- The ncurses library routines give the user a terminal-independent
+ The ncurses library routines give the user a terminal-independent
method of updating character screens with reasonable optimization.
This implementation is "new curses" (ncurses) and is the approved
replacement for 4.4BSD classic curses, which has been discontinued.
- This describes ncurses version 6.2 (patch 20210612).
+ This describes ncurses version 6.2 (patch 20211009).
- The ncurses library emulates the curses library of System V Release 4
+ The ncurses library emulates the curses library of System V Release 4
UNIX, and XPG4 (X/Open Portability Guide) curses (also known as XSI
curses). XSI stands for X/Open System Interfaces Extension. The
- ncurses library is freely redistributable in source form. Differences
- from the SVr4 curses are summarized under the EXTENSIONS and
- PORTABILITY sections below and described in detail in the respective
- EXTENSIONS, PORTABILITY and BUGS sections of individual man pages.
+ ncurses library is freely redistributable in source form. Differences
+ from the SVr4 curses are summarized under the EXTENSIONS and
+ PORTABILITY sections below and described in detail in the respective
+ EXTENSIONS, PORTABILITY and BUGS sections of individual man pages.
- The ncurses library also provides many useful extensions, i.e.,
+ The ncurses library also provides many useful extensions, i.e.,
features which cannot be implemented by a simple add-on library but
which require access to the internals of the library.
- A program using these routines must be linked with the -lncurses
+ A program using these routines must be linked with the -lncurses
option, or (if it has been generated) with the debugging library
- -lncurses_g. (Your system integrator may also have installed these
- libraries under the names -lcurses and -lcurses_g.) The ncurses_g
- library generates trace logs (in a file called 'trace' in the current
+ -lncurses_g. (Your system integrator may also have installed these
+ libraries under the names -lcurses and -lcurses_g.) The ncurses_g
+ library generates trace logs (in a file called "trace" in the current
directory) that describe curses actions. See also the section on
- ALTERNATECONFIGURATIONS.
+ ALTERNATECONFIGURATIONS.
- The ncurses package supports: overall screen, window and pad
+ The ncurses package supports: overall screen, window and pad
manipulation; output to windows and pads; reading terminal input;
- control over terminal and curses input and output options; environment
+ control over terminal and curses input and output options; environment
query routines; color manipulation; use of soft label keys; terminfo
capabilities; and access to low-level terminal-manipulation routines.
The library uses the locale which the calling program has initialized.
- That is normally done with setlocale:
+ That is normally done with setlocale:
- setlocale(LC_ALL,"");
+ setlocale(LC_ALL,"");
If the locale is not initialized, the library assumes that characters
are printable as in ISO-8859-1, to work with certain legacy programs.
You should initialize the locale and not rely on specific details of
the library when the locale has not been setup.
- The function initscr or newterm must be called to initialize the
+ The function initscr or newterm must be called to initialize the
library before any of the other routines that deal with windows and
- screens are used. The routine endwin(3X) must be called before
+ screens are used. The routine endwin(3x) must be called before
exiting.
To get character-at-a-time input without echoing (most interactive,
screen oriented programs want this), the following sequence should be
used:
- initscr();cbreak();noecho();
+ initscr();cbreak();noecho();
Most programs would additionally use the sequence:
- intrflush(stdscr,FALSE);
- keypad(stdscr,TRUE);
+ intrflush(stdscr,FALSE);
+ keypad(stdscr,TRUE);
- Before a curses program is run, the tab stops of the terminal should be
+ Before a curses program is run, the tab stops of the terminal should be
set and its initialization strings, if defined, must be output. This
- can be done by executing the tputinit command after the shell
- environment variable TERM has been exported. tset(1) is usually
- responsible for doing this. [See terminfo(5) for further details.]
+ can be done by executing the tputinit command after the shell
+ environment variable TERM has been exported. tset(1) is usually
+ responsible for doing this. [See terminfo(5) for further details.]
- The ncurses library permits manipulation of data structures, called
- windows, which can be thought of as two-dimensional arrays of
+ The ncurses library permits manipulation of data structures, called
+ windows, which can be thought of as two-dimensional arrays of
characters representing all or part of a CRT screen. A default window
- called stdscr, which is the size of the terminal screen, is supplied.
- Others may be created with newwin.
+ called stdscr, which is the size of the terminal screen, is supplied.
+ Others may be created with newwin.
- Note that curses does not handle overlapping windows, that's done by
- the panel(3X) library. This means that you can either use stdscr or
- divide the screen into tiled windows and not using stdscr at all.
+ Note that curses does not handle overlapping windows, that's done by
+ the panel(3x) library. This means that you can either use stdscr or
+ divide the screen into tiled windows and not using stdscr at all.
Mixing the two will result in unpredictable, and undesired, effects.
- Windows are referred to by variables declared as WINDOW*. These data
+ Windows are referred to by variables declared as WINDOW*. These data
structures are manipulated with routines described here and elsewhere
- in the ncurses manual pages. Among those, the most basic routines are
- move and addch. More general versions of these routines are included
- with names beginning with w, allowing the user to specify a window.
- The routines not beginning with w affect stdscr.
