X-Git-Url: https://ncurses.scripts.mit.edu/?p=ncurses.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=doc%2Fhtml%2Fman%2Fterminfo.5.html;h=37564f4206fae734409f8644ab5bf6b6f28710ef;hp=46c72b8cec04c87c94e9a7f81a082a547a32c652;hb=a8e3f06ac309504143cd56ac9ec55889bfdf4914;hpb=b9a2bd87a73d976d1c916815e2d370bf1090d1b2
diff --git a/doc/html/man/terminfo.5.html b/doc/html/man/terminfo.5.html
index 46c72b8c..37564f42 100644
--- a/doc/html/man/terminfo.5.html
+++ b/doc/html/man/terminfo.5.html
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
* Note: this must be run through tbl before nroff.
* The magic cookie on the first line triggers this under some man programs.
****************************************************************************
- * Copyright (c) 1998-2012,2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
+ * Copyright (c) 1998-2016,2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
* *
* Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a *
* copy of this software and associated documentation files (the *
@@ -31,9 +31,9 @@
* sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written *
* authorization. *
****************************************************************************
- * @Id: terminfo.head,v 1.21 2013/03/09 22:11:36 tom Exp @
+ * @Id: terminfo.head,v 1.32 2017/04/22 13:52:49 tom Exp @
* Head of terminfo man page ends here
- * @Id: terminfo.tail,v 1.69 2015/04/26 14:47:23 tom Exp @
+ * @Id: terminfo.tail,v 1.84 2017/04/22 16:00:56 tom Exp @
* Beginning of terminfo.tail file
* This file is part of ncurses.
* See "terminfo.head" for copyright.
@@ -60,48 +60,71 @@
-
-
+
terminfo - terminal capability data base
-
-
+
/usr/share/terminfo/*/*
-
-
+
Terminfo is a data base describing terminals, used by
screen-oriented programs such as nvi(1), rogue(1) and
libraries such as curses(3x). Terminfo describes termi-
nals by giving a set of capabilities which they have, by
specifying how to perform screen operations, and by speci-
fying padding requirements and initialization sequences.
- This describes ncurses version 6.0 (patch 20150919).
-
- Entries in terminfo consist of a sequence of `,' separated
- fields (embedded commas may be escaped with a backslash or
- notated as \054). White space after the `,' separator is
- ignored. The first entry for each terminal gives the
- names which are known for the terminal, separated by `|'
- characters. The first name given is the most common
- abbreviation for the terminal, the last name given should
- be a long name fully identifying the terminal, and all
- others are understood as synonyms for the terminal name.
- All names but the last should be in lower case and contain
- no blanks; the last name may well contain upper case and
- blanks for readability.
-
- Lines beginning with a `#' in the first column are treated
- as comments. While comment lines are legal at any point,
- the output of captoinfo and infotocap (aliases for tic)
- will move comments so they occur only between entries.
-
- Newlines and leading tabs may be used for formatting
- entries for readability. These are removed from parsed
- entries. The infocmp -f option relies on this to format
- if-then-else expressions: the result can be read by tic.
+ This describes ncurses version 6.0 (patch 20170422).
+
+
+
+ Entries in terminfo consist of a sequence of fields:
+
+ o Each field ends with a comma "," (embedded commas may
+ be escaped with a backslash or written as "\054").
+
+ o White space between fields is ignored.
+
+ o The first field in a terminfo entry begins in the
+ first column.
+
+ o Newlines and leading whitespace (spaces or tabs) may
+ be used for formatting entries for readability. These
+ are removed from parsed entries.
+
+ The infocmp -f and -W options rely on this to format
+ if-then-else expressions, or to enforce maximum line-
+ width. The resulting formatted terminal description
+ can be read by tic.
+
+ o The first field for each terminal gives the names
+ which are known for the terminal, separated by "|"
+ characters.
+
+ The first name given is the most common abbreviation
+ for the terminal (its primary name), the last name
+ given should be a long name fully identifying the ter-
+ minal (see longname(3x)), and all others are treated
+ as synonyms (aliases) for the primary terminal name.
+
+ X/Open Curses advises that all names but the last
+ should be in lower case and contain no blanks; the
+ last name may well contain upper case and blanks for
+ readability.
+
+ This implementation is not so strict; it allows mixed
+ case in the primary name and aliases. If the last
+ name has no embedded blanks, it allows that to be both
+ an alias and a verbose name (but will warn about this
+ ambiguity).
+
+ o Lines beginning with a "#" in the first column are
+ treated as comments.
+
+ While comment lines are legal at any point, the output
+ of captoinfo and infotocap (aliases for tic) will move
+ comments so they occur only between entries.
Terminal names (except for the last, verbose entry) should
be chosen using the following conventions. The particular
@@ -126,49 +149,114 @@
-rv Reverse video c100-rv
-s Enable status line vt100-s
-vb Use visible bell instead of beep wy370-vb
-
-w Wide mode (> 80 columns, usually 132) vt100-w
For more on terminal naming conventions, see the term(7)
manual page.
-
-
- The following is a complete table of the capabilities
- included in a terminfo description block and available to
+
+ The terminfo entry consists of several capabilities, i.e.,
+ features that the terminal has, or methods for exercising
+ the terminal's features.
+
+ After the first field (giving the name(s) of the terminal
+ entry), there should be one or more capability fields.
+ These are boolean, numeric or string names with corre-
+ sponding values:
+
+ o Boolean capabilities are true when present, false when
+ absent. There is no explicit value for boolean capa-
+ bilities.
+
+ o Numeric capabilities have a "#" following the name,
+ then an unsigned decimal integer value.
+
+ o String capabilities have a "=" following the name,
+ then an string of characters making up the capability
+ value.
+
+ String capabilities can be split into multiple lines,
+ just as the fields comprising a terminal entry can be
+ split into multiple lines. While blanks between
+ fields are ignored, blanks embedded within a string
+ value are retained, except for leading blanks on a
+ line.
+
+ Any capability can be canceled, i.e., suppressed from the
+ terminal entry, by following its name with "@" rather than
+ a capability value.
+
+
+
+ If there are two very similar terminals, one (the variant)
+ can be defined as being just like the other (the base)
+ with certain exceptions. In the definition of the vari-
+ ant, the string capability use can be given with the name
+ of the base terminal:
+
+ o The capabilities given before use override those in
+ the base type named by use.
+
+ o If there are multiple use capabilities, they are
+ merged in reverse order. That is, the rightmost use
+ reference is processed first, then the one to its
+ left, and so forth.
+
+ o Capabilities given explicitly in the entry override
+ those brought in by use references.
+
+ A capability can be canceled by placing xx@ to the left of
+ the use reference that imports it, where xx is the capa-
+ bility. For example, the entry
+
+ 2621-nl, smkx@, rmkx@, use=2621,
+
+ defines a 2621-nl that does not have the smkx or rmkx
+ capabilities, and hence does not turn on the function key
+ labels when in visual mode. This is useful for different
+ modes for a terminal, or for different user preferences.
+
+ An entry included via use can contain canceled capabili-
+ ties, which have the same effect as if those cancels were
+ inline in the using terminal entry.
+
+
+
+ The following is a complete table of the capabilities
+ included in a terminfo description block and available to
terminfo-using code. In each line of the table,
- The variable is the name by which the programmer (at the
+ The variable is the name by which the programmer (at the
terminfo level) accesses the capability.
- The capname is the short name used in the text of the
- database, and is used by a person updating the database.
