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4 * DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE BY HAND!
5 * It is generated from terminfo.head, Caps, and terminfo.tail.
6 * Note: this must be run through tbl before nroff.
7 * The magic cookie on the first line triggers this under some man programs.
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35 * @Id: terminfo.head,v 1.21 2013/03/09 22:11:36 tom Exp @
36 * Head of terminfo man page ends here
37 * @Id: terminfo.tail,v 1.68 2013/11/09 15:20:48 tom Exp @
38 * Beginning of terminfo.tail file
39 * This file is part of ncurses.
40 * See "terminfo.head" for copyright.
49 <TITLE>terminfo 5 File Formats</TITLE>
50 <link rev=made href="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">
51 <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
54 <H1>terminfo 5 File Formats</H1>
57 <!-- Manpage converted by man2html 3.0.1 -->
58 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> File Formats <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
65 terminfo - terminal capability data base
69 <H2>SYNOPSIS</H2><PRE>
70 /usr/share/terminfo/*/*
74 <H2>DESCRIPTION</H2><PRE>
75 <EM>Terminfo</EM> is a data base describing terminals, used by
76 screen-oriented programs such as <STRONG>nvi(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG>rogue(1)</STRONG> and
77 libraries such as <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>. <EM>Terminfo</EM> describes termi-
78 nals by giving a set of capabilities which they have, by
79 specifying how to perform screen operations, and by speci-
80 fying padding requirements and initialization sequences.
81 This describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 5.9 (patch 20131221).
83 Entries in <EM>terminfo</EM> consist of a sequence of `,' separated
84 fields (embedded commas may be escaped with a backslash or
85 notated as \054). White space after the `,' separator is
86 ignored. The first entry for each terminal gives the
87 names which are known for the terminal, separated by `|'
88 characters. The first name given is the most common
89 abbreviation for the terminal, the last name given should
90 be a long name fully identifying the terminal, and all
91 others are understood as synonyms for the terminal name.
92 All names but the last should be in lower case and contain
93 no blanks; the last name may well contain upper case and
94 blanks for readability.
96 Lines beginning with a `#' in the first column are treated
97 as comments. While comment lines are legal at any point,
98 the output of <STRONG>captoinfo</STRONG> and <STRONG>infotocap</STRONG> (aliases for <STRONG>tic</STRONG>)
99 will move comments so they occur only between entries.
101 Newlines and leading tabs may be used for formatting
102 entries for readability. These are removed from parsed
103 entries. The <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option relies on this to format
104 if-then-else expressions: the result can be read by <STRONG>tic</STRONG>.
106 Terminal names (except for the last, verbose entry) should
107 be chosen using the following conventions. The particular
108 piece of hardware making up the terminal should have a
109 root name, thus "hp2621". This name should not contain
110 hyphens. Modes that the hardware can be in, or user pref-
111 erences, should be indicated by appending a hyphen and a
112 mode suffix. Thus, a vt100 in 132 column mode would be
113 vt100-w. The following suffixes should be used where pos-
116 <STRONG>Suffix</STRONG> <STRONG>Meaning</STRONG> <STRONG>Example</STRONG>
117 -<EM>nn</EM> Number of lines on the screen aaa-60
118 -<EM>n</EM>p Number of pages of memory c100-4p
119 -am With automargins (usually the default) vt100-am
120 -m Mono mode; suppress color ansi-m
121 -mc Magic cookie; spaces when highlighting wy30-mc
122 -na No arrow keys (leave them in local) c100-na
123 -nam Without automatic margins vt100-nam
124 -nl No status line att4415-nl
125 -ns No status line hp2626-ns
126 -rv Reverse video c100-rv
127 -s Enable status line vt100-s
128 -vb Use visible bell instead of beep wy370-vb
130 -w Wide mode (> 80 columns, usually 132) vt100-w
132 For more on terminal naming conventions, see the <STRONG>term(7)</STRONG>
135 <STRONG>Predefined</STRONG> <STRONG>Capabilities</STRONG>
136 The following is a complete table of the capabilities
137 included in a terminfo description block and available to
138 terminfo-using code. In each line of the table,
140 The <STRONG>variable</STRONG> is the name by which the programmer (at the
141 terminfo level) accesses the capability.
143 The <STRONG>capname</STRONG> is the short name used in the text of the
144 database, and is used by a person updating the database.
145 Whenever possible, capnames are chosen to be the same as
146 or similar to the ANSI X3.64-1979 standard (now superseded
147 by ECMA-48, which uses identical or very similar names).
148 Semantics are also intended to match those of the specifi-
151 The termcap code is the old <STRONG>termcap</STRONG> capability name (some
152 capabilities are new, and have names which termcap did not
155 Capability names have no hard length limit, but an infor-
156 mal limit of 5 characters has been adopted to keep them
157 short and to allow the tabs in the source file <STRONG>Caps</STRONG> to
160 Finally, the description field attempts to convey the
161 semantics of the capability. You may find some codes in
162 the description field:
164 (P) indicates that padding may be specified
166 #[1-9] in the description field indicates that the string
167 is passed through tparm with parms as given (#<EM>i</EM>).
169 (P*) indicates that padding may vary in proportion to
170 the number of lines affected
172 (#<EM>i</EM>) indicates the <EM>i</EM>th parameter.
175 These are the boolean capabilities:
178 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
179 <STRONG>Booleans</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
180 auto_left_margin bw bw cub1 wraps from col-
182 auto_right_margin am am terminal has auto-
184 back_color_erase bce ut screen erased with
186 can_change ccc cc terminal can re-
189 ceol_standout_glitch xhp xs standout not erased
191 col_addr_glitch xhpa YA only positive motion
196 cpi_changes_res cpix YF changing character
199 cr_cancels_micro_mode crxm YB using cr turns off
201 dest_tabs_magic_smso xt xt tabs destructive,
204 eat_newline_glitch xenl xn newline ignored
207 erase_overstrike eo eo can erase over-
209 generic_type gn gn generic line type
210 hard_copy hc hc hardcopy terminal
211 hard_cursor chts HC cursor is hard to
213 has_meta_key km km Has a meta key
215 has_print_wheel daisy YC printer needs opera-
218 has_status_line hs hs has extra status
220 hue_lightness_saturation hls hl terminal uses only
223 insert_null_glitch in in insert mode distin-
225 lpi_changes_res lpix YG changing line pitch
227 memory_above da da display may be
230 memory_below db db display may be
233 move_insert_mode mir mi safe to move while
235 move_standout_mode msgr ms safe to move while
237 needs_xon_xoff nxon nx padding will not
240 no_esc_ctlc xsb xb beehive (f1=escape,
242 no_pad_char npc NP pad character does
244 non_dest_scroll_region ndscr ND scrolling region is
246 non_rev_rmcup nrrmc NR smcup does not
248 over_strike os os terminal can over-
250 prtr_silent mc5i 5i printer will not
252 row_addr_glitch xvpa YD only positive motion
254 semi_auto_right_margin sam YE printing in last
256 status_line_esc_ok eslok es escape can be used
258 tilde_glitch hz hz cannot print ~'s
262 transparent_underline ul ul underline character
264 xon_xoff xon xo terminal uses
267 These are the numeric capabilities:
270 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
271 <STRONG>Numeric</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
272 columns cols co number of columns in
274 init_tabs it it tabs initially every
276 label_height lh lh rows in each label
277 label_width lw lw columns in each
279 lines lines li number of lines on
281 lines_of_memory lm lm lines of memory if >
283 magic_cookie_glitch xmc sg number of blank
286 max_attributes ma ma maximum combined
289 max_colors colors Co maximum number of
291 max_pairs pairs pa maximum number of
294 maximum_windows wnum MW maximum number of
296 no_color_video ncv NC video attributes
299 num_labels nlab Nl number of labels on
301 padding_baud_rate pb pb lowest baud rate
303 virtual_terminal vt vt virtual terminal
305 width_status_line wsl ws number of columns in
308 The following numeric capabilities are present in the
309 SVr4.0 term structure, but are not yet documented in the
310 man page. They came in with SVr4's printer support.
313 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
314 <STRONG>Numeric</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
315 bit_image_entwining bitwin Yo number of passes for
317 bit_image_type bitype Yp type of bit-image
319 buffer_capacity bufsz Ya numbers of bytes
322 buttons btns BT number of buttons on
324 dot_horz_spacing spinh Yc spacing of dots hor-
328 dot_vert_spacing spinv Yb spacing of pins ver-
331 max_micro_address maddr Yd maximum value in
333 max_micro_jump mjump Ye maximum value in
335 micro_col_size mcs Yf character step size
337 micro_line_size mls Yg line step size when
339 number_of_pins npins Yh numbers of pins in
341 output_res_char orc Yi horizontal resolu-
344 output_res_horz_inch orhi Yk horizontal resolu-
347 output_res_line orl Yj vertical resolution
349 output_res_vert_inch orvi Yl vertical resolution
351 print_rate cps Ym print rate in char-
353 wide_char_size widcs Yn character step size
357 These are the string capabilities:
360 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
361 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
362 acs_chars acsc ac graphics charset
365 back_tab cbt bt back tab (P)
366 bell bel bl audible signal
368 carriage_return cr cr carriage return (P*)
370 change_char_pitch cpi ZA Change number of
373 change_line_pitch lpi ZB Change number of
375 change_res_horz chr ZC Change horizontal
377 change_res_vert cvr ZD Change vertical res-
379 change_scroll_region csr cs change region to
382 char_padding rmp rP like ip but when in
384 clear_all_tabs tbc ct clear all tab stops
386 clear_margins mgc MC clear right and left
388 clear_screen clear cl clear screen and
390 clr_bol el1 cb Clear to beginning
394 clr_eol el ce clear to end of line
396 clr_eos ed cd clear to end of
398 column_address hpa ch horizontal position
400 command_character cmdch CC terminal settable
403 create_window cwin CW define a window #1
405 cursor_address cup cm move to row #1 col-
407 cursor_down cud1 do down one line
408 cursor_home home ho home cursor (if no
410 cursor_invisible civis vi make cursor invisi-
412 cursor_left cub1 le move left one space
413 cursor_mem_address mrcup CM memory relative cur-
416 cursor_normal cnorm ve make cursor appear
419 cursor_right cuf1 nd non-destructive
422 cursor_to_ll ll ll last line, first
424 cursor_up cuu1 up up one line
425 cursor_visible cvvis vs make cursor very
427 define_char defc ZE Define a character
430 delete_character dch1 dc delete character
432 delete_line dl1 dl delete line (P*)
433 dial_phone dial DI dial number #1
434 dis_status_line dsl ds disable status line
435 display_clock dclk DK display clock
436 down_half_line hd hd half a line down
437 ena_acs enacs eA enable alternate
439 enter_alt_charset_mode smacs as start alternate
441 enter_am_mode smam SA turn on automatic
443 enter_blink_mode blink mb turn on blinking
444 enter_bold_mode bold md turn on bold (extra
446 enter_ca_mode smcup ti string to start pro-
448 enter_delete_mode smdc dm enter delete mode
449 enter_dim_mode dim mh turn on half-bright
451 enter_doublewide_mode swidm ZF Enter double-wide
453 enter_draft_quality sdrfq ZG Enter draft-quality
455 enter_insert_mode smir im enter insert mode
456 enter_italics_mode sitm ZH Enter italic mode
457 enter_leftward_mode slm ZI Start leftward car-
460 enter_micro_mode smicm ZJ Start micro-motion
462 enter_near_letter_quality snlq ZK Enter NLQ mode
463 enter_normal_quality snrmq ZL Enter normal-quality
465 enter_protected_mode prot mp turn on protected
467 enter_reverse_mode rev mr turn on reverse
469 enter_secure_mode invis mk turn on blank mode
472 enter_shadow_mode sshm ZM Enter shadow-print
474 enter_standout_mode smso so begin standout mode
475 enter_subscript_mode ssubm ZN Enter subscript mode
476 enter_superscript_mode ssupm ZO Enter superscript
478 enter_underline_mode smul us begin underline mode
479 enter_upward_mode sum ZP Start upward car-
481 enter_xon_mode smxon SX turn on xon/xoff
483 erase_chars ech ec erase #1 characters
485 exit_alt_charset_mode rmacs ae end alternate char-
487 exit_am_mode rmam RA turn off automatic
489 exit_attribute_mode sgr0 me turn off all
491 exit_ca_mode rmcup te strings to end pro-
493 exit_delete_mode rmdc ed end delete mode
494 exit_doublewide_mode rwidm ZQ End double-wide mode
495 exit_insert_mode rmir ei exit insert mode
496 exit_italics_mode ritm ZR End italic mode
497 exit_leftward_mode rlm ZS End left-motion mode
498 exit_micro_mode rmicm ZT End micro-motion
500 exit_shadow_mode rshm ZU End shadow-print