-
- After using routines to manipulate a window, refresh(3X) is called,
- telling curses to make the user's CRT screen look like stdscr. The
- characters in a window are actually of type chtype, (character and
+ in the ncurses manual pages. Among those, the most basic routines are
+ move and addch. More general versions of these routines are included
+ with names beginning with w, allowing the user to specify a window.
+ The routines not beginning with w affect stdscr.
+
+ After using routines to manipulate a window, refresh(3x) is called,
+ telling curses to make the user's CRT screen look like stdscr. The
+ characters in a window are actually of type chtype, (character and
attribute data) so that other information about the character may also
be stored with each character.
- Special windows called pads may also be manipulated. These are windows
+ Special windows called pads may also be manipulated. These are windows
which are not constrained to the size of the screen and whose contents
- need not be completely displayed. See curs_pad(3X) for more
+ need not be completely displayed. See curs_pad(3x) for more
information.
In addition to drawing characters on the screen, video attributes and
colors may be supported, causing the characters to show up in such
modes as underlined, in reverse video, or in color on terminals that
support such display enhancements. Line drawing characters may be
- specified to be output. On input, curses is also able to translate
+ specified to be output. On input, curses is also able to translate
arrow and function keys that transmit escape sequences into single
values. The video attributes, line drawing characters, and input
- values use names, defined in <curses.h>, such as A_REVERSE, ACS_HLINE,
- and KEY_LEFT.
+ values use names, defined in <curses.h>, such as A_REVERSE, ACS_HLINE,
+ and KEY_LEFT.
- If the environment variables LINES and COLUMNS are set, or if the
+ If the environment variables LINES and COLUMNS are set, or if the
program is executing in a window environment, line and column
information in the environment will override information read by
- terminfo. This would affect a program running in an AT&T 630 layer,
+ terminfo. This would affect a program running in an AT&T 630 layer,
for example, where the size of a screen is changeable (see
- ENVIRONMENT).
+ ENVIRONMENT).
- If the environment variable TERMINFO is defined, any program using
- curses checks for a local terminal definition before checking in the
- standard place. For example, if TERM is set to att4424, then the
+ If the environment variable TERMINFO is defined, any program using
+ curses checks for a local terminal definition before checking in the
+ standard place. For example, if TERM is set to att4424, then the
compiled terminal definition is found in
- /usr/share/terminfo/a/att4424.
+ /usr/share/terminfo/a/att4424.
- (The a is copied from the first letter of att4424 to avoid creation of
- huge directories.) However, if TERMINFO is set to $HOME/myterms,
- curses first checks
+ (The a is copied from the first letter of att4424 to avoid creation of
+ huge directories.) However, if TERMINFO is set to $HOME/myterms,
+ curses first checks
- $HOME/myterms/a/att4424,
+ $HOME/myterms/a/att4424,
and if that fails, it then checks
- /usr/share/terminfo/a/att4424.
+ /usr/share/terminfo/a/att4424.
This is useful for developing experimental definitions or when write
- permission in /usr/share/terminfo is not available.
+ permission in /usr/share/terminfo is not available.
- The integer variables LINES and COLS are defined in <curses.h> and will
- be filled in by initscr with the size of the screen. The constants
- TRUE and FALSE have the values 1 and 0, respectively.
+ The integer variables LINES and COLS are defined in <curses.h> and will
+ be filled in by initscr with the size of the screen. The constants
+ TRUE and FALSE have the values 1 and 0, respectively.
- The curses routines also define the WINDOW* variable curscr which is
+ The curses routines also define the WINDOW* variable curscr which is
used for certain low-level operations like clearing and redrawing a
- screen containing garbage. The curscr can be used in only a few
+ screen containing garbage. The curscr can be used in only a few
routines.
- Many curses routines have two or more versions. The routines prefixed
- with w require a window argument. The routines prefixed with p require
- a pad argument. Those without a prefix generally use stdscr.
-
- The routines prefixed with mv require a y and x coordinate to move to
- before performing the appropriate action. The mv routines imply a call
- to move before the call to the other routine. The coordinate y always
- refers to the row (of the window), and x always refers to the column.
+ Many curses routines have two or more versions. The routines prefixed
+ with w require a window argument. The routines prefixed with p require
+ a pad argument. Those without a prefix generally use stdscr.
+
+ The routines prefixed with mv require a y and x coordinate to move to
+ before performing the appropriate action. The mv routines imply a call
+ to move before the call to the other routine. The coordinate y always
+ refers to the row (of the window), and x always refers to the column.
The upper left-hand corner is always (0,0), not (1,1).
- The routines prefixed with mvw take both a window argument and x and y
+ The routines prefixed with mvw take both a window argument and x and y
coordinates. The window argument is always specified before the
coordinates.
- In each case, win is the window affected, and pad is the pad affected;
- win and pad are always pointers to type WINDOW.
+ In each case, win is the window affected, and pad is the pad affected;
+ win and pad are always pointers to type WINDOW.
- Option setting routines require a Boolean flag bf with the value TRUE
- or FALSE; bf is always of type bool. Most of the data types used in
- the library routines, such as WINDOW, SCREEN, bool, and chtype are
- defined in <curses.h>. Types used for the terminfo routines such as
- TERMINAL are defined in <term.h>.
