+'\" t
.\"***************************************************************************
-.\" Copyright (c) 2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
+.\" Copyright 2018-2023,2024 Thomas E. Dickey *
+.\" Copyright 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: user_caps.5,v 1.4 2017/11/25 20:13:12 tom Exp $
-.TH user_caps 5
-.ie \n(.g .ds `` \(lq
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-.ie \n(.g .ds '' \(rq
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-.nf
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-..
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-..
+.\" $Id: user_caps.5,v 1.49 2024/03/16 15:35:01 tom Exp $
+.TH user_caps 5 2024-03-16 "ncurses @NCURSES_MAJOR@.@NCURSES_MINOR@" "File formats"
+.ie \n(.g \{\
+.ds `` \(lq
+.ds '' \(rq
+.\}
+.el \{\
+.ie t .ds `` ``
+.el .ds `` ""
+.ie t .ds '' ''
+.el .ds '' ""
+.\}
+.
.de bP
.ie n .IP \(bu 4
.el .IP \(bu 2
..
.SH NAME
-user_caps \- user-defined terminfo capabilities
+user_caps \-
+user-defined \fIterminfo\fR capability format
.SH SYNOPSIS
-.B tic -x, infocmp -x
+.B @INFOCMP@ \-x
+.PP
+.B @TIC@ \-x
.SH DESCRIPTION
.SS Background
-.PP
-Before ncurses 5.0,
+Before \fI\%ncurses\fP 5.0,
terminfo databases used a \fIfixed repertoire\fP of terminal
capabilities designed for the SVr2 terminal database in 1984,
and extended in stages through SVr4 (1989),
and standardized in the Single Unix Specification beginning in 1995.
.PP
Most of the \fIextensions\fP in this fixed repertoire were additions
-to the tables of boolean, numeric and string capabilities.
+to the tables of Boolean, numeric and string capabilities.
Rather than change the meaning of an existing capability, a new name was added.
The terminfo database uses a binary format; binary compatibility was
ensured by using a header which gave the number of items in the
the position in the tables differs because some features were added as needed,
while others were added (out of order) to comply with X/Open Curses.
.IP
-While ncurses' repertoire of predefined capabilities is closest to Solaris,
+While \fI\%ncurses\fP' repertoire of predefined capabilities is closest
+to Solaris,
Solaris's terminfo database has a few differences from
the list published by X/Open Curses.
+For example,
+\fI\%ncurses\fP can be configured with tables which match the terminal
+databases for AIX, HP-UX or OSF/1,
+rather than the default Solaris-like configuration.
+.bP
+In SVr4 curses and \fI\%ncurses\fP,
+the terminal database is defined at compile-time using a text file
+which lists the different terminal capabilities.
+.IP
+In principle, the text-file can be extended,
+but doing this requires recompiling and reinstalling the library.
+The text-file used in \fI\%ncurses\fP for terminal capabilities includes
+details for various systems past the documented X/Open Curses features.
+For example, \fI\%ncurses\fP supports these capabilities in each configuration:
+.RS 8
+.TP 5
+memory_lock
+(meml)
+lock memory above cursor
+.TP 5
+memory_unlock
+(memu)
+unlock memory
+.TP 5
+box_chars_1
+(box1)
+box characters primary set
+.RE
+.IP
+The memory lock/unlock capabilities were included because they were used
+in the X11R6 terminal description for \fBxterm\fP(1).
+The \fIbox1\fP capability is used in @TIC@ to help with terminal descriptions
+written for AIX.
.PP
During the 1990s, some users were reluctant to use terminfo
in spite of its performance advantages over termcap:
Although termcap's extensibility was rarely used
(it was never the \fIspeaker\fP who had actually used the feature),
the criticism had a point.
-ncurses 5.0 provided a way to detect nonstandard capabilities,
+\fI\%ncurses\fP 5.0 provided a way to detect nonstandard capabilities,
determine their
type and optionally store and retrieve them in a way which did not interfere
with other applications.
These are referred to as \fIuser-defined capabilities\fP because no
modifications to the toolset's predefined capability names are needed.
.PP
-The ncurses utilities \fBtic\fP and \fBinfocmp\fP have a command-line
-option \*(``\-x\*('' to control whether the nonstandard capabilities
-are stored or retrieved. A library function \fBuse_extended_names\fP
+The \fI\%ncurses\fP utilities \fB@TIC@\fP and \fB@INFOCMP@\fP have a
+command-line option \*(``\-x\*('' to control whether the nonstandard
+capabilities are stored or retrieved.
