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- * @Id: ncurses.3x,v 1.63 2002/08/10 21:56:07 tom Exp @
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<PRE>
<!-- Manpage converted by man2html 3.0.1 -->
+<STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG> <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG>
+
+
+
</PRE>
<H2>NAME</H2><PRE>
</PRE>
<H2>DESCRIPTION</H2><PRE>
The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library routines give the user a terminal-
- independent method of updating character screens with
- reasonable optimization. This implementation is ``new
+ independent method of updating character screens with rea-
+ sonable optimization. This implementation is ``new
curses'' (ncurses) and is the approved replacement for
- 4.4BSD classic curses, which has been discontinued.
-
- The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> routines emulate the <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG> library of
- System V Release 4 UNIX, and the XPG4 curses standard (XSI
- curses) but the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library is freely redistributable
- in source form. Differences from the SVr4 curses are
- summarized under the EXTENSIONS and BUGS sections below
- and described in detail in the EXTENSIONS and BUGS
- sections of individual man pages.
+ 4.4BSD classic curses, which has been discontinued. This
+ describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 5.7 (patch 20100731).
+
+ The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library emulates the curses library of System
+ V Release 4 UNIX, and XPG4 (X/Open Portability Guide)
+ curses (also known as XSI curses). XSI stands for X/Open
+ System Interfaces Extension. The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library is
+ freely redistributable in source form. Differences from
+ the SVr4 curses are summarized under the <STRONG>EXTENSIONS</STRONG> and
+ <STRONG>PORTABILITY</STRONG> sections below and described in detail in the
+ respective <STRONG>EXTENSIONS</STRONG>, <STRONG>PORTABILITY</STRONG> and <STRONG>BUGS</STRONG> sections of
+ individual man pages.
+
+ The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library also provides many useful extensions,
+ i.e., features which cannot be implemented by a simple
+ add-on library but which require access to the internals
+ of the library.
A program using these routines must be linked with the
<STRONG>-lncurses</STRONG> option, or (if it has been generated) with the
debugging library <STRONG>-lncurses_g</STRONG>. (Your system integrator
may also have installed these libraries under the names
<STRONG>-lcurses</STRONG> and <STRONG>-lcurses_g</STRONG>.) The ncurses_g library generates
- trace logs (in a file called 'trace' in the current
- directory) that describe curses actions.
-
- The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> package supports: overall screen, window and
- pad manipulation; output to windows and pads; reading
- terminal input; control over terminal and <STRONG>curses</STRONG> input and
- output options; environment query routines; color
- manipulation; use of soft label keys; terminfo
- capabilities; and access to low-level terminal-
- manipulation routines.
-
- To initialize the routines, the routine <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG>
- must be called before any of the other routines that deal
- with windows and screens are used. The routine <STRONG>endwin</STRONG>
- must be called before exiting. To get character-at-a-time
- input without echoing (most interactive, screen oriented
- programs want this), the following sequence should be
- used:
+ trace logs (in a file called 'trace' in the current direc-
+ tory) that describe curses actions. See also the section
+ on <STRONG>ALTERNATE</STRONG> <STRONG>CONFIGURATIONS</STRONG>.
+
+ The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> package supports: overall screen, window and
+ pad manipulation; output to windows and pads; reading ter-
+ minal input; control over terminal and <STRONG>curses</STRONG> input and
+ output options; environment query routines; color manipu-
+ lation; use of soft label keys; terminfo capabilities; and
+ access to low-level terminal-manipulation routines.
+
+ The library uses the locale which the calling program has
+ initialized. That is normally done with <STRONG>setlocale</STRONG>:
+
+ <STRONG>setlocale(LC_ALL,</STRONG> <STRONG>"");</STRONG>
+
+ If the locale is not initialized, the library assumes that
+ characters are printable as in ISO-8859-1, to work with
+ certain legacy programs. You should initialize the locale
+ and not rely on specific details of the library when the
+ locale has not been setup.
+
+ The function <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> must be called to initial-
+ ize the library before any of the other routines that deal
+ with windows and screens are used. The routine <STRONG>endwin</STRONG>
+ must be called before exiting.
+
+ To get character-at-a-time input without echoing (most
+ interactive, screen oriented programs want this), the fol-
+ lowing sequence should be used:
<STRONG>initscr();</STRONG> <STRONG>cbreak();</STRONG> <STRONG>noecho();</STRONG>
<STRONG>intrflush(stdscr,</STRONG> <STRONG>FALSE);</STRONG>
<STRONG>keypad(stdscr,</STRONG> <STRONG>TRUE);</STRONG>
- Before a <STRONG>curses</STRONG> program is run, the tab stops of the
- terminal should be set and its initialization strings, if
+ Before a <STRONG>curses</STRONG> program is run, the tab stops of the ter-
+ minal should be set and its initialization strings, if
defined, must be output. This can be done by executing
the <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>init</STRONG> command after the shell environment variable
<STRONG>TERM</STRONG> has been exported. <STRONG>tset(1)</STRONG> is usually responsible
for doing this. [See <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> for further details.]
- The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library permits manipulation of data
- structures, called <EM>windows</EM>, which can be thought of as
- two-dimensional arrays of characters representing all or
- part of a CRT screen. A default window called <STRONG>stdscr</STRONG>,
- which is the size of the terminal screen, is supplied.
- Others may be created with <STRONG>newwin</STRONG>.
+ The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library permits manipulation of data struc-
+ tures, called <EM>windows</EM>, which can be thought of as two-
+ dimensional arrays of characters representing all or part
+ of a CRT screen. A default window called <STRONG>stdscr</STRONG>, which is
+ the size of the terminal screen, is supplied. Others may
+ be created with <STRONG>newwin</STRONG>.
Note that <STRONG>curses</STRONG> does not handle overlapping windows,
- that's done by the <STRONG><A HREF="panel.3x.html">panel(3x)</A></STRONG> library. This means that you
- can either use <STRONG>stdscr</STRONG> or divide the screen into tiled
- windows and not using <STRONG>stdscr</STRONG> at all. Mixing the two will
+ that's done by the <STRONG><A HREF="panel.3x.html">panel(3x)</A></STRONG> library. This means that you
+ can either use <STRONG>stdscr</STRONG> or divide the screen into tiled win-
+ dows and not using <STRONG>stdscr</STRONG> at all. Mixing the two will
result in unpredictable, and undesired, effects.
Windows are referred to by variables declared as <STRONG>WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG>.
These data structures are manipulated with routines
described here and elsewhere in the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> manual pages.
- Among which the most basic routines are <STRONG>move</STRONG> and <STRONG>addch</STRONG>.