+ Option setting routines require a Boolean flag bf with the value TRUE
+ or FALSE; bf is always of type bool. Most of the data types used in
+ the library routines, such as WINDOW, SCREEN, bool, and chtype are
+ defined in <curses.h>. Types used for the terminfo routines such as
+ TERMINAL are defined in <term.h>.
This manual page describes functions which may appear in any
configuration of the library. There are two common configurations of
the library:
- ncurses
+ ncurses
the "normal" library, which handles 8-bit characters. The
normal (8-bit) library stores characters combined with
- attributes in chtype data.
+ attributes in chtype data.
Attributes alone (no corresponding character) may be stored in
- chtype or the equivalent attr_t data. In either case, the data
+ chtype or the equivalent attr_t data. In either case, the data
is stored in something like an integer.
- Each cell (row and column) in a WINDOW is stored as a chtype.
+ Each cell (row and column) in a WINDOW is stored as a chtype.
- ncursesw
+ ncursesw
the so-called "wide" library, which handles multibyte
- characters (see the section on ALTERNATECONFIGURATIONS). The
+ characters (see the section on ALTERNATECONFIGURATIONS). The
"wide" library includes all of the calls from the "normal"
library. It adds about one third more calls using data types
which store multibyte characters:
- cchar_t
- corresponds to chtype. However it is a structure, because
+ cchar_t
+ corresponds to chtype. However it is a structure, because
more data is stored than can fit into an integer. The
characters are large enough to require a full integer
value - and there may be more than one character per cell.
The video attributes and color are stored in separate
fields of the structure.
- Each cell (row and column) in a WINDOW is stored as a
- cchar_t.
+ Each cell (row and column) in a WINDOW is stored as a
+ cchar_t.
- The setcchar(3X) and getcchar(3X) functions store and
- retrieve the data from a cchar_t structure.
+ The setcchar(3x) and getcchar(3x) functions store and
+ retrieve the data from a cchar_t structure.
- wchar_t
- stores a "wide" character. Like chtype, this may be an
+ wchar_t
+ stores a "wide" character. Like chtype, this may be an
integer.
- wint_t
- stores a wchar_t or WEOF - not the same, though both may
+ wint_t
+ stores a wchar_t or WEOF - not the same, though both may
have the same size.
The "wide" library provides new functions which are analogous
to functions in the "normal" library. There is a naming
convention which relates many of the normal/wide variants: a
- "_w" is inserted into the name. For example, waddch becomes
- wadd_wch.
+ "_w" is inserted into the name. For example, waddch becomes
+ wadd_wch.
- Routines that return an integer return ERR upon failure and an integer
- value other than ERR upon successful completion, unless otherwise noted
+ Routines that return an integer return ERR upon failure and an integer
+ value other than ERR upon successful completion, unless otherwise noted
in the routine descriptions.
As a general rule, routines check for null pointers passed as
parameters, and handle this as an error.
- All macros return the value of the w version, except setscrreg,
- wsetscrreg, getyx, getbegyx, and getmaxyx. The return values of
- setscrreg, wsetscrreg, getyx, getbegyx, and getmaxyx are undefined
+ All macros return the value of the w version, except setscrreg,
+ wsetscrreg, getyx, getbegyx, and getmaxyx. The return values of
+ setscrreg, wsetscrreg, getyx, getbegyx, and getmaxyx are undefined
(i.e., these should not be used as the right-hand side of assignment
statements).
Functions with a "mv" prefix first perform a cursor movement using
- wmove, and return an error if the position is outside the window, or if
+ wmove, and return an error if the position is outside the window, or if
the window pointer is null. Most "mv"-prefixed functions (except
- variadic functions such as mvprintw) are provided both as macros and
+ variadic functions such as mvprintw) are provided both as macros and
functions.
- Routines that return pointers return NULL on error.
+ Routines that return pointers return NULL on error.
The following environment symbols are useful for customizing the
- runtime behavior of the ncurses library. The most important ones have
+ runtime behavior of the ncurses library. The most important ones have
been already discussed in detail.
- When set, change occurrences of the command_character (i.e., the cmdch
+ When set, change occurrences of the command_character (i.e., the cmdch
capability) of the loaded terminfo entries to the value of this
variable. Very few terminfo entries provide this feature.
Because this name is also used in development environments to represent
- the C compiler's name, ncurses ignores it if it does not happen to be a
+ the C compiler's name, ncurses ignores it if it does not happen to be a
single character.
The debugging library checks this environment variable when the
application has redirected output to a file. The variable's numeric
- value is used for the baudrate. If no value is found, ncurses uses
+ value is used for the baudrate. If no value is found, ncurses uses
9600. This allows testers to construct repeatable test-cases that take
into account costs that depend on baudrate.
@@ -800,26 +800,26 @@
Specify the width of the screen in characters. Applications running in
a windowing environment usually are able to obtain the width of the
- window in which they are executing. If neither the COLUMNS value nor
- the terminal's screen size is available, ncurses uses the size which
- may be specified in the terminfo database (i.e., the cols capability).
+ window in which they are executing. If neither the COLUMNS value nor
+ the terminal's screen size is available, ncurses uses the size which
+ may be specified in the terminfo database (i.e., the cols capability).
