ncurses 3x



ncurses(3x)                                                 ncurses(3x)




NAME

       ncurses - CRT screen handling and optimization package


SYNOPSIS

       #include <curses.h>


DESCRIPTION

       The  ncurses  library  routines  give the user a terminal-
       independent method of updating character screens with rea-
       sonable   optimization.    This  implementation  is  ``new
       curses'' (ncurses) and is  the  approved  replacement  for
       4.4BSD  classic curses, which has been discontinued.  This
       describes ncurses version 5.7 (patch 20100529).

       The ncurses library emulates the curses library of  System
       V  Release  4  UNIX,  and  XPG4 (X/Open Portability Guide)
       curses (also known as XSI curses).  XSI stands for  X/Open
       System  Interfaces  Extension.   The  ncurses  library  is
       freely redistributable in source form.   Differences  from
       the  SVr4  curses  are summarized under the EXTENSIONS and
       PORTABILITY sections below and described in detail in  the
       respective  EXTENSIONS,  PORTABILITY  and BUGS sections of
       individual man pages.

       The ncurses library also provides many useful  extensions,
       i.e.,  features  which  cannot  be implemented by a simple
       add-on library but which require access to  the  internals
       of the library.

       A  program  using  these  routines must be linked with the
       -lncurses option, or (if it has been generated)  with  the
       debugging  library  -lncurses_g.   (Your system integrator
       may also have installed these libraries  under  the  names
       -lcurses and -lcurses_g.)  The ncurses_g library generates
       trace logs (in a file called 'trace' in the current direc-
       tory)  that describe curses actions.  See also the section
       on ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS.

       The ncurses package supports: overall screen,  window  and
       pad manipulation; output to windows and pads; reading ter-
       minal input; control over terminal and  curses  input  and
       output  options; environment query routines; color manipu-
       lation; use of soft label keys; terminfo capabilities; and
       access to low-level terminal-manipulation routines.

       The  library uses the locale which the calling program has
       initialized.  That is normally done with setlocale:

             setlocale(LC_ALL, "");

       If the locale is not initialized, the library assumes that
       characters  are  printable  as in ISO-8859-1, to work with
       certain legacy programs.  You should initialize the locale
       and  not  rely on specific details of the library when the
       locale has not been setup.

       The function initscr or newterm must be called to initial-
       ize the library before any of the other routines that deal
       with windows and screens are  used.   The  routine  endwin
       must be called before exiting.

       To  get  character-at-a-time  input  without echoing (most
       interactive, screen oriented programs want this), the fol-
       lowing sequence should be used:

             initscr(); cbreak(); noecho();

       Most programs would additionally use the sequence:

             nonl();
             intrflush(stdscr, FALSE);
             keypad(stdscr, TRUE);

       Before  a curses program is run, the tab stops of the ter-
       minal should be set and  its  initialization  strings,  if
       defined,  must  be  output.  This can be done by executing
       the tput init command after the shell environment variable
       TERM  has  been  exported.  tset(1) is usually responsible
       for doing this.  [See terminfo(5) for further details.]

       The ncurses library permits manipulation  of  data  struc-
       tures,  called  windows,  which  can be thought of as two-
       dimensional arrays of characters representing all or  part
       of a CRT screen.  A default window called stdscr, which is
       the size of the terminal screen, is supplied.  Others  may
       be created with newwin.

       Note  that  curses  does  not  handle overlapping windows,
       that's done by the panel(3x) library.  This means that you
       can either use stdscr or divide the screen into tiled win-
       dows and not using stdscr at all.   Mixing  the  two  will
       result in unpredictable, and undesired, effects.

       Windows are referred to by variables declared as WINDOW *.
       These  data  structures  are  manipulated  with   routines
       described  here and elsewhere in the ncurses manual pages.
       Among those, the most basic routines are move  and  addch.
       More  general versions of these routines are included with
       names beginning with w, allowing the  user  to  specify  a
       window.  The routines not beginning with w affect stdscr.

       After  using  routines  to manipulate a window, refresh is
       called, telling curses to make the user's CRT screen  look
       like  stdscr.   The characters in a window are actually of
       type chtype, (character and attribute data) so that  other
       information  about  the  character may also be stored with
       each character.

       Special windows  called  pads  may  also  be  manipulated.
       These are windows which are not constrained to the size of
       the screen and whose contents need not be completely  dis-
       played.  See curs_pad(3x) for more information.

       In  addition  to  drawing  characters on the screen, video
       attributes and colors may be supported, causing the  char-
       acters  to show up in such modes as underlined, in reverse
       video, or in color on terminals that support such  display
       enhancements.  Line drawing characters may be specified to
       be output.  On input, curses is  also  able  to  translate
       arrow  and  function  keys  that transmit escape sequences
       into single values.  The video  attributes,  line  drawing
       characters,   and  input  values  use  names,  defined  in
       <curses.h>, such as A_REVERSE, ACS_HLINE, and KEY_LEFT.

       If the environment variables LINES and COLUMNS are set, or
       if  the program is executing in a window environment, line
       and column information in the  environment  will  override
       information read by terminfo.  This would affect a program
       running in an AT&T 630 layer, for example, where the  size
       of a screen is changeable (see ENVIRONMENT).

       If  the environment variable TERMINFO is defined, any pro-
       gram using curses checks for a local  terminal  definition
       before  checking  in  the standard place.  For example, if
       TERM is set to att4424, then the compiled terminal defini-
       tion is found in

             /usr/share/terminfo/a/att4424.

       (The a is copied from the first letter of att4424 to avoid
       creation of huge directories.)  However,  if  TERMINFO  is
       set to $HOME/myterms, curses first checks

             $HOME/myterms/a/att4424,

       and if that fails, it then checks

             /usr/share/terminfo/a/att4424.