- Whenever possible, capnames are chosen to be the same as
+ The capname is the short name used in the text of the
+ database, and is used by a person updating the database.
+ Whenever possible, capnames are chosen to be the same as
or similar to the ANSI X3.64-1979 standard (now superseded
- by ECMA-48, which uses identical or very similar names).
+ by ECMA-48, which uses identical or very similar names).
Semantics are also intended to match those of the specifi-
cation.
- The termcap code is the old termcap capability name (some
+ The termcap code is the old termcap capability name (some
capabilities are new, and have names which termcap did not
originate).
- Capability names have no hard length limit, but an infor-
- mal limit of 5 characters has been adopted to keep them
- short and to allow the tabs in the source file Caps to
+ Capability names have no hard length limit, but an infor-
+ mal limit of 5 characters has been adopted to keep them
+ short and to allow the tabs in the source file Caps to
line up nicely.
- Finally, the description field attempts to convey the
- semantics of the capability. You may find some codes in
+ Finally, the description field attempts to convey the
+ semantics of the capability. You may find some codes in
the description field:
(P) indicates that padding may be specified
- #[1-9] in the description field indicates that the string
+ #[1-9] in the description field indicates that the string
is passed through tparm with parms as given (#i).
- (P*) indicates that padding may vary in proportion to
+ (P*) indicates that padding may vary in proportion to
the number of lines affected
(#i) indicates the ith parameter.
@@ -192,9 +280,6 @@
by overwriting (hp)
col_addr_glitch xhpa YA only positive motion
for hpa/mhpa caps
-
-
-
cpi_changes_res cpix YF changing character
pitch changes reso-
lution
@@ -241,6 +326,8 @@
required
no_esc_ctlc xsb xb beehive (f1=escape,
f2=ctrl C)
+
+
no_pad_char npc NP pad character does
not exist
non_dest_scroll_region ndscr ND scrolling region is
@@ -259,8 +346,6 @@
on the status line
tilde_glitch hz hz cannot print ~'s
(Hazeltine)
-
-
transparent_underline ul ul underline character
overstrikes
xon_xoff xon xo terminal uses
@@ -307,8 +392,8 @@
width_status_line wsl ws number of columns in
status line
- The following numeric capabilities are present in the
- SVr4.0 term structure, but are not yet documented in the
+ The following numeric capabilities are present in the
+ SVr4.0 term structure, but are not yet documented in the
man page. They came in with SVr4's printer support.
@@ -326,7 +411,6 @@
dot_horz_spacing spinh Yc spacing of dots hor-
izontally in dots
per inch
-
dot_vert_spacing spinv Yb spacing of pins ver-
tically in pins per
inch
@@ -374,8 +458,11 @@
to #1
change_line_pitch lpi ZB Change number of
lines per inch to #1
+
change_res_horz chr ZC Change horizontal
resolution to #1
+
+
change_res_vert cvr ZD Change vertical res-
olution to #1
change_scroll_region csr cs change region to
@@ -391,8 +478,6 @@
home cursor (P*)
clr_bol el1 cb Clear to beginning
of line
-
-
clr_eol el ce clear to end of line
(P)
clr_eos ed cd clear to end of
@@ -440,9 +525,12 @@
char set
enter_alt_charset_mode smacs as start alternate
character set (P)
+
enter_am_mode smam SA turn on automatic
margins
enter_blink_mode blink mb turn on blinking
+
+
enter_bold_mode bold md turn on bold (extra
bright) mode
enter_ca_mode smcup ti string to start pro-
@@ -458,7 +546,6 @@
enter_italics_mode sitm ZH Enter italic mode
enter_leftward_mode slm ZI Start leftward car-
riage motion
-
enter_micro_mode smicm ZJ Start micro-motion
mode
enter_near_letter_quality snlq ZK Enter NLQ mode
@@ -509,6 +596,8 @@
ter motion
exit_xon_mode rmxon RX turn off xon/xoff
handshaking
+
+
fixed_pause pause PA pause for 2-3 sec-
onds
flash_hook hook fh flash switch hook
@@ -524,7 +613,6 @@
string
init_2string is2 is initialization
string
-
init_3string is3 i3 initialization
string
init_file if if name of initializa-
@@ -576,6 +664,7 @@
key_f1 kf1 k1 F1 function key
key_f10 kf10 k; F10 function key
key_f11 kf11 F1 F11 function key
+
key_f12 kf12 F2 F12 function key
key_f13 kf13 F3 F13 function key
key_f14 kf14 F4 F14 function key
@@ -590,7 +679,6 @@
key_f22 kf22 FC F22 function key
key_f23 kf23 FD F23 function key
key_f24 kf24 FE F24 function key
-
key_f25 kf25 FF F25 function key
key_f26 kf26 FG F26 function key
key_f27 kf27 FH F27 function key
@@ -643,6 +731,7 @@
key_ic kich1 kI insert-character key
key_il kil1 kA insert-line key
key_left kcub1 kl left-arrow key
+
key_ll kll kH lower-left key (home
down)
key_mark kmrk %2 mark key
@@ -656,7 +745,6 @@
key_previous kprv %8 previous key
key_print kprt %9 print key
key_redo krdo %0 redo key
-
key_reference kref &1 reference key
key_refresh krfr &2 refresh key
key_replace krpl &3 replace key
@@ -709,6 +797,8 @@
board_transmit' mode
keypad_xmit smkx ks enter 'key-
board_transmit' mode
+
+
lab_f0 lf0 l0 label on function
key f0 if not f0
lab_f1 lf1 l1 label on function
@@ -721,8 +811,6 @@
key f3 if not f3
lab_f4 lf4 l4 label on function
key f4 if not f4
-
-
lab_f5 lf5 l5 label on function
key f5 if not f5
lab_f6 lf6 l6 label on function
@@ -776,6 +864,8 @@
to the left (P)
parm_left_micro mcub Zg Like parm_left_cur-
sor in micro mode
+
+
parm_right_cursor cuf RI move #1 characters
to the right (P*)
parm_right_micro mcuf Zh Like parm_right_cur-
@@ -787,8 +877,6 @@
in micro mode
pkey_key pfkey pk program function key
#1 to type string #2
-
-
pkey_local pfloc pl program function key
#1 to execute string
#2
@@ -843,6 +931,8 @@
pair to #1
set_foreground setf Sf Set foreground color
#1
+
+
set_left_margin smgl ML set left soft margin
at current column.
See smgl. (ML is not
@@ -854,7 +944,6 @@
umn
set_right_margin_parm smgrp Zn Set right margin at
column #1
-
set_tab hts st set a tab in every
row, current columns
set_top_margin smgt Zo Set top margin at
@@ -906,8 +995,8 @@
zero_motion zerom Zx No motion for subse-
quent character
- The following string capabilities are present in the
- SVr4.0 term structure, but were originally not documented
+ The following string capabilities are present in the
+ SVr4.0 term structure, but were originally not documented
in the man page.