+ Among those, the most basic routines are <STRONG>move</STRONG> and <STRONG>addch</STRONG>.
More general versions of these routines are included with
names beginning with <STRONG>w</STRONG>, allowing the user to specify a
- window. The routines not beginning with <STRONG>w</STRONG> affect <STRONG>stdscr</STRONG>.)
+ window. The routines not beginning with <STRONG>w</STRONG> affect <STRONG>stdscr</STRONG>.
- After using routines to manipulate a window, <STRONG>refresh</STRONG> is
- called, telling <STRONG>curses</STRONG> to make the user's CRT screen look
- like <STRONG>stdscr</STRONG>. The characters in a window are actually of
- type <STRONG>chtype</STRONG>, (character and attribute data) so that other
- information about the character may also be stored with
+ After using routines to manipulate a window, <STRONG>refresh</STRONG> is
+ called, telling <STRONG>curses</STRONG> to make the user's CRT screen look
+ like <STRONG>stdscr</STRONG>. The characters in a window are actually of
+ type <STRONG>chtype</STRONG>, (character and attribute data) so that other
+ information about the character may also be stored with
each character.
- Special windows called <EM>pads</EM> may also be manipulated.
+ Special windows called <EM>pads</EM> may also be manipulated.
These are windows which are not constrained to the size of
- the screen and whose contents need not be completely
-
displayed. See <STRONG><A HREF="curs_pad.3x.html">curs_pad(3x)</A></STRONG> for more information.
-
- In addition to drawing characters on the screen, video
- attributes and colors may be supported, causing the
- characters to show up in such modes as underlined, in
- reverse video, or in color on terminals that support such
- display enhancements. Line drawing characters may be
- specified to be output. On input, <STRONG>curses</STRONG> is also able to
- translate arrow and function keys that transmit escape
- sequences into single values. The video attributes, line
- drawing characters, and input values use names, defined in
+ the screen and whose contents need not be completely dis-
+ played. See <STRONG><A HREF="curs_pad.3x.html">curs_pad(3x)</A></STRONG> for more information.
+
+ In addition to drawing characters on the screen, video
+ attributes and colors may be supported, causing the char-
+ acters to show up in such modes as underlined, in reverse
+ video, or in color on terminals that support such display
+ enhancements. Line drawing characters may be specified to
+ be output. On input, <STRONG>curses</STRONG> is also able to translate
+ arrow and function keys that transmit escape sequences
+ into single values. The video attributes, line drawing
+ characters, and input values use names, defined in
<STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>, such as <STRONG>A_REVERSE</STRONG>, <STRONG>ACS_HLINE</STRONG>, and <STRONG>KEY_LEFT</STRONG>.
If the environment variables <STRONG>LINES</STRONG> and <STRONG>COLUMNS</STRONG> are set, or
- if the program is executing in a window environment, line
- and column information in the environment will override
- information read by <EM>terminfo</EM>. This would effect a program
- running in an AT&T 630 layer, for example, where the size
+ if the program is executing in a window environment, line
+ and column information in the environment will override
+ information read by <EM>terminfo</EM>. This would affect a program
+ running in an AT&T 630 layer, for example, where the size
of a screen is changeable (see <STRONG>ENVIRONMENT</STRONG>).
- If the environment variable <STRONG>TERMINFO</STRONG> is defined, any
- program using <STRONG>curses</STRONG> checks for a local terminal
- definition before checking in the standard place. For
- example, if <STRONG>TERM</STRONG> is set to <STRONG>att4424</STRONG>, then the compiled
- terminal definition is found in
+ If the environment variable <STRONG>TERMINFO</STRONG> is defined, any pro-
+ gram using <STRONG>curses</STRONG> checks for a local terminal definition
+ before checking in the standard place. For example, if
+ <STRONG>TERM</STRONG> is set to <STRONG>att4424</STRONG>, then the compiled terminal defini-
+ tion is found in
<STRONG>/usr/share/terminfo/a/att4424</STRONG>.
(The <STRONG>a</STRONG> is copied from the first letter of <STRONG>att4424</STRONG> to avoid
- creation of huge directories.) However, if <STRONG>TERMINFO</STRONG> is
+ creation of huge directories.) However, if <STRONG>TERMINFO</STRONG> is
set to <STRONG>$HOME/myterms</STRONG>, <STRONG>curses</STRONG> first checks
<STRONG>$HOME/myterms/a/att4424</STRONG>,
<STRONG>/usr/share/terminfo/a/att4424</STRONG>.
- This is useful for developing experimental definitions or
- when write permission in <STRONG>/usr/share/terminfo</STRONG> is not
- available.
+ This is useful for developing experimental definitions or
+ when write permission in <STRONG>/usr/share/terminfo</STRONG> is not avail-
+ able.
- The integer variables <STRONG>LINES</STRONG> and <STRONG>COLS</STRONG> are defined in
- <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG> and will be filled in by <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> with the size
- of the screen. The constants <STRONG>TRUE</STRONG> and <STRONG>FALSE</STRONG> have the
- values <STRONG>1</STRONG> and <STRONG>0</STRONG>, respectively.
+ The integer variables <STRONG>LINES</STRONG> and <STRONG>COLS</STRONG> are defined in
+ <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG> and will be filled in by <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> with the size
+ of the screen. The constants <STRONG>TRUE</STRONG> and <STRONG>FALSE</STRONG> have the val-
+ ues <STRONG>1</STRONG> and <STRONG>0</STRONG>, respectively.
- The <STRONG>curses</STRONG> routines also define the <STRONG>WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> variable
+ The <STRONG>curses</STRONG> routines also define the <STRONG>WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> variable
<STRONG>curscr</STRONG> which is used for certain low-level operations like
- clearing and redrawing a screen containing garbage. The
+ clearing and redrawing a screen containing garbage. The
<STRONG>curscr</STRONG> can be used in only a few routines.
-
<STRONG>Routine</STRONG> <STRONG>and</STRONG> <STRONG>Argument</STRONG> <STRONG>Names</STRONG>
- Many <STRONG>curses</STRONG> routines have two or more versions. The
- routines prefixed with <STRONG>w</STRONG> require a window argument. The
- routines prefixed with <STRONG>p</STRONG> require a pad argument. Those
- without a prefix generally use <STRONG>stdscr</STRONG>.
+ Many <STRONG>curses</STRONG> routines have two or more versions. The rou-
+ tines prefixed with <STRONG>w</STRONG> require a window argument. The rou-
+ tines prefixed with <STRONG>p</STRONG> require a pad argument. Those with-
+ out a prefix generally use <STRONG>stdscr</STRONG>.
