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<H1>curs_color 3x</H1>
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<PRE>
-<!-- Manpage converted by man2html 3.0.1 -->
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG> <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
-<H2>NAME</H2><PRE>
+<H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
<STRONG>start_color</STRONG>, <STRONG>init_pair</STRONG>, <STRONG>init_color</STRONG>, <STRONG>has_colors</STRONG>,
<STRONG>can_change_color</STRONG>, <STRONG>color_content</STRONG>, <STRONG>pair_content</STRONG>, <STRONG>COLOR_PAIR</STRONG>
- <STRONG>curses</STRONG> color manipulation routines
</PRE>
-<H2>SYNOPSIS</H2><PRE>
+<H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
<STRONG>#</STRONG> <STRONG>include</STRONG> <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>
+
<STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>start_color(void);</STRONG>
<STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>init_pair(short</STRONG> <STRONG>pair,</STRONG> <STRONG>short</STRONG> <STRONG>f,</STRONG> <STRONG>short</STRONG> <STRONG>b);</STRONG>
<STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>init_color(short</STRONG> <STRONG>color,</STRONG> <STRONG>short</STRONG> <STRONG>r,</STRONG> <STRONG>short</STRONG> <STRONG>g,</STRONG> <STRONG>short</STRONG> <STRONG>b);</STRONG>
</PRE>
-<H2>DESCRIPTION</H2><PRE>
- <STRONG>Overview</STRONG>
+<H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
+
+</PRE>
+<H3><a name="h3-Overview">Overview</a></H3><PRE>
<STRONG>curses</STRONG> support color attributes on terminals with that ca-
pability. To use these routines <STRONG>start_color</STRONG> must be
called, usually right after <STRONG>initscr</STRONG>. Colors are always
The routine <STRONG>pair_content</STRONG> allows a programmer to find out
how a given color-pair is currently defined.
- <STRONG>Routine</STRONG> <STRONG>Descriptions</STRONG>
+
+</PRE>
+<H3><a name="h3-Routine-Descriptions">Routine Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
The <STRONG>start_color</STRONG> routine requires no arguments. It must be
called if the programmer wants to use colors, and before
any other color manipulation routine is called. It is
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
+ 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:
- - The value of the first argument must be between <STRONG>1</STRONG> and
- <STRONG>COLOR_PAIRS-1</STRONG>, except that 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 background.
+ <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.
- - 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.
+ <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 0
+ 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 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
+ 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-
- independent programs. For example, a programmer can use
- it to decide whether to use color or some other video at-
+ independent programs. For example, a programmer can use
+ it to decide whether to use color or some other video at-
tribute.
- The <STRONG>can_change_color</STRONG> routine requires no arguments. It
- returns <STRONG>TRUE</STRONG> if the terminal supports colors and can
- change their definitions; other, it returns <STRONG>FALSE</STRONG>. This
+ The <STRONG>can_change_color</STRONG> routine requires no arguments. It
+ returns <STRONG>TRUE</STRONG> if the terminal supports colors and can
+ change their definitions; other, it returns <STRONG>FALSE</STRONG>. This
routine facilitates writing terminal-independent programs.
- The <STRONG>color_content</STRONG> routine gives programmers a way to find
+ The <STRONG>color_content</STRONG> routine gives programmers a way to find
the intensity of the red, green, and blue (RGB) components
in a color. It requires four arguments: the color number,
- and three addresses of <STRONG>short</STRONG>s for storing the information
- about the amounts of red, green, and blue components in
- the given color. The value of the first argument must be
- between 0 and <STRONG>COLORS</STRONG>. The values that are stored at the
- addresses pointed to by the last three arguments are be-
- tween 0 (no component) and 1000 (maximum amount of compo-
- nent).
-
- The <STRONG>pair_content</STRONG> routine allows programmers to find out
- what colors a given color-pair consists of. It requires
- three arguments: the color-pair number, and two addresses
- of <STRONG>short</STRONG>s for storing the foreground and the background
- color numbers. The value of the first argument must be
- between 1 and <STRONG>COLOR_PAIRS-1</STRONG>. The values that are stored
- at the addresses pointed to by the second and third argu-
- ments are between 0 and <STRONG>COLORS</STRONG>.
