT100;
2116 presumably they were used in the AT&T terminal: <EM>board</EM> <EM>of</EM> <EM>squares</EM>
2117 replaces the VT100 <EM>newline</EM> symbol, while <EM>lantern</EM> <EM>symbol</EM> replaces
2118 the VT100 <EM>vertical</EM> <EM>tab</EM> symbol. The other VT100 symbols for control
2119 characters (<EM>horizontal</EM> <EM>tab</EM>, <EM>carriage</EM> <EM>return</EM> and <EM>line-feed</EM>) are not
2122 The best way to define a new device's graphics set is to add a column
2123 to a copy of this table for your terminal, giving the character which
2124 (when emitted between <STRONG>smacs</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> switches) will be rendered as the
2125 corresponding graphic. Then read off the VT100/your terminal character
2126 pairs right to left in sequence; these become the ACSC string.
2129 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Color-Handling">Color Handling</a></H3><PRE>
2130 The curses library functions <STRONG>init_pair</STRONG> and <STRONG>init_color</STRONG> manipulate the
2131 <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> and <EM>color</EM> <EM>values</EM> discussed in this section (see
2132 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG> for details on these and related functions).
2134 Most color terminals are either "Tektronix-like" or "HP-like":
2136 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Tektronix-like terminals have a predefined set of <EM>N</EM> colors (where <EM>N</EM>
2137 is usually 8), and can set character-cell foreground and background
2138 characters independently, mixing them into <EM>N</EM> * <EM>N</EM> color-pairs.
2140 <STRONG>o</STRONG> On HP-like terminals, the user must set each color pair up sepa-
2141 rately (foreground and background are not independently settable).
2142 Up to <EM>M</EM> color-pairs may be set up from 2*<EM>M</EM> different colors. ANSI-
2143 compatible terminals are Tektronix-like.
2145 Some basic color capabilities are independent of the color method. The
2146 numeric capabilities <STRONG>colors</STRONG> and <STRONG>pairs</STRONG> specify the maximum numbers of
2147 colors and color-pairs that can be displayed simultaneously. The <STRONG>op</STRONG>
2148 (original pair) string resets foreground and background colors to their
2149 default values for the terminal. The <STRONG>oc</STRONG> string resets all colors or
2150 color-pairs to their default values for the terminal. Some terminals
2151 (including many PC terminal emulators) erase screen areas with the cur-
2152 rent background color rather than the power-up default background;
2153 these should have the boolean capability <STRONG>bce</STRONG>.
2155 While the curses library works with <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> (reflecting the inabil-
2156 ity of some devices to set foreground and background colors indepen-
2157 dently), there are separate capabilities for setting these features:
2159 <STRONG>o</STRONG> To change the current foreground or background color on a Tek-
2160 tronix-type terminal, use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> (set ANSI foreground) and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>
2161 (set ANSI background) or <STRONG>setf</STRONG> (set foreground) and <STRONG>setb</STRONG> (set back-
2162 ground). These take one parameter, the color number. The SVr4
2163 documentation describes only <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>; the XPG4 draft says that
2164 "If the terminal supports ANSI escape sequences to set background
2165 and foreground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>, respec-
2168 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal supports other escape sequences to set background
2169 and foreground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setb</STRONG>, respec-
2170 tively. The <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> and the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_refresh.3x.html">refresh(3x)</A></STRONG> functions use the <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>
2171 and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> capabilities if they are defined.
2173 The <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> and <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> capabilities take a single numeric argu-
2174 ment each. Argument values 0-7 of <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> are portably defined as
2175 follows (the middle column is the symbolic #define available in the
2176 header for the <STRONG>curses</STRONG> or <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> libraries). The terminal hardware is
2177 free to map these as it likes, but the RGB values indicate normal loca-
2178 tions in color space.
2180 <STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
2181 black <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> 0 0, 0, 0
2182 red <STRONG>COLOR_RED</STRONG> 1 max,0,0
2183 green <STRONG>COLOR_GREEN</STRONG> 2 0,max,0
2184 yellow <STRONG>COLOR_YELLOW</STRONG> 3 max,max,0
2185 blue <STRONG>COLOR_BLUE</STRONG> 4 0,0,max
2186 magenta <STRONG>COLOR_MAGENTA</STRONG> 5 max,0,max
2187 cyan <STRONG>COLOR_CYAN</STRONG> 6 0,max,max
2188 white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max,max,max
2190 The argument values of <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> historically correspond to a different
2193 <STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
2194 black <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> 0 0, 0, 0
2195 blue <STRONG>COLOR_BLUE</STRONG> 1 0,0,max
2196 green <STRONG>COLOR_GREEN</STRONG> 2 0,max,0
2197 cyan <STRONG>COLOR_CYAN</STRONG> 3 0,max,max
2198 red <STRONG>COLOR_RED</STRONG> 4 max,0,0
2199 magenta <STRONG>COLOR_MAGENTA</STRONG> 5 max,0,max
2200 yellow <STRONG>COLOR_YELLOW</STRONG> 6 max,max,0
2201 white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max,max,max
2203 It is important to not confuse the two sets of color capabilities; oth-
2204 erwise red/blue will be interchanged on the display.