       This  is useful for developing experimental definitions or
       when write permission in /usr/share/terminfo is not avail-
       able.

       The  integer  variables  LINES  and  COLS  are  defined in
       <curses.h> and will be filled in by initscr with the  size
       of the screen.  The constants TRUE and FALSE have the val-
       ues 1 and 0, respectively.

       The curses routines also  define  the  WINDOW  *  variable
       curscr which is used for certain low-level operations like
       clearing and redrawing a screen containing  garbage.   The
       curscr can be used in only a few routines.

   Routine and Argument Names
       Many  curses routines have two or more versions.  The rou-
       tines prefixed with w require a window argument.  The rou-
       tines prefixed with p require a pad argument.  Those with-
       out a prefix generally use stdscr.

       The routines prefixed with mv require a y and x coordinate
       to  move to before performing the appropriate action.  The
       mv routines imply a call to move before the  call  to  the
       other  routine.  The coordinate y always refers to the row
       (of the window), and x always refers to the  column.   The
       upper left-hand corner is always (0,0), not (1,1).

       The routines prefixed with mvw take both a window argument
       and x and y coordinates.  The window  argument  is  always
       specified before the coordinates.

       In  each  case, win is the window affected, and pad is the
       pad affected; win and pad are always pointers to type WIN-
       DOW.

       Option setting routines require a Boolean flag bf with the
       value TRUE or FALSE; bf is always of type bool.   Most  of
       the  data types used in the library routines, such as WIN-
       DOW, SCREEN, bool, and chtype are defined  in  <curses.h>.
       Types  used for the terminfo routines such as TERMINAL are
       defined in <term.h>.

       This manual page describes functions which may  appear  in
       any  configuration  of  the library.  There are two common
       configurations of the library:

              ncurses
                   the  "normal"  library,  which  handles  8-bit
                   characters.  The normal (8-bit) library stores
                   characters combined with attributes in  chtype
                   data.

                   Attributes  alone (no corresponding character)
                   may be stored  in  chtype  or  the  equivalent
                   attr_t  data.   In  either  case,  the data is
                   stored in something like an integer.

                   Each cell (row and  column)  in  a  WINDOW  is
                   stored as a chtype.

              ncursesw
                   the  so-called  "wide"  library, which handles
                   multibyte  characters  (See  the  section   on
                   ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS).  The "wide" library
                   includes all of the calls  from  the  "normal"
                   library.   It  adds about one third more calls
                   using data types which store multibyte charac-
                   ters:

                   cchar_t
                        corresponds  to  chtype.  However it is a
                        structure, because more  data  is  stored
                        than  can fit into an integer.  The char-
                        acters are large enough to require a full
                        integer  value  -  and  there may be more
                        than one character per cell.   The  video
                        attributes  and color are stored in sepa-
                        rate fields of the structure.

                        Each cell (row and column) in a WINDOW is
                        stored as a cchar_t.

                   wchar_t
                        stores  a "wide" character.  Like chtype,
                        this may be an integer.

                   wint_t
                        stores a wchar_t or WEOF - not the  same,
                        though both may have the same size.

                   The  "wide"  library  provides  new  functions
                   which are analogous to functions in the  "nor-
                   mal"  library.   There  is a naming convention
                   which relates many of  the  normal/wide  vari-
                   ants:  a  "_w" is inserted into the name.  For
                   example, waddch becomes wadd_wch.

   Routine Name Index
       The following table lists each curses routine and the name
       of  the  manual  page  on which it is described.  Routines
       flagged with `*' are ncurses-specific,  not  described  by
       XPG4 or present in SVr4.

              curses Routine Name     Manual Page Name
              --------------------------------------------
              COLOR_PAIR              curs_color(3x)
              PAIR_NUMBER             curs_attr(3x)
              _nc_free_and_exit       curs_memleaks(3x)*
              _nc_freeall             curs_memleaks(3x)*
              _nc_tracebits           curs_trace(3x)*

              _traceattr              curs_trace(3x)*
              _traceattr2             curs_trace(3x)*
              _tracechar              curs_trace(3x)*
              _tracechtype            curs_trace(3x)*
              _tracechtype2           curs_trace(3x)*
              _tracedump              curs_trace(3x)*
              _tracef                 curs_trace(3x)*
              _tracemouse             curs_trace(3x)*
              add_wch                 curs_add_wch(3x)
              add_wchnstr             curs_add_wchstr(3x)
              add_wchstr              curs_add_wchstr(3x)
              addch                   curs_addch(3x)
              addchnstr               curs_addchstr(3x)
              addchstr                curs_addchstr(3x)
              addnstr                 curs_addstr(3x)
              addnwstr                curs_addwstr(3x)
              addstr                  curs_addstr(3x)
              addwstr                 curs_addwstr(3x)
              assume_default_colors   default_colors(3x)*
              attr_get                curs_attr(3x)
              attr_off                curs_attr(3x)
              attr_on                 curs_attr(3x)
              attr_set                curs_attr(3x)
              attroff                 curs_attr(3x)
              attron                  curs_attr(3x)
              attrset                 curs_attr(3x)
              baudrate                curs_termattrs(3x)
              beep                    curs_beep(3x)
              bkgd                    curs_bkgd(3x)
              bkgdset                 curs_bkgd(3x)
              bkgrnd                  curs_bkgrnd(3x)
              bkgrndset               curs_bkgrnd(3x)
              border                  curs_border(3x)
              border_set              curs_border_set(3x)
              box                     curs_border(3x)
              box_set                 curs_border_set(3x)
              can_change_color        curs_color(3x)
              cbreak                  curs_inopts(3x)
              chgat                   curs_attr(3x)
              clear                   curs_clear(3x)
              clearok                 curs_outopts(3x)
              clrtobot                curs_clear(3x)
              clrtoeol                curs_clear(3x)
              color_content           curs_color(3x)
              color_set               curs_attr(3x)
              copywin                 curs_overlay(3x)
              curs_set                curs_kernel(3x)
              curses_version          curs_extend(3x)*
              def_prog_mode           curs_kernel(3x)
              def_shell_mode          curs_kernel(3x)
              define_key              define_key(3x)*
              del_curterm             curs_terminfo(3x)
              delay_output            curs_util(3x)
              delch                   curs_delch(3x)
              deleteln                curs_deleteln(3x)
              delscreen               curs_initscr(3x)
              delwin                  curs_window(3x)
              derwin                  curs_window(3x)
              doupdate                curs_refresh(3x)
              dupwin                  curs_window(3x)
              echo                    curs_inopts(3x)
              echo_wchar              curs_add_wch(3x)
              echochar                curs_addch(3x)
              endwin                  curs_initscr(3x)
              erase                   curs_clear(3x)

