curs_termcap 3x

curs_termcap(3x)                                       curs_termcap(3x)

NAME

       PC, UP, BC, ospeed, tgetent, tgetflag, tgetnum, tgetstr,
       tgoto, tputs - direct curses interface to the terminfo
       capability database

SYNOPSIS

       #include <curses.h>
       #include <term.h>

       extern char PC;
       extern char * UP;
       extern char * BC;
       extern short ospeed;

       int tgetent(char *bp, const char *name);
       int tgetflag(char *id);
       int tgetnum(char *id);
       char *tgetstr(char *id, char **area);
       char *tgoto(const char *cap, int col, int row);
       int tputs(const char *str, int affcnt, int (*putc)(int));

DESCRIPTION

       These  routines  are included as a conversion aid for pro-
       grams that use the termcap library.  Their parameters  are
       the  same and the routines are emulated using the terminfo
       database.  Thus, they can only be used to query the  capa-
       bilities  of  entries  for which a terminfo entry has been
       compiled.

       The tgetent routine loads the entry for name.  It returns:

          1  on success,

          0  if  there  is no such entry (or that it is a generic
             type, having too little information for  curses  ap-
             plications to run), and

          -1 if the terminfo database could not be found.

       This differs from the termcap library in two ways:

          -  The  emulation  ignores  the buffer pointer bp.  The
             termcap library would store a copy of  the  terminal
             description  in the area referenced by this pointer.
             However, ncurses stores its terminal descriptions in
             compiled binary form, which is not the same thing.

          -  There  is a difference in return codes.  The termcap
             library does not check if the  terminal  description
             is  marked  with  the  generic capability, or if the
             terminal description has cursor-addressing.

       The tgetflag routine gets the boolean entry for id, or ze-
       ro if it is not available.

       The  tgetnum  routine gets the numeric entry for id, or -1
       if it is not available.

       The tgetstr routine returns the string entry  for  id,  or
       zero  if it is not available.  Use tputs to output the re-
       turned string.  The return value will also  be  copied  to
       the  buffer pointed to by area, and the area value will be
       updated to point past the null ending this value.

       Only the first two characters of the id parameter of tget-
       flag, tgetnum and tgetstr are compared in lookups.

       The  tgoto  routine  instantiates  the parameters into the
       given capability.  The output from this routine is  to  be
       passed to tputs.

       The  tputs  routine  is described on the curs_terminfo(3x)
       manual page.  It can retrieve capabilities by either term-
       cap or terminfo name.

       The variables PC, UP and BC are set by tgetent to the ter-
       minfo   entry's   data   for   pad_char,   cursor_up   and
       backspace_if_not_bs,  respectively.   UP  is  not  used by
       ncurses.  PC is used in the tdelay_output function.  BC is
       used  in  the tgoto emulation.  The variable ospeed is set
       by ncurses in a system-specific coding to reflect the ter-
       minal speed.

RETURN VALUE

       Except where explicitly noted, routines that return an in-
       teger return ERR upon failure and OK (SVr4 only  specifies
       "an integer value other than ERR") upon successful comple-
       tion.

       Routines that return pointers return NULL on error.

BUGS

       If you call tgetstr to fetch ca or any other parameterized
       string,  be aware that it will be returned in terminfo no-
       tation, not the older and not-quite-compatible termcap no-
       tation.   This  will not cause problems if all you do with
       it is call tgoto or tparm,  which  both  expand  terminfo-
       style  strings  as terminfo.  (The tgoto function, if con-
       figured to support termcap, will check if  the  string  is
       indeed  terminfo-style  by  looking for "%p" parameters or
       "$<..>" delays, and invoke a termcap-style parser  if  the
       string does not appear to be terminfo).

       Because  terminfo  conventions for representing padding in
       string capabilities differ  from  termcap's,  tputs("50");
       will  put  out a literal "50" rather than busy-waiting for
       50 milliseconds.  Cope with it.

       Note that termcap has nothing analogous to terminfo's  sgr
       string.   One consequence of this is that termcap applica-
       tions assume me (terminfo sgr0) does not reset the  alter-
       nate  character  set.  This implementation checks for, and
       modifies the data shown to the termcap interface to accom-
       modate termcap's limitation in this respect.

PORTABILITY

       The  XSI  Curses  standard,  Issue 4 describes these func-
       tions.  However, they are marked TO BE WITHDRAWN  and  may
       be removed in future versions.

       Neither  the  XSI  Curses  standard nor the SVr4 man pages
       documented the return values of tgetent correctly,  though
       all  three were in fact returned ever since SVr1.  In par-
       ticular, an omission in the XSI Curses  documentation  has
       been  misinterpreted  to  mean  that tgetent returns OK or
       ERR.  Because the purpose of these functions is to provide
       compatibility  with  the termcap library, that is a defect
       in XCurses, Issue 4, Version 2 rather than in ncurses.

       External variables are provided  for  support  of  certain
       termcap  applications.  However, termcap applications' use
       of those variables is poorly documented, e.g., not distin-
       guishing  between  input  and output.  In particular, some
       applications are reported to declare and/or modify ospeed.

SEE ALSO

       curses(3x), terminfo(5), term_variables(3x), putc(3).



                                                       curs_termcap(3x)