2206 On an HP-like terminal, use <STRONG>scp</STRONG> with a color-pair number parameter to
2207 set which color pair is current.
2209 Some terminals allow the <EM>color</EM> <EM>values</EM> to be modified:
2211 <STRONG>o</STRONG> On a Tektronix-like terminal, the capability <STRONG>ccc</STRONG> may be present to
2212 indicate that colors can be modified. If so, the <STRONG>initc</STRONG> capability
2213 will take a color number (0 to <STRONG>colors</STRONG> - 1)and three more parameters
2214 which describe the color. These three parameters default to being
2215 interpreted as RGB (Red, Green, Blue) values. If the boolean capa-
2216 bility <STRONG>hls</STRONG> is present, they are instead as HLS (Hue, Lightness,
2217 Saturation) indices. The ranges are terminal-dependent.
2219 <STRONG>o</STRONG> On an HP-like terminal, <STRONG>initp</STRONG> may give a capability for changing a
2220 color-pair value. It will take seven parameters; a color-pair num-
2221 ber (0 to <STRONG>max_pairs</STRONG> - 1), and two triples describing first back-
2222 ground and then foreground colors. These parameters must be (Red,
2223 Green, Blue) or (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) depending on <STRONG>hls</STRONG>.
2225 On some color terminals, colors collide with highlights. You can reg-
2226 ister these collisions with the <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> capability. This is a bit-mask of
2227 attributes not to be used when colors are enabled. The correspondence
2228 with the attributes understood by <STRONG>curses</STRONG> is as follows:
2230 <STRONG>Attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>Bit</STRONG> <STRONG>Decimal</STRONG> <STRONG>Set</STRONG> <STRONG>by</STRONG>
2240 A_ALTCHARSET 8 256 sgr
2241 A_HORIZONTAL 9 512 sgr1
2244 A_RIGHT 12 4096 sgr1
2246 A_VERTICAL 14 16384 sgr1
2247 A_ITALIC 15 32768 sitm
2249 For example, on many IBM PC consoles, the underline attribute collides
2250 with the foreground color blue and is not available in color mode.
2251 These should have an <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> capability of 2.
2253 SVr4 curses does nothing with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>, ncurses recognizes it and optimizes
2254 the output in favor of colors.
2257 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</a></H3><PRE>
2258 If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
2259 then this can be given as pad. Only the first character of the pad
2260 string is used. If the terminal does not have a pad character, specify
2261 npc. Note that ncurses implements the termcap-compatible <STRONG>PC</STRONG> variable;
2262 though the application may set this value to something other than a
2263 null, ncurses will test <STRONG>npc</STRONG> first and use napms if the terminal has no
2266 If the terminal can move up or down half a line, this can be indicated
2267 with <STRONG>hu</STRONG> (half-line up) and <STRONG>hd</STRONG> (half-line down). This is primarily use-
2268 ful for superscripts and subscripts on hard-copy terminals. If a hard-
2269 copy terminal can eject to the next page (form feed), give this as <STRONG>ff</STRONG>
2270 (usually control/L).
2272 If there is a command to repeat a given character a given number of
2273 times (to save time transmitting a large number of identical charac-
2274 ters) this can be indicated with the parameterized string <STRONG>rep</STRONG>. The
2275 first parameter is the character to be repeated and the second is the
2276 number of times to repeat it. Thus, tparm(repeat_char, 'x', 10) is the
2277 same as "xxxxxxxxxx".
2279 If the terminal has a settable command character, such as the TEKTRONIX
2280 4025, this can be indicated with <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG>. A prototype command character
2281 is chosen which is used in all capabilities. This character is given
2282 in the <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG> capability to identify it. The following convention is
2283 supported on some UNIX systems: The environment is to be searched for a
2284 <STRONG>CC</STRONG> variable, and if found, all occurrences of the prototype character
2285 are replaced with the character in the environment variable.
