3 * DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE BY HAND!
4 * It is generated from terminfo.head, ./../include/Caps ./../include/Caps-ncurses, and terminfo.tail.
5 * Note: this must be run through tbl before nroff.
6 * The magic cookie on the first line triggers this under some man programs.
7 ****************************************************************************
8 * Copyright (c) 1998-2018,2019 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 1.38 2019/07/27 11:51:04 tom Exp @
35 * Head of terminfo man page ends here
36 ****************************************************************************
37 * Copyright (c) 1998-2018,2019 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
39 * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a *
40 * copy of this software and associated documentation files (the *
41 * "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including *
42 * without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, *
43 * distribute, distribute with modifications, sublicense, and/or sell *
44 * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is *
45 * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: *
47 * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included *
48 * in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. *
50 * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS *
51 * OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF *
52 * MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. *
53 * IN NO EVENT SHALL THE ABOVE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, *
54 * DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR *
55 * OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR *
56 * THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. *
58 * Except as contained in this notice, the name(s) of the above copyright *
59 * holders shall not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the *
60 * sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written *
62 ****************************************************************************
63 * @Id: terminfo.tail,v 1.98 2019/11/30 20:54:32 tom Exp @
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75 <TITLE>terminfo 5 File Formats</TITLE>
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80 <H1 class="no-header">terminfo 5 File Formats</H1>
82 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> File Formats <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
87 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
88 terminfo - terminal capability data base
91 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
92 /usr/share/terminfo/*/*
95 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
96 <EM>Terminfo</EM> is a data base describing terminals, used by screen-oriented
97 programs such as <STRONG>nvi(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG>lynx(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG>mutt(1)</STRONG>, and other curses applica-
98 tions, using high-level calls to libraries such as <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>. It is
99 also used via low-level calls by non-curses applications which may be
100 screen-oriented (such as <STRONG><A HREF="clear.1.html">clear(1)</A></STRONG>) or non-screen (such as <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG>).
102 <EM>Terminfo</EM> describes terminals by giving a set of capabilities which they
103 have, by specifying how to perform screen operations, and by specifying
104 padding requirements and initialization sequences.
106 This manual describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 6.1 (patch 20191207).
109 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminfo-Entry-Syntax">Terminfo Entry Syntax</a></H3><PRE>
110 Entries in <EM>terminfo</EM> consist of a sequence of fields:
112 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Each field ends with a comma "," (embedded commas may be escaped
113 with a backslash or written as "\054").
115 <STRONG>o</STRONG> White space between fields is ignored.
117 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The first field in a <EM>terminfo</EM> entry begins in the first column.
119 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Newlines and leading whitespace (spaces or tabs) may be used for
120 formatting entries for readability. These are removed from parsed
123 The <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> <STRONG>-f</STRONG> and <STRONG>-W</STRONG> options rely on this to format if-then-else
124 expressions, or to enforce maximum line-width. The resulting for-
125 matted terminal description can be read by <STRONG>tic</STRONG>.
127 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The first field for each terminal gives the names which are known
128 for the terminal, separated by "|" characters.
130 The first name given is the most common abbreviation for the termi-
131 nal (its primary name), the last name given should be a long name
132 fully identifying the terminal (see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">longname(3x)</A></STRONG>), and all others
133 are treated as synonyms (aliases) for the primary terminal name.
135 X/Open Curses advises that all names but the last should be in
136 lower case and contain no blanks; the last name may well contain
137 upper case and blanks for readability.
139 This implementation is not so strict; it allows mixed case in the
140 primary name and aliases. If the last name has no embedded blanks,
141 it allows that to be both an alias and a verbose name (but will
142 warn about this ambiguity).
144 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Lines beginning with a "#" in the first column are treated as com-
147 While comment lines are legal at any point, the output of <STRONG>captoinfo</STRONG>
148 and <STRONG>infotocap</STRONG> (aliases for <STRONG>tic</STRONG>) will move comments so they occur
149 only between entries.
151 Terminal names (except for the last, verbose entry) should be chosen
152 using the following conventions. The particular piece of hardware mak-
153 ing up the terminal should have a root name, thus "hp2621". This name
154 should not contain hyphens. Modes that the hardware can be in, or user
155 preferences, should be indicated by appending a hyphen and a mode suf-
156 fix. Thus, a vt100 in 132-column mode would be vt100-w. The following
157 suffixes should be used where possible:
159 <STRONG>Suffix</STRONG> <STRONG>Meaning</STRONG> <STRONG>Example</STRONG>
160 -<EM>nn</EM> Number of lines on the screen aaa-60
161 -<EM>n</EM>p Number of pages of memory c100-4p
162 -am With automargins (usually the default) vt100-am
163 -m Mono mode; suppress color ansi-m
164 -mc Magic cookie; spaces when highlighting wy30-mc
165 -na No arrow keys (leave them in local) c100-na
166 -nam Without automatic margins vt100-nam
167 -nl No status line att4415-nl
168 -ns No status line hp2626-ns
169 -rv Reverse video c100-rv
170 -s Enable status line vt100-s
171 -vb Use visible bell instead of beep wy370-vb
172 -w Wide mode (> 80 columns, usually 132) vt100-w
174 For more on terminal naming conventions, see the <STRONG><A HREF="term.7.html">term(7)</A></STRONG> manual page.
177 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminfo-Capabilities-Syntax">Terminfo Capabilities Syntax</a></H3><PRE>
178 The terminfo entry consists of several <EM>capabilities</EM>, i.e., features
179 that the terminal has, or methods for exercising the terminal's fea-
182 After the first field (giving the name(s) of the terminal entry), there
183 should be one or more <EM>capability</EM> fields. These are boolean, numeric or
184 string names with corresponding values:
186 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Boolean capabilities are true when present, false when absent.
187 There is no explicit value for boolean capabilities.
189 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Numeric capabilities have a "#" following the name, then an
190 unsigned decimal integer value.
192 <STRONG>o</STRONG> String capabilities have a "=" following the name, then an string
193 of characters making up the capability value.
195 String capabilities can be split into multiple lines, just as the
196 fields comprising a terminal entry can be split into multiple
197 lines. While blanks between fields are ignored, blanks embedded
198 within a string value are retained, except for leading blanks on a
201 Any capability can be <EM>canceled</EM>, i.e., suppressed from the terminal
202 entry, by following its name with "@" rather than a capability value.
205 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Similar-Terminals">Similar Terminals</a></H3><PRE>
206 If there are two very similar terminals, one (the variant) can be
207 defined as being just like the other (the base) with certain excep-
208 tions. In the definition of the variant, the string capability <STRONG>use</STRONG> can
209 be given with the name of the base terminal:
211 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The capabilities given before <STRONG>use</STRONG> override those in the base type
212 named by <STRONG>use</STRONG>.
214 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If there are multiple <STRONG>use</STRONG> capabilities, they are merged in reverse
215 order. That is, the rightmost <STRONG>use</STRONG> reference is processed first,
216 then the one to its left, and so forth.
218 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Capabilities given explicitly in the entry override those brought
219 in by <STRONG>use</STRONG> references.
221 A capability can be canceled by placing <STRONG>xx@</STRONG> to the left of the use ref-
222 erence that imports it, where <EM>xx</EM> is the capability. For example, the
225 2621-nl, smkx@, rmkx@, use=2621,
227 defines a 2621-nl that does not have the <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> or <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG> capabilities, and
228 hence does not turn on the function key labels when in visual mode.
229 This is useful for different modes for a terminal, or for different
232 An entry included via <STRONG>use</STRONG> can contain canceled capabilities, which have
233 the same effect as if those cancels were inline in the using terminal
237 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Predefined-Capabilities">Predefined Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
238 The following is a complete table of the capabilities included in a
239 terminfo description block and available to terminfo-using code. In
240 each line of the table,
242 The <STRONG>variable</STRONG> is the name by which the programmer (at the terminfo
243 level) accesses the capability.
245 The <STRONG>capname</STRONG> is the short name used in the text of the database, and is
246 used by a person updating the database. Whenever possible, capnames
247 are chosen to be the same as or similar to the ANSI X3.64-1979 standard
248 (now superseded by ECMA-48, which uses identical or very similar
249 names). Semantics are also intended to match those of the specifica-
252 The termcap code is the old <STRONG>termcap</STRONG> capability name (some capabilities
253 are new, and have names which termcap did not originate).
255 Capability names have no hard length limit, but an informal limit of 5
256 characters has been adopted to keep them short and to allow the tabs in
257 the source file <STRONG>Caps</STRONG> to line up nicely.
259 Finally, the description field attempts to convey the semantics of the
260 capability. You may find some codes in the description field:
262 (P) indicates that padding may be specified
264 #[1-9] in the description field indicates that the string is passed
265 through tparm with parms as given (#<EM>i</EM>).
267 (P*) indicates that padding may vary in proportion to the number of
270 (#<EM>i</EM>) indicates the <EM>i</EM>th parameter.
273 These are the boolean capabilities:
276 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
277 <STRONG>Booleans</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
278 auto_left_margin bw bw cub1 wraps from col-
280 auto_right_margin am am terminal has auto-
282 back_color_erase bce ut screen erased with
287 can_change ccc cc terminal can re-
290 ceol_standout_glitch xhp xs standout not erased
292 col_addr_glitch xhpa YA only positive motion
294 cpi_changes_res cpix YF changing character
297 cr_cancels_micro_mode crxm YB using cr turns off
299 dest_tabs_magic_smso xt xt tabs destructive,
302 eat_newline_glitch xenl xn newline ignored
305 erase_overstrike eo eo can erase over-
307 generic_type gn gn generic line type
308 hard_copy hc hc hardcopy terminal
309 hard_cursor chts HC cursor is hard to
311 has_meta_key km km Has a meta key
313 has_print_wheel daisy YC printer needs opera-
316 has_status_line hs hs has extra status
318 hue_lightness_saturation hls hl terminal uses only
321 insert_null_glitch in in insert mode distin-
323 lpi_changes_res lpix YG changing line pitch
325 memory_above da da display may be
328 memory_below db db display may be
331 move_insert_mode mir mi safe to move while
333 move_standout_mode msgr ms safe to move while
335 needs_xon_xoff nxon nx padding will not
338 no_esc_ctlc xsb xb beehive (f1=escape,
340 no_pad_char npc NP pad character does
342 non_dest_scroll_region ndscr ND scrolling region is
344 non_rev_rmcup nrrmc NR smcup does not
346 over_strike os os terminal can over-
348 prtr_silent mc5i 5i printer will not
350 row_addr_glitch xvpa YD only positive motion
353 semi_auto_right_margin sam YE printing in last
355 status_line_esc_ok eslok es escape can be used
357 tilde_glitch hz hz cannot print ~'s
359 transparent_underline ul ul underline character
361 xon_xoff xon xo terminal uses
364 These are the numeric capabilities:
367 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
368 <STRONG>Numeric</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
369 columns cols co number of columns in
371 init_tabs it it tabs initially every
373 label_height lh lh rows in each label
374 label_width lw lw columns in each
376 lines lines li number of lines on
378 lines_of_memory lm lm lines of memory if >
380 magic_cookie_glitch xmc sg number of blank
383 max_attributes ma ma maximum combined
386 max_colors colors Co maximum number of
388 max_pairs pairs pa maximum number of
391 maximum_windows wnum MW maximum number of
393 no_color_video ncv NC video attributes
396 num_labels nlab Nl number of labels on
398 padding_baud_rate pb pb lowest baud rate
400 virtual_terminal vt vt virtual terminal
402 width_status_line wsl ws number of columns in
405 The following numeric capabilities are present in the SVr4.0 term
406 structure, but are not yet documented in the man page. They came in
407 with SVr4's printer support.
