X-Git-Url: https://ncurses.scripts.mit.edu/?p=ncurses.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=doc%2Fhtml%2Fman%2Fcurs_termcap.3x.html;h=54197aea43ce81ea9bca9baa9eb0cb4accf41921;hp=835bfaa90d1638b7aaccb7b751f4d9dc0c3bedb0;hb=2e5d72d6396bb38a8d1d1b3534f62e28aebaa600;hpb=cef50b3afcd58166f3541b701c97bce538844c76 diff --git a/doc/html/man/curs_termcap.3x.html b/doc/html/man/curs_termcap.3x.html index 835bfaa9..54197aea 100644 --- a/doc/html/man/curs_termcap.3x.html +++ b/doc/html/man/curs_termcap.3x.html @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ - + @@ -79,39 +79,62 @@ bilities of entries for which a terminfo entry has been compiled. - The tgetent routine loads the entry for name. It returns - 1 on success, 0 if there is no such entry, and -1 if the - terminfo database could not be found. The emulation ig- - nores the buffer pointer bp. + INITIALIZATION + The tgetent routine loads the entry for name. It returns: + 1 on success, + + 0 if there is no such entry (or that it is a generic + type, having too little information for curses ap- + plications to run), and + + -1 if the terminfo database could not be found. + + This differs from the termcap library in two ways: + + o The emulation ignores the buffer pointer bp. The + termcap library would store a copy of the terminal + description in the area referenced by this pointer. + However, ncurses stores its terminal descriptions + in compiled binary form, which is not the same + thing. + + o There is a difference in return codes. The termcap + library does not check if the terminal description + is marked with the generic capability, or if the + terminal description has cursor-addressing. + + CAPABILITY VALUES The tgetflag routine gets the boolean entry for id, or ze- ro if it is not available. - The tgetnum routine gets the numeric entry for id, or -1 + The tgetnum routine gets the numeric entry for id, or -1 if it is not available. - The tgetstr routine returns the string entry for id, or - zero if it is not available. Use tputs to output the re- - turned string. The return value will also be copied to - the buffer pointed to by area, and the area value will be + The tgetstr routine returns the string entry for id, or + zero if it is not available. Use tputs to output the re- + turned string. The return value will also be copied to + the buffer pointed to by area, and the area value will be updated to point past the null ending this value. Only the first two characters of the id parameter of tget- flag, tgetnum and tgetstr are compared in lookups. - The tgoto routine instantiates the parameters into the - given capability. The output from this routine is to be + FORMATTING CAPABILITIES + The tgoto routine instantiates the parameters into the + given capability. The output from this routine is to be passed to tputs. - The tputs routine is described on the curs_terminfo(3x) + The tputs routine is described on the curs_terminfo(3x) manual page. It can retrieve capabilities by either term- cap or terminfo name. + GLOBAL VARIABLES The variables PC, UP and BC are set by tgetent to the ter- minfo entry's data for pad_char, cursor_up and - backspace_if_not_bs, respectively. UP is not used by + backspace_if_not_bs, respectively. UP is not used by ncurses. PC is used in the tdelay_output function. BC is - used in the tgoto emulation. The variable ospeed is set + used in the tgoto emulation. The variable ospeed is set by ncurses in a system-specific coding to reflect the ter- minal speed. @@ -119,7 +142,7 @@

RETURN VALUE

        Except where explicitly noted, routines that return an in-
-       teger  return ERR upon failure and OK (SVr4 only specifies
+       teger return ERR upon failure and OK (SVr4 only  specifies
        "an integer value other than ERR") upon successful comple-
        tion.
 