The routines prefixed with <STRONG>mv</STRONG> require a <EM>y</EM> and <EM>x</EM> coordinate
- to move to before performing the appropriate action. The
- <STRONG>mv</STRONG> routines imply a call to <STRONG>move</STRONG> before the call to the
- other routine. The coordinate <EM>y</EM> always refers to the row
- (of the window), and <EM>x</EM> always refers to the column. The
+ to move to before performing the appropriate action. The
+ <STRONG>mv</STRONG> routines imply a call to <STRONG>move</STRONG> before the call to the
+ other routine. The coordinate <EM>y</EM> always refers to the row
+ (of the window), and <EM>x</EM> always refers to the column. The
upper left-hand corner is always (0,0), not (1,1).
The routines prefixed with <STRONG>mvw</STRONG> take both a window argument
- and <EM>x</EM> and <EM>y</EM> coordinates. The window argument is always
+ and <EM>x</EM> and <EM>y</EM> coordinates. The window argument is always
specified before the coordinates.
- In each case, <EM>win</EM> is the window affected, and <EM>pad</EM> is the
- pad affected; <EM>win</EM> and <EM>pad</EM> are always pointers to type
- <STRONG>WINDOW</STRONG>.
+ In each case, <EM>win</EM> is the window affected, and <EM>pad</EM> is the
+ pad affected; <EM>win</EM> and <EM>pad</EM> are always pointers to type <STRONG>WIN-</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>DOW</STRONG>.
Option setting routines require a Boolean flag <EM>bf</EM> with the
- value <STRONG>TRUE</STRONG> or <STRONG>FALSE</STRONG>; <EM>bf</EM> is always of type <STRONG>bool</STRONG>. The
- variables <EM>ch</EM> and <EM>attrs</EM> below are always of type <STRONG>chtype</STRONG>.
- The types <STRONG>WINDOW</STRONG>, <STRONG>SCREEN</STRONG>, <STRONG>bool</STRONG>, and <STRONG>chtype</STRONG> are defined in
- <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>. The type <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> is defined in <STRONG><term.h></STRONG>.
- All other arguments are integers.
-
+ value <STRONG>TRUE</STRONG> or <STRONG>FALSE</STRONG>; <EM>bf</EM> is always of type <STRONG>bool</STRONG>. Most of
+ the data types used in the library routines, such as <STRONG>WIN-</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>DOW</STRONG>, <STRONG>SCREEN</STRONG>, <STRONG>bool</STRONG>, and <STRONG>chtype</STRONG> are defined in <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>.
+ Types used for the terminfo routines such as <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> are
+ defined in <STRONG><term.h></STRONG>.
+
+ This manual page describes functions which may appear in
+ any configuration of the library. There are two common
+ configurations of the library:
+
+ ncurses
+ the "normal" library, which handles 8-bit
+ characters. The normal (8-bit) library stores
+ characters combined with attributes in <STRONG>chtype</STRONG>
+ data.
+
+ Attributes alone (no corresponding character)
+ may be stored in <STRONG>chtype</STRONG> or the equivalent
+ <STRONG>attr_t</STRONG> data. In either case, the data is
+ stored in something like an integer.
+
+ Each cell (row and column) in a <STRONG>WINDOW</STRONG> is
+ stored as a <STRONG>chtype</STRONG>.
+
+ ncursesw
+ the so-called "wide" library, which handles
+ multibyte characters (See the section on
+ <STRONG>ALTERNATE</STRONG> <STRONG>CONFIGURATIONS</STRONG>). The "wide" library
+ includes all of the calls from the "normal"
+ library. It adds about one third more calls
+ using data types which store multibyte charac-
+ ters:
+
+ <STRONG>cchar_t</STRONG>
+ corresponds to <STRONG>chtype</STRONG>. However it is a
+ structure, because more data is stored
+ than can fit into an integer. The char-
+ acters are large enough to require a full
+ integer value - and there may be more
+ than one character per cell. The video
+ attributes and color are stored in sepa-
+ rate fields of the structure.
+
+ Each cell (row and column) in a <STRONG>WINDOW</STRONG> is
+ stored as a <STRONG>cchar_t</STRONG>.
+
+ <STRONG>wchar_t</STRONG>
+ stores a "wide" character. Like <STRONG>chtype</STRONG>,
+ this may be an integer.
+
+ <STRONG>wint_t</STRONG>
+ stores a <STRONG>wchar_t</STRONG> or <STRONG>WEOF</STRONG> - not the same,
+ though both may have the same size.
+
+ The "wide" library provides new functions
+ which are analogous to functions in the "nor-
+ mal" library. There is a naming convention
+ which relates many of the normal/wide vari-
+ ants: a "_w" is inserted into the name. For
+ example, <STRONG>waddch</STRONG> becomes <STRONG>wadd_wch</STRONG>.
<STRONG>Routine</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Index</STRONG>
The following table lists each <STRONG>curses</STRONG> routine and the name
- of the manual page on which it is described. Routines
- flagged with `*' are ncurses-specific, not described by
+ of the manual page on which it is described. Routines
+ flagged with `*' are ncurses-specific, not described by
XPG4 or present in SVr4.