              erasechar               curs_termattrs(3x)
              erasewchar              curs_termattrs(3x)
              filter                  curs_util(3x)
              flash                   curs_beep(3x)
              flushinp                curs_util(3x)
              get_wch                 curs_get_wch(3x)
              get_wstr                curs_get_wstr(3x)
              getattrs                curs_attr(3x)
              getbegx                 curs_legacy(3x)*
              getbegy                 curs_legacy(3x)*
              getbegyx                curs_getyx(3x)
              getbkgd                 curs_bkgd(3x)
              getbkgrnd               curs_bkgrnd(3x)
              getcchar                curs_getcchar(3x)
              getch                   curs_getch(3x)
              getcurx                 curs_legacy(3x)*
              getcury                 curs_legacy(3x)*
              getmaxx                 curs_legacy(3x)*
              getmaxy                 curs_legacy(3x)*
              getmaxyx                curs_getyx(3x)
              getmouse                curs_mouse(3x)*
              getn_wstr               curs_get_wstr(3x)
              getnstr                 curs_getstr(3x)
              getparx                 curs_legacy(3x)*
              getpary                 curs_legacy(3x)*
              getparyx                curs_getyx(3x)
              getstr                  curs_getstr(3x)
              getsyx                  curs_kernel(3x)
              getwin                  curs_util(3x)
              getyx                   curs_getyx(3x)
              halfdelay               curs_inopts(3x)
              has_colors              curs_color(3x)
              has_ic                  curs_termattrs(3x)
              has_il                  curs_termattrs(3x)
              has_key                 curs_getch(3x)*
              hline                   curs_border(3x)
              hline_set               curs_border_set(3x)
              idcok                   curs_outopts(3x)
              idlok                   curs_outopts(3x)
              immedok                 curs_outopts(3x)
              in_wch                  curs_in_wch(3x)
              in_wchnstr              curs_in_wchstr(3x)
              in_wchstr               curs_in_wchstr(3x)
              inch                    curs_inch(3x)
              inchnstr                curs_inchstr(3x)
              inchstr                 curs_inchstr(3x)
              init_color              curs_color(3x)
              init_pair               curs_color(3x)
              initscr                 curs_initscr(3x)
              innstr                  curs_instr(3x)
              innwstr                 curs_inwstr(3x)
              ins_nwstr               curs_ins_wstr(3x)
              ins_wch                 curs_ins_wch(3x)
              ins_wstr                curs_ins_wstr(3x)
              insch                   curs_insch(3x)
              insdelln                curs_deleteln(3x)
              insertln                curs_deleteln(3x)
              insnstr                 curs_insstr(3x)
              insstr                  curs_insstr(3x)
              instr                   curs_instr(3x)
              intrflush               curs_inopts(3x)
              inwstr                  curs_inwstr(3x)
              is_cleared              curs_opaque(3x)*
              is_idcok                curs_opaque(3x)*
              is_idlok                curs_opaque(3x)*

              is_immedok              curs_opaque(3x)*
              is_keypad               curs_opaque(3x)*
              is_leaveok              curs_opaque(3x)*
              is_linetouched          curs_touch(3x)
              is_nodelay              curs_opaque(3x)*
              is_notimeout            curs_opaque(3x)*
              is_scrollok             curs_opaque(3x)*
              is_syncok               curs_opaque(3x)*
              is_term_resized         resizeterm(3x)*
              is_wintouched           curs_touch(3x)
              isendwin                curs_initscr(3x)
              key_defined             key_defined(3x)*
              key_name                curs_util(3x)
              keybound                keybound(3x)*
              keyname                 curs_util(3x)
              keyok                   keyok(3x)*
              keypad                  curs_inopts(3x)
              killchar                curs_termattrs(3x)
              killwchar               curs_termattrs(3x)
              leaveok                 curs_outopts(3x)
              longname                curs_termattrs(3x)
              mcprint                 curs_print(3x)*
              meta                    curs_inopts(3x)
              mouse_trafo             curs_mouse(3x)*
              mouseinterval           curs_mouse(3x)*
              mousemask               curs_mouse(3x)*
              move                    curs_move(3x)
              mvadd_wch               curs_add_wch(3x)
              mvadd_wchnstr           curs_add_wchstr(3x)
              mvadd_wchstr            curs_add_wchstr(3x)
              mvaddch                 curs_addch(3x)
              mvaddchnstr             curs_addchstr(3x)
              mvaddchstr              curs_addchstr(3x)
              mvaddnstr               curs_addstr(3x)
              mvaddnwstr              curs_addwstr(3x)
              mvaddstr                curs_addstr(3x)
              mvaddwstr               curs_addwstr(3x)
              mvchgat                 curs_attr(3x)
              mvcur                   curs_terminfo(3x)
              mvdelch                 curs_delch(3x)
              mvderwin                curs_window(3x)
              mvget_wch               curs_get_wch(3x)
              mvget_wstr              curs_get_wstr(3x)
              mvgetch                 curs_getch(3x)
              mvgetn_wstr             curs_get_wstr(3x)
              mvgetnstr               curs_getstr(3x)
              mvgetstr                curs_getstr(3x)
              mvhline                 curs_border(3x)
              mvhline_set             curs_border_set(3x)
              mvin_wch                curs_in_wch(3x)
              mvin_wchnstr            curs_in_wchstr(3x)
              mvin_wchstr             curs_in_wchstr(3x)
              mvinch                  curs_inch(3x)
              mvinchnstr              curs_inchstr(3x)
              mvinchstr               curs_inchstr(3x)
              mvinnstr                curs_instr(3x)
              mvinnwstr               curs_inwstr(3x)
              mvins_nwstr             curs_ins_wstr(3x)
              mvins_wch               curs_ins_wch(3x)
              mvins_wstr              curs_ins_wstr(3x)
              mvinsch                 curs_insch(3x)
              mvinsnstr               curs_insstr(3x)
              mvinsstr                curs_insstr(3x)
              mvinstr                 curs_instr(3x)
              mvinwstr                curs_inwstr(3x)