@@ -920,7 +1009,6 @@
of same row
bit_image_newline binel Zz Move to next row
of the bit image
-
bit_image_repeat birep Xy Repeat bit image
cell #1 #2 times
char_set_names csnm Zy Produce #1'th item
@@ -978,6 +1066,7 @@
ANSI escape
set_color_band setcolor Yz Change to ribbon
color #1
+
set_lr_margin smglr ML Set both left and
right margins to
#1, #2. (ML is
@@ -985,19 +1074,17 @@
cap).
set_page_length slines YZ Set page length to
#1 lines
-
-
set_tb_margin smgtb MT Sets both top and
bottom margins to
#1, #2
- The XSI Curses standard added these hardcopy capabili-
+ The XSI Curses standard added these hardcopy capabili-
ties. They were used in some post-4.1 versions of System
V curses, e.g., Solaris 2.5 and IRIX 6.x. Except for YI,
the ncurses termcap names for them are invented. Accord-
- ing to the XSI Curses standard, they have no termcap
+ ing to the XSI Curses standard, they have no termcap
names. If your compiled terminfo entries use these, they
- may not be binary-compatible with System V terminfo
+ may not be binary-compatible with System V terminfo
entries after SVr4.1; beware!
@@ -1025,54 +1112,52 @@
termcap).
-
-
- The preceding section listed the predefined capabilities.
- They deal with some special features for terminals no
- longer (or possibly never) produced. Occasionally there
- are special features of newer terminals which are awkward
+
+ The preceding section listed the predefined capabilities.
+ They deal with some special features for terminals no
+ longer (or possibly never) produced. Occasionally there
+ are special features of newer terminals which are awkward
or impossible to represent by reusing the predefined capa-
bilities.
ncurses addresses this limitation by allowing user-defined
capabilities. The tic and infocmp programs provide the -x
- option for this purpose. When -x is set, tic treats
- unknown capabilities as user-defined. That is, if tic
- encounters a capability name which it does not recognize,
- it infers its type (boolean, number or string) from the
+ option for this purpose. When -x is set, tic treats
+ unknown capabilities as user-defined. That is, if tic
+ encounters a capability name which it does not recognize,
+ it infers its type (boolean, number or string) from the
syntax and makes an extended table entry for that capabil-
- ity. The use_extended_names function makes this informa-
- tion conditionally available to applications. The ncurses
- library provides the data leaving most of the behavior to
- applications:
+ ity. The use_extended_names(3x) function makes this
+ information conditionally available to applications. The
+ ncurses library provides the data leaving most of the
+ behavior to applications:
o User-defined capability strings whose name begins with
"k" are treated as function keys.
- o The types (boolean, number, string) determined by tic
+ o The types (boolean, number, string) determined by tic
can be inferred by successful calls on tigetflag, etc.
- o If the capability name happens to be two characters,
- the capability is also available through the termcap
+ o If the capability name happens to be two characters,
+ the capability is also available through the termcap
interface.
While termcap is said to be extensible because it does not
- use a predefined set of capabilities, in practice it has
- been limited to the capabilities defined by terminfo
- implementations. As a rule, user-defined capabilities
+ use a predefined set of capabilities, in practice it has
+ been limited to the capabilities defined by terminfo
+ implementations. As a rule, user-defined capabilities
intended for use by termcap applications should be limited
- to booleans and numbers to avoid running past the 1023
- byte limit assumed by termcap implementations and their
- applications. In particular, providing extended sets of
- function keys (past the 60 numbered keys and the handful
+ to booleans and numbers to avoid running past the 1023
+ byte limit assumed by termcap implementations and their
+ applications. In particular, providing extended sets of
+ function keys (past the 60 numbered keys and the handful
of special named keys) is best done using the longer names
available using terminfo.
-
-
+
The following entry, describing an ANSI-standard terminal,
- is representative of what a terminfo entry for a modern
+ is representative of what a terminfo entry for a modern
terminal typically looks like.
ansi|ansi/pc-term compatible with color,
@@ -1106,46 +1191,64 @@
smul=\E[4m, tbc=\E[3g, u6=\E[%i%d;%dR, u7=\E[6n,
u8=\E[?%[;0123456789]c, u9=\E[c, vpa=\E[%i%p1%dd,
- Entries may continue onto multiple lines by placing white
- space at the beginning of each line except the first.
- Comments may be included on lines beginning with "#".
+ Entries may continue onto multiple lines by placing white
+ space at the beginning of each line except the first.
+ Comments may be included on lines beginning with "#".
Capabilities in terminfo are of three types:
- o Boolean capabilities which indicate that the terminal
+ o Boolean capabilities which indicate that the terminal
has some particular feature,
- o numeric capabilities giving the size of the terminal
+ o numeric capabilities giving the size of the terminal
or the size of particular delays, and
- o string capabilities, which give a sequence which can
+ o string capabilities, which give a sequence which can
be used to perform particular terminal operations.
-
-
- All capabilities have names. For instance, the fact that
- ANSI-standard terminals have automatic margins (i.e., an
- automatic return and line-feed when the end of a line is
- reached) is indicated by the capability am. Hence the
+
+ All capabilities have names. For instance, the fact that
+ ANSI-standard terminals have automatic margins (i.e., an
+ automatic return and line-feed when the end of a line is
+ reached) is indicated by the capability am. Hence the
description of ansi includes am. Numeric capabilities are
- followed by the character "#" and then a positive value.
- Thus cols, which indicates the number of columns the ter-
- minal has, gives the value "80" for ansi. Values for
+ followed by the character "#" and then a positive value.
+ Thus cols, which indicates the number of columns the ter-
+ minal has, gives the value "80" for ansi. Values for
numeric capabilities may be specified in decimal, octal or
- hexadecimal, using the C programming language conventions
+ hexadecimal, using the C programming language conventions
(e.g., 255, 0377 and 0xff or 0xFF).
- Finally, string valued capabilities, such as el (clear to
+ Finally, string valued capabilities, such as el (clear to
end of line sequence) are given by the two-character code,
- an "=", and then a string ending at the next following
+ an "=", and then a string ending at the next following
",".
- A number of escape sequences are provided in the string
- valued capabilities for easy encoding of characters there.
- Both \E and \e map to an ESCAPE character, ^x maps to a
- control-x for any appropriate x, and the sequences \n \l
- \r \t \b \f \s give a newline, line-feed, return, tab,
- backspace, form-feed, and space. Other escapes include
+ A number of escape sequences are provided in the string
+ valued capabilities for easy encoding of characters there:
+
+ o Both \E and \e map to an ESCAPE character,
+
+ o ^x maps to a control-x for any appropriate x, and
+
+ o the sequences
+
+ \n, \l, \r, \t, \b, \f, and \s
+
+ produce
+
+ newline, line-feed, return, tab, backspace, form-
+ feed, and space,
+
+ respectively.
+
+ X/Open Curses does not say what "appropriate x" might be.
+ In practice, that is a printable ASCII graphic character.
+ The special case "^?" is interpreted as DEL (127). In all
+ other cases, the character value is AND'd with 0x1f, map-
+ ping to ASCII control codes in the range 0 through 31.
+
+ Other escapes include
o \^ for ^,
@@ -1174,57 +1277,63 @@
A delay in milliseconds may appear anywhere in a string
capability, enclosed in $<..> brackets, as in el=\EK$<5>,
- and padding characters are supplied by tputs to provide
- this delay. The delay must be a number with at most one
- decimal place of precision; it may be followed by suffixes
- "*" or "/" or both. A "*" indicates that the padding
- required is proportional to the number of lines affected
- by the operation, and the amount given is the per-
- affected-unit padding required. (In the case of insert
- character, the factor is still the number of lines
- affected.) Normally, padding is advisory if the device
- has the xon capability; it is used for cost computation
- but does not trigger delays. A "/" suffix indicates that
- the padding is mandatory and forces a delay of the given
- number of milliseconds even on devices for which xon is
- present to indicate flow control.
-
- Sometimes individual capabilities must be commented out.
- To do this, put a period before the capability name. For
+ and padding characters are supplied by tputs(3x) to pro-
+ vide this delay.
