* sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written *
* authorization. *
****************************************************************************
- * @Id: ncurses.3x,v 1.195 2024/01/05 21:46:58 tom Exp @
- * X/Open Curses Issue 7 assumes some optimization will be done, but
- * does not mandate it in any way.
- * See X/Open Curses Issue 4, Version 2, pp. 227-234.
- * See X/Open Curses Issue 7, pp. 311-318.
- * XXX: What's missing? GBR counts untic(1), and that's all.
+ * @Id: ncurses.3x,v 1.197 2024/01/13 20:30:39 tom Exp @
-->
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-<H1 class="no-header">ncurses 3x 2024-01-05 ncurses 6.4 Library calls</H1>
+<H1 class="no-header">ncurses 3x 2024-01-13 ncurses 6.4 Library calls</H1>
<PRE>
<STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG> Library calls <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG>
method of updating character screens with reasonable optimization.
This implementation is "new curses" (<EM>ncurses</EM>) and is the approved
replacement for 4.4BSD classic curses, which has been discontinued.
- This describes <EM>ncurses</EM> version 6.4 (patch 20240106).
+ This describes <EM>ncurses</EM> version 6.4 (patch 20240113).
The <EM>ncurses</EM> library emulates the curses library of System V Release 4
Unix ("SVr4"), and XPG4 (X/Open Portability Guide) curses (also known
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Effects-of-GUIs-and-Environment-Variables">Effects of GUIs and Environment Variables</a></H3><PRE>
- The selection of an approprate value of <EM>TERM</EM> in the process environment
- is essential to correct <EM>curses</EM> and <EM>terminfo</EM> library operation. A well-
- configured system selects a correct <EM>TERM</EM> value automatically; <STRONG><A HREF="tset.1.html">tset(1)</A></STRONG>
- may assist with troubleshooting exotic situations.
-
- If the environment variables <EM>LINES</EM> and <EM>COLUMNS</EM> are set, or if the
- <EM>curses</EM> program is executing in a graphical windowing environment, the
- information obtained thence overrides that obtained by <EM>terminfo</EM>. An
+ The selection of an appropriate value of <EM>TERM</EM> in the process
+ environment is essential to correct <EM>curses</EM> and <EM>terminfo</EM> library
+ operation. A well-configured system selects a correct <EM>TERM</EM> value
+ automatically; <STRONG><A HREF="tset.1.html">tset(1)</A></STRONG> may assist with troubleshooting exotic
+ situations.
+
+ If the environment variables <EM>LINES</EM> and <EM>COLUMNS</EM> are set, or if the
+ <EM>curses</EM> program is executing in a graphical windowing environment, the
+ information obtained thence overrides that obtained by <EM>terminfo</EM>. An
<EM>ncurses</EM> extension supports resizable terminals; see <STRONG><A HREF="wresize.3x.html">wresize(3x)</A></STRONG>.
- If the environment variable <EM>TERMINFO</EM> is defined, a <EM>curses</EM> program
- checks first for a terminal type description in the location it
+ If the environment variable <EM>TERMINFO</EM> is defined, a <EM>curses</EM> program
+ checks first for a terminal type description in the location it
identifies. <EM>TERMINFO</EM> is useful for developing experimental type
- descriptions or when write permission to <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM> is not
+ descriptions or when write permission to <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM> is not
available.
See section "ENVIRONMENT" below.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Naming-Conventions">Naming Conventions</a></H3><PRE>
- Many <EM>curses</EM> functions have two or more versions. Those prefixed with
- "w" require a window argument. Four functions prefixed with "p"
- require a pad argument. Those without a prefix generally operate on
+ Many <EM>curses</EM> functions have two or more versions. Those prefixed with
+ "w" require a window argument. Four functions prefixed with "p"
+ require a pad argument. Those without a prefix generally operate on
<STRONG>stdscr</STRONG>.
- In function synopses, <EM>ncurses</EM> man pages apply the following names to
+ In function synopses, <EM>ncurses</EM> man pages apply the following names to
parameters.
<EM>bf</EM> <EM>bool</EM> (<STRONG>TRUE</STRONG> or <STRONG>FALSE</STRONG>)
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Wide-and-Non-wide-Character-Configurations">Wide and Non-wide Character Configurations</a></H3><PRE>
- This manual page describes functions that appear in any configuration
- of the library. There are two common configurations; see section
+ This manual page describes functions that appear in any configuration
+ of the library. There are two common configurations; see section
"ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS" below.
<EM>ncurses</EM> is the library in its "non-wide" configuration, handling only
- eight-bit characters. It stores a character combined with
+ eight-bit characters. It stores a character combined with
attributes in a <EM>chtype</EM> datum, which is often an alias of <EM>int.</EM>
- Attributes alone (with no corresponding character) can be
- stored in variables of <EM>chtype</EM> or <EM>attr</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>t</EM> type. In either
+ Attributes alone (with no corresponding character) can be
+ stored in variables of <EM>chtype</EM> or <EM>attr</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>t</EM> type. In either
case, they are represented as an integral bit mask.
Each cell of a <EM>WINDOW</EM> is stored as a <EM>chtype.</EM>
- <EM>ncursesw</EM> is the library in its "wide" configuration, which handles
+ <EM>ncursesw</EM> is the library in its "wide" configuration, which handles
character encodings requiring a larger data type than <EM>char</EM> (a
byte-sized type) can represent. It adds about one third more
calls using additional data types that can store such
<EM>multibyte</EM> characters.
- <EM>cchar</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>t</EM> corresponds to the non-wide configuration's <EM>chtype.</EM>
- It always a structure type, because it stores more
- data than fits into an integral type. A character
+ <EM>cchar</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>t</EM> corresponds to the non-wide configuration's <EM>chtype.</EM>
+ It always a structure type, because it stores more
+ data than fits into an integral type. A character
code may not be representable as a <EM>char,</EM> and
- moreover more than one character may occupy a cell
- (as with accent marks and other diacritics). Each
- character is of type <EM>wchar</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>t;</EM> a complex character
+ moreover more than one character may occupy a cell
+ (as with accent marks and other diacritics). Each
+ character is of type <EM>wchar</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>t;</EM> a complex character
contains one spacing character and zero or more non-
spacing characters (see below). Attributes and
- color data are stored in separate fields of the
+ color data are stored in separate fields of the
structure, not combined as in <EM>chtype.</EM>
Each cell of a <EM>WINDOW</EM> is stored as a <EM>cchar</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>t.</EM>
- The <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getcchar.3x.html">setcchar(3x)</A></STRONG> and <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getcchar.3x.html">getcchar(3x)</A></STRONG> functions store and
+ The <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getcchar.3x.html">setcchar(3x)</A></STRONG> and <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getcchar.3x.html">getcchar(3x)</A></STRONG> functions store and
retrieve the data from a <EM>cchar</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>t</EM> structure. The wide library
- API of <EM>ncurses</EM> depends on two data types standardized by ISO
+ API of <EM>ncurses</EM> depends on two data types standardized by ISO
C95.
- <EM>wchar</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>t</EM> stores a wide character. Like <EM>chtype,</EM> it may be an
- alias of <EM>int.</EM> Depending on the character encoding,
- a wide character may be <EM>spacing,</EM> meaning that it
- occupies a character cell by itself and typically
- accompanies cursor advancement, or <EM>non-spacing,</EM>
- meaning that it occupies the same cell as a spacing
- character, is often regarded as a "modifier" of the
- base glyph with which it combines, and typically
+ <EM>wchar</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>t</EM> stores a wide character. Like <EM>chtype,</EM> it may be an
+ alias of <EM>int.</EM> Depending on the character encoding,
+ a wide character may be <EM>spacing,</EM> meaning that it
+ occupies a character cell by itself and typically
+ accompanies cursor advancement, or <EM>non-spacing,</EM>
+ meaning that it occupies the same cell as a spacing
+ character, is often regarded as a "modifier" of the
+ base glyph with which it combines, and typically
does not advance the cursor.