It is important that your application use a correct size for the
screen. This is not always possible because your application may be
running on a host which does not honor NAWS (Negotiations About Window
Size), or because you are temporarily running as another user.
- However, setting COLUMNS and/or LINES overrides the library's use of
+ However, setting COLUMNS and/or LINES overrides the library's use of
the screen size obtained from the operating system.
- Either COLUMNS or LINES symbols may be specified independently. This
+ Either COLUMNS or LINES symbols may be specified independently. This
is mainly useful to circumvent legacy misfeatures of terminal
descriptions, e.g., xterm which commonly specifies a 65 line screen.
- For best results, lines and cols should not be specified in a terminal
+ For best results, lines and cols should not be specified in a terminal
description for terminals which are run as emulations.
- Use the use_env function to disable all use of external environment
+ Use the use_env function to disable all use of external environment
(but not including system calls) to determine the screen size. Use the
- use_tioctl function to update COLUMNS or LINES to match the screen size
+ use_tioctl function to update COLUMNS or LINES to match the screen size
obtained from system calls or the terminal database.
@@ -849,7 +849,7 @@
- Tells ncurses where your home directory is. That is where it may read
+ Tells ncurses where your home directory is. That is where it may read
and write auxiliary terminal descriptions:
$HOME/.termcap
@@ -872,27 +872,27 @@
This variable lets you customize the mouse. The variable must be three
numeric digits 1-3 in any order, e.g., 123 or 321. If it is not
- specified, ncurses uses 132.
+ specified, ncurses uses 132.
Override the compiled-in assumption that the terminal's default colors
- are white-on-black (see default_colors(3X)). You may set the
+ are white-on-black (see default_colors(3x)). You may set the
foreground and background color values with this environment variable
by proving a 2-element list: foreground,background. For example, to
tell ncurses to not assume anything about the colors, set this to
"-1,-1". To make it green-on-black, set it to "2,0". Any positive
- value from zero to the terminfo max_colors value is allowed.
+ value from zero to the terminfo max_colors value is allowed.
This applies only to the MinGW port of ncurses.
- The Console2 program's handling of the Microsoft Console API call
- CreateConsoleScreenBuffer is defective. Applications which use this
+ The Console2 program's handling of the Microsoft Console API call
+ CreateConsoleScreenBuffer is defective. Applications which use this
will hang. However, it is possible to simulate the action of this call
by mapping coordinates, explicitly saving and restoring the original
- screen contents. Setting the environment variable NCGDB has the same
+ screen contents. Setting the environment variable NCGDB has the same
effect.
@@ -900,19 +900,19 @@
This applies only to ncurses configured to use the GPM interface.
If present, the environment variable is a list of one or more terminal
- names against which the TERM environment variable is matched. Setting
+ names against which the TERM environment variable is matched. Setting
it to an empty value disables the GPM interface; using the built-in
support for xterm, etc.
If the environment variable is absent, ncurses will attempt to open GPM
- if TERM contains "linux".
+ if TERM contains "linux".
- Ncurses may use tabs as part of the cursor movement optimization. In
+ Ncurses may use tabs as part of the cursor movement optimization. In
some cases, your terminal driver may not handle these properly. Set
this environment variable to disable the feature. You can also adjust
- your stty settings to avoid the problem.
+ your stty settings to avoid the problem.
@@ -942,19 +942,19 @@
Set the NCURSES_NO_PADDING environment variable to disable all but
mandatory padding. Mandatory padding is used as a part of special
- control sequences such as flash.
+ control sequences such as flash.
This setting is obsolete. Before changes
- o started with 5.9 patch 20120825 and
+ o started with 5.9 patch 20120825 and
- o continued though 5.9 patch 20130126
+ o continued though 5.9 patch 20130126
- ncurses enabled buffered output during terminal initialization. This
+ ncurses enabled buffered output during terminal initialization. This
was done (as in SVr4 curses) for performance reasons. For testing
- purposes, both of ncurses and certain applications, this feature was
+ purposes, both of ncurses and certain applications, this feature was
made optional. Setting the NCURSES_NO_SETBUF variable disabled output
buffering, leaving the output in the original (usually line buffered)
mode.
@@ -968,17 +968,17 @@
nonconventional programs would mix ordinary stdio calls with ncurses
calls and (usually) work. This is no longer possible since ncurses is
not using the buffered standard output but its own output (to the same
- file descriptor). As a special case, the low-level calls such as putp
+ file descriptor). As a special case, the low-level calls such as putp
still use the standard output. But high-level curses calls do not.
- During initialization, the ncurses library checks for special cases
+ During initialization, the ncurses library checks for special cases
where VT100 line-drawing (and the corresponding alternate character set
capabilities) described in the terminfo are known to be missing.
Specifically, when running in a UTF-8 locale, the Linux console
emulator and the GNU screen program ignore these. Ncurses checks the
- TERM environment variable for these. For other special cases, you
+ TERM environment variable for these. For other special cases, you
should set this environment variable. Doing this tells ncurses to use
Unicode values which correspond to the VT100 line-drawing glyphs. That
works for the special cases cited, and is likely to work for terminal
@@ -989,8 +989,8 @@
"linux" and "screen".
