These low-level routines must be called by programs that
have to deal directly with the terminfo database to handle
certain terminal capabilities, such as programming func-
tion keys. For all other functionality, curses routines
are more suitable and their use is recommended.
+
+
Initially, setupterm should be called. Note that se-tupterm is automatically called by initscr and newterm.
This defines the set of terminal-dependent variables
- [listed in terminfo(5)]. The terminfo variables lines and
- columns are initialized by setupterm as follows: If
- use_env(FALSE) has been called, values for lines and
- columns specified in terminfo are used. Otherwise, if the
- environment variables LINES and COLUMNS exist, their val-
- ues are used. If these environment variables do not exist
- and the program is running in a window, the current window
- size is used. Otherwise, if the environment variables do
- not exist, the values for lines and columns specified in
- the terminfo database are used.
-
- The header files curses.h and term.h should be included
- (in this order) to get the definitions for these strings,
- numbers, and flags. Parameterized strings should be
- passed through tparm to instantiate them. All terminfo
- strings [including the output of tparm] should be printed
- with tputs or putp. Call the reset_shell_mode to restore
- the tty modes before exiting [see curs_kernel(3x)]. Pro-
- grams which use cursor addressing should output en-
- ter_ca_mode upon startup and should output exit_ca_mode
- before exiting. Programs desiring shell escapes should
- call
-
- reset_shell_mode and output exit_ca_mode before the shell
- is called and should output enter_ca_mode and call re-
- set_prog_mode after returning from the shell.
+ [listed in terminfo(5)].
+
+ Each initialization routine provides applications with the
+ terminal capabilities either directly (via header defini-
+ tions), or by special functions. The header files curs-
+ es.h and term.h should be included (in this order) to get
+ the definitions for these strings, numbers, and flags.
+
+ The terminfo variables lines and columns are initialized
+ by setupterm as follows:
+
+ o If use_env(FALSE) has been called, values for lines
+ and columns specified in terminfo are used.
+
+ o Otherwise, if the environment variables LINES and COL-
+ UMNS exist, their values are used. If these environ-
+ ment variables do not exist and the program is running
+ in a window, the current window size is used. Other-
+ wise, if the environment variables do not exist, the
+ values for lines and columns specified in the terminfo
+ database are used.
+
+ Parameterized strings should be passed through tparm to
+ instantiate them. All terminfo strings [including the
+ output of tparm] should be printed with tputs or putp.
+ Call reset_shell_mode to restore the tty modes before ex-
+ iting [see curs_kernel(3x)].
+
+ Programs which use cursor addressing should
+
+ o output enter_ca_mode upon startup and
+
+ o output exit_ca_mode before exiting.
+
+ Programs which execute shell subprocesses should
+
+ o call reset_shell_mode and output exit_ca_mode before
+ the shell is called and
+
+ o output enter_ca_mode and call reset_prog_mode after
+ returning from the shell.
The setupterm routine reads in the terminfo database, ini-
tializing the terminfo structures, but does not set up the
output virtualization structures used by curses. The ter-
- minal type is the character string term; if term is null,
- the environment variable TERM is used. All output is to
- file descriptor fildes which is initialized for output.
- If errret is not null, then setupterm returns OK or ERR
+ minal type is the character string term; if term is null,
+ the environment variable TERM is used. All output is to
+ file descriptor fildes which is initialized for output.
+ If errret is not null, then setupterm returns OK or ERR
and stores a status value in the integer pointed to by er-
- rret. A return value of OK combined with status of 1 in
+ rret. A return value of OK combined with status of 1 in
errret is normal. If ERR is returned, examine errret:
- 1 means that the terminal is hardcopy, cannot be
- used for curses applications.
+ 1 means that the terminal is hardcopy, cannot be used
+ for curses applications.
+
+ setupterm determines if the entry is a hardcopy type
+ by checking the hc (hardcopy) capability.
+
+ 0 means that the terminal could not be found, or that
+ it is a generic type, having too little information
+ for curses applications to run.
- 0 means that the terminal could not be found, or
- that it is a generic type, having too little
- information for curses applications to run.
+ setupterm determines if the entry is a generic type
+ by checking the gn (generic) capability.