410 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
411 <STRONG>Numeric</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
412 bit_image_entwining bitwin Yo number of passes for
414 bit_image_type bitype Yp type of bit-image
419 buffer_capacity bufsz Ya numbers of bytes
422 buttons btns BT number of buttons on
424 dot_horz_spacing spinh Yc spacing of dots hor-
427 dot_vert_spacing spinv Yb spacing of pins ver-
430 max_micro_address maddr Yd maximum value in
432 max_micro_jump mjump Ye maximum value in
434 micro_col_size mcs Yf character step size
436 micro_line_size mls Yg line step size when
438 number_of_pins npins Yh numbers of pins in
440 output_res_char orc Yi horizontal resolu-
443 output_res_horz_inch orhi Yk horizontal resolu-
446 output_res_line orl Yj vertical resolution
448 output_res_vert_inch orvi Yl vertical resolution
450 print_rate cps Ym print rate in char-
452 wide_char_size widcs Yn character step size
456 These are the string capabilities:
459 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
460 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
461 acs_chars acsc ac graphics charset
464 back_tab cbt bt back tab (P)
465 bell bel bl audible signal
467 carriage_return cr cr carriage return (P*)
469 change_char_pitch cpi ZA Change number of
472 change_line_pitch lpi ZB Change number of
474 change_res_horz chr ZC Change horizontal
476 change_res_vert cvr ZD Change vertical res-
478 change_scroll_region csr cs change region to
481 char_padding rmp rP like ip but when in
485 clear_all_tabs tbc ct clear all tab stops
487 clear_margins mgc MC clear right and left
489 clear_screen clear cl clear screen and
491 clr_bol el1 cb Clear to beginning
493 clr_eol el ce clear to end of line
495 clr_eos ed cd clear to end of
497 column_address hpa ch horizontal position
499 command_character cmdch CC terminal settable
502 create_window cwin CW define a window #1
504 cursor_address cup cm move to row #1 col-
506 cursor_down cud1 do down one line
507 cursor_home home ho home cursor (if no
509 cursor_invisible civis vi make cursor invisi-
511 cursor_left cub1 le move left one space
512 cursor_mem_address mrcup CM memory relative cur-
515 cursor_normal cnorm ve make cursor appear
518 cursor_right cuf1 nd non-destructive
521 cursor_to_ll ll ll last line, first
523 cursor_up cuu1 up up one line
524 cursor_visible cvvis vs make cursor very
526 define_char defc ZE Define a character
529 delete_character dch1 dc delete character
531 delete_line dl1 dl delete line (P*)
532 dial_phone dial DI dial number #1
533 dis_status_line dsl ds disable status line
534 display_clock dclk DK display clock
535 down_half_line hd hd half a line down
536 ena_acs enacs eA enable alternate
538 enter_alt_charset_mode smacs as start alternate
540 enter_am_mode smam SA turn on automatic
542 enter_blink_mode blink mb turn on blinking
543 enter_bold_mode bold md turn on bold (extra
545 enter_ca_mode smcup ti string to start pro-
547 enter_delete_mode smdc dm enter delete mode
548 enter_dim_mode dim mh turn on half-bright
551 enter_doublewide_mode swidm ZF Enter double-wide
553 enter_draft_quality sdrfq ZG Enter draft-quality
555 enter_insert_mode smir im enter insert mode
556 enter_italics_mode sitm ZH Enter italic mode
557 enter_leftward_mode slm ZI Start leftward car-
559 enter_micro_mode smicm ZJ Start micro-motion
561 enter_near_letter_quality snlq ZK Enter NLQ mode
562 enter_normal_quality snrmq ZL Enter normal-quality
564 enter_protected_mode prot mp turn on protected
566 enter_reverse_mode rev mr turn on reverse
568 enter_secure_mode invis mk turn on blank mode
571 enter_shadow_mode sshm ZM Enter shadow-print
573 enter_standout_mode smso so begin standout mode
574 enter_subscript_mode ssubm ZN Enter subscript mode
575 enter_superscript_mode ssupm ZO Enter superscript
577 enter_underline_mode smul us begin underline mode
578 enter_upward_mode sum ZP Start upward car-
580 enter_xon_mode smxon SX turn on xon/xoff
582 erase_chars ech ec erase #1 characters
584 exit_alt_charset_mode rmacs ae end alternate char-
586 exit_am_mode rmam RA turn off automatic
588 exit_attribute_mode sgr0 me turn off all
590 exit_ca_mode rmcup te strings to end pro-
592 exit_delete_mode rmdc ed end delete mode
593 exit_doublewide_mode rwidm ZQ End double-wide mode
594 exit_insert_mode rmir ei exit insert mode
595 exit_italics_mode ritm ZR End italic mode
596 exit_leftward_mode rlm ZS End left-motion mode
597 exit_micro_mode rmicm ZT End micro-motion
599 exit_shadow_mode rshm ZU End shadow-print
601 exit_standout_mode rmso se exit standout mode
602 exit_subscript_mode rsubm ZV End subscript mode
603 exit_superscript_mode rsupm ZW End superscript mode
604 exit_underline_mode rmul ue exit underline mode
605 exit_upward_mode rum ZX End reverse charac-
607 exit_xon_mode rmxon RX turn off xon/xoff
609 fixed_pause pause PA pause for 2-3 sec-
611 flash_hook hook fh flash switch hook
612 flash_screen flash vb visible bell (may
614 form_feed ff ff hardcopy terminal
617 from_status_line fsl fs return from status
619 goto_window wingo WG go to window #1
620 hangup hup HU hang-up phone
621 init_1string is1 i1 initialization
623 init_2string is2 is initialization
625 init_3string is3 i3 initialization
627 init_file if if name of initializa-
629 init_prog iprog iP path name of program
631 initialize_color initc Ic initialize color #1
633 initialize_pair initp Ip Initialize color
637 insert_character ich1 ic insert character (P)
638 insert_line il1 al insert line (P*)
639 insert_padding ip ip insert padding after
641 key_a1 ka1 K1 upper left of keypad
642 key_a3 ka3 K3 upper right of key-
644 key_b2 kb2 K2 center of keypad
645 key_backspace kbs kb backspace key
646 key_beg kbeg @1 begin key
647 key_btab kcbt kB back-tab key
648 key_c1 kc1 K4 lower left of keypad
649 key_c3 kc3 K5 lower right of key-
651 key_cancel kcan @2 cancel key
652 key_catab ktbc ka clear-all-tabs key
653 key_clear kclr kC clear-screen or
655 key_close kclo @3 close key
656 key_command kcmd @4 command key
657 key_copy kcpy @5 copy key
658 key_create kcrt @6 create key
659 key_ctab kctab kt clear-tab key
660 key_dc kdch1 kD delete-character key
661 key_dl kdl1 kL delete-line key
662 key_down kcud1 kd down-arrow key
663 key_eic krmir kM sent by rmir or smir
665 key_end kend @7 end key
666 key_enter kent @8 enter/send key
667 key_eol kel kE clear-to-end-of-line
669 key_eos ked kS clear-to-end-of-
671 key_exit kext @9 exit key
672 key_f0 kf0 k0 F0 function key
673 key_f1 kf1 k1 F1 function key
674 key_f10 kf10 k; F10 function key
675 key_f11 kf11 F1 F11 function key
676 key_f12 kf12 F2 F12 function key
677 key_f13 kf13 F3 F13 function key
678 key_f14 kf14 F4 F14 function key
679 key_f15 kf15 F5 F15 function key
680 key_f16 kf16 F6 F16 function key
681 key_f17 kf17 F7 F17 function key
683 key_f18 kf18 F8 F18 function key
684 key_f19 kf19 F9 F19 function key
685 key_f2 kf2 k2 F2 function key
686 key_f20 kf20 FA F20 function key
687 key_f21 kf21 FB F21 function key
688 key_f22 kf22 FC F22 function key
689 key_f23 kf23 FD F23 function key
690 key_f24 kf24 FE F24 function key
691 key_f25 kf25 FF F25 function key
692 key_f26 kf26 FG F26 function key
693 key_f27 kf27 FH F27 function key
694 key_f28 kf28 FI F28 function key
695 key_f29 kf29 FJ F29 function key
696 key_f3 kf3 k3 F3 function key
697 key_f30 kf30 FK F30 function key
698 key_f31 kf31 FL F31 function key
699 key_f32 kf32 FM F32 function key
700 key_f33 kf33 FN F33 function key
701 key_f34 kf34 FO F34 function key
702 key_f35 kf35 FP F35 function key
703 key_f36 kf36 FQ F36 function key
704 key_f37 kf37 FR F37 function key
705 key_f38 kf38 FS F38 function key
706 key_f39 kf39 FT F39 function key
707 key_f4 kf4 k4 F4 function key
708 key_f40 kf40 FU F40 function key
709 key_f41 kf41 FV F41 function key
710 key_f42 kf42 FW F42 function key
711 key_f43 kf43 FX F43 function key
712 key_f44 kf44 FY F44 function key
713 key_f45 kf45 FZ F45 function key
714 key_f46 kf46 Fa F46 function key
715 key_f47 kf47 Fb F47 function key
716 key_f48 kf48 Fc F48 function key
717 key_f49 kf49 Fd F49 function key
718 key_f5 kf5 k5 F5 function key
719 key_f50 kf50 Fe F50 function key
720 key_f51 kf51 Ff F51 function key
721 key_f52 kf52 Fg F52 function key
722 key_f53 kf53 Fh F53 function key
723 key_f54 kf54 Fi F54 function key
724 key_f55 kf55 Fj F55 function key
725 key_f56 kf56 Fk F56 function key
726 key_f57 kf57 Fl F57 function key
727 key_f58 kf58 Fm F58 function key
728 key_f59 kf59 Fn F59 function key
729 key_f6 kf6 k6 F6 function key
730 key_f60 kf60 Fo F60 function key
731 key_f61 kf61 Fp F61 function key
732 key_f62 kf62 Fq F62 function key
733 key_f63 kf63 Fr F63 function key
734 key_f7 kf7 k7 F7 function key
735 key_f8 kf8 k8 F8 function key
736 key_f9 kf9 k9 F9 function key
737 key_find kfnd @0 find key
738 key_help khlp %1 help key
739 key_home khome kh home key
740 key_ic kich1 kI insert-character key
741 key_il kil1 kA insert-line key
742 key_left kcub1 kl left-arrow key
743 key_ll kll kH lower-left key (home
745 key_mark kmrk %2 mark key
746 key_message kmsg %3 message key
747 key_move kmov %4 move key
749 key_next knxt %5 next key
750 key_npage knp kN next-page key
751 key_open kopn %6 open key
752 key_options kopt %7 options key
753 key_ppage kpp kP previous-page key
754 key_previous kprv %8 previous key
755 key_print kprt %9 print key
756 key_redo krdo %0 redo key
757 key_reference kref &1 reference key
758 key_refresh krfr &2 refresh key
759 key_replace krpl &3 replace key
760 key_restart krst &4 restart key
761 key_resume kres &5 resume key
762 key_right kcuf1 kr right-arrow key
763 key_save ksav &6 save key
764 key_sbeg kBEG &9 shifted begin key
765 key_scancel kCAN &0 shifted cancel key
766 key_scommand kCMD *1 shifted command key
767 key_scopy kCPY *2 shifted copy key
768 key_screate kCRT *3 shifted create key
769 key_sdc kDC *4 shifted delete-char-
771 key_sdl kDL *5 shifted delete-line
773 key_select kslt *6 select key
774 key_send kEND *7 shifted end key
775 key_seol kEOL *8 shifted clear-to-
777 key_sexit kEXT *9 shifted exit key
778 key_sf kind kF scroll-forward key
779 key_sfind kFND *0 shifted find key
780 key_shelp kHLP #1 shifted help key
781 key_shome kHOM #2 shifted home key
782 key_sic kIC #3 shifted insert-char-
784 key_sleft kLFT #4 shifted left-arrow
786 key_smessage kMSG %a shifted message key
787 key_smove kMOV %b shifted move key
788 key_snext kNXT %c shifted next key
789 key_soptions kOPT %d shifted options key
790 key_sprevious kPRV %e shifted previous key
791 key_sprint kPRT %f shifted print key
792 key_sr kri kR scroll-backward key
793 key_sredo kRDO %g shifted redo key
794 key_sreplace kRPL %h shifted replace key
795 key_sright kRIT %i shifted right-arrow
797 key_srsume kRES %j shifted resume key
798 key_ssave kSAV !1 shifted save key
799 key_ssuspend kSPD !2 shifted suspend key
800 key_stab khts kT set-tab key
801 key_sundo kUND !3 shifted undo key
802 key_suspend kspd &7 suspend key
803 key_undo kund &8 undo key
804 key_up kcuu1 ku up-arrow key
805 keypad_local rmkx ke leave 'key-
807 keypad_xmit smkx ks enter 'key-
809 lab_f0 lf0 l0 label on function
811 lab_f1 lf1 l1 label on function
815 lab_f10 lf10 la label on function
817 lab_f2 lf2 l2 label on function
819 lab_f3 lf3 l3 label on function
821 lab_f4 lf4 l4 label on function
823 lab_f5 lf5 l5 label on function
825 lab_f6 lf6 l6 label on function
827 lab_f7 lf7 l7 label on function
829 lab_f8 lf8 l8 label on function
831 lab_f9 lf9 l9 label on function
833 label_format fln Lf label format
834 label_off rmln LF turn off soft labels
835 label_on smln LO turn on soft labels
836 meta_off rmm mo turn off meta mode
837 meta_on smm mm turn on meta mode
839 micro_column_address mhpa ZY Like column_address
841 micro_down mcud1 ZZ Like cursor_down in
843 micro_left mcub1 Za Like cursor_left in
845 micro_right mcuf1 Zb Like cursor_right in
847 micro_row_address mvpa Zc Like row_address #1
849 micro_up mcuu1 Zd Like cursor_up in
851 newline nel nw newline (behave like
853 order_of_pins porder Ze Match software bits
855 orig_colors oc oc Set all color pairs
857 orig_pair op op Set default pair to
859 pad_char pad pc padding char
861 parm_dch dch DC delete #1 characters
863 parm_delete_line dl DL delete #1 lines (P*)
864 parm_down_cursor cud DO down #1 lines (P*)
865 parm_down_micro mcud Zf Like parm_down_cur-
867 parm_ich ich IC insert #1 characters
869 parm_index indn SF scroll forward #1
871 parm_insert_line il AL insert #1 lines (P*)
872 parm_left_cursor cub LE move #1 characters
874 parm_left_micro mcub Zg Like parm_left_cur-
876 parm_right_cursor cuf RI move #1 characters
878 parm_right_micro mcuf Zh Like parm_right_cur-
881 parm_rindex rin SR scroll back #1 lines
883 parm_up_cursor cuu UP up #1 lines (P*)
884 parm_up_micro mcuu Zi Like parm_up_cursor
886 pkey_key pfkey pk program function key
888 pkey_local pfloc pl program function key
891 pkey_xmit pfx px program function key
894 plab_norm pln pn program label #1 to
896 print_screen mc0 ps print contents of
898 prtr_non mc5p pO turn on printer for
900 prtr_off mc4 pf turn off printer
901 prtr_on mc5 po turn on printer
902 pulse pulse PU select pulse dialing
903 quick_dial qdial QD dial number #1 with-
905 remove_clock rmclk RC remove clock
906 repeat_char rep rp repeat char #1 #2
908 req_for_input rfi RF send next input char
910 reset_1string rs1 r1 reset string
911 reset_2string rs2 r2 reset string
912 reset_3string rs3 r3 reset string
913 reset_file rf rf name of reset file
914 restore_cursor rc rc restore cursor to
917 row_address vpa cv vertical position #1
919 save_cursor sc sc save current cursor
921 scroll_forward ind sf scroll text up (P)
922 scroll_reverse ri sr scroll text down (P)
923 select_char_set scs Zj Select character
925 set_attributes sgr sa define video
928 set_background setb Sb Set background color
930 set_bottom_margin smgb Zk Set bottom margin at
932 set_bottom_margin_parm smgbp Zl Set bottom margin at
936 set_clock sclk SC set clock, #1 hrs #2
938 set_color_pair scp sp Set current color
940 set_foreground setf Sf Set foreground color
947 set_left_margin smgl ML set left soft margin
952 set_left_margin_parm smglp Zm Set left (right)
954 set_right_margin smgr MR set right soft mar-
957 set_right_margin_parm smgrp Zn Set right margin at
959 set_tab hts st set a tab in every
961 set_top_margin smgt Zo Set top margin at
963 set_top_margin_parm smgtp Zp Set top (bottom)
965 set_window wind wi current window is
968 start_bit_image sbim Zq Start printing bit
970 start_char_set_def scsd Zr Start character set
974 stop_bit_image rbim Zs Stop printing bit
976 stop_char_set_def rcsd Zt End definition of
978 subscript_characters subcs Zu List of subscript-
980 superscript_characters supcs Zv List of superscript-
982 tab ht ta tab to next 8-space
984 these_cause_cr docr Zw Printing any of
987 to_status_line tsl ts move to status line,
989 tone tone TO select touch tone
991 underline_char uc uc underline char and
993 up_half_line hu hu half a line up
994 user0 u0 u0 User string #0
995 user1 u1 u1 User string #1
996 user2 u2 u2 User string #2
997 user3 u3 u3 User string #3
998 user4 u4 u4 User string #4
999 user5 u5 u5 User string #5
1000 user6 u6 u6 User string #6
1001 user7 u7 u7 User string #7
1002 user8 u8 u8 User string #8
1003 user9 u9 u9 User string #9
1004 wait_tone wait WA wait for dial-tone
1005 xoff_character xoffc XF XOFF character
1006 xon_character xonc XN XON character
1007 zero_motion zerom Zx No motion for subse-
1010 The following string capabilities are present in the SVr4.0 term struc-
1011 ture, but were originally not documented in the man page.
