X-Git-Url: https://ncurses.scripts.mit.edu/?p=ncurses.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=man%2Fterm.5;h=e9ae5bd0b908a88fdf97367af97f47ce39cf5346;hp=9c88520498c7ee15e911607215466ea43d112af6;hb=HEAD;hpb=084e3b44fc1c904d5ab941da55f47a237cb15766 diff --git a/man/term.5 b/man/term.5 index 9c885204..588652f8 100644 --- a/man/term.5 +++ b/man/term.5 @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ '\" t .\"*************************************************************************** -.\" Copyright 2018-2021,2023 Thomas E. Dickey * +.\" Copyright 2018-2023,2024 Thomas E. Dickey * .\" Copyright 1998-2016,2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc. * .\" * .\" Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a * @@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ .\" authorization. * .\"*************************************************************************** .\" -.\" $Id: term.5,v 1.65 2023/11/25 22:58:12 tom Exp $ -.TH term 5 2023-11-25 "ncurses 6.4" "File formats" +.\" $Id: term.5,v 1.78 2024/05/11 20:39:53 tom Exp $ +.TH term 5 2024-05-11 "ncurses @NCURSES_MAJOR@.@NCURSES_MINOR@" "File formats" .ie \n(.g \{\ .ds `` \(lq .ds '' \(rq @@ -55,67 +55,101 @@ .el .IP \(bu 2 .. . -.ds d @TERMINFO@ .SH NAME term \- -compiled \fIterminfo\fR terminal description -.SH SYNOPSIS -.B term +compiled \fI\%term\%info\fP terminal description .SH DESCRIPTION -.SS STORAGE LOCATION -Compiled terminfo descriptions are placed under the directory \fB\*d\fP. -Two configurations are supported (when building the \fBncurses\fP libraries): +\fB\%@TIC@\fP(1) compiles a +.I \%term\%info +terminal type description, +and \fB\%setupterm\fP(3X) reads it. +A compiled description may be stored in a file or in a database of, +potentially, +many such descriptions. +Further, +a compiled description may be in one of two formats: +one similar to that used by System\ V, +and a newer, +extensible format employed exclusively by +.IR \%ncurses . +.SS "Storage Location" +Compiled +.I \%term\%info descriptions are placed +under the directory +.IR \%@TERMINFO@ . +One of two configurations is selected +when building the +.I \%ncurses +libraries. .TP 5 .B directory tree A two-level scheme is used to avoid a linear search -of a huge Unix system directory: \fB\*d/c/name\fP where +of a huge Unix system directory: +.IR \%@TERMINFO@/ c / name +where .I name -is the name of the terminal, and +is the name of the terminal, +and .I c is the first character of .IR name . Thus, -.I act4 -can be found in the file \fB\*d/a/act4\fP. +the compiled description of terminal type \*(``act4\*('' +is found in the file +.IR \%@TERMINFO@/a/act4 . Synonyms for the same terminal are implemented by multiple links to the same compiled file. .TP 5 .B hashed database -Using Berkeley database, two types of records are stored: -the terminfo data in the same format as stored in a directory tree with -the terminfo's primary name as a key, +Using the Berkeley database API, +two types of records are stored: +the +.I \%term\%info +data in the same format as that stored in a directory tree with +the terminal's primary type name as a key, and records containing only aliases pointing to the primary name. .IP If built to write hashed databases, -\fBncurses\fP can still read terminfo databases organized as a directory tree, +.I \%ncurses +can still read +.I \%term\%info +databases organized as a +directory tree, but cannot write entries into the directory tree. -It can write (or rewrite) entries in the hashed database. +It can write +(or rewrite) +entries in the hashed database. .IP -\fBncurses\fP distinguishes the two cases in the TERMINFO and TERMINFO_DIRS +.I \%ncurses +distinguishes the two cases in the +.I \%TERMINFO +and +.I \%TERMINFO_DIRS environment variable by assuming a directory tree for entries that correspond to an existing directory, -and hashed database otherwise. -.SS LEGACY STORAGE FORMAT +and a hashed database otherwise. +.SS "Legacy Storage Format" The format has been chosen so that it will be the same on all hardware. -An 8 or more bit byte is assumed, but no assumptions about byte ordering +A byte of at least eight bits' width is assumed, +but no assumptions about bit ordering or sign extension are made. .PP -The compiled file is created with the \fB@TIC@\fP