* sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written *
* authorization. *
****************************************************************************
- * @Id: terminfo.head,v 1.44 2023/07/01 15:46:56 tom Exp @
+ * @Id: terminfo.head,v 1.45 2023/09/02 22:30:22 tom Exp @
* Head of terminfo man page ends here
****************************************************************************
* Copyright 2018-2022,2023 Thomas E. Dickey *
* sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written *
* authorization. *
****************************************************************************
- * @Id: terminfo.tail,v 1.122 2023/08/19 20:14:38 tom Exp @
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+<TITLE>terminfo 5 2023-09-02 ncurses 6.4 File formats</TITLE>
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-<H1 class="no-header">terminfo 5 2023-07-01 ncurses 6.4 File formats</H1>
+<H1 class="no-header">terminfo 5 2023-09-02 ncurses 6.4 File formats</H1>
<PRE>
<STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> File formats <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
have, by specifying how to perform screen operations, and by specifying
padding requirements and initialization sequences.
- This manual describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 6.4 (patch 20230819).
+ This manual describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 6.4 (patch 20230902).
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminfo-Entry-Syntax">Terminfo Entry Syntax</a></H3><PRE>
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Fetching-Compiled-Descriptions">Fetching Compiled Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
- The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> 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, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> eliminates
- duplicates in its search list.
+ Terminal descriptions in <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> are stored in terminal databases.
+ These databases, which are found by their pathname, may be configured
+ either as directory trees or hashed databases (see <STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>),
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> 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.
+ The library uses a compiled-in list of pathnames, which can be
+ overridden by environment variables. Before starting to search,
+ <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> checks the search list, eliminating duplicates and pathnames
+ where no terminal database is found. The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library reads the
+ first description which passes its consistency checks.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> If TERMINFO is not set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> will instead look in the directory
- <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> for a compiled description.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The environment variable <STRONG>TERMINFO</STRONG> is checked first, for a terminal
+ database containing the terminal description.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Next, if the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS is set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
- will interpret the contents of that variable as a list of colon-
- separated directories (or database files) to be searched.
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Next, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> looks in <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> for a compiled description.
- An empty directory name (i.e., if the variable begins or ends with
- a colon, or contains adjacent colons) is interpreted as the system
+ This is an optional feature which may be omitted entirely from the
+ library, or limited to prevent accidental use by privileged
+ applications.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Next, if the environment variable <STRONG>TERMINFO_DIRS</STRONG> is set, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>
+ interprets the contents of that variable as a list of colon-
+ separated pathnames of terminal databases to be searched.
+
+ An empty pathname (i.e., if the variable begins or ends with a
+ colon, or contains adjacent colons) is interpreted as the system
location <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Finally, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> searches these compiled-in locations:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> a list of directories (/usr/share/terminfo), and
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> the system terminfo directory, <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM> (the
- compiled-in default).
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> the system terminfo directory, <EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>
+
+ The <STRONG>TERMINFO</STRONG> variable can contain a terminal description instead of the
+ pathname of a terminal database. If this variable begins with "hex:"
+ or "b64:" then <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> reads a terminal description from hexadecimal-
+ or base64-encoded data, and if that description matches the name
+ sought, will use that. This encoded data can be set using the "-Q"
+ option of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> or <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG>.
+
+ The preceding addresses the usual configuration of <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>, which uses
+ terminal descriptions prepared in <EM>terminfo</EM> format. While <EM>termcap</EM> is
+ less expressive, <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> can also be configured to read <EM>termcap</EM>
+ descriptions. In that configuration, it checks the <STRONG>TERMCAP</STRONG> and
+ <STRONG>TERMPATH</STRONG> variables (for content and search path, respectively) after
+ the system terminal database.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Preparing-Descriptions">Preparing Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
- 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 <EM>terminfo</EM> and to build up a
+ 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 <EM>terminfo</EM> and to build up a
description gradually, using partial descriptions with <EM>vi</EM> or some other
- screen-oriented program to check that they are correct. Be aware that
- a very unusual terminal may expose deficiencies in the ability of the
+ screen-oriented program to check that they are correct. Be aware that
+ a very unusual terminal may expose deficiencies in the ability of the
<EM>terminfo</EM> 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 manufacturer
- did not document it) a severe test is to edit a large file at 9600
+ 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 usually needed. A similar test can be used for insert character.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Basic-Capabilities">Basic Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
- The number of columns on each line for the terminal is given by the
- <STRONG>cols</STRONG> numeric capability. If the terminal is a CRT, then the number of
- lines on the screen is given by the <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability. If the terminal
- wraps around to the beginning of the next line when it reaches the
- right margin, then it should have the <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability. If the terminal
- can clear its screen, leaving the cursor in the home position, then
- this is given by the <STRONG>clear</STRONG> string capability. If the terminal
+ The number of columns on each line for the terminal is given by the
+ <STRONG>cols</STRONG> numeric capability. If the terminal is a CRT, then the number of
+ lines on the screen is given by the <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability. If the terminal
+ wraps around to the beginning of the next line when it reaches the
+ right margin, then it should have the <STRONG>am</STRONG> capability. If the terminal
+ can clear its screen, leaving the cursor in the home position, then
+ this is given by the <STRONG>clear</STRONG> string capability. If the terminal
overstrikes (rather than clearing a position when a character is struck
- over) then it should have the <STRONG>os</STRONG> capability. If the terminal is a
+ over) then it should have the <STRONG>os</STRONG> capability. If the terminal is a
printing terminal, with no soft copy unit, give it both <STRONG>hc</STRONG> and <STRONG>os</STRONG>. (<STRONG>os</STRONG>
- 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
+ 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 <STRONG>cr</STRONG>. (Normally
- this will be carriage return, control/M.) If there is a code to
+ this will be carriage return, control/M.) If there is a code to
produce an audible signal (bell, beep, etc) give this as <STRONG>bel</STRONG>.
If there is a code to move the cursor one position to the left (such as
- backspace) that capability should be given as <STRONG>cub1</STRONG>. Similarly, codes
- to move to the right, up, and down should be given as <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>, and
- <STRONG>cud1</STRONG>. These local cursor motions should not alter the text they pass
- over, for example, you would not normally use "<STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>= " because the
+ backspace) that capability should be given as <STRONG>cub1</STRONG>. Similarly, codes
+ to move to the right, up, and down should be given as <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>, and
+ <STRONG>cud1</STRONG>. These local cursor motions should not alter the text they pass
+ over, for example, you would not normally use "<STRONG>cuf1</STRONG>= " because the
space would erase the character moved over.
A very important point here is that the local cursor motions encoded in
- <EM>terminfo</EM> are undefined at the left and top edges of a CRT terminal.
+ <EM>terminfo</EM> are undefined at the left and top edges of a CRT terminal.
Programs should never attempt to backspace around the left edge, unless
- <STRONG>bw</STRONG> 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 left corner of the
+ <STRONG>bw</STRONG> 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 left corner of the
screen and send the <STRONG>ind</STRONG> (index) string.
- To scroll text down, a program goes to the top left corner of the
+ To scroll text down, a program goes to the top left corner of the
screen and sends the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> (reverse index) string. The strings <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG>
are undefined when not on their respective corners of the screen.
- Parameterized versions of the scrolling sequences are <STRONG>indn</STRONG> and <STRONG>rin</STRONG>
- which have the same semantics as <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG> except that they take one
- parameter, and scroll that many lines. They are also undefined except
+ Parameterized versions of the scrolling sequences are <STRONG>indn</STRONG> and <STRONG>rin</STRONG>
+ which have the same semantics as <STRONG>ind</STRONG> and <STRONG>ri</STRONG> except that they take one
+ parameter, and scroll that many lines. They are also undefined except
at the appropriate edge of the screen.
- The <STRONG>am</STRONG> 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 <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG> from the last column. The only local motion which is defined
- from the left edge is if <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is given, then a <STRONG>cub1</STRONG> from the left edge
- will move to the right edge of the previous row. If <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is not given,
- the effect is undefined. This is useful for drawing a box around the
+ The <STRONG>am</STRONG> 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 <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG> from the last column. The only local motion which is defined
+ from the left edge is if <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is given, then a <STRONG>cub1</STRONG> from the left edge
+ will move to the right edge of the previous row. If <STRONG>bw</STRONG> is not given,
+ the effect is undefined. This is useful for drawing a box around the
edge of the screen, for example. If the terminal has switch selectable
- automatic margins, the <EM>terminfo</EM> file usually assumes that this is on;
- i.e., <STRONG>am</STRONG>. If the terminal has a command which moves to the first
- column of the next line, that command can be given as <STRONG>nel</STRONG> (newline).
- It does not matter if the command clears the remainder of the current
- line, so if the terminal has no <STRONG>cr</STRONG> and <STRONG>lf</STRONG> it may still be possible to
+ automatic margins, the <EM>terminfo</EM> file usually assumes that this is on;
+ i.e., <STRONG>am</STRONG>. If the terminal has a command which moves to the first
+ column of the next line, that command can be given as <STRONG>nel</STRONG> (newline).
+ It does not matter if the command clears the remainder of the current
+ line, so if the terminal has no <STRONG>cr</STRONG> and <STRONG>lf</STRONG> it may still be possible to
craft a working <STRONG>nel</STRONG> out of one or both of them.
These capabilities suffice to describe hard-copy and "glass-tty"
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Parameterized-Strings">Parameterized Strings</a></H3><PRE>
Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters in the
- terminal are described by a parameterized string capability, with
- <EM>printf</EM>-like escapes such as <EM>%x</EM> in it. For example, to address the
- cursor, the <STRONG>cup</STRONG> 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 addressing, that
+ terminal are described by a parameterized string capability, with
+ <EM>printf</EM>-like escapes such as <EM>%x</EM> in it. For example, to address the
+ cursor, the <STRONG>cup</STRONG> 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 addressing, that
can be indicated by <STRONG>mrcup</STRONG>.
- The parameter mechanism uses a stack and special <STRONG>%</STRONG> 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
+ The parameter mechanism uses a stack and special <STRONG>%</STRONG> 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 <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> string.
The <STRONG>%</STRONG> encodings have the following meanings:
<STRONG>%%</STRONG> outputs "%"
<STRONG>%</STRONG><EM>[[</EM>:<EM>]flags][width[.precision]][</EM><STRONG>doxXs</STRONG><EM>]</EM>
- as in <STRONG>printf(3)</STRONG>, flags are <EM>[-+#]</EM> and <EM>space</EM>. Use a ":" to allow
+ as in <STRONG>printf(3)</STRONG>, flags are <EM>[-+#]</EM> and <EM>space</EM>. Use a ":" to allow
the next character to be a "-" flag, avoiding interpreting "%-" as
an operator.
<STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
get static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
- The terms "static" and "dynamic" are misleading. Historically,
+ The terms "static" and "dynamic" are misleading. Historically,
these are simply two different sets of variables, whose values are
- not reset between calls to <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tparm(3x)</A></STRONG>. However, that fact is not
+ not reset between calls to <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tparm(3x)</A></STRONG>. However, that fact is not
documented in other implementations. Relying on it will adversely
impact portability to other implementations:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr2 curses supported <EM>dynamic</EM> variables. Those are set only
- by a <STRONG>%P</STRONG> operator. A <STRONG>%g</STRONG> for a given variable without first
- setting it with <STRONG>%P</STRONG> will give unpredictable results, because
- dynamic variables are an uninitialized local array on the
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr2 curses supported <EM>dynamic</EM> variables. Those are set only
+ by a <STRONG>%P</STRONG> operator. A <STRONG>%g</STRONG> for a given variable without first
+ setting it with <STRONG>%P</STRONG> will give unpredictable results, because
+ dynamic variables are an uninitialized local array on the
stack in the <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> function.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr3.2 curses supported <EM>static</EM> variables. Those are an array
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr3.2 curses supported <EM>static</EM> variables. Those are an array
in the <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> structure (declared in <STRONG>term.h</STRONG>), and are zeroed
automatically when the <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> function allocates the data.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr4 curses made no further improvements to the <EM>dynamic/static</EM>
variable feature.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Solaris XPG4 curses does not distinguish between <EM>dynamic</EM> and
- <EM>static</EM> variables. They are the same. Like SVr4 curses, XPG4
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Solaris XPG4 curses does not distinguish between <EM>dynamic</EM> and
+ <EM>static</EM> variables. They are the same. Like SVr4 curses, XPG4
curses does not initialize these explicitly.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Before version 6.3, ncurses stores both <EM>dynamic</EM> and <EM>static</EM>
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Before version 6.3, ncurses stores both <EM>dynamic</EM> and <EM>static</EM>
variables in persistent storage, initialized to zeros.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Beginning with version 6.3, ncurses stores <EM>static</EM> and <EM>dynamic</EM>
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Beginning with version 6.3, ncurses stores <EM>static</EM> and <EM>dynamic</EM>
variables in the same manner as SVr4.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Unlike other implementations, ncurses zeros dynamic
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Unlike other implementations, ncurses zeros dynamic
variables before the first <STRONG>%g</STRONG> or <STRONG>%P</STRONG> operator.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Like SVr2, the scope of dynamic variables in ncurses is
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Like SVr2, the scope of dynamic variables in ncurses is
within the current call to <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>. Use static variables if
persistent storage is needed.
<STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> <STRONG>%t</STRONG> <EM>thenpart</EM> <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> <STRONG>%;</STRONG>
This forms an if-then-else. The <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <EM>elsepart</EM> is optional. Usually
- the <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> part pushes a value onto the stack, and <STRONG>%t</STRONG> pops it
- from the stack, testing if it is nonzero (true). If it is zero
+ the <STRONG>%?</STRONG> <EM>expr</EM> part pushes a value onto the stack, and <STRONG>%t</STRONG> pops it
+ from the stack, testing if it is nonzero (true). If it is zero
(false), control passes to the <STRONG>%e</STRONG> (else) part.