2287 Terminal descriptions that do not represent a specific kind of known
2288 terminal, such as <EM>switch</EM>, <EM>dialup</EM>, <EM>patch</EM>, and <EM>network</EM>, should include
2289 the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (generic) capability so that programs can complain that they do
2290 not know how to talk to the terminal. (This capability does not apply
2291 to <EM>virtual</EM> terminal descriptions for which the escape sequences are
2294 If the terminal has a "meta key" which acts as a shift key, setting the
2295 8th bit of any character transmitted, this fact can be indicated with
2296 <STRONG>km</STRONG>. Otherwise, software will assume that the 8th bit is parity and it
2297 will usually be cleared. If strings exist to turn this "meta mode" on
2298 and off, they can be given as <STRONG>smm</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmm</STRONG>.
2300 If the terminal has more lines of memory than will fit on the screen at
2301 once, the number of lines of memory can be indicated with <STRONG>lm</STRONG>. A value
2302 of <STRONG>lm</STRONG>#0 indicates that the number of lines is not fixed, but that there
2303 is still more memory than fits on the screen.
2305 If the terminal is one of those supported by the UNIX virtual terminal
2306 protocol, the terminal number can be given as <STRONG>vt</STRONG>.
2308 Media copy strings which control an auxiliary printer connected to the
2309 terminal can be given as <STRONG>mc0</STRONG>: print the contents of the screen, <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>:
2310 turn off the printer, and <STRONG>mc5</STRONG>: turn on the printer. When the printer
2311 is on, all text sent to the terminal will be sent to the printer. It
2312 is undefined whether the text is also displayed on the terminal screen
2313 when the printer is on. A variation <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> takes one parameter, and
2314 leaves the printer on for as many characters as the value of the param-
2315 eter, then turns the printer off. The parameter should not exceed 255.
2316 All text, including <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>, is transparently passed to the printer while
2317 an <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> is in effect.
2320 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Glitches-and-Braindamage">Glitches and Braindamage</a></H3><PRE>
2321 Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow "~" characters to be displayed
2322 should indicate <STRONG>hz</STRONG>.
2324 Terminals which ignore a line-feed immediately after an <STRONG>am</STRONG> wrap, such
2325 as the Concept and vt100, should indicate <STRONG>xenl</STRONG>.
2327 If <STRONG>el</STRONG> is required to get rid of standout (instead of merely writing
2328 normal text on top of it), <STRONG>xhp</STRONG> should be given.
2330 Teleray terminals, where tabs turn all characters moved over to blanks,
2331 should indicate <STRONG>xt</STRONG> (destructive tabs). Note: the variable indicating
2332 this is now "dest_tabs_magic_smso"; in older versions, it was tel-
2333 eray_glitch. This glitch is also taken to mean that it is not possible
2334 to position the cursor on top of a "magic cookie", that to erase stand-
2335 out mode it is instead necessary to use delete and insert line. The
2336 ncurses implementation ignores this glitch.
2338 The Beehive Superbee, which is unable to correctly transmit the escape
2339 or control/C characters, has <STRONG>xsb</STRONG>, indicating that the f1 key is used
2340 for escape and f2 for control/C. (Only certain Superbees have this
2341 problem, depending on the ROM.) Note that in older terminfo versions,
2342 this capability was called "beehive_glitch"; it is now "no_esc_ctl_c".
2344 Other specific terminal problems may be corrected by adding more capa-
2345 bilities of the form <STRONG>x</STRONG><EM>x</EM>.
2348 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Pitfalls-of-Long-Entries">Pitfalls of Long Entries</a></H3><PRE>
2349 Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to date, no entry
2350 has even approached terminfo's 4096-byte string-table maximum. Unfor-
2351 tunately, the termcap translations are much more strictly limited (to
2352 1023 bytes), thus termcap translations of long terminfo entries can
2355 The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions of <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> instruct the
2356 user to allocate a 1024-byte buffer for the termcap entry. The entry
2357 gets null-terminated by the termcap library, so that makes the maximum
2358 safe length for a termcap entry 1k-1 (1023) bytes. Depending on what
2359 the application and the termcap library being used does, and where in
2360 the termcap file the terminal type that <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> is searching for is,
2361 several bad things can happen.
2363 Some termcap libraries print a warning message or exit if they find an
2364 entry that's longer than 1023 bytes; others do not; others truncate the
2365 entries to 1023 bytes. Some application programs allocate more than
2366 the recommended 1K for the termcap entry; others do not.
