- <STRONG>start_color</STRONG> initializes eight basic colors (black, red,
- green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, and white), and two
- global variables, <STRONG>COLORS</STRONG> and <STRONG>COLOR_PAIRS</STRONG> (respectively
- defining the maximum number of colors and color-pairs the
- terminal can support). It also restores the colors on the
- terminal to the values they had when the terminal was just
- turned on. The <STRONG>init_pair</STRONG> routine changes the definition
- of a color-pair. It takes three arguments: the number of
- the color-pair to be changed, the foreground color number,
- and the background color number. For portable applica-
- tions:
-
- - The value of the first argument must be between <STRONG>1</STRONG> and
- <STRONG>COLOR_PAIRS-1</STRONG>.
-
- - The value of the second and third arguments must be
- between 0 and <STRONG>COLORS</STRONG>. Color pair 0 is assumed to be
- white on black, but is actually whatever the terminal
- implements before color is initialized. It cannot be
- modified by the application.
-
- If the color-pair was previously initialized, the screen
- is refreshed and all occurrences of that color-pair are
- changed to the new definition. As an extension, ncurses
- allows you to set color pair 0 via the <STRONG>assume_default_col-</STRONG>
- <STRONG>ors</STRONG> routine, or to specify the use of default colors (col-
- or number <STRONG>-1</STRONG>) if you first invoke the <STRONG>use_default_colors</STRONG>
- routine. The <STRONG>init_color</STRONG> routine changes the definition of
- a color. It takes four arguments: the number of the color
- to be changed followed by three RGB values (for the
- amounts of red, green, and blue components). The value of
- the first argument must be between <STRONG>0</STRONG> and <STRONG>COLORS</STRONG>. (See the
- section <STRONG>Colors</STRONG> for the default color index.) Each of the
- last three arguments must be a value between 0 and 1000.
- When <STRONG>init_color</STRONG> is used, all occurrences of that color on
- the screen immediately change to the new definition. The
- <STRONG>has_colors</STRONG> routine requires no arguments. It returns <STRONG>TRUE</STRONG>
- if the terminal can manipulate colors; otherwise, it re-
- turns <STRONG>FALSE</STRONG>. This routine facilitates writing terminal-
+ <STRONG>start_color</STRONG> does this:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> It initializes two global variables, <STRONG>COLORS</STRONG> and <STRONG>COL-</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>OR_PAIRS</STRONG> (respectively defining the maximum number of
+ colors and color-pairs the terminal can support).
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> It initializes the special color pair <STRONG>0</STRONG> to the default
+ foreground and background colors. No other color
+ pairs are initialized.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> It restores the colors on the terminal to the values
+ they had when the terminal was just turned on.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal supports the <STRONG>initc</STRONG> (<STRONG>initialize_color</STRONG>)
+ capability, <STRONG>start_color</STRONG> initializes its internal table
+ representing the red, green and blue components of the
+ color palette.
+
+ The components depend on whether the terminal uses CGA
+ (aka "ANSI") or HLS (i.e., the <STRONG>hls</STRONG> (<STRONG>hue_lightness_sat-</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>uration</STRONG>) capability is set). The table is initialized
+ first for eight basic colors (black, red, green, yel-
+ low, blue, magenta, cyan, and white), and after that
+ (if the terminal supports more than eight colors) the
+ components are initialized to <STRONG>1000</STRONG>.
+
+ <STRONG>start_color</STRONG> does not attempt to set the terminal's
+ color palette to match its built-in table. An appli-
+ cation may use <STRONG>init_color</STRONG> to alter the internal table
+ along with the terminal's color.
+
+ These limits apply to color values and color pairs. Val-
+ ues outside these limits are not legal, and may result in
+ a runtime error:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>COLORS</STRONG> corresponds to the terminal database's <STRONG>max_col-</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>ors</STRONG> capability, which is typically a signed 16-bit in-
+ teger (see <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>).
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> color values are expected to be in the range <STRONG>0</STRONG> to <STRONG>COL-</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>ORS-1</STRONG>, inclusive (including <STRONG>0</STRONG> and <STRONG>COLORS-1</STRONG>).
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> a special color value <STRONG>-1</STRONG> is used in certain extended
+ functions to denote the <EM>default</EM> <EM>color</EM> (see <STRONG>use_de-</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>fault_colors</STRONG>).
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>COLOR_PAIRS</STRONG> corresponds to the terminal database's
+ <STRONG>max_pairs</STRONG> capability, which is typically a signed
+ 16-bit integer (see <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>).
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> legal color pair values are in the range <STRONG>1</STRONG> to <STRONG>COL-</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>OR_PAIRS-1</STRONG>, inclusive.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> color pair <STRONG>0</STRONG> is special; it denotes "no color".
+
+ Color pair <STRONG>0</STRONG> is assumed to be white on black, but is
+ actually whatever the terminal implements before color
+ is initialized. It cannot be modified by the applica-
+ tion.
+
+ The <STRONG>init_pair</STRONG> routine changes the definition of a color-
+ pair. It takes three arguments: the number of the color-
+ pair to be changed, the foreground color number, and the
+ background color number. For portable applications:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The first argument must be a legal color pair value.
+ If default colors are used (see <STRONG>use_default_colors</STRONG>)
+ the upper limit is adjusted to allow for extra pairs
+ which use a default color in foreground and/or back-
+ ground.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The second and third arguments must be legal color
+ values.
+
+ If the color-pair was previously initialized, the screen
+ is refreshed and all occurrences of that color-pair are
+ changed to the new definition.
+
+ As an extension, ncurses allows you to set color pair <STRONG>0</STRONG>
+ via the <STRONG>assume_default_colors</STRONG> routine, or to specify the
+ use of default colors (color number <STRONG>-1</STRONG>) if you first in-
+ voke the <STRONG>use_default_colors</STRONG> routine.
+
+ The <STRONG>init_color</STRONG> routine changes the definition of a color.
+ It takes four arguments: the number of the color to be
+ changed followed by three RGB values (for the amounts of
+ red, green, and blue components). The first argument must
+ be a legal color value; default colors are not allowed
+ here. (See the section <STRONG>Colors</STRONG> for the default color in-
+ dex.) Each of the last three arguments must be a value in
+ the range <STRONG>0</STRONG> through <STRONG>1000</STRONG>. When <STRONG>init_color</STRONG> is used, all
+ occurrences of that color on the screen immediately change
+ to the new definition.
+
+ The <STRONG>has_colors</STRONG> routine requires no arguments. It returns
+ <STRONG>TRUE</STRONG> if the terminal can manipulate colors; otherwise, it
+ returns <STRONG>FALSE</STRONG>. This routine facilitates writing terminal-