program, -and read by the routine \fBsetupterm\fP(3X). The file is divided into six parts: .RS 5 -.TP 3 -a) \fIheader\fP, -.TP 3 -b) \fIterminal names\fP, -.TP 3 -c) \fIboolean flags\fP, -.TP 3 -d) \fInumbers\fP, -.TP 3 -e) \fIstrings\fP, and -.TP 3 -f) \fIstring table\fP. +.IP (a) 4 +.IR header , +.IP (b) +.IR "terminal names" , +.IP (c) +.IR "Boolean flags" , +.IP (d) +.IR numbers , +.IP (e) +.IR strings , +and +.IP (f) +a +.IR "string table" . .RE .PP The \fIheader\fP section begins the file. @@ -124,80 +158,94 @@ described below. These integers are .RS 5 .TP 5 -(1) the \fImagic number\fP (octal 0432); +(1) the \fImagic number\fP +(octal 0432); .TP 5 -(2) the size, in bytes, of the \fIterminal names\fP section; +(2) the size, +in bytes, +of the \fIterminal names\fP section; .TP 5 -(3) the number of bytes in the \fIboolean flags\fP section; +(3) the number of bytes in the \fIBoolean flags\fP section; .TP 5 (4) the number of short integers in the \fInumbers\fP section; .TP 5 -(5) the number of offsets (short integers) in the \fIstrings\fP section; +(5) the number of offsets +(short integers) +in the \fIstrings\fP section; .TP 5 -(6) the size, in bytes, of the \fIstring table\fP. +(6) the size, +in bytes, +of the \fIstring table\fP. .RE .PP The capabilities in the -\fIboolean flags\fP, -\fInumbers\fP, and +\fIBoolean flags\fP, +\fInumbers\fP, +and \fIstrings\fP -sections are in the same order as the file . +sections are in the same order as in the header file +.IR term.h . .PP -Short integers are signed, in the range \-32768 to 32767. -They are stored as two 8-bit bytes. -The first byte contains the least significant 8 bits of the value, -and the second byte contains the most significant 8 bits. -(Thus, the value represented is 256*second+first.) -This format corresponds to the hardware of the \s-1VAX\s+1 -and \s-1PDP\s+1-11 (that is, little-endian machines). -Machines where this does not correspond to the hardware must read the -integers as two bytes and compute the little-endian value. +Short integers are signed, +in the range \-32768 to 32767, +and stored in little-endian format. .PP Numbers in a terminal description, whether they are entries in the \fInumbers\fP or \fIstrings\fP table, are positive integers. Boolean flags are treated as positive one-byte integers. -In each case, those positive integers represent a terminal capability. -The terminal compiler @TIC@ uses negative integers to handle the cases where -a capability is not available: +In each case, +those positive integers represent a terminal capability. +The terminal compiler +.I \%@TIC@ +uses negative integers to handle the cases where a capability is not +available: .bP If a capability is absent from this terminal, -@TIC@ stores a \-1 in the corresponding table. +.I \%@TIC@ +stores a \-1 in the corresponding table. .IP -The integer value \-1 is represented by two bytes 0377, 0377. +The integer value \-1 is represented by two bytes 0377, +0377. .br -Absent boolean values are represented by the byte 0 (false). +Absent Boolean values are represented by the byte 0 (false). .bP If a capability has been canceled from this terminal, -@TIC@ stores a \-2 in the corresponding table. +.I \%@TIC@ +stores a \-2 in the corresponding table. .IP -The integer value \-2 is represented by two bytes 0377, 0376. +The integer value \-2 is represented by two bytes 0377, +0376. .br -The boolean value \-2 is represented by the byte 0376. +The Boolean value \-2 is represented by the byte 0376. .br .bP Other negative values are illegal. .PP The \fIterminal names\fP section comes after the \fIheader\fP. -It contains the first line of the terminfo description, +It contains the first line of the +.I \%term\%info +description, listing the various names for the terminal, separated by the \*(``|\*('' character. The \fIterminal names\fP section is terminated with an \s-1ASCII NUL\s+1 character. .PP -The \fIboolean flags\fP section has one byte for each flag. -Boolean capabilities are either 1 or 0 (true or false) +The \fIBoolean flags\fP section has one byte for each flag. +Boolean capabilities are either 1 or 0 +(true or false) according to whether the terminal supports the given capability or not. .PP -Between the \fIboolean flags\fP section and the \fInumber\fP section, -a null byte will be inserted, if