502 exit_standout_mode rmso se exit standout mode
503 exit_subscript_mode rsubm ZV End subscript mode
504 exit_superscript_mode rsupm ZW End superscript mode
505 exit_underline_mode rmul ue exit underline mode
506 exit_upward_mode rum ZX End reverse charac-
508 exit_xon_mode rmxon RX turn off xon/xoff
510 fixed_pause pause PA pause for 2-3 sec-
512 flash_hook hook fh flash switch hook
513 flash_screen flash vb visible bell (may
515 form_feed ff ff hardcopy terminal
517 from_status_line fsl fs return from status
519 goto_window wingo WG go to window #1
520 hangup hup HU hang-up phone
521 init_1string is1 i1 initialization
523 init_2string is2 is initialization
526 init_3string is3 i3 initialization
528 init_file if if name of initializa-
530 init_prog iprog iP path name of program
532 initialize_color initc Ic initialize color #1
534 initialize_pair initp Ip Initialize color
538 insert_character ich1 ic insert character (P)
539 insert_line il1 al insert line (P*)
540 insert_padding ip ip insert padding after
542 key_a1 ka1 K1 upper left of keypad
543 key_a3 ka3 K3 upper right of key-
545 key_b2 kb2 K2 center of keypad
546 key_backspace kbs kb backspace key
547 key_beg kbeg @1 begin key
548 key_btab kcbt kB back-tab key
549 key_c1 kc1 K4 lower left of keypad
550 key_c3 kc3 K5 lower right of key-
552 key_cancel kcan @2 cancel key
553 key_catab ktbc ka clear-all-tabs key
554 key_clear kclr kC clear-screen or
556 key_close kclo @3 close key
557 key_command kcmd @4 command key
558 key_copy kcpy @5 copy key
559 key_create kcrt @6 create key
560 key_ctab kctab kt clear-tab key
561 key_dc kdch1 kD delete-character key
562 key_dl kdl1 kL delete-line key
563 key_down kcud1 kd down-arrow key
564 key_eic krmir kM sent by rmir or smir
566 key_end kend @7 end key
567 key_enter kent @8 enter/send key
568 key_eol kel kE clear-to-end-of-line
570 key_eos ked kS clear-to-end-of-
572 key_exit kext @9 exit key
573 key_f0 kf0 k0 F0 function key
574 key_f1 kf1 k1 F1 function key
575 key_f10 kf10 k; F10 function key
576 key_f11 kf11 F1 F11 function key
577 key_f12 kf12 F2 F12 function key
578 key_f13 kf13 F3 F13 function key
579 key_f14 kf14 F4 F14 function key
580 key_f15 kf15 F5 F15 function key
581 key_f16 kf16 F6 F16 function key
582 key_f17 kf17 F7 F17 function key
583 key_f18 kf18 F8 F18 function key
584 key_f19 kf19 F9 F19 function key
585 key_f2 kf2 k2 F2 function key
586 key_f20 kf20 FA F20 function key
587 key_f21 kf21 FB F21 function key
588 key_f22 kf22 FC F22 function key
589 key_f23 kf23 FD F23 function key
590 key_f24 kf24 FE F24 function key
592 key_f25 kf25 FF F25 function key
593 key_f26 kf26 FG F26 function key
594 key_f27 kf27 FH F27 function key
595 key_f28 kf28 FI F28 function key
596 key_f29 kf29 FJ F29 function key
597 key_f3 kf3 k3 F3 function key
598 key_f30 kf30 FK F30 function key
599 key_f31 kf31 FL F31 function key
600 key_f32 kf32 FM F32 function key
601 key_f33 kf33 FN F33 function key
602 key_f34 kf34 FO F34 function key
603 key_f35 kf35 FP F35 function key
604 key_f36 kf36 FQ F36 function key
605 key_f37 kf37 FR F37 function key
606 key_f38 kf38 FS F38 function key
607 key_f39 kf39 FT F39 function key
608 key_f4 kf4 k4 F4 function key
609 key_f40 kf40 FU F40 function key
610 key_f41 kf41 FV F41 function key
611 key_f42 kf42 FW F42 function key
612 key_f43 kf43 FX F43 function key
613 key_f44 kf44 FY F44 function key
614 key_f45 kf45 FZ F45 function key
615 key_f46 kf46 Fa F46 function key
616 key_f47 kf47 Fb F47 function key
617 key_f48 kf48 Fc F48 function key
618 key_f49 kf49 Fd F49 function key
619 key_f5 kf5 k5 F5 function key
620 key_f50 kf50 Fe F50 function key
621 key_f51 kf51 Ff F51 function key
622 key_f52 kf52 Fg F52 function key
623 key_f53 kf53 Fh F53 function key
624 key_f54 kf54 Fi F54 function key
625 key_f55 kf55 Fj F55 function key
626 key_f56 kf56 Fk F56 function key
627 key_f57 kf57 Fl F57 function key
628 key_f58 kf58 Fm F58 function key
629 key_f59 kf59 Fn F59 function key
630 key_f6 kf6 k6 F6 function key
631 key_f60 kf60 Fo F60 function key
632 key_f61 kf61 Fp F61 function key
633 key_f62 kf62 Fq F62 function key
634 key_f63 kf63 Fr F63 function key
635 key_f7 kf7 k7 F7 function key
636 key_f8 kf8 k8 F8 function key
637 key_f9 kf9 k9 F9 function key
638 key_find kfnd @0 find key
639 key_help khlp %1 help key
640 key_home khome kh home key
641 key_ic kich1 kI insert-character key
642 key_il kil1 kA insert-line key
643 key_left kcub1 kl left-arrow key
644 key_ll kll kH lower-left key (home
646 key_mark kmrk %2 mark key
647 key_message kmsg %3 message key
648 key_move kmov %4 move key
649 key_next knxt %5 next key
650 key_npage knp kN next-page key
651 key_open kopn %6 open key
652 key_options kopt %7 options key
653 key_ppage kpp kP previous-page key
654 key_previous kprv %8 previous key
655 key_print kprt %9 print key
656 key_redo krdo %0 redo key
658 key_reference kref &1 reference key
659 key_refresh krfr &2 refresh key
660 key_replace krpl &3 replace key
661 key_restart krst &4 restart key
662 key_resume kres &5 resume key
663 key_right kcuf1 kr right-arrow key
664 key_save ksav &6 save key
665 key_sbeg kBEG &9 shifted begin key
666 key_scancel kCAN &0 shifted cancel key
667 key_scommand kCMD *1 shifted command key
668 key_scopy kCPY *2 shifted copy key
669 key_screate kCRT *3 shifted create key
670 key_sdc kDC *4 shifted delete-char-
672 key_sdl kDL *5 shifted delete-line
674 key_select kslt *6 select key
675 key_send kEND *7 shifted end key
676 key_seol kEOL *8 shifted clear-to-
678 key_sexit kEXT *9 shifted exit key
679 key_sf kind kF scroll-forward key
680 key_sfind kFND *0 shifted find key
681 key_shelp kHLP #1 shifted help key
682 key_shome kHOM #2 shifted home key
683 key_sic kIC #3 shifted insert-char-
685 key_sleft kLFT #4 shifted left-arrow
687 key_smessage kMSG %a shifted message key
688 key_smove kMOV %b shifted move key
689 key_snext kNXT %c shifted next key
690 key_soptions kOPT %d shifted options key
691 key_sprevious kPRV %e shifted previous key
692 key_sprint kPRT %f shifted print key
693 key_sr kri kR scroll-backward key
694 key_sredo kRDO %g shifted redo key
695 key_sreplace kRPL %h shifted replace key
696 key_sright kRIT %i shifted right-arrow
698 key_srsume kRES %j shifted resume key
699 key_ssave kSAV !1 shifted save key
700 key_ssuspend kSPD !2 shifted suspend key
701 key_stab khts kT set-tab key
702 key_sundo kUND !3 shifted undo key
703 key_suspend kspd &7 suspend key
704 key_undo kund &8 undo key
705 key_up kcuu1 ku up-arrow key
706 keypad_local rmkx ke leave 'key-
708 keypad_xmit smkx ks enter 'key-
710 lab_f0 lf0 l0 label on function
712 lab_f1 lf1 l1 label on function
714 lab_f10 lf10 la label on function
716 lab_f2 lf2 l2 label on function
718 lab_f3 lf3 l3 label on function
720 lab_f4 lf4 l4 label on function
724 lab_f5 lf5 l5 label on function
726 lab_f6 lf6 l6 label on function
728 lab_f7 lf7 l7 label on function
730 lab_f8 lf8 l8 label on function
732 lab_f9 lf9 l9 label on function
734 label_format fln Lf label format
735 label_off rmln LF turn off soft labels
736 label_on smln LO turn on soft labels
737 meta_off rmm mo turn off meta mode
738 meta_on smm mm turn on meta mode
740 micro_column_address mhpa ZY Like column_address
742 micro_down mcud1 ZZ Like cursor_down in
744 micro_left mcub1 Za Like cursor_left in
746 micro_right mcuf1 Zb Like cursor_right in
748 micro_row_address mvpa Zc Like row_address #1
750 micro_up mcuu1 Zd Like cursor_up in
752 newline nel nw newline (behave like
754 order_of_pins porder Ze Match software bits
756 orig_colors oc oc Set all color pairs
758 orig_pair op op Set default pair to
760 pad_char pad pc padding char
762 parm_dch dch DC delete #1 characters
764 parm_delete_line dl DL delete #1 lines (P*)
765 parm_down_cursor cud DO down #1 lines (P*)
766 parm_down_micro mcud Zf Like parm_down_cur-
768 parm_ich ich IC insert #1 characters
770 parm_index indn SF scroll forward #1
772 parm_insert_line il AL insert #1 lines (P*)
773 parm_left_cursor cub LE move #1 characters
775 parm_left_micro mcub Zg Like parm_left_cur-
777 parm_right_cursor cuf RI move #1 characters
779 parm_right_micro mcuf Zh Like parm_right_cur-
781 parm_rindex rin SR scroll back #1 lines
783 parm_up_cursor cuu UP up #1 lines (P*)
784 parm_up_micro mcuu Zi Like parm_up_cursor
786 pkey_key pfkey pk program function key
790 pkey_local pfloc pl program function key
793 pkey_xmit pfx px program function key
796 plab_norm pln pn program label #1 to
798 print_screen mc0 ps print contents of
800 prtr_non mc5p pO turn on printer for
802 prtr_off mc4 pf turn off printer
803 prtr_on mc5 po turn on printer
804 pulse pulse PU select pulse dialing
805 quick_dial qdial QD dial number #1 with-
807 remove_clock rmclk RC remove clock
808 repeat_char rep rp repeat char #1 #2
810 req_for_input rfi RF send next input char
812 reset_1string rs1 r1 reset string
813 reset_2string rs2 r2 reset string
814 reset_3string rs3 r3 reset string
815 reset_file rf rf name of reset file
816 restore_cursor rc rc restore cursor to
819 row_address vpa cv vertical position #1
821 save_cursor sc sc save current cursor
823 scroll_forward ind sf scroll text up (P)
824 scroll_reverse ri sr scroll text down (P)
825 select_char_set scs Zj Select character
827 set_attributes sgr sa define video
830 set_background setb Sb Set background color
832 set_bottom_margin smgb Zk Set bottom margin at
834 set_bottom_margin_parm smgbp Zl Set bottom margin at
838 set_clock sclk SC set clock, #1 hrs #2
840 set_color_pair scp sp Set current color
842 set_foreground setf Sf Set foreground color
844 set_left_margin smgl ML set left soft margin
848 set_left_margin_parm smglp Zm Set left (right)
850 set_right_margin smgr MR set right soft mar-
853 set_right_margin_parm smgrp Zn Set right margin at
856 set_tab hts st set a tab in every
858 set_top_margin smgt Zo Set top margin at
860 set_top_margin_parm smgtp Zp Set top (bottom)
862 set_window wind wi current window is
865 start_bit_image sbim Zq Start printing bit
867 start_char_set_def scsd Zr Start character set
871 stop_bit_image rbim Zs Stop printing bit
873 stop_char_set_def rcsd Zt End definition of
875 subscript_characters subcs Zu List of subscript-
877 superscript_characters supcs Zv List of superscript-
879 tab ht ta tab to next 8-space
881 these_cause_cr docr Zw Printing any of
884 to_status_line tsl ts move to status line,
886 tone tone TO select touch tone
888 underline_char uc uc underline char and
890 up_half_line hu hu half a line up
891 user0 u0 u0 User string #0
892 user1 u1 u1 User string #1
893 user2 u2 u2 User string #2
894 user3 u3 u3 User string #3
895 user4 u4 u4 User string #4
896 user5 u5 u5 User string #5
897 user6 u6 u6 User string #6
898 user7 u7 u7 User string #7
899 user8 u8 u8 User string #8
900 user9 u9 u9 User string #9
901 wait_tone wait WA wait for dial-tone
902 xoff_character xoffc XF XOFF character
903 xon_character xonc XN XON character
904 zero_motion zerom Zx No motion for subse-
907 The following string capabilities are present in the
908 SVr4.0 term structure, but were originally not documented
912 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
913 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
914 alt_scancode_esc scesa S8 Alternate escape
917 bit_image_carriage_return bicr Yv Move to beginning
919 bit_image_newline binel Zz Move to next row
922 bit_image_repeat birep Xy Repeat bit image
924 char_set_names csnm Zy Produce #1'th item
927 code_set_init csin ci Init sequence for
929 color_names colornm Yw Give name for
931 define_bit_image_region defbi Yx Define rectan-
934 device_type devt dv Indicate lan-
937 display_pc_char dispc S1 Display PC charac-
939 end_bit_image_region endbi Yy End a bit-image
941 enter_pc_charset_mode smpch S2 Enter PC character
943 enter_scancode_mode smsc S4 Enter PC scancode
945 exit_pc_charset_mode rmpch S3 Exit PC character
947 exit_scancode_mode rmsc S5 Exit PC scancode
949 get_mouse getm Gm Curses should get
953 key_mouse kmous Km Mouse event has
955 mouse_info minfo Mi Mouse status
957 pc_term_options pctrm S6 PC terminal
959 pkey_plab pfxl xl Program function
963 req_mouse_pos reqmp RQ Request mouse
965 scancode_escape scesc S7 Escape for scan-
967 set0_des_seq s0ds s0 Shift to codeset 0
969 set1_des_seq s1ds s1 Shift to codeset 1
970 set2_des_seq s2ds s2 Shift to codeset 2
971 set3_des_seq s3ds s3 Shift to codeset 3
972 set_a_background setab AB Set background
975 set_a_foreground setaf AF Set foreground
978 set_color_band setcolor Yz Change to ribbon
980 set_lr_margin smglr ML Set both left and
985 set_page_length slines YZ Set page length to
988 set_tb_margin smgtb MT Sets both top and
992 The XSI Curses standard added these hardcopy capabili-
993 ties. They were used in some post-4.1 versions of System
994 V curses, e.g., Solaris 2.5 and IRIX 6.x. Except for <STRONG>YI</STRONG>,
995 the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> termcap names for them are invented. Accord-
996 ing to the XSI Curses standard, they have no termcap
997 names. If your compiled terminfo entries use these, they
998 may not be binary-compatible with System V terminfo
999 entries after SVr4.1; beware!