It is possible to form else-if's a la Algol 68:
where ci are conditions, bi are bodies.
- Use the <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> or <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> to see the structure of if-
+ Use the <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> or <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> to see the structure of if-
then-else's. Some strings, e.g., <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> can be very complicated when
- written on one line. The <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option splits the string into lines
+ written on one line. The <STRONG>-f</STRONG> option splits the string into lines
with the parts indented.
- Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands in the usual
- order. That is, to get x-5 one would use "%gx%{5}%-". <STRONG>%P</STRONG> and <STRONG>%g</STRONG>
+ Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands in the usual
+ order. That is, to get x-5 one would use "%gx%{5}%-". <STRONG>%P</STRONG> and <STRONG>%g</STRONG>
variables are persistent across escape-string evaluations.
- Consider the HP2645, which, to get to row 3 and column 12, needs to be
- sent \E&a12c03Y padded for 6 milliseconds. The order of the rows and
- columns is inverted here, and the row and column are printed as two
+ Consider the HP2645, which, to get to row 3 and column 12, needs to be
+ sent \E&a12c03Y padded for 6 milliseconds. The order of the rows and
+ columns is inverted here, and the row and column are printed as two
digits. The corresponding terminal description is expressed thus:
cup=\E&a%p2%dc%p1%dY$<6>,
- The Microterm ACT-IV needs the current row and column sent preceded by
+ The Microterm ACT-IV needs the current row and column sent preceded by
a <STRONG>^T</STRONG>, with the row and column simply encoded in binary,
cup=^T%p1%c%p2%c
- Terminals which use "%c" need to be able to backspace the cursor
- (<STRONG>cub1</STRONG>), and to move the cursor up one line on the screen (<STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>). This
+ Terminals which use "%c" need to be able to backspace the cursor
+ (<STRONG>cub1</STRONG>), and to move the cursor up one line on the screen (<STRONG>cuu1</STRONG>). This
is necessary because it is not always safe to transmit <STRONG>\n</STRONG> <STRONG>^D</STRONG> and <STRONG>\r</STRONG>, as
- the system may change or discard them. (The library routines dealing
- with terminfo set tty modes so that tabs are never expanded, so \t is
+ the system may change or discard them. (The library routines dealing
+ with terminfo set tty modes so that tabs are never expanded, so \t is
safe to send. This turns out to be essential for the Ann Arbor 4080.)
- A final example is the LSI ADM-3a, which uses row and column offset by
+ A final example is the LSI ADM-3a, which uses row and column offset by
a blank character, thus
cup=\E=%p1%' '%+%c%p2%' '%+%c
- After sending "\E=", this pushes the first parameter, pushes the ASCII
- value for a space (32), adds them (pushing the sum on the stack in
- place of the two previous values) and outputs that value as a
- character. Then the same is done for the second parameter. More
+ After sending "\E=", this pushes the first parameter, pushes the ASCII
+ value for a space (32), adds them (pushing the sum on the stack in
+ place of the two previous values) and outputs that value as a
+ character. Then the same is done for the second parameter. More
complex arithmetic is possible using the stack.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Cursor-Motions">Cursor Motions</a></H3><PRE>
- If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very upper left
- corner of screen) then this can be given as <STRONG>home</STRONG>; similarly a fast way
- of getting to the lower left-hand corner can be given as <STRONG>ll</STRONG>; this may
+ If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very upper left
+ corner of screen) then this can be given as <STRONG>home</STRONG>; similarly a fast way
+ of getting to the lower left-hand corner can be given as <STRONG>ll</STRONG>; this may
involve going up with <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG> from the home position, but a program should
never do this itself (unless <STRONG>ll</STRONG> does) because it can make no assumption
- about the effect of moving up from the home position. Note that the
- home position is the same as addressing to (0,0): to the top left
- corner of the screen, not of memory. (Thus, the \EH sequence on HP
+ about the effect of moving up from the home position. Note that the
+ home position is the same as addressing to (0,0): to the top left
+ corner of the screen, not of memory. (Thus, the \EH sequence on HP
terminals cannot be used for <STRONG>home</STRONG>.)
If the terminal has row or column absolute cursor addressing, these can
- be given as single parameter capabilities <STRONG>hpa</STRONG> (horizontal position
- absolute) and <STRONG>vpa</STRONG> (vertical position absolute). Sometimes these are
- shorter than the more general two parameter sequence (as with the
- hp2645) and can be used in preference to <STRONG>cup</STRONG>. If there are
- parameterized local motions (e.g., move <EM>n</EM> spaces to the right) these
- can be given as <STRONG>cud</STRONG>, <STRONG>cub</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuf</STRONG>, and <STRONG>cuu</STRONG> with a single parameter
- indicating how many spaces to move. These are primarily useful if the
+ be given as single parameter capabilities <STRONG>hpa</STRONG> (horizontal position
+ absolute) and <STRONG>vpa</STRONG> (vertical position absolute). Sometimes these are
+ shorter than the more general two parameter sequence (as with the
+ hp2645) and can be used in preference to <STRONG>cup</STRONG>. If there are
+ parameterized local motions (e.g., move <EM>n</EM> spaces to the right) these
+ can be given as <STRONG>cud</STRONG>, <STRONG>cub</STRONG>, <STRONG>cuf</STRONG>, and <STRONG>cuu</STRONG> with a single parameter
+ indicating how many spaces to move. These are primarily useful if the
terminal does not have <STRONG>cup</STRONG>, such as the TEKTRONIX 4025.
- If the terminal needs to be in a special mode when running a program
+ If the terminal needs to be in a special mode when running a program
that uses these capabilities, the codes to enter and exit this mode can
- be given as <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>. This arises, for example, from terminals
- like the Concept with more than one page of memory. If the terminal
- has only memory relative cursor addressing and not screen relative
- cursor addressing, a one screen-sized window must be fixed into the
+ be given as <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>. This arises, for example, from terminals
+ like the Concept with more than one page of memory. If the terminal
+ has only memory relative cursor addressing and not screen relative
+ cursor addressing, a one screen-sized window must be fixed into the
terminal for cursor addressing to work properly. This is also used for
- the TEKTRONIX 4025, where <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sets the command character to be the
- one used by terminfo. If the <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sequence will not restore the
- screen after an <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG> sequence is output (to the state prior to
+ the TEKTRONIX 4025, where <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sets the command character to be the
+ one used by terminfo. If the <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> sequence will not restore the
+ screen after an <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG> sequence is output (to the state prior to
outputting <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG>), specify <STRONG>nrrmc</STRONG>.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Margins">Margins</a></H3><PRE>
- SVr4 (and X/Open Curses) list several string capabilities for setting
- margins. Two were intended for use with terminals, and another six
+ SVr4 (and X/Open Curses) list several string capabilities for setting
+ margins. Two were intended for use with terminals, and another six
were intended for use with printers.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The two terminal capabilities assume that the terminal may have the
- capability of setting the left and/or right margin at the current
+ capability of setting the left and/or right margin at the current
cursor column position.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The printer capabilities assume that the printer may have two types
<STRONG>o</STRONG> the ability to set a top and/or bottom margin using the current
line position, and
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> parameterized capabilities for setting the top, bottom, left,
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> parameterized capabilities for setting the top, bottom, left,
right margins given the number of rows or columns.
- In practice, the categorization into "terminal" and "printer" is not
+ In practice, the categorization into "terminal" and "printer" is not
suitable:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> The AT&T SVr4 terminal database uses <STRONG>smgl</STRONG> four times, for AT&T
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The AT&T SVr4 terminal database uses <STRONG>smgl</STRONG> four times, for AT&T
hardware.
- Three of the four are printers. They lack the ability to set
+ Three of the four are printers. They lack the ability to set
left/right margins by specifying the column.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Other (non-AT&T) terminals may support margins but using different
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Other (non-AT&T) terminals may support margins but using different
assumptions from AT&T.
- For instance, the DEC VT420 supports left/right margins, but only
+ For instance, the DEC VT420 supports left/right margins, but only
using a column parameter. As an added complication, the VT420 uses
- two settings to fully enable left/right margins (left/right margin
- mode, and origin mode). The former enables the margins, which
- causes printed text to wrap within margins, but the latter is
+ two settings to fully enable left/right margins (left/right margin
+ mode, and origin mode). The former enables the margins, which
+ causes printed text to wrap within margins, but the latter is
needed to prevent cursor-addressing outside those margins.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Both DEC VT420 left/right margins are set with a single control
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Both DEC VT420 left/right margins are set with a single control
sequence. If either is omitted, the corresponding margin is set to
- the left or right edge of the display (rather than leaving the
+ the left or right edge of the display (rather than leaving the
margin unmodified).
These are the margin-related capabilities:
smglr Set both left and right margins to <EM>L</EM> and <EM>R</EM>
smgtb Set both top and bottom margins to <EM>T</EM> and <EM>B</EM>
- When writing an application that uses these string capabilities, the
- pairs should be first checked to see if each capability in the pair is
+ When writing an application that uses these string capabilities, the
+ pairs should be first checked to see if each capability in the pair is
set or only one is set:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> If both <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> are set, each is used with a single
- argument, <EM>N</EM>, that gives the column number of the left and right
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If both <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> are set, each is used with a single
+ argument, <EM>N</EM>, that gives the column number of the left and right
margin, respectively.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> If both <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> are set, each is used to set the top and
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If both <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> are set, each is used to set the top and
bottom margin, respectively:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> is used with a single argument, <EM>N</EM>, the line number of the
top margin.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> is used with two arguments, <EM>N</EM> and <EM>M</EM>, that give the line
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> is used with two arguments, <EM>N</EM> and <EM>M</EM>, that give the line
number of the bottom margin, the first counting from the top of
- the page and the second counting from the bottom. This
- accommodates the two styles of specifying the bottom margin in
+ the page and the second counting from the bottom. This
+ accommodates the two styles of specifying the bottom margin in
different manufacturers' printers.
- When designing a terminfo entry for a printer that has a settable
- bottom margin, only the first or second argument should be used,
+ When designing a terminfo entry for a printer that has a settable
+ bottom margin, only the first or second argument should be used,
depending on the printer. When developing an application that uses
<STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> to set the bottom margin, both arguments must be given.
Conversely, when only one capability in the pair is set:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> If only one of <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> is set, then it is used with two
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If only one of <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> is set, then it is used with two
arguments, the column number of the left and right margins, in that
order.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> Likewise, if only one of <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> is set, then it is used
- with two arguments that give the top and bottom margins, in that
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Likewise, if only one of <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> is set, then it is used
+ with two arguments that give the top and bottom margins, in that
order, counting from the top of the page.
When designing a terminfo entry for a printer that requires setting
- both left and right or top and bottom margins simultaneously, only
- one capability in the pairs <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> or <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG>
+ both left and right or top and bottom margins simultaneously, only
+ one capability in the pairs <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> or <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG>
should be defined, leaving the other unset.
- Except for very old terminal descriptions, e.g., those developed for
- SVr4, the scheme just described should be considered obsolete. An
+ Except for very old terminal descriptions, e.g., those developed for
+ SVr4, the scheme just described should be considered obsolete. An
improved set of capabilities was added late in the SVr4 releases (<STRONG>smglr</STRONG>
- and <STRONG>smgtb</STRONG>), which explicitly use two parameters for setting the
+ and <STRONG>smgtb</STRONG>), which explicitly use two parameters for setting the
left/right or top/bottom margins.
When setting margins, the line- and column-values are zero-based.
- The <STRONG>mgc</STRONG> string capability should be defined. Applications such as
+ The <STRONG>mgc</STRONG> string capability should be defined. Applications such as
<STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG> rely upon this to reset all margins.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Area-Clears">Area Clears</a></H3><PRE>
- 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 <STRONG>el</STRONG>. If
- the terminal can clear from the beginning of the line to the current
- position inclusive, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be
- given as <STRONG>el1</STRONG>. If the terminal can clear from the current position to
- the end of the display, then this should be given as <STRONG>ed</STRONG>. <STRONG>Ed</STRONG> is only
+ 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 <STRONG>el</STRONG>. If
+ the terminal can clear from the beginning of the line to the current
+ position inclusive, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be
+ given as <STRONG>el1</STRONG>. If the terminal can clear from the current position to
+ the end of the display, then this should be given as <STRONG>ed</STRONG>. <STRONG>Ed</STRONG> is only
defined from the first column of a line. (Thus, it can be simulated by
- a request to delete a large number of lines, if a true <STRONG>ed</STRONG> is not
+ a request to delete a large number of lines, if a true <STRONG>ed</STRONG> is not
available.)
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Insert_delete-line-and-vertical-motions">Insert/delete line and vertical motions</a></H3><PRE>
- If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line where the
- cursor is, this should be given as <STRONG>il1</STRONG>; this is done only from the
- first position of a line. The cursor must then appear on the newly
- blank line. If the terminal can delete the line which the cursor is
- on, then this should be given as <STRONG>dl1</STRONG>; this is done only from the first
+ If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line where the
+ cursor is, this should be given as <STRONG>il1</STRONG>; this is done only from the
+ first position of a line. The cursor must then appear on the newly
+ blank line. If the terminal can delete the line which the cursor is
+ on, then this should be given as <STRONG>dl1</STRONG>; this is done only from the first
position on the line to be deleted. Versions of <STRONG>il1</STRONG> and <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> which take
a single parameter and insert or delete that many lines can be given as
<STRONG>il</STRONG> and <STRONG>dl</STRONG>.
- If the terminal has a settable scrolling region (like the vt100) the
- command to set this can be described with the <STRONG>csr</STRONG> capability, which
+ If the terminal has a settable scrolling region (like the vt100) the
+ command to set this can be described with the <STRONG>csr</STRONG> capability, which
takes two parameters: the top and bottom lines of the scrolling region.
