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=c1688f5034889ae2f7f43808729135b5f9f64c2a;hb=2e5d72d6396bb38a8d1d1b3534f62e28aebaa600;hpb=f70db18a0c3c6a828d8a5999be37239f01c9d98a
diff --git a/doc/html/man/curs_termcap.3x.html b/doc/html/man/curs_termcap.3x.html
index c1688f50..54197aea 100644
--- a/doc/html/man/curs_termcap.3x.html
+++ b/doc/html/man/curs_termcap.3x.html
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-
+
@@ -47,8 +47,9 @@
NAME
- tgetent, tgetflag, tgetnum, tgetstr, tgoto, tputs - direct
- curses interface to the terminfo capability database
+ PC, UP, BC, ospeed, tgetent, tgetflag, tgetnum, tgetstr,
+ tgoto, tputs - direct curses interface to the terminfo
+ capability database
@@ -71,33 +72,55 @@
DESCRIPTION
- These routines are included as a conversion aid for pro-
- grams that use the termcap library. Their parameters are
- the same and the routines are emulated using the terminfo
- database. Thus, they can only be used to query the capa-
- bilities of entries for which a terminfo entry has been
+ These routines are included as a conversion aid for pro-
+ grams that use the termcap library. Their parameters are
+ the same and the routines are emulated using the terminfo
+ database. Thus, they can only be used to query the capa-
+ 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
- ignores the buffer pointer bp.
+ INITIALIZATION
+ The tgetent routine loads the entry for name. It returns:
- The tgetflag routine gets the boolean entry for id, or
- zero if it is not available.
+ 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
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
- returned string. The return value will also be copied to
+ 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.
+ FORMATTING CAPABILITIES
The tgoto routine instantiates the parameters into the
given capability. The output from this routine is to be
passed to tputs.
@@ -106,21 +129,22 @@
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
ncurses. PC is used in the tdelay_output function. BC is
used in the tgoto emulation. The variable ospeed is set
- by ncurses in a system-specific coding to reflect the
- terminal speed.
+ by ncurses in a system-specific coding to reflect the ter-
+ minal speed.
RETURN VALUE
- Except where explicitly noted, routines that return an
- integer return ERR upon failure and OK (SVr4 only speci-
- fies "an integer value other than ERR") upon successful
- completion.
+ Except where explicitly noted, routines that return an in-
+ teger return ERR upon failure and OK (SVr4 only specifies
+ "an integer value other than ERR") upon successful comple-
+ tion.
Routines that return pointers return NULL on error.
@@ -128,15 +152,15 @@
BUGS
If you call tgetstr to fetch ca or any other parameterized
- string, be aware that it will be returned in terminfo
- notation, not the older and not-quite-compatible termcap
- notation. This won't 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 configured
- to support termcap, will check if the string is indeed
- terminfo-style by looking for "%p" parameters or "$<..>"
- delays, and invoke a termcap-style parser if the string
- does not appear to be terminfo).
+ string, be aware that it will be returned in terminfo no-
+ tation, not the older and not-quite-compatible termcap no-
+ tation. This will not cause problems if all you do with
+ it is call tgoto or tparm, which both expand terminfo-
+ style strings as terminfo. (The tgoto function, if con-
+ figured to support termcap, will check if the string is
+ indeed terminfo-style by looking for "%p" parameters or
+ "$<..>" delays, and invoke a termcap-style parser if the
+ string does not appear to be terminfo).
Because terminfo conventions for representing padding in
string capabilities differ from termcap's, tputs("50");
@@ -172,10 +196,32 @@
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), putc(3).
+ curses(3x), terminfo(5), term_variables(3x), putc(3).
+
+ http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/tctest.html