ncurses 6.4 - patch 20230610

[ncurses.git] / man / curs_terminfo.3x

diff --git a/man/curs_terminfo.3x b/man/curs_terminfo.3x
index 4e08bcbcbd6095d8facd2f05b1fe51492f89d908..6b469b16b98f2e31f971bf55f829d26d747425ba 100644 (file)
--- a/man/curs_terminfo.3x
+++ b/man/curs_terminfo.3x
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 .\" authorization.                                                           *
 .\"***************************************************************************
 .\"
-.\" $Id: curs_terminfo.3x,v 1.85 2023/04/23 20:52:38 tom Exp $
+.\" $Id: curs_terminfo.3x,v 1.87 2023/06/10 15:51:45 tom Exp $
 .TH curs_terminfo 3X ""
 .ie \n(.g .ds `` \(lq
 .el       .ds `` ``
@@ -201,7 +201,12 @@ is the terminal type, a character string.
 If \fIterm\fP is null, the environment variable \fBTERM\fP is used.
 .TP 5
 \fIfiledes\fP
-is the file descriptor used for all output.
+is the file descriptor used for getting and setting terminal I/O modes.
+.IP
+Higher-level applications use \fBnewterm\fP(3X) for initializing the terminal,
+passing an output \fIstream\fP rather than a \fIdescriptor\fP.
+In curses, the two are the same because \fBnewterm\fP calls \fBsetupterm\fP,
+passing the file descriptor derived from its output stream parameter.
 .TP 5
 \fIerrret\fP
 points to an optional location where an error status can be returned to
@@ -228,7 +233,7 @@ or that it is a generic type,
 having too little information for curses applications to run.
 .IP
 \fBsetupterm\fP determines if the entry is a generic type by
-checking the \fBgn\fP (\fBgeneric\fP) capability.
+checking the \fBgn\fP (\fBgeneric_type\fP) capability.
 .TP 5
 .B \-1
 means that the \fBterminfo\fP database could not be found.
@@ -374,6 +379,10 @@ which overrides the \fIpair\fP (\fBshort\fP) argument.
 .PP
 The \fBmvcur\fP routine provides low-level cursor motion.
 It takes effect immediately (rather than at the next refresh).
+Unlike the other low-level output functions,
+which either write to the standard output or pass an output function parameter,
+\fBmvcur\fP uses an output file descriptor derived from
+the output stream parameter of \fBnewterm\fP(3X).
 .PP
 While \fBputp\fP and \fBmvcur\fP are low-level functions which
 do not use the high-level curses state,
@@ -736,6 +745,14 @@ e.g., for the MinGW port,
 .bP
 \fBsetupterm\fP interprets a missing/empty TERM variable as the
 special value \*(``unknown\*(''.
+.IP
+SVr4 curses uses the 
+special value \*(``dumb\*(''.
+.IP
+The difference between the two is that
+the former uses the \fBgn\fP (\fBgeneric_type\fR) terminfo capability,
+while the latter does not.
+A generic terminal is unsuitable for full-screen applications.
 .bP
 \fBsetupterm\fP allows explicit use of the
 the windows console driver by checking if $TERM is set to