The cursor position is, alas, undefined after using this command.
- It is possible to get the effect of insert or delete line using <STRONG>csr</STRONG> on
- a properly chosen region; the <STRONG>sc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (save and restore cursor)
+ It is possible to get the effect of insert or delete line using <STRONG>csr</STRONG> on
+ a properly chosen region; the <STRONG>sc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (save and restore cursor)
commands may be useful for ensuring that your synthesized insert/delete
- string does not move the cursor. (Note that the <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG> library
- does this synthesis automatically, so you need not compose
+ string does not move the cursor. (Note that the <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">ncurses(3x)</A></STRONG> library
+ does this synthesis automatically, so you need not compose
insert/delete strings for an entry with <STRONG>csr</STRONG>).
- Yet another way to construct insert and delete might be to use a
- combination of index with the memory-lock feature found on some
- terminals (like the HP-700/90 series, which however also has
+ Yet another way to construct insert and delete might be to use a
+ combination of index with the memory-lock feature found on some
+ terminals (like the HP-700/90 series, which however also has
insert/delete).
- Inserting lines at the top or bottom of the screen can also be done
- using <STRONG>ri</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG> on many terminals without a true insert/delete line,
+ Inserting lines at the top or bottom of the screen can also be done
+ using <STRONG>ri</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG> on many terminals without a true insert/delete line,
and is often faster even on terminals with those features.
- The boolean <STRONG>non_dest_scroll_region</STRONG> should be set if each scrolling
- window is effectively a view port on a screen-sized canvas. To test
- for this capability, create a scrolling region in the middle of the
- screen, write something to the bottom line, move the cursor to the top
- of the region, and do <STRONG>ri</STRONG> followed by <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG>. If the data scrolled
- off the bottom of the region by the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> re-appears, then scrolling is
- non-destructive. System V and XSI Curses expect that <STRONG>ind</STRONG>, <STRONG>ri</STRONG>, <STRONG>indn</STRONG>,
+ The boolean <STRONG>non_dest_scroll_region</STRONG> should be set if each scrolling
+ window is effectively a view port on a screen-sized canvas. To test
+ for this capability, create a scrolling region in the middle of the
+ screen, write something to the bottom line, move the cursor to the top
+ of the region, and do <STRONG>ri</STRONG> followed by <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> or <STRONG>ind</STRONG>. If the data scrolled
+ off the bottom of the region by the <STRONG>ri</STRONG> re-appears, then scrolling is
+ non-destructive. System V and XSI Curses expect that <STRONG>ind</STRONG>, <STRONG>ri</STRONG>, <STRONG>indn</STRONG>,
and <STRONG>rin</STRONG> will simulate destructive scrolling; their documentation
- cautions you not to define <STRONG>csr</STRONG> unless this is true. This <STRONG>curses</STRONG>
- implementation is more liberal and will do explicit erases after
+ cautions you not to define <STRONG>csr</STRONG> unless this is true. This <STRONG>curses</STRONG>
+ implementation is more liberal and will do explicit erases after
scrolling if <STRONG>ndsrc</STRONG> is defined.
- If the terminal has the ability to define a window as part of memory,
- which all commands affect, it should be given as the parameterized
- string <STRONG>wind</STRONG>. The four parameters are the starting and ending lines in
+ If the terminal has the ability to define a window as part of memory,
+ which all commands affect, it should be given as the parameterized
+ string <STRONG>wind</STRONG>. The four parameters are the starting and ending lines in
memory and the starting and ending columns in memory, in that order.
If the terminal can retain display memory above, then the <STRONG>da</STRONG> capability
- should be given; if display memory can be retained below, then <STRONG>db</STRONG>
- should be given. These indicate that deleting a line or scrolling may
- bring non-blank lines up from below or that scrolling back with <STRONG>ri</STRONG> may
+ should be given; if display memory can be retained below, then <STRONG>db</STRONG>
+ should be given. These indicate that deleting a line or scrolling may
+ bring non-blank lines up from below or that scrolling back with <STRONG>ri</STRONG> may
bring down non-blank lines.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Insert_Delete-Character">Insert/Delete Character</a></H3><PRE>
- There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with respect to
- insert/delete character which can be described using <EM>terminfo.</EM> The
- most common insert/delete character operations affect only the
- characters on the current line and shift characters off the end of the
- line rigidly. Other terminals, such as the Concept 100 and the Perkin
- Elmer Owl, make a distinction between typed and untyped blanks on the
- screen, shifting upon an insert or delete only to an untyped blank on
- the screen which is either eliminated, or expanded to two untyped
+ There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with respect to
+ insert/delete character which can be described using <EM>terminfo.</EM> The
+ most common insert/delete character operations affect only the
+ characters on the current line and shift characters off the end of the
+ line rigidly. Other terminals, such as the Concept 100 and the Perkin
+ Elmer Owl, make a distinction between typed and untyped blanks on the
+ screen, shifting upon an insert or delete only to an untyped blank on
+ the screen which is either eliminated, or expanded to two untyped
blanks.
- You can determine the kind of terminal you have by clearing the screen
- and then typing text separated by cursor motions. Type "abc def"
- using local cursor motions (not spaces) between the "abc" and the
- "def". Then position the cursor before the "abc" and put the terminal
- in insert mode. If typing characters causes the rest of the line to
- shift rigidly and characters to fall off the end, then your terminal
- does not distinguish between blanks and untyped positions. If the
- "abc" shifts over to the "def" which then move together around the end
- of the current line and onto the next as you insert, you have the
- second type of terminal, and should give the capability <STRONG>in</STRONG>, which
+ You can determine the kind of terminal you have by clearing the screen
+ and then typing text separated by cursor motions. Type "abc def"
+ using local cursor motions (not spaces) between the "abc" and the
+ "def". Then position the cursor before the "abc" and put the terminal
+ in insert mode. If typing characters causes the rest of the line to
+ shift rigidly and characters to fall off the end, then your terminal
+ does not distinguish between blanks and untyped positions. If the
+ "abc" shifts over to the "def" which then move together around the end
+ of the current line and onto the next as you insert, you have the
+ second type of terminal, and should give the capability <STRONG>in</STRONG>, which
stands for "insert null".
- While these are two logically separate attributes (one line versus
- multi-line insert mode, and special treatment of untyped spaces) we
- have seen no terminals whose insert mode cannot be described with the
+ While these are two logically separate attributes (one line versus
+ multi-line insert mode, and special treatment of untyped spaces) we
+ have seen no terminals whose insert mode cannot be described with the
single attribute.
- Terminfo can describe both terminals which have an insert mode, and
- terminals which send a simple sequence to open a blank position on the
+ Terminfo can describe both terminals which have an insert mode, and
+ terminals which send a simple sequence to open a blank position on the
current line. Give as <STRONG>smir</STRONG> the sequence to get into insert mode. Give
- as <STRONG>rmir</STRONG> the sequence to leave insert mode. Now give as <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> any
- sequence needed to be sent just before sending the character to be
- inserted. Most terminals with a true insert mode will not give <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>;
- terminals which send a sequence to open a screen position should give
+ as <STRONG>rmir</STRONG> the sequence to leave insert mode. Now give as <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> any
+ sequence needed to be sent just before sending the character to be
+ inserted. Most terminals with a true insert mode will not give <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>;
+ terminals which send a sequence to open a screen position should give
it here.
- If your terminal has both, insert mode is usually preferable to <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>.
- Technically, you should not give both unless the terminal actually
- requires both to be used in combination. Accordingly, some non-curses
- applications get confused if both are present; the symptom is doubled
- characters in an update using insert. This requirement is now rare;
- most <STRONG>ich</STRONG> sequences do not require previous smir, and most smir insert
- modes do not require <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> before each character. Therefore, the new
- <STRONG>curses</STRONG> actually assumes this is the case and uses either <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> or
- <STRONG>ich</STRONG>/<STRONG>ich1</STRONG> as appropriate (but not both). If you have to write an entry
- to be used under new curses for a terminal old enough to need both,
+ If your terminal has both, insert mode is usually preferable to <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>.
+ Technically, you should not give both unless the terminal actually
+ requires both to be used in combination. Accordingly, some non-curses
+ applications get confused if both are present; the symptom is doubled
+ characters in an update using insert. This requirement is now rare;
+ most <STRONG>ich</STRONG> sequences do not require previous smir, and most smir insert
+ modes do not require <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> before each character. Therefore, the new
+ <STRONG>curses</STRONG> actually assumes this is the case and uses either <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> or
+ <STRONG>ich</STRONG>/<STRONG>ich1</STRONG> as appropriate (but not both). If you have to write an entry
+ to be used under new curses for a terminal old enough to need both,
include the <STRONG>rmir</STRONG>/<STRONG>smir</STRONG> sequences in <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>.
If post insert padding is needed, give this as a number of milliseconds
- in <STRONG>ip</STRONG> (a string option). Any other sequence which may need to be sent
+ in <STRONG>ip</STRONG> (a string option). Any other sequence which may need to be sent
after an insert of a single character may also be given in <STRONG>ip</STRONG>. If your
- terminal needs both to be placed into an "insert mode" and a special
- code to precede each inserted character, then both <STRONG>smir</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmir</STRONG> and <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>
- can be given, and both will be used. The <STRONG>ich</STRONG> capability, with one
+ terminal needs both to be placed into an "insert mode" and a special
+ code to precede each inserted character, then both <STRONG>smir</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmir</STRONG> and <STRONG>ich1</STRONG>
+ can be given, and both will be used. The <STRONG>ich</STRONG> capability, with one
parameter, <EM>n</EM>, will repeat the effects of <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> <EM>n</EM> times.
- If padding is necessary between characters typed while not in insert
+ If padding is necessary between characters typed while not in insert
mode, give this as a number of milliseconds padding in <STRONG>rmp</STRONG>.
- It is occasionally necessary to move around while in insert mode to
- delete characters on the same line (e.g., if there is a tab after the
- insertion position). If your terminal allows motion while in insert
- mode you can give the capability <STRONG>mir</STRONG> to speed up inserting in this
- case. Omitting <STRONG>mir</STRONG> will affect only speed. Some terminals (notably
- Datamedia's) must not have <STRONG>mir</STRONG> because of the way their insert mode
+ It is occasionally necessary to move around while in insert mode to
+ delete characters on the same line (e.g., if there is a tab after the
+ insertion position). If your terminal allows motion while in insert
+ mode you can give the capability <STRONG>mir</STRONG> to speed up inserting in this
+ case. Omitting <STRONG>mir</STRONG> will affect only speed. Some terminals (notably
+ Datamedia's) must not have <STRONG>mir</STRONG> because of the way their insert mode
works.
- Finally, you can specify <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to delete a single character, <STRONG>dch</STRONG> with
- one parameter, <EM>n</EM>, to delete <EM>n</EM> <EM>characters,</EM> and delete mode by giving
- <STRONG>smdc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmdc</STRONG> to enter and exit delete mode (any mode the terminal
+ Finally, you can specify <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to delete a single character, <STRONG>dch</STRONG> with
+ one parameter, <EM>n</EM>, to delete <EM>n</EM> <EM>characters,</EM> and delete mode by giving
+ <STRONG>smdc</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmdc</STRONG> to enter and exit delete mode (any mode the terminal
needs to be placed in for <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> to work).
- A command to erase <EM>n</EM> characters (equivalent to outputting <EM>n</EM> blanks
+ A command to erase <EM>n</EM> characters (equivalent to outputting <EM>n</EM> blanks
without moving the cursor) can be given as <STRONG>ech</STRONG> with one parameter.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Highlighting_-Underlining_-and-Visible-Bells">Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells</a></H3><PRE>
If your terminal has one or more kinds of display attributes, these can
- be represented in a number of different ways. You should choose one
- display form as <EM>standout</EM> <EM>mode</EM>, representing a good, high contrast,
- easy-on-the-eyes, format for highlighting error messages and other
- attention getters. (If you have a choice, reverse video plus half-
- bright is good, or reverse video alone.) The sequences to enter and
- exit standout mode are given as <STRONG>smso</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmso</STRONG>, respectively. If the
- code to change into or out of standout mode leaves one or even two
- blank spaces on the screen, as the TVI 912 and Teleray 1061 do, then
+ be represented in a number of different ways. You should choose one
+ display form as <EM>standout</EM> <EM>mode</EM>, representing a good, high contrast,
+ easy-on-the-eyes, format for highlighting error messages and other
+ attention getters. (If you have a choice, reverse video plus half-
+ bright is good, or reverse video alone.) The sequences to enter and
+ exit standout mode are given as <STRONG>smso</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmso</STRONG>, respectively. If the
+ code to change into or out of standout mode leaves one or even two
+ blank spaces on the screen, as the TVI 912 and Teleray 1061 do, then
<STRONG>xmc</STRONG> should be given to tell how many spaces are left.
Codes to begin underlining and end underlining can be given as <STRONG>smul</STRONG> and
<STRONG>rmul</STRONG> respectively. If the terminal has a code to underline the current
- character and move the cursor one space to the right, such as the
+ character and move the cursor one space to the right, such as the
Microterm Mime, this can be given as <STRONG>uc</STRONG>.