1014 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
1015 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
1016 alt_scancode_esc scesa S8 Alternate escape
1019 bit_image_carriage_return bicr Yv Move to beginning
1021 bit_image_newline binel Zz Move to next row
1023 bit_image_repeat birep Xy Repeat bit image
1025 char_set_names csnm Zy Produce #1'th item
1028 code_set_init csin ci Init sequence for
1030 color_names colornm Yw Give name for
1032 define_bit_image_region defbi Yx Define rectangular
1034 device_type devt dv Indicate lan-
1037 display_pc_char dispc S1 Display PC charac-
1039 end_bit_image_region endbi Yy End a bit-image
1041 enter_pc_charset_mode smpch S2 Enter PC character
1043 enter_scancode_mode smsc S4 Enter PC scancode
1045 exit_pc_charset_mode rmpch S3 Exit PC character
1047 exit_scancode_mode rmsc S5 Exit PC scancode
1049 get_mouse getm Gm Curses should get
1053 key_mouse kmous Km Mouse event has
1055 mouse_info minfo Mi Mouse status
1057 pc_term_options pctrm S6 PC terminal
1059 pkey_plab pfxl xl Program function
1063 req_mouse_pos reqmp RQ Request mouse
1065 scancode_escape scesc S7 Escape for scan-
1067 set0_des_seq s0ds s0 Shift to codeset 0
1069 set1_des_seq s1ds s1 Shift to codeset 1
1070 set2_des_seq s2ds s2 Shift to codeset 2
1071 set3_des_seq s3ds s3 Shift to codeset 3
1072 set_a_background setab AB Set background
1075 set_a_foreground setaf AF Set foreground
1079 set_color_band setcolor Yz Change to ribbon
1081 set_lr_margin smglr ML Set both left and
1086 set_page_length slines YZ Set page length to
1088 set_tb_margin smgtb MT Sets both top and
1092 The XSI Curses standard added these hardcopy capabilities. They were
1093 used in some post-4.1 versions of System V curses, e.g., Solaris 2.5
1094 and IRIX 6.x. Except for <STRONG>YI</STRONG>, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> termcap names for them are
1095 invented. According to the XSI Curses standard, they have no termcap
1096 names. If your compiled terminfo entries use these, they may not be
1097 binary-compatible with System V terminfo entries after SVr4.1; beware!
1100 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
1101 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
1102 enter_horizontal_hl_mode ehhlm Xh Enter horizontal
1104 enter_left_hl_mode elhlm Xl Enter left highlight
1106 enter_low_hl_mode elohlm Xo Enter low highlight
1108 enter_right_hl_mode erhlm Xr Enter right high-
1110 enter_top_hl_mode ethlm Xt Enter top highlight
1112 enter_vertical_hl_mode evhlm Xv Enter vertical high-
1114 set_a_attributes sgr1 sA Define second set of
1117 set_pglen_inch slength YI Set page length to
1119 inch (some implemen-
1124 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-User-Defined-Capabilities">User-Defined Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
1125 The preceding section listed the <EM>predefined</EM> capabilities. They deal
1126 with some special features for terminals no longer (or possibly never)
1127 produced. Occasionally there are special features of newer terminals
1128 which are awkward or impossible to represent by reusing the predefined
1131 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> addresses this limitation by allowing user-defined capabili-
1132 ties. The <STRONG>tic</STRONG> and <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> programs provide the <STRONG>-x</STRONG> option for this pur-
1133 pose. When <STRONG>-x</STRONG> is set, <STRONG>tic</STRONG> treats unknown capabilities as user-defined.
1134 That is, if <STRONG>tic</STRONG> encounters a capability name which it does not recog-
1135 nize, it infers its type (boolean, number or string) from the syntax
1136 and makes an extended table entry for that capability. The
1137 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_extend.3x.html">use_extended_names(3x)</A></STRONG> function makes this information conditionally
1138 available to applications. The ncurses library provides the data leav-
1139 ing most of the behavior to applications:
1141 <STRONG>o</STRONG> User-defined capability strings whose name begins with "k" are
1142 treated as function keys.
1144 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The types (boolean, number, string) determined by <STRONG>tic</STRONG> can be
1145 inferred by successful calls on <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, etc.
1147 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the capability name happens to be two characters, the capability
1148 is also available through the termcap interface.
1150 While termcap is said to be extensible because it does not use a prede-
1151 fined set of capabilities, in practice it has been limited to the capa-
1152 bilities defined by terminfo implementations. As a rule, user-defined
1153 capabilities intended for use by termcap applications should be limited
1154 to booleans and numbers to avoid running past the 1023 byte limit
1155 assumed by termcap implementations and their applications. In particu-
1156 lar, providing extended sets of function keys (past the 60 numbered
1157 keys and the handful of special named keys) is best done using the
1158 longer names available using terminfo.
1161 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-A-Sample-Entry">A Sample Entry</a></H3><PRE>
1162 The following entry, describing an ANSI-standard terminal, is represen-
1163 tative of what a <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> entry for a modern terminal typically looks
1166 ansi|ansi/pc-term compatible with color,
1167 am, mc5i, mir, msgr,
1168 colors#8, cols#80, it#8, lines#24, ncv#3, pairs#64,
1169 acsc=+\020\,\021-\030.^Y0\333`\004a\261f\370g\361h\260
1170 j\331k\277l\332m\300n\305o~p\304q\304r\304s_t\303
1171 u\264v\301w\302x\263y\363z\362{\343|\330}\234~\376,
1172 bel=^G, blink=\E[5m, bold=\E[1m, cbt=\E[Z, clear=\E[H\E[J,
1173 cr=^M, cub=\E[%p1%dD, cub1=\E[D, cud=\E[%p1%dB, cud1=\E[B,
1174 cuf=\E[%p1%dC, cuf1=\E[C, cup=\E[%i%p1%d;%p2%dH,
1175 cuu=\E[%p1%dA, cuu1=\E[A, dch=\E[%p1%dP, dch1=\E[P,
1176 dl=\E[%p1%dM, dl1=\E[M, ech=\E[%p1%dX, ed=\E[J, el=\E[K,
1177 el1=\E[1K, home=\E[H, hpa=\E[%i%p1%dG, ht=\E[I, hts=\EH,
1178 ich=\E[%p1%d@, il=\E[%p1%dL, il1=\E[L, ind=^J,
1179 indn=\E[%p1%dS, invis=\E[8m, kbs=^H, kcbt=\E[Z, kcub1=\E[D,
1180 kcud1=\E[B, kcuf1=\E[C, kcuu1=\E[A, khome=\E[H, kich1=\E[L,
1181 mc4=\E[4i, mc5=\E[5i, nel=\r\E[S, op=\E[39;49m,
1182 rep=%p1%c\E[%p2%{1}%-%db, rev=\E[7m, rin=\E[%p1%dT,
1183 rmacs=\E[10m, rmpch=\E[10m, rmso=\E[m, rmul=\E[m,
1184 s0ds=\E(B, s1ds=\E)B, s2ds=\E*B, s3ds=\E+B,
1185 setab=\E[4%p1%dm, setaf=\E[3%p1%dm,
1186 sgr=\E[0;10%?%p1%t;7%;
1193 sgr0=\E[0;10m, smacs=\E[11m, smpch=\E[11m, smso=\E[7m,
1194 smul=\E[4m, tbc=\E[3g, u6=\E[%i%d;%dR, u7=\E[6n,
1195 u8=\E[?%[;0123456789]c, u9=\E[c, vpa=\E[%i%p1%dd,
1197 Entries may continue onto multiple lines by placing white space at the
1198 beginning of each line except the first. Comments may be included on
1199 lines beginning with "#". Capabilities in <EM>terminfo</EM> are of three types:
1201 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Boolean capabilities which indicate that the terminal has some par-
1204 <STRONG>o</STRONG> numeric capabilities giving the size of the terminal or the size of
1205 particular delays, and
1207 <STRONG>o</STRONG> string capabilities, which give a sequence which can be used to
1208 perform particular terminal operations.
1211 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Types-of-Capabilities">Types of Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
1212 All capabilities have names. For instance, the fact that ANSI-standard
1213 terminals have <EM>automatic</EM> <EM>margins</EM> (i.e., an automatic return and line-
1214 feed when the end of a line is reached) is indicated by the capability
1215 <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Hence the description of ansi includes <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Numeric capabilities
1216 are followed by the character "#" and then a positive value. Thus
1217 <STRONG>cols</STRONG>, which indicates the number of columns the terminal has, gives the
1218 value "80" for ansi. Values for numeric capabilities may be specified
1219 in decimal, octal or hexadecimal, using the C programming language con-
1220 ventions (e.g., 255, 0377 and 0xff or 0xFF).
1222 Finally, string valued capabilities, such as <STRONG>el</STRONG> (clear to end of line
1223 sequence) are given by the two-character code, an "=", and then a
1224 string ending at the next following ",".
1226 A number of escape sequences are provided in the string valued capabil-
1227 ities for easy encoding of characters there:
1229 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Both <STRONG>\E</STRONG> and <STRONG>\e</STRONG> map to an ESCAPE character,
1231 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>^x</STRONG> maps to a control-x for any appropriate <EM>x</EM>, and
1233 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the sequences
1235 <STRONG>\n</STRONG>, <STRONG>\l</STRONG>, <STRONG>\r</STRONG>, <STRONG>\t</STRONG>, <STRONG>\b</STRONG>, <STRONG>\f</STRONG>, and <STRONG>\s</STRONG>
1239 <EM>newline</EM>, <EM>line-feed</EM>, <EM>return</EM>, <EM>tab</EM>, <EM>backspace</EM>, <EM>form-feed</EM>, and <EM>space</EM>,
1243 X/Open Curses does not say what "appropriate <EM>x</EM>" might be. In practice,
1244 that is a printable ASCII graphic character. The special case "^?" is
1245 interpreted as DEL (127). In all other cases, the character value is
1246 AND'd with 0x1f, mapping to ASCII control codes in the range 0 through
1249 Other escapes include
1251 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\^</STRONG> for <STRONG>^</STRONG>,
1253 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\\</STRONG> for <STRONG>\</STRONG>,
1255 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\</STRONG>, for comma,
1257 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\:</STRONG> for <STRONG>:</STRONG>,
1259 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>\0</STRONG> for null.
