+
#include <curses.h>
-DESCRIPTION
+
The ncurses library routines give the user a terminal-
independent method of updating character screens with rea-
- sonable 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 5.6 (patch 20080621).
-
- The ncurses library emulates the curses(3x) 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.
+ sonable optimization. This implementation is "new curses"
+ (ncurses) and is the approved replacement for 4.4BSD clas-
+ sic curses, which has been discontinued. This describes
+ ncurses version 5.9 (patch 20150215).
+
+ 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.
The ncurses library also provides many useful extensions,
i.e., features which cannot be implemented by a simple
@@ -96,13 +97,25 @@
lation; use of soft label keys; terminfo capabilities; and
access to low-level terminal-manipulation routines.
- To initialize the routines, the routine initscr or newterm
- must be called before any of the other routines that deal
- with windows and screens are used. The routine endwin
- 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:
+ The library uses the locale which the calling program has
+ initialized. That is normally done with setlocale:
+
+ 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 initial-
+ ize the library before any of the other routines that deal
+ with windows and screens are used. The routine endwin
+ must be called before exiting.
+
+ To get character-at-a-time input without echoing (most
+ interactive, screen oriented programs want this), the fol-
+ lowing sequence should be used:
initscr(); cbreak(); noecho();
@@ -112,8 +125,8 @@
intrflush(stdscr, FALSE);
keypad(stdscr, TRUE);
- Before a curses program is run, the tab stops of the
- terminal should be set and its initialization strings, if
+ Before a curses program is run, the tab stops of the ter-
+ minal should be set and its initialization strings, if
defined, must be output. This can be done by executing
the tput init command after the shell environment variable
TERM has been exported. tset(1) is usually responsible
@@ -138,48 +151,48 @@
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.
+ window. The routines not beginning with w affect stdscr.
- After using routines to manipulate a window, refresh 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
+ After using routines to manipulate a window, refresh 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.
+ 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 dis-
+ the screen and whose contents need not be completely dis-
played. See curs_pad(3x) for more information.
- In addition to drawing characters on the screen, video
- attributes and colors may be supported, causing the char-
- acters to show up in such modes as underlined, in reverse
- video, or in color on terminals that support such display
+ In addition to drawing characters on the screen, video
+ attributes and colors may be supported, causing the char-
+ acters 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
- arrow and function keys that transmit escape sequences
- into single values. The video attributes, line drawing
- characters, and input values use names, defined in
+ 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.
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
+ 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, for example, where the size
+ running in an AT&T 630 layer, for example, where the size
of a screen is changeable (see ENVIRONMENT).
- If the environment variable TERMINFO is defined, any pro-
- gram using curses checks for a local terminal definition
- before checking in the standard place. For example, if
+ If the environment variable TERMINFO is defined, any pro-
+ gram 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 defini-
tion is found in
/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
+ creation of huge directories.) However, if TERMINFO is
set to $HOME/myterms, curses first checks
$HOME/myterms/a/att4424,
@@ -188,116 +201,121 @@
/usr/share/terminfo/a/att4424.
- This is useful for developing experimental definitions or
+ This is useful for developing experimental definitions or
when write permission in /usr/share/terminfo is not avail-
able.
- The integer variables LINES and COLS are defined in
- <curses.h> and will be filled in by initscr with the size
+ 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 val-
ues 1 and 0, respectively.
- The curses routines also define the WINDOW * variable
+ 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
+ clearing and redrawing a screen containing garbage. The
curscr can be used in only a few routines.
- Routine and Argument Names
- Many curses routines have two or more versions. The rou-
+
+
+
+ Many curses routines have two or more versions. The rou-
tines prefixed with w require a window argument. The rou-
tines prefixed with p require a pad argument. Those with-
out 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
+ 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 coordinates. The window argument is always
+ 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
+ In each case, win is the window affected, and pad is the
pad affected; win and pad are always pointers to type WIN-
DOW.