+
+ o The delay must be a number with at most one decimal
+ place of precision; it may be followed by suffixes "*"
+ or "/" or both.
+
+ o A "*" indicates that the padding required is propor-
+ tional to the number of lines affected by the opera-
+ tion, and the amount given is the per-affected-unit
+ padding required. (In the case of insert character,
+ the factor is still the number of lines affected.)
+
+ Normally, padding is advisory if the device has the
+ xon capability; it is used for cost computation but
+ does not trigger delays.
+
+ o A "/" suffix indicates that the padding is mandatory
+ and forces a delay of the given number of milliseconds
+ even on devices for which xon is present to indicate
+ flow control.
+
+ Sometimes individual capabilities must be commented out.
+ To do this, put a period before the capability name. For
example, see the second ind in the example above.
-
-
- The ncurses library searches for terminal descriptions in
+
+ The ncurses library searches for terminal descriptions in
several places. It uses only the first description found.
- The library has a compiled-in list of places to search
- which can be overridden by environment variables. Before
- starting to search, ncurses eliminates duplicates in its
+ The library has a compiled-in list of places to search
+ which can be overridden by environment variables. Before
+ starting to search, ncurses eliminates duplicates in its
search list.
- o If the environment variable TERMINFO is set, it is
- interpreted as the pathname of a directory containing
- the compiled description you are working on. Only
+ o If the environment variable TERMINFO is set, it is
+ interpreted as the pathname of a directory containing
+ the compiled description you are working on. Only
that directory is searched.
- o If TERMINFO is not set, ncurses will instead look in
- the directory $HOME/.terminfo for a compiled descrip-
+ o If TERMINFO is not set, ncurses will instead look in
+ the directory $HOME/.terminfo for a compiled descrip-
tion.
- o Next, if the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS is
+ o Next, if the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS is
set, ncurses will interpret the contents of that vari-
- able as a list of colon-separated directories (or
+ able as a list of colon-separated directories (or
database files) to be searched.
- An empty directory name (i.e., if the variable begins
- or ends with a colon, or contains adjacent colons) is
- interpreted as the system location /usr/share/ter-
+ An empty directory name (i.e., if the variable begins
+ or ends with a colon, or contains adjacent colons) is
+ interpreted as the system location /usr/share/ter-
minfo.
o Finally, ncurses searches these compiled-in locations:
- o a list of directories
+ o a list of directories
(/usr/local/ncurses/share/terminfo:/usr/share/ter-
minfo), and
@@ -1232,94 +1341,92 @@
(the compiled-in default).
-
-
- We now outline how to prepare descriptions of terminals.
- The most effective way to prepare a terminal description
- is by imitating the description of a similar terminal in
- terminfo and to build up a description gradually, using
+
+ We now outline how to prepare descriptions of terminals.
+ The most effective way to prepare a terminal description
+ is by imitating the description of a similar terminal in
+ terminfo and to build up a description gradually, using
partial descriptions with vi or some other screen-oriented
- program to check that they are correct. Be aware that a
+ program to check that they are correct. Be aware that a
very unusual terminal may expose deficiencies in the abil-
- ity of the terminfo file to describe it or bugs in the
+ ity of the terminfo file to describe it or bugs in the
screen-handling code of the test program.
- To get the padding for insert line right (if the terminal
+ To get the padding for insert line right (if the terminal
manufacturer did not document it) a severe test is to edit
- a large file at 9600 baud, delete 16 or so lines from the
- middle of the screen, then hit the "u" key several times
- quickly. If the terminal messes up, more padding is usu-
- ally needed. A similar test can be used for insert char-
+ a large file at 9600 baud, delete 16 or so lines from the
+ middle of the screen, then hit the "u" key several times
+ quickly. If the terminal messes up, more padding is usu-
+ ally needed. A similar test can be used for insert char-
acter.
-
-
- The number of columns on each line for the terminal is
- given by the cols numeric capability. If the terminal is
- a CRT, then the number of lines on the screen is given by
+
+ The number of columns on each line for the terminal is
+ given by the cols numeric capability. If the terminal is
+ a CRT, then the number of lines on the screen is given by
the lines capability. If the terminal wraps around to the
- beginning of the next line when it reaches the right mar-
+ beginning of the next line when it reaches the right mar-
gin, then it should have the am capability. If the termi-
- nal can clear its screen, leaving the cursor in the home
- position, then this is given by the clear string capabil-
- ity. If the terminal overstrikes (rather than clearing a
- position when a character is struck over) then it should
- have the os capability. If the terminal is a printing
- terminal, with no soft copy unit, give it both hc and os.
- (os applies to storage scope terminals, such as TEKTRONIX
- 4010 series, as well as hard copy and APL terminals.) If
+ nal can clear its screen, leaving the cursor in the home
+ position, then this is given by the clear string capabil-
+ ity. If the terminal overstrikes (rather than clearing a
+ position when a character is struck over) then it should
+ have the os capability. If the terminal is a printing
+ terminal, with no soft copy unit, give it both hc and os.
+ (os applies to storage scope terminals, such as TEKTRONIX
+ 4010 series, as well as hard copy and APL terminals.) If
there is a code to move the cursor to the left edge of the
current row, give this as cr. (Normally this will be car-
- riage return, control M.) If there is a code to produce
+ riage return, control M.) If there is a code to produce
an audible signal (bell, beep, etc) give this as bel.
- If there is a code to move the cursor one position to the
- left (such as backspace) that capability should be given
- as cub1. Similarly, codes to move to the right, up, and
+ If there is a code to move the cursor one position to the
+ left (such as backspace) that capability should be given
+ as cub1. Similarly, codes to move to the right, up, and
down should be given as cuf1, cuu1, and cud1. These local
- cursor motions should not alter the text they pass over,
- for example, you would not normally use "cuf1= " because
+ cursor motions should not alter the text they pass over,
+ for example, you would not normally use "cuf1= " because
the space would erase the character moved over.
- A very important point here is that the local cursor
- motions encoded in terminfo are undefined at the left and
- top edges of a CRT terminal. Programs should never
- attempt to backspace around the left edge, unless bw is
+ A very important point here is that the local cursor
+ motions encoded in terminfo are undefined at the left and
+ top edges of a CRT terminal. Programs should never
+ attempt to backspace around the left edge, unless bw is
given, and never attempt to go up locally off the top. In
- order to scroll text up, a program will go to the bottom
+ order to scroll text up, a program will go to the bottom
left corner of the screen and send the ind (index) string.
To scroll text down, a program goes to the top left corner
- of the screen and sends the ri (reverse index) string.
- The strings ind and ri are undefined when not on their
+ of the screen and sends the ri (reverse index) string.
+ The strings ind and ri are undefined when not on their
respective corners of the screen.
Parameterized versions of the scrolling sequences are indn
and rin which have the same semantics as ind and ri except
- that they take one parameter, and scroll that many lines.
- They are also undefined except at the appropriate edge of
+ that they take one parameter, and scroll that many lines.
+ They are also undefined except at the appropriate edge of
the screen.
- The am capability tells whether the cursor sticks at the
- right edge of the screen when text is output, but this
+ The am capability tells whether the cursor sticks at the
+ right edge of the screen when text is output, but this
does not necessarily apply to a cuf1 from the last column.
- The only local motion which is defined from the left edge
- is if bw is given, then a cub1 from the left edge will
- move to the right edge of the previous row. If bw is not
- given, the effect is undefined. This is useful for draw-
- ing a box around the edge of the screen, for example. If
- the terminal has switch selectable automatic margins, the
- terminfo file usually assumes that this is on; i.e., am.