              mvprintw                curs_printw(3x)
              mvscanw                 curs_scanw(3x)
              mvvline                 curs_border(3x)
              mvvline_set             curs_border_set(3x)
              mvwadd_wch              curs_add_wch(3x)
              mvwadd_wchnstr          curs_add_wchstr(3x)
              mvwadd_wchstr           curs_add_wchstr(3x)
              mvwaddch                curs_addch(3x)
              mvwaddchnstr            curs_addchstr(3x)
              mvwaddchstr             curs_addchstr(3x)
              mvwaddnstr              curs_addstr(3x)
              mvwaddnwstr             curs_addwstr(3x)
              mvwaddstr               curs_addstr(3x)
              mvwaddwstr              curs_addwstr(3x)
              mvwchgat                curs_attr(3x)
              mvwdelch                curs_delch(3x)
              mvwget_wch              curs_get_wch(3x)
              mvwget_wstr             curs_get_wstr(3x)
              mvwgetch                curs_getch(3x)
              mvwgetn_wstr            curs_get_wstr(3x)
              mvwgetnstr              curs_getstr(3x)
              mvwgetstr               curs_getstr(3x)
              mvwhline                curs_border(3x)
              mvwhline_set            curs_border_set(3x)
              mvwin                   curs_window(3x)
              mvwin_wch               curs_in_wch(3x)
              mvwin_wchnstr           curs_in_wchstr(3x)
              mvwin_wchstr            curs_in_wchstr(3x)
              mvwinch                 curs_inch(3x)
              mvwinchnstr             curs_inchstr(3x)
              mvwinchstr              curs_inchstr(3x)
              mvwinnstr               curs_instr(3x)
              mvwinnwstr              curs_inwstr(3x)
              mvwins_nwstr            curs_ins_wstr(3x)
              mvwins_wch              curs_ins_wch(3x)
              mvwins_wstr             curs_ins_wstr(3x)
              mvwinsch                curs_insch(3x)
              mvwinsnstr              curs_insstr(3x)
              mvwinsstr               curs_insstr(3x)
              mvwinstr                curs_instr(3x)
              mvwinwstr               curs_inwstr(3x)
              mvwprintw               curs_printw(3x)
              mvwscanw                curs_scanw(3x)
              mvwvline                curs_border(3x)
              mvwvline_set            curs_border_set(3x)
              napms                   curs_kernel(3x)
              newpad                  curs_pad(3x)
              newterm                 curs_initscr(3x)
              newwin                  curs_window(3x)
              nl                      curs_outopts(3x)
              nocbreak                curs_inopts(3x)
              nodelay                 curs_inopts(3x)
              noecho                  curs_inopts(3x)
              nofilter                curs_util(3x)*
              nonl                    curs_outopts(3x)
              noqiflush               curs_inopts(3x)
              noraw                   curs_inopts(3x)
              notimeout               curs_inopts(3x)
              overlay                 curs_overlay(3x)
              overwrite               curs_overlay(3x)
              pair_content            curs_color(3x)
              pechochar               curs_pad(3x)
              pnoutrefresh            curs_pad(3x)
              prefresh                curs_pad(3x)
              printw                  curs_printw(3x)