+A library function \fBuse_extended_names\fP
is provided for the same purpose.
.PP
When compiling a terminal database, if \*(``\-x\*('' is set,
-\fBtic\fP will store a user-defined capability if the capability name is not
+\fB@TIC@\fP will store a user-defined capability if the capability name is not
one of the predefined names.
.PP
-Because ncurses provides a termcap library interface,
+Because \fI\%ncurses\fP provides a termcap library interface,
these user-defined capabilities may be visible to termcap applications:
.bP
The termcap interface (like all implementations of termcap)
to which a series of keys can be assigned,
that is insufficient for more than a dozen keys multiplied by more than
a couple of modifier combinations.
-The ncurses database uses a convention based on \fBxterm\fP to
-provide extended special-key names.
+The \fI\%ncurses\fP database uses a convention based on \fBxterm\fP(1)
+to provide extended special-key names.
.IP
Fitting that into termcap's limitation of 2-character names
would be pointless.
These extended keys are available only with terminfo.
-.SS Recognized capabilities
-.PP
-The ncurses library uses the user-definable capabilities.
+.SS "Recognized Capabilities"
+The \fI\%ncurses\fP library uses the user-definable capabilities.
While the terminfo database may have other extensions,
-ncurses makes explicit checks for these:
+\fI\%ncurses\fP makes explicit checks for these:
.RS 3
.TP 3
AX
-\fIboolean\fP, asserts that the terminal interprets SGR 39 and SGR 49
-by resetting the foreground and background color, respectively, to the default.
+\fIBoolean\fP, asserts that the terminal interprets SGR 39 and SGR 49
+by resetting the foreground and background color, respectively, to the default.
.IP
This is a feature recognized by the \fBscreen\fP program as well.
.TP 3
.IP
The command \*(``\fBtput clear\fP\*('' does the same thing.
.TP 3
+NQ
+\fIBoolean\fP,
+used to suppress a consistency check in @TIC@ for the \fI\%ncurses\fP
+capabilities
+in user6 through user9 (u6, u7, u8 and u9)
+which tell how to query the terminal's cursor position
+and its device attributes.
+.TP 3
RGB
-\fIboolean\fP, \fInumber\fP \fBor\fP \fIstring\fP,
-to assert that the
-\fBset_a_foreground\fP and
+\fIBoolean\fP, \fInumber\fP \fBor\fP \fIstring\fP,
+used to assert that the
+\fBset_a_foreground\fP and
\fBset_a_background\fP capabilities correspond to \fIdirect colors\fP,
-using an RGB (red/green/blue) convention.
+using an RGB (red/green/blue) convention.
This capability allows the \fBcolor_content\fP function to
return appropriate values without requiring the application
to initialize colors using \fBinit_color\fP.
.IP
-The capability type determines the values which ncurses sees:
+The capability type determines the values which \fI\%ncurses\fP sees:
.RS 3
.TP 3
-\fIboolean\fP
+\fIBoolean\fP
implies that the number of bits for red, green and blue are the same.
Using the maximum number of colors,
-ncurses adds two, divides that sum by three, and assigns the result
-to red, green and blue in that order.
+\fI\%ncurses\fP adds two,
+divides that sum by three,
+and assigns the result to red,
+green and blue in that order.
.IP
If the number of bits needed for the number of colors is not a multiple
of three, the blue (and green) components lose in comparison to red.
.TP 3
\fInumber\fP
-tells ncurses what result to add to red, green and blue.
-If ncurses runs out of bits,
-blue (and green) lose just as in the \fIboolean\fP case.
+tells \fI\%ncurses\fP what result to add to red, green and blue.
+If \fI\%ncurses\fP runs out of bits,
+blue (and green) lose just as in the \fIBoolean\fP case.
.TP 3
\fIstring\fP
explicitly list the number of bits used for red, green and blue components
as a slash-separated list of decimal integers.
.RE
+.IP
+Because there are several RGB encodings in use,
+applications which make assumptions about the number of bits per color
+are unlikely to work reliably.
+As a trivial case, for example, one could define \fBRGB#1\fP
+to represent the standard eight ANSI colors, i.e., one bit per color.