- -1 means that the terminfo database could not be
- found.
+ -1 means that the terminfo database could not be found.
If errret is null, setupterm prints an error message upon
finding an error and exits. Thus, the simplest call is:
@@ -143,19 +168,33 @@
which uses all the defaults and sends the output to std-out.
- The setterm routine is being replaced by setupterm. The
- call:
+ The setterm routine was replaced by setupterm. The call:
setupterm(term,1,(int*)0)
- provides the same functionality as setterm(term). The
- setterm routine is included here for BSD compatibility,
- and is not recommended for new programs.
+ provides the same functionality as setterm(term). The
+ setterm routine is provided for BSD compatibility, and is
+ not recommended for new programs.
- The set_curterm routine sets the variable cur_term to
- nterm, and makes all of the terminfo boolean, numeric, and
- string variables use the values from nterm. It returns
- the old value of cur_term.
+
+
+ The setupterm routine stores its information about the
+ terminal in a TERMINAL structure pointed to by the global
+ variable cur_term. If it detects an error, or decides
+ that the terminal is unsuitable (hardcopy or generic), it
+ discards this information, making it not available to ap-
+ plications.
+
+ If setupterm is called repeatedly for the same terminal
+ type, it will reuse the information. It maintains only
+ one copy of a given terminal's capabilities in memory. If
+ it is called for different terminal types, setupterm allo-
+ cates new storage for each set of terminal capabilities.
+
+ The set_curterm routine sets cur_term to nterm, and makes
+ all of the terminfo boolean, numeric, and string variables
+ use the values from nterm. It returns the old value of
+ cur_term.
The del_curterm routine frees the space pointed to by
oterm and makes it available for further use. If oterm is
@@ -167,85 +206,107 @@
The restartterm routine is similar to setupterm and
initscr, except that it is called after restoring memory
to a previous state (for example, when reloading a game
- saved as a core image dump). It assumes that the windows
- and the input and output options are the same as when mem-
- ory was saved, but the terminal type and baud rate may be
- different. Accordingly, it saves various tty state bits,
- does a setupterm, and then restores the bits.
+ saved as a core image dump). restartterm assumes that the
+ windows and the input and output options are the same as
+ when memory was saved, but the terminal type and baud rate
+ may be different. Accordingly, restartterm saves various
+ tty state bits, calls setupterm, and then restores the
+ bits.
+
+
The tparm routine instantiates the string str with parame-
- ters pi. A pointer is returned to the result of str with
+ ters pi. A pointer is returned to the result of str with
the parameters applied.
- The tputs routine applies padding information to the
- string str and outputs it. The str must be a terminfo
- string variable or the return value from tparm, tgetstr,
+ tiparm is a newer form of tparm which uses <stdarg.h>
+ rather than a fixed-parameter list. Its numeric parame-
+ ters are integers (int) rather than longs.
+
+
+
+ The tputs routine applies padding information to the
+ string str and outputs it. The str must be a terminfo
+ string variable or the return value from tparm, tgetstr,
or tgoto. affcnt is the number of lines affected, or 1 if
- not applicable. putc is a putchar-like routine to which
+ not applicable. putc is a putchar-like routine to which
the characters are passed, one at a time.
- The putp routine calls tputs(str,1,putchar). Note that
- the output of putp always goes to stdout, not to the
+ The putp routine calls tputs(str,1,putchar). Note that
+ the output of putp always goes to stdout, not to the
fildes specified in setupterm.
The vidputs routine displays the string on the terminal in
- the video attribute mode attrs, which is any combination
- of the attributes listed in curses(3x). The characters
+ the video attribute mode attrs, which is any combination
+ of the attributes listed in curses(3x). The characters
are passed to the putchar-like routine putc.
- The vidattr routine is like the vidputs routine, except
+ The vidattr routine is like the vidputs routine, except
that it outputs through putchar.
- The vid_attr and vid_puts routines correspond to vidattr
- and vidputs, respectively. They use a set of arguments
- for representing the video attributes plus color, i.e.,
+ The vid_attr and vid_puts routines correspond to vidattr
+ and vidputs, respectively. They use a set of arguments
+ for representing the video attributes plus color, i.e.,
one of type attr_t for the attributes and one of short for
the color_pair number. The vid_attr and vid_puts routines
- are designed to use the attribute constants with the WA_
- prefix. The opts argument is reserved for future use.