1002 <STRONG>Variable</STRONG> <STRONG>Cap-</STRONG> <STRONG>TCap</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
1003 <STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG> <STRONG>Code</STRONG>
1004 enter_horizontal_hl_mode ehhlm Xh Enter horizontal
1006 enter_left_hl_mode elhlm Xl Enter left highlight
1008 enter_low_hl_mode elohlm Xo Enter low highlight
1010 enter_right_hl_mode erhlm Xr Enter right high-
1012 enter_top_hl_mode ethlm Xt Enter top highlight
1014 enter_vertical_hl_mode evhlm Xv Enter vertical high-
1016 set_a_attributes sgr1 sA Define second set of
1019 set_pglen_inch slengthYI Set page length to
1021 inch (some implemen-
1025 <STRONG>User-Defined</STRONG> <STRONG>Capabilities</STRONG>
1026 The preceding section listed the <EM>predefined</EM> capabilities.
1027 They deal with some special features for terminals no
1028 longer (or possibly never) produced. Occasionally there
1029 are special features of newer terminals which are awkward
1030 or impossible to represent by reusing the predefined capa-
1033 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> addresses this limitation by allowing user-defined
1034 capabilities. The <STRONG>tic</STRONG> and <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> programs provide the <STRONG>-x</STRONG>
1035 option for this purpose. When <STRONG>-x</STRONG> is set, <STRONG>tic</STRONG> treats
1036 unknown capabilities as user-defined. That is, if <STRONG>tic</STRONG>
1037 encounters a capability name which it does not recognize,
1038 it infers its type (boolean, number or string) from the
1039 syntax and makes an extended table entry for that capabil-
1040 ity. The <STRONG>use_extended_names</STRONG> function makes this informa-
1041 tion conditionally available to applications. The ncurses
1042 library provides the data leaving most of the behavior to
1045 <STRONG>o</STRONG> User-defined capability strings whose name begins with
1046 "k" are treated as function keys.
1048 <STRONG>o</STRONG> The types (boolean, number, string) determined by <STRONG>tic</STRONG>
1049 can be inferred by successful calls on <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, etc.
1051 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the capability name happens to be two characters,
1052 the capability is also available through the termcap
1055 While termcap is said to be extensible because it does not
1056 use a predefined set of capabilities, in practice it has
1057 been limited to the capabilities defined by terminfo
1058 implementations. As a rule, user-defined capabilities
1059 intended for use by termcap applications should be limited
1060 to booleans and numbers to avoid running past the 1023
1061 byte limit assumed by termcap implementations and their
1062 applications. In particular, providing extended sets of
1063 function keys (past the 60 numbered keys and the handful
1064 of special named keys) is best done using the longer names
1065 available using terminfo.
1067 <STRONG>A</STRONG> <STRONG>Sample</STRONG> <STRONG>Entry</STRONG>
1068 The following entry, describing an ANSI-standard terminal,
1069 is representative of what a <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> entry for a modern
1070 terminal typically looks like.
1072 ansi|ansi/pc-term compatible with color,
1073 am, mc5i, mir, msgr,
1074 colors#8, cols#80, it#8, lines#24, ncv#3, pairs#64,
1075 acsc=+\020\,\021-\030.^Y0\333`\004a\261f\370g\361h\260
1076 j\331k\277l\332m\300n\305o~p\304q\304r\304s_t\303
1077 u\264v\301w\302x\263y\363z\362{\343|\330}\234~\376,
1078 bel=^G, blink=\E[5m, bold=\E[1m, cbt=\E[Z, clear=\E[H\E[J,
1079 cr=^M, cub=\E[%p1%dD, cub1=\E[D, cud=\E[%p1%dB, cud1=\E[B,
1080 cuf=\E[%p1%dC, cuf1=\E[C, cup=\E[%i%p1%d;%p2%dH,
1081 cuu=\E[%p1%dA, cuu1=\E[A, dch=\E[%p1%dP, dch1=\E[P,
1082 dl=\E[%p1%dM, dl1=\E[M, ech=\E[%p1%dX, ed=\E[J, el=\E[K,
1083 el1=\E[1K, home=\E[H, hpa=\E[%i%p1%dG, ht=\E[I, hts=\EH,
1084 ich=\E[%p1%d@, il=\E[%p1%dL, il1=\E[L, ind=^J,
1085 indn=\E[%p1%dS, invis=\E[8m, kbs=^H, kcbt=\E[Z, kcub1=\E[D,
1086 kcud1=\E[B, kcuf1=\E[C, kcuu1=\E[A, khome=\E[H, kich1=\E[L,
1087 mc4=\E[4i, mc5=\E[5i, nel=\r\E[S, op=\E[39;49m,
1088 rep=%p1%c\E[%p2%{1}%-%db, rev=\E[7m, rin=\E[%p1%dT,
1089 rmacs=\E[10m, rmpch=\E[10m, rmso=\E[m, rmul=\E[m,
1090 s0ds=\E(B, s1ds=\E)B, s2ds=\E*B, s3ds=\E+B,
1091 setab=\E[4%p1%dm, setaf=\E[3%p1%dm,
1092 sgr=\E[0;10%?%p1%t;7%;
1099 sgr0=\E[0;10m, smacs=\E[11m, smpch=\E[11m, smso=\E[7m,
1100 smul=\E[4m, tbc=\E[3g, u6=\E[%i%d;%dR, u7=\E[6n,
1101 u8=\E[?%[;0123456789]c, u9=\E[c, vpa=\E[%i%p1%dd,
1103 Entries may continue onto multiple lines by placing white
1104 space at the beginning of each line except the first.
1105 Comments may be included on lines beginning with "#".
1106 Capabilities in <EM>terminfo</EM> are of three types:
1108 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Boolean capabilities which indicate that the terminal
1109 has some particular feature,
1111 <STRONG>o</STRONG> numeric capabilities giving the size of the terminal
1112 or the size of particular delays, and
1114 <STRONG>o</STRONG> string capabilities, which give a sequence which can
1115 be used to perform particular terminal operations.
1117 <STRONG>Types</STRONG> <STRONG>of</STRONG> <STRONG>Capabilities</STRONG>
1118 All capabilities have names. For instance, the fact that
1119 ANSI-standard terminals have <EM>automatic</EM> <EM>margins</EM> (i.e., an
1120 automatic return and line-feed when the end of a line is
1121 reached) is indicated by the capability <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Hence the
1122 description of ansi includes <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Numeric capabilities are
1123 followed by the character "#" and then a positive value.
1124 Thus <STRONG>cols</STRONG>, which indicates the number of columns the ter-
1125 minal has, gives the value "80" for ansi. Values for
1126 numeric capabilities may be specified in decimal, octal or
1127 hexadecimal, using the C programming language conventions
1128 (e.g., 255, 0377 and 0xff or 0xFF).
1130 Finally, string valued capabilities, such as <STRONG>el</STRONG> (clear to
1131 end of line sequence) are given by the two-character code,
1132 an "=", and then a string ending at the next following
1135 A number of escape sequences are provided in the string
1136 valued capabilities for easy encoding of characters there.
1137 Both <STRONG>\E</STRONG> and <STRONG>\e</STRONG> map to an ESCAPE character, <STRONG>^x</STRONG> maps to a
1138 control-x for any appropriate x, and the sequences <STRONG>\n</STRONG> <STRONG>\l</STRONG>
1139 <STRONG>\r</STRONG> <STRONG>\t</STRONG> <STRONG>\b</STRONG> <STRONG>\f</STRONG> <STRONG>\s</STRONG> give a newline, line-feed, return, tab,
1140 backspace, form-feed, and space. Other escapes include
1142 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\^</STRONG> for <STRONG>^</STRONG>,
1144 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\\</STRONG> for <STRONG>\</STRONG>,
1146 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\</STRONG>, for comma,
1148 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\:</STRONG> for <STRONG>:</STRONG>,
1150 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>\0</STRONG> for null.
1152 <STRONG>\0</STRONG> will produce \200, which does not terminate a
1153 string but behaves as a null character on most termi-
1154 nals, providing CS7 is specified. See <STRONG>stty(1)</STRONG>.
1156 The reason for this quirk is to maintain binary com-
1157 patibility of the compiled terminfo files with other
1158 implementations, e.g., the SVr4 systems, which docu-
1159 ment this. Compiled terminfo files use null-termi-
1160 nated strings, with no lengths. Modifying this would
1161 require a new binary format, which would not work with
1162 other implementations.
1164 Finally, characters may be given as three octal digits
1165 after a <STRONG>\</STRONG>.
