.\"***************************************************************************
-.\" Copyright (c) 1999-2017,2018 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
+.\" Copyright 2018,2020 Thomas E. Dickey *
+.\" Copyright 1998-2016,2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
.\" *
.\" Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a *
.\" copy of this software and associated documentation files (the *
.\" authorization. *
.\"***************************************************************************
.\"
-.\" $Id: curs_terminfo.3x,v 1.60 2018/07/28 22:08:59 tom Exp $
+.\" $Id: curs_terminfo.3x,v 1.67 2020/11/07 23:49:07 tom Exp $
.TH curs_terminfo 3X ""
.ie \n(.g .ds `` \(lq
.el .ds `` ``
.hy
.SH SYNOPSIS
.nf
-\fB#include <curses.h>\fR
-.br
\fB#include <term.h>\fR
.sp
\fBTERMINAL *cur_term;\fR
For all other
functionality, \fBcurses\fR routines are more suitable and their use is
recommended.
+.PP
+None of these functions use (or are aware of) multibyte character strings
+such as UTF-8:
+.bP
+capability names use the POSIX portable character set
+.bP
+capability string values have no associated encoding;
+they are strings of 8-bit characters.
.SS Initialization
.PP
Initially, \fBsetupterm\fR should be called.
.bP
the short terminfo names (\*(``codes\*(''),
.bP
-the \fBtermcap\fR names (\*(``names\*('', and
+the \fBtermcap\fR names (\*(``names\*(''), and
.bP
the long terminfo names (\*(``fnames\*('')
.PP
X/Open states that \fBtputs\fP ignores the return value
of the output function \fIputc\fP.
.RE
+.SH HISTORY
+.PP
+SVr2 introduced the terminfo feature.
+Its programming manual mentioned these low-level functions:
+.TS
+l l
+_ _
+l l.
+\fBFunction\fR \fBDescription\fR
+fixterm restore tty to \*(``in curses\*('' state
+gettmode establish current tty modes
+mvcur low level cursor motion
+putp T{
+utility function that uses \fBtputs\fP to send characters via \fBputchar\fP.
+T}
+resetterm set tty modes to \*(``out of curses\*('' state
+resetty reset tty flags to stored value
+saveterm save current modes as \*(``in curses\*('' state
+savetty store current tty flags
+setterm establish terminal with given type
+setupterm establish terminal with given type
+tparm instantiate a string expression with parameters
+tputs apply padding information to a string
+vidattr like \fBvidputs\fP, but outputs through \fBputchar\fP
+vidputs T{
+output a string to put terminal in a specified video attribute mode
+T}
+.TE
+.PP
+The programming manual also mentioned
+functions provided for termcap compatibility
+(commenting that they \*(``may go away at a later date\*(''):
+.TS
+l l
+_ _
+l l.
+\fBFunction\fR \fBDescription\fR
+tgetent look up termcap entry for given \fIname\fP
+tgetflag get boolean entry for given \fIid\fP
+tgetnum get numeric entry for given \fIid\fP
+tgetstr get string entry for given \fIid\fP
+tgoto apply parameters to given capability
+tputs T{
+apply padding to capability, calling a function to put characters
+T}
+.TE
+.PP
+Early terminfo programs obtained capability values from the
+\fBTERMINAL\fP structure initialized by \fBsetupterm\fR.
+.PP
+SVr3 extended terminfo by adding functions to retrieve capability values
+(like the termcap interface),
+and reusing tgoto and tputs:
+.TS
+l l
+_ _
+l l.
+\fBFunction\fR \fBDescription\fR
+tigetflag get boolean entry for given \fIid\fP
+tigetnum get numeric entry for given \fIid\fP
+tigetstr get string entry for given \fIid\fP
+.TE
+.PP
+SVr3 also replaced several of the SVr2 terminfo functions
+which had no counterpart in the termcap interface,
+documenting them as obsolete:
+.TS
+l l
+_ _
+l l.
+\fBFunction\fR \fBReplaced by\fP
+crmode cbreak
+fixterm reset_prog_mode
+gettmode N/A
+nocrmode nocbreak
+resetterm reset_shell_mode
+saveterm def_prog_mode
+setterm setupterm
+.TE
+.PP
+SVr3 kept the \fBmvcur\fP, \fBvidattr\fP and \fBvidputs\fP functions,
+along with \fBputp\fP, \fBtparm\fP and \fBtputs\fP.
+The latter were needed to support padding,
+and handling functions such as \fBvidattr\fP
+(which used more than the two parameters supported by \fBtgoto\fP).
+.PP
+SVr3 introduced the functions for switching between terminal
+descriptions, e.g., \fBset_curterm\fP.
+The various global variables such as \fBboolnames\fP were mentioned
+in the programming manual at this point.
+.PP
+SVr4 added the \fBvid_attr\fP and \fBvid_puts\fP functions.
+.PP
+There are other low-level functions declared in the curses header files
+on Unix systems,
+but none were documented.
+The functions marked \*(``obsolete\*('' remained in use
+by the Unix \fBvi\fP editor.
.SH PORTABILITY
.SS Legacy functions
.PP