As an alternative to the environment variable, ncurses checks for an
- extended terminfo capability U8. This is a numeric capability which
- can be compiled using tic-x. For example
+ extended terminfo capability U8. This is a numeric capability which
+ can be compiled using tic-x. For example
# linux console, if patched to provide working
# VT100 shift-in/shift-out, with corresponding font.
@@ -1006,62 +1006,62 @@
- During initialization, the ncurses debugging library checks the
+ During initialization, the ncurses debugging library checks the
NCURSES_TRACE environment variable. If it is defined, to a numeric
- value, ncurses calls the trace function, using that value as the
+ value, ncurses calls the trace function, using that value as the
argument.
- The argument values, which are defined in curses.h, provide several
+ The argument values, which are defined in curses.h, provide several
types of information. When running with traces enabled, your
- application will write the file trace to the current directory.
+ application will write the file trace to the current directory.
- See curs_trace(3X) for more information.
+ See curs_trace(3x) for more information.
Denotes your terminal type. Each terminal type is distinct, though
many are similar.
- TERM is commonly set by terminal emulators to help applications find a
+ TERM is commonly set by terminal emulators to help applications find a
workable terminal description. Some of those choose a popular
approximation, e.g., "ansi", "vt100", "xterm" rather than an exact fit.
Not infrequently, your application will have problems with that
approach, e.g., incorrect function-key definitions.
- If you set TERM in your environment, it has no effect on the operation
+ If you set TERM in your environment, it has no effect on the operation
of the terminal emulator. It only affects the way applications work
- within the terminal. Likewise, as a general rule (xterm being a rare
- exception), terminal emulators which allow you to specify TERM as a
+ within the terminal. Likewise, as a general rule (xterm being a rare
+ exception), terminal emulators which allow you to specify TERM as a
parameter or configuration value do not change their behavior to match
that setting.
- If the ncurses library has been configured with termcap support,
- ncurses will check for a terminal's description in termcap form if it
+ If the ncurses library has been configured with termcap support,
+ ncurses will check for a terminal's description in termcap form if it
is not available in the terminfo database.
- The TERMCAP environment variable contains either a terminal description
+ The TERMCAP environment variable contains either a terminal description
(with newlines stripped out), or a file name telling where the
- information denoted by the TERM environment variable exists. In either
- case, setting it directs ncurses to ignore the usual place for this
+ information denoted by the TERM environment variable exists. In either
+ case, setting it directs ncurses to ignore the usual place for this
information, e.g., /etc/termcap.
- ncurses can be configured to read from multiple terminal databases.
- The TERMINFO variable overrides the location for the default terminal
+ ncurses can be configured to read from multiple terminal databases.
+ The TERMINFO variable overrides the location for the default terminal
database. Terminal descriptions (in terminal format) are stored in
terminal databases:
- o Normally these are stored in a directory tree, using subdirectories
+ o Normally these are stored in a directory tree, using subdirectories
named by the first letter of the terminal names therein.
This is the scheme used in System V, which legacy Unix systems use,
- and the TERMINFO variable is used by curses applications on those
+ and the TERMINFO variable is used by curses applications on those
systems to override the default location of the terminal database.
- o If ncurses is built to use hashed databases, then each entry in
+ o If ncurses is built to use hashed databases, then each entry in
this list may be the path of a hashed database file, e.g.,
/usr/share/terminfo.db
@@ -1075,58 +1075,58 @@
existence of the directory tree, reading it directly rather than
using the terminfo library calls.
- o If ncurses is built with a support for reading termcap files
+ o If ncurses is built with a support for reading termcap files
directly, then an entry in this list may be the path of a termcap
file.
- o If the TERMINFO variable begins with "hex:" or "b64:", ncurses uses
+ o If the TERMINFO variable begins with "hex:" or "b64:", ncurses uses
the remainder of that variable as a compiled terminal description.
- You might produce the base64 format using infocmp(1M):
+ You might produce the base64 format using infocmp(1m):
TERMINFO="$(infocmp -0 -Q2 -q)"
export TERMINFO
The compiled description is used if it corresponds to the terminal
- identified by the TERM variable.
+ identified by the TERM variable.
- Setting TERMINFO is the simplest, but not the only way to set location
+ Setting TERMINFO is the simplest, but not the only way to set location
of the default terminal database. The complete list of database
locations in order follows:
- o the last terminal database to which ncurses wrote, if any, is
+ o the last terminal database to which ncurses wrote, if any, is
searched first
- o the location specified by the TERMINFO environment variable
+ o the location specified by the TERMINFO environment variable
- o $HOME/.terminfo
+ o $HOME/.terminfo
- o locations listed in the TERMINFO_DIRS environment variable
+ o locations listed in the TERMINFO_DIRS environment variable
- o one or more locations whose names are configured and compiled
+ o one or more locations whose names are configured and compiled
into the ncurses library, i.e.,
- o no default value (corresponding to the TERMINFO_DIRS
+ o no default value (corresponding to the TERMINFO_DIRS
variable)
- o /usr/share/terminfo (corresponding to the TERMINFO variable)
+ o /usr/share/terminfo (corresponding to the TERMINFO variable)
Specifies a list of locations to search for terminal descriptions.
Each location in the list is a terminal database as described in the
- section on the TERMINFO variable. The list is separated by colons
+ section on the TERMINFO variable. The list is separated by colons
(i.e., ":") on Unix, semicolons on OS/2 EMX.
There is no corresponding feature in System V terminfo; it is an
- extension developed for ncurses.
+ extension developed for ncurses.
- If TERMCAP does not hold a file name then ncurses checks the TERMPATH
+ If TERMCAP does not hold a file name then ncurses checks the TERMPATH
environment variable. This is a list of filenames separated by spaces
or colons (i.e., ":") on Unix, semicolons on OS/2 EMX.
- If the TERMPATH environment variable is not set, ncurses looks in the
+ If the TERMPATH environment variable is not set, ncurses looks in the
files
/etc/termcap, /usr/share/misc/termcap and $HOME/.termcap,
@@ -1142,62 +1142,62 @@
Several different configurations are possible, depending on the
- configure script options used when building ncurses. There are a few
+ configure script options used when building ncurses. There are a few
main options whose effects are visible to the applications developer
- using ncurses:
+ using ncurses:
--disable-overwrite
- The standard include for ncurses is as noted in SYNOPSIS:
+ The standard include for ncurses is as noted in SYNOPSIS:
- #include<curses.h>
+ #include<curses.h>
- This option is used to avoid filename conflicts when ncurses is
- not the main implementation of curses of the computer. If ncurses
+ This option is used to avoid filename conflicts when ncurses is
+ not the main implementation of curses of the computer. If ncurses
is installed disabling overwrite, it puts its headers in a
subdirectory, e.g.,
- #include<ncurses/curses.h>
+ #include<ncurses/curses.h>
It also omits a symbolic link which would allow you to use
- -lcurses to build executables.
+ -lcurses to build executables.
--enable-widec
The configure script renames the library and (if the
- --disable-overwrite option is used) puts the header files in a
+ --disable-overwrite option is used) puts the header files in a
different subdirectory. All of the library names have a "w"
appended to them, i.e., instead of
- -lncurses
+ -lncurses
you link with
- -lncursesw
+ -lncursesw
You must also enable the wide-character features in the header
file when compiling for the wide-character library to use the
extended (wide-character) functions. The symbol which enables
these features has changed since XSI Curses, Issue 4:
- o Originally, the wide-character feature required the symbol
- _XOPEN_SOURCE_EXTENDED but that was only valid for XPG4
+ o Originally, the wide-character feature required the symbol
+ _XOPEN_SOURCE_EXTENDED but that was only valid for XPG4
(1996).
- o Later, that was deemed conflicting with _XOPEN_SOURCE defined
+ o Later, that was deemed conflicting with _XOPEN_SOURCE defined
to 500.
- o As of mid-2018, none of the features in this implementation
- require a _XOPEN_SOURCE feature greater than 600. However,
+ o As of mid-2018, none of the features in this implementation
+ require a _XOPEN_SOURCE feature greater than 600. However,
X/Open Curses, Issue 7 (2009) recommends defining it to 700.
- o Alternatively, you can enable the feature by defining
- NCURSES_WIDECHAR with the caveat that some other header file
- than curses.h may require a specific value for _XOPEN_SOURCE
+ o Alternatively, you can enable the feature by defining
+ NCURSES_WIDECHAR with the caveat that some other header file
+ than curses.h may require a specific value for _XOPEN_SOURCE
(or a system-specific symbol).
- The curses.h file which is installed for the wide-character
+ The curses.h file which is installed for the wide-character
library is designed to be compatible with the normal library's
- header. Only the size of the WINDOW structure differs, and very
- few applications require more than a pointer to WINDOWs.
+ header. Only the size of the WINDOW structure differs, and very
+ few applications require more than a pointer to WINDOWs.
If the headers are installed allowing overwrite, the wide-
character library's headers should be installed last, to allow
@@ -1207,9 +1207,9 @@
--with-pthread
The configure script renames the library. All of the library
names have a "t" appended to them (before any "w" added by
- --enable-widec).
+ --enable-widec).
- The global variables such as LINES are replaced by macros to allow
+ The global variables such as LINES are replaced by macros to allow
read-only access. At the same time, setter-functions are provided
to set these values. Some applications (very few) may require
changes to work with this convention.
@@ -1222,9 +1222,9 @@
--with-profile
The shared and normal (static) library names differ by their
- suffixes, e.g., libncurses.so and libncurses.a. The debug and
+ suffixes, e.g., libncurses.so and libncurses.a. The debug and
profiling libraries add a "_g" and a "_p" to the root names
- respectively, e.g., libncurses_g.a and libncurses_p.a.
+ respectively, e.g., libncurses_g.a and libncurses_p.a.
--with-termlib
Low-level functions which do not depend upon whether the library
@@ -1236,22 +1236,22 @@
Those functions are described in these pages:
- ocurs_extend(3X) - miscellaneous curses extensions
+ ocurs_extend(3x) - miscellaneous curses extensions
- ocurs_inopts(3X) - curses input options
+ ocurs_inopts(3x) - curses input options
- ocurs_kernel(3X) - low-level curses routines
+ ocurs_kernel(3x) - low-level curses routines
- ocurs_termattrs(3X) - curses environment query routines
+ ocurs_termattrs(3x) - curses environment query routines
- ocurs_termcap(3X) - curses emulation of termcap
+ ocurs_termcap(3x) - curses emulation of termcap
- ocurs_terminfo(3X) - curses interfaces to terminfo database
+ ocurs_terminfo(3x) - curses interfaces to terminfo database
- ocurs_util(3X) - miscellaneous curses utility routines
+ ocurs_util(3x) - miscellaneous curses utility routines
--with-trace
- The trace function normally resides in the debug library, but it
+ The trace function normally resides in the debug library, but it
is sometimes useful to configure this in the shared library.