1167 A delay in milliseconds may appear anywhere in a string
1168 capability, enclosed in $<..> brackets, as in <STRONG>el</STRONG>=\EK$<5>,
1169 and padding characters are supplied by <EM>tputs</EM> to provide
1170 this delay. The delay must be a number with at most one
1171 decimal place of precision; it may be followed by suffixes
1172 "*" or "/" or both. A "*" indicates that the padding
1173 required is proportional to the number of lines affected
1174 by the operation, and the amount given is the per-
1175 affected-unit padding required. (In the case of insert
1176 character, the factor is still the number of <EM>lines</EM>
1177 affected.) Normally, padding is advisory if the device
1178 has the <STRONG>xon</STRONG> capability; it is used for cost computation
1179 but does not trigger delays. A "/" suffix indicates that
1180 the padding is mandatory and forces a delay of the given
1181 number of milliseconds even on devices for which <STRONG>xon</STRONG> is
1182 present to indicate flow control.
1184 Sometimes individual capabilities must be commented out.
1185 To do this, put a period before the capability name. For
1186 example, see the second <STRONG>ind</STRONG> in the example above.
1188 <STRONG>Fetching</STRONG> <STRONG>Compiled</STRONG> <STRONG>Descriptions</STRONG>
1189 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library searches for terminal descriptions in
1190 several places. It uses only the first description found.
1191 The library has a compiled-in list of places to search
1192 which can be overridden by environment variables. Before
1193 starting to search, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> eliminates duplicates in its
1196 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the environment variable TERMINFO is set, it is
1197 interpreted as the pathname of a directory containing
1198 the compiled description you are working on. Only
1199 that directory is searched.
1201 <STRONG>o</STRONG> If TERMINFO is not set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> will instead look in
1202 the directory <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> for a compiled descrip-
1205 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Next, if the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS is
1206 set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> will interpret the contents of that vari-
1207 able as a list of colon-separated directories (or
1208 database files) to be searched.
1210 An empty directory name (i.e., if the variable begins
1211 or ends with a colon, or contains adacent colons) is
1212 interpreted as the system location <EM>/usr/share/ter-</EM>
1215 <STRONG>o</STRONG> Finally, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> searches these compiled-in locations:
1217 <STRONG>o</STRONG> a list of directories
1218 (/usr/local/ncurses/share/terminfo:/usr/share/ter-
1221 <STRONG>o</STRONG> the system terminfo directory, <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>
1222 (the compiled-in default).
1224 <STRONG>Preparing</STRONG> <STRONG>Descriptions</STRONG>
1225 We now outline how to prepare descriptions of terminals.
1226 The most effective way to prepare a terminal description
1227 is by imitating the description of a similar terminal in
1228 <EM>terminfo</EM> and to build up a description gradually, using
1229 partial descriptions with <EM>vi</EM> or some other screen-oriented
1230 program to check that they are correct. Be aware that a
1231 very unusual terminal may expose deficiencies in the abil-
1232 ity of the <EM>terminfo</EM> file to describe it or bugs in the
1233 screen-handling code of the test program.
1235 To get the padding for insert line right (if the terminal
1236 manufacturer did not document it) a severe test is to edit
1237 a large file at 9600 baud, delete 16 or so lines from the
1238 middle of the screen, then hit the "u" key several times
1239 quickly. If the terminal messes up, more padding is usu-
1240 ally needed. A similar test can be used for insert char-
1243 <STRONG>Basic</STRONG> <STRONG>Capabilities</STRONG>
1244 The number of columns on each line for the terminal is
1245 given by the <STRONG>cols</STRONG> numeric capability. If the terminal is
1246 a CRT, then the number of lines on the screen is given by
1247 the <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability. If the terminal wraps around to the
1248 beginning of the next line when it reaches the right mar-
1249 gin, then it should have the <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability. If the termi-
1250 nal can clear its screen, leaving the cursor in the home
1251 position, then this is given by the <STRONG>clear</STRONG> string capabil-
1252 ity. If the terminal overstrikes (rather than clearing a
1253 position when a character is struck over) then it should
1254 have the <STRONG>os</STRONG> capability. If the terminal is a printing
1255 terminal, with no soft copy unit, give it both <STRONG>hc</STRONG> and <STRONG>os</STRONG>.
1256 (<STRONG>os</STRONG> applies to storage scope terminals, such as TEKTRONIX
1257 4010 series, as well as hard copy and APL terminals.) If
1258 there is a code to move the cursor to the left edge of the
1259 current row, give this as <STRONG>cr</STRONG>. (Normally this will be car-
1260 riage return, control M.) If there is a code to produce
1261 an audible signal (bell, beep, etc) give this as <STRONG>bel</STRONG>.
1263 If there is a code to move the cursor one position to the
1264 left (such as backspace) that capability should be given
1265 as <STRONG>cub1</STRONG>. Similarly, codes to move to the right, up, and
1266 down should be given as <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>, and <STRONG>cud1</STRONG>. These local
1267 cursor motions should not alter the text they pass over,
1268 for example, you would not normally use "<STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>= " because
1269 the space would erase the character moved over.
1271 A very important point here is that the local cursor
1272 motions encoded in <EM>terminfo</EM> are undefined at the left and
1273 top edges of a CRT terminal. Programs should never
1274 attempt to backspace around the left edge, unless <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is
1275 given, and never attempt to go up locally off the top. In
1276 order to scroll text up, a program will go to the bottom
1277 left corner of the screen and send the <STRONG>ind</STRONG> (index) string.
1279 To scroll text down, a program goes to the top left corner
1280 of the screen and sends the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> (reverse index) string.
1281 The strings <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG> are undefined when not on their
1282 respective corners of the screen.
1284 Parameterized versions of the scrolling sequences are <STRONG>indn</STRONG>
1285 and <STRONG>rin</STRONG> which have the same semantics as <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG> except
1286 that they take one parameter, and scroll that many lines.
1287 They are also undefined except at the appropriate edge of
1290 The <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability tells whether the cursor sticks at the
1291 right edge of the screen when text is output, but this
1292 does not necessarily apply to a <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG> from the last column.
1293 The only local motion which is defined from the left edge
1294 is if <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is given, then a <STRONG>cub1</STRONG> from the left edge will
1295 move to the right edge of the previous row. If <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is not
1296 given, the effect is undefined. This is useful for draw-
1297 ing a box around the edge of the screen, for example. If
1298 the terminal has switch selectable automatic margins, the
1299 <EM>terminfo</EM> file usually assumes that this is on; i.e., <STRONG>am</STRONG>.
1300 If the terminal has a command which moves to the first
1301 column of the next line, that command can be given as <STRONG>nel</STRONG>
1302 (newline). It does not matter if the command clears the
1303 remainder of the current line, so if the terminal has no
1304 <STRONG>cr</STRONG> and <STRONG>lf</STRONG> it may still be possible to craft a working <STRONG>nel</STRONG>
1305 out of one or both of them.
1307 These capabilities suffice to describe hard-copy and
1308 "glass-tty" terminals. Thus the model 33 teletype is
1311 33|tty33|tty|model 33 teletype,
1312 bel=^G, cols#72, cr=^M, cud1=^J, hc, ind=^J, os,
1314 while the Lear Siegler ADM-3 is described as
1317 am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
1320 <STRONG>Parameterized</STRONG> <STRONG>Strings</STRONG>
1321 Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters
1322 in the terminal are described by a parameterized string
1323 capability, with <EM>printf</EM>-like escapes such as <EM>%x</EM> in it.
1324 For example, to address the cursor, the <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is
1325 given, using two parameters: the row and column to address
1326 to. (Rows and columns are numbered from zero and refer to
1327 the physical screen visible to the user, not to any unseen
1328 memory.) If the terminal has memory relative cursor
1329 addressing, that can be indicated by <STRONG>mrcup</STRONG>.
1331 The parameter mechanism uses a stack and special <STRONG>%</STRONG> codes
1332 to manipulate it. Typically a sequence will push one of
1333 the parameters onto the stack and then print it in some
1334 format. Print (e.g., "%d") is a special case. Other
1335 operations, including "%t" pop their operand from the
1336 stack. It is noted that more complex operations are often
1337 necessary, e.g., in the <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> string.
1339 The <STRONG>%</STRONG> encodings have the following meanings:
1341 <STRONG>%%</STRONG> outputs "%"
1343 <STRONG>%</STRONG><EM>[[</EM>:<EM>]flags][width[.precision]][</EM><STRONG>doxXs</STRONG><EM>]</EM>
1344 as in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>, flags are <EM>[-+#]</EM> and <EM>space</EM>. Use a ":"
1345 to allow the next character to be a "-" flag, avoid-
1346 ing interpreting "%-" as an operator.
1348 %c print pop() like %c in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
1350 <STRONG>%s</STRONG> print pop() like %s in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
1352 <STRONG>%p</STRONG><EM>[1-9]</EM>
1353 push <EM>i</EM>'th parameter
1355 <STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[a-z]</EM>
1356 set dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to pop()
1358 <STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[a-z]/</EM>
1359 get dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
1361 <STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
1362 set static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to <EM>pop()</EM>
1364 <STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
1365 get static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
1367 The terms "static" and "dynamic" are misleading.
1368 Historically, these are simply two different sets of
1369 variables, whose values are not reset between calls
1370 to <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>. However, that fact is not documented in
1371 other implementations. Relying on it will adversely
1372 impact portability to other implementations.
1374 <STRONG>%'</STRONG><EM>c</EM><STRONG>'</STRONG> char constant <EM>c</EM>
1376 <STRONG>%{</STRONG><EM>nn</EM><STRONG>}</STRONG>
1377 integer constant <EM>nn</EM>
1379 <STRONG>%l</STRONG> push strlen(pop)
1381 <STRONG>%+</STRONG>, <STRONG>%-</STRONG>, <STRONG>%*</STRONG>, <STRONG>%/</STRONG>, <STRONG>%m</STRONG>
1382 arithmetic (%m is mod): <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1384 <STRONG>%&</STRONG>, <STRONG>%|</STRONG>, <STRONG>%^</STRONG>
1385 bit operations (AND, OR and exclusive-OR): <EM>push(pop()</EM>
1386 <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1388 <STRONG>%=</STRONG>, <STRONG>%></STRONG>, <STRONG>%<</STRONG>
1389 logical operations: <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
1391 <STRONG>%A</STRONG>, <STRONG>%O</STRONG>
1392 logical AND and OR operations (for conditionals)
1394 <STRONG>%!</STRONG>, <STRONG>%~</STRONG>
1395 unary operations (logical and bit complement):
1398 <STRONG>%i</STRONG> add 1 to first two parameters (for ANSI terminals)
1400 <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> <STRONG>%t</STRONG> <EM>thenpart</EM> <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> <STRONG>%;</STRONG>
1401 This forms an if-then-else. The <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> is
1402 optional. Usually the <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> part pushes a value
1403 onto the stack, and <STRONG>%t</STRONG> pops it from the stack, test-
1404 ing if it is nonzero (true). If it is zero (false),
1405 control passes to the <STRONG>%e</STRONG> (else) part.
1407 It is possible to form else-if's a la Algol 68:
1408 <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>
1410 where ci are conditions, bi are bodies.
1412 Use the <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> or <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> to see the struc-
1413 ture of if-then-else's. Some strings, e.g., <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> can
1414 be very complicated when written on one line. The <STRONG>-f</STRONG>
1415 option splits the string into lines with the parts
1418 Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands in
1419 the usual order. That is, to get x-5 one would use
1420 "%gx%{5}%-". <STRONG>%P</STRONG> and <STRONG>%g</STRONG> variables are persistent across
1421 escape-string evaluations.
1423 Consider the HP2645, which, to get to row 3 and column 12,
1424 needs to be sent \E&a12c03Y padded for 6 milliseconds.
1425 Note that the order of the rows and columns is inverted
1426 here, and that the row and column are printed as two dig-
1427 its. Thus its <STRONG>cup</STRONG> capability is "cup=6\E&%p2%2dc%p1%2dY".
1429 The Microterm ACT-IV needs the current row and column sent
1430 preceded by a <STRONG>^T</STRONG>, with the row and column simply encoded
1431 in binary, "cup=^T%p1%c%p2%c". Terminals which use "%c"
1432 need to be able to backspace the cursor (<STRONG>cub1</STRONG>), and to
1433 move the cursor up one line on the screen (<STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>). This is
1434 necessary because it is not always safe to transmit <STRONG>\n</STRONG> <STRONG>^D</STRONG>
1435 and <STRONG>\r</STRONG>, as the system may change or discard them. (The
1436 library routines dealing with terminfo set tty modes so
1437 that tabs are never expanded, so \t is safe to send. This
1438 turns out to be essential for the Ann Arbor 4080.)