- <EM>wint</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>t</EM> can store a <EM>wchar</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>t</EM> or the constant <STRONG>WEOF</STRONG>,
- analogously to the <EM>int</EM>-sized character manipulation
+ <EM>wint</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>t</EM> can store a <EM>wchar</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>t</EM> or the constant <STRONG>WEOF</STRONG>,
+ analogously to the <EM>int</EM>-sized character manipulation
functions of ISO C and its constant <STRONG>EOF</STRONG>.
- The wide library provides additional functions that
- complement those in the non-wide library where the size of
- the underlying character type is significant. A somewhat
- regular naming convention relates many of the wide variants
- to their non-wide counterparts; where a non-wide function
- name contains "ch" or "str", prefix it with "_w" to obtain
+ The wide library provides additional functions that
+ complement those in the non-wide library where the size of
+ the underlying character type is significant. A somewhat
+ regular naming convention relates many of the wide variants
+ to their non-wide counterparts; where a non-wide function
+ name contains "ch" or "str", prefix it with "_w" to obtain
the wide counterpart. For example, <STRONG>waddch</STRONG> becomes <STRONG>wadd_wch</STRONG>.
- This convention is inapplicable to some non-wide function
+ This convention is inapplicable to some non-wide function
names, so other transformations are used for the wide
configuration: in the window background management functions,
- "bkgd" becomes "bkgrnd"; the window border-drawing and
+ "bkgd" becomes "bkgrnd"; the window border-drawing and
-clearing functions are suffixed with "_set".
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Function-Name-Index">Function Name Index</a></H3><PRE>
The following table lists the <EM>curses</EM> functions provided in the non-wide
- and wide APIs and the corresponding man pages that describe them.
- Those flagged with "*" are <EM>ncurses</EM>-specific, neither described by
+ and wide APIs and the corresponding man pages that describe them.
+ Those flagged with "*" are <EM>ncurses</EM>-specific, neither described by
X/Open Curses nor present in SVr4.
<STRONG><EM>curses</EM></STRONG> Function Name Man Page
---------------------------------------------
COLOR_PAIR <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
PAIR_NUMBER <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG>
add_wch <STRONG><A HREF="curs_add_wch.3x.html">curs_add_wch(3x)</A></STRONG>
add_wchnstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_add_wchstr.3x.html">curs_add_wchstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
erasechar <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">curs_termattrs(3x)</A></STRONG>
erasewchar <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">curs_termattrs(3x)</A></STRONG>
exit_curses <STRONG><A HREF="curs_memleaks.3x.html">curs_memleaks(3x)</A></STRONG>*
+
exit_terminfo <STRONG><A HREF="curs_memleaks.3x.html">curs_memleaks(3x)</A></STRONG>*
extended_color_content <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG>*
extended_pair_content <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG>*
-
extended_slk_color <STRONG><A HREF="curs_slk.3x.html">curs_slk(3x)</A></STRONG>*
filter <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">curs_util(3x)</A></STRONG>
find_pair <STRONG><A HREF="new_pair.3x.html">new_pair(3x)</A></STRONG>*
insdelln <STRONG><A HREF="curs_deleteln.3x.html">curs_deleteln(3x)</A></STRONG>
insertln <STRONG><A HREF="curs_deleteln.3x.html">curs_deleteln(3x)</A></STRONG>
insnstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_insstr.3x.html">curs_insstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
+
insstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_insstr.3x.html">curs_insstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
instr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_instr.3x.html">curs_instr(3x)</A></STRONG>
intrflush <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>
inwstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inwstr.3x.html">curs_inwstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
is_cbreak <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>*
is_cleared <STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">curs_opaque(3x)</A></STRONG>*
is_echo <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>*
mvin_wch <STRONG><A HREF="curs_in_wch.3x.html">curs_in_wch(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvin_wchnstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_in_wchstr.3x.html">curs_in_wchstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvin_wchstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_in_wchstr.3x.html">curs_in_wchstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
+
mvinch <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inch.3x.html">curs_inch(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvinchnstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inchstr.3x.html">curs_inchstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvinchstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inchstr.3x.html">curs_inchstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvinnstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_instr.3x.html">curs_instr(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvinnwstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inwstr.3x.html">curs_inwstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
mvins_nwstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_ins_wstr.3x.html">curs_ins_wstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvins_wch <STRONG><A HREF="curs_ins_wch.3x.html">curs_ins_wch(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvins_wstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_ins_wstr.3x.html">curs_ins_wstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
nl <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>
nocbreak <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>
nodelay <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>
+
noecho <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>
nofilter <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">curs_util(3x)</A></STRONG>*
nonl <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>
noqiflush <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>
noraw <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>
notimeout <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
overlay <STRONG><A HREF="curs_overlay.3x.html">curs_overlay(3x)</A></STRONG>
overwrite <STRONG><A HREF="curs_overlay.3x.html">curs_overlay(3x)</A></STRONG>
pair_content <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG>
start_color <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG>
subpad <STRONG><A HREF="curs_pad.3x.html">curs_pad(3x)</A></STRONG>
subwin <STRONG><A HREF="curs_window.3x.html">curs_window(3x)</A></STRONG>
+
syncok <STRONG><A HREF="curs_window.3x.html">curs_window(3x)</A></STRONG>
term_attrs <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">curs_termattrs(3x)</A></STRONG>
termattrs <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">curs_termattrs(3x)</A></STRONG>
tgetent <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termcap.3x.html">curs_termcap(3x)</A></STRONG>
tgetflag <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termcap.3x.html">curs_termcap(3x)</A></STRONG>
tgetnum <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termcap.3x.html">curs_termcap(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
tgetstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termcap.3x.html">curs_termcap(3x)</A></STRONG>
tgoto <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termcap.3x.html">curs_termcap(3x)</A></STRONG>
tigetflag <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
wbkgrnd <STRONG><A HREF="curs_bkgrnd.3x.html">curs_bkgrnd(3x)</A></STRONG>
wbkgrndset <STRONG><A HREF="curs_bkgrnd.3x.html">curs_bkgrnd(3x)</A></STRONG>
wborder <STRONG><A HREF="curs_border.3x.html">curs_border(3x)</A></STRONG>
+
wborder_set <STRONG><A HREF="curs_border_set.3x.html">curs_border_set(3x)</A></STRONG>
wchgat <STRONG><A HREF="curs_attr.3x.html">curs_attr(3x)</A></STRONG>
wclear <STRONG><A HREF="curs_clear.3x.html">curs_clear(3x)</A></STRONG>
wcolor_set <STRONG><A HREF="curs_attr.3x.html">curs_attr(3x)</A></STRONG>
wcursyncup <STRONG><A HREF="curs_window.3x.html">curs_window(3x)</A></STRONG>
wdelch <STRONG><A HREF="curs_delch.3x.html">curs_delch(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
wdeleteln <STRONG><A HREF="curs_deleteln.3x.html">curs_deleteln(3x)</A></STRONG>
wecho_wchar <STRONG><A HREF="curs_add_wch.3x.html">curs_add_wch(3x)</A></STRONG>
wechochar <STRONG><A HREF="curs_addch.3x.html">curs_addch(3x)</A></STRONG>
wvline <STRONG><A HREF="curs_border.3x.html">curs_border(3x)</A></STRONG>
wvline_set <STRONG><A HREF="curs_border_set.3x.html">curs_border_set(3x)</A></STRONG>
- Depending on the configuration, additional sets of functions may be
+ Depending on the configuration, additional sets of functions may be
available:
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_memleaks.3x.html">curs_memleaks(3x)</A></STRONG> - curses memory-leak checking
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></H2><PRE>
- Unless otherwise noted, functions that return an integer return <STRONG>OK</STRONG> on
+ Unless otherwise noted, functions that return an integer return <STRONG>OK</STRONG> on
success and <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> on failure. Functions that return pointers return <STRONG>NULL</STRONG>
- on failure. Typically, <EM>ncurses</EM> treats a null pointer passed as a
+ on failure. Typically, <EM>ncurses</EM> treats a null pointer passed as a
function parameter as a failure.