Configure scripts should check for the function's existence rather
than assuming it is always in the debug library.
@@ -1265,54 +1265,54 @@
- The ncurses library can be compiled with an option (-DUSE_GETCAP) that
+ The ncurses library can be compiled with an option (-DUSE_GETCAP) that
falls back to the old-style /etc/termcap file if the terminal setup
- code cannot find a terminfo entry corresponding to TERM. Use of this
+ code cannot find a terminfo entry corresponding to TERM. Use of this
feature is not recommended, as it essentially includes an entire
- termcap compiler in the ncurses startup code, at significant cost in
+ termcap compiler in the ncurses startup code, at significant cost in
core and startup cycles.
- The ncurses library includes facilities for capturing mouse events on
- certain terminals (including xterm). See the curs_mouse(3X) manual
+ The ncurses library includes facilities for capturing mouse events on
+ certain terminals (including xterm). See the curs_mouse(3x) manual
page for details.
- The ncurses library includes facilities for responding to window
+ The ncurses library includes facilities for responding to window
resizing events, e.g., when running in an xterm. See the
- resizeterm(3X) and wresize(3X) manual pages for details. In addition,
- the library may be configured with a SIGWINCH handler.
+ resizeterm(3x) and wresize(3x) manual pages for details. In addition,
+ the library may be configured with a SIGWINCH handler.
- The ncurses library extends the fixed set of function key capabilities
+ The ncurses library extends the fixed set of function key capabilities
of terminals by allowing the application designer to define additional
- key sequences at runtime. See the define_key(3X)key_defined(3X), and
- keyok(3X) manual pages for details.
+ key sequences at runtime. See the define_key(3x)key_defined(3x), and
+ keyok(3x) manual pages for details.
- The ncurses library can exploit the capabilities of terminals which
+ The ncurses library can exploit the capabilities of terminals which
implement the ISO-6429 SGR 39 and SGR 49 controls, which allow an
application to reset the terminal to its original foreground and
background colors. From the users' perspective, the application is
able to draw colored text on a background whose color is set
independently, providing better control over color contrasts. See the
- default_colors(3X) manual page for details.
+ default_colors(3x) manual page for details.
- The ncurses library includes a function for directing application
+ The ncurses library includes a function for directing application
output to a printer attached to the terminal device. See the
- curs_print(3X) manual page for details.
+ curs_print(3x) manual page for details.
- The ncurses library is intended to be BASE-level conformant with XSI
+ The ncurses library is intended to be BASE-level conformant with XSI
Curses. The EXTENDED XSI Curses functionality (including color
support) is supported.
A small number of local differences (that is, individual differences
- between the XSI Curses and ncurses calls) are described in PORTABILITY
+ between the XSI Curses and ncurses calls) are described in PORTABILITY
sections of the library man pages.
@@ -1334,39 +1334,39 @@
Some have been incorporated into other implementations, such as
PDCurses or NetBSD curses. Here are a few to consider:
- o The routine has_key is not part of XPG4, nor is it present in SVr4.
- See the curs_getch(3X) manual page for details.
+ o The routine has_key is not part of XPG4, nor is it present in SVr4.
+ See the curs_getch(3x) manual page for details.
- o The routine slk_attr is not part of XPG4, nor is it present in
- SVr4. See the curs_slk(3X) manual page for details.
+ o The routine slk_attr is not part of XPG4, nor is it present in
+ SVr4. See the curs_slk(3x) manual page for details.
- o The routines getmouse, mousemask, ungetmouse, mouseinterval, and
- wenclose relating to mouse interfacing are not part of XPG4, nor
- are they present in SVr4. See the curs_mouse(3X) manual page for
+ o The routines getmouse, mousemask, ungetmouse, mouseinterval, and
+ wenclose relating to mouse interfacing are not part of XPG4, nor
+ are they present in SVr4. See the curs_mouse(3x) manual page for
details.
- o The routine mcprint was not present in any previous curses
- implementation. See the curs_print(3X) manual page for details.
+ o The routine mcprint was not present in any previous curses
+ implementation. See the curs_print(3x) manual page for details.
- o The routine wresize is not part of XPG4, nor is it present in SVr4.
- See the wresize(3X) manual page for details.
+ o The routine wresize is not part of XPG4, nor is it present in SVr4.
+ See the wresize(3x) manual page for details.
- o The WINDOW structure's internal details can be hidden from
- application programs. See curs_opaque(3X) for the discussion of
- is_scrollok, etc.
+ o The WINDOW structure's internal details can be hidden from
+ application programs. See curs_opaque(3x) for the discussion of
+ is_scrollok, etc.
- o This implementation can be configured to provide rudimentary
- support for multi-threaded applications. See curs_threads(3X) for
+ o This implementation can be configured to provide rudimentary
+ support for multi-threaded applications. See curs_threads(3x) for
details.