1261 <STRONG>\0</STRONG> will produce \200, which does not terminate a string but behaves
1262 as a null character on most terminals, providing CS7 is specified.
1263 See <STRONG>stty(1)</STRONG>.
1265 The reason for this quirk is to maintain binary compatibility of
1266 the compiled terminfo files with other implementations, e.g., the
1267 SVr4 systems, which document this. Compiled terminfo files use
1268 null-terminated strings, with no lengths. Modifying this would
1269 require a new binary format, which would not work with other imple-
1272 Finally, characters may be given as three octal digits after a <STRONG>\</STRONG>.
1274 A delay in milliseconds may appear anywhere in a string capability,
1275 enclosed in $<..> brackets, as in <STRONG>el</STRONG>=\EK$<5>, and padding characters
1276 are supplied by <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tputs(3x)</A></STRONG> to provide this delay.
1278 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The delay must be a number with at most one decimal place of preci-
1279 sion; it may be followed by suffixes "*" or "/" or both.
1281 <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "*" indicates that the padding required is proportional to the
1282 number of lines affected by the operation, and the amount given is
1283 the per-affected-unit padding required. (In the case of insert
1284 character, the factor is still the number of <EM>lines</EM> affected.)
1286 Normally, padding is advisory if the device has the <STRONG>xon</STRONG> capability;
1287 it is used for cost computation but does not trigger delays.
1289 <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "/" suffix indicates that the padding is mandatory and forces a
1290 delay of the given number of milliseconds even on devices for which
1291 <STRONG>xon</STRONG> is present to indicate flow control.
1293 Sometimes individual capabilities must be commented out. To do this,
1294 put a period before the capability name. For example, see the second
1295 <STRONG>ind</STRONG> in the example above.
1298 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Fetching-Compiled-Descriptions">Fetching Compiled Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
1299 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library searches for terminal descriptions in several
1300 places. It uses only the first description found. The library has a
1301 compiled-in list of places to search which can be overridden by envi-
1302 ronment variables. Before starting to search, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> eliminates
1303 duplicates in its search list.
1305 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the environment variable TERMINFO is set, it is interpreted as
1306 the pathname of a directory containing the compiled description you
1307 are working on. Only that directory is searched.
1309 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If TERMINFO is not set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> will instead look in the directory
1310 <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> for a compiled description.
1312 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Next, if the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS is set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
1313 will interpret the contents of that variable as a list of colon-
1314 separated directories (or database files) to be searched.
1316 An empty directory name (i.e., if the variable begins or ends with
1317 a colon, or contains adjacent colons) is interpreted as the system
1318 location <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>.
1320 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Finally, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> searches these compiled-in locations:
1322 <STRONG>o</STRONG> a list of directories (/usr/local/ncurses/share/ter-
1323 minfo:/usr/share/terminfo), and
1325 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the system terminfo directory, <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM> (the com-
1329 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Preparing-Descriptions">Preparing Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
1330 We now outline how to prepare descriptions of terminals. The most
1331 effective way to prepare a terminal description is by imitating the
1332 description of a similar terminal in <EM>terminfo</EM> and to build up a
1333 description gradually, using partial descriptions with <EM>vi</EM> or some other
1334 screen-oriented program to check that they are correct. Be aware that
1335 a very unusual terminal may expose deficiencies in the ability of the
1336 <EM>terminfo</EM> file to describe it or bugs in the screen-handling code of the
1339 To get the padding for insert line right (if the terminal manufacturer
1340 did not document it) a severe test is to edit a large file at 9600
1341 baud, delete 16 or so lines from the middle of the screen, then hit the
1342 "u" key several times quickly. If the terminal messes up, more padding
1343 is usually needed. A similar test can be used for insert character.
1346 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Basic-Capabilities">Basic Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
1347 The number of columns on each line for the terminal is given by the
1348 <STRONG>cols</STRONG> numeric capability. If the terminal is a CRT, then the number of
1349 lines on the screen is given by the <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability. If the terminal
1350 wraps around to the beginning of the next line when it reaches the
1351 right margin, then it should have the <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability. If the terminal
1352 can clear its screen, leaving the cursor in the home position, then
1353 this is given by the <STRONG>clear</STRONG> string capability. If the terminal over-
1354 strikes (rather than clearing a position when a character is struck
1355 over) then it should have the <STRONG>os</STRONG> capability. If the terminal is a
1356 printing terminal, with no soft copy unit, give it both <STRONG>hc</STRONG> and <STRONG>os</STRONG>. (<STRONG>os</STRONG>
1357 applies to storage scope terminals, such as TEKTRONIX 4010 series, as
1358 well as hard copy and APL terminals.) If there is a code to move the
1359 cursor to the left edge of the current row, give this as <STRONG>cr</STRONG>. (Normally
1360 this will be carriage return, control/M.) If there is a code to pro-
1361 duce an audible signal (bell, beep, etc) give this as <STRONG>bel</STRONG>.
1363 If there is a code to move the cursor one position to the left (such as
1364 backspace) that capability should be given as <STRONG>cub1</STRONG>. Similarly, codes
1365 to move to the right, up, and down should be given as <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>, and
1366 <STRONG>cud1</STRONG>. These local cursor motions should not alter the text they pass
1367 over, for example, you would not normally use "<STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>= " because the
1368 space would erase the character moved over.
1370 A very important point here is that the local cursor motions encoded in
1371 <EM>terminfo</EM> are undefined at the left and top edges of a CRT terminal.
1372 Programs should never attempt to backspace around the left edge, unless
1373 <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is given, and never attempt to go up locally off the top. In order
1374 to scroll text up, a program will go to the bottom left corner of the
1375 screen and send the <STRONG>ind</STRONG> (index) string.
1377 To scroll text down, a program goes to the top left corner of the
1378 screen and sends the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> (reverse index) string. The strings <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG>
1379 are undefined when not on their respective corners of the screen.
1381 Parameterized versions of the scrolling sequences are <STRONG>indn</STRONG> and <STRONG>rin</STRONG>
1382 which have the same semantics as <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG> except that they take one
1383 parameter, and scroll that many lines. They are also undefined except
1384 at the appropriate edge of the screen.
1386 The <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability tells whether the cursor sticks at the right edge of
1387 the screen when text is output, but this does not necessarily apply to
1388 a <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG> from the last column. The only local motion which is defined
1389 from the left edge is if <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is given, then a <STRONG>cub1</STRONG> from the left edge
1390 will move to the right edge of the previous row. If <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is not given,
1391 the effect is undefined. This is useful for drawing a box around the
1392 edge of the screen, for example. If the terminal has switch selectable
1393 automatic margins, the <EM>terminfo</EM> file usually assumes that this is on;
1394 i.e., <STRONG>am</STRONG>. If the terminal has a command which moves to the first col-
1395 umn of the next line, that command can be given as <STRONG>nel</STRONG> (newline). It
1396 does not matter if the command clears the remainder of the current
1397 line, so if the terminal has no <STRONG>cr</STRONG> and <STRONG>lf</STRONG> it may still be possible to
1398 craft a working <STRONG>nel</STRONG> out of one or both of them.
1400 These capabilities suffice to describe hard-copy and "glass-tty" termi-
1401 nals. Thus the model 33 teletype is described as
1403 33|tty33|tty|model 33 teletype,
1404 bel=^G, cols#72, cr=^M, cud1=^J, hc, ind=^J, os,
1406 while the Lear Siegler ADM-3 is described as
1409 am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
1413 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Parameterized-Strings">Parameterized Strings</a></H3><PRE>
1414 Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters in the termi-
1415 nal are described by a parameterized string capability, with <EM>printf</EM>-
1416 like escapes such as <EM>%x</EM> in it. For example, to address the cursor, the
1417 <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is given, using two parameters: the row and column to
1418 address to. (Rows and columns are numbered from zero and refer to the
1419 physical screen visible to the user, not to any unseen memory.) If the
1420 terminal has memory relative cursor addressing, that can be indicated
1421 by <STRONG>mrcup</STRONG>.
1423 The parameter mechanism uses a stack and special <STRONG>%</STRONG> codes to manipulate
1424 it. Typically a sequence will push one of the parameters onto the
1425 stack and then print it in some format. Print (e.g., "%d") is a spe-
1426 cial case. Other operations, including "%t" pop their operand from the
1427 stack. It is noted that more complex operations are often necessary,
1428 e.g., in the <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> string.
1430 The <STRONG>%</STRONG> encodings have the following meanings:
1432 <STRONG>%%</STRONG> outputs "%"
1434 <STRONG>%</STRONG><EM>[[</EM>:<EM>]flags][width[.precision]][</EM><STRONG>doxXs</STRONG><EM>]</EM>
1435 as in <STRONG>printf(3)</STRONG>, flags are <EM>[-+#]</EM> and <EM>space</EM>. Use a ":" to allow
1436 the next character to be a "-" flag, avoiding interpreting "%-" as
1439 %c print <EM>pop()</EM> like %c in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
1441 <STRONG>%s</STRONG> print <EM>pop()</EM> like %s in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
1443 <STRONG>%p</STRONG><EM>[1-9]</EM>
1444 push <EM>i</EM>'th parameter
1446 <STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[a-z]</EM>
1447 set dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to <EM>pop()</EM>
1449 <STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[a-z]/</EM>
1450 get dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
1452 <STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
1453 set static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to <EM>pop()</EM>
1455 <STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
1456 get static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
1458 The terms "static" and "dynamic" are misleading. Historically,
1459 these are simply two different sets of variables, whose values are
1460 not reset between calls to <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tparm(3x)</A></STRONG>. However, that fact is not
1461 documented in other implementations. Relying on it will adversely
1462 impact portability to other implementations.
1464 <STRONG>%'</STRONG><EM>c</EM><STRONG>'</STRONG> char constant <EM>c</EM>
1466 <STRONG>%{</STRONG><EM>nn</EM><STRONG>}</STRONG>
1467 integer constant <EM>nn</EM>
1469 <STRONG>%l</STRONG> push strlen(pop)
1471 <STRONG>%+</STRONG>, <STRONG>%-</STRONG>, <STRONG>%*</STRONG>, <STRONG>%/</STRONG>, <STRONG>%m</STRONG>
1472 arithmetic (%m is <EM>mod</EM>): <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1474 <STRONG>%&</STRONG>, <STRONG>%|</STRONG>, <STRONG>%^</STRONG>
1475 bit operations (AND, OR and exclusive-OR): <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1477 <STRONG>%=</STRONG>, <STRONG>%></STRONG>, <STRONG>%<</STRONG>
1478 logical operations: <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1480 <STRONG>%A</STRONG>, <STRONG>%O</STRONG>
1481 logical AND and OR operations (for conditionals)
1483 <STRONG>%!</STRONG>, <STRONG>%~</STRONG>
1484 unary operations (logical and bit complement): <EM>push(op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1486 <STRONG>%i</STRONG> add 1 to first two parameters (for ANSI terminals)
1488 <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> <STRONG>%t</STRONG> <EM>thenpart</EM> <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> <STRONG>%;</STRONG>
1489 This forms an if-then-else. The <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> is optional. Usually
1490 the <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> part pushes a value onto the stack, and <STRONG>%t</STRONG> pops it
1491 from the stack, testing if it is nonzero (true). If it is zero
1492 (false), control passes to the <STRONG>%e</STRONG> (else) part.
1494 It is possible to form else-if's a la Algol 68:
1495 <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>
1497 where ci are conditions, bi are bodies.
1499 Use the <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> or <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> to see the structure of if-
1500 then-else's. Some strings, e.g., <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> can be very complicated when
1501 written on one line. The <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option splits the string into lines
1502 with the parts indented.
1504 Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands in the usual
1505 order. That is, to get x-5 one would use "%gx%{5}%-". <STRONG>%P</STRONG> and <STRONG>%g</STRONG> vari-
1506 ables are persistent across escape-string evaluations.
1508 Consider the HP2645, which, to get to row 3 and column 12, needs to be
1509 sent \E&a12c03Y padded for 6 milliseconds. Note that the order of the
1510 rows and columns is inverted here, and that the row and column are
1511 printed as two digits. Thus its <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is
1512 "cup=6\E&%p2%2dc%p1%2dY".
1514 The Microterm ACT-IV needs the current row and column sent preceded by
1515 a <STRONG>^T</STRONG>, with the row and column simply encoded in binary,
1516 "cup=^T%p1%c%p2%c". Terminals which use "%c" need to be able to
1517 backspace the cursor (<STRONG>cub1</STRONG>), and to move the cursor up one line on the
1518 screen (<STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>). This is necessary because it is not always safe to
1519 transmit <STRONG>\n</STRONG> <STRONG>^D</STRONG> and <STRONG>\r</STRONG>, as the system may change or discard them. (The
1520 library routines dealing with terminfo set tty modes so that tabs are
1521 never expanded, so \t is safe to send. This turns out to be essential
1522 for the Ann Arbor 4080.)