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 WIN-
- DOW, SCREEN, bool, and chtype are defined in <curses.h>.
- Types used for the terminfo routines such as TERMINAL are
+ value TRUE or FALSE; bf is always of type bool. Most of
+ the data types used in the library routines, such as WIN-
+ DOW, 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
+ This manual page describes functions which may appear in
+ any configuration of the library. There are two common
configurations of the library:
ncurses
the "normal" library, which handles 8-bit
characters. The normal (8-bit) library stores
- characters combined with attributes in chtype
+ characters combined with 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 is
+ Attributes alone (no corresponding character)
+ may be stored in 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
+ Each cell (row and column) in a WINDOW is
stored as a chtype.
ncursesw
- the so-called "wide" library, which handles
- multibyte characters (See the section on
+ the so-called "wide" library, which handles
+ multibyte characters (see the section on
ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS). The "wide" library
- includes all of the calls from the "normal"
- library. It adds about one third more calls
+ includes all of the calls from the "normal"
+ library. It adds about one third more calls
using data types which store multibyte charac-
ters:
cchar_t
- corresponds to chtype. However it is a
- structure, because more data is stored
- than can fit into an integer. The char-
+ corresponds to chtype. However it is a
+ structure, because more data is stored
+ than can fit into an integer. The char-
acters 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 sepa-
+ integer value - and there may be more
+ than one character per cell. The video
+ attributes and color are stored in sepa-
rate fields of the structure.
Each cell (row and column) in a WINDOW is
stored as a cchar_t.
wchar_t
- stores a "wide" character. Like chtype,
+ stores a "wide" character. Like chtype,
this may be an integer.
wint_t
- stores a wchar_t or WEOF - not the same,
+ 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 "nor-
- mal" library. There is a naming convention
- which relates many of the normal/wide vari-
- ants: a "_w" is inserted into the name. For
+ which are analogous to functions in the "nor-
+ mal" library. There is a naming convention
+ which relates many of the normal/wide vari-
+ ants: a "_w" is inserted into the name. For
example, waddch becomes wadd_wch.
- Routine Name Index
+
+
The following table lists each curses routine and the name
- of the manual page on which it is described. Routines
- flagged with `*' are ncurses-specific, not described by
+ of the manual page on which it is described. Routines
+ flagged with `*' are ncurses-specific, not described by
XPG4 or present in SVr4.
-
curses Routine Name Manual Page Name
--------------------------------------------
COLOR_PAIR curs_color(3x)
PAIR_NUMBER curs_attr(3x)
+ _nc_free_and_exit curs_memleaks(3x)*
+ _nc_freeall curs_memleaks(3x)*
_nc_tracebits curs_trace(3x)*
+
_traceattr curs_trace(3x)*
_traceattr2 curs_trace(3x)*
_tracechar curs_trace(3x)*
@@ -310,7 +328,6 @@
add_wchnstr curs_add_wchstr(3x)
add_wchstr curs_add_wchstr(3x)
addch curs_addch(3x)
-
addchnstr curs_addchstr(3x)
addchstr curs_addchstr(3x)
addnstr curs_addstr(3x)
@@ -364,6 +381,7 @@
echochar curs_addch(3x)
endwin curs_initscr(3x)