<STRONG>curses</STRONG> Routine Name Manual Page Name
--------------------------------------------
COLOR_PAIR <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG>
PAIR_NUMBER <STRONG><A HREF="curs_attr.3x.html">curs_attr(3x)</A></STRONG>
+ _nc_free_and_exit <STRONG><A HREF="curs_memleaks.3x.html">curs_memleaks(3x)</A></STRONG>*
+ _nc_freeall <STRONG><A HREF="curs_memleaks.3x.html">curs_memleaks(3x)</A></STRONG>*
_nc_tracebits <STRONG><A HREF="curs_trace.3x.html">curs_trace(3x)</A></STRONG>*
+
_traceattr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_trace.3x.html">curs_trace(3x)</A></STRONG>*
_traceattr2 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_trace.3x.html">curs_trace(3x)</A></STRONG>*
_tracechar <STRONG><A HREF="curs_trace.3x.html">curs_trace(3x)</A></STRONG>*
bkgd <STRONG><A HREF="curs_bkgd.3x.html">curs_bkgd(3x)</A></STRONG>
bkgdset <STRONG><A HREF="curs_bkgd.3x.html">curs_bkgd(3x)</A></STRONG>
bkgrnd <STRONG><A HREF="curs_bkgrnd.3x.html">curs_bkgrnd(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
bkgrndset <STRONG><A HREF="curs_bkgrnd.3x.html">curs_bkgrnd(3x)</A></STRONG>
border <STRONG><A HREF="curs_border.3x.html">curs_border(3x)</A></STRONG>
border_set <STRONG><A HREF="curs_border_set.3x.html">curs_border_set(3x)</A></STRONG>
echochar <STRONG><A HREF="curs_addch.3x.html">curs_addch(3x)</A></STRONG>
endwin <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">curs_initscr(3x)</A></STRONG>
erase <STRONG><A HREF="curs_clear.3x.html">curs_clear(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>
filter <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">curs_util(3x)</A></STRONG>
flushinp <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">curs_util(3x)</A></STRONG>
get_wch <STRONG><A HREF="curs_get_wch.3x.html">curs_get_wch(3x)</A></STRONG>
get_wstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_get_wstr.3x.html">curs_get_wstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
+ getattrs <STRONG><A HREF="curs_attr.3x.html">curs_attr(3x)</A></STRONG>
+ getbegx <STRONG><A HREF="curs_legacy.3x.html">curs_legacy(3x)</A></STRONG>*
+ getbegy <STRONG><A HREF="curs_legacy.3x.html">curs_legacy(3x)</A></STRONG>*
getbegyx <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getyx.3x.html">curs_getyx(3x)</A></STRONG>
getbkgd <STRONG><A HREF="curs_bkgd.3x.html">curs_bkgd(3x)</A></STRONG>
getbkgrnd <STRONG><A HREF="curs_bkgrnd.3x.html">curs_bkgrnd(3x)</A></STRONG>
getcchar <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getcchar.3x.html">curs_getcchar(3x)</A></STRONG>
getch <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">curs_getch(3x)</A></STRONG>
+ getcurx <STRONG><A HREF="curs_legacy.3x.html">curs_legacy(3x)</A></STRONG>*
+ getcury <STRONG><A HREF="curs_legacy.3x.html">curs_legacy(3x)</A></STRONG>*
+ getmaxx <STRONG><A HREF="curs_legacy.3x.html">curs_legacy(3x)</A></STRONG>*
+ getmaxy <STRONG><A HREF="curs_legacy.3x.html">curs_legacy(3x)</A></STRONG>*
getmaxyx <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getyx.3x.html">curs_getyx(3x)</A></STRONG>
getmouse <STRONG><A HREF="curs_mouse.3x.html">curs_mouse(3x)</A></STRONG>*
getn_wstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_get_wstr.3x.html">curs_get_wstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
getnstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
+ getparx <STRONG><A HREF="curs_legacy.3x.html">curs_legacy(3x)</A></STRONG>*
+ getpary <STRONG><A HREF="curs_legacy.3x.html">curs_legacy(3x)</A></STRONG>*
getparyx <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getyx.3x.html">curs_getyx(3x)</A></STRONG>
getstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
getsyx <STRONG><A HREF="curs_kernel.3x.html">curs_kernel(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
getwin <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">curs_util(3x)</A></STRONG>
getyx <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getyx.3x.html">curs_getyx(3x)</A></STRONG>
halfdelay <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(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_cleared <STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">curs_opaque(3x)</A></STRONG>*
+ is_idcok <STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">curs_opaque(3x)</A></STRONG>*
+ is_idlok <STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">curs_opaque(3x)</A></STRONG>*
+
+ is_immedok <STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">curs_opaque(3x)</A></STRONG>*
+ is_keypad <STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">curs_opaque(3x)</A></STRONG>*
+ is_leaveok <STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">curs_opaque(3x)</A></STRONG>*
is_linetouched <STRONG><A HREF="curs_touch.3x.html">curs_touch(3x)</A></STRONG>
+ is_nodelay <STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">curs_opaque(3x)</A></STRONG>*
+ is_notimeout <STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">curs_opaque(3x)</A></STRONG>*
+ is_scrollok <STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">curs_opaque(3x)</A></STRONG>*
+ is_syncok <STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">curs_opaque(3x)</A></STRONG>*
+ is_term_resized <STRONG><A HREF="resizeterm.3x.html">resizeterm(3x)</A></STRONG>*
is_wintouched <STRONG><A HREF="curs_touch.3x.html">curs_touch(3x)</A></STRONG>
isendwin <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">curs_initscr(3x)</A></STRONG>
+ key_defined <STRONG><A HREF="key_defined.3x.html">key_defined(3x)</A></STRONG>*
key_name <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">curs_util(3x)</A></STRONG>
keybound <STRONG><A HREF="keybound.3x.html">keybound(3x)</A></STRONG>*
keyname <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">curs_util(3x)</A></STRONG>
mousemask <STRONG><A HREF="curs_mouse.3x.html">curs_mouse(3x)</A></STRONG>*
move <STRONG><A HREF="curs_move.3x.html">curs_move(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvadd_wch <STRONG><A HREF="curs_add_wch.3x.html">curs_add_wch(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
mvadd_wchnstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_add_wchstr.3x.html">curs_add_wchstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvadd_wchstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_add_wchstr.3x.html">curs_add_wchstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvaddch <STRONG><A HREF="curs_addch.3x.html">curs_addch(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvinsstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_insstr.3x.html">curs_insstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvinstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_instr.3x.html">curs_instr(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvinwstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inwstr.3x.html">curs_inwstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
+
mvprintw <STRONG><A HREF="curs_printw.3x.html">curs_printw(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvscanw <STRONG><A HREF="curs_scanw.3x.html">curs_scanw(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvvline <STRONG><A HREF="curs_border.3x.html">curs_border(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvwaddwstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_addwstr.3x.html">curs_addwstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvwchgat <STRONG><A HREF="curs_attr.3x.html">curs_attr(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvwdelch <STRONG><A HREF="curs_delch.3x.html">curs_delch(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
mvwget_wch <STRONG><A HREF="curs_get_wch.3x.html">curs_get_wch(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvwget_wstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_get_wstr.3x.html">curs_get_wstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
mvwgetch <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">curs_getch(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_outopts.3x.html">curs_outopts(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>
pnoutrefresh <STRONG><A HREF="curs_pad.3x.html">curs_pad(3x)</A></STRONG>
prefresh <STRONG><A HREF="curs_pad.3x.html">curs_pad(3x)</A></STRONG>