necessary, +Between the \fIBoolean flags\fP section and the \fInumber\fP section, +a null byte will be inserted, +if necessary, to ensure that the \fInumber\fP section begins on an even byte This is a relic of the PDP\-11's word-addressed architecture, originally designed to avoid traps induced by addressing a word on an odd byte boundary. All short integers are aligned on a short word boundary. .PP -The \fInumbers\fP section is similar to the \fIboolean flags\fP section. +The \fInumbers\fP section is similar to the \fIBoolean flags\fP section. Each capability takes up two bytes, and is stored as a little-endian short integer. .PP @@ -210,31 +258,45 @@ It contains all of the values of string capabilities referenced in the \fIstrings\fP section. Each string is null-terminated. Special characters in \*^X or \ec notation are stored in their -interpreted form, not the printing representation. -Padding information $ and parameter information %x are -stored intact in uninterpreted form. -.SS EXTENDED STORAGE FORMAT -The previous section describes the conventional terminfo binary format. -With some minor variations of the offsets (see PORTABILITY), +interpreted form, +not the printing representation. +Padding information +.BI $< nn > +and parameter information +.B %x +are stored intact in uninterpreted form. +.SS "Extended Storage Format" +The previous section describes the conventional +.I \%term\%info +binary format. +With some minor variations of the offsets +(see PORTABILITY), the same binary format is used in all modern Unix systems. -Each system uses a predefined set of boolean, number or string capabilities. +Each system uses a predefined set of Boolean, +number or string capabilities. .PP -The \fBncurses\fP libraries and applications support -extended terminfo binary format, -allowing users to define capabilities which are loaded at runtime. -This -extension is made possible by using the fact that the other implementations -stop reading the terminfo data when they have reached the end of the size given -in the header. -\fBncurses\fP checks the size, +The +.I \%ncurses +libraries and applications support extended +.I \%term\%info +binary format, +allowing users to define capabilities that are loaded at runtime. +This extension is made possible by using the fact that the other +implementations stop reading the +.I \%term\%info +data when they reach the end of the size given in the header. +.I \%ncurses +checks the size, and if it exceeds that due to the predefined data, continues to parse according to its own scheme. .PP -First, it reads the extended header (5 short integers): +First, +it reads the extended header +(5 short integers): .RS 5 .TP 5 (1) -count of extended boolean capabilities +count of extended Boolean capabilities .TP 5 (2) count of extended numeric capabilities @@ -253,43 +315,63 @@ The count- and size-values for the extended string table include the extended capability \fInames\fP as well as extended capability \fIvalues\fP. .PP -Using the counts and sizes, \fBncurses\fP allocates arrays and reads data -for the extended capabilities in the same order as the header information. +Using the counts and sizes, +.I \%ncurses +allocates arrays and reads data for the extended capabilities in the +same order as the header information. .PP The extended string table contains values for string capabilities. -After the end of these values, it contains the names for each of -the extended capabilities in order, e.g., booleans, then numbers and -finally strings. +After the end of these values, +it contains the names for each of +the extended capabilities in order: +Boolean, +numeric, +and string. .PP By storing terminal descriptions in this way, -\fBncurses\fP is able to provide a database useful with legacy applications, -as well as providing data for applications which need more than the -predefined capabilities. -See \fBuser_caps\fP(5) for an overview -of the way \fBncurses\fP uses this extended information. +.I \%ncurses +is able to provide a database useful with legacy applications, +as well as providing data for applications that require more information +about a terminal type than was anticipated +by X/Open Curses. +See \fB\%user_caps\fP(5) for an overview of the way +.I \%ncurses +uses this extended information. .PP -Applications