erase curs_clear(3x)
+
erasechar curs_termattrs(3x)
erasewchar curs_termattrs(3x)
filter curs_util(3x)
@@ -376,7 +394,6 @@
getbegy curs_legacy(3x)*
getbegyx curs_getyx(3x)
getbkgd curs_bkgd(3x)
-
getbkgrnd curs_bkgrnd(3x)
getcchar curs_getcchar(3x)
getch curs_getch(3x)
@@ -430,6 +447,7 @@
is_cleared curs_opaque(3x)*
is_idcok curs_opaque(3x)*
is_idlok curs_opaque(3x)*
+
is_immedok curs_opaque(3x)*
is_keypad curs_opaque(3x)*
is_leaveok curs_opaque(3x)*
@@ -442,7 +460,6 @@
is_wintouched curs_touch(3x)
isendwin curs_initscr(3x)
key_defined key_defined(3x)*
-
key_name curs_util(3x)
keybound keybound(3x)*
keyname curs_util(3x)
@@ -496,6 +513,7 @@
mvinsstr curs_insstr(3x)
mvinstr curs_instr(3x)
mvinwstr curs_inwstr(3x)
+
mvprintw curs_printw(3x)
mvscanw curs_scanw(3x)
mvvline curs_border(3x)
@@ -508,7 +526,6 @@
mvwaddchstr curs_addchstr(3x)
mvwaddnstr curs_addstr(3x)
mvwaddnwstr curs_addwstr(3x)
-
mvwaddstr curs_addstr(3x)
mvwaddwstr curs_addwstr(3x)
mvwchgat curs_attr(3x)
@@ -562,6 +579,7 @@
pnoutrefresh curs_pad(3x)
prefresh curs_pad(3x)
printw curs_printw(3x)
+
putp curs_terminfo(3x)
putwin curs_util(3x)
qiflush curs_inopts(3x)
@@ -574,7 +592,6 @@
resizeterm resizeterm(3x)*
restartterm curs_terminfo(3x)
ripoffline curs_kernel(3x)
-
savetty curs_kernel(3x)
scanw curs_scanw(3x)
scr_dump curs_scr_dump(3x)
@@ -628,6 +645,7 @@
touchline curs_touch(3x)
touchwin curs_touch(3x)
tparm curs_terminfo(3x)
+
tputs curs_termcap(3x)
tputs curs_terminfo(3x)
trace curs_trace(3x)*
@@ -640,8 +658,8 @@
use_default_colors default_colors(3x)*
use_env curs_util(3x)
use_extended_names curs_extend(3x)*
-
use_legacy_coding legacy_coding(3x)*
+ use_tioctl curs_util(3x)
vid_attr curs_terminfo(3x)
vid_puts curs_terminfo(3x)
vidattr curs_terminfo(3x)
@@ -693,6 +711,7 @@
wgetch curs_getch(3x)
wgetn_wstr curs_get_wstr(3x)
wgetnstr curs_getstr(3x)
+
wgetstr curs_getstr(3x)
whline curs_border(3x)
whline_set curs_border_set(3x)
@@ -706,7 +725,6 @@
winnwstr curs_inwstr(3x)
wins_nwstr curs_ins_wstr(3x)
wins_wch curs_ins_wch(3x)
-
wins_wstr curs_ins_wstr(3x)
winsch curs_insch(3x)
winsdelln curs_deleteln(3x)
@@ -737,12 +755,15 @@
-RETURN VALUE
- Routines that return an integer return ERR upon failure
- and an integer value other than ERR upon successful com-
- pletion, unless otherwise noted in the routine descrip-
+
+ Routines that return an integer return ERR upon failure
+ and an integer value other than ERR upon successful com-
+ pletion, unless otherwise noted in the routine descrip-
tions.
+ 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,
@@ -753,24 +774,30 @@
-ENVIRONMENT
+
The following environment symbols are useful for customiz-
ing the runtime behavior of the ncurses library. The most
important ones have been already discussed in detail.
- BAUDRATE
- The debugging library checks this environment symbol
- when the application has redirected output to a file.
- The symbol's numeric 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.
-
CC When set, change occurrences of the command_character
- (i.e., the cmdch capability) of the loaded terminfo
- entries to the value of this symbol. Very few ter-
+ (i.e., the cmdch capability) of the loaded terminfo
+ entries to the value of this variable. Very few ter-
minfo entries provide this feature.
+ Because this name is also used in development envi-
+ ronments to represent the C compiler's name, ncurses
+ ignores it if it does not happen to be a single char-
+ acter.