.TP 3
U8
-\fIboolean\fP,
-asserts that ncurses must use Unicode values for line-drawing characters,
+\fInumber\fP,
+asserts that \fI\%ncurses\fP must use Unicode values for line-drawing
+characters,
and that it should ignore the alternate character set capabilities
when the locale uses UTF-8 encoding.
For more information, see the discussion of
-\fBNCURSES_NO_UTF8_ACS\fP in \fBncurses\fP(3X).
+\fBNCURSES_NO_UTF8_ACS\fP in \fB\%ncurses\fP(3X).
.IP
Set this capability to a nonzero value to enable it.
.TP 3
XM
\fIstring\fP,
-override ncurses's built-in string which
-enables/disables \fBxterm\fP mouse mode.
+override \fI\%ncurses\fP's built-in string which
+enables/disables \fBxterm\fP(1) mouse mode.
+.IP
+\fI\%ncurses\fP sends a character sequence to the terminal to initialize mouse mode,
+and when the user clicks the mouse buttons or (in certain modes) moves the
+mouse, handles the characters sent back by the terminal to tell it what
+was done with the mouse.
+.IP
+The mouse protocol is enabled when
+the \fImask\fP passed in the \fBmousemask\fP function is nonzero.
+By default,
+\fI\%ncurses\fP handles the responses for the X11 xterm mouse protocol.
+It also knows about the \fISGR 1006\fP xterm mouse protocol,
+but must to be told to look for this specifically.
+It will not be able to guess which mode is used,
+because the responses are enough alike that only confusion would result.
+.IP
+The \fBXM\fP capability has a single parameter.
+If nonzero, the mouse protocol should be enabled.
+If zero, the mouse protocol should be disabled.
+\fI\%ncurses\fP inspects this capability if it is present,
+to see whether the 1006 protocol is used.
+If so, it expects the responses to use the \fISGR 1006\fP xterm mouse protocol.
+.IP
+The xterm mouse protocol is used by other terminal emulators.
+The terminal database uses building-blocks for the various xterm mouse
+protocols which can be used in customized terminal descriptions.
+.IP
+The terminal database building blocks for this mouse
+feature also have an experimental capability \fIxm\fP.
+The \*(``xm\*('' capability describes the mouse response.
+Currently there is no interpreter which would use this
+information to make the mouse support completely data-driven.
+.IP
+\fIxm\fP shows the format of the mouse responses.
+In this experimental capability, the parameters are
+.RS 5
+.TP 5
+.I p1
+y-ordinate
+.TP 5
+.I p2
+x-ordinate
+.TP 5
+.I p3
+button
+.TP 5
+.I p4
+state, e.g., pressed or released
+.TP 5
+.I p5
+y-ordinate starting region
+.TP 5
+.I p6
+x-ordinate starting region
+.TP 5
+.I p7
+y-ordinate ending region
+.TP 5
+.I p8
+x-ordinate ending region
+.RE
+.IP
+Here are examples from the terminal database for the most commonly used
+xterm mouse protocols:
+.IP
+.nf
+ xterm+x11mouse|X11 xterm mouse protocol,
+ kmous=\eE[M, XM=\eE[?1000%?%p1%{1}%=%th%el%;,
+ xm=\eE[M
+ %?%p4%t%p3%e%{3}%;%'\ '%+%c
+ %p2%'!'%+%c
+ %p1%'!'%+%c,
+
+ xterm+sm+1006|xterm SGR-mouse,
+ kmous=\eE[<, XM=\eE[?1006;1000%?%p1%{1}%=%th%el%;,
+ xm=\eE[<%i%p3%d;
+ %p1%d;
+ %p2%d;
+ %?%p4%tM%em%;,
+.fi
.
-.SS Extended key-definitions
-.PP
+.SS "Extended Key Definitions"
Several terminals provide the ability to send distinct strings for
combinations of modified special keys.
There is no standard for what those keys can send.
.PP
-Since 1999, \fBxterm\fP has supported
+Since 1999, \fBxterm\fP(1) has supported
\fIshift\fP, \fIcontrol\fP, \fIalt\fP, and \fImeta\fP modifiers which produce
distinct special-key strings.
-In a terminal description, ncurses has no special knowledge of the
-modifiers used.
+In a terminal description,
+\fI\%ncurses\fP has no special knowledge of the modifiers used.
Applications can use the \fInaming convention\fP established for \fBxterm\fP
to find these special keys in the terminal description.