- Other capabilities to enter various highlighting modes include <STRONG>blink</STRONG>
- (blinking) <STRONG>bold</STRONG> (bold or extra bright) <STRONG>dim</STRONG> (dim or half-bright) <STRONG>invis</STRONG>
- (blanking or invisible text) <STRONG>prot</STRONG> (protected) <STRONG>rev</STRONG> (reverse video) <STRONG>sgr0</STRONG>
- (turn off <EM>all</EM> attribute modes) <STRONG>smacs</STRONG> (enter alternate character set
+ Other capabilities to enter various highlighting modes include <STRONG>blink</STRONG>
+ (blinking) <STRONG>bold</STRONG> (bold or extra bright) <STRONG>dim</STRONG> (dim or half-bright) <STRONG>invis</STRONG>
+ (blanking or invisible text) <STRONG>prot</STRONG> (protected) <STRONG>rev</STRONG> (reverse video) <STRONG>sgr0</STRONG>
+ (turn off <EM>all</EM> attribute modes) <STRONG>smacs</STRONG> (enter alternate character set
mode) and <STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> (exit alternate character set mode). Turning on any of
these modes singly may or may not turn off other modes.
- If there is a sequence to set arbitrary combinations of modes, this
- should be given as <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> (set attributes), taking 9 parameters. Each
+ If there is a sequence to set arbitrary combinations of modes, this
+ should be given as <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> (set attributes), taking 9 parameters. Each
parameter is either zero (0) or nonzero, as the corresponding attribute
- is on or off. The 9 parameters are, in order: standout, underline,
- reverse, blink, dim, bold, blank, protect, alternate character set.
+ is on or off. The 9 parameters are, in order: standout, underline,
+ reverse, blink, dim, bold, blank, protect, alternate character set.
Not all modes need be supported by <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>, only those for which
corresponding separate attribute commands exist.
p8 protect not used
p9 altcharset ^O (off) ^N (on)
- We begin each escape sequence by turning off any existing modes, since
- there is no quick way to determine whether they are active. Standout
- is set up to be the combination of reverse and bold. The vt220
- terminal has a protect mode, though it is not commonly used in sgr
- because it protects characters on the screen from the host's erasures.
- The altcharset mode also is different in that it is either ^O or ^N,
- depending on whether it is off or on. If all modes are turned on, the
+ We begin each escape sequence by turning off any existing modes, since
+ there is no quick way to determine whether they are active. Standout
+ is set up to be the combination of reverse and bold. The vt220
+ terminal has a protect mode, though it is not commonly used in sgr
+ because it protects characters on the screen from the host's erasures.
+ The altcharset mode also is different in that it is either ^O or ^N,
+ depending on whether it is off or on. If all modes are turned on, the
resulting sequence is \E[0;1;4;5;7;8m^N.
- Some sequences are common to different modes. For example, ;7 is
- output when either p1 or p3 is true, that is, if either standout or
+ Some sequences are common to different modes. For example, ;7 is
+ output when either p1 or p3 is true, that is, if either standout or
reverse modes are turned on.
Writing out the above sequences, along with their dependencies yields
sgr=\E[0%?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p4%t;5%;
%?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;%?%p7%t;8%;m%?%p9%t\016%e\017%;,
- Remember that if you specify sgr, you must also specify sgr0. Also,
- some implementations rely on sgr being given if sgr0 is, Not all
+ Remember that if you specify sgr, you must also specify sgr0. Also,
+ some implementations rely on sgr being given if sgr0 is, Not all
terminfo entries necessarily have an sgr string, however. Many
- terminfo entries are derived from termcap entries which have no sgr
+ terminfo entries are derived from termcap entries which have no sgr
string. The only drawback to adding an sgr string is that termcap also
assumes that sgr0 does not exit alternate character set mode.
- Terminals with the "magic cookie" glitch (<STRONG>xmc</STRONG>) deposit special
- "cookies" when they receive mode-setting sequences, which affect the
- display algorithm rather than having extra bits for each character.
- Some terminals, such as the HP 2621, automatically leave standout mode
- when they move to a new line or the cursor is addressed. Programs
- using standout mode should exit standout mode before moving the cursor
- or sending a newline, unless the <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> capability, asserting that it is
+ Terminals with the "magic cookie" glitch (<STRONG>xmc</STRONG>) deposit special
+ "cookies" when they receive mode-setting sequences, which affect the
+ display algorithm rather than having extra bits for each character.
+ Some terminals, such as the HP 2621, automatically leave standout mode
+ when they move to a new line or the cursor is addressed. Programs
+ using standout mode should exit standout mode before moving the cursor
+ or sending a newline, unless the <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> capability, asserting that it is
safe to move in standout mode, is present.
- If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indicate an error
- quietly (a bell replacement) then this can be given as <STRONG>flash</STRONG>; it must
+ If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indicate an error
+ quietly (a bell replacement) then this can be given as <STRONG>flash</STRONG>; it must
not move the cursor.
- If the cursor needs to be made more visible than normal when it is not
+ If the cursor needs to be made more visible than normal when it is not
on the bottom line (to make, for example, a non-blinking underline into
- an easier to find block or blinking underline) give this sequence as
+ an easier to find block or blinking underline) give this sequence as
<STRONG>cvvis</STRONG>. If there is a way to make the cursor completely invisible, give
- that as <STRONG>civis</STRONG>. The capability <STRONG>cnorm</STRONG> should be given which undoes the
+ that as <STRONG>civis</STRONG>. The capability <STRONG>cnorm</STRONG> should be given which undoes the
effects of both of these modes.
- If your terminal correctly generates underlined characters (with no
- special codes needed) even though it does not overstrike, then you
- should give the capability <STRONG>ul</STRONG>. If a character overstriking another
- leaves both characters on the screen, specify the capability <STRONG>os</STRONG>. If
+ If your terminal correctly generates underlined characters (with no
+ special codes needed) even though it does not overstrike, then you
+ should give the capability <STRONG>ul</STRONG>. If a character overstriking another
+ leaves both characters on the screen, specify the capability <STRONG>os</STRONG>. If
overstrikes are erasable with a blank, then this should be indicated by
giving <STRONG>eo</STRONG>.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Keypad-and-Function-Keys">Keypad and Function Keys</a></H3><PRE>
- 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
+ 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 keypad only works in local (this applies,
- for example, to the unshifted HP 2621 keys). If the keypad can be set
- to transmit or not transmit, give these codes as <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG>.
+ for example, to the unshifted HP 2621 keys). If the keypad can be set
+ to transmit or not transmit, give these codes as <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG>.
Otherwise the keypad is assumed to always transmit.
- The codes sent by the left arrow, right arrow, up arrow, down arrow,
- and home keys can be given as <STRONG>kcub1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuu1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcud1,</STRONG> and <STRONG>khome</STRONG>
+ The codes sent by the left arrow, right arrow, up arrow, down arrow,
+ and home keys can be given as <STRONG>kcub1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuu1,</STRONG> <STRONG>kcud1,</STRONG> and <STRONG>khome</STRONG>
respectively. If there are function keys such as f0, f1, ..., f10, the
- codes they send can be given as <STRONG>kf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf10</STRONG>. If these keys
- have labels other than the default f0 through f10, the labels can be
+ codes they send can be given as <STRONG>kf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>kf10</STRONG>. If these keys
+ have labels other than the default f0 through f10, the labels can be
given as <STRONG>lf0,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf1,</STRONG> <STRONG>...,</STRONG> <STRONG>lf10</STRONG>.
The codes transmitted by certain other special keys can be given:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>khts</STRONG> (set a tab stop in this column).
- In addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3 array of keys including the
- four arrow keys, the other five keys can be given as <STRONG>ka1</STRONG>, <STRONG>ka3</STRONG>, <STRONG>kb2</STRONG>,
- <STRONG>kc1</STRONG>, and <STRONG>kc3</STRONG>. These keys are useful when the effects of a 3 by 3
+ In addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3 array of keys including the
+ four arrow keys, the other five keys can be given as <STRONG>ka1</STRONG>, <STRONG>ka3</STRONG>, <STRONG>kb2</STRONG>,
+ <STRONG>kc1</STRONG>, and <STRONG>kc3</STRONG>. These keys are useful when the effects of a 3 by 3
directional pad are needed.
Strings to program function keys can be given as <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG>, <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG>, and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG>.
- A string to program screen labels should be specified as <STRONG>pln</STRONG>. Each of
- these strings takes two parameters: the function key number to program
+ A string to program screen labels should be specified as <STRONG>pln</STRONG>. Each of
+ these strings takes two parameters: the function key number to program
(from 0 to 10) and the string to program it with. Function key numbers
- out of this range may program undefined keys in a terminal dependent
- manner. The difference between the capabilities is that <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG> causes
- pressing the given key to be the same as the user typing the given
- string; <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG> causes the string to be executed by the terminal in
+ out of this range may program undefined keys in a terminal dependent
+ manner. The difference between the capabilities is that <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG> causes
+ pressing the given key to be the same as the user typing the given
+ string; <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG> causes the string to be executed by the terminal in
local; and <STRONG>pfx</STRONG> causes the string to be transmitted to the computer.
- The capabilities <STRONG>nlab</STRONG>, <STRONG>lw</STRONG> and <STRONG>lh</STRONG> define the number of programmable
- screen labels and their width and height. If there are commands to
- turn the labels on and off, give them in <STRONG>smln</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmln</STRONG>. <STRONG>smln</STRONG> is
- normally output after one or more pln sequences to make sure that the
+ The capabilities <STRONG>nlab</STRONG>, <STRONG>lw</STRONG> and <STRONG>lh</STRONG> define the number of programmable
+ screen labels and their width and height. If there are commands to
+ turn the labels on and off, give them in <STRONG>smln</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmln</STRONG>. <STRONG>smln</STRONG> is
+ normally output after one or more pln sequences to make sure that the
change becomes visible.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Tabs-and-Initialization">Tabs and Initialization</a></H3><PRE>
A few capabilities are used only for tabs:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance to the
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance to the
next tab stop can be given as <STRONG>ht</STRONG> (usually control/I).
<STRONG>o</STRONG> A "back-tab" command which moves leftward to the preceding tab stop
can be given as <STRONG>cbt</STRONG>.
- By convention, if the teletype modes indicate that tabs are being
- expanded by the computer rather than being sent to the terminal,
- programs should not use <STRONG>ht</STRONG> or <STRONG>cbt</STRONG> even if they are present, since
+ By convention, if the teletype modes indicate that tabs are being
+ expanded by the computer rather than being sent to the terminal,
+ programs should not use <STRONG>ht</STRONG> or <STRONG>cbt</STRONG> even if they are present, since
the user may not have the tab stops properly set.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal has hardware tabs which are initially set every <EM>n</EM>
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal has hardware tabs which are initially set every <EM>n</EM>
spaces when the terminal is powered up, the numeric parameter <STRONG>it</STRONG> is
given, showing the number of spaces the tabs are set to.
The <STRONG>it</STRONG> capability is normally used by the <STRONG>tset</STRONG> command to determine
- whether to set the mode for hardware tab expansion, and whether to
+ 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
+ in non-volatile memory, the terminfo description can assume that
they are properly set.
Other capabilities include
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, and <STRONG>is3</STRONG>, initialization strings for the terminal,
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, the path name of a program to be run to initialize the
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, the path name of a program to be run to initialize the
terminal,
<STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>if</STRONG>, the name of a file containing long initialization strings.
- 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 <EM>init</EM> option of the <STRONG>tput</STRONG> program, each time the
+ 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 <EM>init</EM> option of the <STRONG>tput</STRONG> program, each time the
user logs in. They will be printed in the following order:
run the program
and finally output
<STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
- Most initialization is done with <STRONG>is2</STRONG>. Special terminal modes can be
- set up without duplicating strings by putting the common sequences in
+ Most initialization is done with <STRONG>is2</STRONG>. Special terminal modes can be
+ set up without duplicating strings by putting the common sequences in
<STRONG>is2</STRONG> and special cases in <STRONG>is1</STRONG> and <STRONG>is3</STRONG>.
- A set of sequences that does a harder reset from a totally unknown
+ A set of sequences that does a harder reset from a totally unknown
state can be given as <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rf</STRONG> and <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, analogous to <STRONG>is1</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>is2</STRONG> <STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>if</STRONG>
- and <STRONG>is3</STRONG> respectively. These strings are output by <EM>reset</EM> option of
- <STRONG>tput</STRONG>, or by the <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program (an alias of <STRONG>tset</STRONG>), which is used when
+ and <STRONG>is3</STRONG> respectively. These strings are output by <EM>reset</EM> option of
+ <STRONG>tput</STRONG>, or by the <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program (an alias of <STRONG>tset</STRONG>), which is used when
the terminal gets into a wedged state. Commands are normally placed in
<STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG> <STRONG>rs3</STRONG> and <STRONG>rf</STRONG> only if they produce annoying effects on the screen
and are not necessary when logging in. For example, the command to set
- the vt100 into 80-column mode would normally be part of <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, but it
- causes an annoying glitch of the screen and is not normally needed
+ the vt100 into 80-column mode would normally be part of <STRONG>is2</STRONG>, but it
+ causes an annoying glitch of the screen and is not normally needed
since the terminal is usually already in 80-column mode.
- The <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program writes strings including <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, etc., in the same
- order as the <EM>init</EM> program, using <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, etc., instead of <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, etc. If
- any of <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, or <STRONG>rf</STRONG> reset capability strings are missing, the
- <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program falls back upon the corresponding initialization
+ The <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program writes strings including <STRONG>iprog</STRONG>, etc., in the same
+ order as the <EM>init</EM> program, using <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, etc., instead of <STRONG>is1</STRONG>, etc. If
+ any of <STRONG>rs1</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs2</STRONG>, <STRONG>rs3</STRONG>, or <STRONG>rf</STRONG> reset capability strings are missing, the
+ <STRONG>reset</STRONG> program falls back upon the corresponding initialization
capability string.
- If there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can be given as
+ If there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can be given as
<STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (clear all tab stops) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (set a tab stop in the current column
- of every row). If a more complex sequence is needed to set the tabs
+ of every row). If a more complex sequence is needed to set the tabs
than can be described by this, the sequence can be placed in <STRONG>is2</STRONG> or <STRONG>if</STRONG>.