- If the terminal has a command which moves to the first
- column of the next line, that command can be given as nel
- (newline). It does not matter if the command clears the
- remainder of the current line, so if the terminal has no
- cr and lf it may still be possible to craft a working nel
+ The only local motion which is defined from the left edge
+ is if bw is given, then a cub1 from the left edge will
+ move to the right edge of the previous row. If bw is not
+ given, the effect is undefined. This is useful for draw-
+ ing a box around the edge of the screen, for example. If
+ the terminal has switch selectable automatic margins, the
+ terminfo file usually assumes that this is on; i.e., am.
+ If the terminal has a command which moves to the first
+ column of the next line, that command can be given as nel
+ (newline). It does not matter if the command clears the
+ remainder of the current line, so if the terminal has no
+ cr and lf it may still be possible to craft a working nel
out of one or both of them.
These capabilities suffice to describe hard-copy and
- "glass-tty" terminals. Thus the model 33 teletype is
+ "glass-tty" terminals. Thus the model 33 teletype is
described as
33|tty33|tty|model 33 teletype,
@@ -1332,23 +1439,22 @@
ind=^J, lines#24,
-
-
- Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters
- in the terminal are described by a parameterized string
- capability, with printf-like escapes such as %x in it.
- For example, to address the cursor, the cup capability is
+
+ Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters
+ in the terminal are described by a parameterized string
+ capability, with printf-like escapes such as %x in it.
+ For example, to address the cursor, the cup capability is
given, using two parameters: the row and column to address
to. (Rows and columns are numbered from zero and refer to
the physical screen visible to the user, not to any unseen
- memory.) If the terminal has memory relative cursor
+ memory.) If the terminal has memory relative cursor
addressing, that can be indicated by mrcup.
- The parameter mechanism uses a stack and special % codes
- to manipulate it. Typically a sequence will push one of
- the parameters onto the stack and then print it in some
- format. Print (e.g., "%d") is a special case. Other
- operations, including "%t" pop their operand from the
+ The parameter mechanism uses a stack and special % codes
+ to manipulate it. Typically a sequence will push one of
+ the parameters onto the stack and then print it in some
+ format. Print (e.g., "%d") is a special case. Other
+ operations, including "%t" pop their operand from the
stack. It is noted that more complex operations are often
necessary, e.g., in the sgr string.
@@ -1357,19 +1463,19 @@
%% outputs "%"
%[[:]flags][width[.precision]][doxXs]
- as in printf, flags are [-+#] and space. Use a ":"
- to allow the next character to be a "-" flag, avoid-
+ as in printf, flags are [-+#] and space. Use a ":"
+ to allow the next character to be a "-" flag, avoid-
ing interpreting "%-" as an operator.
- %c print pop() like %c in printf
+ %c print pop() like %c in printf
- %s print pop() like %s in printf
+ %s print pop() like %s in printf
%p[1-9]
push i'th parameter
%P[a-z]
- set dynamic variable [a-z] to pop()
+ set dynamic variable [a-z] to pop()
%g[a-z]/
get dynamic variable [a-z] and push it
@@ -1380,12 +1486,13 @@
%g[A-Z]
get static variable [a-z] and push it
- The terms "static" and "dynamic" are misleading.
- Historically, these are simply two different sets of
- variables, whose values are not reset between calls
- to tparm. However, that fact is not documented in
- other implementations. Relying on it will adversely
- impact portability to other implementations.
+ The terms "static" and "dynamic" are misleading.
+ Historically, these are simply two different sets of
+ variables, whose values are not reset between calls
+ to tparm(3x). However, that fact is not documented
+ in other implementations. Relying on it will
+ adversely impact portability to other implementa-
+ tions.
%'c' char constant c
@@ -1395,7 +1502,7 @@
%l push strlen(pop)
%+, %-, %*, %/, %m
- arithmetic (%m is mod): push(pop() op pop())
+ arithmetic (%m is mod): push(pop() op pop())
%&, %|, %^
bit operations (AND, OR and exclusive-OR): push(pop()
@@ -1409,7 +1516,7 @@
%!, %~
unary operations (logical and bit complement):
- push(op pop())
+ push(op pop())
%i add 1 to first two parameters (for ANSI terminals)
@@ -1463,8 +1570,7 @@
More complex arithmetic is possible using the stack.
-
-
+
If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very
upper left corner of screen) then this can be given as
home; similarly a fast way of getting to the lower left-
@@ -1504,8 +1610,7 @@
rmcup), specify nrrmc.
-
-
+
If the terminal can clear from the current position to the
end of the line, leaving the cursor where it is, this
should be given as el. If the terminal can clear from the
@@ -1518,8 +1623,7 @@
number of lines, if a true ed is not available.)
-
-
+
If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line
where the cursor is, this should be given as il1; this is
done only from the first position of a line. The cursor
@@ -1566,7 +1670,7 @@
late destructive scrolling; their documentation cautions
you not to define csr unless this is true. This curses
implementation is more liberal and will do explicit erases
- after scrolling if ndstr is defined.
+ after scrolling if ndsrc is defined.
If the terminal has the ability to define a window as part
of memory, which all commands affect, it should be given
@@ -1582,8 +1686,7 @@
bring down non-blank lines.
-
-
+
There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with
respect to insert/delete character which can be described
using terminfo. The most common insert/delete character
@@ -1672,8 +1775,7 @@
with one parameter.
-
-
+
If your terminal has one or more kinds of display
attributes, these can be represented in a number of dif-
ferent ways. You should choose one display form as stand-
@@ -1801,8 +1903,7 @@
giving eo.
-
-
+
If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes when the
keys are pressed, this information can be given. Note
that it is not possible to handle terminals where the key-
@@ -1883,8 +1984,7 @@
visible.
-
-
+
If the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance
to the next tab stop can be given as ht (usually control
I). A "back-tab" command which moves leftward to the pre-
@@ -1897,7 +1997,7 @@
initially set every n spaces when the terminal is powered
up, the numeric parameter it is given, showing the number
of spaces the tabs are set to. This is normally used by
- the tset command to determine whether to set the mode for
+ the tset command to determine whether to set the mode for
hardware tab expansion, and whether to set the tab stops.
If the terminal has tab stops that can be saved in non-
volatile memory, the terminfo description can assume that
@@ -1910,7 +2010,7 @@
These strings are expected to set the terminal into modes
consistent with the rest of the terminfo description.
They are normally sent to the terminal, by the init option
- of the tput program, each time the user logs in. They
+ of the tput program, each time the user logs in. They
will be printed in the following order:
run the program
@@ -1938,7 +2038,7 @@
A set of sequences that does a harder reset from a totally
unknown state can be given as rs1, rs2, rf and rs3, analo-
gous to is1 , is2 , if and is3 respectively. These
- strings are output by the reset program, which is used
+ strings are output by the reset program, which is used
when the terminal gets into a wedged state. Commands are
normally placed in rs1, rs2 rs3 and rf only if they pro-
duce annoying effects on the screen and are not necessary
@@ -1948,10 +2048,10 @@
normally needed since the terminal is usually already in
80 column mode.
- The reset program writes strings including iprog, etc., in
+ The reset program writes strings including iprog, etc., in
the same order as the init program, using rs1, etc.,
instead of is1, etc. If any of rs1, rs2, rs3, or rf reset
- capability strings are missing, the reset program falls
+ capability strings are missing, the reset program falls
back upon the corresponding initialization capability
string.