1524 A final example is the LSI ADM-3a, which uses row and column offset by
1525 a blank character, thus "cup=\E=%p1%' '%+%c%p2%' '%+%c". After sending
1526 "\E=", this pushes the first parameter, pushes the ASCII value for a
1527 space (32), adds them (pushing the sum on the stack in place of the two
1528 previous values) and outputs that value as a character. Then the same
1529 is done for the second parameter. More complex arithmetic is possible
1533 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Cursor-Motions">Cursor Motions</a></H3><PRE>
1534 If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very upper left
1535 corner of screen) then this can be given as <STRONG>home</STRONG>; similarly a fast way
1536 of getting to the lower left-hand corner can be given as <STRONG>ll</STRONG>; this may
1537 involve going up with <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG> from the home position, but a program should
1538 never do this itself (unless <STRONG>ll</STRONG> does) because it can make no assumption
1539 about the effect of moving up from the home position. Note that the
1540 home position is the same as addressing to (0,0): to the top left cor-
1541 ner of the screen, not of memory. (Thus, the \EH sequence on HP termi-
1542 nals cannot be used for <STRONG>home</STRONG>.)
1544 If the terminal has row or column absolute cursor addressing, these can
1545 be given as single parameter capabilities <STRONG>hpa</STRONG> (horizontal position
1546 absolute) and <STRONG>vpa</STRONG> (vertical position absolute). Sometimes these are
1547 shorter than the more general two parameter sequence (as with the
1548 hp2645) and can be used in preference to <STRONG>cup</STRONG>. If there are parameter-
1549 ized local motions (e.g., move <EM>n</EM> spaces to the right) these can be
1550 given as <STRONG>cud</STRONG>, <STRONG>cub</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuf</STRONG>, and <STRONG>cuu</STRONG> with a single parameter indicating how
1551 many spaces to move. These are primarily useful if the terminal does
1552 not have <STRONG>cup</STRONG>, such as the TEKTRONIX 4025.
1554 If the terminal needs to be in a special mode when running a program
1555 that uses these capabilities, the codes to enter and exit this mode can
1556 be given as <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>. This arises, for example, from terminals
1557 like the Concept with more than one page of memory. If the terminal
1558 has only memory relative cursor addressing and not screen relative cur-
1559 sor addressing, a one screen-sized window must be fixed into the termi-
1560 nal for cursor addressing to work properly. This is also used for the
1561 TEKTRONIX 4025, where <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sets the command character to be the one
1562 used by terminfo. If the <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sequence will not restore the screen
1563 after an <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG> sequence is output (to the state prior to outputting
1564 <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>), specify <STRONG>nrrmc</STRONG>.
1567 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Area-Clears">Area Clears</a></H3><PRE>
1568 If the terminal can clear from the current position to the end of the
1569 line, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be given as <STRONG>el</STRONG>. If
1570 the terminal can clear from the beginning of the line to the current
1571 position inclusive, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be
1572 given as <STRONG>el1</STRONG>. If the terminal can clear from the current position to
1573 the end of the display, then this should be given as <STRONG>ed</STRONG>. <STRONG>Ed</STRONG> is only
1574 defined from the first column of a line. (Thus, it can be simulated by
1575 a request to delete a large number of lines, if a true <STRONG>ed</STRONG> is not avail-
1579 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Insert_delete-line-and-vertical-motions">Insert/delete line and vertical motions</a></H3><PRE>
1580 If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line where the
1581 cursor is, this should be given as <STRONG>il1</STRONG>; this is done only from the
1582 first position of a line. The cursor must then appear on the newly
1583 blank line. If the terminal can delete the line which the cursor is
1584 on, then this should be given as <STRONG>dl1</STRONG>; this is done only from the first
1585 position on the line to be deleted. Versions of <STRONG>il1</STRONG> and <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> which take
1586 a single parameter and insert or delete that many lines can be given as
1587 <STRONG>il</STRONG> and <STRONG>dl</STRONG>.
1589 If the terminal has a settable scrolling region (like the vt100) the
1590 command to set this can be described with the <STRONG>csr</STRONG> capability, which
1591 takes two parameters: the top and bottom lines of the scrolling region.
1592 The cursor position is, alas, undefined after using this command.
1594 It is possible to get the effect of insert or delete line using <STRONG>csr</STRONG> on
1595 a properly chosen region; the <STRONG>sc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (save and restore cursor) com-
1596 mands may be useful for ensuring that your synthesized insert/delete
1597 string does not move the cursor. (Note that the <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG> library
1598 does this synthesis automatically, so you need not compose
1599 insert/delete strings for an entry with <STRONG>csr</STRONG>).
1601 Yet another way to construct insert and delete might be to use a combi-
1602 nation of index with the memory-lock feature found on some terminals
1603 (like the HP-700/90 series, which however also has insert/delete).
1605 Inserting lines at the top or bottom of the screen can also be done
1606 using <STRONG>ri</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG> on many terminals without a true insert/delete line,
1607 and is often faster even on terminals with those features.
1609 The boolean <STRONG>non_dest_scroll_region</STRONG> should be set if each scrolling win-
1610 dow is effectively a view port on a screen-sized canvas. To test for
1611 this capability, create a scrolling region in the middle of the screen,
1612 write something to the bottom line, move the cursor to the top of the
1613 region, and do <STRONG>ri</STRONG> followed by <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG>. If the data scrolled off the
1614 bottom of the region by the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> re-appears, then scrolling is non-
1615 destructive. System V and XSI Curses expect that <STRONG>ind</STRONG>, <STRONG>ri</STRONG>, <STRONG>indn</STRONG>, and
1616 <STRONG>rin</STRONG> will simulate destructive scrolling; their documentation cautions
1617 you not to define <STRONG>csr</STRONG> unless this is true. This <STRONG>curses</STRONG> implementation
1618 is more liberal and will do explicit erases after scrolling if <STRONG>ndsrc</STRONG> is
1621 If the terminal has the ability to define a window as part of memory,
1622 which all commands affect, it should be given as the parameterized
1623 string <STRONG>wind</STRONG>. The four parameters are the starting and ending lines in
1624 memory and the starting and ending columns in memory, in that order.
1626 If the terminal can retain display memory above, then the <STRONG>da</STRONG> capability
1627 should be given; if display memory can be retained below, then <STRONG>db</STRONG>
1628 should be given. These indicate that deleting a line or scrolling may
1629 bring non-blank lines up from below or that scrolling back with <STRONG>ri</STRONG> may
1630 bring down non-blank lines.
1633 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Insert_Delete-Character">Insert/Delete Character</a></H3><PRE>
1634 There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with respect to
1635 insert/delete character which can be described using <EM>terminfo.</EM> The
1636 most common insert/delete character operations affect only the charac-
1637 ters on the current line and shift characters off the end of the line
1638 rigidly. Other terminals, such as the Concept 100 and the Perkin Elmer
1639 Owl, make a distinction between typed and untyped blanks on the screen,
1640 shifting upon an insert or delete only to an untyped blank on the
1641 screen which is either eliminated, or expanded to two untyped blanks.
1643 You can determine the kind of terminal you have by clearing the screen
1644 and then typing text separated by cursor motions. Type "abc def"
1645 using local cursor motions (not spaces) between the "abc" and the
1646 "def". Then position the cursor before the "abc" and put the terminal
1647 in insert mode. If typing characters causes the rest of the line to
1648 shift rigidly and characters to fall off the end, then your terminal
1649 does not distinguish between blanks and untyped positions. If the
1650 "abc" shifts over to the "def" which then move together around the end
1651 of the current line and onto the next as you insert, you have the sec-
1652 ond type of terminal, and should give the capability <STRONG>in</STRONG>, which stands
1655 While these are two logically separate attributes (one line versus
1656 multi-line insert mode, and special treatment of untyped spaces) we
1657 have seen no terminals whose insert mode cannot be described with the
1660 Terminfo can describe both terminals which have an insert mode, and
1661 terminals which send a simple sequence to open a blank position on the
1662 current line. Give as <STRONG>smir</STRONG> the sequence to get into insert mode. Give
1663 as <STRONG>rmir</STRONG> the sequence to leave insert mode. Now give as <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> any
1664 sequence needed to be sent just before sending the character to be
1665 inserted. Most terminals with a true insert mode will not give <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>;
1666 terminals which send a sequence to open a screen position should give
1669 If your terminal has both, insert mode is usually preferable to <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>.
1670 Technically, you should not give both unless the terminal actually
1671 requires both to be used in combination. Accordingly, some non-curses
1672 applications get confused if both are present; the symptom is doubled
1673 characters in an update using insert. This requirement is now rare;
1674 most <STRONG>ich</STRONG> sequences do not require previous smir, and most smir insert
1675 modes do not require <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> before each character. Therefore, the new
1676 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> actually assumes this is the case and uses either <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> or
1677 <STRONG>ich</STRONG>/<STRONG>ich1</STRONG> as appropriate (but not both). If you have to write an entry
1678 to be used under new curses for a terminal old enough to need both,
1679 include the <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> sequences in <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>.
1681 If post insert padding is needed, give this as a number of milliseconds
1682 in <STRONG>ip</STRONG> (a string option). Any other sequence which may need to be sent
1683 after an insert of a single character may also be given in <STRONG>ip</STRONG>. If your
1684 terminal needs both to be placed into an "insert mode" and a special
1685 code to precede each inserted character, then both <STRONG>smir</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmir</STRONG> and <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>
1686 can be given, and both will be used. The <STRONG>ich</STRONG> capability, with one
1687 parameter, <EM>n</EM>, will repeat the effects of <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> <EM>n</EM> times.
1689 If padding is necessary between characters typed while not in insert
1690 mode, give this as a number of milliseconds padding in <STRONG>rmp</STRONG>.
1692 It is occasionally necessary to move around while in insert mode to
1693 delete characters on the same line (e.g., if there is a tab after the
1694 insertion position). If your terminal allows motion while in insert
1695 mode you can give the capability <STRONG>mir</STRONG> to speed up inserting in this
1696 case. Omitting <STRONG>mir</STRONG> will affect only speed. Some terminals (notably
1697 Datamedia's) must not have <STRONG>mir</STRONG> because of the way their insert mode
1700 Finally, you can specify <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to delete a single character, <STRONG>dch</STRONG> with
1701 one parameter, <EM>n</EM>, to delete <EM>n</EM> <EM>characters,</EM> and delete mode by giving
1702 <STRONG>smdc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmdc</STRONG> to enter and exit delete mode (any mode the terminal
1703 needs to be placed in for <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to work).
1705 A command to erase <EM>n</EM> characters (equivalent to outputting <EM>n</EM> blanks
1706 without moving the cursor) can be given as <STRONG>ech</STRONG> with one parameter.
1709 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Highlighting_-Underlining_-and-Visible-Bells">Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells</a></H3><PRE>
1710 If your terminal has one or more kinds of display attributes, these can
1711 be represented in a number of different ways. You should choose one
1712 display form as <EM>standout</EM> <EM>mode</EM>, representing a good, high contrast,
1713 easy-on-the-eyes, format for highlighting error messages and other
1714 attention getters. (If you have a choice, reverse video plus half-
1715 bright is good, or reverse video alone.) The sequences to enter and
1716 exit standout mode are given as <STRONG>smso</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmso</STRONG>, respectively. If the
1717 code to change into or out of standout mode leaves one or even two
1718 blank spaces on the screen, as the TVI 912 and Teleray 1061 do, then
1719 <STRONG>xmc</STRONG> should be given to tell how many spaces are left.
1721 Codes to begin underlining and end underlining can be given as <STRONG>smul</STRONG> and
1722 <STRONG>rmul</STRONG> respectively. If the terminal has a code to underline the current
1723 character and move the cursor one space to the right, such as the
1724 Microterm Mime, this can be given as <STRONG>uc</STRONG>.
1726 Other capabilities to enter various highlighting modes include <STRONG>blink</STRONG>
1727 (blinking) <STRONG>bold</STRONG> (bold or extra bright) <STRONG>dim</STRONG> (dim or half-bright) <STRONG>invis</STRONG>
1728 (blanking or invisible text) <STRONG>prot</STRONG> (protected) <STRONG>rev</STRONG> (reverse video) <STRONG>sgr0</STRONG>
1729 (turn off <EM>all</EM> attribute modes) <STRONG>smacs</STRONG> (enter alternate character set
1730 mode) and <STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> (exit alternate character set mode). Turning on any of
1731 these modes singly may or may not turn off other modes.
1733 If there is a sequence to set arbitrary combinations of modes, this
1734 should be given as <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> (set attributes), taking 9 parameters. Each
1735 parameter is either 0 or nonzero, as the corresponding attribute is on
1736 or off. The 9 parameters are, in order: standout, underline, reverse,
1737 blink, dim, bold, blank, protect, alternate character set. Not all
1738 modes need be supported by <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>, only those for which corresponding sep-
1739 arate attribute commands exist.