which manipulate terminal data can use the definitions -described in \fBterm_variables\fP(3X) which associate the long capability -names with members of a \fBTERMTYPE\fP structure. +Applications that manipulate terminal data can use the definitions +described in \fB\%term_variables\fP(3X) associating the long capability +names with members of a +.I \%TERMTYPE +structure. . -.SS EXTENDED NUMBER FORMAT -On occasion, 16-bit signed integers are not large enough. -With \fBncurses\fP 6.1, a new format was introduced by making a few changes -to the legacy format: +.SS "Extended Number Format" +On occasion, +16-bit signed integers are not large enough. +.I \%ncurses +6.1 introduced a new format +by making a few changes to the legacy format: .bP -a different magic number (octal 01036) +a different magic number +(octal 01036) .bP changing the type for the \fInumber\fP array from signed 16-bit integers to signed 32-bit integers. .PP -To maintain compatibility, the library presents the same data structures -to direct users of the \fBTERMTYPE\fP structure as in previous formats. -However, that cannot provide callers with the extended numbers. -The library uses a similar but hidden data structure \fBTERMTYPE2\fP -to provide data for the terminfo functions. +To maintain compatibility, +the library presents the same data structures +to direct users of the +.I \%TERMTYPE +structure as in previous formats. +However, +that cannot provide callers with the extended numbers. +The library uses a similar but hidden data structure +.I \%TERMTYPE2 +to provide data for the +.I \%term\%info +functions. .SH FILES .TP -.I \*d +.I @TERMINFO@ compiled terminal description database .SH PORTABILITY .SS setupterm @@ -308,69 +390,101 @@ The routine .B setupterm must be prepared for both possibilities \- this is why the numbers and sizes are included. -Also, new capabilities must always be added at the end of the lists -of boolean, number, and string capabilities. -.SS Binary format -X/Open Curses does not specify a format for the terminfo database. -System V curses used a directory-tree of binary files, +Also, +new capabilities must always be added at the end of the lists +of Boolean, +number, +and string capabilities. +.SS "Binary Format" +X/Open Curses does not specify a format for the +.I \%term\%info +database. +System\ V +.I curses +used a directory-tree of binary files, one per terminal description. .PP -Despite the consistent use of little-endian for numbers and the otherwise -self-describing format, it is not wise to count on portability of binary -terminfo entries between commercial Unix versions. -The problem is that there -are at least three versions of terminfo (under HP\-UX, AIX, and OSF/1) 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 and XSI Curses extensions. -See \fBterminfo\fP(5) for detailed -discussion of terminfo source compatibility issues. +Despite the consistent use of little-endian numbers and the otherwise +self-describing format, +it is not wise to count on portability of binary +.I \%term\%info +entries between commercial Unix versions. +The problem is that there are at least three versions of +.I \%term\%info +(under HP\-UX, +AIX, +and OSF/1) +each of which diverged from System\ V +.I \%term\%info +after SVr1, +and added extension capabilities to the string table that +(in the binary format) +collide with System\ V and X/Open Curses extensions. +See \fB\%terminfo\fP(5) for detailed +discussion of +.I \%term\%info +source compatibility issues. .PP This implementation is by default compatible with the binary -terminfo format used by Solaris curses, +.I \%term\%info +format used by Solaris +.IR curses , except in a few less-used details where it was found that the latter did not match X/Open Curses. The format used by the other Unix versions -can be matched by building ncurses +can be matched by building +.I \%ncurses with different configuration options. -.SS Magic codes -The magic number in a binary terminfo file is the first 16-bits (two bytes). -Besides making it more reliable for the library to check that a file -is terminfo, -utilities such as \fBfile\fP(1) also use that to tell what the file-format is. -System V defined more than one magic number, -with 0433, 0435 as screen-dumps (see \fBscr_dump\fP(5)). +.SS "Magic Codes" +The