@@ -1963,8 +2063,7 @@
if.
-
-
+
Many older and slower terminals do not support either
XON/XOFF or DTR handshaking, including hard copy terminals
and some very archaic CRTs (including, for example, DEC
@@ -1991,8 +2090,7 @@
first character of the pad string is used.
-
-
+
Some terminals have an extra "status line" which is not
normally used by software (and thus not counted in the
terminal's lines capability).
@@ -2028,48 +2126,63 @@
become important.
-
-
+
Many terminals have alternate character sets useful for
- forms-drawing. Terminfo and curses build in support for
+ forms-drawing. Terminfo and curses built-in support for
the drawing characters supported by the VT100, with some
characters from the AT&T 4410v1 added. This alternate
character set may be specified by the acsc capability.
- Glyph ACS Ascii VT100
- Name Name Default Name
- UK pound sign ACS_STERLING f }
- arrow pointing down ACS_DARROW v .
- arrow pointing left ACS_LARROW < ,
- arrow pointing right ACS_RARROW > +
- arrow pointing up ACS_UARROW ^ -
- board of squares ACS_BOARD # h
- bullet ACS_BULLET o ~
- checker board (stipple) ACS_CKBOARD : a
- degree symbol ACS_DEGREE \ f
- diamond ACS_DIAMOND + `
- greater-than-or-equal-to ACS_GEQUAL > z
- greek pi ACS_PI * {
- horizontal line ACS_HLINE - q
- lantern symbol ACS_LANTERN # i
- large plus or crossover ACS_PLUS + n
- less-than-or-equal-to ACS_LEQUAL < y
- lower left corner ACS_LLCORNER + m
- lower right corner ACS_LRCORNER + j
- not-equal ACS_NEQUAL ! |
- plus/minus ACS_PLMINUS # g
- scan line 1 ACS_S1 ~ o
- scan line 3 ACS_S3 - p
- scan line 7 ACS_S7 - r
- scan line 9 ACS_S9 _ s
- solid square block ACS_BLOCK # 0
- tee pointing down ACS_TTEE + w
- tee pointing left ACS_RTEE + u
- tee pointing right ACS_LTEE + t
- tee pointing up ACS_BTEE + v
- upper left corner ACS_ULCORNER + l
- upper right corner ACS_URCORNER + k
- vertical line ACS_VLINE | x
+ Glyph ACS Ascii VT100 VT100
+
+ Name Name DefaultChar Code
+ -----------------------------------------------------------
+ arrow pointing right ACS_RARROW > + 0x2b
+ arrow pointing left ACS_LARROW < , 0x2c
+ arrow pointing up ACS_UARROW ^ - 0x2d
+ arrow pointing down ACS_DARROW v . 0x2e
+ solid square block ACS_BLOCK # 0 0x30
+ diamond ACS_DIAMOND + ` 0x60
+ checker board (stipple) ACS_CKBOARD : a 0x61
+ degree symbol ACS_DEGREE \ f 0x66
+ plus/minus ACS_PLMINUS # g 0x67
+ board of squares ACS_BOARD # h 0x68
+ lantern symbol ACS_LANTERN # i 0x69
+ lower right corner ACS_LRCORNER + j 0x6a
+ upper right corner ACS_URCORNER + k 0x6b
+ upper left corner ACS_ULCORNER + l 0x6c
+ lower left corner ACS_LLCORNER + m 0x6d
+ large plus or crossover ACS_PLUS + n 0x6e
+ scan line 1 ACS_S1 ~ o 0x6f
+ scan line 3 ACS_S3 - p 0x70
+ horizontal line ACS_HLINE - q 0x71
+ scan line 7 ACS_S7 - r 0x72
+ scan line 9 ACS_S9 _ s 0x73
+ tee pointing right ACS_LTEE + t 0x74
+ tee pointing left ACS_RTEE + u 0x75
+ tee pointing up ACS_BTEE + v 0x76
+ tee pointing down ACS_TTEE + w 0x77
+ vertical line ACS_VLINE | x 0x78
+ less-than-or-equal-to ACS_LEQUAL < y 0x79
+ greater-than-or-equal-to ACS_GEQUAL > z 0x7a
+ greek pi ACS_PI * { 0x7b
+ not-equal ACS_NEQUAL ! | 0x7c
+ UK pound sign ACS_STERLING f } 0x7d
+ bullet ACS_BULLET o ~ 0x7e
+
+ A few notes apply to the table itself:
+
+ o X/Open Curses incorrectly states that the mapping for
+ lantern is uppercase "I" although Unix implementations
+ use the lowercase "i" mapping.
+
+ o The DEC VT100 implemented graphics using the alternate
+ character set feature, temporarily switching modes and
+ sending characters in the range 0x60 (96) to 0x7e
+ (126).
+
+ o The AT&T terminal added graphics characters outside
+ that range.
The best way to define a new device's graphics set is to
add a column to a copy of this table for your terminal,
@@ -2080,43 +2193,58 @@
ACSC string.
-
-
- Most color terminals are either "Tektronix-like" or "HP-
- like". Tektronix-like terminals have a predefined set of
- N colors (where N usually 8), and can set character-cell
- foreground and background characters independently, mixing
- them into N * N color-pairs. On HP-like terminals, the
- use must set each color pair up separately (foreground and
- background are not independently settable). Up to M
- color-pairs may be set up from 2*M different colors.
- ANSI-compatible terminals are Tektronix-like.
+
+ The curses library functions init_pair and init_color
+ manipulate the color pairs and color values discussed in
+ this section (see curs_color(3x) for details on these and
+ related functions).
+
+ Most color terminals are either "Tektronix-like" or "HP-
+ like":
+
+ o Tektronix-like terminals have a predefined set of N
+ colors (where N is usually 8), and can set character-
+ cell foreground and background characters indepen-
+ dently, mixing them into N * N color-pairs.
+
+ o On HP-like terminals, the user must set each color
+ pair up separately (foreground and background are not
+ independently settable). Up to M color-pairs may be
+ set up from 2*M different colors. ANSI-compatible
+ terminals are Tektronix-like.
Some basic color capabilities are independent of the color
method. The numeric capabilities colors and pairs specify
- the maximum numbers of colors and color-pairs that can be
- displayed simultaneously. The op (original pair) string
- resets foreground and background colors to their default
- values for the terminal. The oc string resets all colors
- or color-pairs to their default values for the terminal.
- Some terminals (including many PC terminal emulators)
- erase screen areas with the current background color
- rather than the power-up default background; these should
+ the maximum numbers of colors and color-pairs that can be
+ displayed simultaneously. The op (original pair) string
+ resets foreground and background colors to their default
+ values for the terminal. The oc string resets all colors
+ or color-pairs to their default values for the terminal.
+ Some terminals (including many PC terminal emulators)
+ erase screen areas with the current background color
+ rather than the power-up default background; these should
have the boolean capability bce.
- To change the current foreground or background color on a
- Tektronix-type terminal, use setaf (set ANSI foreground)
- and setab (set ANSI background) or setf (set foreground)
- and setb (set background). These take one parameter, the
- color number. The SVr4 documentation describes only
- setaf/setab; the XPG4 draft says that "If the terminal
- supports ANSI escape sequences to set background and fore-
- ground, they should be coded as setaf and setab, respec-
- tively. If the terminal supports other escape sequences
- to set background and foreground, they should be coded as
- setf and setb, respectively. The vidputs() function and
- the refresh functions use setaf and setab if they are
- defined."