- The <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>reset</STRONG> command uses the same capability strings as the <STRONG>reset</STRONG>
- command, although the two programs (<STRONG>tput</STRONG> and <STRONG>reset</STRONG>) provide different
+ The <STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>reset</STRONG> command uses the same capability strings as the <STRONG>reset</STRONG>
+ command, although the two programs (<STRONG>tput</STRONG> and <STRONG>reset</STRONG>) provide different
command-line options.
In practice, these terminfo capabilities are not often used in
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Almost all hardware terminals (at least those which supported tabs)
initialized those to every <EM>eight</EM> columns:
- The only exception was the AT&T 2300 series, which set tabs to
+ The only exception was the AT&T 2300 series, which set tabs to
every <EM>five</EM> columns.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> In particular, developers of the hardware terminals which are
- commonly used as models for modern terminal emulators provided
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> In particular, developers of the hardware terminals which are
+ commonly used as models for modern terminal emulators provided
documentation demonstrating that <EM>eight</EM> columns were the standard.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Because of this, the terminal initialization programs <STRONG>tput</STRONG> and <STRONG>tset</STRONG>
- use the <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (<STRONG>clear_all_tabs</STRONG>) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (<STRONG>set_tab</STRONG>) capabilities
- directly only when the <STRONG>it</STRONG> (<STRONG>init_tabs</STRONG>) capability is set to a value
+ use the <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> (<STRONG>clear_all_tabs</STRONG>) and <STRONG>hts</STRONG> (<STRONG>set_tab</STRONG>) capabilities
+ directly only when the <STRONG>it</STRONG> (<STRONG>init_tabs</STRONG>) capability is set to a value
other than <EM>eight</EM>.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Delays-and-Padding">Delays and Padding</a></H3><PRE>
- 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 VT100s). These may require padding
+ 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 VT100s). These may require padding
characters after certain cursor motions and screen changes.
If the terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking for flow control (that is, it
- automatically emits ^S back to the host when its input buffers are
- close to full), set <STRONG>xon</STRONG>. This capability suppresses the emission of
- padding. You can also set it for memory-mapped console devices
+ automatically emits ^S back to the host when its input buffers are
+ close to full), set <STRONG>xon</STRONG>. This capability suppresses the emission of
+ padding. You can also set it for memory-mapped console devices
effectively that do not have a speed limit. Padding information should
- still be included so that routines can make better decisions about
+ still be included so that routines can make better decisions about
relative costs, but actual pad characters will not be transmitted.
If <STRONG>pb</STRONG> (padding baud rate) is given, padding is suppressed at baud rates
- below the value of <STRONG>pb</STRONG>. If the entry has no padding baud rate, then
+ below the value of <STRONG>pb</STRONG>. If the entry has no padding baud rate, then
whether padding is emitted or not is completely controlled by <STRONG>xon</STRONG>.
- If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
- then this can be given as <STRONG>pad</STRONG>. Only the first character of the <STRONG>pad</STRONG>
+ If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
+ then this can be given as <STRONG>pad</STRONG>. Only the first character of the <STRONG>pad</STRONG>
string is used.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Status-Lines">Status Lines</a></H3><PRE>
- Some terminals have an extra "status line" which is not normally used
+ Some terminals have an extra "status line" which is not normally used
by software (and thus not counted in the terminal's <STRONG>lines</STRONG> capability).
- The simplest case is a status line which is cursor-addressable but not
+ The simplest case is a status line which is cursor-addressable but not
part of the main scrolling region on the screen; the Heathkit H19 has a
- status line of this kind, as would a 24-line VT100 with a 23-line
+ status line of this kind, as would a 24-line VT100 with a 23-line
scrolling region set up on initialization. This situation is indicated
by the <STRONG>hs</STRONG> capability.
- Some terminals with status lines need special sequences to access the
- status line. These may be expressed as a string with single parameter
- <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> which takes the cursor to a given zero-origin column on the status
- line. The capability <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> must return to the main-screen cursor
+ Some terminals with status lines need special sequences to access the
+ status line. These may be expressed as a string with single parameter
+ <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> which takes the cursor to a given zero-origin column on the status
+ line. The capability <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> must return to the main-screen cursor
positions before the last <STRONG>tsl</STRONG>. You may need to embed the string values
- of <STRONG>sc</STRONG> (save cursor) and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (restore cursor) in <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> and <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> to
+ of <STRONG>sc</STRONG> (save cursor) and <STRONG>rc</STRONG> (restore cursor) in <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> and <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> to
accomplish this.
- The status line is normally assumed to be the same width as the width
- of the terminal. If this is untrue, you can specify it with the
+ The status line is normally assumed to be the same width as the width
+ of the terminal. If this is untrue, you can specify it with the
numeric capability <STRONG>wsl</STRONG>.
A command to erase or blank the status line may be specified as <STRONG>dsl</STRONG>.
- The boolean capability <STRONG>eslok</STRONG> specifies that escape sequences, tabs,
+ The boolean capability <STRONG>eslok</STRONG> specifies that escape sequences, tabs,
etc., work ordinarily in the status line.
- The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation does not yet use any of these capabilities.
+ The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation does not yet use any of these capabilities.
They are documented here in case they ever become important.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Line-Graphics">Line Graphics</a></H3><PRE>
- Many terminals have alternate character sets useful for forms-drawing.
- Terminfo and <STRONG>curses</STRONG> have built-in support for most of 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
+ Many terminals have alternate character sets useful for forms-drawing.
+ Terminfo and <STRONG>curses</STRONG> have built-in support for most of 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
<STRONG>acsc</STRONG> capability.
<STRONG>Glyph</STRONG> <STRONG>ACS</STRONG> <STRONG>Ascii</STRONG> <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> <STRONG>acsc</STRONG>
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
A few notes apply to the table itself:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses incorrectly states that the mapping for <EM>lantern</EM> is
- uppercase "I" although Unix implementations use the lowercase "i"
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses incorrectly states that the mapping for <EM>lantern</EM> is
+ uppercase "I" although Unix implementations use the lowercase "i"
mapping.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> The DEC VT100 implemented graphics using the alternate character
- set feature, temporarily switching <EM>modes</EM> and sending characters in
- the range 0x60 (96) to 0x7e (126) (the <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> column in the
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The DEC VT100 implemented graphics using the alternate character
+ set feature, temporarily switching <EM>modes</EM> and sending characters in
+ the range 0x60 (96) to 0x7e (126) (the <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> column in the
table).
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The AT&T terminal added graphics characters outside that range.
- Some of the characters within the range do not match the VT100;
- presumably they were used in the AT&T terminal: <EM>board</EM> <EM>of</EM> <EM>squares</EM>
- replaces the VT100 <EM>newline</EM> symbol, while <EM>lantern</EM> <EM>symbol</EM> replaces
+ Some of the characters within the range do not match the VT100;
+ presumably they were used in the AT&T terminal: <EM>board</EM> <EM>of</EM> <EM>squares</EM>
+ replaces the VT100 <EM>newline</EM> symbol, while <EM>lantern</EM> <EM>symbol</EM> replaces
the VT100 <EM>vertical</EM> <EM>tab</EM> symbol. The other VT100 symbols for control
- characters (<EM>horizontal</EM> <EM>tab</EM>, <EM>carriage</EM> <EM>return</EM> and <EM>line-feed</EM>) are not
+ characters (<EM>horizontal</EM> <EM>tab</EM>, <EM>carriage</EM> <EM>return</EM> and <EM>line-feed</EM>) are not
(re)used in curses.
- 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, giving the character which
- (when emitted between <STRONG>smacs</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> switches) will be rendered as the
+ 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, giving the character which
+ (when emitted between <STRONG>smacs</STRONG>/<STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> switches) will be rendered as the
corresponding graphic. Then read off the VT100/your terminal character
pairs right to left in sequence; these become the ACSC string.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Color-Handling">Color Handling</a></H3><PRE>
- The curses library functions <STRONG>init_pair</STRONG> and <STRONG>init_color</STRONG> manipulate the
- <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> and <EM>color</EM> <EM>values</EM> discussed in this section (see
+ The curses library functions <STRONG>init_pair</STRONG> and <STRONG>init_color</STRONG> manipulate the
+ <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> and <EM>color</EM> <EM>values</EM> discussed in this section (see
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG> for details on these and related functions).
Most color terminals are either "Tektronix-like" or "HP-like":
is usually 8), and can set character-cell foreground and background
characters independently, mixing them into <EM>N</EM> * <EM>N</EM> color-pairs.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> On HP-like terminals, the user must set each color pair up
- separately (foreground and background are not independently
- settable). Up to <EM>M</EM> color-pairs may be set up from 2*<EM>M</EM> different
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> On HP-like terminals, the user must set each color pair up
+ separately (foreground and background are not independently
+ settable). Up to <EM>M</EM> color-pairs may be set up from 2*<EM>M</EM> different
colors. ANSI-compatible terminals are Tektronix-like.
Some basic color capabilities are independent of the color method. The
- numeric capabilities <STRONG>colors</STRONG> and <STRONG>pairs</STRONG> specify the maximum numbers of
- colors and color-pairs that can be displayed simultaneously. The <STRONG>op</STRONG>
+ numeric capabilities <STRONG>colors</STRONG> and <STRONG>pairs</STRONG> specify the maximum numbers of
+ colors and color-pairs that can be displayed simultaneously. The <STRONG>op</STRONG>
(original pair) string resets foreground and background colors to their
- default values for the terminal. The <STRONG>oc</STRONG> 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;
+ default values for the terminal. The <STRONG>oc</STRONG> 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 <STRONG>bce</STRONG>.
- While the curses library works with <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> (reflecting the
- inability of some devices to set foreground and background colors
- independently), there are separate capabilities for setting these
+ While the curses library works with <EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> (reflecting the
+ inability of some devices to set foreground and background colors
+ independently), there are separate capabilities for setting these
features:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> To change the current foreground or background color on a
- Tektronix-type terminal, use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> (set ANSI foreground) and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>
- (set ANSI background) or <STRONG>setf</STRONG> (set foreground) and <STRONG>setb</STRONG> (set
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> To change the current foreground or background color on a
+ Tektronix-type terminal, use <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> (set ANSI foreground) and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>
+ (set ANSI background) or <STRONG>setf</STRONG> (set foreground) and <STRONG>setb</STRONG> (set
background). These take one parameter, the color number. The SVr4
- documentation describes only <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>; the XPG4 draft says that
- "If the terminal supports ANSI escape sequences to set background
- and foreground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>,
+ documentation describes only <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG>; the XPG4 draft says that
+ "If the terminal supports ANSI escape sequences to set background
+ and foreground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG>,
respectively.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal supports other escape sequences to set background
- and foreground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setb</STRONG>,
- respectively. The <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> and the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_refresh.3x.html">refresh(3x)</A></STRONG> functions use the
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal supports other escape sequences to set background
+ and foreground, they should be coded as <STRONG>setf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setb</STRONG>,
+ respectively. The <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> and the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_refresh.3x.html">refresh(3x)</A></STRONG> functions use the
<STRONG>setaf</STRONG> and <STRONG>setab</STRONG> capabilities if they are defined.
- The <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> and <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> capabilities take a single numeric
+ The <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> and <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> capabilities take a single numeric
argument each. Argument values 0-7 of <STRONG>setaf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setab</STRONG> are portably defined
- as follows (the middle column is the symbolic #define available in the
- header for the <STRONG>curses</STRONG> or <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> libraries). The terminal hardware is
- free to map these as it likes, but the RGB values indicate normal
+ as follows (the middle column is the symbolic #define available in the
+ header for the <STRONG>curses</STRONG> or <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> libraries). The terminal hardware is
+ free to map these as it likes, but the RGB values indicate normal
locations in color space.
<STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
yellow <STRONG>COLOR_YELLOW</STRONG> 6 max,max,0
white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max,max,max
- It is important to not confuse the two sets of color capabilities;
+ It is important to not confuse the two sets of color capabilities;
otherwise red/blue will be interchanged on the display.
- On an HP-like terminal, use <STRONG>scp</STRONG> with a color-pair number parameter to
+ On an HP-like terminal, use <STRONG>scp</STRONG> with a color-pair number parameter to
set which color pair is current.
Some terminals allow the <EM>color</EM> <EM>values</EM> to be modified:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> On a Tektronix-like terminal, the capability <STRONG>ccc</STRONG> may be present to
- indicate that colors can be modified. If so, the <STRONG>initc</STRONG> capability
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> On a Tektronix-like terminal, the capability <STRONG>ccc</STRONG> may be present to
+ indicate that colors can be modified. If so, the <STRONG>initc</STRONG> capability
will take a color number (0 to <STRONG>colors</STRONG> - 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
+ which describe the color. These three parameters default to being
+ interpreted as RGB (Red, Green, Blue) values. If the boolean
capability <STRONG>hls</STRONG> is present, they are instead as HLS (Hue, Lightness,
Saturation) indices. The ranges are terminal-dependent.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> On an HP-like terminal, <STRONG>initp</STRONG> may give a capability for changing a
- color-pair value. It will take seven parameters; a color-pair
- number (0 to <STRONG>max_pairs</STRONG> - 1), and two triples describing first
- background and then foreground colors. These parameters must be
- (Red, Green, Blue) or (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) depending on
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> On an HP-like terminal, <STRONG>initp</STRONG> may give a capability for changing a
+ color-pair value. It will take seven parameters; a color-pair
+ number (0 to <STRONG>max_pairs</STRONG> - 1), and two triples describing first
+ background and then foreground colors. These parameters must be
+ (Red, Green, Blue) or (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) depending on
<STRONG>hls</STRONG>.