2368 Each termcap entry has two important sizes associated with it: before
2369 "tc" expansion, and after "tc" expansion. "tc" is the capability that
2370 tacks on another termcap entry to the end of the current one, to add on
2371 its capabilities. If a termcap entry does not use the "tc" capability,
2372 then of course the two lengths are the same.
2374 The "before tc expansion" length is the most important one, because it
2375 affects more than just users of that particular terminal. This is the
2376 length of the entry as it exists in /etc/termcap, minus the backslash-
2377 newline pairs, which <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> strips out while reading it. Some termcap
2378 libraries strip off the final newline, too (GNU termcap does not). Now
2381 <STRONG>o</STRONG> a termcap entry before expansion is more than 1023 bytes long,
2383 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the application has only allocated a 1k buffer,
2385 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the termcap library (like the one in BSD/OS 1.1 and GNU) reads
2386 the whole entry into the buffer, no matter what its length, to see
2387 if it is the entry it wants,
2389 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> is searching for a terminal type that either is the
2390 long entry, appears in the termcap file after the long entry, or
2391 does not appear in the file at all (so that <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> has to search
2392 the whole termcap file).
2394 Then <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> will overwrite memory, perhaps its stack, and probably
2395 core dump the program. Programs like telnet are particularly vulnera-
2396 ble; modern telnets pass along values like the terminal type automati-
2397 cally. The results are almost as undesirable with a termcap library,
2398 like SunOS 4.1.3 and Ultrix 4.4, that prints warning messages when it
2399 reads an overly long termcap entry. If a termcap library truncates
2400 long entries, like OSF/1 3.0, it is immune to dying here but will
2401 return incorrect data for the terminal.
2403 The "after tc expansion" length will have a similar effect to the
2404 above, but only for people who actually set TERM to that terminal type,
2405 since <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> only does "tc" expansion once it is found the terminal
2406 type it was looking for, not while searching.
2408 In summary, a termcap entry that is longer than 1023 bytes can cause,
2409 on various combinations of termcap libraries and applications, a core
2410 dump, warnings, or incorrect operation. If it is too long even before
2411 "tc" expansion, it will have this effect even for users of some other
2412 terminal types and users whose TERM variable does not have a termcap
2415 When in -C (translate to termcap) mode, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation of
2416 <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG> issues warning messages when the pre-tc length of a termcap
2417 translation is too long. The -c (check) option also checks resolved
2418 (after tc expansion) lengths.
2421 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Binary-Compatibility">Binary Compatibility</a></H3><PRE>
2422 It is not wise to count on portability of binary terminfo entries
2423 between commercial UNIX versions. The problem is that there are at
2424 least two versions of terminfo (under HP-UX and AIX) which diverged
2425 from System V terminfo after SVr1, and have added extension capabili-
2426 ties to the string table that (in the binary format) collide with Sys-
2427 tem V and XSI Curses extensions.
2430 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></H2><PRE>
2431 Searching for terminal descriptions in <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> and TER-
2432 MINFO_DIRS is not supported by older implementations.
2434 Some SVr4 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> implementations, and all previous to SVr4, do not
2435 interpret the %A and %O operators in parameter strings.
2437 SVr4/XPG4 do not specify whether <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> licenses movement while in an
2438 alternate-character-set mode (such modes may, among other things, map
2439 CR and NL to characters that do not trigger local motions). The
2440 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation ignores <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> in <STRONG>ALTCHARSET</STRONG> mode. This raises
2441 the possibility that an XPG4 implementation making the opposite inter-
2442 pretation may need terminfo entries made for <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> to have <STRONG>msgr</STRONG>
2445 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library handles insert-character and insert-character modes
2446 in a slightly non-standard way to get better update efficiency. See
2447 the <STRONG>Insert/Delete</STRONG> <STRONG>Character</STRONG> subsection above.
2449 The parameter substitutions for <STRONG>set_clock</STRONG> and <STRONG>display_clock</STRONG> are not
2450 documented in SVr4 or the XSI Curses standard. They are deduced from
2451 the documentation for the AT&T 505 terminal.
2453 Be careful assigning the <STRONG>kmous</STRONG> capability. The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library wants
2454 to interpret it as <STRONG>KEY_MOUSE</STRONG>, for use by terminals and emulators like
2455 xterm that can return mouse-tracking information in the keyboard-input
2458 X/Open Curses does not mention italics. Portable applications must
2459 assume that numeric capabilities are signed 16-bit values. This
2460 includes the <EM>no</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>color</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>video</EM> (ncv) capability. The 32768 mask value
2461 used for italics with ncv can be confused with an absent or cancelled
2462 ncv. If italics should work with colors, then the ncv value must be
2463 specified, even if it is zero.