1741 For example, the DEC vt220 supports most of the modes:
1743 <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> <STRONG>parameter</STRONG> <STRONG>attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>escape</STRONG> <STRONG>sequence</STRONG>
1746 p1 standout \E[0;1;7m
1747 p2 underline \E[0;4m
1750 p5 dim not available
1754 p9 altcharset ^O (off) ^N (on)
1756 We begin each escape sequence by turning off any existing modes, since
1757 there is no quick way to determine whether they are active. Standout
1758 is set up to be the combination of reverse and bold. The vt220 termi-
1759 nal has a protect mode, though it is not commonly used in sgr because
1760 it protects characters on the screen from the host's erasures. The
1761 altcharset mode also is different in that it is either ^O or ^N,
1762 depending on whether it is off or on. If all modes are turned on, the
1763 resulting sequence is \E[0;1;4;5;7;8m^N.
1765 Some sequences are common to different modes. For example, ;7 is out-
1766 put when either p1 or p3 is true, that is, if either standout or
1767 reverse modes are turned on.
1769 Writing out the above sequences, along with their dependencies yields
1771 <STRONG>sequence</STRONG> <STRONG>when</STRONG> <STRONG>to</STRONG> <STRONG>output</STRONG> <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> <STRONG>translation</STRONG>
1774 ;1 if p1 or p6 %?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;
1775 ;4 if p2 %?%p2%|%t;4%;
1776 ;5 if p4 %?%p4%|%t;5%;
1777 ;7 if p1 or p3 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;
1778 ;8 if p7 %?%p7%|%t;8%;
1780 ^N or ^O if p9 ^N, else ^O %?%p9%t^N%e^O%;
1782 Putting this all together into the sgr sequence gives:
1784 sgr=\E[0%?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p4%t;5%;
1785 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;%?%p7%t;8%;m%?%p9%t\016%e\017%;,
1787 Remember that if you specify sgr, you must also specify sgr0. Also,
1788 some implementations rely on sgr being given if sgr0 is, Not all ter-
1789 minfo entries necessarily have an sgr string, however. Many terminfo
1790 entries are derived from termcap entries which have no sgr string. The
1791 only drawback to adding an sgr string is that termcap also assumes that
1792 sgr0 does not exit alternate character set mode.
1794 Terminals with the "magic cookie" glitch (<STRONG>xmc</STRONG>) deposit special "cook-
1795 ies" when they receive mode-setting sequences, which affect the display
1796 algorithm rather than having extra bits for each character. Some ter-
1797 minals, such as the HP 2621, automatically leave standout mode when
1798 they move to a new line or the cursor is addressed. Programs using
1799 standout mode should exit standout mode before moving the cursor or
1800 sending a newline, unless the <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> capability, asserting that it is
1801 safe to move in standout mode, is present.
1803 If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indicate an error
1804 quietly (a bell replacement) then this can be given as <STRONG>flash</STRONG>; it must
1805 not move the cursor.
1807 If the cursor needs to be made more visible than normal when it is not
1808 on the bottom line (to make, for example, a non-blinking underline into
1809 an easier to find block or blinking underline) give this sequence as
1810 <STRONG>cvvis</STRONG>. If there is a way to make the cursor completely invisible, give
1811 that as <STRONG>civis</STRONG>. The capability <STRONG>cnorm</STRONG> should be given which undoes the
1812 effects of both of these modes.
1814 If your terminal correctly generates underlined characters (with no
1815 special codes needed) even though it does not overstrike, then you
1816 should give the capability <STRONG>ul</STRONG>. If a character overstriking another
1817 leaves both characters on the screen, specify the capability <STRONG>os</STRONG>. If
1818 overstrikes are erasable with a blank, then this should be indicated by
1819 giving <STRONG>eo</STRONG>.
1822 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Keypad-and-Function-Keys">Keypad and Function Keys</a></H3><PRE>
1823 If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes when the keys are
1824 pressed, this information can be given. Note that it is not possible
1825 to handle terminals where the keypad only works in local (this applies,
1826 for example, to the unshifted HP 2621 keys). If the keypad can be set
1827 to transmit or not transmit, give these codes as <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG>. Other-
1828 wise the keypad is assumed to always transmit.
1830 The codes sent by the left arrow, right arrow, up arrow, down arrow,
1831 and home keys can be given as <STRONG>kcub1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuu1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcud1,</STRONG> and <STRONG>khome</STRONG>
1832 respectively. If there are function keys such as f0, f1, ..., f10, the
1833 codes they send can be given as <STRONG>kf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf10</STRONG>. If these keys
1834 have labels other than the default f0 through f10, the labels can be
1835 given as <STRONG>lf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf10</STRONG>.
1837 The codes transmitted by certain other special keys can be given:
1839 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kll</STRONG> (home down),
1841 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kbs</STRONG> (backspace),
1843 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ktbc</STRONG> (clear all tabs),
1845 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kctab</STRONG> (clear the tab stop in this column),
1847 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kclr</STRONG> (clear screen or erase key),
1849 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdch1</STRONG> (delete character),
1851 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdl1</STRONG> (delete line),
1853 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>krmir</STRONG> (exit insert mode),
1855 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kel</STRONG> (clear to end of line),
1857 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ked</STRONG> (clear to end of screen),
1859 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kich1</STRONG> (insert character or enter insert mode),
1861 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kil1</STRONG> (insert line),
1863 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>knp</STRONG> (next page),
1865 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kpp</STRONG> (previous page),
1867 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kind</STRONG> (scroll forward/down),
1869 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kri</STRONG> (scroll backward/up),
1871 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>khts</STRONG> (set a tab stop in this column).
1873 In addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3 array of keys including the
1874 four arrow keys, the other five keys can be given as <STRONG>ka1</STRONG>, <STRONG>ka3</STRONG>, <STRONG>kb2</STRONG>,
1875 <STRONG>kc1</STRONG>, and <STRONG>kc3</STRONG>. These keys are useful when the effects of a 3 by 3
1876 directional pad are needed.
1878 Strings to program function keys can be given as <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG>, <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG>, and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG>.
1879 A string to program screen labels should be specified as <STRONG>pln</STRONG>. Each of
1880 these strings takes two parameters: the function key number to program
1881 (from 0 to 10) and the string to program it with. Function key numbers
1882 out of this range may program undefined keys in a terminal dependent
1883 manner. The difference between the capabilities is that <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG> causes
1884 pressing the given key to be the same as the user typing the given
1885 string; <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG> causes the string to be executed by the terminal in
1886 local; and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG> causes the string to be transmitted to the computer.
1888 The capabilities <STRONG>nlab</STRONG>, <STRONG>lw</STRONG> and <STRONG>lh</STRONG> define the number of programmable
1889 screen labels and their width and height. If there are commands to
1890 turn the labels on and off, give them in <STRONG>smln</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmln</STRONG>. <STRONG>smln</STRONG> is nor-
1891 mally output after one or more pln sequences to make sure that the
1892 change becomes visible.
1895 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Tabs-and-Initialization">Tabs and Initialization</a></H3><PRE>
1896 A few capabilities are used only for tabs:
1898 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance to the
1899 next tab stop can be given as <STRONG>ht</STRONG> (usually control/I).
1901 <STRONG>o</STRONG> A "back-tab" command which moves leftward to the preceding tab stop
1902 can be given as <STRONG>cbt</STRONG>.
1904 By convention, if the teletype modes indicate that tabs are being
1905 expanded by the computer rather than being sent to the terminal,
1906 programs should not use <STRONG>ht</STRONG> or <STRONG>cbt</STRONG> even if they are present, since
1907 the user may not have the tab stops properly set.
1909 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal has hardware tabs which are initially set every <EM>n</EM>
1910 spaces when the terminal is powered up, the numeric parameter <STRONG>it</STRONG> is
1911 given, showing the number of spaces the tabs are set to.
1913 The <STRONG>it</STRONG> capability is normally used by the <STRONG>tset</STRONG> command to determine
1914 whether to set the mode for hardware tab expansion, and whether to
1915 set the tab stops. If the terminal has tab stops that can be saved
1916 in non-volatile memory, the terminfo description can assume that
1917 they are properly set.
1919 Other capabilities include
1921 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, and <STRONG>is3</STRONG>, initialization strings for the terminal,
1923 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, the path name of a program to be run to initialize the ter-
1926 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>if</STRONG>, the name of a file containing long initialization strings.
1928 These strings are expected to set the terminal into modes consistent
1929 with the rest of the terminfo description. They are normally sent to
1930 the terminal, by the <EM>init</EM> option of the <STRONG>tput</STRONG> program, each time the
1931 user logs in. They will be printed in the following order:
1934 <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>
1937 <STRONG>is1</STRONG> and
1938 <STRONG>is2</STRONG>
1940 set the margins using
1941 <STRONG>mgc</STRONG> or
1942 <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> or
1943 <STRONG>smgl</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgr</STRONG>
1946 <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> and <STRONG>hts</STRONG>
1952 <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
1954 Most initialization is done with <STRONG>is2</STRONG>. Special terminal modes can be
1955 set up without duplicating strings by putting the common sequences in
1956 <STRONG>is2</STRONG> and special cases in <STRONG>is1</STRONG> and <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
1958 A set of sequences that does a harder reset from a totally unknown
1959 state can be given as <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rf</STRONG> and <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, analogous to <STRONG>is1</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>is2</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>if</STRONG>
1960 and <STRONG>is3</STRONG> respectively. These strings are output by <EM>reset</EM> option of
1961 <STRONG>tput</STRONG>, or by the <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program (an alias of <STRONG>tset</STRONG>), which is used when
1962 the terminal gets into a wedged state. Commands are normally placed in
1963 <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG> <STRONG>rs3</STRONG> and <STRONG>rf</STRONG> only if they produce annoying effects on the screen
1964 and are not necessary when logging in. For example, the command to set
1965 the vt100 into 80-column mode would normally be part of <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, but it
1966 causes an annoying glitch of the screen and is not normally needed
1967 since the terminal is usually already in 80-column mode.
1969 The <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program writes strings including <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, etc., in the same
1970 order as the <EM>init</EM> program, using <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, etc., instead of <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, etc. If
1971 any of <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, or <STRONG>rf</STRONG> reset capability strings are missing, the
1972 <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program falls back upon the corresponding initialization capabil-
1975 If there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can be given as
1976 <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (clear all tab stops) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (set a tab stop in the current column
1977 of every row). If a more complex sequence is needed to set the tabs
1978 than can be described by this, the sequence can be placed in <STRONG>is2</STRONG> or <STRONG>if</STRONG>.
1980 The <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>reset</STRONG> command uses the same capability strings as the <STRONG>reset</STRONG>
1981 command, although the two programs (<STRONG>tput</STRONG> and <STRONG>reset</STRONG>) provide different
1982 command-line options.
1984 In practice, these terminfo capabilities are not often used in initial-
1985 ization of tabs (though they are required for the <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> program):
1987 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Almost all hardware terminals (at least those which supported tabs)
1988 initialized those to every <EM>eight</EM> columns:
1990 The only exception was the AT&T 2300 series, which set tabs to
1991 every <EM>five</EM> columns.
1993 <STRONG>o</STRONG> In particular, developers of the hardware terminals which are com-
1994 monly used as models for modern terminal emulators provided docu-
1995 mentation demonstrating that <EM>eight</EM> columns were the standard.
1997 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Because of this, the terminal initialization programs <STRONG>tput</STRONG> and <STRONG>tset</STRONG>
1998 use the <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (<STRONG>clear_all_tabs</STRONG>) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (<STRONG>set_tab</STRONG>) capabilities
1999 directly only when the <STRONG>it</STRONG> (<STRONG>init_tabs</STRONG>) capability is set to a value
2000 other than <EM>eight</EM>.
2003 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Delays-and-Padding">Delays and Padding</a></H3><PRE>
2004 Many older and slower terminals do not support either XON/XOFF or DTR
2005 handshaking, including hard copy terminals and some very archaic CRTs
2006 (including, for example, DEC VT100s). These may require padding char-
2007 acters after certain cursor motions and screen changes.
2009 If the terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking for flow control (that is, it
2010 automatically emits ^S back to the host when its input buffers are
2011 close to full), set <STRONG>xon</STRONG>. This capability suppresses the emission of
2012 padding. You can also set it for memory-mapped console devices effec-
2013 tively that do not have a speed limit. Padding information should
2014 still be included so that routines can make better decisions about rel-
2015 ative costs, but actual pad characters will not be transmitted.
2017 If <STRONG>pb</STRONG> (padding baud rate) is given, padding is suppressed at baud rates
2018 below the value of <STRONG>pb</STRONG>. If the entry has no padding baud rate, then
2019 whether padding is emitted or not is completely controlled by <STRONG>xon</STRONG>.
2021 If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
2022 then this can be given as <STRONG>pad</STRONG>. Only the first character of the <STRONG>pad</STRONG>
2026 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Status-Lines">Status Lines</a></H3><PRE>
2027 Some terminals have an extra "status line" which is not normally used
2028 by software (and thus not counted in the terminal's <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability).
2030 The simplest case is a status line which is cursor-addressable but not
2031 part of the main scrolling region on the screen; the Heathkit H19 has a
2032 status line of this kind, as would a 24-line VT100 with a 23-line
2033 scrolling region set up on initialization. This situation is indicated
2034 by the <STRONG>hs</STRONG> capability.
2036 Some terminals with status lines need special sequences to access the
2037 status line. These may be expressed as a string with single parameter
2038 <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> which takes the cursor to a given zero-origin column on the status
2039 line. The capability <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> must return to the main-screen cursor posi-
2040 tions before the last <STRONG>tsl</STRONG>. You may need to embed the string values of
2041 <STRONG>sc</STRONG> (save cursor) and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (restore cursor) in <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> and <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> to accomplish
2044 The status line is normally assumed to be the same width as the width
2045 of the terminal. If this is untrue, you can specify it with the
2046 numeric capability <STRONG>wsl</STRONG>.
2048 A command to erase or blank the status line may be specified as <STRONG>dsl</STRONG>.
2050 The boolean capability <STRONG>eslok</STRONG> specifies that escape sequences, tabs,
2051 etc., work ordinarily in the status line.
2053 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation does not yet use any of these capabilities.
2054 They are documented here in case they ever become important.
2057 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Line-Graphics">Line Graphics</a></H3><PRE>
2058 Many terminals have alternate character sets useful for forms-drawing.
2059 Terminfo and <STRONG>curses</STRONG> have built-in support for most of the drawing char-
2060 acters supported by the VT100, with some characters from the AT&T
2061 4410v1 added. This alternate character set may be specified by the
2062 <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> capability.
2064 <STRONG>Glyph</STRONG> <STRONG>ACS</STRONG> <STRONG>Ascii</STRONG> <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> <STRONG>acsc</STRONG>
2065 <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Default</STRONG> <STRONG>Char</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG>
2066 --------------------------------------------------------------------
2067 arrow pointing right ACS_RARROW > + 0x2b
2068 arrow pointing left ACS_LARROW < , 0x2c
2069 arrow pointing up ACS_UARROW ^ - 0x2d
2070 arrow pointing down ACS_DARROW v . 0x2e
2071 solid square block ACS_BLOCK # 0 0x30
2072 diamond ACS_DIAMOND + ` 0x60
2073 checker board (stipple) ACS_CKBOARD : a 0x61
2074 degree symbol ACS_DEGREE \ f 0x66
2075 plus/minus ACS_PLMINUS # g 0x67
2076 board of squares ACS_BOARD # h 0x68
2077 lantern symbol ACS_LANTERN # i 0x69
2078 lower right corner ACS_LRCORNER + j 0x6a
2079 upper right corner ACS_URCORNER + k 0x6b
2080 upper left corner ACS_ULCORNER + l 0x6c
2081 lower left corner ACS_LLCORNER + m 0x6d
2082 large plus or crossover ACS_PLUS + n 0x6e
2083 scan line 1 ACS_S1 ~ o 0x6f
2084 scan line 3 ACS_S3 - p 0x70
2085 horizontal line ACS_HLINE - q 0x71
2086 scan line 7 ACS_S7 - r 0x72
2087 scan line 9 ACS_S9 _ s 0x73
2088 tee pointing right ACS_LTEE + t 0x74
2089 tee pointing left ACS_RTEE + u 0x75
2090 tee pointing up ACS_BTEE + v 0x76
2091 tee pointing down ACS_TTEE + w 0x77
2092 vertical line ACS_VLINE | x 0x78
2093 less-than-or-equal-to ACS_LEQUAL < y 0x79
2094 greater-than-or-equal-to ACS_GEQUAL > z 0x7a
2095 greek pi ACS_PI * { 0x7b
2096 not-equal ACS_NEQUAL ! | 0x7c
2097 UK pound sign ACS_STERLING f } 0x7d
2098 bullet ACS_BULLET o ~ 0x7e
2100 A few notes apply to the table itself:
2102 <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses incorrectly states that the mapping for <EM>lantern</EM> is
2103 uppercase "I" although Unix implementations use the lowercase "i"
2106 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The DEC VT100 implemented graphics using the alternate character
2107 set feature, temporarily switching <EM>modes</EM> and sending characters in
2108 the range 0x60 (96) to 0x7e (126) (the <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> column in the ta-
2111 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The AT&T terminal added graphics characters outside that range.
2113 Some of the characters within the range do not match the VT100;
2114 presumably they were used in the AT&T terminal: <EM>board</EM> <EM>of</EM> <EM>squares</EM>
2115 replaces the VT100 <EM>newline</EM> symbol, while <EM>lantern</EM> <EM>symbol</EM> replaces
2116 the VT100 <EM>vertical</EM> <EM>tab</EM> symbol. The other VT100 symbols for control
2117 characters (<EM>horizontal</EM> <EM>tab</EM>, <EM>carriage</EM> <EM>return</EM> and <EM>line-feed</EM>) are not
2120 The best way to define a new device's graphics set is to add a column
2121 to a copy of this table for your terminal, giving the character which
2122 (when emitted between <STRONG>smacs</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> switches) will be rendered as the
2123 corresponding graphic. Then read off the VT100/your terminal character
2124 pairs right to left in sequence; these become the ACSC string.
2127 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Color-Handling">Color Handling</a></H3><PRE>
2128 The curses library functions <STRONG>init_pair</STRONG> and <STRONG>init_color</STRONG> manipulate the
2129 <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> and <EM>color</EM> <EM>values</EM> discussed in this section (see
2130 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG> for details on these and related functions).
2132 Most color terminals are either "Tektronix-like" or "HP-like":
2134 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Tektronix-like terminals have a predefined set of <EM>N</EM> colors (where <EM>N</EM>
2135 is usually 8), and can set character-cell foreground and background
2136 characters independently, mixing them into <EM>N</EM> * <EM>N</EM> color-pairs.
2138 <STRONG>o</STRONG> On HP-like terminals, the user must set each color pair up sepa-
2139 rately (foreground and background are not independently settable).
2140 Up to <EM>M</EM> color-pairs may be set up from 2*<EM>M</EM> different colors. ANSI-
2141 compatible terminals are Tektronix-like.
2143 Some basic color capabilities are independent of the color method. The
2144 numeric capabilities <STRONG>colors</STRONG> and <STRONG>pairs</STRONG> specify the maximum numbers of
2145 colors and color-pairs that can be displayed simultaneously. The <STRONG>op</STRONG>
2146 (original pair) string resets foreground and background colors to their
2147 default values for the terminal. The <STRONG>oc</STRONG> string resets all colors or
2148 color-pairs to their default values for the terminal. Some terminals
2149 (including many PC terminal emulators) erase screen areas with the cur-
2150 rent background color rather than the power-up default background;
2151 these should have the boolean capability <STRONG>bce</STRONG>.
2153 While the curses library works with <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> (reflecting the inabil-
2154 ity of some devices to set foreground and background colors indepen-
2155 dently), there are separate capabilities for setting these features:
2157 <STRONG>o</STRONG> To change the current foreground or background color on a Tek-
2158 tronix-type terminal, use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> (set ANSI foreground) and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>
2159 (set ANSI background) or <STRONG>setf</STRONG> (set foreground) and <STRONG>setb</STRONG> (set back-
2160 ground). These take one parameter, the color number. The SVr4
2161 documentation describes only <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>; the XPG4 draft says that
2162 "If the terminal supports ANSI escape sequences to set background
2163 and foreground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>, respec-
2166 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal supports other escape sequences to set background
2167 and foreground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setb</STRONG>, respec-
2168 tively. The <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> and the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_refresh.3x.html">refresh(3x)</A></STRONG> functions use the <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>
2169 and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> capabilities if they are defined.
2171 The <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> and <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> capabilities take a single numeric argu-
2172 ment each. Argument values 0-7 of <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> are portably defined as
2173 follows (the middle column is the symbolic #define available in the
2174 header for the <STRONG>curses</STRONG> or <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> libraries). The terminal hardware is
2175 free to map these as it likes, but the RGB values indicate normal loca-
2176 tions in color space.
2178 <STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
2179 black <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> 0 0, 0, 0
2180 red <STRONG>COLOR_RED</STRONG> 1 max,0,0
2181 green <STRONG>COLOR_GREEN</STRONG> 2 0,max,0
2182 yellow <STRONG>COLOR_YELLOW</STRONG> 3 max,max,0
2183 blue <STRONG>COLOR_BLUE</STRONG> 4 0,0,max
2184 magenta <STRONG>COLOR_MAGENTA</STRONG> 5 max,0,max
2185 cyan <STRONG>COLOR_CYAN</STRONG> 6 0,max,max
2186 white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max,max,max
2188 The argument values of <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> historically correspond to a different
2191 <STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
2192 black <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> 0 0, 0, 0
2193 blue <STRONG>COLOR_BLUE</STRONG> 1 0,0,max
2194 green <STRONG>COLOR_GREEN</STRONG> 2 0,max,0
2195 cyan <STRONG>COLOR_CYAN</STRONG> 3 0,max,max
2196 red <STRONG>COLOR_RED</STRONG> 4 max,0,0
2197 magenta <STRONG>COLOR_MAGENTA</STRONG> 5 max,0,max
2198 yellow <STRONG>COLOR_YELLOW</STRONG> 6 max,max,0
2199 white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max,max,max
2201 It is important to not confuse the two sets of color capabilities; oth-
2202 erwise red/blue will be interchanged on the display.
2204 On an HP-like terminal, use <STRONG>scp</STRONG> with a color-pair number parameter to
2205 set which color pair is current.
2207 Some terminals allow the <EM>color</EM> <EM>values</EM> to be modified:
2209 <STRONG>o</STRONG> On a Tektronix-like terminal, the capability <STRONG>ccc</STRONG> may be present to
2210 indicate that colors can be modified. If so, the <STRONG>initc</STRONG> capability
2211 will take a color number (0 to <STRONG>colors</STRONG> - 1)and three more parameters
2212 which describe the color. These three parameters default to being
2213 interpreted as RGB (Red, Green, Blue) values. If the boolean capa-
2214 bility <STRONG>hls</STRONG> is present, they are instead as HLS (Hue, Lightness,
2215 Saturation) indices. The ranges are terminal-dependent.
2217 <STRONG>o</STRONG> On an HP-like terminal, <STRONG>initp</STRONG> may give a capability for changing a
2218 color-pair value. It will take seven parameters; a color-pair num-
2219 ber (0 to <STRONG>max_pairs</STRONG> - 1), and two triples describing first back-
2220 ground and then foreground colors. These parameters must be (Red,
2221 Green, Blue) or (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) depending on <STRONG>hls</STRONG>.
2223 On some color terminals, colors collide with highlights. You can reg-
2224 ister these collisions with the <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> capability. This is a bit-mask of
2225 attributes not to be used when colors are enabled. The correspondence
2226 with the attributes understood by <STRONG>curses</STRONG> is as follows:
2228 <STRONG>Attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>Bit</STRONG> <STRONG>Decimal</STRONG> <STRONG>Set</STRONG> <STRONG>by</STRONG>
2238 A_ALTCHARSET 8 256 sgr
2239 A_HORIZONTAL 9 512 sgr1
2242 A_RIGHT 12 4096 sgr1
2244 A_VERTICAL 14 16384 sgr1
2245 A_ITALIC 15 32768 sitm
2247 For example, on many IBM PC consoles, the underline attribute collides
2248 with the foreground color blue and is not available in color mode.
2249 These should have an <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> capability of 2.
2251 SVr4 curses does nothing with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>, ncurses recognizes it and optimizes
2252 the output in favor of colors.
2255 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</a></H3><PRE>
2256 If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
2257 then this can be given as pad. Only the first character of the pad
2258 string is used. If the terminal does not have a pad character, specify
2259 npc. Note that ncurses implements the termcap-compatible <STRONG>PC</STRONG> variable;
2260 though the application may set this value to something other than a
2261 null, ncurses will test <STRONG>npc</STRONG> first and use napms if the terminal has no
2264 If the terminal can move up or down half a line, this can be indicated
2265 with <STRONG>hu</STRONG> (half-line up) and <STRONG>hd</STRONG> (half-line down). This is primarily use-
2266 ful for superscripts and subscripts on hard-copy terminals. If a hard-
2267 copy terminal can eject to the next page (form feed), give this as <STRONG>ff</STRONG>
2268 (usually control/L).
2270 If there is a command to repeat a given character a given number of
2271 times (to save time transmitting a large number of identical charac-
2272 ters) this can be indicated with the parameterized string <STRONG>rep</STRONG>. The
2273 first parameter is the character to be repeated and the second is the
2274 number of times to repeat it. Thus, tparm(repeat_char, 'x', 10) is the
2275 same as "xxxxxxxxxx".
2277 If the terminal has a settable command character, such as the TEKTRONIX
2278 4025, this can be indicated with <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG>. A prototype command character
2279 is chosen which is used in all capabilities. This character is given
2280 in the <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG> capability to identify it. The following convention is
2281 supported on some UNIX systems: The environment is to be searched for a
2282 <STRONG>CC</STRONG> variable, and if found, all occurrences of the prototype character
2283 are replaced with the character in the environment variable.
2285 Terminal descriptions that do not represent a specific kind of known
2286 terminal, such as <EM>switch</EM>, <EM>dialup</EM>, <EM>patch</EM>, and <EM>network</EM>, should include
2287 the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (generic) capability so that programs can complain that they do
2288 not know how to talk to the terminal. (This capability does not apply
2289 to <EM>virtual</EM> terminal descriptions for which the escape sequences are
2292 If the terminal has a "meta key" which acts as a shift key, setting the
2293 8th bit of any character transmitted, this fact can be indicated with
2294 <STRONG>km</STRONG>. Otherwise, software will assume that the 8th bit is parity and it
2295 will usually be cleared. If strings exist to turn this "meta mode" on
2296 and off, they can be given as <STRONG>smm</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmm</STRONG>.
2298 If the terminal has more lines of memory than will fit on the screen at
2299 once, the number of lines of memory can be indicated with <STRONG>lm</STRONG>. A value
2300 of <STRONG>lm</STRONG>#0 indicates that the number of lines is not fixed, but that there
2301 is still more memory than fits on the screen.
2303 If the terminal is one of those supported by the UNIX virtual terminal
2304 protocol, the terminal number can be given as <STRONG>vt</STRONG>.
2306 Media copy strings which control an auxiliary printer connected to the
2307 terminal can be given as <STRONG>mc0</STRONG>: print the contents of the screen, <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>:
2308 turn off the printer, and <STRONG>mc5</STRONG>: turn on the printer. When the printer
2309 is on, all text sent to the terminal will be sent to the printer. It
2310 is undefined whether the text is also displayed on the terminal screen
2311 when the printer is on. A variation <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> takes one parameter, and
2312 leaves the printer on for as many characters as the value of the param-
2313 eter, then turns the printer off. The parameter should not exceed 255.
2314 All text, including <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>, is transparently passed to the printer while
2315 an <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> is in effect.
2318 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Glitches-and-Braindamage">Glitches and Braindamage</a></H3><PRE>
2319 Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow "~" characters to be displayed
2320 should indicate <STRONG>hz</STRONG>.
2322 Terminals which ignore a line-feed immediately after an <STRONG>am</STRONG> wrap, such
2323 as the Concept and vt100, should indicate <STRONG>xenl</STRONG>.
2325 If <STRONG>el</STRONG> is required to get rid of standout (instead of merely writing
2326 normal text on top of it), <STRONG>xhp</STRONG> should be given.
2328 Teleray terminals, where tabs turn all characters moved over to blanks,
2329 should indicate <STRONG>xt</STRONG> (destructive tabs). Note: the variable indicating
2330 this is now "dest_tabs_magic_smso"; in older versions, it was tel-
2331 eray_glitch. This glitch is also taken to mean that it is not possible
2332 to position the cursor on top of a "magic cookie", that to erase stand-
2333 out mode it is instead necessary to use delete and insert line. The
2334 ncurses implementation ignores this glitch.
2336 The Beehive Superbee, which is unable to correctly transmit the escape
2337 or control/C characters, has <STRONG>xsb</STRONG>, indicating that the f1 key is used
2338 for escape and f2 for control/C. (Only certain Superbees have this
2339 problem, depending on the ROM.) Note that in older terminfo versions,
2340 this capability was called "beehive_glitch"; it is now "no_esc_ctl_c".
2342 Other specific terminal problems may be corrected by adding more capa-
2343 bilities of the form <STRONG>x</STRONG><EM>x</EM>.
2346 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Pitfalls-of-Long-Entries">Pitfalls of Long Entries</a></H3><PRE>
2347 Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to date, no entry
2348 has even approached terminfo's 4096-byte string-table maximum. Unfor-
2349 tunately, the termcap translations are much more strictly limited (to
2350 1023 bytes), thus termcap translations of long terminfo entries can
2353 The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions of <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> instruct the
2354 user to allocate a 1024-byte buffer for the termcap entry. The entry
2355 gets null-terminated by the termcap library, so that makes the maximum
2356 safe length for a termcap entry 1k-1 (1023) bytes. Depending on what
2357 the application and the termcap library being used does, and where in
2358 the termcap file the terminal type that <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> is searching for is,
2359 several bad things can happen.
2361 Some termcap libraries print a warning message or exit if they find an
2362 entry that's longer than 1023 bytes; others do not; others truncate the
2363 entries to 1023 bytes. Some application programs allocate more than
2364 the recommended 1K for the termcap entry; others do not.
2366 Each termcap entry has two important sizes associated with it: before
2367 "tc" expansion, and after "tc" expansion. "tc" is the capability that
2368 tacks on another termcap entry to the end of the current one, to add on
2369 its capabilities. If a termcap entry does not use the "tc" capability,
2370 then of course the two lengths are the same.
2372 The "before tc expansion" length is the most important one, because it
2373 affects more than just users of that particular terminal. This is the
2374 length of the entry as it exists in /etc/termcap, minus the backslash-
2375 newline pairs, which <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> strips out while reading it. Some termcap
2376 libraries strip off the final newline, too (GNU termcap does not). Now
2379 <STRONG>o</STRONG> a termcap entry before expansion is more than 1023 bytes long,
2381 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the application has only allocated a 1k buffer,
2383 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the termcap library (like the one in BSD/OS 1.1 and GNU) reads
2384 the whole entry into the buffer, no matter what its length, to see
2385 if it is the entry it wants,
2387 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> is searching for a terminal type that either is the
2388 long entry, appears in the termcap file after the long entry, or
2389 does not appear in the file at all (so that <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> has to search
2390 the whole termcap file).
2392 Then <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> will overwrite memory, perhaps its stack, and probably
2393 core dump the program. Programs like telnet are particularly vulnera-
2394 ble; modern telnets pass along values like the terminal type automati-
2395 cally. The results are almost as undesirable with a termcap library,
2396 like SunOS 4.1.3 and Ultrix 4.4, that prints warning messages when it
2397 reads an overly long termcap entry. If a termcap library truncates
2398 long entries, like OSF/1 3.0, it is immune to dying here but will
2399 return incorrect data for the terminal.
2401 The "after tc expansion" length will have a similar effect to the
2402 above, but only for people who actually set TERM to that terminal type,
2403 since <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> only does "tc" expansion once it is found the terminal
2404 type it was looking for, not while searching.
2406 In summary, a termcap entry that is longer than 1023 bytes can cause,
2407 on various combinations of termcap libraries and applications, a core
2408 dump, warnings, or incorrect operation. If it is too long even before
2409 "tc" expansion, it will have this effect even for users of some other
2410 terminal types and users whose TERM variable does not have a termcap
2413 When in -C (translate to termcap) mode, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation of
2414 <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG> issues warning messages when the pre-tc length of a termcap
2415 translation is too long. The -c (check) option also checks resolved
2416 (after tc expansion) lengths.
2419 </PRE><H3><a name="h3-Binary-Compatibility">Binary Compatibility</a></H3><PRE>
2420 It is not wise to count on portability of binary terminfo entries
2421 between commercial UNIX versions. The problem is that there are at
2422 least two versions of terminfo (under HP-UX and AIX) which diverged
2423 from System V terminfo after SVr1, and have added extension capabili-
2424 ties to the string table that (in the binary format) collide with Sys-
2425 tem V and XSI Curses extensions.
2428 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></H2><PRE>
2429 Searching for terminal descriptions in <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> and TER-
2430 MINFO_DIRS is not supported by older implementations.
2432 Some SVr4 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> implementations, and all previous to SVr4, do not
2433 interpret the %A and %O operators in parameter strings.
2435 SVr4/XPG4 do not specify whether <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> licenses movement while in an
2436 alternate-character-set mode (such modes may, among other things, map
2437 CR and NL to characters that do not trigger local motions). The
2438 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation ignores <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> in <STRONG>ALTCHARSET</STRONG> mode. This raises
2439 the possibility that an XPG4 implementation making the opposite inter-
2440 pretation may need terminfo entries made for <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> to have <STRONG>msgr</STRONG>
2443 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library handles insert-character and insert-character modes
2444 in a slightly non-standard way to get better update efficiency. See
2445 the <STRONG>Insert/Delete</STRONG> <STRONG>Character</STRONG> subsection above.
2447 The parameter substitutions for <STRONG>set_clock</STRONG> and <STRONG>display_clock</STRONG> are not
2448 documented in SVr4 or the XSI Curses standard. They are deduced from
2449 the documentation for the AT&T 505 terminal.
2451 Be careful assigning the <STRONG>kmous</STRONG> capability. The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library wants
2452 to interpret it as <STRONG>KEY_MOUSE</STRONG>, for use by terminals and emulators like
2453 xterm that can return mouse-tracking information in the keyboard-input
2456 X/Open Curses does not mention italics. Portable applications must
2457 assume that numeric capabilities are signed 16-bit values. This
2458 includes the <EM>no</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>color</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>video</EM> (ncv) capability. The 32768 mask value
2459 used for italics with ncv can be confused with an absent or cancelled
2460 ncv. If italics should work with colors, then the ncv value must be
2461 specified, even if it is zero.
2463 Different commercial ports of terminfo and curses support different
2464 subsets of the XSI Curses standard and (in some cases) different exten-
2465 sion sets. Here is a summary, accurate as of October 1995:
2467 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SVR4,</STRONG> <STRONG>Solaris,</STRONG> <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> -- These support all SVr4 capabilities.
2469 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SGI</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr4 set, adds one undocumented extended string
2470 capability (<STRONG>set_pglen</STRONG>).
2472 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SVr1,</STRONG> <STRONG>Ultrix</STRONG> -- These support a restricted subset of terminfo capa-
2473 bilities. The booleans end with <STRONG>xon_xoff</STRONG>; the numerics with
2474 <STRONG>width_status_line</STRONG>; and the strings with <STRONG>prtr_non</STRONG>.
2476 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>HP/UX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus the SVr[234] numerics
2477 <STRONG>num_labels</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_height</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_width</STRONG>, plus function keys 11
2478 through 63, plus <STRONG>plab_norm</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_on</STRONG>, and <STRONG>label_off</STRONG>, plus some
2479 incompatible extensions in the string table.
2481 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>AIX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11 through 63,
2482 plus a number of incompatible string table extensions.
2484 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>OSF</STRONG> -- Supports both the SVr4 set and the AIX extensions.
2487 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-FILES">FILES</a></H2><PRE>
2488 /usr/share/terminfo/?/* files containing terminal descriptions
2491 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
2492 <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="infocmp.1m.html">infocmp(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>curs_vari-</STRONG>
2493 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_variables.3x.html">ables(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>printf(3)</STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>. <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>. <STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG>.
2496 </PRE><H2><a name="h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></H2><PRE>
2497 Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey. Based on pcurses
2502 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
2506 <li><a href="#h2-NAME">NAME</a></li>
2507 <li><a href="#h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li>
2508 <li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a>
2510 <li><a href="#h3-Terminfo-Entry-Syntax">Terminfo Entry Syntax</a></li>
2511 <li><a href="#h3-Terminfo-Capabilities-Syntax">Terminfo Capabilities Syntax</a></li>
2512 <li><a href="#h3-Similar-Terminals">Similar Terminals</a></li>
2513 <li><a href="#h3-Predefined-Capabilities">Predefined Capabilities</a></li>
2514 <li><a href="#h3-User-Defined-Capabilities">User-Defined Capabilities</a></li>
2515 <li><a href="#h3-A-Sample-Entry">A Sample Entry</a></li>
2516 <li><a href="#h3-Types-of-Capabilities">Types of Capabilities</a></li>
2517 <li><a href="#h3-Fetching-Compiled-Descriptions">Fetching Compiled Descriptions</a></li>
2518 <li><a href="#h3-Preparing-Descriptions">Preparing Descriptions</a></li>
2519 <li><a href="#h3-Basic-Capabilities">Basic Capabilities</a></li>
2520 <li><a href="#h3-Parameterized-Strings">Parameterized Strings</a></li>
2521 <li><a href="#h3-Cursor-Motions">Cursor Motions</a></li>
2522 <li><a href="#h3-Area-Clears">Area Clears</a></li>
2523 <li><a href="#h3-Insert_delete-line-and-vertical-motions">Insert/delete line and vertical motions</a></li>
2524 <li><a href="#h3-Insert_Delete-Character">Insert/Delete Character</a></li>
2525 <li><a href="#h3-Highlighting_-Underlining_-and-Visible-Bells">Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells</a></li>
2526 <li><a href="#h3-Keypad-and-Function-Keys">Keypad and Function Keys</a></li>
2527 <li><a href="#h3-Tabs-and-Initialization">Tabs and Initialization</a></li>
2528 <li><a href="#h3-Delays-and-Padding">Delays and Padding</a></li>
2529 <li><a href="#h3-Status-Lines">Status Lines</a></li>
2530 <li><a href="#h3-Line-Graphics">Line Graphics</a></li>
2531 <li><a href="#h3-Color-Handling">Color Handling</a></li>
2532 <li><a href="#h3-Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</a></li>
2533 <li><a href="#h3-Glitches-and-Braindamage">Glitches and Braindamage</a></li>
2534 <li><a href="#h3-Pitfalls-of-Long-Entries">Pitfalls of Long Entries</a></li>
2535 <li><a href="#h3-Binary-Compatibility">Binary Compatibility</a></li>
2538 <li><a href="#h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></li>
2539 <li><a href="#h2-FILES">FILES</a></li>
2540 <li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
2541 <li><a href="#h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></li>
projects / ncurses.git / blob