.PP
-Starting with the curses convention that \fIkey names\fP begin with \*(``k\*(''
-and that shifted special keys are an uppercase name,
-ncurses' terminal database defines these names to which a suffix is added:
+Starting with the
+.I curses
+convention that capability codes describing the input generated by a
+terminal's key caps begin with \*(``k\*('',
+and that shifted special keys use uppercase letters in their names,
+.IR \%ncurses 's
+terminal database defines the following names and codes to which a
+suffix is added.
+.PP
.RS 5
.TS
-tab(/) ;
-l l .
-\fIName\fR/\fIDescription\fR
+Lb Lb
+Lb Lx.
+Code Description
_
-kDC/special form of kdch1 (delete character)
-kDN/special form of kcud1 (cursor down)
-kEND/special form of kend (End)
-kHOM/special form of khome (Home)
-kLFT/special form of kcub1 (cursor-left or cursor-back)
-kNXT/special form of knext (Next, or Page-Down)
-kPRV/special form of kprev (Prev, or Page-Up)
-kRIT/special form of kcuf1 (cursor-right, or cursor-forward)
-kUP/special form of kcuu1 (cursor-up)
+kDC shifted kdch1 (delete character)
+.\" kDC is a standard capability; see X/Open Curses Issue 7, p. 345.
+kDN shifted kcud1 (cursor down)
+kEND shifted kend (end)
+kHOM shifted khome (home)
+kLFT shifted kcub1 (cursor back)
+kNXT shifted knext (next)
+kPRV shifted kprev (previous)
+kRIT shifted kcuf1 (cursor forward)
+kUP shifted kcuu1 (cursor up)
.TE
.RE
.PP
+Keycap nomenclature on the Unix systems for which
+.I curses
+was developed differs from today's ubiquitous descendants of the IBM
+PC/AT keyboard layout.
+In the foregoing,
+interpret \*(``backward\*('' as \*(``left\*('',
+\*(``forward\*('' as \*(``right\*('',
+\*(``next\*('' as \*(``page down\*('',
+and
+\*(``prev(ious)\*('' as \*(``page up\*(''.
+.PP
These are the suffixes used to denote the modifiers:
+.PP
.RS 5
.TS
tab(/) ;
l l .
-\fIValue\fR/\fIDescription\fR
+\fBValue\fP/\fBDescription\fP
_
2/Shift
3/Alt
.RE
.PP
None of these are predefined; terminal descriptions can refer to \fInames\fP
-which ncurses will allocate at runtime to \fIkey-codes\fP.
-To use these keys in an ncurses program, an application could do this:
+which \fI\%ncurses\fP will allocate at runtime to \fIkey-codes\fP.
+To use these keys in an \fI\%ncurses\fP program,
+an application could do this:
.bP
using a list of extended key \fInames\fP,
ask \fBtigetstr\fP(3X) for their values, and
given the list of values,
ask \fBkey_defined\fP(3X) for the \fIkey-code\fP which
would be returned for those keys by \fBwgetch\fP(3X).
-.PP
+.\"
.SH PORTABILITY
-.PP
-The \*(``\-x\*('' extension feature of \fBtic\fP and \fBinfocmp\fP
+The \*(``\-x\*('' extension feature of \fB@TIC@\fP and \fB@INFOCMP@\fP
has been adopted in NetBSD curses.
That implementation stores user-defined capabilities,
but makes no use of these capabilities itself.
-.SH SEE ALSO
-.PP
-\fBtic\fR(1),
-\fBinfocmp\fR(1).
+.\"
.SH AUTHORS
-.PP
Thomas E. Dickey
.br
-beginning with ncurses 5.0 (1999)
+beginning with \fI\%ncurses\fP 5.0 (1999)
+.\"
+.SH SEE ALSO
+\fB\%@INFOCMP@\fP(1M),
+\fB\%@TIC@\fP(1M)
+.PP
+The terminal database section
+.I "NCURSES USER-DEFINABLE CAPABILITIES"
+summarizes commonly-used user-defined capabilities
+which are used in the terminal descriptions.
+Some of those features are mentioned in \fB\%screen\fP(1) or
+\fBtmux\fP(1).
+.PP
+.I "XTerm Control Sequences"
+provides further information on the \fB\%xterm\fP(1) features
+that are used in these extended capabilities.
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