- On some color terminals, colors collide with highlights. You can
- register these collisions with the <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> capability. This is a bit-mask
- of attributes not to be used when colors are enabled. The
+ On some color terminals, colors collide with highlights. You can
+ register these collisions with the <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> capability. This is a bit-mask
+ of attributes not to be used when colors are enabled. The
correspondence with the attributes understood by <STRONG>curses</STRONG> is as follows:
<STRONG>Attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>Bit</STRONG> <STRONG>Decimal</STRONG> <STRONG>Set</STRONG> <STRONG>by</STRONG>
A_VERTICAL 14 16384 sgr1
A_ITALIC 15 32768 sitm
- For example, on many IBM PC consoles, the underline attribute collides
- with the foreground color blue and is not available in color mode.
+ For example, on many IBM PC consoles, the underline attribute collides
+ with the foreground color blue and is not available in color mode.
These should have an <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> capability of 2.
- SVr4 curses does nothing with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>, ncurses recognizes it and optimizes
+ SVr4 curses does nothing with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>, ncurses recognizes it and optimizes
the output in favor of colors.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</a></H3><PRE>
- If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
- then this can be given as pad. Only the first character of the pad
+ If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
+ then this can be given as pad. Only the first character of the pad
string is used. If the terminal does not have a pad character, specify
- npc. Note that ncurses implements the termcap-compatible <STRONG>PC</STRONG> variable;
- though the application may set this value to something other than a
- null, ncurses will test <STRONG>npc</STRONG> first and use napms if the terminal has no
+ npc. Note that ncurses implements the termcap-compatible <STRONG>PC</STRONG> variable;
+ though the application may set this value to something other than a
+ null, ncurses will test <STRONG>npc</STRONG> first and use napms if the terminal has no
pad character.
- If the terminal can move up or down half a line, this can be indicated
- with <STRONG>hu</STRONG> (half-line up) and <STRONG>hd</STRONG> (half-line down). This is primarily
- useful for superscripts and subscripts on hard-copy terminals. If a
+ If the terminal can move up or down half a line, this can be indicated
+ with <STRONG>hu</STRONG> (half-line up) and <STRONG>hd</STRONG> (half-line down). This is primarily
+ useful for superscripts and subscripts on hard-copy terminals. If a
hard-copy terminal can eject to the next page (form feed), give this as
<STRONG>ff</STRONG> (usually control/L).
- If there is a command to repeat a given character a given number of
- times (to save time transmitting a large number of identical
- characters) this can be indicated with the parameterized string <STRONG>rep</STRONG>.
- The first parameter is the character to be repeated and the second is
+ If there is a command to repeat a given character a given number of
+ times (to save time transmitting a large number of identical
+ characters) this can be indicated with the parameterized string <STRONG>rep</STRONG>.
+ The first parameter is the character to be repeated and the second is
the number of times to repeat it. Thus, tparm(repeat_char, 'x', 10) is
the same as "xxxxxxxxxx".
If the terminal has a settable command character, such as the TEKTRONIX
- 4025, this can be indicated with <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG>. A prototype command character
- is chosen which is used in all capabilities. This character is given
- in the <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG> capability to identify it. The following convention is
+ 4025, this can be indicated with <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG>. A prototype command character
+ is chosen which is used in all capabilities. This character is given
+ in the <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG> capability to identify it. The following convention is
supported on some UNIX systems: The environment is to be searched for a
- <STRONG>CC</STRONG> variable, and if found, all occurrences of the prototype character
+ <STRONG>CC</STRONG> variable, and if found, all occurrences of the prototype character
are replaced with the character in the environment variable.
- Terminal descriptions that do not represent a specific kind of known
- terminal, such as <EM>switch</EM>, <EM>dialup</EM>, <EM>patch</EM>, and <EM>network</EM>, should include
- the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (generic) capability so that programs can complain that they do
- not know how to talk to the terminal. (This capability does not apply
- to <EM>virtual</EM> terminal descriptions for which the escape sequences are
+ Terminal descriptions that do not represent a specific kind of known
+ terminal, such as <EM>switch</EM>, <EM>dialup</EM>, <EM>patch</EM>, and <EM>network</EM>, should include
+ the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (generic) capability so that programs can complain that they do
+ not know how to talk to the terminal. (This capability does not apply
+ to <EM>virtual</EM> terminal descriptions for which the escape sequences are
known.)
If the terminal has a "meta key" which acts as a shift key, setting the
- 8th bit of any character transmitted, this fact can be indicated with
- <STRONG>km</STRONG>. Otherwise, software will assume that the 8th bit is parity and it
- will usually be cleared. If strings exist to turn this "meta mode" on
+ 8th bit of any character transmitted, this fact can be indicated with
+ <STRONG>km</STRONG>. Otherwise, software will assume that the 8th bit is parity and it
+ will usually be cleared. If strings exist to turn this "meta mode" on
and off, they can be given as <STRONG>smm</STRONG> and <STRONG>rmm</STRONG>.
If the terminal has more lines of memory than will fit on the screen at
- once, the number of lines of memory can be indicated with <STRONG>lm</STRONG>. A value
+ once, the number of lines of memory can be indicated with <STRONG>lm</STRONG>. A value
of <STRONG>lm</STRONG>#0 indicates that the number of lines is not fixed, but that there
is still more memory than fits on the screen.
- If the terminal is one of those supported by the UNIX virtual terminal
+ If the terminal is one of those supported by the UNIX virtual terminal
protocol, the terminal number can be given as <STRONG>vt</STRONG>.
- Media copy strings which control an auxiliary printer connected to the
- terminal can be given as <STRONG>mc0</STRONG>: print the contents of the screen, <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>:
- turn off the printer, and <STRONG>mc5</STRONG>: turn on the printer. When the printer
- is on, all text sent to the terminal will be sent to the printer. It
- is undefined whether the text is also displayed on the terminal screen
- when the printer is on. A variation <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> takes one parameter, and
- leaves the printer on for as many characters as the value of the
+ Media copy strings which control an auxiliary printer connected to the
+ terminal can be given as <STRONG>mc0</STRONG>: print the contents of the screen, <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>:
+ turn off the printer, and <STRONG>mc5</STRONG>: turn on the printer. When the printer
+ is on, all text sent to the terminal will be sent to the printer. It
+ is undefined whether the text is also displayed on the terminal screen
+ when the printer is on. A variation <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> takes one parameter, and
+ leaves the printer on for as many characters as the value of the
parameter, then turns the printer off. The parameter should not exceed
- 255. All text, including <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>, is transparently passed to the printer
+ 255. All text, including <STRONG>mc4</STRONG>, is transparently passed to the printer
while an <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> is in effect.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Glitches-and-Braindamage">Glitches and Braindamage</a></H3><PRE>
- Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow "~" characters to be displayed
+ Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow "~" characters to be displayed
should indicate <STRONG>hz</STRONG>.
- Terminals which ignore a line-feed immediately after an <STRONG>am</STRONG> wrap, such
+ Terminals which ignore a line-feed immediately after an <STRONG>am</STRONG> wrap, such
as the Concept and vt100, should indicate <STRONG>xenl</STRONG>.
- If <STRONG>el</STRONG> is required to get rid of standout (instead of merely writing
+ If <STRONG>el</STRONG> is required to get rid of standout (instead of merely writing
normal text on top of it), <STRONG>xhp</STRONG> should be given.
Teleray terminals, where tabs turn all characters moved over to blanks,
- should indicate <STRONG>xt</STRONG> (destructive tabs). Note: the variable indicating
- this is now "dest_tabs_magic_smso"; in older versions, it was
- teleray_glitch. This glitch is also taken to mean that it is not
- possible to position the cursor on top of a "magic cookie", that to
- erase standout mode it is instead necessary to use delete and insert
+ should indicate <STRONG>xt</STRONG> (destructive tabs). Note: the variable indicating
+ this is now "dest_tabs_magic_smso"; in older versions, it was
+ teleray_glitch. This glitch is also taken to mean that it is not
+ possible to position the cursor on top of a "magic cookie", that to
+ erase standout mode it is instead necessary to use delete and insert
line. The ncurses implementation ignores this glitch.
- The Beehive Superbee, which is unable to correctly transmit the escape
- or control/C characters, has <STRONG>xsb</STRONG>, indicating that the f1 key is used
- for escape and f2 for control/C. (Only certain Superbees have this
- problem, depending on the ROM.) Note that in older terminfo versions,
+ The Beehive Superbee, which is unable to correctly transmit the escape
+ or control/C characters, has <STRONG>xsb</STRONG>, indicating that the f1 key is used
+ for escape and f2 for control/C. (Only certain Superbees have this
+ problem, depending on the ROM.) Note that in older terminfo versions,
this capability was called "beehive_glitch"; it is now "no_esc_ctl_c".
- Other specific terminal problems may be corrected by adding more
+ Other specific terminal problems may be corrected by adding more
capabilities of the form <STRONG>x</STRONG><EM>x</EM>.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Pitfalls-of-Long-Entries">Pitfalls of Long Entries</a></H3><PRE>
- 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 translations are much more strictly limited
+ 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 translations are much more strictly limited
(to 1023 bytes), thus termcap translations of long terminfo entries can
cause problems.
- The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions of <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> 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 <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> is searching for is,
+ The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions of <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> 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 <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> is searching for is,
several bad things can happen:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> some termcap libraries print a warning message,
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
+ 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 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 particular terminal. This is the
- length of the entry as it exists in /etc/termcap, minus the backslash-
+ The "before tc expansion" length is the most important one, because it
+ affects more than just users of that particular terminal. This is the
+ length of the entry as it exists in /etc/termcap, minus the backslash-
newline pairs, which <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> strips out while reading it. Some termcap
libraries strip off the final newline, too (GNU termcap does not). Now
suppose:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> and the application has only allocated a 1k buffer,
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> 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
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> 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,
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> 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 <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> has to search
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> 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 <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> has to search
the whole termcap file).
- Then <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> 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
+ Then <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> 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.
- The "after tc expansion" length will have a similar effect to the
+ 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 <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> only does "tc" expansion once it is found the terminal
+ since <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> 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, it will have this effect even for users of some other
- terminal types and users whose TERM variable does not have a termcap
+ 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, it will have this effect even for users of some other
+ terminal types and users whose TERM variable does not have a termcap
entry.
- When in -C (translate to termcap) mode, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation of
- <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG> issues warning messages when the pre-tc length of a termcap
- translation is too long. The -c (check) option also checks resolved
+ When in -C (translate to termcap) mode, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation of
+ <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG> 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) lengths.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Binary-Compatibility">Binary Compatibility</a></H3><PRE>
- 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
+ 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 and XSI Curses extensions.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></H2><PRE>
- Searching for terminal descriptions in <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> and
+ Searching for terminal descriptions in <STRONG>$HOME/.terminfo</STRONG> and
TERMINFO_DIRS is not supported by older implementations.
- Some SVr4 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> implementations, and all previous to SVr4, do not
+ Some SVr4 <STRONG>curses</STRONG> implementations, and all previous to SVr4, do not
interpret the %A and %O operators in parameter strings.
- SVr4/XPG4 do not specify whether <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> 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
- <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation ignores <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> in <STRONG>ALTCHARSET</STRONG> mode. This raises
+ SVr4/XPG4 do not specify whether <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> 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
+ <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> implementation ignores <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> in <STRONG>ALTCHARSET</STRONG> mode. This raises
the possibility that an XPG4 implementation making the opposite
- interpretation may need terminfo entries made for <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> to have <STRONG>msgr</STRONG>
+ interpretation may need terminfo entries made for <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> to have <STRONG>msgr</STRONG>
turned off.
The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library handles insert-character and insert-character modes
- in a slightly non-standard way to get better update efficiency. See
+ in a slightly non-standard way to get better update efficiency. See
the <STRONG>Insert/Delete</STRONG> <STRONG>Character</STRONG> subsection above.
- The parameter substitutions for <STRONG>set_clock</STRONG> and <STRONG>display_clock</STRONG> are not
- documented in SVr4 or the XSI Curses standard. They are deduced from
+ The parameter substitutions for <STRONG>set_clock</STRONG> and <STRONG>display_clock</STRONG> 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 <STRONG>kmous</STRONG> capability. The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library wants
- to interpret it as <STRONG>KEY_MOUSE</STRONG>, for use by terminals and emulators like
- xterm that can return mouse-tracking information in the keyboard-input
+ Be careful assigning the <STRONG>kmous</STRONG> capability. The <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> library wants
+ to interpret it as <STRONG>KEY_MOUSE</STRONG>, 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 applications must
- assume that numeric capabilities are signed 16-bit values. This
- includes the <EM>no</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>color</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>video</EM> (<STRONG>ncv</STRONG>) capability. The 32768 mask value
- used for italics with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> can be confused with an absent or cancelled
- <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>. If italics should work with colors, then the <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> value must be
+ X/Open Curses does not mention italics. Portable applications must
+ assume that numeric capabilities are signed 16-bit values. This
+ includes the <EM>no</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>color</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>video</EM> (<STRONG>ncv</STRONG>) capability. The 32768 mask value
+ used for italics with <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> can be confused with an absent or cancelled
+ <STRONG>ncv</STRONG>. If italics should work with colors, then the <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> 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 cases) different
+ 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, accurate as of October 1995:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SVR4,</STRONG> <STRONG>Solaris,</STRONG> <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> -- These support all SVr4 capabilities.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SGI</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr4 set, adds one undocumented extended string
capability (<STRONG>set_pglen</STRONG>).
