3 * DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE BY HAND!
4 * It is generated from terminfo.head, Caps, 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 (c) 1998-2016,2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
10 * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a *
11 * copy of this software and associated documentation files (the *
12 * "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including *
13 * without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, *
14 * distribute, distribute with modifications, sublicense, and/or sell *
15 * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is *
16 * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: *
18 * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included *
19 * in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. *
21 * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS *
22 * OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF *
23 * MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. *
24 * IN NO EVENT SHALL THE ABOVE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, *
25 * DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR *
26 * OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR *
27 * THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. *
29 * Except as contained in this notice, the name(s) of the above copyright *
30 * holders shall not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the *
31 * sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written *
33 ****************************************************************************
34 * @Id: terminfo.head,v 1.32 2017/04/22 13:52:49 tom Exp @
35 * Head of terminfo man page ends here
36 * @Id: terminfo.tail,v 1.84 2017/04/22 16:00:56 tom Exp @
37 * Beginning of terminfo.tail file
38 * This file is part of ncurses.
39 * See "terminfo.head" for copyright.
46 <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN">
49 <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
50 <meta name="generator" content="Manpage converted by man2html - see http://invisible-island.net/scripts/readme.html#others_scripts">
51 <TITLE>terminfo 5 File Formats</TITLE>
52 <link rev=made href="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">
53 <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
56 <H1 class="no-header">terminfo 5 File Formats</H1>
58 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> File Formats <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
63 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
64 terminfo - terminal capability data base
67 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
68 /usr/share/terminfo/*/*
71 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
72 <EM>Terminfo</EM> is a data base describing terminals, used by
73 screen-oriented programs such as <STRONG>nvi(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG>rogue(1)</STRONG> and
74 libraries such as <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>. <EM>Terminfo</EM> describes termi-
75 nals by giving a set of capabilities which they have, by
76 specifying how to perform screen operations, and by speci-
77 fying padding requirements and initialization sequences.
78 This describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 6.0 (patch 20170422).
81 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminfo-Entry-Syntax">Terminfo Entry Syntax</a></H3><PRE>
82 Entries in <EM>terminfo</EM> consist of a sequence of fields:
84 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Each field ends with a comma "," (embedded commas may
85 be escaped with a backslash or written as "\054").
87 <STRONG>o</STRONG> White space between fields is ignored.
89 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The first field in a <EM>terminfo</EM> entry begins in the
92 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Newlines and leading whitespace (spaces or tabs) may
93 be used for formatting entries for readability. These
94 are removed from parsed entries.
96 The <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> <STRONG>-f</STRONG> and <STRONG>-W</STRONG> options rely on this to format
97 if-then-else expressions, or to enforce maximum line-
98 width. The resulting formatted terminal description
99 can be read by <STRONG>tic</STRONG>.
101 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The first field for each terminal gives the names
102 which are known for the terminal, separated by "|"
105 The first name given is the most common abbreviation
106 for the terminal (its primary name), the last name
107 given should be a long name fully identifying the ter-
108 minal (see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">longname(3x)</A></STRONG>), and all others are treated
109 as synonyms (aliases) for the primary terminal name.
111 X/Open Curses advises that all names but the last
112 should be in lower case and contain no blanks; the
113 last name may well contain upper case and blanks for
116 This implementation is not so strict; it allows mixed
117 case in the primary name and aliases. If the last
118 name has no embedded blanks, it allows that to be both
119 an alias and a verbose name (but will warn about this
122 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Lines beginning with a "#" in the first column are
125 While comment lines are legal at any point, the output
126 of <STRONG>captoinfo</STRONG> and <STRONG>infotocap</STRONG> (aliases for <STRONG>tic</STRONG>) will move
127 comments so they occur only between entries.
129 Terminal names (except for the last, verbose entry) should
130 be chosen using the following conventions. The particular
131 piece of hardware making up the terminal should have a
132 root name, thus "hp2621". This name should not contain
133 hyphens. Modes that the hardware can be in, or user pref-
134 erences, should be indicated by appending a hyphen and a
135 mode suffix. Thus, a vt100 in 132 column mode would be
136 vt100-w. The following suffixes should be used where pos-
139 <STRONG>Suffix</STRONG> <STRONG>Meaning</STRONG> <STRONG>Example</STRONG>
140 -<EM>nn</EM> Number of lines on the screen aaa-60
141 -<EM>n</EM>p Number of pages of memory c100-4p
142 -am With automargins (usually the default) vt100-am
143 -m Mono mode; suppress color ansi-m
144 -mc Magic cookie; spaces when highlighting wy30-mc
145 -na No arrow keys (leave them in local) c100-na
146 -nam Without automatic margins vt100-nam
147 -nl No status line att4415-nl
148 -ns No status line hp2626-ns
149 -rv Reverse video c100-rv
150 -s Enable status line vt100-s
151 -vb Use visible bell instead of beep wy370-vb
152 -w Wide mode (> 80 columns, usually 132) vt100-w
154 For more on terminal naming conventions, see the <STRONG>term(7)</STRONG>
158 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminfo-Capabilities-Syntax">Terminfo Capabilities Syntax</a></H3><PRE>
159 The terminfo entry consists of several <EM>capabilities</EM>, i.e.,
160 features that the terminal has, or methods for exercising
161 the terminal's features.
163 After the first field (giving the name(s) of the terminal
164 entry), there should be one or more <EM>capability</EM> fields.
165 These are boolean, numeric or string names with corre-
168 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Boolean capabilities are true when present, false when
169 absent. There is no explicit value for boolean capa-
172 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Numeric capabilities have a "#" following the name,
173 then an unsigned decimal integer value.
175 <STRONG>o</STRONG> String capabilities have a "=" following the name,
176 then an string of characters making up the capability
179 String capabilities can be split into multiple lines,
180 just as the fields comprising a terminal entry can be
181 split into multiple lines. While blanks between
182 fields are ignored, blanks embedded within a string
183 value are retained, except for leading blanks on a
186 Any capability can be <EM>canceled</EM>, i.e., suppressed from the
187 terminal entry, by following its name with "@" rather than
191 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Similar-Terminals">Similar Terminals</a></H3><PRE>
192 If there are two very similar terminals, one (the variant)
193 can be defined as being just like the other (the base)
194 with certain exceptions. In the definition of the vari-
195 ant, the string capability <STRONG>use</STRONG> can be given with the name
196 of the base terminal:
198 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The capabilities given before <STRONG>use</STRONG> override those in
199 the base type named by <STRONG>use</STRONG>.
201 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If there are multiple <STRONG>use</STRONG> capabilities, they are
202 merged in reverse order. That is, the rightmost <STRONG>use</STRONG>
203 reference is processed first, then the one to its
206 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Capabilities given explicitly in the entry override
207 those brought in by <STRONG>use</STRONG> references.
209 A capability can be canceled by placing <STRONG>xx@</STRONG> to the left of
210 the use reference that imports it, where <EM>xx</EM> is the capa-
211 bility. For example, the entry
213 2621-nl, smkx@, rmkx@, use=2621,
215 defines a 2621-nl that does not have the <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> or <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG>
216 capabilities, and hence does not turn on the function key
217 labels when in visual mode. This is useful for different
218 modes for a terminal, or for different user preferences.
220 An entry included via <STRONG>use</STRONG> can contain canceled capabili-
221 ties, which have the same effect as if those cancels were
222 inline in the using terminal entry.
225 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Predefined-Capabilities">Predefined Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
226 The following is a complete table of the capabilities
227 included in a terminfo description block and available to
228 terminfo-using code. In each line of the table,
230 The <STRONG>variable</STRONG> is the name by which the programmer (at the
231 terminfo level) accesses the capability.
233 The <STRONG>capname</STRONG> is the short name used in the text of the
234 database, and is used by a person updating the database.
235 Whenever possible, capnames are chosen to be the same as
236 or similar to the ANSI X3.64-1979 standard (now superseded
237 by ECMA-48, which uses identical or very similar names).
238 Semantics are also intended to match those of the specifi-
241 The termcap code is the old <STRONG>termcap</STRONG> capability name (some
242 capabilities are new, and have names which termcap did not
245 Capability names have no hard length limit, but an infor-
246 mal limit of 5 characters has been adopted to keep them
247 short and to allow the tabs in the source file <STRONG>Caps</STRONG> to
250 Finally, the description field attempts to convey the
251 semantics of the capability. You may find some codes in
252 the description field:
254 (P) indicates that padding may be specified
256 #[1-9] in the description field indicates that the string
257 is passed through tparm with parms as given (#<EM>i</EM>).
259 (P*) indicates that padding may vary in proportion to
260 the number of lines affected
262 (#<EM>i</EM>) indicates the <EM>i</EM>th parameter.
265 These are the boolean capabilities:
268 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
269 <STRONG>Booleans</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
270 auto_left_margin bw bw cub1 wraps from col-
272 auto_right_margin am am terminal has auto-
274 back_color_erase bce ut screen erased with
276 can_change ccc cc terminal can re-
279 ceol_standout_glitch xhp xs standout not erased
281 col_addr_glitch xhpa YA only positive motion
283 cpi_changes_res cpix YF changing character
286 cr_cancels_micro_mode crxm YB using cr turns off
288 dest_tabs_magic_smso xt xt tabs destructive,
291 eat_newline_glitch xenl xn newline ignored
294 erase_overstrike eo eo can erase over-
296 generic_type gn gn generic line type
297 hard_copy hc hc hardcopy terminal
298 hard_cursor chts HC cursor is hard to
300 has_meta_key km km Has a meta key
302 has_print_wheel daisy YC printer needs opera-
305 has_status_line hs hs has extra status
307 hue_lightness_saturation hls hl terminal uses only
310 insert_null_glitch in in insert mode distin-
312 lpi_changes_res lpix YG changing line pitch
314 memory_above da da display may be
317 memory_below db db display may be
320 move_insert_mode mir mi safe to move while
322 move_standout_mode msgr ms safe to move while
324 needs_xon_xoff nxon nx padding will not
327 no_esc_ctlc xsb xb beehive (f1=escape,
331 no_pad_char npc NP pad character does
333 non_dest_scroll_region ndscr ND scrolling region is
335 non_rev_rmcup nrrmc NR smcup does not
337 over_strike os os terminal can over-
339 prtr_silent mc5i 5i printer will not
341 row_addr_glitch xvpa YD only positive motion
343 semi_auto_right_margin sam YE printing in last
345 status_line_esc_ok eslok es escape can be used
347 tilde_glitch hz hz cannot print ~'s
349 transparent_underline ul ul underline character
351 xon_xoff xon xo terminal uses
354 These are the numeric capabilities:
357 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
358 <STRONG>Numeric</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
359 columns cols co number of columns in
361 init_tabs it it tabs initially every
363 label_height lh lh rows in each label
364 label_width lw lw columns in each
366 lines lines li number of lines on
368 lines_of_memory lm lm lines of memory if >
370 magic_cookie_glitch xmc sg number of blank
373 max_attributes ma ma maximum combined
376 max_colors colors Co maximum number of
378 max_pairs pairs pa maximum number of
381 maximum_windows wnum MW maximum number of
383 no_color_video ncv NC video attributes
386 num_labels nlab Nl number of labels on
388 padding_baud_rate pb pb lowest baud rate
390 virtual_terminal vt vt virtual terminal
392 width_status_line wsl ws number of columns in
395 The following numeric capabilities are present in the
396 SVr4.0 term structure, but are not yet documented in the
397 man page. They came in with SVr4's printer support.