2465 Different commercial ports of terminfo and curses support different
2466 subsets of the XSI Curses standard and (in some cases) different exten-
2467 sion sets. Here is a summary, accurate as of October 1995:
2469 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SVR4,</STRONG> <STRONG>Solaris,</STRONG> <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> -- These support all SVr4 capabilities.
2471 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SGI</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr4 set, adds one undocumented extended string
2472 capability (<STRONG>set_pglen</STRONG>).
2474 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SVr1,</STRONG> <STRONG>Ultrix</STRONG> -- These support a restricted subset of terminfo capa-
2475 bilities. The booleans end with <STRONG>xon_xoff</STRONG>; the numerics with
2476 <STRONG>width_status_line</STRONG>; and the strings with <STRONG>prtr_non</STRONG>.
2478 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>HP/UX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus the SVr[234] numerics
2479 <STRONG>num_labels</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_height</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_width</STRONG>, plus function keys 11
2480 through 63, plus <STRONG>plab_norm</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_on</STRONG>, and <STRONG>label_off</STRONG>, plus some
2481 incompatible extensions in the string table.
2483 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>AIX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11 through 63,
2484 plus a number of incompatible string table extensions.
2486 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>OSF</STRONG> -- Supports both the SVr4 set and the AIX extensions.
2489 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-FILES">FILES</a></H2><PRE>
2490 /usr/share/terminfo/?/* files containing terminal descriptions
2493 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
2494 <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</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><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>curs_vari-</STRONG>
2495 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_variables.3x.html">ables(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>. <STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG>.
2498 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></H2><PRE>
2499 Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey. Based on pcurses
2504 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
2508 <li><a href="#h2-NAME">NAME</a></li>
2509 <li><a href="#h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li>
2510 <li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a>
2512 <li><a href="#h3-Terminfo-Entry-Syntax">Terminfo Entry Syntax</a></li>
2513 <li><a href="#h3-Terminfo-Capabilities-Syntax">Terminfo Capabilities Syntax</a></li>
2514 <li><a href="#h3-Similar-Terminals">Similar Terminals</a></li>
2515 <li><a href="#h3-Predefined-Capabilities">Predefined Capabilities</a></li>
2516 <li><a href="#h3-User-Defined-Capabilities">User-Defined Capabilities</a></li>
2517 <li><a href="#h3-A-Sample-Entry">A Sample Entry</a></li>
2518 <li><a href="#h3-Types-of-Capabilities">Types of Capabilities</a></li>
2519 <li><a href="#h3-Fetching-Compiled-Descriptions">Fetching Compiled Descriptions</a></li>
2520 <li><a href="#h3-Preparing-Descriptions">Preparing Descriptions</a></li>
2521 <li><a href="#h3-Basic-Capabilities">Basic Capabilities</a></li>
2522 <li><a href="#h3-Parameterized-Strings">Parameterized Strings</a></li>
2523 <li><a href="#h3-Cursor-Motions">Cursor Motions</a></li>
2524 <li><a href="#h3-Area-Clears">Area Clears</a></li>
2525 <li><a href="#h3-Insert_delete-line-and-vertical-motions">Insert/delete line and vertical motions</a></li>
2526 <li><a href="#h3-Insert_Delete-Character">Insert/Delete Character</a></li>
2527 <li><a href="#h3-Highlighting_-Underlining_-and-Visible-Bells">Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells</a></li>
2528 <li><a href="#h3-Keypad-and-Function-Keys">Keypad and Function Keys</a></li>
2529 <li><a href="#h3-Tabs-and-Initialization">Tabs and Initialization</a></li>
2530 <li><a href="#h3-Delays-and-Padding">Delays and Padding</a></li>
2531 <li><a href="#h3-Status-Lines">Status Lines</a></li>
2532 <li><a href="#h3-Line-Graphics">Line Graphics</a></li>
2533 <li><a href="#h3-Color-Handling">Color Handling</a></li>
2534 <li><a href="#h3-Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</a></li>
2535 <li><a href="#h3-Glitches-and-Braindamage">Glitches and Braindamage</a></li>
2536 <li><a href="#h3-Pitfalls-of-Long-Entries">Pitfalls of Long Entries</a></li>
2537 <li><a href="#h3-Binary-Compatibility">Binary Compatibility</a></li>
2540 <li><a href="#h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></li>
2541 <li><a href="#h2-FILES">FILES</a></li>
2542 <li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
2543 <li><a href="#h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></li>
projects / ncurses.git / blob