- Functions with a "mv" prefix first perform cursor movement using <STRONG>wmove</STRONG>
- and fail if the position is outside the window, or (for "mvw"
+ Functions with a "mv" prefix first perform cursor movement using <STRONG>wmove</STRONG>
+ and fail if the position is outside the window, or (for "mvw"
functions) if the <EM>WINDOW</EM> pointer is null.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-ENVIRONMENT">ENVIRONMENT</a></H2><PRE>
- The following environment symbols are useful for customizing the
- runtime behavior of the <EM>ncurses</EM> library. The most important ones have
+ The following environment symbols are useful for customizing the
+ runtime behavior of the <EM>ncurses</EM> library. The most important ones have
been already discussed in detail.
-</PRE><H3><a name="h3-CC-
command-character"><EM>CC</EM> command-character</a></H3><PRE>
- When set, change the <STRONG>command_character</STRONG> (<STRONG>cmdch</STRONG>) capability value of
- loaded <EM>terminfo</EM> entries to the value of this variable. Very few <EM>term-</EM>
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-CC-
_command-character_"><EM>CC</EM> (command character)</a></H3><PRE>
+ When set, change the <STRONG>command_character</STRONG> (<STRONG>cmdch</STRONG>) capability value of
+ loaded <EM>terminfo</EM> entries to the value of this variable. Very few <EM>term-</EM>
<EM>info</EM> entries provide this feature.
Because this name is also used in development environments to represent
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-BAUDRATE"><EM>BAUDRATE</EM></a></H3><PRE>
The debugging library checks this environment variable when the
- application has redirected output to a file. The variable's numeric
- value is used for the baudrate. If no value is found, <EM>ncurses</EM> uses
+ application has redirected output to a file. The variable's numeric
+ value is used for the baudrate. If no value is found, <EM>ncurses</EM> uses
9600. This allows testers to construct repeatable test-cases that take
into account costs that depend on baudrate.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-COLUMNS"><EM>COLUMNS</EM></a></H3><PRE>
Specify the width of the screen in characters. Applications running in
- a windowing environment usually are able to obtain the width of the
- window in which they are executing. If neither the <EM>COLUMNS</EM> value nor
- the terminal's screen size is available, <EM>ncurses</EM> uses the size which
+ a windowing environment usually are able to obtain the width of the
+ window in which they are executing. If neither the <EM>COLUMNS</EM> value nor
+ the terminal's screen size is available, <EM>ncurses</EM> uses the size which
may be specified in the terminfo database (i.e., the <STRONG>cols</STRONG> 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
+ 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 <EM>COLUMNS</EM> and/or <EM>LINES</EM> overrides the library's use of
+ However, setting <EM>COLUMNS</EM> and/or <EM>LINES</EM> overrides the library's use of
the screen size obtained from the operating system.
- Either <EM>COLUMNS</EM> or <EM>LINES</EM> 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, <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>cols</STRONG> should not be specified in a terminal
+ Either <EM>COLUMNS</EM> or <EM>LINES</EM> 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, <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>cols</STRONG> should not be specified in a terminal
description for terminals which are run as emulations.
- Use the <STRONG>use_env</STRONG> function to disable all use of external environment
+ Use the <STRONG>use_env</STRONG> function to disable all use of external environment
(but not including system calls) to determine the screen size. Use the
<STRONG>use_tioctl</STRONG> function to update <EM>COLUMNS</EM> or <EM>LINES</EM> to match the screen size
obtained from system calls or the terminal database.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-ESCDELAY"><EM>ESCDELAY</EM></a></H3><PRE>
Specifies the total time, in milliseconds, for which <EM>ncurses</EM> 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 variable
+ a character sequence, e.g., a function key. The default value, 1000
+ milliseconds, is enough for most uses. However, it is made a variable
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
+ 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 character 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
+ Note that xterm mouse events are built up from character 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 implementation provides a
- global variable with the same name. Portable applications should not
- rely upon the presence of <STRONG>ESCDELAY</STRONG> in either form, but setting the
- environment variable rather than the global variable does not create
+ global variable with the same name. Portable applications should not
+ rely upon the presence of <STRONG>ESCDELAY</STRONG> in either form, but setting the
+ environment variable rather than the global variable does not create
problems when compiling an application.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-HOME"><EM>HOME</EM></a></H3><PRE>
- Tells <EM>ncurses</EM> where your home directory is. That is where it may read
+ Tells <EM>ncurses</EM> where your home directory is. That is where it may read
and write auxiliary terminal descriptions:
$HOME/.termcap
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-LINES"><EM>LINES</EM></a></H3><PRE>
- Like <EM>COLUMNS</EM>, specify the height of the screen in characters. See
+ Like <EM>COLUMNS</EM>, specify the height of the screen in characters. See
<EM>COLUMNS</EM> for a detailed description.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-MOUSE_BUTTONS_123"><EM>MOUSE_BUTTONS_123</EM></a></H3><PRE>
- 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
+ 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
3 = middle.
This variable lets you customize the mouse. The variable must be three
- numeric digits 1-3 in any order, e.g., 123 or 321. If it is not
+ numeric digits 1-3 in any order, e.g., 123 or 321. If it is not
specified, <EM>ncurses</EM> uses 132.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-NCURSES_ASSUMED_COLORS"><EM>NCURSES_ASSUMED_COLORS</EM></a></H3><PRE>
- Override the compiled-in assumption that the terminal's default colors
- are white-on-black (see <STRONG><A HREF="default_colors.3x.html">default_colors(3x)</A></STRONG>). You may set the
- foreground and background color values with this environment variable
- by proving a 2-element list: foreground,background. For example, to
- tell <EM>ncurses</EM> to not assume anything about the colors, set this to
- "-1,-1". To make it green-on-black, set it to "2,0". Any positive
+ Override the compiled-in assumption that the terminal's default colors
+ are white-on-black (see <STRONG><A HREF="default_colors.3x.html">default_colors(3x)</A></STRONG>). You may set the
+ foreground and background color values with this environment variable
+ by proving a 2-element list: foreground,background. For example, to
+ tell <EM>ncurses</EM> to not assume anything about the colors, set this to
+ "-1,-1". To make it green-on-black, set it to "2,0". Any positive
value from zero to the terminfo <STRONG>max_colors</STRONG> value is allowed.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-NCURSES_CONSOLE2"><EM>NCURSES_CONSOLE2</EM></a></H3><PRE>
This applies only to the MinGW port of <EM>ncurses</EM>.