printw <STRONG><A HREF="curs_printw.3x.html">curs_printw(3x)</A></STRONG>
+
putp <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
putwin <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">curs_util(3x)</A></STRONG>
qiflush <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>
raw <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>
redrawwin <STRONG><A HREF="curs_refresh.3x.html">curs_refresh(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
refresh <STRONG><A HREF="curs_refresh.3x.html">curs_refresh(3x)</A></STRONG>
reset_prog_mode <STRONG><A HREF="curs_kernel.3x.html">curs_kernel(3x)</A></STRONG>
reset_shell_mode <STRONG><A HREF="curs_kernel.3x.html">curs_kernel(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>
tigetnum <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
tigetstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
touchline <STRONG><A HREF="curs_touch.3x.html">curs_touch(3x)</A></STRONG>
touchwin <STRONG><A HREF="curs_touch.3x.html">curs_touch(3x)</A></STRONG>
tparm <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
+
tputs <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termcap.3x.html">curs_termcap(3x)</A></STRONG>
tputs <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
trace <STRONG><A HREF="curs_trace.3x.html">curs_trace(3x)</A></STRONG>*
use_default_colors <STRONG><A HREF="default_colors.3x.html">default_colors(3x)</A></STRONG>*
use_env <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">curs_util(3x)</A></STRONG>
use_extended_names <STRONG><A HREF="curs_extend.3x.html">curs_extend(3x)</A></STRONG>*
+ use_legacy_coding <STRONG><A HREF="legacy_coding.3x.html">legacy_coding(3x)</A></STRONG>*
vid_attr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
vid_puts <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
vidattr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(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>
wclrtobot <STRONG><A HREF="curs_clear.3x.html">curs_clear(3x)</A></STRONG>
wclrtoeol <STRONG><A HREF="curs_clear.3x.html">curs_clear(3x)</A></STRONG>
wgetn_wstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_get_wstr.3x.html">curs_get_wstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
wgetnstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
wgetstr <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getstr.3x.html">curs_getstr(3x)</A></STRONG>
+
whline <STRONG><A HREF="curs_border.3x.html">curs_border(3x)</A></STRONG>
whline_set <STRONG><A HREF="curs_border_set.3x.html">curs_border_set(3x)</A></STRONG>
win_wch <STRONG><A HREF="curs_in_wch.3x.html">curs_in_wch(3x)</A></STRONG>
wsyncdown <STRONG><A HREF="curs_window.3x.html">curs_window(3x)</A></STRONG>
wsyncup <STRONG><A HREF="curs_window.3x.html">curs_window(3x)</A></STRONG>
wtimeout <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>
-
wtouchln <STRONG><A HREF="curs_touch.3x.html">curs_touch(3x)</A></STRONG>
wunctrl <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">curs_util(3x)</A></STRONG>
wvline <STRONG><A HREF="curs_border.3x.html">curs_border(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
<H2>RETURN VALUE</H2><PRE>
- Routines that return an integer return <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon failure
- and an integer value other than <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon successful
- completion, unless otherwise noted in the routine
- descriptions.
-
- All macros return the value of the <STRONG>w</STRONG> version, except
- <STRONG>setscrreg</STRONG>, <STRONG>wsetscrreg</STRONG>, <STRONG>getyx</STRONG>, <STRONG>getbegyx</STRONG>, <STRONG>getmaxyx</STRONG>. The
- return values of <STRONG>setscrreg</STRONG>, <STRONG>wsetscrreg</STRONG>, <STRONG>getyx</STRONG>, <STRONG>getbegyx</STRONG>,
- and <STRONG>getmaxyx</STRONG> are undefined (<EM>i</EM>.<EM>e</EM>., these should not be used
+ Routines that return an integer return <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon failure
+ and an integer value other than <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon successful com-
+ pletion, unless otherwise noted in the routine descrip-
+ tions.
+
+ All macros return the value of the <STRONG>w</STRONG> version, except
+ <STRONG>setscrreg</STRONG>, <STRONG>wsetscrreg</STRONG>, <STRONG>getyx</STRONG>, <STRONG>getbegyx</STRONG>, and <STRONG>getmaxyx</STRONG>. The
+ return values of <STRONG>setscrreg</STRONG>, <STRONG>wsetscrreg</STRONG>, <STRONG>getyx</STRONG>, <STRONG>getbegyx</STRONG>,
+ and <STRONG>getmaxyx</STRONG> are undefined (i.e., these should not be used
as the right-hand side of assignment statements).
Routines that return pointers return <STRONG>NULL</STRONG> on error.
</PRE>
<H2>ENVIRONMENT</H2><PRE>
- The following environment symbols are useful for
- customizing the runtime behavior of the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library.
- The most important ones have been already discussed in
- detail.
+ The following environment symbols are useful for customiz-
+ ing the runtime behavior of the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library. The most
+ important ones have been already discussed in detail.
BAUDRATE
The debugging library checks this environment symbol
when the application has redirected output to a file.
The symbol's numeric value is used for the baudrate.
- If no value is found <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> uses 9600. This allows
+ If no value is found, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> uses 9600. This allows
testers to construct repeatable test-cases that take
into account costs that depend on baudrate.
CC When set, change occurrences of the command_character
(i.e., the <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG> capability) of the loaded terminfo
- entries to the value of this symbol. Very few
- terminfo entries provide this feature.
+ entries to the value of this symbol. Very few ter-
+ minfo entries provide this feature.
+
+ Because this name is also used in development envi-
+ ronments to represent the C compiler's name, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
+ ignores it if it does not happen to be a single char-
+ acter.
COLUMNS
Specify the width of the screen in characters.
- Applications running in a windowing environment
- usually are able to obtain the width of the window in
- which they are executing. If neither the $COLUMNS
- value nor the terminal's screen size is available,
- <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> uses the size which may be specified in the
+ Applications running in a windowing environment usu-
+ ally are able to obtain the width of the window in
+ which they are executing. If neither the <STRONG>COLUMNS</STRONG>
+ value nor the terminal's screen size is available,
+ <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> 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. However, 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.
-
- Either COLUMNS or LINES symbols may be specified
- independently. This is mainly useful to circumvent
- legacy misfeatures of terminal descriptions, e.g.,
+ 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 <STRONG>COLUMNS</STRONG> and/or <STRONG>LINES</STRONG>
+ overrides the library's use of the screen size
+ obtained from the operating system.
+
+ Either <STRONG>COLUMNS</STRONG> or <STRONG>LINES</STRONG> 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
+ 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 this feature.
+ Use the <STRONG>use_env</STRONG> function to disable all use of exter-
+ nal environment (including system calls) to determine
+ the screen size.
ESCDELAY
- Specifies the total time, in milliseconds, for which
- ncurses will await a character sequence, e.g., a
- function key. The default value, 1000 milliseconds,
- is enough for most uses. However, it is made a
- variable to accommodate unusual applications.
+ Specifies the total time, in milliseconds, for which
+ ncurses will await a character sequence, e.g., a
+ function key. The default value, 1000 milliseconds,
+ is enough for most uses. However, it is made a vari-
+ able to accommodate unusual applications.