magic number in a binary +.I \%term\%info +file is the first 16 bits +(two bytes). +Besides making it more reliable for the library to check that a file is +.IR \%term\%info , +utilities such as \fIfile\fP(1) also use that to tell what the +file-format is. +System\ V defined more than one magic number, +with 0433, +0435 as screen-dumps +(see \fB\%scr_dump\fP(5)). This implementation uses 01036 as a continuation of that sequence, but with a different high-order byte to avoid confusion. -.SS The TERMTYPE structure -Direct access to the \fBTERMTYPE\fP structure is provided for legacy -applications. -Portable applications should use the \fBtigetflag\fP and related functions -described in \fBcurs_terminfo\fP(3X) for reading terminal capabilities. -.SS Mixed-case terminal names +.SS "The \fITERMTYPE\fP Structure" +Direct access to the +.I \%TERMTYPE +structure is provided for legacy applications. +Portable applications should use \fB\%tigetflag\fP(3X) and related +functions to read terminal capabilities. +.SS "Mixed-case Terminal Names" A small number of terminal descriptions use uppercase characters in their names. -If the underlying filesystem ignores the difference between +If the underlying file system ignores the difference between uppercase and lowercase, -\fBncurses\fP represents the \*(``first character\*('' -of the terminal name used as -the intermediate level of a directory tree in (two-character) hexadecimal form. +.I \%ncurses +represents the \*(``first character\*('' of the terminal name used as +the intermediate level of a directory tree in (two-character) +hexadecimal form. .SS Limits -\fBncurses\fP stores compiled terminal descriptions -in three related formats, -described in the sections +.I \%ncurses +stores compiled terminal descriptions in three related formats, +described in the subsections .bP -\fBLEGACY STORAGE FORMAT\fP, and +.BR "Legacy Storage Format" , +and .bP -\fBEXTENDED STORAGE FORMAT\fP, and +.BR "Extended Storage Format" , +and .bP -\fBEXTENDED NUMBER FORMAT\fP. +.BR "Extended Number Format" . .PP The legacy storage format and the extended number format differ by -the types of numeric capability which they can store -(i.e., 16-bit versus 32-bit integers). -The extended storage format introduced by ncurses 5.0 adds data to -either of these formats. +the types of numeric capability that they can store +(for example, +16- versus 32-bit integers). +The extended storage format introduced by +.I \%ncurses +5.0 adds data to either of these formats. .PP Some limitations apply: .bP @@ -385,10 +499,11 @@ Compiled entries are limited to 32768 bytes because offsets into the The legacy format could have supported 32768-byte entries, but was limited to a virtual memory page's 4096 bytes. .SH EXAMPLES -As an example, here is a description for the Lear-Siegler -ADM\-3, a popular though rather stupid early terminal: +Here is a +.I \%term\%info +description of the Lear-Siegler ADM-3, +a popular though rather stupid early terminal. .PP -.RS 4 .EX adm3a|lsi adm3a, am, @@ -397,14 +512,15 @@ adm3a|lsi adm3a, cuf1=\*^L, cup=\eE=%p1%{32}%+%c%p2%{32}%+%c, cuu1=\*^K, home=\*^\*^, ind=\*^J, .EE -.RE .PP -and a hexadecimal dump of the compiled terminal description: +A hexadecimal dump of its compiled terminal description +(in legacy format) +follows. .PP -.ie n .in -2n -.el .in +4n +.if t .in +4n +.ft \*(CW .TS -lp-1f(\*(CW). +Lp-1. 0000 1a 01 10 00 02 00 03 00 82 00 31 00 61 64 6d 33 ........ ..1.adm3 0010 61 7c 6c 73 69 20 61 64 6d 33 61 00 00 01 50 00 a|lsi ad m3a...P. 0020 ff ff 18 00 ff ff 00 00 02 00 ff ff ff ff 04 00 ........ ........ @@ -428,19 +544,32 @@ lp-1f(\*(CW). 0140 25 70 32 25 7b 33 32 7d 25 2b 25 63 00 0a 00 1e %p2%{32} %+%c.... 0150 00 08 00 0c 00 0b 00 0a 00 ........ . .TE +.ft .in .SH AUTHORS Thomas E. Dickey .br -extended terminfo format for ncurses 5.0 +extended +.I \%term\%info +format for +.I \%ncurses +5.0 .br -hashed database support for ncurses 5.6 +hashed database support for +.I \%ncurses +5.6 .br -extended number support for ncurses 6.1 +extended number support for +.I \%ncurses +6.1 .sp Eric S. Raymond .br -documented legacy terminfo format, e.g., from \fIpcurses\fP. +documented legacy +.I \%term\%info +format +(that used by +.IR \%pcurses ). .SH SEE ALSO \fB\%curses\fP(3X), \fB\%curs_terminfo\fP(3X),