1440 A final example is the LSI ADM-3a, which uses row and col-
1441 umn offset by a blank character, thus "cup=\E=%p1%'
1442 '%+%c%p2%' '%+%c". After sending "\E=", this pushes the
1443 first parameter, pushes the ASCII value for a space (32),
1444 adds them (pushing the sum on the stack in place of the
1445 two previous values) and outputs that value as a charac-
1446 ter. Then the same is done for the second parameter.
1447 More complex arithmetic is possible using the stack.
1449 <STRONG>Cursor</STRONG> <STRONG>Motions</STRONG>
1450 If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very
1451 upper left corner of screen) then this can be given as
1452 <STRONG>home</STRONG>; similarly a fast way of getting to the lower left-
1453 hand corner can be given as <STRONG>ll</STRONG>; this may involve going up
1454 with <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG> from the home position, but a program should
1455 never do this itself (unless <STRONG>ll</STRONG> does) because it can make
1456 no assumption about the effect of moving up from the home
1457 position. Note that the home position is the same as
1458 addressing to (0,0): to the top left corner of the screen,
1459 not of memory. (Thus, the \EH sequence on HP terminals
1460 cannot be used for <STRONG>home</STRONG>.)
1462 If the terminal has row or column absolute cursor address-
1463 ing, these can be given as single parameter capabilities
1464 <STRONG>hpa</STRONG> (horizontal position absolute) and <STRONG>vpa</STRONG> (vertical posi-
1465 tion absolute). Sometimes these are shorter than the more
1466 general two parameter sequence (as with the hp2645) and
1467 can be used in preference to <STRONG>cup</STRONG>. If there are parameter-
1468 ized local motions (e.g., move <EM>n</EM> spaces to the right)
1469 these can be given as <STRONG>cud</STRONG>, <STRONG>cub</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuf</STRONG>, and <STRONG>cuu</STRONG> with a single
1470 parameter indicating how many spaces to move. These are
1471 primarily useful if the terminal does not have <STRONG>cup</STRONG>, such
1472 as the TEKTRONIX 4025.
1474 If the terminal needs to be in a special mode when running
1475 a program that uses these capabilities, the codes to enter
1476 and exit this mode can be given as <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>. This
1477 arises, for example, from terminals like the Concept with
1478 more than one page of memory. If the terminal has only
1479 memory relative cursor addressing and not screen relative
1480 cursor addressing, a one screen-sized window must be fixed
1481 into the terminal for cursor addressing to work properly.
1482 This is also used for the TEKTRONIX 4025, where <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sets
1483 the command character to be the one used by terminfo. If
1484 the <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sequence will not restore the screen after an
1485 <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG> sequence is output (to the state prior to outputting
1486 <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>), specify <STRONG>nrrmc</STRONG>.
1488 <STRONG>Area</STRONG> <STRONG>Clears</STRONG>
1489 If the terminal can clear from the current position to the
1490 end of the line, leaving the cursor where it is, this
1491 should be given as <STRONG>el</STRONG>. If the terminal can clear from the
1492 beginning of the line to the current position inclusive,
1493 leaving the cursor where it is, this should be given as
1494 <STRONG>el1</STRONG>. If the terminal can clear from the current position
1495 to the end of the display, then this should be given as
1496 <STRONG>ed</STRONG>. <STRONG>Ed</STRONG> is only defined from the first column of a line.
1497 (Thus, it can be simulated by a request to delete a large
1498 number of lines, if a true <STRONG>ed</STRONG> is not available.)
1500 <STRONG>Insert/delete</STRONG> <STRONG>line</STRONG> <STRONG>and</STRONG> <STRONG>vertical</STRONG> <STRONG>motions</STRONG>
1501 If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line
1502 where the cursor is, this should be given as <STRONG>il1</STRONG>; this is
1503 done only from the first position of a line. The cursor
1504 must then appear on the newly blank line. If the terminal
1505 can delete the line which the cursor is on, then this
1506 should be given as <STRONG>dl1</STRONG>; this is done only from the first
1507 position on the line to be deleted. Versions of <STRONG>il1</STRONG> and
1508 <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> which take a single parameter and insert or delete
1509 that many lines can be given as <STRONG>il</STRONG> and <STRONG>dl</STRONG>.
1511 If the terminal has a settable scrolling region (like the
1512 vt100) the command to set this can be described with the
1513 <STRONG>csr</STRONG> capability, which takes two parameters: the top and
1514 bottom lines of the scrolling region. The cursor position
1515 is, alas, undefined after using this command.
1517 It is possible to get the effect of insert or delete line
1518 using <STRONG>csr</STRONG> on a properly chosen region; the <STRONG>sc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (save
1519 and restore cursor) commands may be useful for ensuring
1520 that your synthesized insert/delete string does not move
1521 the cursor. (Note that the <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG> library does this
1522 synthesis automatically, so you need not compose
1523 insert/delete strings for an entry with <STRONG>csr</STRONG>).
1525 Yet another way to construct insert and delete might be to
1526 use a combination of index with the memory-lock feature
1527 found on some terminals (like the HP-700/90 series, which
1528 however also has insert/delete).
1530 Inserting lines at the top or bottom of the screen can
1531 also be done using <STRONG>ri</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG> on many terminals without a
1532 true insert/delete line, and is often faster even on ter-
1533 minals with those features.
1535 The boolean <STRONG>non_dest_scroll_region</STRONG> should be set if each
1536 scrolling window is effectively a view port on a screen-
1537 sized canvas. To test for this capability, create a
1538 scrolling region in the middle of the screen, write some-
1539 thing to the bottom line, move the cursor to the top of
1540 the region, and do <STRONG>ri</STRONG> followed by <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG>. If the data
1541 scrolled off the bottom of the region by the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> re-
1542 appears, then scrolling is non-destructive. System V and
1543 XSI Curses expect that <STRONG>ind</STRONG>, <STRONG>ri</STRONG>, <STRONG>indn</STRONG>, and <STRONG>rin</STRONG> will simu-
1544 late destructive scrolling; their documentation cautions
1545 you not to define <STRONG>csr</STRONG> unless this is true. This <STRONG>curses</STRONG>
1546 implementation is more liberal and will do explicit erases
1547 after scrolling if <STRONG>ndstr</STRONG> is defined.
1549 If the terminal has the ability to define a window as part
1550 of memory, which all commands affect, it should be given
1551 as the parameterized string <STRONG>wind</STRONG>. The four parameters are
1552 the starting and ending lines in memory and the starting
1553 and ending columns in memory, in that order.
1555 If the terminal can retain display memory above, then the
1556 <STRONG>da</STRONG> capability should be given; if display memory can be
1557 retained below, then <STRONG>db</STRONG> should be given. These indicate
1558 that deleting a line or scrolling may bring non-blank
1559 lines up from below or that scrolling back with <STRONG>ri</STRONG> may
1560 bring down non-blank lines.
1562 <STRONG>Insert/Delete</STRONG> <STRONG>Character</STRONG>
1563 There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with
1564 respect to insert/delete character which can be described
1565 using <EM>terminfo.</EM> The most common insert/delete character
1566 operations affect only the characters on the current line
1567 and shift characters off the end of the line rigidly.
1568 Other terminals, such as the Concept 100 and the Perkin
1569 Elmer Owl, make a distinction between typed and untyped
1570 blanks on the screen, shifting upon an insert or delete
1571 only to an untyped blank on the screen which is either
1572 eliminated, or expanded to two untyped blanks.
1574 You can determine the kind of terminal you have by clear-
1575 ing the screen and then typing text separated by cursor
1576 motions. Type "abc def" using local cursor motions
1577 (not spaces) between the "abc" and the "def". Then posi-
1578 tion the cursor before the "abc" and put the terminal in
1579 insert mode. If typing characters causes the rest of the
1580 line to shift rigidly and characters to fall off the end,
1581 then your terminal does not distinguish between blanks and
1582 untyped positions. If the "abc" shifts over to the "def"
1583 which then move together around the end of the current
1584 line and onto the next as you insert, you have the second
1585 type of terminal, and should give the capability <STRONG>in</STRONG>, which
1586 stands for "insert null".
1588 While these are two logically separate attributes (one
1589 line versus multi-line insert mode, and special treatment
1590 of untyped spaces) we have seen no terminals whose insert
1591 mode cannot be described with the single attribute.
1593 Terminfo can describe both terminals which have an insert
1594 mode, and terminals which send a simple sequence to open a
1595 blank position on the current line. Give as <STRONG>smir</STRONG> the
1596 sequence to get into insert mode. Give as <STRONG>rmir</STRONG> the
1597 sequence to leave insert mode. Now give as <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> any
1598 sequence needed to be sent just before sending the charac-
1599 ter to be inserted. Most terminals with a true insert
1600 mode will not give <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>; terminals which send a sequence
1601 to open a screen position should give it here.
1603 If your terminal has both, insert mode is usually prefer-
1604 able to <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>. Technically, you should not give both
1605 unless the terminal actually requires both to be used in
1606 combination. Accordingly, some non-curses applications
1607 get confused if both are present; the symptom is doubled
1608 characters in an update using insert. This requirement is
1609 now rare; most <STRONG>ich</STRONG> sequences do not require previous smir,
1610 and most smir insert modes do not require <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> before each
1611 character. Therefore, the new <STRONG>curses</STRONG> actually assumes
1612 this is the case and uses either <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> or <STRONG>ich</STRONG>/<STRONG>ich1</STRONG> as
1613 appropriate (but not both). If you have to write an entry
1614 to be used under new curses for a terminal old enough to
1615 need both, include the <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> sequences in <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>.
1617 If post insert padding is needed, give this as a number of
1618 milliseconds in <STRONG>ip</STRONG> (a string option). Any other sequence
1619 which may need to be sent after an insert of a single
1620 character may also be given in <STRONG>ip</STRONG>. If your terminal needs
1621 both to be placed into an "insert mode" and a special code
1622 to precede each inserted character, then both <STRONG>smir</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmir</STRONG>
1623 and <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> can be given, and both will be used. The <STRONG>ich</STRONG>
1624 capability, with one parameter, <EM>n</EM>, will repeat the effects
1625 of <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> <EM>n</EM> times.
1627 If padding is necessary between characters typed while not
1628 in insert mode, give this as a number of milliseconds pad-
1629 ding in <STRONG>rmp</STRONG>.
1631 It is occasionally necessary to move around while in
1632 insert mode to delete characters on the same line (e.g.,
1633 if there is a tab after the insertion position). If your
1634 terminal allows motion while in insert mode you can give
1635 the capability <STRONG>mir</STRONG> to speed up inserting in this case.
1636 Omitting <STRONG>mir</STRONG> will affect only speed. Some terminals
1637 (notably Datamedia's) must not have <STRONG>mir</STRONG> because of the way
1638 their insert mode works.
1640 Finally, you can specify <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to delete a single charac-
1641 ter, <STRONG>dch</STRONG> with one parameter, <EM>n</EM>, to delete <EM>n</EM> <EM>characters,</EM>
1642 and delete mode by giving <STRONG>smdc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmdc</STRONG> to enter and exit
1643 delete mode (any mode the terminal needs to be placed in
1644 for <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to work).
1646 A command to erase <EM>n</EM> characters (equivalent to outputting
1647 <EM>n</EM> blanks without moving the cursor) can be given as <STRONG>ech</STRONG>
1650 <STRONG>Highlighting,</STRONG> <STRONG>Underlining,</STRONG> <STRONG>and</STRONG> <STRONG>Visible</STRONG> <STRONG>Bells</STRONG>
1651 If your terminal has one or more kinds of display
1652 attributes, these can be represented in a number of dif-
1653 ferent ways. You should choose one display form as <EM>stand-</EM>
1654 <EM>out</EM> <EM>mode</EM>, representing a good, high contrast, easy-on-the-
1655 eyes, format for highlighting error messages and other
1656 attention getters. (If you have a choice, reverse video
1657 plus half-bright is good, or reverse video alone.) The
1658 sequences to enter and exit standout mode are given as
1659 <STRONG>smso</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmso</STRONG>, respectively. If the code to change into
1660 or out of standout mode leaves one or even two blank spa-
1661 ces on the screen, as the TVI 912 and Teleray 1061 do,
1662 then <STRONG>xmc</STRONG> should be given to tell how many spaces are left.
1664 Codes to begin underlining and end underlining can be
1665 given as <STRONG>smul</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmul</STRONG> respectively. If the terminal has
1666 a code to underline the current character and move the
1667 cursor one space to the right, such as the Microterm Mime,
1668 this can be given as <STRONG>uc</STRONG>.
1670 Other capabilities to enter various highlighting modes
1671 include <STRONG>blink</STRONG> (blinking) <STRONG>bold</STRONG> (bold or extra bright) <STRONG>dim</STRONG>
1672 (dim or half-bright) <STRONG>invis</STRONG> (blanking or invisible text)
1673 <STRONG>prot</STRONG> (protected) <STRONG>rev</STRONG> (reverse video) <STRONG>sgr0</STRONG> (turn off <EM>all</EM>
1674 attribute modes) <STRONG>smacs</STRONG> (enter alternate character set
1675 mode) and <STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> (exit alternate character set mode).
1676 Turning on any of these modes singly may or may not turn
1679 If there is a sequence to set arbitrary combinations of
1680 modes, this should be given as <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> (set attributes), tak-
1681 ing 9 parameters. Each parameter is either 0 or nonzero,
1682 as the corresponding attribute is on or off. The 9 param-
1683 eters are, in order: standout, underline, reverse, blink,
1684 dim, bold, blank, protect, alternate character set. Not
1685 all modes need be supported by <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>, only those for which
1686 corresponding separate attribute commands exist.
1688 For example, the DEC vt220 supports most of the modes:
1690 <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> <STRONG>parameter</STRONG> <STRONG>attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>escape</STRONG> <STRONG>sequence</STRONG>
1693 p1 standout \E[0;1;7m
1694 p2 underline \E[0;4m
1697 p5 dim not available
1701 p9 altcharset ^O (off) ^N (on)
1703 We begin each escape sequence by turning off any existing
1704 modes, since there is no quick way to determine whether
1705 they are active. Standout is set up to be the combination
1706 of reverse and bold. The vt220 terminal has a protect
1707 mode, though it is not commonly used in sgr because it
1708 protects characters on the screen from the host's era-
1709 sures. The altcharset mode also is different in that it
1710 is either ^O or ^N, depending on whether it is off or on.
1711 If all modes are turned on, the resulting sequence is
1714 Some sequences are common to different modes. For exam-
1715 ple, ;7 is output when either p1 or p3 is true, that is,
1716 if either standout or reverse modes are turned on.
1718 Writing out the above sequences, along with their depen-
1721 <STRONG>sequence</STRONG> <STRONG>when</STRONG> <STRONG>to</STRONG> <STRONG>output</STRONG> <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> <STRONG>translation</STRONG>
1724 ;1 if p1 or p6 %?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;
1725 ;4 if p2 %?%p2%|%t;4%;
1726 ;5 if p4 %?%p4%|%t;5%;
1727 ;7 if p1 or p3 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;
1728 ;8 if p7 %?%p7%|%t;8%;
1730 ^N or ^O if p9 ^N, else ^O %?%p9%t^N%e^O%;
1732 Putting this all together into the sgr sequence gives:
1734 sgr=\E[0%?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p4%t;5%;
1735 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;%?%p7%t;8%;m%?%p9%t\016%e\017%;,
1737 Remember that if you specify sgr, you must also specify
1738 sgr0. Also, some implementations rely on sgr being given
1739 if sgr0 is, Not all terminfo entries necessarily have an
1740 sgr string, however. Many terminfo entries are derived
1741 from termcap entries which have no sgr string. The only
1742 drawback to adding an sgr string is that termcap also
1743 assumes that sgr0 does not exit alternate character set
1746 Terminals with the "magic cookie" glitch (<STRONG>xmc</STRONG>) deposit
1747 special "cookies" when they receive mode-setting
1748 sequences, which affect the display algorithm rather than
1749 having extra bits for each character. Some terminals,
1750 such as the HP 2621, automatically leave standout mode
1751 when they move to a new line or the cursor is addressed.
1752 Programs using standout mode should exit standout mode
1753 before moving the cursor or sending a newline, unless the
1754 <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> capability, asserting that it is safe to move in
1755 standout mode, is present.
1757 If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indi-
1758 cate an error quietly (a bell replacement) then this can
1759 be given as <STRONG>flash</STRONG>; it must not move the cursor.
1761 If the cursor needs to be made more visible than normal
1762 when it is not on the bottom line (to make, for example, a
1763 non-blinking underline into an easier to find block or
1764 blinking underline) give this sequence as <STRONG>cvvis</STRONG>. If there
1765 is a way to make the cursor completely invisible, give
1766 that as <STRONG>civis</STRONG>. The capability <STRONG>cnorm</STRONG> should be given which
1767 undoes the effects of both of these modes.
1769 If your terminal correctly generates underlined characters
1770 (with no special codes needed) even though it does not
1771 overstrike, then you should give the capability <STRONG>ul</STRONG>. If a
1772 character overstriking another leaves both characters on
1773 the screen, specify the capability <STRONG>os</STRONG>. If overstrikes are
1774 erasable with a blank, then this should be indicated by
1775 giving <STRONG>eo</STRONG>.
1777 <STRONG>Keypad</STRONG> <STRONG>and</STRONG> <STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Keys</STRONG>
1778 If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes when the
1779 keys are pressed, this information can be given. Note
1780 that it is not possible to handle terminals where the key-
1781 pad only works in local (this applies, for example, to the
1782 unshifted HP 2621 keys). If the keypad can be set to
1783 transmit or not transmit, give these codes as <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> and
1784 <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG>. Otherwise the keypad is assumed to always transmit.
1786 The codes sent by the left arrow, right arrow, up arrow,
1787 down arrow, and home keys can be given as <STRONG>kcub1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuf1,</STRONG>
1788 <STRONG>kcuu1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcud1,</STRONG> and <STRONG>khome</STRONG> respectively. If there are func-
1789 tion keys such as f0, f1, ..., f10, the codes they send
1790 can be given as <STRONG>kf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf10</STRONG>. If these keys have
1791 labels other than the default f0 through f10, the labels
1792 can be given as <STRONG>lf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf10</STRONG>.
1794 The codes transmitted by certain other special keys can be
1797 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kll</STRONG> (home down),
1799 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kbs</STRONG> (backspace),
1801 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ktbc</STRONG> (clear all tabs),
1803 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kctab</STRONG> (clear the tab stop in this column),
1805 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kclr</STRONG> (clear screen or erase key),
1807 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdch1</STRONG> (delete character),
1809 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdl1</STRONG> (delete line),
1811 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>krmir</STRONG> (exit insert mode),
1813 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kel</STRONG> (clear to end of line),
1815 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ked</STRONG> (clear to end of screen),
1817 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kich1</STRONG> (insert character or enter insert mode),
1819 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kil1</STRONG> (insert line),
1821 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>knp</STRONG> (next page),
1823 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kpp</STRONG> (previous page),
1825 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kind</STRONG> (scroll forward/down),
1827 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kri</STRONG> (scroll backward/up),
1829 <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>khts</STRONG> (set a tab stop in this column).
1831 In addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3 array of keys
1832 including the four arrow keys, the other five keys can be
1833 given as <STRONG>ka1</STRONG>, <STRONG>ka3</STRONG>, <STRONG>kb2</STRONG>, <STRONG>kc1</STRONG>, and <STRONG>kc3</STRONG>. These keys are use-
1834 ful when the effects of a 3 by 3 directional pad are
1837 Strings to program function keys can be given as <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG>,
1838 <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG>, and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG>. A string to program screen labels should
1839 be specified as <STRONG>pln</STRONG>. Each of these strings takes two
1840 parameters: the function key number to program (from 0 to
1841 10) and the string to program it with. Function key num-
1842 bers out of this range may program undefined keys in a
1843 terminal dependent manner. The difference between the
1844 capabilities is that <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG> causes pressing the given key
1845 to be the same as the user typing the given string; <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG>
1846 causes the string to be executed by the terminal in local;
1847 and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG> causes the string to be transmitted to the com-
1850 The capabilities <STRONG>nlab</STRONG>, <STRONG>lw</STRONG> and <STRONG>lh</STRONG> define the number of pro-
1851 grammable screen labels and their width and height. If
1852 there are commands to turn the labels on and off, give
1853 them in <STRONG>smln</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmln</STRONG>. <STRONG>smln</STRONG> is normally output after one
1854 or more pln sequences to make sure that the change becomes
1857 <STRONG>Tabs</STRONG> <STRONG>and</STRONG> <STRONG>Initialization</STRONG>
1858 If the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance
1859 to the next tab stop can be given as <STRONG>ht</STRONG> (usually control
1860 I). A "back-tab" command which moves leftward to the pre-
1861 ceding tab stop can be given as <STRONG>cbt</STRONG>. By convention, if
1862 the teletype modes indicate that tabs are being expanded
1863 by the computer rather than being sent to the terminal,
1864 programs should not use <STRONG>ht</STRONG> or <STRONG>cbt</STRONG> even if they are
1865 present, since the user may not have the tab stops prop-
1866 erly set. If the terminal has hardware tabs which are
1867 initially set every <EM>n</EM> spaces when the terminal is powered
1868 up, the numeric parameter <STRONG>it</STRONG> is given, showing the number
1869 of spaces the tabs are set to. This is normally used by
1870 the <EM>tset</EM> command to determine whether to set the mode for
1871 hardware tab expansion, and whether to set the tab stops.
1872 If the terminal has tab stops that can be saved in non-
1873 volatile memory, the terminfo description can assume that
1874 they are properly set.
1876 Other capabilities include <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, and <STRONG>is3</STRONG>, initializa-
1877 tion strings for the terminal, <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, the path name of a
1878 program to be run to initialize the terminal, and <STRONG>if</STRONG>, the
1879 name of a file containing long initialization strings.
1880 These strings are expected to set the terminal into modes
1881 consistent with the rest of the terminfo description.
1882 They are normally sent to the terminal, by the <EM>init</EM> option
1883 of the <EM>tput</EM> program, each time the user logs in. They
1884 will be printed in the following order:
1887 <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>
1889 output <STRONG>is1</STRONG> <STRONG>is2</STRONG>
1891 set the margins using
1892 <STRONG>mgc</STRONG>, <STRONG>smgl</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgr</STRONG>
1895 <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> and <STRONG>hts</STRONG>
1901 output <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
1903 Most initialization is done with <STRONG>is2</STRONG>. Special terminal
1904 modes can be set up without duplicating strings by putting
1905 the common sequences in <STRONG>is2</STRONG> and special cases in <STRONG>is1</STRONG> and
1906 <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
1908 A set of sequences that does a harder reset from a totally
1909 unknown state can be given as <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rf</STRONG> and <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, analo-
1910 gous to <STRONG>is1</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>is2</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>if</STRONG> and <STRONG>is3</STRONG> respectively. These
1911 strings are output by the <EM>reset</EM> program, which is used
1912 when the terminal gets into a wedged state. Commands are
1913 normally placed in <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG> <STRONG>rs3</STRONG> and <STRONG>rf</STRONG> only if they pro-
1914 duce annoying effects on the screen and are not necessary
1915 when logging in. For example, the command to set the
1916 vt100 into 80-column mode would normally be part of <STRONG>is2</STRONG>,
1917 but it causes an annoying glitch of the screen and is not
1918 normally needed since the terminal is usually already in
1921 The <EM>reset</EM> program writes strings including <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, etc., in
1922 the same order as the <EM>init</EM> program, using <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, etc.,
1923 instead of <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, etc. If any of <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, or <STRONG>rf</STRONG> reset
1924 capability strings are missing, the <EM>reset</EM> program falls
1925 back upon the corresponding initialization capability
1928 If there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can
1929 be given as <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (clear all tab stops) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (set a tab
1930 stop in the current column of every row). If a more com-
1931 plex sequence is needed to set the tabs than can be
1932 described by this, the sequence can be placed in <STRONG>is2</STRONG> or
1933 <STRONG>if</STRONG>.
1935 <STRONG>Delays</STRONG> <STRONG>and</STRONG> <STRONG>Padding</STRONG>
1936 Many older and slower terminals do not support either
1937 XON/XOFF or DTR handshaking, including hard copy terminals
1938 and some very archaic CRTs (including, for example, DEC
1939 VT100s). These may require padding characters after cer-
1940 tain cursor motions and screen changes.
1942 If the terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking for flow control
1943 (that is, it automatically emits ^S back to the host when
1944 its input buffers are close to full), set <STRONG>xon</STRONG>. This capa-
1945 bility suppresses the emission of padding. You can also
1946 set it for memory-mapped console devices effectively that
1947 do not have a speed limit. Padding information should
1948 still be included so that routines can make better deci-
1949 sions about relative costs, but actual pad characters will
1952 If <STRONG>pb</STRONG> (padding baud rate) is given, padding is suppressed
1953 at baud rates below the value of <STRONG>pb</STRONG>. If the entry has no
1954 padding baud rate, then whether padding is emitted or not
1955 is completely controlled by <STRONG>xon</STRONG>.
1957 If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) charac-
1958 ter as a pad, then this can be given as <STRONG>pad</STRONG>. Only the
1959 first character of the <STRONG>pad</STRONG> string is used.
1961 <STRONG>Status</STRONG> <STRONG>Lines</STRONG>
1962 Some terminals have an extra "status line" which is not
1963 normally used by software (and thus not counted in the
1964 terminal's <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability).
1966 The simplest case is a status line which is cursor-
1967 addressable but not part of the main scrolling region on
1968 the screen; the Heathkit H19 has a status line of this
1969 kind, as would a 24-line VT100 with a 23-line scrolling
1970 region set up on initialization. This situation is indi-
1971 cated by the <STRONG>hs</STRONG> capability.
1973 Some terminals with status lines need special sequences to
1974 access the status line. These may be expressed as a
1975 string with single parameter <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> which takes the cursor to
1976 a given zero-origin column on the status line. The capa-
1977 bility <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> must return to the main-screen cursor positions
1978 before the last <STRONG>tsl</STRONG>. You may need to embed the string
1979 values of <STRONG>sc</STRONG> (save cursor) and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (restore cursor) in <STRONG>tsl</STRONG>
1980 and <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> to accomplish this.
1982 The status line is normally assumed to be the same width
1983 as the width of the terminal. If this is untrue, you can
1984 specify it with the numeric capability <STRONG>wsl</STRONG>.
1986 A command to erase or blank the status line may be speci-
1987 fied as <STRONG>dsl</STRONG>.
1989 The boolean capability <STRONG>eslok</STRONG> specifies that escape
1990 sequences, tabs, etc., work ordinarily in the status line.
1992 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation does not yet use any of these
1993 capabilities. They are documented here in case they ever
1996 <STRONG>Line</STRONG> <STRONG>Graphics</STRONG>
1997 Many terminals have alternate character sets useful for
1998 forms-drawing. Terminfo and <STRONG>curses</STRONG> build in support for
1999 the drawing characters supported by the VT100, with some
2000 characters from the AT&T 4410v1 added. This alternate
2001 character set may be specified by the <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> capability.
2003 <STRONG>Glyph</STRONG> <STRONG>ACS</STRONG> <STRONG>Ascii</STRONG> <STRONG>VT100</STRONG>
2004 <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Default</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG>
2005 UK pound sign ACS_STERLING f }
2006 arrow pointing down ACS_DARROW v .
2007 arrow pointing left ACS_LARROW < ,
2008 arrow pointing right ACS_RARROW > +
2009 arrow pointing up ACS_UARROW ^ -
2010 board of squares ACS_BOARD # h
2011 bullet ACS_BULLET o ~
2012 checker board (stipple) ACS_CKBOARD : a
2013 degree symbol ACS_DEGREE \ f
2014 diamond ACS_DIAMOND + `
2015 greater-than-or-equal-to ACS_GEQUAL > z
2017 horizontal line ACS_HLINE - q
2018 lantern symbol ACS_LANTERN # i
2019 large plus or crossover ACS_PLUS + n
2020 less-than-or-equal-to ACS_LEQUAL < y
2021 lower left corner ACS_LLCORNER + m
2022 lower right corner ACS_LRCORNER + j
2023 not-equal ACS_NEQUAL ! |
2024 plus/minus ACS_PLMINUS # g
2025 scan line 1 ACS_S1 ~ o
2026 scan line 3 ACS_S3 - p
2027 scan line 7 ACS_S7 - r
2028 scan line 9 ACS_S9 _ s
2029 solid square block ACS_BLOCK # 0
2030 tee pointing down ACS_TTEE + w
2031 tee pointing left ACS_RTEE + u
2032 tee pointing right ACS_LTEE + t
2033 tee pointing up ACS_BTEE + v
2034 upper left corner ACS_ULCORNER + l
2035 upper right corner ACS_URCORNER + k
2036 vertical line ACS_VLINE | x
2038 The best way to define a new device's graphics set is to
2039 add a column to a copy of this table for your terminal,
2040 giving the character which (when emitted between
2041 <STRONG>smacs</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> switches) will be rendered as the correspond-
2042 ing graphic. Then read off the VT100/your terminal char-
2043 acter pairs right to left in sequence; these become the
2046 <STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>Handling</STRONG>
2047 Most color terminals are either "Tektronix-like" or "HP-
2048 like". Tektronix-like terminals have a predefined set of
2049 N colors (where N usually 8), and can set character-cell
2050 foreground and background characters independently, mixing
2051 them into N * N color-pairs. On HP-like terminals, the
2052 use must set each color pair up separately (foreground and
2053 background are not independently settable). Up to M
2054 color-pairs may be set up from 2*M different colors.
2055 ANSI-compatible terminals are Tektronix-like.
2057 Some basic color capabilities are independent of the color
2058 method. The numeric capabilities <STRONG>colors</STRONG> and <STRONG>pairs</STRONG> specify
2059 the maximum numbers of colors and color-pairs that can be
2060 displayed simultaneously. The <STRONG>op</STRONG> (original pair) string
2061 resets foreground and background colors to their default
2062 values for the terminal. The <STRONG>oc</STRONG> string resets all colors
2063 or color-pairs to their default values for the terminal.
2064 Some terminals (including many PC terminal emulators)
2065 erase screen areas with the current background color
2066 rather than the power-up default background; these should
2067 have the boolean capability <STRONG>bce</STRONG>.
2069 To change the current foreground or background color on a
2070 Tektronix-type terminal, use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> (set ANSI foreground)
2071 and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> (set ANSI background) or <STRONG>setf</STRONG> (set foreground)
2072 and <STRONG>setb</STRONG> (set background). These take one parameter, the
2073 color number. The SVr4 documentation describes only
2074 <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>; the XPG4 draft says that "If the terminal
2075 supports ANSI escape sequences to set background and fore-
2076 ground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>, respec-
2077 tively. If the terminal supports other escape sequences
2078 to set background and foreground, they should be coded as
2079 <STRONG>setf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setb</STRONG>, respectively. The <EM>vidputs()</EM> function and
2080 the refresh functions use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> if they are
2083 The <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> and <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> capabilities take a single
2084 numeric argument each. Argument values 0-7 of <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>
2085 are portably defined as follows (the middle column is the
2086 symbolic #define available in the header for the <STRONG>curses</STRONG> or
2087 <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> libraries). The terminal hardware is free to map
2088 these as it likes, but the RGB values indicate normal
2089 locations in color space.
2091 <STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
2092 black <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> 0 0, 0, 0
2093 red <STRONG>COLOR_RED</STRONG> 1 max,0,0
2094 green <STRONG>COLOR_GREEN</STRONG> 2 0,max,0
2095 yellow <STRONG>COLOR_YELLOW</STRONG> 3 max,max,0
2096 blue <STRONG>COLOR_BLUE</STRONG> 4 0,0,max
2097 magenta <STRONG>COLOR_MAGENTA</STRONG> 5 max,0,max
2098 cyan <STRONG>COLOR_CYAN</STRONG> 6 0,max,max
2099 white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max,max,max
2101 The argument values of <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> historically correspond
2102 to a different mapping, i.e.,
2104 <STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
2105 black <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> 0 0, 0, 0
2106 blue <STRONG>COLOR_BLUE</STRONG> 1 0,0,max
2107 green <STRONG>COLOR_GREEN</STRONG> 2 0,max,0
2108 cyan <STRONG>COLOR_CYAN</STRONG> 3 0,max,max
2109 red <STRONG>COLOR_RED</STRONG> 4 max,0,0
2110 magenta <STRONG>COLOR_MAGENTA</STRONG> 5 max,0,max
2111 yellow <STRONG>COLOR_YELLOW</STRONG> 6 max,max,0
2112 white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max,max,max
2114 It is important to not confuse the two sets of color capa-
2115 bilities; otherwise red/blue will be interchanged on the
2118 On an HP-like terminal, use <STRONG>scp</STRONG> with a color-pair number
2119 parameter to set which color pair is current.
2121 On a Tektronix-like terminal, the capability <STRONG>ccc</STRONG> may be
2122 present to indicate that colors can be modified. If so,
2123 the <STRONG>initc</STRONG> capability will take a color number (0 to <STRONG>colors</STRONG>
2124 - 1)and three more parameters which describe the color.
2125 These three parameters default to being interpreted as RGB
2126 (Red, Green, Blue) values. If the boolean capability <STRONG>hls</STRONG>
2127 is present, they are instead as HLS (Hue, Lightness, Satu-
2128 ration) indices. The ranges are terminal-dependent.
2130 On an HP-like terminal, <STRONG>initp</STRONG> may give a capability for
2131 changing a color-pair value. It will take seven parame-
2132 ters; a color-pair number (0 to <STRONG>max_pairs</STRONG> - 1), and two
2133 triples describing first background and then foreground
2134 colors. These parameters must be (Red, Green, Blue) or
2135 (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) depending on <STRONG>hls</STRONG>.
2137 On some color terminals, colors collide with highlights.
2138 You can register these collisions with the <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> capability.
2139 This is a bit-mask of attributes not to be used when col-
2140 ors are enabled. The correspondence with the attributes
2141 understood by <STRONG>curses</STRONG> is as follows:
2143 <STRONG>Attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>Bit</STRONG> <STRONG>Decimal</STRONG> <STRONG>Set</STRONG> <STRONG>by</STRONG>
2152 A_ALTCHARSET 8 256 sgr
2153 A_HORIZONTAL 9 512 sgr1
2156 A_RIGHT 12 4096 sgr1
2158 A_VERTICAL 14 16384 sgr1
2159 A_ITALIC 15 32768 sitm
2161 For example, on many IBM PC consoles, the underline
2162 attribute collides with the foreground color blue and is
2163 not available in color mode. These should have an <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>
2166 SVr4 curses does nothing with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>, ncurses recognizes it
2167 and optimizes the output in favor of colors.
2169 <STRONG>Miscellaneous</STRONG>
2170 If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) charac-
2171 ter as a pad, then this can be given as pad. Only the
2172 first character of the pad string is used. If the termi-
2173 nal does not have a pad character, specify npc. Note that
2174 ncurses implements the termcap-compatible <STRONG>PC</STRONG> variable;
2175 though the application may set this value to something
2176 other than a null, ncurses will test <STRONG>npc</STRONG> first and use
2177 napms if the terminal has no pad character.
2179 If the terminal can move up or down half a line, this can
2180 be indicated with <STRONG>hu</STRONG> (half-line up) and <STRONG>hd</STRONG> (half-line
2181 down). This is primarily useful for superscripts and sub-
2182 scripts on hard-copy terminals. If a hard-copy terminal
2183 can eject to the next page (form feed), give this as <STRONG>ff</STRONG>
2184 (usually control L).
2186 If there is a command to repeat a given character a given
2187 number of times (to save time transmitting a large number
2188 of identical characters) this can be indicated with the
2189 parameterized string <STRONG>rep</STRONG>. The first parameter is the
2190 character to be repeated and the second is the number of
2191 times to repeat it. Thus, tparm(repeat_char, 'x', 10) is
2192 the same as "xxxxxxxxxx".
2194 If the terminal has a settable command character, such as
2195 the TEKTRONIX 4025, this can be indicated with <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG>. A
2196 prototype command character is chosen which is used in all
2197 capabilities. This character is given in the <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG> capa-
2198 bility to identify it. The following convention is sup-
2199 ported on some UNIX systems: The environment is to be
2200 searched for a <STRONG>CC</STRONG> variable, and if found, all occurrences
2201 of the prototype character are replaced with the character
2202 in the environment variable.
2204 Terminal descriptions that do not represent a specific
2205 kind of known terminal, such as <EM>switch</EM>, <EM>dialup</EM>, <EM>patch</EM>, and
2206 <EM>network</EM>, should include the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (generic) capability so
2207 that programs can complain that they do not know how to
2208 talk to the terminal. (This capability does not apply to
2209 <EM>virtual</EM> terminal descriptions for which the escape
2210 sequences are known.)
2212 If the terminal has a "meta key" which acts as a shift
2213 key, setting the 8th bit of any character transmitted,
2214 this fact can be indicated with <STRONG>km</STRONG>. Otherwise, software
2215 will assume that the 8th bit is parity and it will usually
2216 be cleared. If strings exist to turn this "meta mode" on
2217 and off, they can be given as <STRONG>smm</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmm</STRONG>.
2219 If the terminal has more lines of memory than will fit on
2220 the screen at once, the number of lines of memory can be
2221 indicated with <STRONG>lm</STRONG>. A value of <STRONG>lm</STRONG>#0 indicates that the
2222 number of lines is not fixed, but that there is still more
2223 memory than fits on the screen.
2225 If the terminal is one of those supported by the UNIX vir-
2226 tual terminal protocol, the terminal number can be given
2227 as <STRONG>vt</STRONG>.
2229 Media copy strings which control an auxiliary printer con-
2230 nected to the terminal can be given as <STRONG>mc0</STRONG>: print the con-
2231 tents of the screen, <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>: turn off the printer, and <STRONG>mc5</STRONG>:
2232 turn on the printer. When the printer is on, all text
2233 sent to the terminal will be sent to the printer. It is
2234 undefined whether the text is also displayed on the termi-
2235 nal screen when the printer is on. A variation <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> takes
2236 one parameter, and leaves the printer on for as many char-
2237 acters as the value of the parameter, then turns the
2238 printer off. The parameter should not exceed 255. All
2239 text, including <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>, is transparently passed to the
2240 printer while an <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> is in effect.
2242 <STRONG>Glitches</STRONG> <STRONG>and</STRONG> <STRONG>Braindamage</STRONG>
2243 Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow "~" characters to
2244 be displayed should indicate <STRONG>hz</STRONG>.
2246 Terminals which ignore a line-feed immediately after an <STRONG>am</STRONG>
2247 wrap, such as the Concept and vt100, should indicate <STRONG>xenl</STRONG>.
2249 If <STRONG>el</STRONG> is required to get rid of standout (instead of
2250 merely writing normal text on top of it), <STRONG>xhp</STRONG> should be
2253 Teleray terminals, where tabs turn all characters moved
2254 over to blanks, should indicate <STRONG>xt</STRONG> (destructive tabs).
2255 Note: the variable indicating this is now
2256 "dest_tabs_magic_smso"; in older versions, it was tel-
2257 eray_glitch. This glitch is also taken to mean that it is
2258 not possible to position the cursor on top of a "magic
2259 cookie", that to erase standout mode it is instead neces-
2260 sary to use delete and insert line. The ncurses implemen-
2261 tation ignores this glitch.
2263 The Beehive Superbee, which is unable to correctly trans-
2264 mit the escape or control C characters, has <STRONG>xsb</STRONG>, indicat-
2265 ing that the f1 key is used for escape and f2 for control
2266 C. (Only certain Superbees have this problem, depending
2267 on the ROM.) Note that in older terminfo versions, this
2268 capability was called "beehive_glitch"; it is now
2271 Other specific terminal problems may be corrected by
2272 adding more capabilities of the form <STRONG>x</STRONG><EM>x</EM>.
2274 <STRONG>Similar</STRONG> <STRONG>Terminals</STRONG>
2275 If there are two very similar terminals, one (the variant)
2276 can be defined as being just like the other (the base)
2277 with certain exceptions. In the definition of the vari-
2278 ant, the string capability <STRONG>use</STRONG> can be given with the name
2279 of the base terminal. The capabilities given before <STRONG>use</STRONG>
2280 override those in the base type named by <STRONG>use</STRONG>. If there
2281 are multiple <STRONG>use</STRONG> capabilities, they are merged in reverse
2282 order. That is, the rightmost <STRONG>use</STRONG> reference is processed
2283 first, then the one to its left, and so forth. Capabili-
2284 ties given explicitly in the entry override those brought
2285 in by <STRONG>use</STRONG> references.
2287 A capability can be canceled by placing <STRONG>xx@</STRONG> to the left of
2288 the use reference that imports it, where <EM>xx</EM> is the capa-
2289 bility. For example, the entry
2291 2621-nl, smkx@, rmkx@, use=2621,
2293 defines a 2621-nl that does not have the <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> or <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG>
2294 capabilities, and hence does not turn on the function key
2295 labels when in visual mode. This is useful for different
2296 modes for a terminal, or for different user preferences.
2298 <STRONG>Pitfalls</STRONG> <STRONG>of</STRONG> <STRONG>Long</STRONG> <STRONG>Entries</STRONG>
2299 Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to
2300 date, no entry has even approached terminfo's 4096-byte
2301 string-table maximum. Unfortunately, the termcap transla-
2302 tions are much more strictly limited (to 1023 bytes), thus
2303 termcap translations of long terminfo entries can cause
2306 The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions of <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG>
2307 instruct the user to allocate a 1024-byte buffer for the
2308 termcap entry. The entry gets null-terminated by the
2309 termcap library, so that makes the maximum safe length for
2310 a termcap entry 1k-1 (1023) bytes. Depending on what the
2311 application and the termcap library being used does, and
2312 where in the termcap file the terminal type that <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG>
2313 is searching for is, several bad things can happen.
2315 Some termcap libraries print a warning message or exit if
2316 they find an entry that's longer than 1023 bytes; others
2317 do not; others truncate the entries to 1023 bytes. Some
2318 application programs allocate more than the recommended 1K
2319 for the termcap entry; others do not.
2321 Each termcap entry has two important sizes associated with
2322 it: before "tc" expansion, and after "tc" expansion. "tc"
2323 is the capability that tacks on another termcap entry to
2324 the end of the current one, to add on its capabilities.
2325 If a termcap entry does not use the "tc" capability, then
2326 of course the two lengths are the same.
2328 The "before tc expansion" length is the most important
2329 one, because it affects more than just users of that par-
2330 ticular terminal. This is the length of the entry as it
2331 exists in /etc/termcap, minus the backslash-newline pairs,
2332 which <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> strips out while reading it. Some termcap
2333 libraries strip off the final newline, too (GNU termcap
2334 does not). Now suppose:
2336 <STRONG>o</STRONG> a termcap entry before expansion is more than 1023
2339 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the application has only allocated a 1k buffer,
2341 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and the termcap library (like the one in BSD/OS 1.1
2342 and GNU) reads the whole entry into the buffer, no
2343 matter what its length, to see if it is the entry it
2346 <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> is searching for a terminal type that
2347 either is the long entry, appears in the termcap file
2348 after the long entry, or does not appear in the file
2349 at all (so that <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> has to search the whole
2352 Then <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> will overwrite memory, perhaps its stack,
2353 and probably core dump the program. Programs like telnet
2354 are particularly vulnerable; modern telnets pass along
2355 values like the terminal type automatically. The results
2356 are almost as undesirable with a termcap library, like
2357 SunOS 4.1.3 and Ultrix 4.4, that prints warning messages
2358 when it reads an overly long termcap entry. If a termcap
2359 library truncates long entries, like OSF/1 3.0, it is
2360 immune to dying here but will return incorrect data for
2363 The "after tc expansion" length will have a similar effect
2364 to the above, but only for people who actually set TERM to
2365 that terminal type, since <STRONG>tgetent()</STRONG> only does "tc" expan-
2366 sion once it is found the terminal type it was looking
2367 for, not while searching.
2369 In summary, a termcap entry that is longer than 1023 bytes
2370 can cause, on various combinations of termcap libraries
2371 and applications, a core dump, warnings, or incorrect
2372 operation. If it is too long even before "tc" expansion,
2373 it will have this effect even for users of some other ter-
2374 minal types and users whose TERM variable does not have a
2377 When in -C (translate to termcap) mode, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> imple-
2378 mentation of <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG> issues warning messages when the pre-
2379 tc length of a termcap translation is too long. The -c
2380 (check) option also checks resolved (after tc expansion)
2383 <STRONG>Binary</STRONG> <STRONG>Compatibility</STRONG>
2384 It is not wise to count on portability of binary terminfo
2385 entries between commercial UNIX versions. The problem is
2386 that there are at least two versions of terminfo (under
2387 HP-UX and AIX) which diverged from System V terminfo after
2388 SVr1, and have added extension capabilities to the string
2389 table that (in the binary format) collide with System V
2390 and XSI Curses extensions.
2394 <H2>EXTENSIONS</H2><PRE>
2395 Searching for terminal descriptions in <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> and
2396 TERMINFO_DIRS is not supported by older implementations.
2398 Some SVr4 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> implementations, and all previous to
2399 SVr4, do not interpret the %A and %O operators in parame-
2402 SVr4/XPG4 do not specify whether <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> licenses movement
2403 while in an alternate-character-set mode (such modes may,
2404 among other things, map CR and NL to characters that do
2405 not trigger local motions). The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation
2406 ignores <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> in <STRONG>ALTCHARSET</STRONG> mode. This raises the possi-
2407 bility that an XPG4 implementation making the opposite
2408 interpretation may need terminfo entries made for <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
2409 to have <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> turned off.
2411 The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library handles insert-character and insert-
2412 character modes in a slightly non-standard way to get bet-
2413 ter update efficiency. See the <STRONG>Insert/Delete</STRONG> <STRONG>Character</STRONG>
2416 The parameter substitutions for <STRONG>set_clock</STRONG> and <STRONG>dis-</STRONG>
2417 <STRONG>play_clock</STRONG> are not documented in SVr4 or the XSI Curses
2418 standard. They are deduced from the documentation for the
2419 AT&T 505 terminal.
2421 Be careful assigning the <STRONG>kmous</STRONG> capability. The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
2422 wants to interpret it as <STRONG>KEY_MOUSE</STRONG>, for use by terminals
2423 and emulators like xterm that can return mouse-tracking
2424 information in the keyboard-input stream.
2426 X/Open Curses does not mention italics. Portable applica-
2427 tions must assume that numeric capabilities are signed
2428 16-bit values. This includes the <EM>no</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>color</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>video</EM> (ncv)
2429 capability. The 32768 mask value used for italics with
2430 ncv can be confused with an absent or cancelled ncv. If
2431 italics should work with colors, then the ncv value must
2432 be specified, even if it is zero.
2434 Different commercial ports of terminfo and curses support
2435 different subsets of the XSI Curses standard and (in some
2436 cases) different extension sets. Here is a summary, accu-
2437 rate as of October 1995:
2439 <STRONG>SVR4,</STRONG> <STRONG>Solaris,</STRONG> <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> -- These support all SVr4 capabili-
2442 <STRONG>SGI</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr4 set, adds one undocumented
2443 extended string capability (<STRONG>set_pglen</STRONG>).
2445 <STRONG>SVr1,</STRONG> <STRONG>Ultrix</STRONG> -- These support a restricted subset of ter-
2446 minfo capabilities. The booleans end with <STRONG>xon_xoff</STRONG>; the
2447 numerics with <STRONG>width_status_line</STRONG>; and the strings with
2448 <STRONG>prtr_non</STRONG>.
2450 <STRONG>HP/UX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus the SVr[234]
2451 numerics <STRONG>num_labels</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_height</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_width</STRONG>, plus func-
2452 tion keys 11 through 63, plus <STRONG>plab_norm</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_on</STRONG>, and
2453 <STRONG>label_off</STRONG>, plus some incompatible extensions in the string
2456 <STRONG>AIX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11
2457 through 63, plus a number of incompatible string table
2460 <STRONG>OSF</STRONG> -- Supports both the SVr4 set and the AIX extensions.
2465 /usr/share/terminfo/?/* files containing terminal
2470 <H2>SEE ALSO</H2><PRE>
2471 <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>printf(3)</STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>.
2472 <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>.
2476 <H2>AUTHORS</H2><PRE>
2477 Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.
2478 Based on pcurses by Pavel Curtis.
2482 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
2486 Man(1) output converted with
2487 <a href="http://www.oac.uci.edu/indiv/ehood/man2html.html">man2html</a>
projects / ncurses.git / blob