- Currently, applications must provide a null pointer for
+ are designed to use the attribute constants with the WA_
+ prefix. The opts argument is reserved for future use.
+ Currently, applications must provide a null pointer for
that argument.
- The mvcur routine provides low-level cursor motion. It
- takes effect immediately (rather than at the next re-
+ The mvcur routine provides low-level cursor motion. It
+ takes effect immediately (rather than at the next re-
fresh).
- The tigetflag, tigetnum and tigetstr routines return the
+
+
+ The tigetflag, tigetnum and tigetstr routines return the
value of the capability corresponding to the terminfocap-
- name passed to them, such as xenl.
+ name passed to them, such as xenl. The capname for each
+ capability is given in the table column entitled capname
+ code in the capabilities section of terminfo(5).
- The tigetflag routine returns the value -1 if capname is
- not a boolean capability, or 0 if it is canceled or absent
- from the terminal description.
+ These routines return special values to denote errors.
- The tigetnum routine returns the value -2 if capname is
- not a numeric capability, or -1 if it is canceled or ab-
- sent from the terminal description.
+ The tigetflag routine returns
- The tigetstr routine returns the value (char*)-1 if cap-
- name is not a string capability, or 0 if it is canceled or
- absent from the terminal description.
+ -1 if capname is not a boolean capability, or
- The capname for each capability is given in the table col-
- umn entitled capname code in the capabilities section of
- terminfo(5).
+ 0 if it is canceled or absent from the terminal de-
+ scription.
- char*boolnames, *boolcodes, *boolfnames
+ The tigetnum routine returns
- char*numnames, *numcodes, *numfnames
+ -2 if capname is not a numeric capability, or
- char*strnames, *strcodes, *strfnames
+ -1 if it is canceled or absent from the terminal de-
+ scription.
- These null-terminated arrays contain the capnames, the
- termcap codes, and the full C names, for each of the ter-
- minfo variables.
+ The tigetstr routine returns
+ (char*)-1
+ if capname is not a string capability, or
-
-
RETURN VALUE
- Routines that return an integer return ERR upon failure
- and OK (SVr4 only specifies "an integer value other than
- ERR") upon successful completion, unless otherwise noted
+ 0 if it is canceled or absent from the terminal de-
+ scription.
+
+
+
+ These null-terminated arrays contain the short terminfo
+ names ("codes"), the termcap names, and the long terminfo
+ names ("fnames") for each of the predefined terminfo vari-
+ ables:
+ char*boolnames[], *boolcodes[], *boolfnames[]
+
+ char*numnames[], *numcodes[], *numfnames[]
+
+ char*strnames[], *strcodes[], *strfnames[]
+
+
+
+ Routines that return an integer return ERR upon failure
+ and OK (SVr4 only specifies "an integer value other than
+ ERR") upon successful completion, unless otherwise noted
in the preceding routine descriptions.
Routines that return pointers always return NULL on error.
@@ -253,73 +314,133 @@
X/Open defines no error conditions. In this implementa-
tion
- del_curterm
- returns an error if its terminal parameter is
- null.
+ del_curterm
+ returns an error if its terminal parameter is
+ null.
- restartterm
- returns an error if the associated call to se-
- tupterm returns an error.
+ putp calls tputs, returning the same error-codes.
- setupterm
- returns an error if it cannot allocate enough
- memory, or create the initial windows (stdscr,
- curscr, newscr). Other error conditions are
- documented above.
+ restartterm
+ returns an error if the associated call to se-
+ tupterm returns an error.
+ setupterm
+ returns an error if it cannot allocate enough
+ memory, or create the initial windows (stdscr,
+ curscr, newscr). Other error conditions are
+ documented above.
-
-
NOTES
- The setupterm routine should be used in place of setterm.
- It may be useful when you want to test for terminal capa-
- bilities without committing to the allocation of storage
- involved in initscr.