The most common instance where you may wish to change
- this value is to work with slow hosts, e.g., running
- on a network. If the host cannot read characters
- rapidly enough, it will have the same effect as if
- the terminal did not send characters rapidly enough.
+ 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
+ Note that xterm mouse events are built up from char-
+ acter sequences received from the xterm. If your
application makes heavy use of multiple-clicking, you
- may wish to lengthen this default value because the
- timeout applies to the composed multi-click event as
+ may wish to lengthen this default value because the
+ timeout applies to the composed multi-click event as
well as the individual clicks.
- HOME Tells <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> where your home directory is. That is
+ In addition to the environment variable, this imple-
+ mentation provides a global variable with the same
+ name. Portable applications should not rely upon the
+ presence of ESCDELAY in either form, but setting the
+ environment variable rather than the global variable
+ does not create problems when compiling an applica-
+ tion.
+
+ HOME Tells <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> where your home directory is. That is
where it may read and write auxiliary terminal
descriptions:
$HOME/.terminfo
LINES
- Like COLUMNS, specify the height of the screen in
- characters. See COLUMNS for a detailed description.
+ Like COLUMNS, specify the height of the screen in
+ characters. See COLUMNS for a detailed description.
MOUSE_BUTTONS_123
This applies only to the OS/2 EMX port. It specifies
132.
NCURSES_ASSUMED_COLORS
- Override the compiled-in assumption that the
- terminal's default colors are white-on-black (see
- <STRONG><A HREF="assume_default_colors.3x.html">assume_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 ncurses
- to not assume anything about the colors, set this to
- "-1,-1". To make it green-on-black, set it to "2,0".
- Any positive value from zero to the terminfo
- <STRONG>max_colors</STRONG> value is allowed.
+ Override the compiled-in assumption that the termi-
+ nal'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 vari-
+ able by proving a 2-element list: foreground,back-
+ ground. For example, to tell ncurses to not assume
+ anything about the colors, set this to "-1,-1". To
+ make it green-on-black, set it to "2,0". Any posi-
+ tive value from zero to the terminfo <STRONG>max_colors</STRONG> value
+ is allowed.
+
+ NCURSES_GPM_TERMS
+ This applies only to ncurses configured to use the
+ GPM interface.
+
+ If present, the environment variable is a list of one
+ or more terminal names against which the TERM envi-
+ ronment variable is matched. Setting it to an empty
+ value disables the GPM interface; using the built-in
+ support for xterm, etc.
+
+ If the environment variable is absent, ncurses will
+ attempt to open GPM if TERM contains "linux".
+
+ NCURSES_NO_HARD_TABS
+ <STRONG>Ncurses</STRONG> may use tabs as part of the cursor movement
+ optimization. In some cases, your terminal driver
+ may not handle these properly. Set this environment
+ variable to disable the feature. You can also adjust
+ your <STRONG>stty</STRONG> settings to avoid the problem.
+
+ NCURSES_NO_MAGIC_COOKIES
+ Some terminals use a magic-cookie feature which
+ requires special handling to make highlighting and
+ other video attributes display properly. You can
+ suppress the highlighting entirely for these termi-
+ nals by setting this environment variable.
NCURSES_NO_PADDING
Most of the terminal descriptions in the terminfo
database are written for real "hardware" terminals.
Many people use terminal emulators which run in a
- windowing environment and use curses-based
- 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 does
- slowly, such as clearing the display.
+ windowing environment and use curses-based applica-
+ tions. Terminal emulators can duplicate all of the
+ important aspects of a hardware terminal, but they do
+ not have the same limitations. The chief limitation
+ of a hardware terminal from the standpoint of your
+ application is the management of dataflow, i.e., tim-
+ ing. Unless a hardware terminal is interfaced into a
+ terminal concentrator (which does flow control), it
+ (or your application) must manage dataflow, prevent-
+ ing overruns. The cheapest solution (no hardware
+ cost) is for your program to do this by pausing after
+ operations that the terminal does slowly, such as
+ clearing the display.
As a result, many terminal descriptions (including
the vt100) have delay times embedded. You may wish
part of special control sequences such as <EM>flash</EM>.
NCURSES_NO_SETBUF
- Normally <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> enables buffered output during
- terminal initialization. This is done (as in SVr4
- curses) for performance reasons. For testing
- purposes, both of <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> and certain applications,
- this feature is made optional. Setting the
+ Normally <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> enables buffered output during ter-
+ minal initialization. This is done (as in SVr4
+ curses) for performance reasons. For testing pur-
+ poses, both of <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> and certain applications, this
+ feature is made optional. Setting the
NCURSES_NO_SETBUF variable disables output buffering,
leaving the output in the original (usually line
buffered) mode.
+ NCURSES_NO_UTF8_ACS
+ During initialization, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library checks for
+ special cases where VT100 line-drawing (and the cor-
+ responding alternate character set capabilities)
+ described in the terminfo are known to be missing.
+ Specifically, when running in a UTF-8 locale, the
+ Linux console emulator and the GNU screen program
+ ignore these. Ncurses checks the TERM environment
+ variable for these. For other special cases, you
+ should set this environment variable. Doing this
+ tells ncurses to use Unicode values which correspond
+ to the VT100 line-drawing glyphs. That works for the
+ special cases cited, and is likely to work for termi-
+ nal emulators.
+
+ When setting this variable, you should set it to a
+ nonzero value. Setting it to zero (or to a nonnum-
+ ber) disables the special check for "linux" and
+ "screen".
+
NCURSES_TRACE
- During initialization, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> debugging library
- checks the NCURSES_TRACE symbol. If it is defined,
+ During initialization, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> debugging library
+ checks the NCURSES_TRACE symbol. If it is defined,
to a numeric value, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> 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 application will write the
+ 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.
- TERM Denotes your terminal type. Each terminal type is
+ TERM Denotes your terminal type. Each terminal type is
distinct, though many are similar.
TERMCAP
- If the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library has been configured with
- <EM>termcap</EM> support, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> will check for a terminal's
+ If the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library has been configured with <EM>term-</EM>
+ <EM>cap</EM> support, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> will check for a terminal's
description in termcap form if it is not available in
the terminfo database.
- The TERMCAP symbol contains either a terminal
- description (with newlines stripped out), or a file
- name telling where the information denoted by the
- TERM symbol exists. In either case, setting it
- directs <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> to ignore the usual place for this
+ The TERMCAP symbol contains either a terminal
+ description (with newlines stripped out), or a file
+ name telling where the information denoted by the
+ TERM symbol exists. In either case, setting it
+ directs <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> to ignore the usual place for this
information, e.g., /etc/termcap.