+ While the curses library works with color pairs (reflect-
+ ing the inability of some devices to set foreground and
+ background colors independently), there are separate capa-
+ bilities for setting these features:
+
+ o To change the current foreground or background color
+ on a Tektronix-type terminal, use setaf (set ANSI
+ foreground) and setab (set ANSI background) or setf
+ (set foreground) and setb (set background). These
+ take one parameter, the color number. The SVr4 docu-
+ mentation describes only setaf/setab; the XPG4 draft
+ says that "If the terminal supports ANSI escape
+ sequences to set background and foreground, they
+ should be coded as setaf and setab, respectively.
+
+ o If the terminal supports other escape sequences to set
+ background and foreground, they should be coded as
+ setf and setb, respectively. The vidputs and the
+ refresh(3x) functions use the setaf and setab capabil-
+ ities if they are defined.
The setaf/setab and setf/setb capabilities take a single
numeric argument each. Argument values 0-7 of setaf/setab
@@ -2156,21 +2284,25 @@
On an HP-like terminal, use scp with a color-pair number
parameter to set which color pair is current.
- On a Tektronix-like terminal, the capability ccc may be
- present to indicate that colors can be modified. If so,
- the initc capability will take a color number (0 to colors
- - 1)and three more parameters which describe the color.
- These three parameters default to being interpreted as RGB
- (Red, Green, Blue) values. If the boolean capability hls
- is present, they are instead as HLS (Hue, Lightness, Satu-
- ration) indices. The ranges are terminal-dependent.
-
- On an HP-like terminal, initp may give a capability for
- changing a color-pair value. It will take seven parame-
- ters; a color-pair number (0 to max_pairs - 1), and two
- triples describing first background and then foreground
- colors. These parameters must be (Red, Green, Blue) or
- (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) depending on hls.
+ Some terminals allow the color values to be modified:
+
+ o On a Tektronix-like terminal, the capability ccc may
+ be present to indicate that colors can be modified.
+ If so, the initc capability will take a color number
+ (0 to colors - 1)and three more parameters which
+ describe the color. These three parameters default to
+ being interpreted as RGB (Red, Green, Blue) values.
+ If the boolean capability hls is present, they are
+ instead as HLS (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) indices.
+ The ranges are terminal-dependent.
+
+ o On an HP-like terminal, initp may give a capability
+ for changing a color-pair value. It will take seven
+ parameters; a color-pair number (0 to max_pairs - 1),
+ and two triples describing first background and then
+ foreground colors. These parameters must be (Red,
+ Green, Blue) or (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) depending
+ on hls.
On some color terminals, colors collide with highlights.
You can register these collisions with the ncv capability.
@@ -2205,8 +2337,7 @@
and optimizes the output in favor of colors.
-
-
+
If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) charac-
ter as a pad, then this can be given as pad. Only the
first character of the pad string is used. If the termi-
@@ -2280,8 +2411,7 @@
printer while an mc5p is in effect.
-
-
+
Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow "~" characters to
be displayed should indicate hz.
@@ -2314,214 +2444,183 @@
adding more capabilities of the form xx.
-
-
- If there are two very similar terminals, one (the variant)
- can be defined as being just like the other (the base)
- with certain exceptions. In the definition of the vari-
- ant, the string capability use can be given with the name
- of the base terminal. The capabilities given before use
- override those in the base type named by use. If there
- are multiple use capabilities, they are merged in reverse
- order. That is, the rightmost use reference is processed
- first, then the one to its left, and so forth. Capabili-
- ties given explicitly in the entry override those brought
- in by use references.
-
- A capability can be canceled by placing xx@ to the left of
- the use reference that imports it, where xx is the capa-
- bility. For example, the entry
-
- 2621-nl, smkx@, rmkx@, use=2621,
-
- defines a 2621-nl that does not have the smkx or rmkx
- capabilities, and hence does not turn on the function key
- labels when in visual mode. This is useful for different
- modes for a terminal, or for different user preferences.
-
-
-
-
- Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to
- date, no entry has even approached terminfo's 4096-byte
+
+ Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to
+ date, no entry has even approached terminfo's 4096-byte
string-table maximum. Unfortunately, the termcap transla-
tions are much more strictly limited (to 1023 bytes), thus
- termcap translations of long terminfo entries can cause
+ termcap translations of long terminfo entries can cause
problems.
- The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions of tgetent()
- instruct the user to allocate a 1024-byte buffer for the
- termcap entry. The entry gets null-terminated by the
+ The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions of tgetent
+ instruct the user to allocate a 1024-byte buffer for the
+ termcap entry. The entry gets null-terminated by the
termcap library, so that makes the maximum safe length for
- a termcap entry 1k-1 (1023) bytes. Depending on what the
- application and the termcap library being used does, and
- where in the termcap file the terminal type that tgetent()
+ a termcap entry 1k-1 (1023) bytes. Depending on what the
+ application and the termcap library being used does, and
+ where in the termcap file the terminal type that tgetent
is searching for is, several bad things can happen.
- Some termcap libraries print a warning message or exit if
- they find an entry that's longer than 1023 bytes; others
- do not; others truncate the entries to 1023 bytes. Some
+ Some termcap libraries print a warning message or exit if
+ they find an entry that's longer than 1023 bytes; others
+ do not; others truncate the entries to 1023 bytes. Some
application programs allocate more than the recommended 1K
for the termcap entry; others do not.
Each termcap entry has two important sizes associated with
it: before "tc" expansion, and after "tc" expansion. "tc"
- is the capability that tacks on another termcap entry to
- the end of the current one, to add on its capabilities.
- If a termcap entry does not use the "tc" capability, then
+ is the capability that tacks on another termcap entry to
+ the end of the current one, to add on its capabilities.
+ If a termcap entry does not use the "tc" capability, then
of course the two lengths are the same.
- The "before tc expansion" length is the most important
- one, because it affects more than just users of that par-
- ticular terminal. This is the length of the entry as it
+ The "before tc expansion" length is the most important
+ one, because it affects more than just users of that par-
+ ticular terminal. This is the length of the entry as it
exists in /etc/termcap, minus the backslash-newline pairs,
- which tgetent() strips out while reading it. Some termcap
- libraries strip off the final newline, too (GNU termcap
+ which tgetent strips out while reading it. Some termcap
+ libraries strip off the final newline, too (GNU termcap
does not). Now suppose:
- o a termcap entry before expansion is more than 1023
+ o a termcap entry before expansion is more than 1023
bytes long,
o and the application has only allocated a 1k buffer,
- o and the termcap library (like the one in BSD/OS 1.1
- and GNU) reads the whole entry into the buffer, no
- matter what its length, to see if it is the entry it
+ o and the termcap library (like the one in BSD/OS 1.1
+ and GNU) reads the whole entry into the buffer, no
+ matter what its length, to see if it is the entry it
wants,
- o and tgetent() is searching for a terminal type that
- either is the long entry, appears in the termcap file
- after the long entry, or does not appear in the file
- at all (so that tgetent() has to search the whole
- termcap file).
-
- Then tgetent() will overwrite memory, perhaps its stack,
- and probably core dump the program. Programs like telnet
- are particularly vulnerable; modern telnets pass along
- values like the terminal type automatically. The results
- are almost as undesirable with a termcap library, like
- SunOS 4.1.3 and Ultrix 4.4, that prints warning messages
- when it reads an overly long termcap entry. If a termcap
- library truncates long entries, like OSF/1 3.0, it is
- immune to dying here but will return incorrect data for
- the terminal.