+ tputs
+ returns an error if the string parameter is
+ null. It does not detect I/O errors: X/Open
+ states that tputs ignores the return value of
+ the output function putc.
- Note that vidattr and vidputs may be macros.
+
+ X/Open notes that vidattr and vidputs may be macros.
-
-
PORTABILITY
- The function setterm is not described in the XSI Curses
- standard and must be considered non-portable. All other
- functions are as described in the XSI curses standard.
+ The function setterm is not described by X/Open and must
+ be considered non-portable. All other functions are as
+ described by X/Open.
- In System V Release 4, set_curterm has an int return type
- and returns OK or ERR. We have chosen to implement the
- XSI Curses semantics.
+ setupterm copies the terminal name to the array ttytype.
+ This is not part of X/Open Curses, but is assumed by some
+ applications.
+
+ If configured to use the terminal-driver, e.g., for the
+ MinGW port,
+
+ osetupterm interprets a missing/empty TERM variable as
+ the special value "unknown".
+
+ osetupterm allows explicit use of the the windows con-
+ sole driver by checking if $TERM is set to "#win32con"
+ or an abbreviation of that string.
+
+ Older versions of ncurses assumed that the file descriptor
+ passed to setupterm from initscr or newterm uses buffered
+ I/O, and would write to the corresponding stream. In ad-
+ dition to the limitation that the terminal was left in
+ block-buffered mode on exit (like System V curses), it was
+ problematic because ncurses did not allow a reliable way
+ to cleanup on receiving SIGTSTP. The current version uses
+ output buffers managed directly by ncurses. Some of the
+ low-level functions described in this manual page write to
+ the standard output. They are not signal-safe. The high-
+ level functions in ncurses use alternate versions of these
+ functions using the more reliable buffering scheme.
+
+ In System V Release 4, set_curterm has an int return type
+ and returns OK or ERR. We have chosen to implement the
+ X/Open Curses semantics.
In System V Release 4, the third argument of tputs has the
type int(*putc)(char).
- The XSI Curses standard prototypes tparm with a fixed num-
- ber of parameters, rather than a variable argument list.
- This implementation uses a variable argument list.
- Portable applications should provide 9 parameters after
- the format; zeroes are fine for this purpose.
+ At least one implementation of X/Open Curses (Solaris) re-
+ turns a value other than OK/ERR from tputs. That returns
+ the length of the string, and does no error-checking.
- XSI notes that after calling mvcur, the curses state may
- not match the actual terminal state, and that an applica-
- tion should touch and refresh the window before resuming
- normal curses calls. Both ncurses and System V Release 4
- curses implement mvcur using the SCREEN data allocated in
- either initscr or newterm. So though it is documented as
- a terminfo function, mvcur is really a curses function
- which is not well specified.
+ X/Open Curses prototypes tparm with a fixed number of pa-
+ rameters, rather than a variable argument list. This im-
+ plementation uses a variable argument list, but can be
+ configured to use the fixed-parameter list. Portable ap-
+ plications should provide 9 parameters after the format;
+ zeroes are fine for this purpose.
+ In response to comments by Thomas E. Dickey, X/Open Curses
+ Issue 7 proposed the tiparm function in mid-2009.
-
-
SEE ALSO
- curses(3x), curs_initscr(3x), curs_kernel(3x), curs_term-
- cap(3x), putc(3S), terminfo(5)
+ X/Open notes that after calling mvcur, the curses state
+ may not match the actual terminal state, and that an ap-
+ plication should touch and refresh the window before re-
+ suming normal curses calls. Both ncurses and System V Re-
+ lease 4 curses implement mvcur using the SCREEN data allo-
+ cated in either initscr or newterm. So though it is docu-
+ mented as a terminfo function, mvcur is really a curses
+ function which is not well specified.
+
+ X/Open states that the old location must be given for
+ mvcur. This implementation allows the caller to use -1's
+ for the old ordinates. In that case, the old location is
+ unknown.
+
+ Other implementions may not declare the capability name
+ arrays. Some provide them without declaring them. X/Open
+ does not specify them.
+
+ Extended terminal capability names, e.g., as defined by
+ tic-x, are not stored in the arrays described here.
+
+
+