- o This implementation can also be configured to provide a set of
+ o This implementation can also be configured to provide a set of
functions which improve the ability to manage multiple screens.
- See curs_sp_funcs(3X) for details.
+ See curs_sp_funcs(3x) for details.
- In historic curses versions, delays embedded in the capabilities cr,
- ind, cub1, ff and tab activated corresponding delay bits in the UNIX
+ In historic curses versions, delays embedded in the capabilities cr,
+ ind, cub1, ff and tab activated corresponding delay bits in the UNIX
tty driver. In this implementation, all padding is done by sending NUL
bytes. This method is slightly more expensive, but narrows the
interface to the UNIX kernel significantly and increases the package's
@@ -1374,8 +1374,8 @@
- The header file <curses.h> automatically includes the header files
- <stdio.h> and <unctrl.h>.
+ The header file <curses.h> automatically includes the header files
+ <stdio.h> and <unctrl.h>.
X/Open Curses has more to say, but does not finish the story:
@@ -1384,19 +1384,19 @@
Here is a more complete story:
- o Starting with BSD curses, all implementations have included
+ o Starting with BSD curses, all implementations have included
<stdio.h>.
BSD curses included <curses.h> and <unctrl.h> from an internal
- header "curses.ext" ("ext" was a short name for externs).
+ header "curses.ext" ("ext" was a short name for externs).
- BSD curses used <stdio.h> internally (for printw and scanw), but
+ BSD curses used <stdio.h> internally (for printw and scanw), but
nothing in <curses.h> itself relied upon <stdio.h>.
- o SVr2 curses added newterm(3X), which relies upon <stdio.h>. That
- is, the function prototype uses FILE.
+ o SVr2 curses added newterm(3x), which relies upon <stdio.h>. That
+ is, the function prototype uses FILE.
- SVr4 curses added putwin and getwin, which also use <stdio.h>.
+ SVr4 curses added putwin and getwin, which also use <stdio.h>.
X/Open Curses documents all three of these functions.
@@ -1406,22 +1406,22 @@
As a result, standard <curses.h> will always include <stdio.h>.
- o X/Open Curses is inconsistent with respect to SVr4 regarding
+ o X/Open Curses is inconsistent with respect to SVr4 regarding
<unctrl.h>.
- As noted in curs_util(3X), ncurses includes <unctrl.h> from
+ As noted in curs_util(3x), ncurses includes <unctrl.h> from
<curses.h> (like SVr4).
- o X/Open's comments about <term.h> and <termios.h> may refer to HP-UX
+ o X/Open's comments about <term.h> and <termios.h> may refer to HP-UX
and AIX:
- HP-UX curses includes <term.h> from <curses.h> to declare setupterm
+ HP-UX curses includes <term.h> from <curses.h> to declare setupterm
in curses.h, but ncurses (and Solaris curses) do not.
AIX curses includes <term.h> and <termios.h>. Again, ncurses (and
Solaris curses) do not.
- o X/Open says that <curses.h> may include <term.h>, but there is no
+ o X/Open says that <curses.h> may include <term.h>, but there is no
requirement that it do that.
Some programs use functions declared in both <curses.h> and
@@ -1434,26 +1434,26 @@
in any order. But for portability, you should include <curses.h>
before <term.h>.
- o X/Open Curses says "maymakevisible" because including a header
+ o X/Open Curses says "maymakevisible" because including a header
file does not necessarily make all symbols in it visible (there are
ifdef's to consider).
- For instance, in ncurses <wchar.h> may be included if the proper
+ For instance, in ncurses <wchar.h> may be included if the proper
symbol is defined, and if ncurses is configured for wide-character
support. If the header is included, its symbols may be made
- visible. That depends on the value used for _XOPEN_SOURCE feature
+ visible. That depends on the value used for _XOPEN_SOURCE feature
test macro.
- o X/Open Curses documents one required header, in a special case:
- <stdarg.h> before <curses.h> to prototype the vw_printw and
- vw_scanw functions (as well as the obsolete the vwprintw and
- vwscanw functions). Each of those uses a va_list parameter.
+ o X/Open Curses documents one required header, in a special case:
+ <stdarg.h> before <curses.h> to prototype the vw_printw and
+ vw_scanw functions (as well as the obsolete the vwprintw and
+ vwscanw functions). Each of those uses a va_list parameter.
The two obsolete functions were introduced in SVr3. The other
functions were introduced in X/Open Curses. In between, SVr4
curses provided for the possibility that an application might
include either <varargs.h> or <stdarg.h>. Initially, that was done
- by using void* for the va_list parameter. Later, a special type
+ by using void* for the va_list parameter. Later, a special type
(defined in <stdio.h>) was introduced, to allow for compiler type-
checking. That special type is always available, because <stdio.h>
is always included by <curses.h>.
@@ -1465,7 +1465,7 @@
- If standard output from a ncurses program is re-directed to something
+ If standard output from a ncurses program is re-directed to something
which is not a tty, screen updates will be directed to standard error.
This was an undocumented feature of AT&T System V Release 3 curses.
@@ -1476,7 +1476,7 @@
- ncurses(3X)
+ ncurses(3x)