TERMINFO
Overrides the directory in which <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> searches for
your terminal description. This is the simplest, but
- not the only way to change the list of directories.
+ not the only way to change the list of directories.
The complete list of directories in order follows:
- the last directory to which <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> wrote, if any,
- is searched first.
+ is searched first
- the directory specified by the TERMINFO symbol
/usr/share/terminfo
TERMINFO_DIRS
- Specifies a list of directories to search for
- terminal descriptions. The list is separated by
- colons (i.e., ":") on Unix, semicolons on OS/2 EMX.
- All of the terminal descriptions are in terminfo
- form, which makes a subdirectory named for the first
- letter of the terminal names therein.
+ Specifies a list of directories to search for termi-
+ nal descriptions. The list is separated by colons
+ (i.e., ":") on Unix, semicolons on OS/2 EMX. All of
+ the terminal descriptions are in terminfo form, which
+ makes a subdirectory named for the first letter of
+ the terminal names therein.
TERMPATH
- If TERMCAP does not hold a file name then <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
- checks the TERMPATH symbol. This is a list of
- filenames separated by spaces or colons (i.e., ":")
- on Unix, semicolons on OS/2 EMX. If the TERMPATH
- symbol is not set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> looks in the files
- /etc/termcap, /usr/share/misc/termcap and
- $HOME/.termcap, in that order.
-
- The library may be configured to disregard the following
- variables when the current user is the superuser (root),
- or if the application uses setuid or setgid permissions:
+ If TERMCAP does not hold a file name then <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
+ checks the TERMPATH symbol. This is a list of file-
+ names separated by spaces or colons (i.e., ":") on
+ Unix, semicolons on OS/2 EMX. If the TERMPATH symbol
+ is not set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> looks in the files /etc/termcap,
+ /usr/share/misc/termcap and $HOME/.termcap, in that
+ order.
+
+ The library may be configured to disregard the following
+ variables when the current user is the superuser (root),
+ or if the application uses setuid or setgid permissions:
$TERMINFO, $TERMINFO_DIRS, $TERMPATH, as well as $HOME.
</PRE>
- /usr/share/tabset
- directory containing initialization files for the
- terminal capability database /usr/share/terminfo
- terminal capability database
+<H2>
ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS</H2><PRE>
+ Several different configurations are possible, depending
+ on the configure script options used when building
+ <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>. There are a few main options whose effects are
+ visible to the applications developer using <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>:
+ --disable-overwrite
+ The standard include for <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> is as noted in <STRONG>SYN-</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>OPSIS</STRONG>:
-</PRE>
-<H2>SEE ALSO</H2><PRE>
- <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> and related pages whose names begin "curs_"
- for detailed routine descriptions.
+ <STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>
+ This option is used to avoid filename conflicts when
+ <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> is not the main implementation of curses of
+ the computer. If <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> is installed disabling
+ overwrite, it puts its headers in a subdirectory,
+ e.g.,
-</PRE>
-<H2>EXTENSIONS</H2><PRE>
- The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library can be compiled with an option
- (<STRONG>-DUSE_GETCAP</STRONG>) that falls back to the old-style
- /etc/termcap file if the terminal setup code cannot find a
- terminfo entry corresponding to <STRONG>TERM</STRONG>. Use of this feature
- is not recommended, as it essentially includes an entire
- termcap compiler in the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> startup code, at
- significant cost in core and startup cycles.
-
- The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library includes facilities for capturing
- mouse events on certain terminals (including xterm). See
- the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_mouse.3x.html">curs_mouse(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page for details.
+ <STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG><ncurses/curses.h></STRONG>
- The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library includes facilities for responding to
- window resizing events, e.g., when running in an xterm.
- See the <STRONG><A HREF="resizeterm.3x.html">resizeterm(3x)</A></STRONG> and <STRONG><A HREF="wresize.3x.html">wresize(3x)</A></STRONG> manual pages for
- details. In addition, the library may be configured with
- a SIGWINCH handler.
+ It also omits a symbolic link which would allow you
+ to use <STRONG>-lcurses</STRONG> to build executables.
- The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library extends the fixed set of function key
- capabilities of terminals by allowing the application
- designer to define additional key sequences at runtime.
- See the <STRONG><A HREF="define_key.3x.html">define_key(3x)</A></STRONG> and <STRONG><A HREF="keyok.3x.html">keyok(3x)</A></STRONG> manual pages for
- details.
-
- The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library can exploit the capabilities of
- terminals which implement the ISO-6429 SGR 39 and SGR 49
- controls, which allow an application to reset the terminal
- to its original foreground and background colors. From
- the users' perspective, the application is able to draw
- colored text on a background whose color is set
- independently, providing better control over color
- contrasts. See the <STRONG><A HREF="default_colors.3x.html">default_colors(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page for
- details.
+ --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" appended to them, i.e.,
+ instead of
- The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library includes a function for directing
- application output to a printer attached to the terminal
- device. See the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_print.3x.html">curs_print(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page for details.
+ <STRONG>-lncurses</STRONG>
+ you link with
-</PRE>
-<H2>PORTABILITY</H2><PRE>
- The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library is intended to be BASE-level
- conformant with the XSI Curses standard. Certain portions
- of the EXTENDED XSI Curses functionality (including color
- support) are supported. The following EXTENDED XSI Curses
- calls in support of wide (multibyte) characters are not
- yet implemented: <STRONG>pecho_wchar</STRONG>, <STRONG>slk_wset</STRONG>.
-
- A small number of local differences (that is, individual
- differences between the XSI Curses and <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> calls) are
- described in <STRONG>PORTABILITY</STRONG> sections of the library man
- pages.
+ <STRONG>-lncursesw</STRONG>
- The routine <STRONG>has_key</STRONG> is not part of XPG4, nor is it present
- in SVr4. See the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">curs_getch(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page for details.
+ You must also define <STRONG>_XOPEN_SOURCE_EXTENDED</STRONG> when com-
+ piling for the wide-character library to use the
+ extended (wide-character) functions. The <STRONG>curses.h</STRONG>
+ file which is installed for the wide-character
+ library is designed to be compatible with the normal
+ library's header. Only the size of the <STRONG>WINDOW</STRONG> struc-
+ ture differs, and very few applications require more
+ than a pointer to <STRONG>WINDOW</STRONG>s. If the headers are
+ installed allowing overwrite, the wide-character
+ library's headers should be installed last, to allow
+ applications to be built using either library from
+ the same set of headers.
- The routine <STRONG>slk_attr</STRONG> is not part of XPG4, nor is it
- present in SVr4. See the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_slk.3x.html">curs_slk(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page for
- details.