@@ -129,54 +152,76 @@
 

BUGS

        If you call tgetstr to fetch ca or any other parameterized
-       string, be aware that it will be returned in terminfo  no-
+       string,  be aware that it will be returned in terminfo no-
        tation, not the older and not-quite-compatible termcap no-
-       tation.  This will not cause problems if all you  do  with
-       it  is  call  tgoto  or tparm, which both expand terminfo-
-       style strings as terminfo.  (The tgoto function,  if  con-
-       figured  to  support  termcap, will check if the string is
-       indeed terminfo-style by looking for  "%p"  parameters  or
-       "$<..>"  delays,  and invoke a termcap-style parser if the
+       tation.   This  will not cause problems if all you do with
+       it is call tgoto or tparm,  which  both  expand  terminfo-
+       style  strings  as terminfo.  (The tgoto function, if con-
+       figured to support termcap, will check if  the  string  is
+       indeed  terminfo-style  by  looking for "%p" parameters or
+       "$<..>" delays, and invoke a termcap-style parser  if  the
        string does not appear to be terminfo).
 
-       Because terminfo conventions for representing  padding  in
-       string  capabilities  differ  from termcap's, tputs("50");
-       will put out a literal "50" rather than  busy-waiting  for
+       Because  terminfo  conventions for representing padding in
+       string capabilities differ  from  termcap's,  tputs("50");
+       will  put  out a literal "50" rather than busy-waiting for
        50 milliseconds.  Cope with it.
 
-       Note  that termcap has nothing analogous to terminfo's sgr
-       string.  One consequence of this is that termcap  applica-
-       tions  assume me (terminfo sgr0) does not reset the alter-
-       nate character set.  This implementation checks  for,  and
+       Note that termcap has nothing analogous to terminfo's  sgr
+       string.   One consequence of this is that termcap applica-
+       tions assume me (terminfo sgr0) does not reset the  alter-
+       nate  character  set.  This implementation checks for, and
        modifies the data shown to the termcap interface to accom-
        modate termcap's limitation in this respect.
 
 
 

PORTABILITY

-       The XSI Curses standard, Issue  4  describes  these  func-
-       tions.   However,  they are marked TO BE WITHDRAWN and may
+       The  XSI  Curses  standard,  Issue 4 describes these func-
+       tions.  However, they are marked TO BE WITHDRAWN  and  may
        be removed in future versions.
 
-       Neither the XSI Curses standard nor  the  SVr4  man  pages
-       documented  the return values of tgetent correctly, though
-       all three were in fact returned ever since SVr1.  In  par-
-       ticular,  an  omission in the XSI Curses documentation has
-       been misinterpreted to mean that  tgetent  returns  OK  or
+       Neither  the  XSI  Curses  standard nor the SVr4 man pages
+       documented the return values of tgetent correctly,  though
+       all  three were in fact returned ever since SVr1.  In par-
+       ticular, an omission in the XSI Curses  documentation  has
+       been  misinterpreted  to  mean  that tgetent returns OK or
        ERR.  Because the purpose of these functions is to provide
-       compatibility with the termcap library, that is  a  defect
+       compatibility  with  the termcap library, that is a defect
        in XCurses, Issue 4, Version 2 rather than in ncurses.
 
-       External  variables  are  provided  for support of certain
-       termcap applications.  However, termcap applications'  use
+       External variables are provided  for  support  of  certain
+       termcap  applications.  However, termcap applications' use
        of those variables is poorly documented, e.g., not distin-
-       guishing between input and output.   In  particular,  some
+       guishing  between  input  and output.  In particular, some
        applications are reported to declare and/or modify ospeed.
 
+       The comment that only the first two characters of  the  id
+       parameter  are  used  escapes many application developers.
+       The original  BSD  4.2  termcap  library  (and  historical
+       relics thereof) did not require a trailing null NUL on the
+       parameter name passed to tgetstr,  tgetnum  and  tgetflag.
+       Some  applications  assume that the termcap interface does
+       not require the trailing NUL for the parameter name.  Tak-
+       ing into account these issues:
+
+       o   As  a special case, tgetflag matched against a single-
+           character identifier provided that was at the  end  of
+           the  terminal  description.   You should not rely upon
+           this behavior in portable programs.  This  implementa-
+           tion  disallows matches against single-character capa-
+           bility names.
+
+       o   This implementation disallows matches by  the  termcap
+           interface  against extended capability names which are
+           longer than two characters.
+
 
 

SEE ALSO

-       curses(3x), terminfo(5), term_variables(3x), putc(3).
+       curses(3x), terminfo(5), term_variables(3x), putc(3).
+
+       http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/tctest.html