+
+ BAUDRATE
+ The debugging library checks this environment vari-
+ able 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 9600.
+ This allows testers to construct repeatable test-
+ cases that take into account costs that depend on
+ baudrate.
+
COLUMNS
Specify the width of the screen in characters.
Applications running in a windowing environment usu-
@@ -798,39 +825,42 @@
as emulations.
Use the use_env function to disable all use of exter-
- nal environment (including system calls) to determine
- the screen size.
+ nal environment (but not including system calls) to
+ determine the screen size. Use the use_tioctl func-
+ tion to update COLUMNS or LINES to match the screen
+ size obtained from system calls or the terminal data-
+ base.
ESCDELAY
- Specifies the total time, in milliseconds, for which
- ncurses will await a character sequence, e.g., a
- function key. The default value, 1000 milliseconds,
+ Specifies the total time, in milliseconds, for which
+ ncurses will await a character sequence, e.g., a
+ function key. The default value, 1000 milliseconds,
is enough for most uses. However, it is made a vari-
able to accommodate unusual applications.
The most common instance where you may wish to change
- this value is to work with slow hosts, e.g., running
- on a network. If the host cannot read characters
- rapidly enough, it will have the same effect as if
- the terminal did not send characters rapidly enough.
+ this value is to work with slow hosts, e.g., running
+ on a network. If the host cannot read characters
+ rapidly enough, it will have the same effect as if
+ the terminal did not send characters rapidly enough.
The library will still see a timeout.
- Note that xterm mouse events are built up from char-
- acter sequences received from the xterm. If your
+ Note that xterm mouse events are built up from char-
+ acter sequences received from the xterm. If your
application makes heavy use of multiple-clicking, you
- may wish to lengthen this default value because the
- timeout applies to the composed multi-click event as
+ may wish to lengthen this default value because the
+ timeout applies to the composed multi-click event as
well as the individual clicks.
- In addition to the environment variable, this imple-
- mentation provides a global variable with the same
+ In addition to the environment variable, this imple-
+ mentation provides a global variable with the same
name. Portable applications should not rely upon the
- presence of ESCDELAY in either form, but setting the
- environment variable rather than the global variable
- does not create problems when compiling an applica-
+ presence of ESCDELAY in either form, but setting the
+ environment variable rather than the global variable
+ does not create problems when compiling an applica-
tion.
- HOME Tells ncurses where your home directory is. That is
+ HOME Tells ncurses where your home directory is. That is
where it may read and write auxiliary terminal
descriptions:
@@ -838,8 +868,8 @@
$HOME/.terminfo
LINES
- Like COLUMNS, specify the height of the screen in
- characters. See COLUMNS for a detailed description.
+ Like COLUMNS, specify the height of the screen in
+ characters. See COLUMNS for a detailed description.
MOUSE_BUTTONS_123
This applies only to the OS/2 EMX port. It specifies
@@ -850,10 +880,10 @@
2 = right
3 = middle.
- This symbol lets you customize the mouse. The symbol
- must be three numeric digits 1-3 in any order, e.g.,
- 123 or 321. If it is not specified, ncurses uses
- 132.
+ 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.
NCURSES_ASSUMED_COLORS
Override the compiled-in assumption that the termi-
@@ -867,6 +897,30 @@
tive value from zero to the terminfo max_colors value
is allowed.
+ NCURSES_CONSOLE2
+ This applies only to the MinGW port of ncurses.
+
+ The Console2 program's handling of the Microsoft Con-
+ sole 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 environ-
+ ment variable NCGDB has the same effect.
+
+ NCURSES_GPM_TERMS
+ 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 envi-
+ ronment 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".
+
NCURSES_NO_HARD_TABS
Ncurses may use tabs as part of the cursor movement
optimization. In some cases, your terminal driver
@@ -874,7 +928,7 @@
variable to disable the feature. You can also adjust
your stty settings to avoid the problem.