- The <STRONG>Console2</STRONG> program's handling of the Microsoft Console API call
- <STRONG>CreateConsoleScreenBuffer</STRONG> is defective. Applications which use this
+ The <STRONG>Console2</STRONG> program's handling of the Microsoft Console API call
+ <STRONG>CreateConsoleScreenBuffer</STRONG> is defective. Applications which use this
will hang. However, it is possible to simulate the action of this call
- by mapping coordinates, explicitly saving and restoring the original
- screen contents. Setting the environment variable <STRONG>NCGDB</STRONG> has the same
+ by mapping coordinates, explicitly saving and restoring the original
+ screen contents. Setting the environment variable <STRONG>NCGDB</STRONG> has the same
effect.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-NCURSES_GPM_TERMS"><EM>NCURSES_GPM_TERMS</EM></a></H3><PRE>
This applies only to <EM>ncurses</EM> configured to use the GPM interface.
- If present, the environment variable is a list of one or more terminal
- names against which the <EM>TERM</EM> environment variable is matched. Setting
- it to an empty value disables the GPM interface; using the built-in
+ If present, the environment variable is a list of one or more terminal
+ names against which the <EM>TERM</EM> environment 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, <EM>ncurses</EM> will attempt to open GPM
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-NCURSES_NO_HARD_TABS"><EM>NCURSES_NO_HARD_TABS</EM></a></H3><PRE>
- <EM>ncurses</EM> may use tabs as part of cursor movement optimization. In some
- cases, your terminal driver may not handle these properly. Set this
+ <EM>ncurses</EM> may use tabs as part of cursor movement optimization. In some
+ cases, your terminal driver may not handle these properly. Set this
environment variable to any value to disable the feature. You can also
adjust your <STRONG>stty(1)</STRONG> settings to avoid the problem.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-NCURSES_NO_MAGIC_COOKIE"><EM>NCURSES_NO_MAGIC_COOKIE</EM></a></H3><PRE>
- Some terminals use a magic-cookie feature which requires special
- handling to make highlighting and other video attributes display
+ 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
terminals by setting this environment variable to any value.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-NCURSES_NO_PADDING"><EM>NCURSES_NO_PADDING</EM></a></H3><PRE>
- Most of the terminal descriptions in the terminfo database are written
- for real "hardware" terminals. Many people use terminal emulators
+ 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 applications.
- 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., timing. Unless a
- hardware terminal is interfaced into a terminal concentrator (which
- does flow control), it (or your application) must manage dataflow,
- preventing overruns. The cheapest solution (no hardware cost) is for
- your program to do this by pausing after operations that the terminal
+ 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., timing. Unless a
+ hardware terminal is interfaced into a terminal concentrator (which
+ does flow control), it (or your application) must manage dataflow,
+ preventing 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
+ 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 <EM>NCURSES</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>NO</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>PADDING</EM> environment variable to disable all but
- mandatory padding. Mandatory padding is used as a part of special
+ Set the <EM>NCURSES</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>NO</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>PADDING</EM> environment variable to disable all but
+ mandatory padding. Mandatory padding is used as a part of special
control sequences such as <STRONG>flash</STRONG>.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> continued though 5.9 patch 20130126
- <EM>ncurses</EM> enabled buffered output during terminal initialization. This
- was done (as in SVr4 curses) for performance reasons. For testing
- purposes, both of <EM>ncurses</EM> and certain applications, this feature was
- made optional. Setting the <EM>NCURSES</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>NO</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>SETBUF</EM> variable disabled output
- buffering, leaving the output in the original (usually line buffered)
+ <EM>ncurses</EM> enabled buffered output during terminal initialization. This
+ was done (as in SVr4 curses) for performance reasons. For testing
+ purposes, both of <EM>ncurses</EM> and certain applications, this feature was
+ made optional. Setting the <EM>NCURSES</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>NO</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>SETBUF</EM> variable disabled output
+ buffering, leaving the output in the original (usually line buffered)
mode.
- In the current implementation, <EM>ncurses</EM> performs its own buffering and
- does not require this workaround. It does not modify the buffering of
+ In the current implementation, <EM>ncurses</EM> performs its own buffering and
+ does not require this workaround. It does not modify the buffering of
the standard output.
- The reason for the change was to make the behavior for interrupts and
- other signals more robust. One drawback is that certain
+ The reason for the change was to make the behavior for interrupts and
+ other signals more robust. One drawback is that certain
nonconventional programs would mix ordinary <STRONG>stdio(3)</STRONG> calls with <EM>ncurses</EM>
- calls and (usually) work. This is no longer possible since <EM>ncurses</EM> is
- not using the buffered standard output but its own output (to the same
- file descriptor). As a special case, the low-level calls such as <STRONG>putp</STRONG>
+ calls and (usually) work. This is no longer possible since <EM>ncurses</EM> is
+ not using the buffered standard output but its own output (to the same
+ file descriptor). As a special case, the low-level calls such as <STRONG>putp</STRONG>
still use the standard output. But high-level curses calls do not.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-NCURSES_NO_UTF8_ACS"><EM>NCURSES_NO_UTF8_ACS</EM></a></H3><PRE>
- During initialization, the <EM>ncurses</EM> library checks for special cases
+ During initialization, the <EM>ncurses</EM> library checks for special cases
where VT100 line-drawing (and the corresponding 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. <EM>ncurses</EM> <EM>checks</EM> <EM>the</EM>
- <EM>TERM</EM> <EM>environment</EM> <EM>variable</EM> <EM>for</EM> <EM>these.</EM> <EM>For</EM> <EM>other</EM> <EM>special</EM> <EM>cases,</EM> <EM>you</EM>
- <EM>should</EM> <EM>set</EM> <EM>this</EM> <EM>environment</EM> <EM>variable.</EM> <EM>Doing</EM> <EM>this</EM> <EM>tells</EM> <EM>ncurses</EM> <EM>to</EM> <EM>use</EM>
+ 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. <EM>ncurses</EM> <EM>checks</EM> <EM>the</EM>
+ <EM>TERM</EM> <EM>environment</EM> <EM>variable</EM> <EM>for</EM> <EM>these.</EM> <EM>For</EM> <EM>other</EM> <EM>special</EM> <EM>cases,</EM> <EM>you</EM>
+ <EM>should</EM> <EM>set</EM> <EM>this</EM> <EM>environment</EM> <EM>variable.</EM> <EM>Doing</EM> <EM>this</EM> <EM>tells</EM> <EM>ncurses</EM> <EM>to</EM> <EM>use</EM>
<EM>Unicode</EM> <EM>values</EM> <EM>which</EM> <EM>correspond</EM> <EM>to</EM> <EM>the</EM> <EM>VT100</EM> <EM>line-drawing</EM> <EM>glyphs.</EM> <EM>That</EM>
- <EM>works</EM> <EM>for</EM> <EM>the</EM> <EM>special</EM> <EM>cases</EM> <EM>cited,</EM> <EM>and</EM> <EM>is</EM> <EM>likely</EM> <EM>to</EM> <EM>work</EM> <EM>for</EM> <EM>terminal</EM>
+ <EM>works</EM> <EM>for</EM> <EM>the</EM> <EM>special</EM> <EM>cases</EM> <EM>cited,</EM> <EM>and</EM> <EM>is</EM> <EM>likely</EM> <EM>to</EM> <EM>work</EM> <EM>for</EM> <EM>terminal</EM>
<EM>emulators.</EM>
- When setting this variable, you should set it to a nonzero value.
- Setting it to zero (or to a nonnumber) disables the special check for
+ When setting this variable, you should set it to a nonzero value.
+ Setting it to zero (or to a nonnumber) disables the special check for
"linux" and "screen".
- As an alternative to the environment variable, <EM>ncurses</EM> checks for an
- extended terminfo capability <STRONG>U8</STRONG>. This is a numeric capability which
+ As an alternative to the environment variable, <EM>ncurses</EM> checks for an
+ extended terminfo capability <STRONG>U8</STRONG>. This is a numeric capability which
can be compiled using <STRONG>tic</STRONG> <STRONG>-x</STRONG>. For example
# linux console, if patched to provide working
xterm-utf8|xterm relying on UTF-8 line-graphics,
U8#1, use=xterm,
- The name "U8" is chosen to be two characters, to permit it to be used
+ The name "U8" is chosen to be two characters, to permit it to be used
by applications that use <EM>ncurses</EM>' termcap interface.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-NCURSES_TRACE"><EM>NCURSES_TRACE</EM></a></H3><PRE>
- During initialization, the <EM>ncurses</EM> debugging library checks the
- <EM>NCURSES</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>TRACE</EM> environment variable. If it is defined, to a numeric
- value, <EM>ncurses</EM> calls the <STRONG>trace</STRONG> function, using that value as the
+ During initialization, the <EM>ncurses</EM> debugging library checks the
+ <EM>NCURSES</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>TRACE</EM> environment variable. If it is defined, to a numeric
+ value, <EM>ncurses</EM> calls the <STRONG>trace</STRONG> function, using that value as the
argument.
- The argument values, which are defined in <STRONG>curses.h</STRONG>, provide several
- types of information. When running with traces enabled, your
+ The argument values, which are defined in <STRONG>curses.h</STRONG>, provide several
+ types of information. When running with traces enabled, your
application will write the file <STRONG>trace</STRONG> to the current directory.
See <STRONG><A HREF="curs_trace.3x.html">curs_trace(3x)</A></STRONG> for more information.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-TERM"><EM>TERM</EM></a></H3><PRE>
- Denotes your terminal type. Each terminal type is distinct, though
+ Denotes your terminal type. Each terminal type is distinct, though
many are similar.
- <EM>TERM</EM> is commonly set by terminal emulators to help applications find a
- workable terminal description. Some of those choose a popular
+ <EM>TERM</EM> is commonly set by terminal emulators to help applications find a
+ workable terminal description. Some of those choose a popular
approximation, e.g., "ansi", "vt100", "xterm" rather than an exact fit.
Not infrequently, your application will have problems with that
approach, e.g., incorrect function-key definitions.
- If you set <EM>TERM</EM> in your environment, it has no effect on the operation
- of the terminal emulator. It only affects the way applications work
- within the terminal. Likewise, as a general rule (<STRONG>xterm(1)</STRONG> being a
- rare exception), terminal emulators which allow you to specify <EM>TERM</EM> as
- a parameter or configuration value do not change their behavior to
+ If you set <EM>TERM</EM> in your environment, it has no effect on the operation
+ of the terminal emulator. It only affects the way applications work
+ within the terminal. Likewise, as a general rule (<STRONG>xterm(1)</STRONG> being a
+ rare exception), terminal emulators which allow you to specify <EM>TERM</EM> as
+ a parameter or configuration value do not change their behavior to
match that setting.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-TERMCAP"><EM>TERMCAP</EM></a></H3><PRE>
- If the <EM>ncurses</EM> library has been configured with <EM>termcap</EM> support,
- <EM>ncurses</EM> will check for a terminal's description in termcap form if it
+ If the <EM>ncurses</EM> library has been configured with <EM>termcap</EM> support,
+ <EM>ncurses</EM> will check for a terminal's description in termcap form if it
is not available in the terminfo database.
The <EM>TERMCAP</EM> environment variable contains either a terminal description
- (with newlines stripped out), or a file name telling where the
+ (with newlines stripped out), or a file name telling where the
information denoted by the <EM>TERM</EM> environment variable exists. In either
- case, setting it directs <EM>ncurses</EM> to ignore the usual place for this
+ case, setting it directs <EM>ncurses</EM> to ignore the usual place for this
information, e.g., /etc/termcap.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-TERMINFO"><EM>TERMINFO</EM></a></H3><PRE>
- <EM>ncurses</EM> can be configured to read from multiple terminal databases.
- The <EM>TERMINFO</EM> variable overrides the location for the default terminal
- database. Terminal descriptions (in terminal format) are stored in
+ <EM>ncurses</EM> can be configured to read from multiple terminal databases.
+ The <EM>TERMINFO</EM> variable overrides the location for the default terminal
+ database. Terminal descriptions (in terminal format) are stored in
terminal databases:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Normally these are stored in a directory tree, using subdirectories
named by the first letter of the terminal names therein.
This is the scheme used in System V, which legacy Unix systems use,
- and the <EM>TERMINFO</EM> variable is used by <EM>curses</EM> applications on those
+ and the <EM>TERMINFO</EM> variable is used by <EM>curses</EM> applications on those
systems to override the default location of the terminal database.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> If <EM>ncurses</EM> is built to use hashed databases, then each entry in
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If <EM>ncurses</EM> is built to use hashed databases, then each entry in
this list may be the path of a hashed database file, e.g.,
/usr/share/terminfo.db
/usr/share/terminfo/
- The hashed database uses less disk-space and is a little faster
- than the directory tree. However, some applications assume the
- existence of the directory tree, reading it directly rather than
+ The hashed database uses less disk-space and is a little faster
+ than the directory tree. However, some applications assume the
+ existence of the directory tree, reading it directly rather than
using the terminfo library calls.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> If <EM>ncurses</EM> is built with a support for reading termcap files
- directly, then an entry in this list may be the path of a termcap
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If <EM>ncurses</EM> is built with a support for reading termcap files
+ directly, then an entry in this list may be the path of a termcap
file.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> If the <EM>TERMINFO</EM> variable begins with "hex:" or "b64:", <EM>ncurses</EM> uses
- the remainder of that variable as a compiled terminal description.
+ the remainder of that variable as a compiled terminal description.
You might produce the base64 format using <STRONG><A HREF="infocmp.1m.html">infocmp(1m)</A></STRONG>:
TERMINFO="$(infocmp -0 -Q2 -q)"
export TERMINFO
- The compiled description is used if it corresponds to the terminal
+ The compiled description is used if it corresponds to the terminal
identified by the <EM>TERM</EM> variable.
- Setting <EM>TERMINFO</EM> is the simplest, but not the only way to set location
- of the default terminal database. The complete list of database
+ Setting <EM>TERMINFO</EM> is the simplest, but not the only way to set location
+ of the default terminal database. The complete list of database
locations in order follows:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> the last terminal database to which <EM>ncurses</EM> wrote, if any, is
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> the last terminal database to which <EM>ncurses</EM> wrote, if any, is
searched first
<STRONG>o</STRONG> the location specified by the <EM>TERMINFO</EM> environment variable
<STRONG>o</STRONG> locations listed in the <EM>TERMINFO</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>DIRS</EM> environment variable
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> one or more locations whose names are configured and compiled
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> one or more locations whose names are configured and compiled
into the <EM>ncurses</EM> library, i.e.,
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> /usr/share/terminfo (corresponding to the <EM>TERMINFO</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>DIRS</EM>
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> /usr/share/terminfo (corresponding to the <EM>TERMINFO</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>DIRS</EM>
variable)
<STRONG>o</STRONG> /usr/share/terminfo (corresponding to the <EM>TERMINFO</EM> variable)
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-TERMINFO_DIRS"><EM>TERMINFO_DIRS</EM></a></H3><PRE>
- Specifies a list of locations to search for terminal descriptions.
- Each location in the list is a terminal database as described in the
- section on the <EM>TERMINFO</EM> variable. The list is separated by colons
+ Specifies a list of locations to search for terminal descriptions.
+ Each location in the list is a terminal database as described in the
+ section on the <EM>TERMINFO</EM> variable. The list is separated by colons
(i.e., ":") on Unix, semicolons on OS/2 EMX.
- There is no corresponding feature in System V terminfo; it is an
+ There is no corresponding feature in System V terminfo; it is an
extension developed for <EM>ncurses</EM>.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-TERMPATH"><EM>TERMPATH</EM></a></H3><PRE>
- If <EM>TERMCAP</EM> does not hold a file name then <EM>ncurses</EM> checks the <EM>TERMPATH</EM>
- environment variable. This is a list of filenames separated by spaces
+ If <EM>TERMCAP</EM> does not hold a file name then <EM>ncurses</EM> checks the <EM>TERMPATH</EM>
+ environment variable. This is a list of filenames separated by spaces
or colons (i.e., ":") on Unix, semicolons on OS/2 EMX.
- If the <EM>TERMPATH</EM> environment variable is not set, <EM>ncurses</EM> looks in the
+ If the <EM>TERMPATH</EM> environment variable is not set, <EM>ncurses</EM> 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
+ the current user is the superuser (root), or if the application uses
setuid or setgid permissions:
$TERMINFO, $TERMINFO_DIRS, $TERMPATH, as well as $HOME.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-ALTERNATE-CONFIGURATIONS">ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS</a></H2><PRE>
- Many different <EM>ncurses</EM> configurations are possible, determined by the
- options given to the <EM>configure</EM> script when building the library. Run
- the script with the <STRONG>--help</STRONG> option to peruse them all. A few are of
+ Many different <EM>ncurses</EM> configurations are possible, determined by the
+ options given to the <EM>configure</EM> script when building the library. Run
+ the script with the <STRONG>--help</STRONG> option to peruse them all. A few are of
particular significance to the application developer employing <EM>ncurses.</EM>
--disable-overwrite
<STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>
- This option is used to avoid filename conflicts when <EM>ncurses</EM> is
+ This option is used to avoid filename conflicts when <EM>ncurses</EM> is
not the main implementation of curses of the computer. If <EM>ncurses</EM>
- is installed disabling overwrite, it puts its headers in a
+ is installed disabling overwrite, it puts its headers in a
subdirectory, e.g.,
<STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG><ncurses/curses.h></STRONG>
- It also omits a symbolic link which would allow you to use
+ It also omits a symbolic link which would allow you to use
<STRONG>-lcurses</STRONG> to build executables.
--enable-widec
- The configure script renames the library and (if the
- <STRONG>--disable-overwrite</STRONG> option is used) puts the header files in a
- different subdirectory. All of the library names have a "w"
+ The configure script renames the library and (if the
+ <STRONG>--disable-overwrite</STRONG> 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
<STRONG>-lncurses</STRONG>
<STRONG>-lncursesw</STRONG>
- You must also enable the wide-character features in the header
- file when compiling for the wide-character library to use the
- extended (wide-character) functions. The symbol which enables
+ You must also enable the wide-character features in the header
+ file when compiling for the wide-character library to use the
+ extended (wide-character) functions. The symbol which enables
these features has changed since XSI Curses, Issue 4:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Originally, the wide-character feature required the symbol
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Originally, the wide-character feature required the symbol
<STRONG>_XOPEN_SOURCE_EXTENDED</STRONG> but that was only valid for XPG4
(1996).
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Later, that was deemed conflicting with <STRONG>_XOPEN_SOURCE</STRONG> defined
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Later, that was deemed conflicting with <STRONG>_XOPEN_SOURCE</STRONG> defined
to 500.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> As of mid-2018, none of the features in this implementation
- require a <STRONG>_XOPEN_SOURCE</STRONG> feature greater than 600. However,
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> As of mid-2018, none of the features in this implementation
+ require a <STRONG>_XOPEN_SOURCE</STRONG> feature greater than 600. However,
X/Open Curses, Issue 7 (2009) recommends defining it to 700.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Alternatively, you can enable the feature by defining
- <STRONG>NCURSES_WIDECHAR</STRONG> with the caveat that some other header file
- than <STRONG>curses.h</STRONG> may require a specific value for <STRONG>_XOPEN_SOURCE</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Alternatively, you can enable the feature by defining
+ <STRONG>NCURSES_WIDECHAR</STRONG> with the caveat that some other header file
+ than <STRONG>curses.h</STRONG> may require a specific value for <STRONG>_XOPEN_SOURCE</STRONG>
(or a system-specific symbol).
- The <EM>curses.h</EM> header file installed for the wide-character library
- is designed to be compatible with the non-wide library's header.
- Only the size of the <EM>WINDOW</EM> structure differs; few applications
+ The <EM>curses.h</EM> header file installed for the wide-character library
+ is designed to be compatible with the non-wide library's header.
+ Only the size of the <EM>WINDOW</EM> structure differs; few applications
require more than pointers to <EM>WINDOW</EM>s.
If the headers are installed allowing overwrite, the wide-
- character library's headers should be installed last, to allow
+ character library's headers should be installed last, to allow
applications to be built using either library from the same set of
headers.
--with-pthread
- The configure script renames the library. All of the library
- names have a "t" appended to them (before any "w" added by
+ The configure script renames the library. All of the library
+ names have a "t" appended to them (before any "w" added by
<STRONG>--enable-widec</STRONG>).
The global variables such as <STRONG>LINES</STRONG> are replaced by macros to allow
read-only access. At the same time, setter-functions are provided
- to set these values. Some applications (very few) may require
+ to set these values. Some applications (very few) may require
changes to work with this convention.
--with-shared
--with-debug
--with-profile
- The shared and normal (static) library names differ by their
- suffixes, e.g., <STRONG>libncurses.so</STRONG> and <STRONG>libncurses.a</STRONG>. The debug and
- profiling libraries add a "_g" and a "_p" to the root names
+ The shared and normal (static) library names differ by their
+ suffixes, e.g., <STRONG>libncurses.so</STRONG> and <STRONG>libncurses.a</STRONG>. The debug and
+ profiling libraries add a "_g" and a "_p" to the root names
respectively, e.g., <STRONG>libncurses_g.a</STRONG> and <STRONG>libncurses_p.a</STRONG>.
--with-termlib
- Low-level functions which do not depend upon whether the library
+ Low-level functions which do not depend upon whether the library
supports wide-characters, are provided in the tinfo library.
- By doing this, it is possible to share the tinfo library between
- wide/normal configurations as well as reduce the size of the
+ By doing this, it is possible to share the tinfo library between
+ wide/normal configurations as well as reduce the size of the
library when only low-level functions are needed.
Those functions are described in these pages:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">curs_util(3x)</A></STRONG> - miscellaneous <EM>curses</EM> utility routines
--with-trace
- The <STRONG>trace</STRONG> function normally resides in the debug library, but it
- is sometimes useful to configure this in the shared library.
+ The <STRONG>trace</STRONG> 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 assuming it is always in the debug library.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-NOTES">NOTES</a></H2><PRE>
- X/Open Curses permits most functions it specifies to be made available
+ X/Open Curses permits most functions it specifies to be made available
as macros as well. <EM>ncurses</EM> does so
<STRONG>o</STRONG> for functions that return values via their parameters,
<STRONG>o</STRONG> to support obsolete features,
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> to reuse functions (for example, those that move the cursor before
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> to reuse functions (for example, those that move the cursor before
another operation), and
<STRONG>o</STRONG> a few special cases.
- If the standard output file descriptor of an <EM>ncurses</EM> program is
- redirected to something that is not a terminal device, the library
- writes screen updates to the standard error file descriptor. This was
+ If the standard output file descriptor of an <EM>ncurses</EM> program is
+ redirected to something that is not a terminal device, the library
+ writes screen updates to the standard error file descriptor. This was
an undocumented feature of SVr3.
- See subsection "Header files" below regarding symbols exposed by
+ See subsection "Header files" below regarding symbols exposed by
inclusion of <EM>curses.h</EM>.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></H2><PRE>
- <EM>ncurses</EM> enables an application to capture mouse events on certain
+ <EM>ncurses</EM> enables an application to capture mouse events on certain
terminals, including <EM>xterm;</EM> see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_mouse.3x.html">curs_mouse(3x)</A></STRONG>.
- <EM>ncurses</EM> provides a means of responding to window resizing events, as
- when running in a GUI terminal emulator application such as <EM>xterm;</EM> see
+ <EM>ncurses</EM> provides a means of responding to window resizing events, as
+ when running in a GUI terminal emulator application such as <EM>xterm;</EM> see
<STRONG><A HREF="resizeterm.3x.html">resizeterm(3x)</A></STRONG> and <STRONG><A HREF="wresize.3x.html">wresize(3x)</A></STRONG>.
<EM>ncurses</EM> allows an application to query the terminal for the presence of
a wide variety of special keys; see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">has_key(3x)</A></STRONG>.
<EM>ncurses</EM> extends the fixed set of function key capabilities specified by
- X/Open Curses by allowing the application programmer to define
- additional
key sequences at runtime; see <STRONG><A HREF="define_key.3x.html">define_key(3x)</A></STRONG>,
+ X/Open Curses by allowing the application programmer to define
+ additional
key sequences at runtime; see <STRONG><A HREF="define_key.3x.html">define_key(3x)</A></STRONG>,
<STRONG><A HREF="key_defined.3x.html">key_defined(3x)</A></STRONG>, and <STRONG><A HREF="keyok.3x.html">keyok(3x)</A></STRONG>.
- <EM>ncurses</EM> can exploit the capabilities of terminals implementing
- ISO 6429/ECMA-48 SGR 39 and SGR 49 sequences, which allow an
- application to reset the terminal to its original foreground and
- background colors. From a user's perspective, the application is able
- to draw colored text on a background whose color is set independently,
+ <EM>ncurses</EM> can exploit the capabilities of terminals implementing
+ ISO 6429/ECMA-48 SGR 39 and SGR 49 sequences, which allow an
+ application to reset the terminal to its original foreground and
+ background colors. From a user's perspective, the application is able
+ to draw colored text on a background whose color is set independently,
providing better control over color contrasts. See <STRONG><A HREF="default_colors.3x.html">default_colors(3x)</A></STRONG>.
- An <EM>ncurses</EM> application can choose to hide the internal details of
- <EM>WINDOW</EM> structures, instead using accessor functions such as
+ An <EM>ncurses</EM> application can choose to hide the internal details of
+ <EM>WINDOW</EM> structures, instead using accessor functions such as
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">is_scrollok(3x)</A></STRONG>.
- <EM>ncurses</EM> enables an application to direct application output to a
+ <EM>ncurses</EM> enables an application to direct application output to a
printer attached to the terminal device; see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_print.3x.html">curs_print(3x)</A></STRONG>.
- <EM>ncurses</EM> offers <STRONG><A HREF="curs_slk.3x.html">slk_attr(3x)</A></STRONG> as a counterpart of <STRONG><A HREF="curs_attr.3x.html">attr_get(3x)</A></STRONG> for soft-
- label
key lines, and <STRONG><A HREF="curs_slk.3x.html">extended_slk_color(3x)</A></STRONG> as a form of <STRONG><A HREF="curs_slk.3x.html">slk_color(3x)</A></STRONG>
- that can gather color information from them when many colors are
+ <EM>ncurses</EM> offers <STRONG><A HREF="curs_slk.3x.html">slk_attr(3x)</A></STRONG> as a counterpart of <STRONG><A HREF="curs_attr.3x.html">attr_get(3x)</A></STRONG> for soft-
+ label
key lines, and <STRONG><A HREF="curs_slk.3x.html">extended_slk_color(3x)</A></STRONG> as a form of <STRONG><A HREF="curs_slk.3x.html">slk_color(3x)</A></STRONG>
+ that can gather color information from them when many colors are
supported.
- Some extensions are only available if <EM>ncurses</EM> is compiled to support
+ Some extensions are only available if <EM>ncurses</EM> is compiled to support
them; see section "ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS" above.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Rudimentary support for multi-threaded applications may be
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Rudimentary support for multi-threaded applications may be
available; see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_threads.3x.html">curs_threads(3x)</A></STRONG>.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Functions that ease the management of multiple screens can be
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Functions that ease the management of multiple screens can be
exposed; see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_sp_funcs.3x.html">curs_sp_funcs(3x)</A></STRONG>.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The compiler option <STRONG>-DUSE_GETCAP</STRONG> causes the library to fall back to
reading <EM>/etc/termcap</EM> if the terminal setup code cannot find a <EM>term-</EM>
- <EM>info</EM> entry corresponding to <EM>TERM.</EM> Use of this feature is not
- recommended, as it essentially includes an entire <EM>termcap</EM> compiler
- in the <EM>ncurses</EM> startup code, at a cost in memory usage and
+ <EM>info</EM> entry corresponding to <EM>TERM.</EM> Use of this feature is not
+ recommended, as it essentially includes an entire <EM>termcap</EM> compiler
+ in the <EM>ncurses</EM> startup code, at a cost in memory usage and
application launch latency.
- <EM>PDCurses</EM> and NetBSD <EM>curses</EM> incorporate some <EM>ncurses</EM> extensions.
+ <EM>PDCurses</EM> and NetBSD <EM>curses</EM> incorporate some <EM>ncurses</EM> extensions.
Individual man pages indicate where this is the case.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
X/Open Curses defines two levels of conformance, "base" and "enhanced".
The latter includes several additional features, such as wide-character
- and color support. <EM>ncurses</EM> intends base-level conformance with X/Open
+ and color support. <EM>ncurses</EM> intends base-level conformance with X/Open
Curses, and supports nearly all its enhanced features.
- Differences between X/Open Curses and <EM>ncurses</EM> are documented in the
+ Differences between X/Open Curses and <EM>ncurses</EM> are documented in the
"PORTABILITY" sections of applicable man pages.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Error-Checking">Error Checking</a></H3><PRE>
- In many cases, X/Open Curses is vague about error conditions, omitting
+ In many cases, X/Open Curses is vague about error conditions, omitting
some of the SVr4 documentation.
- Unlike other implementations, this one checks parameters such as
- pointers to <EM>WINDOW</EM> structures to ensure they are not null. The main
- reason for providing this behavior is to guard against programmer
- error. The standard interface does not provide a way for the library
- to tell an application which of several possible errors were detected.
- Relying on this (or some other) extension will adversely affect the
+ Unlike other implementations, this one checks parameters such as
+ pointers to <EM>WINDOW</EM> structures to ensure they are not null. The main
+ reason for providing this behavior is to guard against programmer
+ error. The standard interface does not provide a way for the library
+ to tell an application which of several possible errors were detected.