+ --with-shared
- The routines <STRONG>getmouse</STRONG>, <STRONG>mousemask</STRONG>, <STRONG>ungetmouse</STRONG>,
- <STRONG>mouseinterval</STRONG>, and <STRONG>wenclose</STRONG> relating to mouse interfacing
- are not part of XPG4, nor are they present in SVr4. See
- the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_mouse.3x.html">curs_mouse(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page for details.
+ --with-normal
- The routine <STRONG>mcprint</STRONG> was not present in any previous curses
- implementation. See the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_print.3x.html">curs_print(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page for
- details.
+ --with-debug
- The routine <STRONG>wresize</STRONG> is not part of XPG4, nor is it present
- in SVr4. See the <STRONG><A HREF="wresize.3x.html">wresize(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page for details.
+ --with-profile
+ The shared and normal (static) library names differ
+ by their suffixes, e.g., <STRONG>libncurses.so</STRONG> and <STRONG>libn-</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>curses.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>.
- 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 NUL sends. This
- method is slightly more expensive, but narrows the
- interface to the UNIX kernel significantly and increases
- the package's portability correspondingly.
+ --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. Configure scripts should
+ check for the function's existence rather than assum-
+ ing it is always in the debug library.
</PRE>
-<H2>NOTES</H2><PRE>
- The header file <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG> automatically includes the
- header files <STRONG><stdio.h></STRONG> and <STRONG><unctrl.h></STRONG>.
-
- If standard output from a <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> program is re-directed
- to something which is not a tty, screen updates will be
- directed to standard error. This was an undocumented
- feature of AT&T System V Release 3 curses.
+<H2>FILES</H2><PRE>
+ /usr/share/tabset
+ directory containing initialization files for the
+ terminal capability database /usr/share/terminfo ter-
+ minal capability database
</PRE>
-<H2>AUTHORS</H2><PRE>
- Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.
- Based on pcurses by Pavel Curtis.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
+<H2>SEE ALSO</H2><PRE>
+ <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> and related pages whose names begin "curs_"
+ for detailed routine descriptions.
+</PRE>
+<H2>EXTENSIONS</H2><PRE>
+ The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library can be compiled with an option
+ (<STRONG>-DUSE_GETCAP</STRONG>) that falls back to the old-style /etc/term-
+ cap file if the terminal setup code cannot find a terminfo
+ entry corresponding to <STRONG>TERM</STRONG>. Use of this feature is not
+ recommended, as it essentially includes an entire termcap
+ compiler in the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> startup code, at significant cost
+ in core and startup cycles.
+
+ The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library includes facilities for capturing
+ mouse events on certain terminals (including xterm). See
+ the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_mouse.3x.html">curs_mouse(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page for details.
+ The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library includes facilities for responding to
+ window resizing events, e.g., when running in an xterm.
+ See the <STRONG><A HREF="resizeterm.3x.html">resizeterm(3x)</A></STRONG> and <STRONG><A HREF="wresize.3x.html">wresize(3x)</A></STRONG> manual pages for
+ details. In addition, the library may be configured with
+ a SIGWINCH handler.
+ The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library extends the fixed set of function key
+ capabilities of terminals by allowing the application
+ designer to define additional key sequences at runtime.
+ See the <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> man-
+ ual pages for details.
+
+ The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library can exploit the capabilities of termi-
+ nals which implement the ISO-6429 SGR 39 and SGR 49 con-
+ trols, which allow an application to reset the terminal to
+ its original foreground and background colors. From the
+ users' perspective, the application is able to draw col-
+ ored text on a background whose color is set indepen-
+ dently, providing better control over color contrasts.
+ See the <STRONG><A HREF="default_colors.3x.html">default_colors(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page for details.
+ The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library includes a function for directing
+ application output to a printer attached to the terminal
+ device. See the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_print.3x.html">curs_print(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page for details.
+</PRE>
+<H2>PORTABILITY</H2><PRE>
+ The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library is intended to be BASE-level confor-
+ mant with XSI Curses. The EXTENDED XSI Curses functional-
+ ity (including color support) is supported.
+ A small number of local differences (that is, individual
+ differences between the XSI Curses and <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> calls) are
+ described in <STRONG>PORTABILITY</STRONG> sections of the library man
+ pages.
+ This implementation also contains several extensions:
+ The routine <STRONG>has_key</STRONG> is not part of XPG4, nor is it
+ present in SVr4. See the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">curs_getch(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page
+ for details.
+ The routine <STRONG>slk_attr</STRONG> is not part of XPG4, nor is it
+ present in SVr4. See the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_slk.3x.html">curs_slk(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page
+ for details.
+ The routines <STRONG>getmouse</STRONG>, <STRONG>mousemask</STRONG>, <STRONG>ungetmouse</STRONG>, <STRONG>mou-</STRONG>
+ <STRONG>seinterval</STRONG>, and <STRONG>wenclose</STRONG> relating to mouse interfac-
+ ing are not part of XPG4, nor are they present in
+ SVr4. See the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_mouse.3x.html">curs_mouse(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page for
+ details.
+ The routine <STRONG>mcprint</STRONG> was not present in any previous
+ curses implementation. See the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_print.3x.html">curs_print(3x)</A></STRONG> manual
+ page for details.
+ The routine <STRONG>wresize</STRONG> is not part of XPG4, nor is it
+ present in SVr4. See the <STRONG><A HREF="wresize.3x.html">wresize(3x)</A></STRONG> manual page for
+ details.
+ The WINDOW structure's internal details can be hidden
+ from application programs. See <STRONG><A HREF="curs_opaque.3x.html">curs_opaque(3x)</A></STRONG> for
+ the discussion of <STRONG>is_scrollok</STRONG>, etc.
+ In historic curses versions, delays embedded in the capa-
+ bilities <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 implementa-
+ tion, all padding is done by sending NUL bytes. This
+ method is slightly more expensive, but narrows the inter-
+ face to the UNIX kernel significantly and increases the
+ package's portability correspondingly.
+</PRE>
+<H2>NOTES</H2><PRE>
+ The header file <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG> automatically includes the
+ header files <STRONG><stdio.h></STRONG> and <STRONG><unctrl.h></STRONG>.
+ If standard output from a <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> program is re-directed
+ to something which is not a tty, screen updates will be
+ directed to standard error. This was an undocumented fea-
+ ture of AT&T System V Release 3 curses.
+</PRE>
+<H2>AUTHORS</H2><PRE>
+ Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.
+ Based on pcurses by Pavel Curtis.
+ <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
<HR>
<ADDRESS>
projects / ncurses.git / blobdiff