- NCURSES_NO_MAGIC_COOKIES
+ NCURSES_NO_MAGIC_COOKIE
Some terminals use a magic-cookie feature which
requires special handling to make highlighting and
other video attributes display properly. You can
@@ -904,19 +958,41 @@
to use these descriptions, but not want to pay the
performance penalty.
- Set the NCURSES_NO_PADDING symbol to disable all but
- mandatory padding. Mandatory padding is used as a
- part of special control sequences such as flash.
+ 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.
NCURSES_NO_SETBUF
- Normally ncurses enables buffered output during ter-
- minal initialization. This is done (as in SVr4
- curses) for performance reasons. For testing pur-
- poses, both of ncurses and certain applications, this
- feature is made optional. Setting the
- NCURSES_NO_SETBUF variable disables output buffering,
- leaving the output in the original (usually line
- buffered) mode.
+ This setting is obsolete. Before changes
+
+ o started with 5.9 patch 20120825 and
+
+ o continued though 5.9 patch 20130126
+
+ ncurses enabled buffered output during terminal ini-
+ tialization. This was done (as in SVr4 curses) for
+ performance reasons. For testing purposes, both of
+ ncurses and certain applications, this feature was
+ made optional. Setting the NCURSES_NO_SETBUF vari-
+ able disabled output buffering, leaving the output in
+ the original (usually line buffered) mode.
+
+ In the current implementation, ncurses performs its
+ own buffering and does not require this workaround.
+ It does not modify the buffering of the standard out-
+ put.
+
+ The reason for the change was to make the behavior
+ for interrupts and other signals more robust. One
+ drawback is that certain 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 still
+ use the standard output. But high-level curses calls
+ do not.
NCURSES_NO_UTF8_ACS
During initialization, the ncurses library checks for
@@ -935,106 +1011,163 @@
When setting this variable, you should set it to a
nonzero value. Setting it to zero (or to a nonnum-
- ber) disables the special check for Linux and screen.
+ ber) disables the special check for "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 com-
+ piled using tic -x. For example
+
+ # linux console, if patched to provide working
+ # VT100 shift-in/shift-out, with corresponding font.
+ linux-vt100|linux console with VT100 line-graphics,
+ U8#0, use=linux,
+
+ # uxterm with vt100Graphics resource set to false
+ xterm-utf8|xterm relying on UTF-8 line-graphics,
+ U8#1, use=xterm,
+
+ The name "U8" is chosen to be two characters, to per-
+ mit it to be used by applications that use ncurses'
+ termcap interface.
NCURSES_TRACE
- During initialization, the ncurses debugging library
- checks the NCURSES_TRACE symbol. If it is defined,
- to a numeric value, ncurses calls the trace function,
- using that value as the argument.
-
- The argument values, which are defined in curses.h,
- provide several types of information. When running
- with traces enabled, your application will write 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 argument.
+
+ 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.
- TERM Denotes your terminal type. Each terminal type is
+ TERM 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 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 def-
+ initions.
+
+ 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 termi-
+ nal. 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.
+
TERMCAP
If the ncurses library has been configured with term-
- cap support, ncurses will check for a terminal's
+ cap support, ncurses will check for a terminal's
description in termcap form if it is not available in
the terminfo database.
- The TERMCAP symbol contains either a terminal
- description (with newlines stripped out), or a file
- name telling where the information denoted by the
- TERM symbol exists. In either case, setting it
- directs ncurses to ignore the usual place for this
- information, e.g., /etc/termcap.
+ 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, e.g., /etc/termcap.
TERMINFO
Overrides the directory in which ncurses searches for
your terminal description. This is the simplest, but
- not the only way to change the list of directories.
+ not the only way to change the list of directories.
The complete list of directories in order follows:
- - the last directory to which ncurses wrote, if any,
- is searched first
+ o the last directory to which ncurses wrote, if
+ any, is searched first
- - the directory specified by the TERMINFO symbol
+ o the directory specified by the TERMINFO environ-
+ ment variable
- - $HOME/.terminfo
+ o $HOME/.terminfo
- - directories listed in the TERMINFO_DIRS symbol
+ o directories listed in the TERMINFO_DIRS environ-
+ ment variable
- - one or more directories whose names are configured
- and compiled into the ncurses library, e.g.,
- /usr/share/terminfo
+ o one or more directories whose names are config-
+ ured and compiled into the ncurses library, i.e.,
+
+ o /usr/local/ncurses/share/ter-
+ minfo:/usr/share/terminfo (corresponding to
+ the TERMINFO_DIRS variable)
+
+ o /usr/share/terminfo (corresponding to the
+ TERMINFO variable)
TERMINFO_DIRS
- Specifies a list of directories to search for termi-
- nal descriptions. The list is separated by colons
- (i.e., ":") on Unix, semicolons on OS/2 EMX. All of
- the terminal descriptions are in terminfo form, which
- makes a subdirectory named for the first letter of
- the terminal names therein.
+ Specifies a list of directories to search for termi-
+ nal descriptions. The list is separated by colons
+ (i.e., ":") on Unix, semicolons on OS/2 EMX.
+
+ All of the terminal descriptions are in terminfo
+ form. Normally these are stored in a directory tree,
+ using subdirectories named by the first letter of the
+ terminal names therein.
+
+ If ncurses is built with a hashed database, then each
+ entry in this list can also be the path of the corre-
+ sponding database file.
+
+ If ncurses is built with a support for reading term-
+ cap files directly, then an entry in this list may be
+ the path of a termcap file.
TERMPATH
- If TERMCAP does not hold a file name then ncurses
- checks the TERMPATH symbol. This is a list of file-
- names separated by spaces or colons (i.e., ":") on
- Unix, semicolons on OS/2 EMX. If the TERMPATH symbol
- is not set, ncurses looks in the files /etc/termcap,
- /usr/share/misc/termcap and $HOME/.termcap, in that
+ 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 files /etc/termcap,
+ /usr/share/misc/termcap and $HOME/.termcap, in that
order.
- The library may be configured to disregard the following
- variables when the current user is the superuser (root),
- or if the application uses setuid or setgid permissions:
- $TERMINFO, $TERMINFO_DIRS, $TERMPATH, as well as $HOME.
+ The library may be configured to disregard the following
+ variables when the current user is the superuser (root),
+ or if the application uses setuid or setgid permissions:
+
+ $TERMINFO, $TERMINFO_DIRS, $TERMPATH, as well as
+ $HOME.
-ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS
- Several different configurations are possible, depending
- on the configure script options used when building
- ncurses. There are a few main options whose effects are
+
+ Several different configurations are possible, depending
+ on the configure script options used when building
+ ncurses. There are a few main options whose effects are
visible to the applications developer using ncurses:
--disable-overwrite
- The standard include for ncurses is as noted in SYN-
+ The standard include for ncurses is as noted in SYN-
OPSIS:
#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 is installed disabling
- overwrite, it puts its headers in a subdirectory,
+ 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>
- It also omits a symbolic link which would allow you
+ It also omits a symbolic link which would allow you
to use -lcurses to build executables.
--enable-widec
- The configure script renames the library and (if the
- --disable-overwrite option is used) puts the header
+ The configure script renames the library and (if the
+ --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.,
+ library names have a "w" appended to them, i.e.,
instead of
-lncurses
@@ -1044,18 +1177,29 @@
-lncursesw
You must also define _XOPEN_SOURCE_EXTENDED when com-
- piling for the wide-character library to use the
- extended (wide-character) functions. 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. If the headers are
- installed allowing overwrite, the wide-character
- library's headers should be installed last, to allow
- applications to be built using either library from
+ piling for the wide-character library to use the
+ extended (wide-character) functions. 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 struc-
+ ture 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
+ applications to be built using either library from
the same set of headers.
+ --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).
+
+ 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.
+
--with-shared
--with-normal
@@ -1063,69 +1207,69 @@
--with-debug
--with-profile
- The shared and normal (static) library names differ
- by their suffixes, e.g., libncurses.so and libn-
- curses.a. The debug and profiling libraries add a
+ The shared and normal (static) library names differ
+ by their suffixes, e.g., libncurses.so and libn-
+ curses.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.
--with-trace
- The trace function normally resides in the debug
+ The trace function normally resides in the debug
library, but it is sometimes useful to configure this
- in the shared library. Configure scripts should
+ in the shared library. Configure scripts should
check for the function's existence rather than assum-
ing it is always in the debug library.
-FILES
+
/usr/share/tabset
- directory containing initialization files for the
+ directory containing initialization files for the
terminal capability database /usr/share/terminfo ter-
minal capability database
-SEE ALSO
- terminfo(5) and related pages whose names begin "curs_"
+
+ terminfo(5) and related pages whose names begin "curs_"
for detailed routine descriptions.
+ curs_variables(3x)
-EXTENSIONS
+
The ncurses library can be compiled with an option
(-DUSE_GETCAP) that falls back to the old-style /etc/term-
cap file if the terminal setup 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
+ 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 core and startup cycles.
- The ncurses library includes facilities for capturing
- mouse events on certain terminals (including xterm). See
+ 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 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
+ 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.
- 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.
+ 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) man-
ual pages for details.
The ncurses library can exploit the capabilities of termi-
- nals which implement the ISO-6429 SGR 39 and SGR 49 con-
+ nals which implement the ISO-6429 SGR 39 and SGR 49 con-
trols, 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 col-
- ored text on a background whose color is set
- independently, providing better control over color con-
- trasts. See the default_colors(3x) manual page for
- details.
+ its original foreground and background colors. From the
+ users' perspective, the application is able to draw col-
+ ored text on a background whose color is set indepen-
+ dently, providing better control over color contrasts.
+ See the default_colors(3x) manual page for details.
The ncurses library includes a function for directing
application output to a printer attached to the terminal
@@ -1133,7 +1277,7 @@
-PORTABILITY
+
The ncurses library is intended to be BASE-level confor-
mant with XSI Curses. The EXTENDED XSI Curses functional-
ity (including color support) is supported.
@@ -1143,33 +1287,49 @@
described in PORTABILITY sections of the library man
pages.
+ Unlike other implementations, this one checks parameters
+ such as pointers to WINDOW structures to ensure they are
+ not null. The main reason for providing this behavior is
+ to guard against programmer error. The standard interface
+ does not provide a way for the library to tell an applica-
+ tion which of several possible errors were detected.
+ Relying on this (or some other) extension will adversely
+ affect the portability of curses applications.
+
This implementation also contains several extensions:
- 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.
- 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.
- The routines getmouse, mousemask, ungetmouse, mou-
- seinterval, and wenclose relating to mouse interfac-
- ing are not part of XPG4, nor are they present in
- SVr4. See the curs_mouse(3x) manual page for
- details.
+ o The routines getmouse, mousemask, ungetmouse, mousein-
+ terval, 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 rudi-
+ mentary support for multi-threaded applications. See
+ curs_threads(3x) for details.
+
+ 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.
In historic curses versions, delays embedded in the capa-
bilities cr, ind, cub1, ff and tab activated corresponding
@@ -1181,7 +1341,7 @@
-NOTES
+
The header file <curses.h> automatically includes the
header files <stdio.h> and <unctrl.h>.
@@ -1192,7 +1352,7 @@
-AUTHORS
+
Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.
Based on pcurses by Pavel Curtis.
@@ -1200,10 +1360,26 @@
ncurses(3x)
-
-
-Man(1) output converted with
-man2html
-
+