+ Relying on this (or some other) extension will adversely affect the
portability of curses applications.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Padding-Differences">Padding Differences</a></H3><PRE>
- In historic curses versions, delays embedded in the capabilities <STRONG>cr</STRONG>,
- <STRONG>ind</STRONG>, <STRONG>cub1</STRONG>, <STRONG>ff</STRONG> and <STRONG>tab</STRONG> activated corresponding delay bits in the Unix
+ In historic curses versions, delays embedded in the capabilities <STRONG>cr</STRONG>,
+ <STRONG>ind</STRONG>, <STRONG>cub1</STRONG>, <STRONG>ff</STRONG> and <STRONG>tab</STRONG> activated corresponding delay bits in the Unix
tty driver. In this implementation, all padding is done by sending NUL
- bytes. This method is slightly more expensive, but narrows the
- interface to the Unix kernel significantly and increases the package's
+ bytes. This method is slightly more expensive, but narrows the
+ interface to the Unix kernel significantly and increases the package's
portability correspondingly.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Header-Files">Header Files</a></H3><PRE>
- The header file <EM>curses.h</EM> itself includes the header files <EM>stdio.h</EM> and
+ The header file <EM>curses.h</EM> itself includes the header files <EM>stdio.h</EM> and
<EM>unctrl.h</EM>.
X/Open Curses has more to say, but does not finish the story:
- The inclusion of <curses.h> may make visible all symbols from the
+ The inclusion of <curses.h> may make visible all symbols from the
headers <stdio.h>, <term.h>, <termios.h>, and <wchar.h>.
Here is a more complete story:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Starting with BSD curses, all implementations have included
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Starting with BSD curses, all implementations have included
<stdio.h>.
- BSD curses included <curses.h> and <unctrl.h> from an internal
+ BSD curses included <curses.h> and <unctrl.h> from an internal
header file <EM>curses.ext</EM> ("ext" abbreviated "externs").
- BSD curses used <stdio.h> internally (for <STRONG>printw</STRONG> and <STRONG>scanw</STRONG>), but
+ BSD curses used <stdio.h> internally (for <STRONG>printw</STRONG> and <STRONG>scanw</STRONG>), but
nothing in <curses.h> itself relied upon <stdio.h>.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr2 curses added <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">newterm(3x)</A></STRONG>, which relies upon <stdio.h>. That
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr2 curses added <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">newterm(3x)</A></STRONG>, which relies upon <stdio.h>. That
is, the function prototype uses <STRONG>FILE</STRONG>.
SVr4 curses added <STRONG>putwin</STRONG> and <STRONG>getwin</STRONG>, which also use <stdio.h>.
X/Open Curses documents all three of these functions.
- SVr4 curses and X/Open Curses do not require the developer to
+ SVr4 curses and X/Open Curses do not require the developer to
include <stdio.h> before including <curses.h>. Both document
curses showing <curses.h> as the only required header.
As a result, standard <curses.h> will always include <stdio.h>.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses is inconsistent with respect to SVr4 regarding
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses is inconsistent with respect to SVr4 regarding
<unctrl.h>.
- As noted in <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">curs_util(3x)</A></STRONG>, <EM>ncurses</EM> includes <unctrl.h> from
+ As noted in <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">curs_util(3x)</A></STRONG>, <EM>ncurses</EM> includes <unctrl.h> from
<curses.h> (like SVr4).
<STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open's comments about <term.h> and <termios.h> may refer to HP-UX
HP-UX curses includes <term.h> from <curses.h> to declare <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
in curses.h, but <EM>ncurses</EM> (and Solaris curses) do not.
- AIX curses includes <term.h> and <termios.h>. Again, <EM>ncurses</EM> (and
+ AIX curses includes <term.h> and <termios.h>. Again, <EM>ncurses</EM> (and
Solaris curses) do not.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open says that <curses.h> <EM>may</EM> include <term.h>, but there is no
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open says that <curses.h> <EM>may</EM> include <term.h>, but there is no
requirement that it do that.
Some programs use functions declared in both <curses.h> and
- <term.h>, and must include both headers in the same module. Very
- old versions of AIX curses required including <curses.h> before
+ <term.h>, and must include both headers in the same module. Very
+ old versions of AIX curses required including <curses.h> before
including <term.h>.
- Because <EM>ncurses</EM> header files include the headers needed to define
+ Because <EM>ncurses</EM> header files include the headers needed to define
datatypes used in the headers, <EM>ncurses</EM> header files can be included
- in any order. But for portability, you should include <curses.h>
+ in any order. But for portability, you should include <curses.h>
before <term.h>.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses says <EM>"may</EM> <EM>make</EM> <EM>visible"</EM> because including a header
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses says <EM>"may</EM> <EM>make</EM> <EM>visible"</EM> because including a header
file does not necessarily make all symbols in it visible (there are
ifdef's to consider).
- For instance, in <EM>ncurses</EM> <wchar.h> <EM>may</EM> be included if the proper
- symbol is defined, and if <EM>ncurses</EM> is configured for wide-character
- support. If the header is included, its symbols may be made
- visible. That depends on the value used for <STRONG>_XOPEN_SOURCE</STRONG> feature
+ For instance, in <EM>ncurses</EM> <wchar.h> <EM>may</EM> be included if the proper
+ symbol is defined, and if <EM>ncurses</EM> is configured for wide-character
+ support. If the header is included, its symbols may be made
+ visible. That depends on the value used for <STRONG>_XOPEN_SOURCE</STRONG> feature
test macro.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses documents one required header, in a special case:
- <stdarg.h> before <curses.h> to prototype the <STRONG>vw_printw</STRONG> and
- <STRONG>vw_scanw</STRONG> functions (as well as the obsolete the <STRONG>vwprintw</STRONG> and
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses documents one required header, in a special case:
+ <stdarg.h> before <curses.h> to prototype the <STRONG>vw_printw</STRONG> and
+ <STRONG>vw_scanw</STRONG> functions (as well as the obsolete the <STRONG>vwprintw</STRONG> and
<STRONG>vwscanw</STRONG> functions). Each of those uses a <STRONG>va_list</STRONG> parameter.
- The two obsolete functions were introduced in SVr3. The other
- functions were introduced in X/Open Curses. In between, SVr4
- curses provided for the possibility that an application might
+ The two obsolete functions were introduced in SVr3. The other
+ functions were introduced in X/Open Curses. In between, SVr4
+ curses provided for the possibility that an application might
include either <varargs.h> or <stdarg.h>. Initially, that was done
- by using <STRONG>void*</STRONG> for the <STRONG>va_list</STRONG> parameter. Later, a special type
- (defined in <stdio.h>) was introduced, to allow for compiler type-
+ by using <STRONG>void*</STRONG> for the <STRONG>va_list</STRONG> parameter. Later, a special type
+ (defined in <stdio.h>) was introduced, to allow for compiler type-
checking. That special type is always available, because <stdio.h>
is always included by <curses.h>.
None of the X/Open Curses implementations require an application to
- include <stdarg.h> before <curses.h> because they either have
- allowed for a special type, or (like <EM>ncurses</EM>) include <stdarg.h>
+ include <stdarg.h> before <curses.h> because they either have
+ allowed for a special type, or (like <EM>ncurses</EM>) include <stdarg.h>
directly to provide a portable interface.
-ncurses 6.4 2024-01-
05 <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG>
+ncurses 6.4 2024-01-
13 <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
<div class="nav">
<ul>
<li><a href="#h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-ENVIRONMENT">ENVIRONMENT</a>
<ul>
-<li><a href="#h3-CC-command-character">CC command-character</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-CC-_command-character_">CC (command character)</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-BAUDRATE">BAUDRATE</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-COLUMNS">COLUMNS</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-ESCDELAY">ESCDELAY</a></li>
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