-
- <STRONG>Colors</STRONG>
+ and three addresses of <STRONG>short</STRONG>s for storing the information
+ about the amounts of red, green, and blue components in
+ the given color. The first argument must be a legal color
+ value, i.e., <STRONG>0</STRONG> through <STRONG>COLORS-1</STRONG>, inclusive. The values
+ that are stored at the addresses pointed to by the last
+ three arguments are in the range <STRONG>0</STRONG> (no component) through
+ <STRONG>1000</STRONG> (maximum amount of component), inclusive.
+
+ The <STRONG>pair_content</STRONG> routine allows programmers to find out
+ what colors a given color-pair consists of. It requires
+ three arguments: the color-pair number, and two addresses
+ of <STRONG>short</STRONG>s for storing the foreground and the background
+ color numbers. The first argument must be a legal color
+ value, i.e., in the range <STRONG>1</STRONG> through <STRONG>COLOR_PAIRS-1</STRONG>, inclu-
+ sive. The values that are stored at the addresses pointed
+ to by the second and third arguments are in the range <STRONG>0</STRONG>
+ through <STRONG>COLORS</STRONG>, inclusive.
+
+
+</PRE>
+<H3><a name="h3-Colors">Colors</a></H3><PRE>
In <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG> the following macros are defined. These are
the default colors. <STRONG>curses</STRONG> also assumes that <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG>
is the default background color for all terminals.
</PRE>
-<H2>RETURN VALUE</H2><PRE>
+<H2><a name="h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></H2><PRE>
The routines <STRONG>can_change_color()</STRONG> and <STRONG>has_colors()</STRONG> return
<STRONG>TRUE</STRONG> or <STRONG>FALSE</STRONG>.
X/Open defines no error conditions. This implementation
will return <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> on attempts to use color values outside
- the range 0 to COLORS-1 (except for the default colors ex-
- tension), or use color pairs outside the range 0 to COL-
- OR_PAIR-1. Color values used in <STRONG>init_color</STRONG> must be in the
- range 0 to 1000. An error is returned from all functions
- if the terminal has not been initialized. An error is re-
- turned from secondary functions such as <STRONG>init_pair</STRONG> if
+ the range <STRONG>0</STRONG> to COLORS-1 (except for the default colors ex-
+ tension), or use color pairs outside the range <STRONG>0</STRONG> to <STRONG>COL-</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>OR_PAIRS-1</STRONG>. Color values used in <STRONG>init_color</STRONG> must be in
+ the range <STRONG>0</STRONG> to <STRONG>1000</STRONG>. An error is returned from all func-
+ tions if the terminal has not been initialized. An error
+ is returned from secondary functions such as <STRONG>init_pair</STRONG> if
<STRONG>start_color</STRONG> was not called.
- <STRONG>init_color</STRONG>
- returns an error if the terminal does not sup-
- port this feature, e.g., if the <EM>initial-</EM>
- <EM>ize</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>color</EM> capability is absent from the termi-
- nal description.
+ <STRONG>init_color</STRONG>
+ returns an error if the terminal does not support
+ this feature, e.g., if the <EM>initialize</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>color</EM> capa-
+ bility is absent from the terminal description.
- <STRONG>start_color</STRONG>
- returns an error If the color table cannot be
- allocated.
+ <STRONG>start_color</STRONG>
+ returns an error if the color table cannot be al-
+ located.
</PRE>
-<H2>NOTES</H2><PRE>
- In the <EM>ncurses</EM> implementation, there is a separate color
+<H2><a name="h2-NOTES">NOTES</a></H2><PRE>
+ In the <EM>ncurses</EM> implementation, there is a separate color
activation flag, color palette, color pairs table, and as-
- sociated COLORS and COLOR_PAIRS counts for each screen;
- the <STRONG>start_color</STRONG> function only affects the current screen.
+ sociated COLORS and COLOR_PAIRS counts for each screen;
+ the <STRONG>start_color</STRONG> function only affects the current screen.
The SVr4/XSI interface is not really designed with this in
- mind, and historical implementations may use a single
+ mind, and historical implementations may use a single
shared color palette.
Note that setting an implicit background color via a color
- pair affects only character cells that a character write
- operation explicitly touches. To change the background
- color used when parts of a window are blanked by erasing
+ pair affects only character cells that a character write
+ operation explicitly touches. To change the background
+ color used when parts of a window are blanked by erasing
or scrolling operations, see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_bkgd.3x.html">curs_bkgd(3x)</A></STRONG>.
- Several caveats apply on 386 and 486 machines with VGA-
+ Several caveats apply on 386 and 486 machines with VGA-
compatible graphics:
- - COLOR_YELLOW is actually brown. To get yellow, use
- COLOR_YELLOW combined with the <STRONG>A_BOLD</STRONG> attribute.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> COLOR_YELLOW is actually brown. To get yellow, use
+ COLOR_YELLOW combined with the <STRONG>A_BOLD</STRONG> attribute.
- - The A_BLINK attribute should in theory cause the
- background to go bright. This often fails to work,
- and even some cards for which it mostly works (such
- as the Paradise and compatibles) do the wrong thing
- when you try to set a bright "yellow" background (you
- get a blinking yellow foreground instead).
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The A_BLINK attribute should in theory cause the back-
+ ground to go bright. This often fails to work, and
+ even some cards for which it mostly works (such as the
+ Paradise and compatibles) do the wrong thing when you
+ try to set a bright "yellow" background (you get a
+ blinking yellow foreground instead).
- - Color RGB values are not settable.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Color RGB values are not settable.
</PRE>
-<H2>PORTABILITY</H2><PRE>
- This implementation satisfies XSI Curses's minimum maxi-
+<H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
+ This implementation satisfies XSI Curses's minimum maxi-
mums for <STRONG>COLORS</STRONG> and <STRONG>COLOR_PAIRS</STRONG>.
- The <STRONG>init_pair</STRONG> routine accepts negative values of fore-
- ground and background color to support the <STRONG>use_de-</STRONG>
- <STRONG>fault_colors</STRONG> extension, but only if that routine has been
+ The <STRONG>init_pair</STRONG> routine accepts negative values of fore-
+ ground and background color to support the <STRONG>use_de-</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>fault_colors</STRONG> extension, but only if that routine has been
first invoked.
- The assumption that <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> is the default background
- color for all terminals can be modified using the <STRONG>as-</STRONG>
+ The assumption that <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> is the default background
+ color for all terminals can be modified using the <STRONG>as-</STRONG>
<STRONG>sume_default_colors</STRONG> extension.
- This implementation checks the pointers, e.g., for the
- values returned by <STRONG>color_content</STRONG> and <STRONG>pair_content</STRONG>, and
+ This implementation checks the pointers, e.g., for the
+ values returned by <STRONG>color_content</STRONG> and <STRONG>pair_content</STRONG>, and
will treat those as optional parameters when null.
</PRE>
-<H2>SEE ALSO</H2><PRE>
- <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">curs_initscr(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_attr.3x.html">curs_attr(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>default_col-</STRONG>
- <STRONG><A HREF="default_colors.3x.html">ors(3x)</A></STRONG>
+<H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
+ <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">curs_initscr(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_attr.3x.html">curs_attr(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>curs_vari-</STRONG>
+ <STRONG><A HREF="curs_variables.3x.html">ables(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="default_colors.3x.html">default_colors(3x)</A></STRONG>
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
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-<ADDRESS>
-Man(1) output converted with
-<a href="http://www.oac.uci.edu/indiv/ehood/man2html.html">man2html</a>
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+<div class="nav">
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#h2-NAME">NAME</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#h3-Overview">Overview</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Routine-Descriptions">Routine Descriptions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Colors">Colors</a></li>
+</ul>
+</li>
+<li><a href="#h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h2-NOTES">NOTES</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
+</ul>
+</div>
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