+ o and tgetent is searching for a terminal type that
+ either is the long entry, appears in the termcap file
+ after the long entry, or does not appear in the file
+ at all (so that tgetent has to search the whole term-
+ cap file).
+
+ Then tgetent will overwrite memory, perhaps its stack, and
+ probably core dump the program. Programs like telnet are
+ particularly vulnerable; modern telnets pass along values
+ like the terminal type automatically. The results are
+ almost as undesirable with a termcap library, like SunOS
+ 4.1.3 and Ultrix 4.4, that prints warning messages when it
+ reads an overly long termcap entry. If a termcap library
+ truncates long entries, like OSF/1 3.0, it is immune to
+ dying here but will return incorrect data for the termi-
+ nal.
The "after tc expansion" length will have a similar effect
to the above, but only for people who actually set TERM to
- that terminal type, since tgetent() only does "tc" expan-
- sion once it is found the terminal type it was looking
- for, not while searching.
+ that terminal type, since tgetent only does "tc" expansion
+ once it is found the terminal type it was looking for, not
+ while searching.
In summary, a termcap entry that is longer than 1023 bytes
- can cause, on various combinations of termcap libraries
- and applications, a core dump, warnings, or incorrect
- operation. If it is too long even before "tc" expansion,
+ can cause, on various combinations of termcap libraries
+ and applications, a core dump, warnings, or incorrect
+ operation. If it is too long even before "tc" expansion,
it will have this effect even for users of some other ter-
- minal types and users whose TERM variable does not have a
+ minal types and users whose TERM variable does not have a
termcap entry.
When in -C (translate to termcap) mode, the ncurses imple-
mentation of tic(1m) issues warning messages when the pre-
- tc length of a termcap translation is too long. The -c
- (check) option also checks resolved (after tc expansion)
+ tc length of a termcap translation is too long. The -c
+ (check) option also checks resolved (after tc expansion)
lengths.
-
-
- It is not wise to count on portability of binary terminfo
- entries between commercial UNIX versions. The problem is
- that there are at least two versions of terminfo (under
+
+ It is not wise to count on portability of binary terminfo
+ entries between commercial UNIX versions. The problem is
+ that there are at least two versions of terminfo (under
HP-UX and AIX) which diverged from System V terminfo after
- SVr1, and have added extension capabilities to the string
- table that (in the binary format) collide with System V
+ SVr1, and have added extension capabilities to the string
+ table that (in the binary format) collide with System V
and XSI Curses extensions.
-
-
+
Searching for terminal descriptions in $HOME/.terminfo and
TERMINFO_DIRS is not supported by older implementations.
- Some SVr4 curses implementations, and all previous to
- SVr4, do not interpret the %A and %O operators in parame-
+ Some SVr4 curses implementations, and all previous to
+ SVr4, do not interpret the %A and %O operators in parame-
ter strings.
- SVr4/XPG4 do not specify whether msgr licenses movement
- while in an alternate-character-set mode (such modes may,
- among other things, map CR and NL to characters that do
- not trigger local motions). The ncurses implementation
- ignores msgr in ALTCHARSET mode. This raises the possi-
- bility that an XPG4 implementation making the opposite
- interpretation may need terminfo entries made for ncurses
+ SVr4/XPG4 do not specify whether msgr licenses movement
+ while in an alternate-character-set mode (such modes may,
+ among other things, map CR and NL to characters that do
+ not trigger local motions). The ncurses implementation
+ ignores msgr in ALTCHARSET mode. This raises the possi-
+ bility that an XPG4 implementation making the opposite
+ interpretation may need terminfo entries made for ncurses
to have msgr turned off.
- The ncurses library handles insert-character and insert-
+ The ncurses library handles insert-character and insert-
character modes in a slightly non-standard way to get bet-
- ter update efficiency. See the Insert/Delete Character
+ ter update efficiency. See the Insert/Delete Character
subsection above.
- The parameter substitutions for set_clock and dis-
- play_clock are not documented in SVr4 or the XSI Curses
+ The parameter substitutions for set_clock and dis-
+ play_clock are not documented in SVr4 or the XSI Curses
standard. They are deduced from the documentation for the
AT&T 505 terminal.
- Be careful assigning the kmous capability. The ncurses
- wants to interpret it as KEY_MOUSE, for use by terminals
- and emulators like xterm that can return mouse-tracking
- information in the keyboard-input stream.
+ Be careful assigning the kmous capability. The ncurses
+ library wants to interpret it as KEY_MOUSE, for use by
+ terminals and emulators like xterm that can return mouse-
+ tracking information in the keyboard-input stream.
X/Open Curses does not mention italics. Portable applica-
- tions must assume that numeric capabilities are signed
- 16-bit values. This includes the no_color_video (ncv)
- capability. The 32768 mask value used for italics with
- ncv can be confused with an absent or cancelled ncv. If
- italics should work with colors, then the ncv value must
+ tions must assume that numeric capabilities are signed
+ 16-bit values. This includes the no_color_video (ncv)
+ capability. The 32768 mask value used for italics with
+ ncv can be confused with an absent or cancelled ncv. If
+ italics should work with colors, then the ncv value must
be specified, even if it is zero.
- Different commercial ports of terminfo and curses support
- different subsets of the XSI Curses standard and (in some
+ Different commercial ports of terminfo and curses support
+ different subsets of the XSI Curses standard and (in some
cases) different extension sets. Here is a summary, accu-
rate as of October 1995:
- SVR4, Solaris, ncurses -- These support all SVr4 capabili-
- ties.
+ o SVR4, Solaris, ncurses -- These support all SVr4 capa-
+ bilities.
- SGI -- Supports the SVr4 set, adds one undocumented
- extended string capability (set_pglen).
+ o SGI -- Supports the SVr4 set, adds one undocumented
+ extended string capability (set_pglen).
- SVr1, Ultrix -- These support a restricted subset of ter-
- minfo capabilities. The booleans end with xon_xoff; the
- numerics with width_status_line; and the strings with
- prtr_non.
+ o SVr1, Ultrix -- These support a restricted subset of
+ terminfo capabilities. The booleans end with
+ xon_xoff; the numerics with width_status_line; and the
+ strings with prtr_non.
- HP/UX -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus the SVr[234]
- numerics num_labels, label_height, label_width, plus func-
- tion keys 11 through 63, plus plab_norm, label_on, and
- label_off, plus some incompatible extensions in the string
- table.
+ o HP/UX -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus the SVr[234]
+ numerics num_labels, label_height, label_width, plus
+ function keys 11 through 63, plus plab_norm, label_on,
+ and label_off, plus some incompatible extensions in
+ the string table.
- AIX -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11
- through 63, plus a number of incompatible string table
- extensions.
+ o AIX -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11
+ through 63, plus a number of incompatible string table
+ extensions.
- OSF -- Supports both the SVr4 set and the AIX extensions.
+ o OSF -- Supports both the SVr4 set and the AIX exten-
+ sions.
-
-
+
/usr/share/terminfo/?/* files containing terminal
descriptions
-
-
- tic(1m), infocmp(1m), curses(3x), printf(3), term(5).
- term_variables(3x).
+
+ tic(1m), infocmp(1m), curses(3x), curs_color(3x),
+ printf(3), term(5). term_variables(3x).
-
-
+
Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.
Based on pcurses by Pavel Curtis.
@@ -2535,6 +2634,9 @@
SYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION