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+ * Copyright 2018-2022,2023 Thomas E. Dickey *
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- * @Id: curs_getstr.3x,v 1.29 2020/02/02 23:34:34 tom Exp @
- * X/Open says also until EOf
- * X/Open says then an EOS is added to the result
- * X/Open doesn't mention n<0
+ * @Id: curs_getstr.3x,v 1.42 2023/08/05 12:14:30 tom Exp @
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-<H1 class="no-header">curs_getstr 3x</H1>
+<H1 class="no-header">curs_getstr 3x 2023-08-05 ncurses 6.4 Library calls</H1>
<PRE>
-<STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
+<STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
Library calls <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
<STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>
- <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>getstr(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*str);</STRONG>
- <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>getnstr(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*str,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>n);</STRONG>
- <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>wgetstr(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*win,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*str);</STRONG>
- <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>wgetnstr(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*win,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*str,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>n);</STRONG>
- <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvgetstr(int</STRONG> <STRONG>y,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>x,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*str);</STRONG>
- <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvwgetstr(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*win,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>y,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>x,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*str);</STRONG>
- <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvgetnstr(int</STRONG> <STRONG>y,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>x,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*str,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>n);</STRONG>
- <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvwgetnstr(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>y,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>x,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*str,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>n);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>getstr(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>getnstr(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>n</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>wgetstr(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>win</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>wgetnstr(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>win</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>n</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvgetstr(int</STRONG> <EM>y</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>x</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvwgetstr(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>win</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>y</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>x</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvgetnstr(int</STRONG> <EM>y</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>x</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>n</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvwgetnstr(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>win</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>y</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>x</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>n</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
- The function <STRONG>getstr</STRONG> is equivalent to a series of calls to <STRONG>getch</STRONG>, until
- a newline or carriage return is received (the terminating character is
- not included in the returned string). The resulting value is placed in
- the area pointed to by the character pointer <EM>str</EM>, followed by a NUL.
+ The function <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG> is equivalent to a series of calls to <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">wgetch(3x)</A></STRONG>,
+ until a newline or carriage return terminates the series:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The terminating character is not included in the returned string.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> In all instances, the end of the string is terminated by a NUL.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The function stores the result in the area pointed to by the <EM>str</EM>
+ parameter.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The function reads at most <EM>n</EM> characters, thus preventing a possible
+ overflow of the input buffer.
+
+ Any attempt to enter more characters (other than the terminating
+ newline or carriage return) causes a beep.
+
+ Function keys also cause a beep and are ignored.
+
+ The user's <EM>erase</EM> and <EM>kill</EM> characters are interpreted:
- <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG> reads at most <EM>n</EM> characters, thus preventing a possible over-
- flow of the input buffer. Any attempt to enter more characters (other
- than the terminating newline or carriage return) causes a beep. Func-
- tion keys also cause a beep and are ignored. The <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG> function
- reads from the <EM>stdscr</EM> default window.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The <EM>erase</EM> character (e.g., <STRONG>^H</STRONG>) erases the character at the end of
+ the buffer, moving the cursor to the left.
- The user's erase and kill characters are interpreted. If keypad mode
- is on for the window, <STRONG>KEY_LEFT</STRONG> and <STRONG>KEY_BACKSPACE</STRONG> are both considered
- equivalent to the user's kill character.
+ If <EM>keypad</EM> mode is on for the window, <STRONG>KEY_LEFT</STRONG> and <STRONG>KEY_BACKSPACE</STRONG> are
+ both considered equivalent to the user's <EM>erase</EM> character.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The <EM>kill</EM> character (e.g., <STRONG>^U</STRONG>) erases the entire buffer, leaving the
+ cursor at the beginning of the buffer.
Characters input are echoed only if <STRONG>echo</STRONG> is currently on. In that
case, backspace is echoed as deletion of the previous character (typi-
cally a left motion).
+ The <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetnstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvwgetnstr</STRONG>, and <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG> functions are identi-
+ cal to the <STRONG>getstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvwgetstr</STRONG>, and <STRONG>wgetstr</STRONG> functions, respec-
+ tively, except that the <STRONG>*n*</STRONG> versions read at most <EM>n</EM> characters, letting
+ the application prevent overflow of the input buffer.
+
+
+</PRE><H2><a name="h2-NOTES">NOTES</a></H2><PRE>
+ Any of these functions other than <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG> may be macros.
+
+ Using <STRONG>getstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvwgetstr</STRONG>, or <STRONG>wgetstr</STRONG> to read a line that over-
+ flows the array pointed to by <STRONG>str</STRONG> causes undefined results. The use of
+ <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetnstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvwgetnstr</STRONG>, or <STRONG>wgetnstr</STRONG>, respectively, is recom-
+ mended.
+
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></H2><PRE>
- All routines return the integer <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon failure and an <STRONG>OK</STRONG> (SVr4 speci-
- fies only "an integer value other than <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>") upon successful comple-
- tion.
+ All of these functions return the integer <STRONG>OK</STRONG> upon successful comple-
+ tion. (SVr4 specifies only "an integer value other than <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>") If un-
+ successful, they return <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>.
X/Open defines no error conditions.
- In this implementation, these functions return an error if the window
- pointer is null, or if its timeout expires without having any data.
+ In this implementation, these functions return an error
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> if the window pointer is null,
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> if its timeout expires without having any data, or
- This implementation provides an extension as well. If a <STRONG>SIGWINCH</STRONG> in-
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> if the associated call to <STRONG>wgetch</STRONG> failed.
+
+ This implementation provides an extension as well. If a <STRONG>SIGWINCH</STRONG> in-
terrupts the function, it will return <STRONG>KEY_RESIZE</STRONG> rather than <STRONG>OK</STRONG> or <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>.
- Functions with a "mv" prefix first perform a cursor movement using
+ Functions with a "mv" prefix first perform a cursor movement using
<STRONG>wmove</STRONG>, and return an error if the position is outside the window, or if
the window pointer is null.
-</PRE><H2><a name="h2-NOTES">NOTES</a></H2><PRE>
- Note that <STRONG>getstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetstr</STRONG>, and <STRONG>mvwgetstr</STRONG> may be macros.
-
-
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
- These functions are described in the XSI Curses standard, Issue 4.
- They read single-byte characters only. The standard does not define
- any error conditions. This implementation returns <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> if the window
- pointer is null, or if the lower-level <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">wgetch(3x)</A></STRONG> call returns an <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>.
+ These functions are described in The Single Unix Specification, Version
+ 2. No error conditions are defined.
+
+ This implementation returns <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> if the window pointer is null, or if
+ the lower-level <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">wgetch(3x)</A></STRONG> call returns an <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>.
SVr3 and early SVr4 curses implementations did not reject function
keys; the SVr4.0 documentation claimed that "special keys" (such as
<EM>n</EM> bytes" but did not state whether the terminating NUL is counted in
that limit. X/Open Curses, Issue 7 (2009) changed that to say they
"read at most <EM>n</EM>-1 bytes" to allow for the terminating NUL. As of 2018,
- some implementations do, some do not count it:
+ some implementations count it, some do not:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> ncurses 6.1 and PDCurses do not count the NUL in the given limit,
while
2048 byte limit). In either case, it reserves a byte for the ter-
minating NUL.
+ Although <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG> is equivalent to a series of calls to <STRONG>getch</STRONG>, it also
+ makes changes to the curses modes to allow simple editing of the input
+ buffer:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG> saves the current value of the <STRONG>nl</STRONG>, <STRONG>echo</STRONG>, <STRONG>raw</STRONG> and <STRONG>cbreak</STRONG>
+ modes, and sets <STRONG>nl</STRONG>, <STRONG>noecho</STRONG>, <STRONG>noraw</STRONG>, and <STRONG>cbreak</STRONG>.
+
+ <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG> handles the echoing of characters, rather than relying on
+ the caller to set an appropriate mode.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> It also obtains the <EM>erase</EM> and <EM>kill</EM> characters from <STRONG>erasechar</STRONG> and
+ <STRONG>killchar</STRONG>, respectively.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> On return, <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG> restores the modes to their previous values.
+
+ Other implementations differ in their treatment of special characters:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> While they may set the <EM>echo</EM> mode, other implementations do not mod-
+ ify the <EM>raw</EM> mode, They may take the <EM>cbreak</EM> mode set by the caller
+ into account when deciding whether to handle echoing within <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG>
+ or as a side-effect of the <STRONG>getch</STRONG> calls.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The original ncurses (as <EM>pcurses</EM> in 1986) set <STRONG>noraw</STRONG> and <STRONG>cbreak</STRONG> when
+ accepting input for <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG>. That may have been done to make func-
+ tion- and cursor-keys work; it is not necessary with ncurses.
+
+ Since 1995, ncurses has provided signal handlers for INTR and QUIT
+ (e.g., <STRONG>^C</STRONG> or <STRONG>^\</STRONG>). With the <STRONG>noraw</STRONG> and <STRONG>cbreak</STRONG> settings, those may
+ catch a signal and stop the program, where other implementations
+ allow one to enter those characters in the buffer.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Starting in 2021 (ncurses 6.3), <STRONG>getnstr</STRONG> sets <STRONG>raw</STRONG>, rather than <STRONG>noraw</STRONG>
+ and <STRONG>cbreak</STRONG> for better compatibility with SVr4-curses, e.g., allow-
+ ing one to enter a <STRONG>^C</STRONG> into the buffer.
+
</PRE><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_getch.3x.html">curs_getch(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_variables.3x.html">curs_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>.
+ <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">curs_getch(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">curs_termattrs(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_variables.3x.html">curs_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>.
-
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
+
ncurses 6.4 2023-08-05 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
<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></li>
-<li><a href="#h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-NOTES">NOTES</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
</ul>
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