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SVr1,</STRONG> <STRONG>Ultrix</STRONG> -- These support a restricted subset of terminfo
- capabilities. The booleans end with <STRONG>xon_xoff</STRONG>; the numerics with
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>SVr1,</STRONG> <STRONG>Ultrix</STRONG> -- These support a restricted subset of terminfo
+ capabilities. The booleans end with <STRONG>xon_xoff</STRONG>; the numerics with
<STRONG>width_status_line</STRONG>; and the strings with <STRONG>prtr_non</STRONG>.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>HP/UX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus the SVr[234] numerics
- <STRONG>num_labels</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_height</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_width</STRONG>, plus function keys 11
- through 63, plus <STRONG>plab_norm</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_on</STRONG>, and <STRONG>label_off</STRONG>, plus some
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>HP/UX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus the SVr[234] numerics
+ <STRONG>num_labels</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_height</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_width</STRONG>, plus function keys 11
+ through 63, plus <STRONG>plab_norm</STRONG>, <STRONG>label_on</STRONG>, and <STRONG>label_off</STRONG>, plus some
incompatible extensions in the string table.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>AIX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11 through 63,
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>AIX</STRONG> -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11 through 63,
plus a number of incompatible string table extensions.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>OSF</STRONG> -- Supports both the SVr4 set and the AIX extensions.
-ncurses 6.4 2023-0
7-01 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
+ncurses 6.4 2023-0
9-02 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
<div class="nav">
<ul>
* sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written *
* authorization. *
****************************************************************************
- * @Id: tic.1m,v 1.88 2023/08/19 20:02:20 tom Exp @
+ * @Id: tic.1m,v 1.89 2023/09/02 22:29:35 tom Exp @
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-<TITLE>tic 1m 2023-08-19 ncurses 6.4 User commands</TITLE>
+<TITLE>tic 1m 2023-09-02 ncurses 6.4 User commands</TITLE>
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-<H1 class="no-header">tic 1m 2023-08-19 ncurses 6.4 User commands</H1>
+<H1 class="no-header">tic 1m 2023-09-02 ncurses 6.4 User commands</H1>
<PRE>
<STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG> User commands <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG>
<STRONG>o</STRONG> the system terminfo database (<EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>).
+ The <EM>Fetching</EM> <EM>Compiled</EM> <EM>Descriptions</EM> section in the <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> manual
+ goes into further detail.
+
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-ALIASES">ALIASES</a></H3><PRE>
- This is the same program as infotocap and captoinfo; usually those are
+ This is the same program as infotocap and captoinfo; usually those are
linked to, or copied from this program:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> When invoked as infotocap, tic sets the <STRONG>-I</STRONG> option.
<STRONG>-1</STRONG> restricts the output to a single column
- <STRONG>-a</STRONG> tells <STRONG>tic</STRONG> to retain commented-out capabilities rather than
- discarding them. Capabilities are commented by prefixing them
- with a period. This sets the <STRONG>-x</STRONG> option, because it treats the
- commented-out entries as user-defined names. If the source is
- termcap, accept the 2-character names required by version 6.
+ <STRONG>-a</STRONG> tells <STRONG>tic</STRONG> to retain commented-out capabilities rather than
+ discarding them. Capabilities are commented by prefixing them
+ with a period. This sets the <STRONG>-x</STRONG> option, because it treats the
+ commented-out entries as user-defined names. If the source is
+ termcap, accept the 2-character names required by version 6.
Otherwise these are ignored.
- <STRONG>-C</STRONG> Force source translation to termcap format. Note: this differs
- from the <STRONG>-C</STRONG> option of <STRONG><A HREF="infocmp.1m.html">infocmp(1m)</A></STRONG> in that it does not merely
+ <STRONG>-C</STRONG> Force source translation to termcap format. Note: this differs
+ from the <STRONG>-C</STRONG> option of <STRONG><A HREF="infocmp.1m.html">infocmp(1m)</A></STRONG> in that it does not merely
translate capability names, but also translates terminfo strings
- to termcap format. Capabilities that are not translatable are
- left in the entry under their terminfo names but commented out
- with two preceding dots. The actual format used incorporates
- some improvements for escaped characters from terminfo format.
+ to termcap format. Capabilities that are not translatable are
+ left in the entry under their terminfo names but commented out
+ with two preceding dots. The actual format used incorporates
+ some improvements for escaped characters from terminfo format.
For a stricter BSD-compatible translation, add the <STRONG>-K</STRONG> option.
- If this is combined with <STRONG>-c</STRONG>, <STRONG>tic</STRONG> makes additional checks to
- report cases where the terminfo values do not have an exact
+ If this is combined with <STRONG>-c</STRONG>, <STRONG>tic</STRONG> makes additional checks to
+ report cases where the terminfo values do not have an exact
equivalent in termcap form. For example:
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> usually will not convert, because termcap lacks the
- ability to work with more than two parameters, and because
- termcap lacks many of the arithmetic/logical operators used
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> usually will not convert, because termcap lacks the
+ ability to work with more than two parameters, and because
+ termcap lacks many of the arithmetic/logical operators used
in terminfo.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> capabilities with more than one delay or with delays before
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> capabilities with more than one delay or with delays before
the end of the string will not convert completely.
- <STRONG>-c</STRONG> tells <STRONG>tic</STRONG> to only check <EM>file</EM> for errors, including syntax
- problems and bad use-links. If you specify <STRONG>-C</STRONG> (<STRONG>-I</STRONG>) with this
- option, the code will print warnings about entries which, after
- use resolution, are more than 1023 (4096) bytes long. Due to a
+ <STRONG>-c</STRONG> tells <STRONG>tic</STRONG> to only check <EM>file</EM> for errors, including syntax
+ problems and bad use-links. If you specify <STRONG>-C</STRONG> (<STRONG>-I</STRONG>) with this
+ option, the code will print warnings about entries which, after
+ use resolution, are more than 1023 (4096) bytes long. Due to a
fixed buffer length in older termcap libraries, as well as buggy
- checking for the buffer length (and a documented limit in
+ checking for the buffer length (and a documented limit in
terminfo), these entries may cause core dumps with other
implementations.
<STRONG>tic</STRONG> checks string capabilities to ensure that those with
- parameters will be valid expressions. It does this check only
- for the predefined string capabilities; those which are defined
+ parameters will be valid expressions. It does this check only
+ for the predefined string capabilities; those which are defined
with the <STRONG>-x</STRONG> option are ignored.
- <STRONG>-D</STRONG> tells <STRONG>tic</STRONG> to print the database locations that it knows about,
+ <STRONG>-D</STRONG> tells <STRONG>tic</STRONG> to print the database locations that it knows about,
and exit. The first location shown is the one to which it would
- write compiled terminal descriptions. If <STRONG>tic</STRONG> is not able to
+ write compiled terminal descriptions. If <STRONG>tic</STRONG> is not able to
find a writable database location according to the rules
- summarized above, it will print a diagnostic and exit with an
+ summarized above, it will print a diagnostic and exit with an
error rather than printing a list of database locations.
<STRONG>-e</STRONG> <EM>names</EM>
- Limit writes and translations to the following comma-separated
- list of terminals. If any name or alias of a terminal matches
- one of the names in the list, the entry will be written or
+ Limit writes and translations to the following comma-separated
+ list of terminals. If any name or alias of a terminal matches
+ one of the names in the list, the entry will be written or
translated as normal. Otherwise no output will be generated for
- it. The option value is interpreted as a file containing the
- list if it contains a '/'. (Note: depending on how tic was
+ it. The option value is interpreted as a file containing the
+ list if it contains a '/'. (Note: depending on how tic was
compiled, this option may require <STRONG>-I</STRONG> or <STRONG>-C</STRONG>.)
- <STRONG>-f</STRONG> Display complex terminfo strings which contain
+ <STRONG>-f</STRONG> Display complex terminfo strings which contain
if/then/else/endif expressions indented for readability.
- <STRONG>-G</STRONG> Display constant literals in decimal form rather than their
+ <STRONG>-G</STRONG> Display constant literals in decimal form rather than their
character equivalents.
- <STRONG>-g</STRONG> Display constant character literals in quoted form rather than
+ <STRONG>-g</STRONG> Display constant character literals in quoted form rather than
their decimal equivalents.
<STRONG>-I</STRONG> Force source translation to terminfo format.
<STRONG>-K</STRONG> Suppress some longstanding ncurses extensions to termcap format,
e.g., "\s" for space.
- <STRONG>-L</STRONG> Force source translation to terminfo format using the long C
+ <STRONG>-L</STRONG> Force source translation to terminfo format using the long C
variable names listed in <<STRONG>term.h</STRONG>>
<STRONG>-N</STRONG> Disable smart defaults. Normally, when translating from termcap
- to terminfo, the compiler makes a number of assumptions about
- the defaults of string capabilities <STRONG>reset1_string</STRONG>,
- <STRONG>carriage_return</STRONG>, <STRONG>cursor_left</STRONG>, <STRONG>cursor_down</STRONG>, <STRONG>scroll_forward</STRONG>, <STRONG>tab</STRONG>,
+ to terminfo, the compiler makes a number of assumptions about
+ the defaults of string capabilities <STRONG>reset1_string</STRONG>,
+ <STRONG>carriage_return</STRONG>, <STRONG>cursor_left</STRONG>, <STRONG>cursor_down</STRONG>, <STRONG>scroll_forward</STRONG>, <STRONG>tab</STRONG>,
<STRONG>newline</STRONG>, <STRONG>key_backspace</STRONG>, <STRONG>key_left</STRONG>, and <STRONG>key_down</STRONG>, then attempts to
- use obsolete termcap capabilities to deduce correct values. It
+ use obsolete termcap capabilities to deduce correct values. It
also normally suppresses output of obsolete termcap capabilities
- such as <STRONG>bs</STRONG>. This option forces a more literal translation that
+ such as <STRONG>bs</STRONG>. This option forces a more literal translation that
also preserves the obsolete capabilities.
- <STRONG>-o</STRONG><EM>dir</EM> Write compiled entries to given database location. Overrides
+ <STRONG>-o</STRONG><EM>dir</EM> Write compiled entries to given database location. Overrides
the TERMINFO environment variable.
- <STRONG>-Q</STRONG><EM>n</EM> Rather than show source in terminfo (text) format, print the
- compiled (binary) format in hexadecimal or base64 form,
+ <STRONG>-Q</STRONG><EM>n</EM> Rather than show source in terminfo (text) format, print the
+ compiled (binary) format in hexadecimal or base64 form,
depending on the option's value:
1 hexadecimal
source.
<STRONG>-R</STRONG><EM>subset</EM>
- Restrict output to a given subset. This option is for use with
- archaic versions of terminfo like those on SVr1, Ultrix, or HP-
+ Restrict output to a given subset. This option is for use with
+ archaic versions of terminfo like those on SVr1, Ultrix, or HP-
UX that do not support the full set of SVR4/XSI Curses terminfo;
- and outright broken ports like AIX 3.x that have their own
+ and outright broken ports like AIX 3.x that have their own
extensions incompatible with SVr4/XSI.
Available subsets are
See <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> for details.
- <STRONG>-r</STRONG> Force entry resolution (so there are no remaining tc
- capabilities) even when doing translation to termcap format.
- This may be needed if you are preparing a termcap file for a
- termcap library (such as GNU termcap through version 1.3 or BSD
+ <STRONG>-r</STRONG> Force entry resolution (so there are no remaining tc
+ capabilities) even when doing translation to termcap format.
+ This may be needed if you are preparing a termcap file for a
+ termcap library (such as GNU termcap through version 1.3 or BSD
termcap through 4.3BSD) that does not handle multiple tc
capabilities per entry.
- <STRONG>-s</STRONG> Summarize the compile by showing the database location into
- which entries are written, and the number of entries which are
+ <STRONG>-s</STRONG> Summarize the compile by showing the database location into
+ which entries are written, and the number of entries which are
compiled.
- <STRONG>-T</STRONG> eliminates size-restrictions on the generated text. This is
- mainly useful for testing and analysis, since the compiled
- descriptions are limited (e.g., 1023 for termcap, 4096 for
+ <STRONG>-T</STRONG> eliminates size-restrictions on the generated text. This is
+ mainly useful for testing and analysis, since the compiled
+ descriptions are limited (e.g., 1023 for termcap, 4096 for
terminfo).
- <STRONG>-t</STRONG> tells <STRONG>tic</STRONG> to discard commented-out capabilities. Normally when
- translating from terminfo to termcap, untranslatable
+ <STRONG>-t</STRONG> tells <STRONG>tic</STRONG> to discard commented-out capabilities. Normally when
+ translating from terminfo to termcap, untranslatable
capabilities are commented-out.
- <STRONG>-U</STRONG> tells <STRONG>tic</STRONG> to not post-process the data after parsing the source
+ <STRONG>-U</STRONG> tells <STRONG>tic</STRONG> to not post-process the data after parsing the source
file. Normally, it infers data which is commonly missing in older
terminfo data, or in termcaps.
<STRONG>-v</STRONG><EM>n</EM> specifies that (verbose) output be written to standard error trace
information showing <STRONG>tic</STRONG>'s progress.
- The optional parameter <EM>n</EM> is a number from 1 to 9, inclusive,
+ The optional parameter <EM>n</EM> is a number from 1 to 9, inclusive,
indicating the desired level of detail of information.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> If ncurses is built without tracing support, the optional
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If ncurses is built without tracing support, the optional
parameter is ignored.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> If <EM>n</EM> is omitted, the default level is 1.
- <STRONG>o</STRONG> If <EM>n</EM> is specified and greater than 1, the level of detail is
- increased, and the output is written (with tracing
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> If <EM>n</EM> is specified and greater than 1, the level of detail is
+ increased, and the output is written (with tracing
information) to the "trace" file.
The debug flag levels are as follows:
9 All values computed in construction of the hash table
- <STRONG>-W</STRONG> By itself, the <STRONG>-w</STRONG> option will not force long strings to be
+ <STRONG>-W</STRONG> By itself, the <STRONG>-w</STRONG> option will not force long strings to be
wrapped. Use the <STRONG>-W</STRONG> option to do this.