400 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
401 <STRONG>Numeric</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
402 bit_image_entwining bitwin Yo number of passes for
404 bit_image_type bitype Yp type of bit-image
406 buffer_capacity bufsz Ya numbers of bytes
409 buttons btns BT number of buttons on
411 dot_horz_spacing spinh Yc spacing of dots hor-
414 dot_vert_spacing spinv Yb spacing of pins ver-
417 max_micro_address maddr Yd maximum value in
419 max_micro_jump mjump Ye maximum value in
421 micro_col_size mcs Yf character step size
423 micro_line_size mls Yg line step size when
425 number_of_pins npins Yh numbers of pins in
427 output_res_char orc Yi horizontal resolu-
430 output_res_horz_inch orhi Yk horizontal resolu-
433 output_res_line orl Yj vertical resolution
435 output_res_vert_inch orvi Yl vertical resolution
437 print_rate cps Ym print rate in char-
439 wide_char_size widcs Yn character step size
443 These are the string capabilities:
446 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
447 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
448 acs_chars acsc ac graphics charset
451 back_tab cbt bt back tab (P)
452 bell bel bl audible signal
454 carriage_return cr cr carriage return (P*)
456 change_char_pitch cpi ZA Change number of
459 change_line_pitch lpi ZB Change number of
462 change_res_horz chr ZC Change horizontal
466 change_res_vert cvr ZD Change vertical res-
468 change_scroll_region csr cs change region to
471 char_padding rmp rP like ip but when in
473 clear_all_tabs tbc ct clear all tab stops
475 clear_margins mgc MC clear right and left
477 clear_screen clear cl clear screen and
479 clr_bol el1 cb Clear to beginning
481 clr_eol el ce clear to end of line
483 clr_eos ed cd clear to end of
485 column_address hpa ch horizontal position
487 command_character cmdch CC terminal settable
490 create_window cwin CW define a window #1
492 cursor_address cup cm move to row #1 col-
494 cursor_down cud1 do down one line
495 cursor_home home ho home cursor (if no
497 cursor_invisible civis vi make cursor invisi-
499 cursor_left cub1 le move left one space
500 cursor_mem_address mrcup CM memory relative cur-
503 cursor_normal cnorm ve make cursor appear
506 cursor_right cuf1 nd non-destructive
509 cursor_to_ll ll ll last line, first
511 cursor_up cuu1 up up one line
512 cursor_visible cvvis vs make cursor very
514 define_char defc ZE Define a character
517 delete_character dch1 dc delete character
519 delete_line dl1 dl delete line (P*)
520 dial_phone dial DI dial number #1
521 dis_status_line dsl ds disable status line
522 display_clock dclk DK display clock
523 down_half_line hd hd half a line down
524 ena_acs enacs eA enable alternate
526 enter_alt_charset_mode smacs as start alternate
529 enter_am_mode smam SA turn on automatic
531 enter_blink_mode blink mb turn on blinking
534 enter_bold_mode bold md turn on bold (extra
536 enter_ca_mode smcup ti string to start pro-
538 enter_delete_mode smdc dm enter delete mode
539 enter_dim_mode dim mh turn on half-bright
541 enter_doublewide_mode swidm ZF Enter double-wide
543 enter_draft_quality sdrfq ZG Enter draft-quality
545 enter_insert_mode smir im enter insert mode
546 enter_italics_mode sitm ZH Enter italic mode
547 enter_leftward_mode slm ZI Start leftward car-
549 enter_micro_mode smicm ZJ Start micro-motion
551 enter_near_letter_quality snlq ZK Enter NLQ mode
552 enter_normal_quality snrmq ZL Enter normal-quality
554 enter_protected_mode prot mp turn on protected
556 enter_reverse_mode rev mr turn on reverse
558 enter_secure_mode invis mk turn on blank mode
561 enter_shadow_mode sshm ZM Enter shadow-print
563 enter_standout_mode smso so begin standout mode
564 enter_subscript_mode ssubm ZN Enter subscript mode
565 enter_superscript_mode ssupm ZO Enter superscript
567 enter_underline_mode smul us begin underline mode
568 enter_upward_mode sum ZP Start upward car-
570 enter_xon_mode smxon SX turn on xon/xoff
572 erase_chars ech ec erase #1 characters
574 exit_alt_charset_mode rmacs ae end alternate char-
576 exit_am_mode rmam RA turn off automatic
578 exit_attribute_mode sgr0 me turn off all
580 exit_ca_mode rmcup te strings to end pro-
582 exit_delete_mode rmdc ed end delete mode
583 exit_doublewide_mode rwidm ZQ End double-wide mode
584 exit_insert_mode rmir ei exit insert mode
585 exit_italics_mode ritm ZR End italic mode
586 exit_leftward_mode rlm ZS End left-motion mode
587 exit_micro_mode rmicm ZT End micro-motion
589 exit_shadow_mode rshm ZU End shadow-print
591 exit_standout_mode rmso se exit standout mode
592 exit_subscript_mode rsubm ZV End subscript mode
593 exit_superscript_mode rsupm ZW End superscript mode
594 exit_underline_mode rmul ue exit underline mode
595 exit_upward_mode rum ZX End reverse charac-
597 exit_xon_mode rmxon RX turn off xon/xoff
601 fixed_pause pause PA pause for 2-3 sec-
603 flash_hook hook fh flash switch hook
604 flash_screen flash vb visible bell (may
606 form_feed ff ff hardcopy terminal
608 from_status_line fsl fs return from status
610 goto_window wingo WG go to window #1
611 hangup hup HU hang-up phone
612 init_1string is1 i1 initialization
614 init_2string is2 is initialization
616 init_3string is3 i3 initialization
618 init_file if if name of initializa-
620 init_prog iprog iP path name of program
622 initialize_color initc Ic initialize color #1
624 initialize_pair initp Ip Initialize color
628 insert_character ich1 ic insert character (P)
629 insert_line il1 al insert line (P*)
630 insert_padding ip ip insert padding after
632 key_a1 ka1 K1 upper left of keypad
633 key_a3 ka3 K3 upper right of key-
635 key_b2 kb2 K2 center of keypad
636 key_backspace kbs kb backspace key
637 key_beg kbeg @1 begin key
638 key_btab kcbt kB back-tab key
639 key_c1 kc1 K4 lower left of keypad
640 key_c3 kc3 K5 lower right of key-
642 key_cancel kcan @2 cancel key
643 key_catab ktbc ka clear-all-tabs key
644 key_clear kclr kC clear-screen or
646 key_close kclo @3 close key
647 key_command kcmd @4 command key
648 key_copy kcpy @5 copy key
649 key_create kcrt @6 create key
650 key_ctab kctab kt clear-tab key
651 key_dc kdch1 kD delete-character key
652 key_dl kdl1 kL delete-line key
653 key_down kcud1 kd down-arrow key
654 key_eic krmir kM sent by rmir or smir
656 key_end kend @7 end key
657 key_enter kent @8 enter/send key
658 key_eol kel kE clear-to-end-of-line
660 key_eos ked kS clear-to-end-of-
662 key_exit kext @9 exit key
663 key_f0 kf0 k0 F0 function key
664 key_f1 kf1 k1 F1 function key
665 key_f10 kf10 k; F10 function key
666 key_f11 kf11 F1 F11 function key
668 key_f12 kf12 F2 F12 function key
669 key_f13 kf13 F3 F13 function key
670 key_f14 kf14 F4 F14 function key
671 key_f15 kf15 F5 F15 function key
672 key_f16 kf16 F6 F16 function key
673 key_f17 kf17 F7 F17 function key
674 key_f18 kf18 F8 F18 function key
675 key_f19 kf19 F9 F19 function key
676 key_f2 kf2 k2 F2 function key
677 key_f20 kf20 FA F20 function key
678 key_f21 kf21 FB F21 function key
679 key_f22 kf22 FC F22 function key
680 key_f23 kf23 FD F23 function key
681 key_f24 kf24 FE F24 function key
682 key_f25 kf25 FF F25 function key
683 key_f26 kf26 FG F26 function key
684 key_f27 kf27 FH F27 function key
685 key_f28 kf28 FI F28 function key
686 key_f29 kf29 FJ F29 function key
687 key_f3 kf3 k3 F3 function key
688 key_f30 kf30 FK F30 function key
689 key_f31 kf31 FL F31 function key
690 key_f32 kf32 FM F32 function key
691 key_f33 kf33 FN F33 function key
692 key_f34 kf34 FO F34 function key
693 key_f35 kf35 FP F35 function key
694 key_f36 kf36 FQ F36 function key
695 key_f37 kf37 FR F37 function key
696 key_f38 kf38 FS F38 function key
697 key_f39 kf39 FT F39 function key
698 key_f4 kf4 k4 F4 function key
699 key_f40 kf40 FU F40 function key
700 key_f41 kf41 FV F41 function key
701 key_f42 kf42 FW F42 function key
702 key_f43 kf43 FX F43 function key
703 key_f44 kf44 FY F44 function key
704 key_f45 kf45 FZ F45 function key
705 key_f46 kf46 Fa F46 function key
706 key_f47 kf47 Fb F47 function key
707 key_f48 kf48 Fc F48 function key
708 key_f49 kf49 Fd F49 function key
709 key_f5 kf5 k5 F5 function key
710 key_f50 kf50 Fe F50 function key
711 key_f51 kf51 Ff F51 function key
712 key_f52 kf52 Fg F52 function key
713 key_f53 kf53 Fh F53 function key
714 key_f54 kf54 Fi F54 function key
715 key_f55 kf55 Fj F55 function key
716 key_f56 kf56 Fk F56 function key
717 key_f57 kf57 Fl F57 function key
718 key_f58 kf58 Fm F58 function key
719 key_f59 kf59 Fn F59 function key
720 key_f6 kf6 k6 F6 function key
721 key_f60 kf60 Fo F60 function key
722 key_f61 kf61 Fp F61 function key
723 key_f62 kf62 Fq F62 function key
724 key_f63 kf63 Fr F63 function key
725 key_f7 kf7 k7 F7 function key
726 key_f8 kf8 k8 F8 function key
727 key_f9 kf9 k9 F9 function key
728 key_find kfnd @0 find key
729 key_help khlp %1 help key
730 key_home khome kh home key
731 key_ic kich1 kI insert-character key
732 key_il kil1 kA insert-line key
733 key_left kcub1 kl left-arrow key
735 key_ll kll kH lower-left key (home
737 key_mark kmrk %2 mark key
738 key_message kmsg %3 message key
739 key_move kmov %4 move key
740 key_next knxt %5 next key
741 key_npage knp kN next-page key
742 key_open kopn %6 open key
743 key_options kopt %7 options key
744 key_ppage kpp kP previous-page key
745 key_previous kprv %8 previous key
746 key_print kprt %9 print key
747 key_redo krdo %0 redo key
748 key_reference kref &1 reference key
749 key_refresh krfr &2 refresh key
750 key_replace krpl &3 replace key
751 key_restart krst &4 restart key
752 key_resume kres &5 resume key
753 key_right kcuf1 kr right-arrow key
754 key_save ksav &6 save key
755 key_sbeg kBEG &9 shifted begin key
756 key_scancel kCAN &0 shifted cancel key
757 key_scommand kCMD *1 shifted command key
758 key_scopy kCPY *2 shifted copy key
759 key_screate kCRT *3 shifted create key
760 key_sdc kDC *4 shifted delete-char-
762 key_sdl kDL *5 shifted delete-line
764 key_select kslt *6 select key
765 key_send kEND *7 shifted end key
766 key_seol kEOL *8 shifted clear-to-
768 key_sexit kEXT *9 shifted exit key
769 key_sf kind kF scroll-forward key
770 key_sfind kFND *0 shifted find key
771 key_shelp kHLP #1 shifted help key
772 key_shome kHOM #2 shifted home key
773 key_sic kIC #3 shifted insert-char-
775 key_sleft kLFT #4 shifted left-arrow
777 key_smessage kMSG %a shifted message key
778 key_smove kMOV %b shifted move key
779 key_snext kNXT %c shifted next key
780 key_soptions kOPT %d shifted options key
781 key_sprevious kPRV %e shifted previous key
782 key_sprint kPRT %f shifted print key
783 key_sr kri kR scroll-backward key
784 key_sredo kRDO %g shifted redo key
785 key_sreplace kRPL %h shifted replace key
786 key_sright kRIT %i shifted right-arrow
788 key_srsume kRES %j shifted resume key
789 key_ssave kSAV !1 shifted save key
790 key_ssuspend kSPD !2 shifted suspend key
791 key_stab khts kT set-tab key
792 key_sundo kUND !3 shifted undo key
793 key_suspend kspd &7 suspend key
794 key_undo kund &8 undo key
795 key_up kcuu1 ku up-arrow key
796 keypad_local rmkx ke leave 'key-
798 keypad_xmit smkx ks enter 'key-
802 lab_f0 lf0 l0 label on function
804 lab_f1 lf1 l1 label on function
806 lab_f10 lf10 la label on function
808 lab_f2 lf2 l2 label on function
810 lab_f3 lf3 l3 label on function
812 lab_f4 lf4 l4 label on function
814 lab_f5 lf5 l5 label on function
816 lab_f6 lf6 l6 label on function
818 lab_f7 lf7 l7 label on function
820 lab_f8 lf8 l8 label on function
822 lab_f9 lf9 l9 label on function
824 label_format fln Lf label format
825 label_off rmln LF turn off soft labels
826 label_on smln LO turn on soft labels
827 meta_off rmm mo turn off meta mode
828 meta_on smm mm turn on meta mode
830 micro_column_address mhpa ZY Like column_address
832 micro_down mcud1 ZZ Like cursor_down in
834 micro_left mcub1 Za Like cursor_left in
836 micro_right mcuf1 Zb Like cursor_right in
838 micro_row_address mvpa Zc Like row_address #1
840 micro_up mcuu1 Zd Like cursor_up in
842 newline nel nw newline (behave like
844 order_of_pins porder Ze Match software bits
846 orig_colors oc oc Set all color pairs
848 orig_pair op op Set default pair to
850 pad_char pad pc padding char
852 parm_dch dch DC delete #1 characters
854 parm_delete_line dl DL delete #1 lines (P*)
855 parm_down_cursor cud DO down #1 lines (P*)
856 parm_down_micro mcud Zf Like parm_down_cur-
858 parm_ich ich IC insert #1 characters
860 parm_index indn SF scroll forward #1
862 parm_insert_line il AL insert #1 lines (P*)
863 parm_left_cursor cub LE move #1 characters
865 parm_left_micro mcub Zg Like parm_left_cur-
869 parm_right_cursor cuf RI move #1 characters
871 parm_right_micro mcuf Zh Like parm_right_cur-
873 parm_rindex rin SR scroll back #1 lines
875 parm_up_cursor cuu UP up #1 lines (P*)
876 parm_up_micro mcuu Zi Like parm_up_cursor
878 pkey_key pfkey pk program function key
880 pkey_local pfloc pl program function key
883 pkey_xmit pfx px program function key
886 plab_norm pln pn program label #1 to
888 print_screen mc0 ps print contents of
890 prtr_non mc5p pO turn on printer for
892 prtr_off mc4 pf turn off printer
893 prtr_on mc5 po turn on printer
894 pulse pulse PU select pulse dialing
895 quick_dial qdial QD dial number #1 with-
897 remove_clock rmclk RC remove clock
898 repeat_char rep rp repeat char #1 #2
900 req_for_input rfi RF send next input char
902 reset_1string rs1 r1 reset string
903 reset_2string rs2 r2 reset string
904 reset_3string rs3 r3 reset string
905 reset_file rf rf name of reset file
906 restore_cursor rc rc restore cursor to
909 row_address vpa cv vertical position #1
911 save_cursor sc sc save current cursor
913 scroll_forward ind sf scroll text up (P)
914 scroll_reverse ri sr scroll text down (P)
915 select_char_set scs Zj Select character
917 set_attributes sgr sa define video
920 set_background setb Sb Set background color
922 set_bottom_margin smgb Zk Set bottom margin at
924 set_bottom_margin_parm smgbp Zl Set bottom margin at
928 set_clock sclk SC set clock, #1 hrs #2
930 set_color_pair scp sp Set current color
932 set_foreground setf Sf Set foreground color
936 set_left_margin smgl ML set left soft margin
940 set_left_margin_parm smglp Zm Set left (right)
942 set_right_margin smgr MR set right soft mar-
945 set_right_margin_parm smgrp Zn Set right margin at
947 set_tab hts st set a tab in every
949 set_top_margin smgt Zo Set top margin at
951 set_top_margin_parm smgtp Zp Set top (bottom)
953 set_window wind wi current window is
956 start_bit_image sbim Zq Start printing bit
958 start_char_set_def scsd Zr Start character set
962 stop_bit_image rbim Zs Stop printing bit
964 stop_char_set_def rcsd Zt End definition of
966 subscript_characters subcs Zu List of subscript-
968 superscript_characters supcs Zv List of superscript-
970 tab ht ta tab to next 8-space
972 these_cause_cr docr Zw Printing any of
975 to_status_line tsl ts move to status line,
977 tone tone TO select touch tone
979 underline_char uc uc underline char and
981 up_half_line hu hu half a line up
982 user0 u0 u0 User string #0
983 user1 u1 u1 User string #1
984 user2 u2 u2 User string #2
985 user3 u3 u3 User string #3
986 user4 u4 u4 User string #4
987 user5 u5 u5 User string #5
988 user6 u6 u6 User string #6
989 user7 u7 u7 User string #7
990 user8 u8 u8 User string #8
991 user9 u9 u9 User string #9
992 wait_tone wait WA wait for dial-tone
993 xoff_character xoffc XF XOFF character
994 xon_character xonc XN XON character
995 zero_motion zerom Zx No motion for subse-
998 The following string capabilities are present in the
999 SVr4.0 term structure, but were originally not documented
1003 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
1004 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
1005 alt_scancode_esc scesa S8 Alternate escape
1008 bit_image_carriage_return bicr Yv Move to beginning
1010 bit_image_newline binel Zz Move to next row
1012 bit_image_repeat birep Xy Repeat bit image
1014 char_set_names csnm Zy Produce #1'th item
1017 code_set_init csin ci Init sequence for
1019 color_names colornm Yw Give name for
1021 define_bit_image_region defbi Yx Define rectangular
1023 device_type devt dv Indicate lan-
1026 display_pc_char dispc S1 Display PC charac-
1028 end_bit_image_region endbi Yy End a bit-image
1030 enter_pc_charset_mode smpch S2 Enter PC character
1032 enter_scancode_mode smsc S4 Enter PC scancode
1034 exit_pc_charset_mode rmpch S3 Exit PC character
1036 exit_scancode_mode rmsc S5 Exit PC scancode
1038 get_mouse getm Gm Curses should get
1042 key_mouse kmous Km Mouse event has
1044 mouse_info minfo Mi Mouse status
1046 pc_term_options pctrm S6 PC terminal
1048 pkey_plab pfxl xl Program function
1052 req_mouse_pos reqmp RQ Request mouse
1054 scancode_escape scesc S7 Escape for scan-
1056 set0_des_seq s0ds s0 Shift to codeset 0
1058 set1_des_seq s1ds s1 Shift to codeset 1
1059 set2_des_seq s2ds s2 Shift to codeset 2
1060 set3_des_seq s3ds s3 Shift to codeset 3
1061 set_a_background setab AB Set background
1064 set_a_foreground setaf AF Set foreground
1067 set_color_band setcolor Yz Change to ribbon
1070 set_lr_margin smglr ML Set both left and
1075 set_page_length slines YZ Set page length to
1077 set_tb_margin smgtb MT Sets both top and
1081 The XSI Curses standard added these hardcopy capabili-
1082 ties. They were used in some post-4.1 versions of System
1083 V curses, e.g., Solaris 2.5 and IRIX 6.x. Except for <STRONG>YI</STRONG>,
1084 the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> termcap names for them are invented. Accord-
1085 ing to the XSI Curses standard, they have no termcap
1086 names. If your compiled terminfo entries use these, they
1087 may not be binary-compatible with System V terminfo
1088 entries after SVr4.1; beware!
1091 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
1092 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
1093 enter_horizontal_hl_mode ehhlm Xh Enter horizontal
1095 enter_left_hl_mode elhlm Xl Enter left highlight
1097 enter_low_hl_mode elohlm Xo Enter low highlight
1099 enter_right_hl_mode erhlm Xr Enter right high-
1101 enter_top_hl_mode ethlm Xt Enter top highlight
1103 enter_vertical_hl_mode evhlm Xv Enter vertical high-
1105 set_a_attributes sgr1 sA Define second set of
1108 set_pglen_inch slengthYI Set page length to
1110 inch (some implemen-
1115 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-User-Defined-Capabilities">User-Defined Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
1116 The preceding section listed the <EM>predefined</EM> capabilities.
1117 They deal with some special features for terminals no
1118 longer (or possibly never) produced. Occasionally there
1119 are special features of newer terminals which are awkward
1120 or impossible to represent by reusing the predefined capa-
1123 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> addresses this limitation by allowing user-defined
1124 capabilities. The <STRONG>tic</STRONG> and <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> programs provide the <STRONG>-x</STRONG>
1125 option for this purpose. When <STRONG>-x</STRONG> is set, <STRONG>tic</STRONG> treats
1126 unknown capabilities as user-defined. That is, if <STRONG>tic</STRONG>
1127 encounters a capability name which it does not recognize,
1128 it infers its type (boolean, number or string) from the
1129 syntax and makes an extended table entry for that capabil-
1130 ity. The <STRONG><A HREF="curs_extend.3x.html">use_extended_names(3x)</A></STRONG> function makes this
1131 information conditionally available to applications. The
1132 ncurses library provides the data leaving most of the
1133 behavior to applications:
1135 <STRONG>o</STRONG> User-defined capability strings whose name begins with
1136 "k" are treated as function keys.
1138 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The types (boolean, number, string) determined by <STRONG>tic</STRONG>
1139 can be inferred by successful calls on <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, etc.
1141 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the capability name happens to be two characters,
1142 the capability is also available through the termcap
1145 While termcap is said to be extensible because it does not
1146 use a predefined set of capabilities, in practice it has
1147 been limited to the capabilities defined by terminfo
1148 implementations. As a rule, user-defined capabilities
1149 intended for use by termcap applications should be limited
1150 to booleans and numbers to avoid running past the 1023
1151 byte limit assumed by termcap implementations and their
1152 applications. In particular, providing extended sets of
1153 function keys (past the 60 numbered keys and the handful
1154 of special named keys) is best done using the longer names
1155 available using terminfo.
1158 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-A-Sample-Entry">A Sample Entry</a></H3><PRE>
1159 The following entry, describing an ANSI-standard terminal,
1160 is representative of what a <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> entry for a modern
1161 terminal typically looks like.
1163 ansi|ansi/pc-term compatible with color,
1164 am, mc5i, mir, msgr,
1165 colors#8, cols#80, it#8, lines#24, ncv#3, pairs#64,
1166 acsc=+\020\,\021-\030.^Y0\333`\004a\261f\370g\361h\260
1167 j\331k\277l\332m\300n\305o~p\304q\304r\304s_t\303
1168 u\264v\301w\302x\263y\363z\362{\343|\330}\234~\376,
1169 bel=^G, blink=\E[5m, bold=\E[1m, cbt=\E[Z, clear=\E[H\E[J,
1170 cr=^M, cub=\E[%p1%dD, cub1=\E[D, cud=\E[%p1%dB, cud1=\E[B,
1171 cuf=\E[%p1%dC, cuf1=\E[C, cup=\E[%i%p1%d;%p2%dH,
1172 cuu=\E[%p1%dA, cuu1=\E[A, dch=\E[%p1%dP, dch1=\E[P,
1173 dl=\E[%p1%dM, dl1=\E[M, ech=\E[%p1%dX, ed=\E[J, el=\E[K,
1174 el1=\E[1K, home=\E[H, hpa=\E[%i%p1%dG, ht=\E[I, hts=\EH,
1175 ich=\E[%p1%d@, il=\E[%p1%dL, il1=\E[L, ind=^J,
1176 indn=\E[%p1%dS, invis=\E[8m, kbs=^H, kcbt=\E[Z, kcub1=\E[D,
1177 kcud1=\E[B, kcuf1=\E[C, kcuu1=\E[A, khome=\E[H, kich1=\E[L,
1178 mc4=\E[4i, mc5=\E[5i, nel=\r\E[S, op=\E[39;49m,
1179 rep=%p1%c\E[%p2%{1}%-%db, rev=\E[7m, rin=\E[%p1%dT,
1180 rmacs=\E[10m, rmpch=\E[10m, rmso=\E[m, rmul=\E[m,
1181 s0ds=\E(B, s1ds=\E)B, s2ds=\E*B, s3ds=\E+B,
1182 setab=\E[4%p1%dm, setaf=\E[3%p1%dm,
1183 sgr=\E[0;10%?%p1%t;7%;
1190 sgr0=\E[0;10m, smacs=\E[11m, smpch=\E[11m, smso=\E[7m,
1191 smul=\E[4m, tbc=\E[3g, u6=\E[%i%d;%dR, u7=\E[6n,
1192 u8=\E[?%[;0123456789]c, u9=\E[c, vpa=\E[%i%p1%dd,
1194 Entries may continue onto multiple lines by placing white
1195 space at the beginning of each line except the first.
1196 Comments may be included on lines beginning with "#".
1197 Capabilities in <EM>terminfo</EM> are of three types:
1199 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Boolean capabilities which indicate that the terminal
1200 has some particular feature,
1202 <STRONG>o</STRONG> numeric capabilities giving the size of the terminal
1203 or the size of particular delays, and
1205 <STRONG>o</STRONG> string capabilities, which give a sequence which can
1206 be used to perform particular terminal operations.
1209 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Types-of-Capabilities">Types of Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
1210 All capabilities have names. For instance, the fact that
1211 ANSI-standard terminals have <EM>automatic</EM> <EM>margins</EM> (i.e., an
1212 automatic return and line-feed when the end of a line is
1213 reached) is indicated by the capability <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Hence the
1214 description of ansi includes <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Numeric capabilities are
1215 followed by the character "#" and then a positive value.
1216 Thus <STRONG>cols</STRONG>, which indicates the number of columns the ter-
1217 minal has, gives the value "80" for ansi. Values for
1218 numeric capabilities may be specified in decimal, octal or
1219 hexadecimal, using the C programming language conventions
1220 (e.g., 255, 0377 and 0xff or 0xFF).
1222 Finally, string valued capabilities, such as <STRONG>el</STRONG> (clear to
1223 end of line sequence) are given by the two-character code,
1224 an "=", and then a string ending at the next following
1227 A number of escape sequences are provided in the string
1228 valued capabilities for easy encoding of characters there:
1230 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Both <STRONG>\E</STRONG> and <STRONG>\e</STRONG> map to an ESCAPE character,
1232 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>^x</STRONG> maps to a control-x for any appropriate <EM>x</EM>, and
1234 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the sequences
1236 <STRONG>\n</STRONG>, <STRONG>\l</STRONG>, <STRONG>\r</STRONG>, <STRONG>\t</STRONG>, <STRONG>\b</STRONG>, <STRONG>\f</STRONG>, and <STRONG>\s</STRONG>
1240 <EM>newline</EM>, <EM>line-feed</EM>, <EM>return</EM>, <EM>tab</EM>, <EM>backspace</EM>, <EM>form-</EM>
1241 <EM>feed</EM>, and <EM>space</EM>,
1245 X/Open Curses does not say what "appropriate <EM>x</EM>" might be.
1246 In practice, that is a printable ASCII graphic character.
1247 The special case "^?" is interpreted as DEL (127). In all
1248 other cases, the character value is AND'd with 0x1f, map-
1249 ping to ASCII control codes in the range 0 through 31.
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
1264 string but behaves as a null character on most termi-
1265 nals, providing CS7 is specified. See <STRONG>stty(1)</STRONG>.
1267 The reason for this quirk is to maintain binary com-
1268 patibility of the compiled terminfo files with other
1269 implementations, e.g., the SVr4 systems, which docu-
1270 ment this. Compiled terminfo files use null-termi-
1271 nated strings, with no lengths. Modifying this would
1272 require a new binary format, which would not work with
1273 other implementations.
1275 Finally, characters may be given as three octal digits
1276 after a <STRONG>\</STRONG>.
1278 A delay in milliseconds may appear anywhere in a string
1279 capability, enclosed in $<..> brackets, as in <STRONG>el</STRONG>=\EK$<5>,
1280 and padding characters are supplied by <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tputs(3x)</A></STRONG> to pro-
1283 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The delay must be a number with at most one decimal
1284 place of precision; it may be followed by suffixes "*"
1287 <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "*" indicates that the padding required is propor-
1288 tional to the number of lines affected by the opera-
1289 tion, and the amount given is the per-affected-unit
1290 padding required. (In the case of insert character,
1291 the factor is still the number of <EM>lines</EM> affected.)
1293 Normally, padding is advisory if the device has the
1294 <STRONG>xon</STRONG> capability; it is used for cost computation but
1295 does not trigger delays.
1297 <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "/" suffix indicates that the padding is mandatory
1298 and forces a delay of the given number of milliseconds
1299 even on devices for which <STRONG>xon</STRONG> is present to indicate
1302 Sometimes individual capabilities must be commented out.
1303 To do this, put a period before the capability name. For
1304 example, see the second <STRONG>ind</STRONG> in the example above.
1307 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Fetching-Compiled-Descriptions">Fetching Compiled Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
1308 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library searches for terminal descriptions in
1309 several places. It uses only the first description found.
1310 The library has a compiled-in list of places to search
1311 which can be overridden by environment variables. Before
1312 starting to search, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> eliminates duplicates in its
1315 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the environment variable TERMINFO is set, it is
1316 interpreted as the pathname of a directory containing
1317 the compiled description you are working on. Only
1318 that directory is searched.
1320 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If TERMINFO is not set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> will instead look in
1321 the directory <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> for a compiled descrip-
1324 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Next, if the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS is
1325 set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> will interpret the contents of that vari-
1326 able as a list of colon-separated directories (or
1327 database files) to be searched.
1329 An empty directory name (i.e., if the variable begins
1330 or ends with a colon, or contains adjacent colons) is
1331 interpreted as the system location <EM>/usr/share/ter-</EM>
1334 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Finally, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> searches these compiled-in locations:
1336 <STRONG>o</STRONG> a list of directories
1337 (/usr/local/ncurses/share/terminfo:/usr/share/ter-
1340 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the system terminfo directory, <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>
1341 (the compiled-in default).
1344 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Preparing-Descriptions">Preparing Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
1345 We now outline how to prepare descriptions of terminals.
1346 The most effective way to prepare a terminal description
1347 is by imitating the description of a similar terminal in
1348 <EM>terminfo</EM> and to build up a description gradually, using
1349 partial descriptions with <EM>vi</EM> or some other screen-oriented
1350 program to check that they are correct. Be aware that a
1351 very unusual terminal may expose deficiencies in the abil-
1352 ity of the <EM>terminfo</EM> file to describe it or bugs in the
1353 screen-handling code of the test program.
1355 To get the padding for insert line right (if the terminal
1356 manufacturer did not document it) a severe test is to edit
1357 a large file at 9600 baud, delete 16 or so lines from the
1358 middle of the screen, then hit the "u" key several times
1359 quickly. If the terminal messes up, more padding is usu-
1360 ally needed. A similar test can be used for insert char-
1364 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Basic-Capabilities">Basic Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
1365 The number of columns on each line for the terminal is
1366 given by the <STRONG>cols</STRONG> numeric capability. If the terminal is
1367 a CRT, then the number of lines on the screen is given by
1368 the <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability. If the terminal wraps around to the
1369 beginning of the next line when it reaches the right mar-
1370 gin, then it should have the <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability. If the termi-
1371 nal can clear its screen, leaving the cursor in the home
1372 position, then this is given by the <STRONG>clear</STRONG> string capabil-
1373 ity. If the terminal overstrikes (rather than clearing a
1374 position when a character is struck over) then it should
1375 have the <STRONG>os</STRONG> capability. If the terminal is a printing
1376 terminal, with no soft copy unit, give it both <STRONG>hc</STRONG> and <STRONG>os</STRONG>.
1377 (<STRONG>os</STRONG> applies to storage scope terminals, such as TEKTRONIX
1378 4010 series, as well as hard copy and APL terminals.) If
1379 there is a code to move the cursor to the left edge of the
1380 current row, give this as <STRONG>cr</STRONG>. (Normally this will be car-
1381 riage return, control M.) If there is a code to produce
1382 an audible signal (bell, beep, etc) give this as <STRONG>bel</STRONG>.
1384 If there is a code to move the cursor one position to the
1385 left (such as backspace) that capability should be given
1386 as <STRONG>cub1</STRONG>. Similarly, codes to move to the right, up, and
1387 down should be given as <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>, and <STRONG>cud1</STRONG>. These local
1388 cursor motions should not alter the text they pass over,
1389 for example, you would not normally use "<STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>= " because
1390 the space would erase the character moved over.
1392 A very important point here is that the local cursor
1393 motions encoded in <EM>terminfo</EM> are undefined at the left and
1394 top edges of a CRT terminal. Programs should never
1395 attempt to backspace around the left edge, unless <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is
1396 given, and never attempt to go up locally off the top. In
1397 order to scroll text up, a program will go to the bottom
1398 left corner of the screen and send the <STRONG>ind</STRONG> (index) string.
1400 To scroll text down, a program goes to the top left corner
1401 of the screen and sends the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> (reverse index) string.
1402 The strings <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG> are undefined when not on their
1403 respective corners of the screen.
1405 Parameterized versions of the scrolling sequences are <STRONG>indn</STRONG>
1406 and <STRONG>rin</STRONG> which have the same semantics as <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG> except
1407 that they take one parameter, and scroll that many lines.
1408 They are also undefined except at the appropriate edge of
1411 The <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability tells whether the cursor sticks at the
1412 right edge of the screen when text is output, but this
1413 does not necessarily apply to a <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG> from the last column.
1414 The only local motion which is defined from the left edge
1415 is if <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is given, then a <STRONG>cub1</STRONG> from the left edge will
1416 move to the right edge of the previous row. If <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is not
1417 given, the effect is undefined. This is useful for draw-
1418 ing a box around the edge of the screen, for example. If
1419 the terminal has switch selectable automatic margins, the
1420 <EM>terminfo</EM> file usually assumes that this is on; i.e., <STRONG>am</STRONG>.
1421 If the terminal has a command which moves to the first
1422 column of the next line, that command can be given as <STRONG>nel</STRONG>
1423 (newline). It does not matter if the command clears the
1424 remainder of the current line, so if the terminal has no
1425 <STRONG>cr</STRONG> and <STRONG>lf</STRONG> it may still be possible to craft a working <STRONG>nel</STRONG>
1426 out of one or both of them.
1428 These capabilities suffice to describe hard-copy and
1429 "glass-tty" terminals. Thus the model 33 teletype is
1432 33|tty33|tty|model 33 teletype,
1433 bel=^G, cols#72, cr=^M, cud1=^J, hc, ind=^J, os,
1435 while the Lear Siegler ADM-3 is described as
1438 am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
1442 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Parameterized-Strings">Parameterized Strings</a></H3><PRE>
1443 Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters
1444 in the terminal are described by a parameterized string
1445 capability, with <EM>printf</EM>-like escapes such as <EM>%x</EM> in it.
1446 For example, to address the cursor, the <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is
1447 given, using two parameters: the row and column to address
1448 to. (Rows and columns are numbered from zero and refer to
1449 the physical screen visible to the user, not to any unseen
1450 memory.) If the terminal has memory relative cursor
1451 addressing, that can be indicated by <STRONG>mrcup</STRONG>.
1453 The parameter mechanism uses a stack and special <STRONG>%</STRONG> codes
1454 to manipulate it. Typically a sequence will push one of
1455 the parameters onto the stack and then print it in some
1456 format. Print (e.g., "%d") is a special case. Other
1457 operations, including "%t" pop their operand from the
1458 stack. It is noted that more complex operations are often
1459 necessary, e.g., in the <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> string.
1461 The <STRONG>%</STRONG> encodings have the following meanings:
1463 <STRONG>%%</STRONG> outputs "%"
1465 <STRONG>%</STRONG><EM>[[</EM>:<EM>]flags][width[.precision]][</EM><STRONG>doxXs</STRONG><EM>]</EM>
1466 as in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>, flags are <EM>[-+#]</EM> and <EM>space</EM>. Use a ":"
1467 to allow the next character to be a "-" flag, avoid-
1468 ing interpreting "%-" as an operator.
1470 %c print <EM>pop()</EM> like %c in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
1472 <STRONG>%s</STRONG> print <EM>pop()</EM> like %s in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
1474 <STRONG>%p</STRONG><EM>[1-9]</EM>
1475 push <EM>i</EM>'th parameter
1477 <STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[a-z]</EM>
1478 set dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to <EM>pop()</EM>
1480 <STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[a-z]/</EM>
1481 get dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
1483 <STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
1484 set static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to <EM>pop()</EM>
1486 <STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
1487 get static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
1489 The terms "static" and "dynamic" are misleading.
1490 Historically, these are simply two different sets of
1491 variables, whose values are not reset between calls
1492 to <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tparm(3x)</A></STRONG>. However, that fact is not documented
1493 in other implementations. Relying on it will
1494 adversely impact portability to other implementa-
1497 <STRONG>%'</STRONG><EM>c</EM><STRONG>'</STRONG> char constant <EM>c</EM>
1499 <STRONG>%{</STRONG><EM>nn</EM><STRONG>}</STRONG>
1500 integer constant <EM>nn</EM>
1502 <STRONG>%l</STRONG> push strlen(pop)
1504 <STRONG>%+</STRONG>, <STRONG>%-</STRONG>, <STRONG>%*</STRONG>, <STRONG>%/</STRONG>, <STRONG>%m</STRONG>
1505 arithmetic (%m is <EM>mod</EM>): <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1507 <STRONG>%&</STRONG>, <STRONG>%|</STRONG>, <STRONG>%^</STRONG>
1508 bit operations (AND, OR and exclusive-OR): <EM>push(pop()</EM>
1509 <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1511 <STRONG>%=</STRONG>, <STRONG>%></STRONG>, <STRONG>%<</STRONG>
1512 logical operations: <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1514 <STRONG>%A</STRONG>, <STRONG>%O</STRONG>
1515 logical AND and OR operations (for conditionals)
1517 <STRONG>%!</STRONG>, <STRONG>%~</STRONG>
1518 unary operations (logical and bit complement):
1519 <EM>push(op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1521 <STRONG>%i</STRONG> add 1 to first two parameters (for ANSI terminals)
1523 <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> <STRONG>%t</STRONG> <EM>thenpart</EM> <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> <STRONG>%;</STRONG>
1524 This forms an if-then-else. The <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> is
1525 optional. Usually the <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> part pushes a value
1526 onto the stack, and <STRONG>%t</STRONG> pops it from the stack, test-
1527 ing if it is nonzero (true). If it is zero (false),
1528 control passes to the <STRONG>%e</STRONG> (else) part.
1530 It is possible to form else-if's a la Algol 68:
1531 <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>
1533 where ci are conditions, bi are bodies.
1535 Use the <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> or <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> to see the struc-
1536 ture of if-then-else's. Some strings, e.g., <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> can
1537 be very complicated when written on one line. The <STRONG>-f</STRONG>
1538 option splits the string into lines with the parts
1541 Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands in
1542 the usual order. That is, to get x-5 one would use
1543 "%gx%{5}%-". <STRONG>%P</STRONG> and <STRONG>%g</STRONG> variables are persistent across
1544 escape-string evaluations.
1546 Consider the HP2645, which, to get to row 3 and column 12,
1547 needs to be sent \E&a12c03Y padded for 6 milliseconds.
1548 Note that the order of the rows and columns is inverted
1549 here, and that the row and column are printed as two dig-
1550 its. Thus its <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is "cup=6\E&%p2%2dc%p1%2dY".
1552 The Microterm ACT-IV needs the current row and column sent
1553 preceded by a <STRONG>^T</STRONG>, with the row and column simply encoded
1554 in binary, "cup=^T%p1%c%p2%c". Terminals which use "%c"
1555 need to be able to backspace the cursor (<STRONG>cub1</STRONG>), and to
1556 move the cursor up one line on the screen (<STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>). This is
1557 necessary because it is not always safe to transmit <STRONG>\n</STRONG> <STRONG>^D</STRONG>
1558 and <STRONG>\r</STRONG>, as the system may change or discard them. (The
1559 library routines dealing with terminfo set tty modes so
1560 that tabs are never expanded, so \t is safe to send. This
1561 turns out to be essential for the Ann Arbor 4080.)
1563 A final example is the LSI ADM-3a, which uses row and col-
1564 umn offset by a blank character, thus "cup=\E=%p1%'
1565 '%+%c%p2%' '%+%c". After sending "\E=", this pushes the
1566 first parameter, pushes the ASCII value for a space (32),
1567 adds them (pushing the sum on the stack in place of the
1568 two previous values) and outputs that value as a charac-
1569 ter. Then the same is done for the second parameter.
1570 More complex arithmetic is possible using the stack.
1573 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Cursor-Motions">Cursor Motions</a></H3><PRE>
1574 If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very
1575 upper left corner of screen) then this can be given as
1576 <STRONG>home</STRONG>; similarly a fast way of getting to the lower left-
1577 hand corner can be given as <STRONG>ll</STRONG>; this may involve going up
1578 with <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG> from the home position, but a program should
1579 never do this itself (unless <STRONG>ll</STRONG> does) because it can make
1580 no assumption about the effect of moving up from the home
1581 position. Note that the home position is the same as
1582 addressing to (0,0): to the top left corner of the screen,
1583 not of memory. (Thus, the \EH sequence on HP terminals
1584 cannot be used for <STRONG>home</STRONG>.)
1586 If the terminal has row or column absolute cursor address-
1587 ing, these can be given as single parameter capabilities
1588 <STRONG>hpa</STRONG> (horizontal position absolute) and <STRONG>vpa</STRONG> (vertical posi-
1589 tion absolute). Sometimes these are shorter than the more
1590 general two parameter sequence (as with the hp2645) and
1591 can be used in preference to <STRONG>cup</STRONG>. If there are parameter-
1592 ized local motions (e.g., move <EM>n</EM> spaces to the right)
1593 these can be given as <STRONG>cud</STRONG>, <STRONG>cub</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuf</STRONG>, and <STRONG>cuu</STRONG> with a single
1594 parameter indicating how many spaces to move. These are
1595 primarily useful if the terminal does not have <STRONG>cup</STRONG>, such
1596 as the TEKTRONIX 4025.
1598 If the terminal needs to be in a special mode when running
1599 a program that uses these capabilities, the codes to enter
1600 and exit this mode can be given as <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>. This
1601 arises, for example, from terminals like the Concept with
1602 more than one page of memory. If the terminal has only
1603 memory relative cursor addressing and not screen relative
1604 cursor addressing, a one screen-sized window must be fixed
1605 into the terminal for cursor addressing to work properly.
1606 This is also used for the TEKTRONIX 4025, where <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sets
1607 the command character to be the one used by terminfo. If
1608 the <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sequence will not restore the screen after an
1609 <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG> sequence is output (to the state prior to outputting
1610 <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>), specify <STRONG>nrrmc</STRONG>.
1613 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Area-Clears">Area Clears</a></H3><PRE>
1614 If the terminal can clear from the current position to the
1615 end of the line, leaving the cursor where it is, this
1616 should be given as <STRONG>el</STRONG>. If the terminal can clear from the
1617 beginning of the line to the current position inclusive,
1618 leaving the cursor where it is, this should be given as
1619 <STRONG>el1</STRONG>. If the terminal can clear from the current position
1620 to the end of the display, then this should be given as
1621 <STRONG>ed</STRONG>. <STRONG>Ed</STRONG> is only defined from the first column of a line.
1622 (Thus, it can be simulated by a request to delete a large
1623 number of lines, if a true <STRONG>ed</STRONG> is not available.)
1626 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Insert_delete-line-and-vertical-motions">Insert/delete line and vertical motions</a></H3><PRE>
1627 If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line
1628 where the cursor is, this should be given as <STRONG>il1</STRONG>; this is
1629 done only from the first position of a line. The cursor
1630 must then appear on the newly blank line. If the terminal
1631 can delete the line which the cursor is on, then this
1632 should be given as <STRONG>dl1</STRONG>; this is done only from the first
1633 position on the line to be deleted. Versions of <STRONG>il1</STRONG> and
1634 <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> which take a single parameter and insert or delete
1635 that many lines can be given as <STRONG>il</STRONG> and <STRONG>dl</STRONG>.
1637 If the terminal has a settable scrolling region (like the
1638 vt100) the command to set this can be described with the
1639 <STRONG>csr</STRONG> capability, which takes two parameters: the top and
1640 bottom lines of the scrolling region. The cursor position
1641 is, alas, undefined after using this command.
1643 It is possible to get the effect of insert or delete line
1644 using <STRONG>csr</STRONG> on a properly chosen region; the <STRONG>sc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (save
1645 and restore cursor) commands may be useful for ensuring
1646 that your synthesized insert/delete string does not move
1647 the cursor. (Note that the <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG> library does this
1648 synthesis automatically, so you need not compose
1649 insert/delete strings for an entry with <STRONG>csr</STRONG>).
1651 Yet another way to construct insert and delete might be to
1652 use a combination of index with the memory-lock feature
1653 found on some terminals (like the HP-700/90 series, which
1654 however also has insert/delete).
1656 Inserting lines at the top or bottom of the screen can
1657 also be done using <STRONG>ri</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG> on many terminals without a
1658 true insert/delete line, and is often faster even on ter-
1659 minals with those features.
1661 The boolean <STRONG>non_dest_scroll_region</STRONG> should be set if each
1662 scrolling window is effectively a view port on a screen-
1663 sized canvas. To test for this capability, create a
1664 scrolling region in the middle of the screen, write some-
1665 thing to the bottom line, move the cursor to the top of
1666 the region, and do <STRONG>ri</STRONG> followed by <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG>. If the data
1667 scrolled off the bottom of the region by the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> re-
1668 appears, then scrolling is non-destructive. System V and
1669 XSI Curses expect that <STRONG>ind</STRONG>, <STRONG>ri</STRONG>, <STRONG>indn</STRONG>, and <STRONG>rin</STRONG> will simu-
1670 late destructive scrolling; their documentation cautions
1671 you not to define <STRONG>csr</STRONG> unless this is true. This <STRONG>curses</STRONG>
1672 implementation is more liberal and will do explicit erases
1673 after scrolling if <STRONG>ndsrc</STRONG> is defined.
1675 If the terminal has the ability to define a window as part
1676 of memory, which all commands affect, it should be given
1677 as the parameterized string <STRONG>wind</STRONG>. The four parameters are
1678 the starting and ending lines in memory and the starting
1679 and ending columns in memory, in that order.
1681 If the terminal can retain display memory above, then the
1682 <STRONG>da</STRONG> capability should be given; if display memory can be
1683 retained below, then <STRONG>db</STRONG> should be given. These indicate
1684 that deleting a line or scrolling may bring non-blank
1685 lines up from below or that scrolling back with <STRONG>ri</STRONG> may
1686 bring down non-blank lines.
1689 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Insert_Delete-Character">Insert/Delete Character</a></H3><PRE>
1690 There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with
1691 respect to insert/delete character which can be described
1692 using <EM>terminfo.</EM> The most common insert/delete character
1693 operations affect only the characters on the current line
1694 and shift characters off the end of the line rigidly.
1695 Other terminals, such as the Concept 100 and the Perkin
1696 Elmer Owl, make a distinction between typed and untyped
1697 blanks on the screen, shifting upon an insert or delete
1698 only to an untyped blank on the screen which is either
1699 eliminated, or expanded to two untyped blanks.
1701 You can determine the kind of terminal you have by clear-
1702 ing the screen and then typing text separated by cursor
1703 motions. Type "abc def" using local cursor motions
1704 (not spaces) between the "abc" and the "def". Then posi-
1705 tion the cursor before the "abc" and put the terminal in
1706 insert mode. If typing characters causes the rest of the
1707 line to shift rigidly and characters to fall off the end,
1708 then your terminal does not distinguish between blanks and
1709 untyped positions. If the "abc" shifts over to the "def"
1710 which then move together around the end of the current
1711 line and onto the next as you insert, you have the second
1712 type of terminal, and should give the capability <STRONG>in</STRONG>, which
1713 stands for "insert null".
1715 While these are two logically separate attributes (one
1716 line versus multi-line insert mode, and special treatment
1717 of untyped spaces) we have seen no terminals whose insert
1718 mode cannot be described with the single attribute.
1720 Terminfo can describe both terminals which have an insert
1721 mode, and terminals which send a simple sequence to open a
1722 blank position on the current line. Give as <STRONG>smir</STRONG> the
1723 sequence to get into insert mode. Give as <STRONG>rmir</STRONG> the
1724 sequence to leave insert mode. Now give as <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> any
1725 sequence needed to be sent just before sending the charac-
1726 ter to be inserted. Most terminals with a true insert
1727 mode will not give <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>; terminals which send a sequence
1728 to open a screen position should give it here.
1730 If your terminal has both, insert mode is usually prefer-
1731 able to <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>. Technically, you should not give both
1732 unless the terminal actually requires both to be used in
1733 combination. Accordingly, some non-curses applications
1734 get confused if both are present; the symptom is doubled
1735 characters in an update using insert. This requirement is
1736 now rare; most <STRONG>ich</STRONG> sequences do not require previous smir,
1737 and most smir insert modes do not require <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> before each
1738 character. Therefore, the new <STRONG>curses</STRONG> actually assumes
1739 this is the case and uses either <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> or <STRONG>ich</STRONG>/<STRONG>ich1</STRONG> as
1740 appropriate (but not both). If you have to write an entry
1741 to be used under new curses for a terminal old enough to
1742 need both, include the <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> sequences in <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>.
1744 If post insert padding is needed, give this as a number of
1745 milliseconds in <STRONG>ip</STRONG> (a string option). Any other sequence
1746 which may need to be sent after an insert of a single
1747 character may also be given in <STRONG>ip</STRONG>. If your terminal needs
1748 both to be placed into an "insert mode" and a special code
1749 to precede each inserted character, then both <STRONG>smir</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmir</STRONG>
1750 and <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> can be given, and both will be used. The <STRONG>ich</STRONG>
1751 capability, with one parameter, <EM>n</EM>, will repeat the effects
1752 of <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> <EM>n</EM> times.
1754 If padding is necessary between characters typed while not
1755 in insert mode, give this as a number of milliseconds pad-
1756 ding in <STRONG>rmp</STRONG>.
1758 It is occasionally necessary to move around while in
1759 insert mode to delete characters on the same line (e.g.,
1760 if there is a tab after the insertion position). If your
1761 terminal allows motion while in insert mode you can give
1762 the capability <STRONG>mir</STRONG> to speed up inserting in this case.
1763 Omitting <STRONG>mir</STRONG> will affect only speed. Some terminals
1764 (notably Datamedia's) must not have <STRONG>mir</STRONG> because of the way
1765 their insert mode works.
1767 Finally, you can specify <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to delete a single charac-
1768 ter, <STRONG>dch</STRONG> with one parameter, <EM>n</EM>, to delete <EM>n</EM> <EM>characters,</EM>
1769 and delete mode by giving <STRONG>smdc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmdc</STRONG> to enter and exit
1770 delete mode (any mode the terminal needs to be placed in
1771 for <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to work).
1773 A command to erase <EM>n</EM> characters (equivalent to outputting
1774 <EM>n</EM> blanks without moving the cursor) can be given as <STRONG>ech</STRONG>
1778 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Highlighting_-Underlining_-and-Visible-Bells">Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells</a></H3><PRE>
1779 If your terminal has one or more kinds of display
1780 attributes, these can be represented in a number of dif-
1781 ferent ways. You should choose one display form as <EM>stand-</EM>
1782 <EM>out</EM> <EM>mode</EM>, representing a good, high contrast, easy-on-the-
1783 eyes, format for highlighting error messages and other
1784 attention getters. (If you have a choice, reverse video
1785 plus half-bright is good, or reverse video alone.) The
1786 sequences to enter and exit standout mode are given as
1787 <STRONG>smso</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmso</STRONG>, respectively. If the code to change into
1788 or out of standout mode leaves one or even two blank spa-
1789 ces on the screen, as the TVI 912 and Teleray 1061 do,
1790 then <STRONG>xmc</STRONG> should be given to tell how many spaces are left.
1792 Codes to begin underlining and end underlining can be
1793 given as <STRONG>smul</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmul</STRONG> respectively. If the terminal has
1794 a code to underline the current character and move the
1795 cursor one space to the right, such as the Microterm Mime,
1796 this can be given as <STRONG>uc</STRONG>.
1798 Other capabilities to enter various highlighting modes
1799 include <STRONG>blink</STRONG> (blinking) <STRONG>bold</STRONG> (bold or extra bright) <STRONG>dim</STRONG>
1800 (dim or half-bright) <STRONG>invis</STRONG> (blanking or invisible text)
1801 <STRONG>prot</STRONG> (protected) <STRONG>rev</STRONG> (reverse video) <STRONG>sgr0</STRONG> (turn off <EM>all</EM>
1802 attribute modes) <STRONG>smacs</STRONG> (enter alternate character set
1803 mode) and <STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> (exit alternate character set mode).
1804 Turning on any of these modes singly may or may not turn
1807 If there is a sequence to set arbitrary combinations of
1808 modes, this should be given as <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> (set attributes), tak-
1809 ing 9 parameters. Each parameter is either 0 or nonzero,
1810 as the corresponding attribute is on or off. The 9 param-
1811 eters are, in order: standout, underline, reverse, blink,
1812 dim, bold, blank, protect, alternate character set. Not
1813 all modes need be supported by <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>, only those for which
1814 corresponding separate attribute commands exist.
1816 For example, the DEC vt220 supports most of the modes:
1818 <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> <STRONG>parameter</STRONG> <STRONG>attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>escape</STRONG> <STRONG>sequence</STRONG>
1821 p1 standout \E[0;1;7m
1822 p2 underline \E[0;4m
1825 p5 dim not available
1829 p9 altcharset ^O (off) ^N (on)
1831 We begin each escape sequence by turning off any existing
1832 modes, since there is no quick way to determine whether
1833 they are active. Standout is set up to be the combination
1834 of reverse and bold. The vt220 terminal has a protect
1835 mode, though it is not commonly used in sgr because it
1836 protects characters on the screen from the host's era-
1837 sures. The altcharset mode also is different in that it
1838 is either ^O or ^N, depending on whether it is off or on.
1839 If all modes are turned on, the resulting sequence is
1842 Some sequences are common to different modes. For exam-
1843 ple, ;7 is output when either p1 or p3 is true, that is,
1844 if either standout or reverse modes are turned on.
1846 Writing out the above sequences, along with their depen-
1849 <STRONG>sequence</STRONG> <STRONG>when</STRONG> <STRONG>to</STRONG> <STRONG>output</STRONG> <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> <STRONG>translation</STRONG>
1852 ;1 if p1 or p6 %?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;
1853 ;4 if p2 %?%p2%|%t;4%;
1854 ;5 if p4 %?%p4%|%t;5%;
1855 ;7 if p1 or p3 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;
1856 ;8 if p7 %?%p7%|%t;8%;
1858 ^N or ^O if p9 ^N, else ^O %?%p9%t^N%e^O%;
1860 Putting this all together into the sgr sequence gives:
1862 sgr=\E[0%?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p4%t;5%;
1863 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;%?%p7%t;8%;m%?%p9%t\016%e\017%;,
1865 Remember that if you specify sgr, you must also specify
1866 sgr0. Also, some implementations rely on sgr being given
1867 if sgr0 is, Not all terminfo entries necessarily have an
1868 sgr string, however. Many terminfo entries are derived
1869 from termcap entries which have no sgr string. The only
1870 drawback to adding an sgr string is that termcap also
1871 assumes that sgr0 does not exit alternate character set
1874 Terminals with the "magic cookie" glitch (<STRONG>xmc</STRONG>) deposit
1875 special "cookies" when they receive mode-setting
1876 sequences, which affect the display algorithm rather than
1877 having extra bits for each character. Some terminals,
1878 such as the HP 2621, automatically leave standout mode
1879 when they move to a new line or the cursor is addressed.
1880 Programs using standout mode should exit standout mode
1881 before moving the cursor or sending a newline, unless the
1882 <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> capability, asserting that it is safe to move in
1883 standout mode, is present.
1885 If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indi-
1886 cate an error quietly (a bell replacement) then this can
1887 be given as <STRONG>flash</STRONG>; it must not move the cursor.
1889 If the cursor needs to be made more visible than normal
1890 when it is not on the bottom line (to make, for example, a
1891 non-blinking underline into an easier to find block or
1892 blinking underline) give this sequence as <STRONG>cvvis</STRONG>. If there
1893 is a way to make the cursor completely invisible, give
1894 that as <STRONG>civis</STRONG>. The capability <STRONG>cnorm</STRONG> should be given which
1895 undoes the effects of both of these modes.
1897 If your terminal correctly generates underlined characters
1898 (with no special codes needed) even though it does not
1899 overstrike, then you should give the capability <STRONG>ul</STRONG>. If a
1900 character overstriking another leaves both characters on
1901 the screen, specify the capability <STRONG>os</STRONG>. If overstrikes are
1902 erasable with a blank, then this should be indicated by
1903 giving <STRONG>eo</STRONG>.
1906 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Keypad-and-Function-Keys">Keypad and Function Keys</a></H3><PRE>
1907 If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes when the
1908 keys are pressed, this information can be given. Note
1909 that it is not possible to handle terminals where the key-
1910 pad only works in local (this applies, for example, to the
1911 unshifted HP 2621 keys). If the keypad can be set to
1912 transmit or not transmit, give these codes as <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> and
1913 <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG>. Otherwise the keypad is assumed to always transmit.
1915 The codes sent by the left arrow, right arrow, up arrow,
1916 down arrow, and home keys can be given as <STRONG>kcub1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuf1,</STRONG>
1917 <STRONG>kcuu1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcud1,</STRONG> and <STRONG>khome</STRONG> respectively. If there are func-
1918 tion keys such as f0, f1, ..., f10, the codes they send
1919 can be given as <STRONG>kf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf10</STRONG>. If these keys have
1920 labels other than the default f0 through f10, the labels
1921 can be given as <STRONG>lf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf10</STRONG>.
1923 The codes transmitted by certain other special keys can be
1926 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kll</STRONG> (home down),
1928 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kbs</STRONG> (backspace),
1930 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ktbc</STRONG> (clear all tabs),
1932 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kctab</STRONG> (clear the tab stop in this column),
1934 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kclr</STRONG> (clear screen or erase key),
1936 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdch1</STRONG> (delete character),
1938 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdl1</STRONG> (delete line),
1940 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>krmir</STRONG> (exit insert mode),
1942 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kel</STRONG> (clear to end of line),
1944 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ked</STRONG> (clear to end of screen),
1946 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kich1</STRONG> (insert character or enter insert mode),
1948 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kil1</STRONG> (insert line),
1950 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>knp</STRONG> (next page),
1952 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kpp</STRONG> (previous page),
1954 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kind</STRONG> (scroll forward/down),
1956 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kri</STRONG> (scroll backward/up),
1958 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>khts</STRONG> (set a tab stop in this column).
1960 In addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3 array of keys
1961 including the four arrow keys, the other five keys can be
1962 given as <STRONG>ka1</STRONG>, <STRONG>ka3</STRONG>, <STRONG>kb2</STRONG>, <STRONG>kc1</STRONG>, and <STRONG>kc3</STRONG>. These keys are use-
1963 ful when the effects of a 3 by 3 directional pad are
1966 Strings to program function keys can be given as <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG>,
1967 <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG>, and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG>. A string to program screen labels should
1968 be specified as <STRONG>pln</STRONG>. Each of these strings takes two
1969 parameters: the function key number to program (from 0 to
1970 10) and the string to program it with. Function key num-
1971 bers out of this range may program undefined keys in a
1972 terminal dependent manner. The difference between the
1973 capabilities is that <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG> causes pressing the given key
1974 to be the same as the user typing the given string; <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG>
1975 causes the string to be executed by the terminal in local;
1976 and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG> causes the string to be transmitted to the com-
1979 The capabilities <STRONG>nlab</STRONG>, <STRONG>lw</STRONG> and <STRONG>lh</STRONG> define the number of pro-
1980 grammable screen labels and their width and height. If
1981 there are commands to turn the labels on and off, give
1982 them in <STRONG>smln</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmln</STRONG>. <STRONG>smln</STRONG> is normally output after one
1983 or more pln sequences to make sure that the change becomes
1987 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Tabs-and-Initialization">Tabs and Initialization</a></H3><PRE>
1988 If the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance
1989 to the next tab stop can be given as <STRONG>ht</STRONG> (usually control
1990 I). A "back-tab" command which moves leftward to the pre-
1991 ceding tab stop can be given as <STRONG>cbt</STRONG>. By convention, if
1992 the teletype modes indicate that tabs are being expanded
1993 by the computer rather than being sent to the terminal,
1994 programs should not use <STRONG>ht</STRONG> or <STRONG>cbt</STRONG> even if they are
1995 present, since the user may not have the tab stops prop-
1996 erly set. If the terminal has hardware tabs which are
1997 initially set every <EM>n</EM> spaces when the terminal is powered
1998 up, the numeric parameter <STRONG>it</STRONG> is given, showing the number
1999 of spaces the tabs are set to. This is normally used by
2000 the <STRONG>tset</STRONG> command to determine whether to set the mode for
2001 hardware tab expansion, and whether to set the tab stops.
2002 If the terminal has tab stops that can be saved in non-
2003 volatile memory, the terminfo description can assume that
2004 they are properly set.
2006 Other capabilities include <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, and <STRONG>is3</STRONG>, initializa-
2007 tion strings for the terminal, <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, the path name of a
2008 program to be run to initialize the terminal, and <STRONG>if</STRONG>, the
2009 name of a file containing long initialization strings.
2010 These strings are expected to set the terminal into modes
2011 consistent with the rest of the terminfo description.
2012 They are normally sent to the terminal, by the <EM>init</EM> option
2013 of the <STRONG>tput</STRONG> program, each time the user logs in. They
2014 will be printed in the following order:
2017 <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>
2019 output <STRONG>is1</STRONG> <STRONG>is2</STRONG>
2021 set the margins using
2022 <STRONG>mgc</STRONG>, <STRONG>smgl</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgr</STRONG>
2025 <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> and <STRONG>hts</STRONG>
2031 output <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
2033 Most initialization is done with <STRONG>is2</STRONG>. Special terminal
2034 modes can be set up without duplicating strings by putting
2035 the common sequences in <STRONG>is2</STRONG> and special cases in <STRONG>is1</STRONG> and
2036 <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
2038 A set of sequences that does a harder reset from a totally
2039 unknown state can be given as <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rf</STRONG> and <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, analo-
2040 gous to <STRONG>is1</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>is2</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>if</STRONG> and <STRONG>is3</STRONG> respectively. These
2041 strings are output by the <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program, which is used
2042 when the terminal gets into a wedged state. Commands are
2043 normally placed in <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG> <STRONG>rs3</STRONG> and <STRONG>rf</STRONG> only if they pro-
2044 duce annoying effects on the screen and are not necessary
2045 when logging in. For example, the command to set the
2046 vt100 into 80-column mode would normally be part of <STRONG>is2</STRONG>,
2047 but it causes an annoying glitch of the screen and is not
2048 normally needed since the terminal is usually already in
2051 The <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program writes strings including <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, etc., in
2052 the same order as the <EM>init</EM> program, using <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, etc.,
2053 instead of <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, etc. If any of <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, or <STRONG>rf</STRONG> reset
2054 capability strings are missing, the <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program falls
2055 back upon the corresponding initialization capability
2058 If there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can
2059 be given as <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (clear all tab stops) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (set a tab
2060 stop in the current column of every row). If a more com-
2061 plex sequence is needed to set the tabs than can be
2062 described by this, the sequence can be placed in <STRONG>is2</STRONG> or
2063 <STRONG>if</STRONG>.
2066 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Delays-and-Padding">Delays and Padding</a></H3><PRE>
2067 Many older and slower terminals do not support either
2068 XON/XOFF or DTR handshaking, including hard copy terminals
2069 and some very archaic CRTs (including, for example, DEC
2070 VT100s). These may require padding characters after cer-
2071 tain cursor motions and screen changes.
2073 If the terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking for flow control
2074 (that is, it automatically emits ^S back to the host when
2075 its input buffers are close to full), set <STRONG>xon</STRONG>. This capa-
2076 bility suppresses the emission of padding. You can also
2077 set it for memory-mapped console devices effectively that
2078 do not have a speed limit. Padding information should
2079 still be included so that routines can make better deci-
2080 sions about relative costs, but actual pad characters will
2083 If <STRONG>pb</STRONG> (padding baud rate) is given, padding is suppressed
2084 at baud rates below the value of <STRONG>pb</STRONG>. If the entry has no
2085 padding baud rate, then whether padding is emitted or not
2086 is completely controlled by <STRONG>xon</STRONG>.
2088 If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) charac-
2089 ter as a pad, then this can be given as <STRONG>pad</STRONG>. Only the
2090 first character of the <STRONG>pad</STRONG> string is used.
2093 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Status-Lines">Status Lines</a></H3><PRE>
2094 Some terminals have an extra "status line" which is not
2095 normally used by software (and thus not counted in the
2096 terminal's <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability).
2098 The simplest case is a status line which is cursor-
2099 addressable but not part of the main scrolling region on
2100 the screen; the Heathkit H19 has a status line of this
2101 kind, as would a 24-line VT100 with a 23-line scrolling
2102 region set up on initialization. This situation is indi-
2103 cated by the <STRONG>hs</STRONG> capability.
2105 Some terminals with status lines need special sequences to
2106 access the status line. These may be expressed as a
2107 string with single parameter <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> which takes the cursor to
2108 a given zero-origin column on the status line. The capa-
2109 bility <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> must return to the main-screen cursor positions
2110 before the last <STRONG>tsl</STRONG>. You may need to embed the string
2111 values of <STRONG>sc</STRONG> (save cursor) and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (restore cursor) in <STRONG>tsl</STRONG>
2112 and <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> to accomplish this.
2114 The status line is normally assumed to be the same width
2115 as the width of the terminal. If this is untrue, you can
2116 specify it with the numeric capability <STRONG>wsl</STRONG>.
2118 A command to erase or blank the status line may be speci-
2119 fied as <STRONG>dsl</STRONG>.
2121 The boolean capability <STRONG>eslok</STRONG> specifies that escape
2122 sequences, tabs, etc., work ordinarily in the status line.
2124 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation does not yet use any of these
2125 capabilities. They are documented here in case they ever
2129 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Line-Graphics">Line Graphics</a></H3><PRE>
2130 Many terminals have alternate character sets useful for
2131 forms-drawing. Terminfo and <STRONG>curses</STRONG> built-in support for
2132 the drawing characters supported by the VT100, with some
2133 characters from the AT&T 4410v1 added. This alternate
2134 character set may be specified by the <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> capability.
2136 <STRONG>Glyph</STRONG> <STRONG>ACS</STRONG> <STRONG>Ascii</STRONG> <STRONG>VT100</STRONG> <STRONG>VT100</STRONG>
2138 <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>DefaultChar</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
2139 -----------------------------------------------------------
2140 arrow pointing right ACS_RARROW > + 0x2b
2141 arrow pointing left ACS_LARROW < , 0x2c
2142 arrow pointing up ACS_UARROW ^ - 0x2d
2143 arrow pointing down ACS_DARROW v . 0x2e
2144 solid square block ACS_BLOCK # 0 0x30
2145 diamond ACS_DIAMOND + ` 0x60
2146 checker board (stipple) ACS_CKBOARD : a 0x61
2147 degree symbol ACS_DEGREE \ f 0x66
2148 plus/minus ACS_PLMINUS # g 0x67
2149 board of squares ACS_BOARD # h 0x68
2150 lantern symbol ACS_LANTERN # i 0x69
2151 lower right corner ACS_LRCORNER + j 0x6a
2152 upper right corner ACS_URCORNER + k 0x6b
2153 upper left corner ACS_ULCORNER + l 0x6c
2154 lower left corner ACS_LLCORNER + m 0x6d
2155 large plus or crossover ACS_PLUS + n 0x6e
2156 scan line 1 ACS_S1 ~ o 0x6f
2157 scan line 3 ACS_S3 - p 0x70
2158 horizontal line ACS_HLINE - q 0x71
2159 scan line 7 ACS_S7 - r 0x72
2160 scan line 9 ACS_S9 _ s 0x73
2161 tee pointing right ACS_LTEE + t 0x74
2162 tee pointing left ACS_RTEE + u 0x75
2163 tee pointing up ACS_BTEE + v 0x76
2164 tee pointing down ACS_TTEE + w 0x77
2165 vertical line ACS_VLINE | x 0x78
2166 less-than-or-equal-to ACS_LEQUAL < y 0x79
2167 greater-than-or-equal-to ACS_GEQUAL > z 0x7a
2168 greek pi ACS_PI * { 0x7b
2169 not-equal ACS_NEQUAL ! | 0x7c
2170 UK pound sign ACS_STERLING f } 0x7d
2171 bullet ACS_BULLET o ~ 0x7e
2173 A few notes apply to the table itself:
2175 <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses incorrectly states that the mapping for
2176 <EM>lantern</EM> is uppercase "I" although Unix implementations
2177 use the lowercase "i" mapping.
2179 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The DEC VT100 implemented graphics using the alternate
2180 character set feature, temporarily switching <EM>modes</EM> and
2181 sending characters in the range 0x60 (96) to 0x7e
2184 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The AT&T terminal added graphics characters outside
2187 The best way to define a new device's graphics set is to
2188 add a column to a copy of this table for your terminal,
2189 giving the character which (when emitted between
2190 <STRONG>smacs</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> switches) will be rendered as the correspond-
2191 ing graphic. Then read off the VT100/your terminal char-
2192 acter pairs right to left in sequence; these become the
2196 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Color-Handling">Color Handling</a></H3><PRE>
2197 The curses library functions <STRONG>init_pair</STRONG> and <STRONG>init_color</STRONG>
2198 manipulate the <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> and <EM>color</EM> <EM>values</EM> discussed in
2199 this section (see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG> for details on these and
2202 Most color terminals are either "Tektronix-like" or "HP-
2205 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Tektronix-like terminals have a predefined set of <EM>N</EM>
2206 colors (where <EM>N</EM> is usually 8), and can set character-
2207 cell foreground and background characters indepen-
2208 dently, mixing them into <EM>N</EM> * <EM>N</EM> color-pairs.
2210 <STRONG>o</STRONG> On HP-like terminals, the user must set each color
2211 pair up separately (foreground and background are not
2212 independently settable). Up to <EM>M</EM> color-pairs may be
2213 set up from 2*<EM>M</EM> different colors. ANSI-compatible
2214 terminals are Tektronix-like.
2216 Some basic color capabilities are independent of the color
2217 method. The numeric capabilities <STRONG>colors</STRONG> and <STRONG>pairs</STRONG> specify
2218 the maximum numbers of colors and color-pairs that can be
2219 displayed simultaneously. The <STRONG>op</STRONG> (original pair) string
2220 resets foreground and background colors to their default
2221 values for the terminal. The <STRONG>oc</STRONG> string resets all colors
2222 or color-pairs to their default values for the terminal.
2223 Some terminals (including many PC terminal emulators)
2224 erase screen areas with the current background color
2225 rather than the power-up default background; these should
2226 have the boolean capability <STRONG>bce</STRONG>.
2228 While the curses library works with <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> (reflect-
2229 ing the inability of some devices to set foreground and
2230 background colors independently), there are separate capa-
2231 bilities for setting these features:
2233 <STRONG>o</STRONG> To change the current foreground or background color
2234 on a Tektronix-type terminal, use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> (set ANSI
2235 foreground) and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> (set ANSI background) or <STRONG>setf</STRONG>
2236 (set foreground) and <STRONG>setb</STRONG> (set background). These
2237 take one parameter, the color number. The SVr4 docu-
2238 mentation describes only <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>; the XPG4 draft
2239 says that "If the terminal supports ANSI escape
2240 sequences to set background and foreground, they
2241 should be coded as <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>, respectively.
2243 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal supports other escape sequences to set
2244 background and foreground, they should be coded as
2245 <STRONG>setf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setb</STRONG>, respectively. The <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> and the
2246 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_refresh.3x.html">refresh(3x)</A></STRONG> functions use the <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> capabil-
2247 ities if they are defined.
2249 The <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> and <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> capabilities take a single
2250 numeric argument each. Argument values 0-7 of <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>
2251 are portably defined as follows (the middle column is the
2252 symbolic #define available in the header for the <STRONG>curses</STRONG> or
2253 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> libraries). The terminal hardware is free to map
2254 these as it likes, but the RGB values indicate normal
2255 locations in color space.
2257 <STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
2258 black <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> 0 0, 0, 0
2259 red <STRONG>COLOR_RED</STRONG> 1 max,0,0
2260 green <STRONG>COLOR_GREEN</STRONG> 2 0,max,0
2261 yellow <STRONG>COLOR_YELLOW</STRONG> 3 max,max,0
2262 blue <STRONG>COLOR_BLUE</STRONG> 4 0,0,max
2263 magenta <STRONG>COLOR_MAGENTA</STRONG> 5 max,0,max
2264 cyan <STRONG>COLOR_CYAN</STRONG> 6 0,max,max
2265 white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max,max,max
2267 The argument values of <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> historically correspond
2268 to a different mapping, i.e.,
2270 <STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
2271 black <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> 0 0, 0, 0
2272 blue <STRONG>COLOR_BLUE</STRONG> 1 0,0,max
2273 green <STRONG>COLOR_GREEN</STRONG> 2 0,max,0
2274 cyan <STRONG>COLOR_CYAN</STRONG> 3 0,max,max
2275 red <STRONG>COLOR_RED</STRONG> 4 max,0,0
2276 magenta <STRONG>COLOR_MAGENTA</STRONG> 5 max,0,max
2277 yellow <STRONG>COLOR_YELLOW</STRONG> 6 max,max,0
2278 white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max,max,max
2280 It is important to not confuse the two sets of color capa-
2281 bilities; otherwise red/blue will be interchanged on the
2284 On an HP-like terminal, use <STRONG>scp</STRONG> with a color-pair number
2285 parameter to set which color pair is current.
2287 Some terminals allow the <EM>color</EM> <EM>values</EM> to be modified:
2289 <STRONG>o</STRONG> On a Tektronix-like terminal, the capability <STRONG>ccc</STRONG> may
2290 be present to indicate that colors can be modified.
2291 If so, the <STRONG>initc</STRONG> capability will take a color number
2292 (0 to <STRONG>colors</STRONG> - 1)and three more parameters which
2293 describe the color. These three parameters default to
2294 being interpreted as RGB (Red, Green, Blue) values.
2295 If the boolean capability <STRONG>hls</STRONG> is present, they are
2296 instead as HLS (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) indices.
2297 The ranges are terminal-dependent.
2299 <STRONG>o</STRONG> On an HP-like terminal, <STRONG>initp</STRONG> may give a capability
2300 for changing a color-pair value. It will take seven
2301 parameters; a color-pair number (0 to <STRONG>max_pairs</STRONG> - 1),
2302 and two triples describing first background and then
2303 foreground colors. These parameters must be (Red,
2304 Green, Blue) or (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) depending
2305 on <STRONG>hls</STRONG>.
2307 On some color terminals, colors collide with highlights.
2308 You can register these collisions with the <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> capability.
2309 This is a bit-mask of attributes not to be used when col-
2310 ors are enabled. The correspondence with the attributes
2311 understood by <STRONG>curses</STRONG> is as follows:
2313 <STRONG>Attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>Bit</STRONG> <STRONG>Decimal</STRONG> <STRONG>Set</STRONG> <STRONG>by</STRONG>
2322 A_ALTCHARSET 8 256 sgr
2323 A_HORIZONTAL 9 512 sgr1
2326 A_RIGHT 12 4096 sgr1
2328 A_VERTICAL 14 16384 sgr1
2329 A_ITALIC 15 32768 sitm
2331 For example, on many IBM PC consoles, the underline
2332 attribute collides with the foreground color blue and is
2333 not available in color mode. These should have an <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>
2336 SVr4 curses does nothing with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>, ncurses recognizes it
2337 and optimizes the output in favor of colors.
2340 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</a></H3><PRE>
2341 If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) charac-
2342 ter as a pad, then this can be given as pad. Only the
2343 first character of the pad string is used. If the termi-
2344 nal does not have a pad character, specify npc. Note that
2345 ncurses implements the termcap-compatible <STRONG>PC</STRONG> variable;
2346 though the application may set this value to something
2347 other than a null, ncurses will test <STRONG>npc</STRONG> first and use
2348 napms if the terminal has no pad character.
2350 If the terminal can move up or down half a line, this can
2351 be indicated with <STRONG>hu</STRONG> (half-line up) and <STRONG>hd</STRONG> (half-line
2352 down). This is primarily useful for superscripts and sub-
2353 scripts on hard-copy terminals. If a hard-copy terminal
2354 can eject to the next page (form feed), give this as <STRONG>ff</STRONG>
2355 (usually control L).
2357 If there is a command to repeat a given character a given
2358 number of times (to save time transmitting a large number
2359 of identical characters) this can be indicated with the
2360 parameterized string <STRONG>rep</STRONG>. The first parameter is the
2361 character to be repeated and the second is the number of
2362 times to repeat it. Thus, tparm(repeat_char, 'x', 10) is
2363 the same as "xxxxxxxxxx".
2365 If the terminal has a settable command character, such as
2366 the TEKTRONIX 4025, this can be indicated with <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG>. A
2367 prototype command character is chosen which is used in all
2368 capabilities. This character is given in the <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG> capa-
2369 bility to identify it. The following convention is sup-
2370 ported on some UNIX systems: The environment is to be
2371 searched for a <STRONG>CC</STRONG> variable, and if found, all occurrences
2372 of the prototype character are replaced with the character
2373 in the environment variable.
2375 Terminal descriptions that do not represent a specific
2376 kind of known terminal, such as <EM>switch</EM>, <EM>dialup</EM>, <EM>patch</EM>, and
2377 <EM>network</EM>, should include the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (generic) capability so
2378 that programs can complain that they do not know how to
2379 talk to the terminal. (This capability does not apply to
2380 <EM>virtual</EM> terminal descriptions for which the escape
2381 sequences are known.)
2383 If the terminal has a "meta key" which acts as a shift
2384 key, setting the 8th bit of any character transmitted,
2385 this fact can be indicated with <STRONG>km</STRONG>. Otherwise, software
2386 will assume that the 8th bit is parity and it will usually
2387 be cleared. If strings exist to turn this "meta mode" on
2388 and off, they can be given as <STRONG>smm</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmm</STRONG>.
2390 If the terminal has more lines of memory than will fit on
2391 the screen at once, the number of lines of memory can be
2392 indicated with <STRONG>lm</STRONG>. A value of <STRONG>lm</STRONG>#0 indicates that the
2393 number of lines is not fixed, but that there is still more
2394 memory than fits on the screen.
2396 If the terminal is one of those supported by the UNIX vir-
2397 tual terminal protocol, the terminal number can be given
2398 as <STRONG>vt</STRONG>.
2400 Media copy strings which control an auxiliary printer con-
2401 nected to the terminal can be given as <STRONG>mc0</STRONG>: print the con-
2402 tents of the screen, <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>: turn off the printer, and <STRONG>mc5</STRONG>:
2403 turn on the printer. When the printer is on, all text
2404 sent to the terminal will be sent to the printer. It is
2405 undefined whether the text is also displayed on the termi-
2406 nal screen when the printer is on. A variation <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> takes
2407 one parameter, and leaves the printer on for as many char-
2408 acters as the value of the parameter, then turns the
2409 printer off. The parameter should not exceed 255. All
2410 text, including <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>, is transparently passed to the
2411 printer while an <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> is in effect.
2414 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Glitches-and-Braindamage">Glitches and Braindamage</a></H3><PRE>
2415 Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow "~" characters to
2416 be displayed should indicate <STRONG>hz</STRONG>.
2418 Terminals which ignore a line-feed immediately after an <STRONG>am</STRONG>
2419 wrap, such as the Concept and vt100, should indicate <STRONG>xenl</STRONG>.
2421 If <STRONG>el</STRONG> is required to get rid of standout (instead of
2422 merely writing normal text on top of it), <STRONG>xhp</STRONG> should be
2425 Teleray terminals, where tabs turn all characters moved
2426 over to blanks, should indicate <STRONG>xt</STRONG> (destructive tabs).
2427 Note: the variable indicating this is now
2428 "dest_tabs_magic_smso"; in older versions, it was tel-
2429 eray_glitch. This glitch is also taken to mean that it is
2430 not possible to position the cursor on top of a "magic
2431 cookie", that to erase standout mode it is instead neces-
2432 sary to use delete and insert line. The ncurses implemen-
2433 tation ignores this glitch.
2435 The Beehive Superbee, which is unable to correctly trans-
2436 mit the escape or control C characters, has <STRONG>xsb</STRONG>, indicat-
2437 ing that the f1 key is used for escape and f2 for control
2438 C. (Only certain Superbees have this problem, depending
2439 on the ROM.) Note that in older terminfo versions, this
2440 capability was called "beehive_glitch"; it is now
2443 Other specific terminal problems may be corrected by
2444 adding more capabilities of the form <STRONG>x</STRONG><EM>x</EM>.
2447 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Pitfalls-of-Long-Entries">Pitfalls of Long Entries</a></H3><PRE>
2448 Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to
2449 date, no entry has even approached terminfo's 4096-byte
2450 string-table maximum. Unfortunately, the termcap transla-
2451 tions are much more strictly limited (to 1023 bytes), thus
2452 termcap translations of long terminfo entries can cause
2455 The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions of <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG>
2456 instruct the user to allocate a 1024-byte buffer for the
2457 termcap entry. The entry gets null-terminated by the
2458 termcap library, so that makes the maximum safe length for
2459 a termcap entry 1k-1 (1023) bytes. Depending on what the
2460 application and the termcap library being used does, and
2461 where in the termcap file the terminal type that <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG>
2462 is searching for is, several bad things can happen.
2464 Some termcap libraries print a warning message or exit if
2465 they find an entry that's longer than 1023 bytes; others
2466 do not; others truncate the entries to 1023 bytes. Some
2467 application programs allocate more than the recommended 1K
2468 for the termcap entry; others do not.
2470 Each termcap entry has two important sizes associated with
2471 it: before "tc" expansion, and after "tc" expansion. "tc"
2472 is the capability that tacks on another termcap entry to
2473 the end of the current one, to add on its capabilities.
2474 If a termcap entry does not use the "tc" capability, then
2475 of course the two lengths are the same.
2477 The "before tc expansion" length is the most important
2478 one, because it affects more than just users of that par-
2479 ticular terminal. This is the length of the entry as it
2480 exists in /etc/termcap, minus the backslash-newline pairs,
2481 which <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> strips out while reading it. Some termcap
2482 libraries strip off the final newline, too (GNU termcap
2483 does not). Now suppose:
2485 <STRONG>o</STRONG> a termcap entry before expansion is more than 1023
2488 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the application has only allocated a 1k buffer,
2490 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the termcap library (like the one in BSD/OS 1.1
2491 and GNU) reads the whole entry into the buffer, no
2492 matter what its length, to see if it is the entry it
2495 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> is searching for a terminal type that
2496 either is the long entry, appears in the termcap file
2497 after the long entry, or does not appear in the file
2498 at all (so that <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> has to search the whole term-
2501 Then <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> will overwrite memory, perhaps its stack, and
2502 probably core dump the program. Programs like telnet are
2503 particularly vulnerable; modern telnets pass along values
2504 like the terminal type automatically. The results are
2505 almost as undesirable with a termcap library, like SunOS
2506 4.1.3 and Ultrix 4.4, that prints warning messages when it
2507 reads an overly long termcap entry. If a termcap library
2508 truncates long entries, like OSF/1 3.0, it is immune to
2509 dying here but will return incorrect data for the termi-
2512 The "after tc expansion" length will have a similar effect
2513 to the above, but only for people who actually set TERM to
2514 that terminal type, since <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> only does "tc" expansion
2515 once it is found the terminal type it was looking for, not
2518 In summary, a termcap entry that is longer than 1023 bytes
2519 can cause, on various combinations of termcap libraries
2520 and applications, a core dump, warnings, or incorrect
2521 operation. If it is too long even before "tc" expansion,
2522 it will have this effect even for users of some other ter-
2523 minal types and users whose TERM variable does not have a
2526 When in -C (translate to termcap) mode, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> imple-
2527 mentation of <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG> issues warning messages when the pre-
2528 tc length of a termcap translation is too long. The -c
2529 (check) option also checks resolved (after tc expansion)
2533 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Binary-Compatibility">Binary Compatibility</a></H3><PRE>
2534 It is not wise to count on portability of binary terminfo
2535 entries between commercial UNIX versions. The problem is
2536 that there are at least two versions of terminfo (under
2537 HP-UX and AIX) which diverged from System V terminfo after
2538 SVr1, and have added extension capabilities to the string
2539 table that (in the binary format) collide with System V
2540 and XSI Curses extensions.
2543 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></H2><PRE>
2544 Searching for terminal descriptions in <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> and
2545 TERMINFO_DIRS is not supported by older implementations.
2547 Some SVr4 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> implementations, and all previous to
2548 SVr4, do not interpret the %A and %O operators in parame-
2551 SVr4/XPG4 do not specify whether <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> licenses movement
2552 while in an alternate-character-set mode (such modes may,
2553 among other things, map CR and NL to characters that do
2554 not trigger local motions). The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation
2555 ignores <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> in <STRONG>ALTCHARSET</STRONG> mode. This raises the possi-
2556 bility that an XPG4 implementation making the opposite
2557 interpretation may need terminfo entries made for <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
2558 to have <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> turned off.
2560 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library handles insert-character and insert-
2561 character modes in a slightly non-standard way to get bet-
2562 ter update efficiency. See the <STRONG>Insert/Delete</STRONG> <STRONG>Character</STRONG>
2565 The parameter substitutions for <STRONG>set_clock</STRONG> and <STRONG>dis-</STRONG>
2566 <STRONG>play_clock</STRONG> are not documented in SVr4 or the XSI Curses
2567 standard. They are deduced from the documentation for the
2568 AT&T 505 terminal.
2570 Be careful assigning the <STRONG>kmous</STRONG> capability. The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
2571 library wants to interpret it as <STRONG>KEY_MOUSE</STRONG>, for use by
2572 terminals and emulators like xterm that can return mouse-
2573 tracking information in the keyboard-input stream.
2575 X/Open Curses does not mention italics. Portable applica-
2576 tions must assume that numeric capabilities are signed
2577 16-bit values. This includes the <EM>no</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>color</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>video</EM> (ncv)
2578 capability. The 32768 mask value used for italics with
2579 ncv can be confused with an absent or cancelled ncv. If
2580 italics should work with colors, then the ncv value must
2581 be specified, even if it is zero.
2583 Different commercial ports of terminfo and curses support
2584 different subsets of the XSI Curses standard and (in some
2585 cases) different extension sets. Here is a summary, accu-
2586 rate as of October 1995:
2588 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SVR4,</STRONG> <STRONG>Solaris,</STRONG> <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> -- These support all SVr4 capa-
2591 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SGI</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr4 set, adds one undocumented
2592 extended string capability (<STRONG>set_pglen</STRONG>).
2594 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SVr1,</STRONG> <STRONG>Ultrix</STRONG> -- These support a restricted subset of
2595 terminfo capabilities. The booleans end with
2596 <STRONG>xon_xoff</STRONG>; the numerics with <STRONG>width_status_line</STRONG>; and the
2597 strings with <STRONG>prtr_non</STRONG>.
2599 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>HP/UX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus the SVr[234]
2600 numerics <STRONG>num_labels</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_height</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_width</STRONG>, plus
2601 function keys 11 through 63, plus <STRONG>plab_norm</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_on</STRONG>,
2602 and <STRONG>label_off</STRONG>, plus some incompatible extensions in
2605 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>AIX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11
2606 through 63, plus a number of incompatible string table
2609 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>OSF</STRONG> -- Supports both the SVr4 set and the AIX exten-
2613 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-FILES">FILES</a></H2><PRE>
2614 /usr/share/terminfo/?/* files containing terminal
2618 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
2619 <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>,
2620 <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>.
2623 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></H2><PRE>
2624 Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.
2625 Based on pcurses by Pavel Curtis.
2629 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
2633 <li><a href="#h2-NAME">NAME</a></li>
2634 <li><a href="#h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li>
2635 <li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a>
2637 <li><a href="#h3-Terminfo-Entry-Syntax">Terminfo Entry Syntax</a></li>
2638 <li><a href="#h3-Terminfo-Capabilities-Syntax">Terminfo Capabilities Syntax</a></li>
2639 <li><a href="#h3-Similar-Terminals">Similar Terminals</a></li>
2640 <li><a href="#h3-Predefined-Capabilities">Predefined Capabilities</a></li>
2641 <li><a href="#h3-User-Defined-Capabilities">User-Defined Capabilities</a></li>
2642 <li><a href="#h3-A-Sample-Entry">A Sample Entry</a></li>
2643 <li><a href="#h3-Types-of-Capabilities">Types of Capabilities</a></li>
2644 <li><a href="#h3-Fetching-Compiled-Descriptions">Fetching Compiled Descriptions</a></li>
2645 <li><a href="#h3-Preparing-Descriptions">Preparing Descriptions</a></li>
2646 <li><a href="#h3-Basic-Capabilities">Basic Capabilities</a></li>
2647 <li><a href="#h3-Parameterized-Strings">Parameterized Strings</a></li>
2648 <li><a href="#h3-Cursor-Motions">Cursor Motions</a></li>
2649 <li><a href="#h3-Area-Clears">Area Clears</a></li>
2650 <li><a href="#h3-Insert_delete-line-and-vertical-motions">Insert/delete line and vertical motions</a></li>
2651 <li><a href="#h3-Insert_Delete-Character">Insert/Delete Character</a></li>
2652 <li><a href="#h3-Highlighting_-Underlining_-and-Visible-Bells">Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells</a></li>
2653 <li><a href="#h3-Keypad-and-Function-Keys">Keypad and Function Keys</a></li>
2654 <li><a href="#h3-Tabs-and-Initialization">Tabs and Initialization</a></li>
2655 <li><a href="#h3-Delays-and-Padding">Delays and Padding</a></li>
2656 <li><a href="#h3-Status-Lines">Status Lines</a></li>
2657 <li><a href="#h3-Line-Graphics">Line Graphics</a></li>
2658 <li><a href="#h3-Color-Handling">Color Handling</a></li>
2659 <li><a href="#h3-Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</a></li>
2660 <li><a href="#h3-Glitches-and-Braindamage">Glitches and Braindamage</a></li>
2661 <li><a href="#h3-Pitfalls-of-Long-Entries">Pitfalls of Long Entries</a></li>
2662 <li><a href="#h3-Binary-Compatibility">Binary Compatibility</a></li>
2665 <li><a href="#h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></li>
2666 <li><a href="#h2-FILES">FILES</a></li>
2667 <li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
2668 <li><a href="#h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></li>
projects / ncurses.git / blob