              putp                    curs_terminfo(3x)
              putwin                  curs_util(3x)
              qiflush                 curs_inopts(3x)
              raw                     curs_inopts(3x)
              redrawwin               curs_refresh(3x)
              refresh                 curs_refresh(3x)
              reset_prog_mode         curs_kernel(3x)
              reset_shell_mode        curs_kernel(3x)
              resetty                 curs_kernel(3x)
              resizeterm              resizeterm(3x)*
              restartterm             curs_terminfo(3x)
              ripoffline              curs_kernel(3x)
              savetty                 curs_kernel(3x)
              scanw                   curs_scanw(3x)
              scr_dump                curs_scr_dump(3x)
              scr_init                curs_scr_dump(3x)
              scr_restore             curs_scr_dump(3x)
              scr_set                 curs_scr_dump(3x)
              scrl                    curs_scroll(3x)
              scroll                  curs_scroll(3x)
              scrollok                curs_outopts(3x)
              set_curterm             curs_terminfo(3x)
              set_term                curs_initscr(3x)
              setcchar                curs_getcchar(3x)
              setscrreg               curs_outopts(3x)
              setsyx                  curs_kernel(3x)
              setterm                 curs_terminfo(3x)
              setupterm               curs_terminfo(3x)
              slk_attr                curs_slk(3x)*
              slk_attr_off            curs_slk(3x)
              slk_attr_on             curs_slk(3x)
              slk_attr_set            curs_slk(3x)
              slk_attroff             curs_slk(3x)
              slk_attron              curs_slk(3x)
              slk_attrset             curs_slk(3x)
              slk_clear               curs_slk(3x)
              slk_color               curs_slk(3x)
              slk_init                curs_slk(3x)
              slk_label               curs_slk(3x)
              slk_noutrefresh         curs_slk(3x)
              slk_refresh             curs_slk(3x)
              slk_restore             curs_slk(3x)
              slk_set                 curs_slk(3x)
              slk_touch               curs_slk(3x)
              standend                curs_attr(3x)
              standout                curs_attr(3x)
              start_color             curs_color(3x)
              subpad                  curs_pad(3x)
              subwin                  curs_window(3x)
              syncok                  curs_window(3x)
              term_attrs              curs_termattrs(3x)
              termattrs               curs_termattrs(3x)
              termname                curs_termattrs(3x)
              tgetent                 curs_termcap(3x)
              tgetflag                curs_termcap(3x)
              tgetnum                 curs_termcap(3x)
              tgetstr                 curs_termcap(3x)
              tgoto                   curs_termcap(3x)
              tigetflag               curs_terminfo(3x)
              tigetnum                curs_terminfo(3x)
              tigetstr                curs_terminfo(3x)
              timeout                 curs_inopts(3x)
              touchline               curs_touch(3x)
              touchwin                curs_touch(3x)
              tparm                   curs_terminfo(3x)

              tputs                   curs_termcap(3x)
              tputs                   curs_terminfo(3x)
              trace                   curs_trace(3x)*
              typeahead               curs_inopts(3x)
              unctrl                  curs_util(3x)
              unget_wch               curs_get_wch(3x)
              ungetch                 curs_getch(3x)
              ungetmouse              curs_mouse(3x)*
              untouchwin              curs_touch(3x)
              use_default_colors      default_colors(3x)*
              use_env                 curs_util(3x)
              use_extended_names      curs_extend(3x)*
              use_legacy_coding       legacy_coding(3x)*
              vid_attr                curs_terminfo(3x)
              vid_puts                curs_terminfo(3x)
              vidattr                 curs_terminfo(3x)
              vidputs                 curs_terminfo(3x)
              vline                   curs_border(3x)
              vline_set               curs_border_set(3x)
              vw_printw               curs_printw(3x)
              vw_scanw                curs_scanw(3x)
              vwprintw                curs_printw(3x)
              vwscanw                 curs_scanw(3x)
              wadd_wch                curs_add_wch(3x)
              wadd_wchnstr            curs_add_wchstr(3x)
              wadd_wchstr             curs_add_wchstr(3x)
              waddch                  curs_addch(3x)
              waddchnstr              curs_addchstr(3x)
              waddchstr               curs_addchstr(3x)
              waddnstr                curs_addstr(3x)
              waddnwstr               curs_addwstr(3x)
              waddstr                 curs_addstr(3x)
              waddwstr                curs_addwstr(3x)
              wattr_get               curs_attr(3x)
              wattr_off               curs_attr(3x)
              wattr_on                curs_attr(3x)
              wattr_set               curs_attr(3x)
              wattroff                curs_attr(3x)
              wattron                 curs_attr(3x)
              wattrset                curs_attr(3x)
              wbkgd                   curs_bkgd(3x)
              wbkgdset                curs_bkgd(3x)
              wbkgrnd                 curs_bkgrnd(3x)
              wbkgrndset              curs_bkgrnd(3x)
              wborder                 curs_border(3x)
              wborder_set             curs_border_set(3x)
              wchgat                  curs_attr(3x)
              wclear                  curs_clear(3x)
              wclrtobot               curs_clear(3x)
              wclrtoeol               curs_clear(3x)
              wcolor_set              curs_attr(3x)
              wcursyncup              curs_window(3x)
              wdelch                  curs_delch(3x)
              wdeleteln               curs_deleteln(3x)
              wecho_wchar             curs_add_wch(3x)
              wechochar               curs_addch(3x)
              wenclose                curs_mouse(3x)*
              werase                  curs_clear(3x)
              wget_wch                curs_get_wch(3x)
              wget_wstr               curs_get_wstr(3x)
              wgetbkgrnd              curs_bkgrnd(3x)
              wgetch                  curs_getch(3x)
              wgetn_wstr              curs_get_wstr(3x)
              wgetnstr                curs_getstr(3x)
              wgetstr                 curs_getstr(3x)

              whline                  curs_border(3x)
              whline_set              curs_border_set(3x)
              win_wch                 curs_in_wch(3x)
              win_wchnstr             curs_in_wchstr(3x)
              win_wchstr              curs_in_wchstr(3x)
              winch                   curs_inch(3x)
              winchnstr               curs_inchstr(3x)
              winchstr                curs_inchstr(3x)
              winnstr                 curs_instr(3x)
              winnwstr                curs_inwstr(3x)
              wins_nwstr              curs_ins_wstr(3x)
              wins_wch                curs_ins_wch(3x)
              wins_wstr               curs_ins_wstr(3x)
              winsch                  curs_insch(3x)
              winsdelln               curs_deleteln(3x)
              winsertln               curs_deleteln(3x)
              winsnstr                curs_insstr(3x)
              winsstr                 curs_insstr(3x)
              winstr                  curs_instr(3x)
              winwstr                 curs_inwstr(3x)
              wmouse_trafo            curs_mouse(3x)*
              wmove                   curs_move(3x)
              wnoutrefresh            curs_refresh(3x)
              wprintw                 curs_printw(3x)
              wredrawln               curs_refresh(3x)
              wrefresh                curs_refresh(3x)
              wresize                 wresize(3x)*
              wscanw                  curs_scanw(3x)
              wscrl                   curs_scroll(3x)
              wsetscrreg              curs_outopts(3x)
              wstandend               curs_attr(3x)
              wstandout               curs_attr(3x)
              wsyncdown               curs_window(3x)
              wsyncup                 curs_window(3x)
              wtimeout                curs_inopts(3x)
              wtouchln                curs_touch(3x)
              wunctrl                 curs_util(3x)
              wvline                  curs_border(3x)
              wvline_set              curs_border_set(3x)


RETURN VALUE

       Routines  that  return  an integer return ERR upon failure
       and an integer value other than ERR upon  successful  com-
       pletion,  unless  otherwise  noted in the routine descrip-
       tions.

       All macros return the  value  of  the  w  version,  except
       setscrreg, wsetscrreg, getyx, getbegyx, and getmaxyx.  The
       return values of setscrreg, wsetscrreg,  getyx,  getbegyx,
       and getmaxyx are undefined (i.e., these should not be used
       as the right-hand side of assignment statements).

       Routines that return pointers return NULL on error.


ENVIRONMENT

       The following environment symbols are useful for customiz-
       ing the runtime behavior of the ncurses library.  The most
       important ones have been already discussed in detail.

       BAUDRATE
            The debugging library checks this environment  symbol
            when the application has redirected output to a file.
            The symbol's numeric value is used for the  baudrate.
            If no value is found, ncurses uses 9600.  This allows
            testers to construct repeatable test-cases that  take
            into account costs that depend on baudrate.

       CC   When set, change occurrences of the command_character
            (i.e., the cmdch capability) of the  loaded  terminfo
            entries  to  the value of this symbol.  Very few ter-
            minfo entries provide this feature.

            Because this name is also used in  development  envi-
            ronments  to represent the C compiler's name, ncurses
            ignores it if it does not happen to be a single char-
            acter.

       COLUMNS
            Specify  the  width  of  the  screen  in  characters.
            Applications running in a windowing environment  usu-
            ally  are  able  to obtain the width of the window in
            which they are executing.   If  neither  the  COLUMNS
            value  nor  the  terminal's screen size is available,
            ncurses uses the size which may be specified  in  the
            terminfo database (i.e., the cols capability).

            It  is  important that your application use a correct
            size for the screen.  This  is  not  always  possible
            because  your  application  may  be running on a host
            which does not honor NAWS (Negotiations About  Window
            Size),  or  because  you  are  temporarily running as
            another user.  However, setting COLUMNS and/or  LINES
            overrides  the  library's  use  of  the  screen  size
            obtained from the operating system.

            Either COLUMNS or  LINES  symbols  may  be  specified
            independently.   This  is mainly useful to circumvent
            legacy misfeatures of  terminal  descriptions,  e.g.,
            xterm which commonly specifies a 65 line screen.  For
            best results, lines and cols should not be  specified
            in a terminal description for terminals which are run
            as emulations.

            Use the use_env function to disable all use of exter-
            nal environment (including system calls) to determine
            the screen size.

       ESCDELAY
            Specifies the total time, in milliseconds, for  which
            ncurses  will  await  a  character  sequence, e.g., a
            function key.  The default value, 1000  milliseconds,
            is enough for most uses.  However, it is made a vari-
            able to accommodate unusual applications.

            The most common instance where you may wish to change
            this  value is to work with slow hosts, e.g., running
            on a network.  If the  host  cannot  read  characters
            rapidly  enough,  it  will have the same effect as if
            the terminal did not send characters rapidly  enough.
            The library will still see a timeout.

            Note  that xterm mouse events are built up from char-
            acter sequences received from  the  xterm.   If  your
            application makes heavy use of multiple-clicking, you
            may wish to lengthen this default value  because  the
            timeout  applies to the composed multi-click event as
            well as the individual clicks.

            In addition to the environment variable, this  imple-
            mentation  provides  a  global variable with the same
            name.  Portable applications should not rely upon the
            presence  of ESCDELAY in either form, but setting the
            environment variable rather than the global  variable
            does  not  create problems when compiling an applica-
            tion.

       HOME Tells ncurses where your home directory is.  That  is
            where  it  may  read  and  write  auxiliary  terminal
            descriptions:

            $HOME/.termcap
            $HOME/.terminfo

       LINES
            Like COLUMNS, specify the height  of  the  screen  in
            characters.  See COLUMNS for a detailed description.

       MOUSE_BUTTONS_123
            This applies only to the OS/2 EMX port.  It specifies
            the order of buttons on the mouse.   OS/2  numbers  a
            3-button mouse inconsistently from other platforms:

            1 = left
            2 = right
            3 = middle.

            This symbol lets you customize the mouse.  The symbol
            must be three numeric digits 1-3 in any order,  e.g.,
            123  or  321.   If  it is not specified, ncurses uses
            132.

       NCURSES_ASSUMED_COLORS
            Override the compiled-in assumption that  the  termi-
            nal's   default   colors   are   white-on-black  (see
            default_colors(3x)).  You may set the foreground  and
            background  color  values with this environment vari-
            able by proving a  2-element  list:  foreground,back-
            ground.   For  example, to tell ncurses to not assume
            anything about the colors, set this to  "-1,-1".   To
            make  it  green-on-black, set it to "2,0".  Any posi-
            tive value from zero to the terminfo max_colors value
            is allowed.

       NCURSES_GPM_TERMS
            This  applies  only  to ncurses configured to use the
            GPM interface.

            If present, the environment variable is a list of one
            or  more  terminal names against which the TERM envi-
            ronment variable is matched.  Setting it to an  empty
            value  disables the GPM interface; using the built-in
            support for xterm, etc.

            If the environment variable is absent,  ncurses  will
            attempt to open GPM if TERM contains "linux".

       NCURSES_NO_HARD_TABS
            Ncurses  may  use tabs as part of the cursor movement
            optimization.  In some cases,  your  terminal  driver
            may  not handle these properly.  Set this environment
            variable to disable the feature.  You can also adjust
            your stty settings to avoid the problem.

       NCURSES_NO_MAGIC_COOKIES
            Some  terminals  use  a  magic-cookie  feature  which
            requires special handling to  make  highlighting  and
            other  video  attributes  display  properly.  You can
            suppress the highlighting entirely for  these  termi-
            nals by setting this environment variable.

       NCURSES_NO_PADDING
            Most  of  the  terminal  descriptions in the terminfo
            database are written for real  "hardware"  terminals.
            Many  people  use  terminal  emulators which run in a
            windowing environment and use  curses-based  applica-
            tions.   Terminal  emulators can duplicate all of the
            important aspects of a hardware terminal, but they do
            not  have the same limitations.  The chief limitation
            of a hardware terminal from the  standpoint  of  your
            application is the management of dataflow, i.e., tim-
            ing.  Unless a hardware terminal is interfaced into a
            terminal  concentrator  (which does flow control), it
            (or your application) must manage dataflow,  prevent-
            ing  overruns.   The  cheapest  solution (no hardware
            cost) is for your program to do this by pausing after
            operations  that  the  terminal  does slowly, such as
            clearing the display.

            As a result, many  terminal  descriptions  (including
            the  vt100)  have delay times embedded.  You may wish
            to use these descriptions, but not want  to  pay  the
            performance penalty.

            Set  the NCURSES_NO_PADDING symbol to disable all but
            mandatory padding.  Mandatory padding is  used  as  a
            part of special control sequences such as flash.

       NCURSES_NO_SETBUF
            Normally  ncurses enables buffered output during ter-
            minal initialization.   This  is  done  (as  in  SVr4
            curses)  for  performance  reasons.  For testing pur-
            poses, both of ncurses and certain applications, this
            feature    is    made    optional.     Setting    the
            NCURSES_NO_SETBUF variable disables output buffering,
            leaving  the  output  in  the  original (usually line
            buffered) mode.

       NCURSES_NO_UTF8_ACS
            During initialization, the ncurses library checks for
            special  cases where VT100 line-drawing (and the cor-
            responding  alternate  character  set   capabilities)
            described  in  the  terminfo are known to be missing.
            Specifically, when running in  a  UTF-8  locale,  the
            Linux  console  emulator  and  the GNU screen program
            ignore these.  Ncurses checks  the  TERM  environment
            variable  for  these.   For  other special cases, you
            should set this  environment  variable.   Doing  this
            tells  ncurses to use Unicode values which correspond
            to the VT100 line-drawing glyphs.  That works for the
            special cases cited, and is likely to work for termi-
            nal emulators.

            When setting this variable, you should set  it  to  a
            nonzero  value.   Setting it to zero (or to a nonnum-
            ber) disables  the  special  check  for  "linux"  and
            "screen".

       NCURSES_TRACE
            During  initialization, the ncurses debugging library
            checks the NCURSES_TRACE symbol.  If it  is  defined,
            to a numeric value, ncurses calls the trace function,
            using that value as the argument.

            The argument values, which are defined  in  curses.h,
            provide  several  types of information.  When running
            with traces enabled, your application will write  the
            file trace to the current directory.

       TERM Denotes  your  terminal  type.  Each terminal type is
            distinct, though many are similar.

       TERMCAP
            If the ncurses library has been configured with term-
            cap  support,  ncurses  will  check  for a terminal's
            description in termcap form if it is not available in
            the terminfo database.

            The   TERMCAP   symbol  contains  either  a  terminal
            description (with newlines stripped out), or  a  file
            name  telling  where  the  information denoted by the
            TERM symbol  exists.   In  either  case,  setting  it
            directs  ncurses  to  ignore the usual place for this
            information, e.g., /etc/termcap.

       TERMINFO
            Overrides the directory in which ncurses searches for
            your terminal description.  This is the simplest, but
            not the only way to change the list  of  directories.
            The complete list of directories in order follows:

            -  the last directory to which ncurses wrote, if any,
               is searched first

            -  the directory specified by the TERMINFO symbol

            -  $HOME/.terminfo

            -  directories listed in the TERMINFO_DIRS symbol

            -  one or more directories whose names are configured
               and  compiled  into  the  ncurses  library,  e.g.,
               /usr/share/terminfo

       TERMINFO_DIRS
            Specifies a list of directories to search for  termi-
            nal  descriptions.   The  list is separated by colons
            (i.e., ":") on Unix, semicolons on OS/2 EMX.  All  of
            the terminal descriptions are in terminfo form, which
            makes a subdirectory named for the  first  letter  of
            the terminal names therein.

       TERMPATH
            If  TERMCAP  does  not  hold a file name then ncurses
            checks the TERMPATH symbol.  This is a list of  file-
            names  separated  by  spaces or colons (i.e., ":") on
            Unix, semicolons on OS/2 EMX.  If the TERMPATH symbol
            is  not set, ncurses looks in the files /etc/termcap,
            /usr/share/misc/termcap and $HOME/.termcap,  in  that
            order.

       The  library  may be configured to disregard the following
       variables when the current user is the  superuser  (root),
       or  if  the application uses setuid or setgid permissions:
       $TERMINFO, $TERMINFO_DIRS, $TERMPATH, as well as $HOME.


ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS

       Several different configurations are  possible,  depending
       on   the  configure  script  options  used  when  building
       ncurses.  There are a few main options whose  effects  are
       visible to the applications developer using ncurses:

       --disable-overwrite
            The  standard include for ncurses is as noted in SYN-
            OPSIS:

            #include <curses.h>

            This option is used to avoid filename conflicts  when
            ncurses  is  not the main implementation of curses of
            the computer.   If  ncurses  is  installed  disabling
            overwrite,  it  puts  its  headers in a subdirectory,
            e.g.,

            #include <ncurses/curses.h>

            It also omits a symbolic link which would  allow  you
            to use -lcurses to build executables.

       --enable-widec
            The  configure script renames the library and (if the
            --disable-overwrite option is used) puts  the  header
            files  in  a  different  subdirectory.   All  of  the
            library names have a  "w"  appended  to  them,  i.e.,
            instead of

            -lncurses

            you link with

            -lncursesw

            You must also define _XOPEN_SOURCE_EXTENDED when com-
            piling for the  wide-character  library  to  use  the
            extended  (wide-character)  functions.   The curses.h
            file  which  is  installed  for  the   wide-character
            library  is designed to be compatible with the normal
            library's header.  Only the size of the WINDOW struc-
            ture  differs, and very few applications require more
            than a  pointer  to  WINDOWs.   If  the  headers  are
            installed   allowing  overwrite,  the  wide-character
            library's headers should be installed last, to  allow
            applications  to  be  built using either library from
            the same set of headers.

       --with-shared

       --with-normal

       --with-debug

       --with-profile
            The shared and normal (static) library  names  differ
            by  their  suffixes,  e.g.,  libncurses.so  and libn-
            curses.a.  The debug and profiling  libraries  add  a
            "_g" and a "_p" to the root names respectively, e.g.,
            libncurses_g.a and libncurses_p.a.

       --with-trace
            The trace function  normally  resides  in  the  debug
            library, but it is sometimes useful to configure this
            in the  shared  library.   Configure  scripts  should
            check for the function's existence rather than assum-
            ing it is always in the debug library.


FILES

       /usr/share/tabset
            directory containing  initialization  files  for  the
            terminal capability database /usr/share/terminfo ter-
            minal capability database


SEE ALSO

       terminfo(5) and related pages whose  names  begin  "curs_"
       for detailed routine descriptions.


EXTENSIONS

       The  ncurses  library  can  be  compiled  with  an  option
       (-DUSE_GETCAP) that falls back to the old-style /etc/term-
       cap file if the terminal setup code cannot find a terminfo
       entry corresponding to TERM.  Use of this feature  is  not
       recommended,  as it essentially includes an entire termcap
       compiler in the ncurses startup code, at significant  cost
       in core and startup cycles.

       The  ncurses  library  includes  facilities  for capturing
       mouse events on certain terminals (including xterm).   See
       the curs_mouse(3x) manual page for details.

       The  ncurses library includes facilities for responding to
       window resizing events, e.g., when running  in  an  xterm.
       See  the  resizeterm(3x)  and wresize(3x) manual pages for
       details.  In addition, the library may be configured  with
       a SIGWINCH handler.

       The  ncurses library extends the fixed set of function key
       capabilities of  terminals  by  allowing  the  application
       designer  to  define  additional key sequences at runtime.
       See the define_key(3x) key_defined(3x), and keyok(3x) man-
       ual pages for details.

       The ncurses library can exploit the capabilities of termi-
       nals which implement the ISO-6429 SGR 39 and SGR  49  con-
       trols, which allow an application to reset the terminal to
       its original foreground and background colors.   From  the
       users'  perspective,  the application is able to draw col-
       ored text on a background  whose  color  is  set  indepen-
       dently,  providing  better  control  over color contrasts.
       See the default_colors(3x) manual page for details.

       The ncurses library  includes  a  function  for  directing
       application  output  to a printer attached to the terminal
       device.  See the curs_print(3x) manual page for details.


PORTABILITY

       The ncurses library is intended to be  BASE-level  confor-
       mant with XSI Curses.  The EXTENDED XSI Curses functional-
       ity (including color support) is supported.

       A small number of local differences (that  is,  individual
       differences  between the XSI Curses and ncurses calls) are
       described in  PORTABILITY  sections  of  the  library  man
       pages.

       This implementation also contains several extensions:

            The  routine  has_key  is not part of XPG4, nor is it
            present in SVr4.  See the curs_getch(3x) manual  page
            for details.

            The  routine  slk_attr is not part of XPG4, nor is it
            present in SVr4.  See the  curs_slk(3x)  manual  page
            for details.

            The  routines  getmouse,  mousemask, ungetmouse, mou-
            seinterval, and wenclose relating to mouse  interfac-
            ing  are  not  part  of XPG4, nor are they present in
            SVr4.   See  the  curs_mouse(3x)  manual   page   for
            details.

            The  routine  mcprint was not present in any previous
            curses implementation.  See the curs_print(3x) manual
            page for details.

            The  routine  wresize  is not part of XPG4, nor is it
            present in SVr4.  See the wresize(3x) manual page for
            details.

            The WINDOW structure's internal details can be hidden
            from application programs.  See  curs_opaque(3x)  for
            the discussion of is_scrollok, etc.

       In  historic curses versions, delays embedded in the capa-
       bilities cr, ind, cub1, ff and tab activated corresponding
       delay  bits  in  the UNIX tty driver.  In this implementa-
       tion, all padding is done  by  sending  NUL  bytes.   This
       method  is slightly more expensive, but narrows the inter-
       face to the UNIX kernel significantly  and  increases  the
       package's portability correspondingly.


NOTES

       The  header  file  <curses.h>  automatically  includes the
       header files <stdio.h> and <unctrl.h>.

       If standard output from a ncurses program  is  re-directed
       to  something  which  is not a tty, screen updates will be
       directed to standard error.  This was an undocumented fea-
       ture of AT&T System V Release 3 curses.


AUTHORS

       Zeyd  M.  Ben-Halim,  Eric  S.  Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.
       Based on pcurses by Pavel Curtis.



                                                            ncurses(3x)

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