- If you specify both <STRONG>-f</STRONG> and <STRONG>-W</STRONG> options, the latter is ignored when
+ If you specify both <STRONG>-f</STRONG> and <STRONG>-W</STRONG> options, the latter is ignored when
<STRONG>-f</STRONG> has already split the line.
<STRONG>-w</STRONG><EM>n</EM> specifies the width of the output. The parameter is optional. If
it is omitted, it defaults to 60.
- <STRONG>-x</STRONG> Treat unknown capabilities as user-defined (see <STRONG>user_caps(5)</STRONG>).
- That is, if you supply a capability name which <STRONG>tic</STRONG> does not
+ <STRONG>-x</STRONG> Treat unknown capabilities as user-defined (see <STRONG>user_caps(5)</STRONG>).
+ That is, if you supply a capability name which <STRONG>tic</STRONG> does not
recognize, it will infer its type (boolean, number or string) from
- the syntax and make an extended table entry for that. User-
- defined capability strings whose name begins with "k" are treated
+ the syntax and make an extended table entry for that. User-
+ defined capability strings whose name begins with "k" are treated
as function keys.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-PARAMETERS">PARAMETERS</a></H3><PRE>
- <EM>file</EM> contains one or more <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> terminal descriptions in source
- format [see <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>]. Each description in the file
+ <EM>file</EM> contains one or more <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> terminal descriptions in source
+ format [see <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>]. Each description in the file
describes the capabilities of a particular terminal.
- If <EM>file</EM> is "-", then the data is read from the standard input.
+ If <EM>file</EM> is "-", then the data is read from the standard input.
The <EM>file</EM> parameter may also be the path of a character-device.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-PROCESSING">PROCESSING</a></H3><PRE>
- All but one of the capabilities recognized by <STRONG>tic</STRONG> are documented in
+ All but one of the capabilities recognized by <STRONG>tic</STRONG> are documented in
<STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>. The exception is the <STRONG>use</STRONG> capability.
When a <STRONG>use</STRONG>=<EM>entry</EM>-<EM>name</EM> field is discovered in a terminal entry currently
- being compiled, <STRONG>tic</STRONG> reads in the binary from <STRONG>/usr/share/terminfo</STRONG> to
- complete the entry. (Entries created from <EM>file</EM> will be used first.
- <STRONG>tic</STRONG> duplicates the capabilities in <EM>entry</EM>-<EM>name</EM> for the current entry,
+ being compiled, <STRONG>tic</STRONG> reads in the binary from <STRONG>/usr/share/terminfo</STRONG> to
+ complete the entry. (Entries created from <EM>file</EM> will be used first.
+ <STRONG>tic</STRONG> duplicates the capabilities in <EM>entry</EM>-<EM>name</EM> for the current entry,
with the exception of those capabilities that explicitly are defined in
the current entry.
- When an entry, e.g., <STRONG>entry_name_1</STRONG>, contains a <STRONG>use=</STRONG><EM>entry</EM>_<EM>name</EM>_<EM>2</EM> field,
- any canceled capabilities in <EM>entry</EM>_<EM>name</EM>_<EM>2</EM> must also appear in
- <STRONG>entry_name_1</STRONG> before <STRONG>use=</STRONG> for these capabilities to be canceled in
+ When an entry, e.g., <STRONG>entry_name_1</STRONG>, contains a <STRONG>use=</STRONG><EM>entry</EM>_<EM>name</EM>_<EM>2</EM> field,
+ any canceled capabilities in <EM>entry</EM>_<EM>name</EM>_<EM>2</EM> must also appear in
+ <STRONG>entry_name_1</STRONG> before <STRONG>use=</STRONG> for these capabilities to be canceled in
<STRONG>entry_name_1</STRONG>.
Total compiled entries cannot exceed 4096 bytes. The name field cannot
- exceed 512 bytes. Terminal names exceeding the maximum alias length
+ exceed 512 bytes. Terminal names exceeding the maximum alias length
(32 characters on systems with long filenames, 14 characters otherwise)
- will be truncated to the maximum alias length and a warning message
+ will be truncated to the maximum alias length and a warning message
will be printed.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-HISTORY">HISTORY</a></H2><PRE>
- System V Release 2 provided a <STRONG>tic</STRONG> utility. It accepted a single
- option: <STRONG>-v</STRONG> (optionally followed by a number). According to Ross
+ System V Release 2 provided a <STRONG>tic</STRONG> utility. It accepted a single
+ option: <STRONG>-v</STRONG> (optionally followed by a number). According to Ross
Ridge's comment in <EM>mytinfo</EM>, this version of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> was unable to represent
cancelled capabilities.
- System V Release 3 provided a different <STRONG>tic</STRONG> utility, written by Pavel
- Curtis, (originally named "compile" in <EM>pcurses</EM>). This added an option
- <STRONG>-c</STRONG> to check the file for errors, with the caveat that errors in "use="
- links would not be reported. System V Release 3 documented a few
- warning messages which did not appear in <EM>pcurses</EM>. While the program
- itself was changed little as development continued with System V
- Release 4, the table of capabilities grew from 180 (<EM>pcurses</EM>) to 464
+ System V Release 3 provided a different <STRONG>tic</STRONG> utility, written by Pavel
+ Curtis, (originally named "compile" in <EM>pcurses</EM>). This added an option
+ <STRONG>-c</STRONG> to check the file for errors, with the caveat that errors in "use="
+ links would not be reported. System V Release 3 documented a few
+ warning messages which did not appear in <EM>pcurses</EM>. While the program
+ itself was changed little as development continued with System V
+ Release 4, the table of capabilities grew from 180 (<EM>pcurses</EM>) to 464
(Solaris).
- In early development of ncurses (1993), Zeyd Ben-Halim used the table
- from <EM>mytinfo</EM> to extend the <EM>pcurses</EM> table to 469 capabilities (456
- matched SVr4, 8 were only in SVr4, 13 were not in SVr4). Of those 13,
- 11 were ultimately discarded (perhaps to match the draft of X/Open
- Curses). The exceptions were <STRONG>memory_lock_above</STRONG> and <STRONG>memory_unlock</STRONG> (see
+ In early development of ncurses (1993), Zeyd Ben-Halim used the table
+ from <EM>mytinfo</EM> to extend the <EM>pcurses</EM> table to 469 capabilities (456
+ matched SVr4, 8 were only in SVr4, 13 were not in SVr4). Of those 13,
+ 11 were ultimately discarded (perhaps to match the draft of X/Open
+ Curses). The exceptions were <STRONG>memory_lock_above</STRONG> and <STRONG>memory_unlock</STRONG> (see
<STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG>).
- Eric Raymond incorporated parts of <EM>mytinfo</EM> into ncurses to implement
- the termcap-to-terminfo source conversion, and extended that to begin
+ Eric Raymond incorporated parts of <EM>mytinfo</EM> into ncurses to implement
+ the termcap-to-terminfo source conversion, and extended that to begin
development of the corresponding terminfo-to-termcap source conversion,
- Thomas Dickey completed that development over the course of several
+ Thomas Dickey completed that development over the course of several
years.
- In 1999, Thomas Dickey added the <STRONG>-x</STRONG> option to support user-defined
+ In 1999, Thomas Dickey added the <STRONG>-x</STRONG> option to support user-defined
capabilities.
- In 2010, Roy Marples provided a <STRONG>tic</STRONG> program and terminfo library for
- NetBSD. That implementation adapts several features from ncurses,
+ In 2010, Roy Marples provided a <STRONG>tic</STRONG> program and terminfo library for
+ NetBSD. That implementation adapts several features from ncurses,
including <STRONG>tic</STRONG>'s <STRONG>-x</STRONG> option.
- The <STRONG>-c</STRONG> option tells <STRONG>tic</STRONG> to check for problems in the terminfo source
+ The <STRONG>-c</STRONG> option tells <STRONG>tic</STRONG> to check for problems in the terminfo source
file. Continued development provides additional checks:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>pcurses</EM> had 8 warnings
The checking done in ncurses' <STRONG>tic</STRONG> helps with the conversion to termcap,
as well as pointing out errors and inconsistencies. It is also used to
- ensure consistency with the user-defined capabilities. There are 527
- distinct capabilities in ncurses' terminal database; 128 of those are
+ ensure consistency with the user-defined capabilities. There are 527
+ distinct capabilities in ncurses' terminal database; 128 of those are
user-defined.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
- X/Open Curses, Issue 7 (2009) provides a brief description of <STRONG>tic</STRONG>. It
- lists one option: <STRONG>-c</STRONG>. The omission of <STRONG>-v</STRONG> is unexpected. The change
- history states that the description is derived from True64 UNIX.
- According to its manual pages, that system also supported the <STRONG>-v</STRONG>
+ X/Open Curses, Issue 7 (2009) provides a brief description of <STRONG>tic</STRONG>. It
+ lists one option: <STRONG>-c</STRONG>. The omission of <STRONG>-v</STRONG> is unexpected. The change
+ history states that the description is derived from True64 UNIX.
+ According to its manual pages, that system also supported the <STRONG>-v</STRONG>
option.
- Shortly after Issue 7 was released, Tru64 was discontinued. As of
- 2019, the surviving implementations of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> are SVr4 (AIX, HP-UX and
+ Shortly after Issue 7 was released, Tru64 was discontinued. As of
+ 2019, the surviving implementations of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> are SVr4 (AIX, HP-UX and
Solaris), ncurses and NetBSD curses. The SVr4 <STRONG>tic</STRONG> programs all support
- the <STRONG>-v</STRONG> option. The NetBSD <STRONG>tic</STRONG> program follows X/Open's documentation,
+ the <STRONG>-v</STRONG> option. The NetBSD <STRONG>tic</STRONG> program follows X/Open's documentation,
omitting the <STRONG>-v</STRONG> option.
- The X/Open rationale states that some implementations of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> read
- terminal descriptions from the standard input if the <EM>file</EM> parameter is
- omitted. None of these implementations do that. Further, it comments
- that some may choose to read from "./terminfo.src" but that is
- obsolescent behavior from SVr2, and is not (for example) a documented
+ The X/Open rationale states that some implementations of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> read
+ terminal descriptions from the standard input if the <EM>file</EM> parameter is
+ omitted. None of these implementations do that. Further, it comments
+ that some may choose to read from "./terminfo.src" but that is
+ obsolescent behavior from SVr2, and is not (for example) a documented
feature of SVr3.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-COMPATIBILITY">COMPATIBILITY</a></H3><PRE>
- There is some evidence that historic <STRONG>tic</STRONG> implementations treated
- description fields with no whitespace in them as additional aliases or
- short names. This <STRONG>tic</STRONG> does not do that, but it does warn when
+ There is some evidence that historic <STRONG>tic</STRONG> implementations treated
+ description fields with no whitespace in them as additional aliases or
+ short names. This <STRONG>tic</STRONG> does not do that, but it does warn when
description fields may be treated that way and check them for dangerous
characters.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></H3><PRE>
- Unlike the SVr4 <STRONG>tic</STRONG> command, this implementation can actually compile
- termcap sources. In fact, entries in terminfo and termcap syntax can
- be mixed in a single source file. See <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> for the list of
+ Unlike the SVr4 <STRONG>tic</STRONG> command, this implementation can actually compile
+ termcap sources. In fact, entries in terminfo and termcap syntax can
+ be mixed in a single source file. See <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG> for the list of
termcap names taken to be equivalent to terminfo names.
- The SVr4 manual pages are not clear on the resolution rules for <STRONG>use</STRONG>
+ The SVr4 manual pages are not clear on the resolution rules for <STRONG>use</STRONG>
capabilities. This implementation of <STRONG>tic</STRONG> will find <STRONG>use</STRONG> targets
- anywhere in the source file, or anywhere in the file tree rooted at
- <STRONG>TERMINFO</STRONG> (if <STRONG>TERMINFO</STRONG> is defined), or in the user's <EM>$HOME/.terminfo</EM>
- database (if it exists), or (finally) anywhere in the system's file
+ anywhere in the source file, or anywhere in the file tree rooted at
+ <STRONG>TERMINFO</STRONG> (if <STRONG>TERMINFO</STRONG> is defined), or in the user's <EM>$HOME/.terminfo</EM>
+ database (if it exists), or (finally) anywhere in the system's file
tree of compiled entries.
- The error messages from this <STRONG>tic</STRONG> have the same format as GNU C error
+ The error messages from this <STRONG>tic</STRONG> have the same format as GNU C error
messages, and can be parsed by GNU Emacs's compile facility.
Aside from <STRONG>-c</STRONG> and <STRONG>-v</STRONG>, options are not portable:
<STRONG>-a</STRONG> <STRONG>-o</STRONG> <STRONG>-x</STRONG>
- and adds <STRONG>-S</STRONG> (a feature which does the same thing as infocmp's <STRONG>-e</STRONG>
+ and adds <STRONG>-S</STRONG> (a feature which does the same thing as infocmp's <STRONG>-e</STRONG>
and <STRONG>-E</STRONG> options).
The SVr4 <STRONG>-c</STRONG> mode does not report bad "use=" links.
- System V does not compile entries to or read entries from your
+ System V does not compile entries to or read entries from your
<EM>$HOME/.terminfo</EM> database unless TERMINFO is explicitly set to it.
<STRONG><A HREF="captoinfo.1m.html">captoinfo(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="infocmp.1m.html">infocmp(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="infotocap.1m.html">infotocap(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="toe.1m.html">toe(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>,
<STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>. <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>. <STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG>.
- This describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 6.4 (patch 20230819).
+ This describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 6.4 (patch 20230902).
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-AUTHOR">AUTHOR</a></H2><PRE>
-ncurses 6.4 2023-0
8-19 <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG>
+ncurses 6.4 2023-0
9-02 <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
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