curs_terminfo(3X) | Miscellaneous Library Functions | curs_terminfo(3X) |
#include <ncurses/curses.h> #include <term.h> TERMINAL *cur_term; const char * const boolnames[]; const char * const boolcodes[]; const char * const boolfnames[]; const char * const numnames[]; const char * const numcodes[]; const char * const numfnames[]; const char * const strnames[]; const char * const strcodes[]; const char * const strfnames[]; int setupterm(const char *term, int filedes, int *errret);
TERMINAL *set_curterm(TERMINAL *nterm);
int del_curterm(TERMINAL *oterm);
int restartterm(const char *term, int filedes, int *errret); char *tparm(const char *str, ...);
int tputs(const char *str, int affcnt, int (*putc)(int));
int putp(const char *str); int vidputs(chtype attrs, int (*putc)(int));
int vidattr(chtype attrs);
int vid_puts(attr_t attrs, short pair, void *opts, int (*putc)(int));
int vid_attr(attr_t attrs, short pair, void *opts); int mvcur(int oldrow, int oldcol, int newrow, int newcol); int tigetflag(const char *capname);
int tigetnum(const char *capname);
char *tigetstr(const char *capname); char *tiparm(const char *str, ...);
None of these functions use (or are aware of) multibyte character strings such as UTF-8:
Applications can use the terminal capabilities either directly (via header definitions), or by special functions. The header files curses.h and term.h should be included (in this order) to get the definitions for these strings, numbers, and flags.
The terminfo variables lines and columns are initialized by setupterm as follows:
Parameterized strings should be passed through tparm to instantiate them. All terminfo strings (including the output of tparm) should be printed with tputs or putp. Call reset_shell_mode to restore the tty modes before exiting [see curs_kernel(3X)].
Programs which use cursor addressing should
Programs which execute shell subprocesses should
The setupterm routine reads in the terminfo database, initializing the terminfo structures, but does not set up the output virtualization structures used by curses. These are its parameters:
setupterm((char *)0, 1, (int *)0);,
which uses all the defaults and sends the output to stdout.
If setupterm is called repeatedly for the same terminal type, it will reuse the information. It maintains only one copy of a given terminal's capabilities in memory. If it is called for different terminal types, setupterm allocates new storage for each set of terminal capabilities.
The set_curterm routine sets cur_term to nterm, and makes all of the terminfo boolean, numeric, and string variables use the values from nterm. It returns the old value of cur_term.
The del_curterm routine frees the space pointed to by oterm and makes it available for further use. If oterm is the same as cur_term, references to any of the terminfo boolean, numeric, and string variables thereafter may refer to invalid memory locations until another setupterm has been called.
The restartterm routine is similar to setupterm and initscr, except that it is called after restoring memory to a previous state (for example, when reloading a game saved as a core image dump). restartterm assumes that the windows and the input and output options are the same as when memory was saved, but the terminal type and baud rate may be different. Accordingly, restartterm saves various tty state bits, calls setupterm, and then restores the bits.
tiparm is a newer form of tparm which uses <stdarg.h> rather than a fixed-parameter list. Its numeric parameters are integers (int) rather than longs.
The putp routine calls tputs(str, 1, putchar). The output of putp always goes to stdout, rather than the filedes specified in setupterm.
The vidputs routine displays the string on the terminal in the video attribute mode attrs, which is any combination of the attributes listed in curses(3X). The characters are passed to the putchar-like routine putc.
The vidattr routine is like the vidputs routine, except that it outputs through putchar.
The vid_attr and vid_puts routines correspond to vidattr and vidputs, respectively. They use a set of arguments for representing the video attributes plus color, i.e.,
The vid_attr and vid_puts routines are designed to use the attribute constants with the WA_ prefix.
X/Open Curses reserves the opts argument for future use, saying that applications must provide a null pointer for that argument. As an extension, this implementation allows opts to be used as a pointer to int, which overrides the pair (short) argument.
The mvcur routine provides low-level cursor motion. It takes effect immediately (rather than at the next refresh).
While putp and mvcur are low-level functions which do not use the high-level curses state, they are declared in <curses.h> because SystemV did this (see HISTORY).
These routines return special values to denote errors.
The tigetflag routine returns
The tigetnum routine returns
The tigetstr routine returns
for each of the predefined terminfo variables:
del_curterm(cur_term);
the memory will be freed.
The formatting functions tparm and tiparm extend the storage allocated by setupterm:
The higher-level initscr and newterm functions use setupterm. Normally they do not free this memory, but it is possible to do that using the delscreen(3X) function.
Routines that return pointers always return NULL on error.
X/Open defines no error conditions. In this implementation
In SVr4, those are found in <curses.h>, but except for setterm, are likewise macros. The one function, setterm, is mentioned in the manual page. The manual page notes that the setterm routine was replaced by setupterm, stating that the call:
setupterm(term, 1, (int *)0)
provides the same functionality as setterm(term), and is not recommended for new programs. This implementation provides each of those symbols as macros for BSD compatibility,
Function | Description |
fixterm | restore tty to “in curses” state |
gettmode | establish current tty modes |
mvcur | low level cursor motion |
putp | utility function that uses tputs to send characters via putchar. |
resetterm | set tty modes to “out of curses” state |
resetty | reset tty flags to stored value |
saveterm | save current modes as “in curses” state |
savetty | store current tty flags |
setterm | establish terminal with given type |
setupterm | establish terminal with given type |
tparm | instantiate a string expression with parameters |
tputs | apply padding information to a string |
vidattr | like vidputs, but outputs through putchar |
vidputs | output a string to put terminal in a specified video attribute mode |
The programming manual also mentioned functions provided for termcap compatibility (commenting that they “may go away at a later date”):
Function | Description |
tgetent | look up termcap entry for given name |
tgetflag | get boolean entry for given id |
tgetnum | get numeric entry for given id |
tgetstr | get string entry for given id |
tgoto | apply parameters to given capability |
tputs | apply padding to capability, calling a function to put characters |
Early terminfo programs obtained capability values from the TERMINAL structure initialized by setupterm.
SVr3 extended terminfo by adding functions to retrieve capability values (like the termcap interface), and reusing tgoto and tputs:
Function | Description |
tigetflag | get boolean entry for given id |
tigetnum | get numeric entry for given id |
tigetstr | get string entry for given id |
SVr3 also replaced several of the SVr2 terminfo functions which had no counterpart in the termcap interface, documenting them as obsolete:
Function | Replaced by |
crmode | cbreak |
fixterm | reset_prog_mode |
gettmode | N/A |
nocrmode | nocbreak |
resetterm | reset_shell_mode |
saveterm | def_prog_mode |
setterm | setupterm |
SVr3 kept the mvcur, vidattr and vidputs functions, along with putp, tparm and tputs. The latter were needed to support padding, and handling functions such as vidattr (which used more than the two parameters supported by tgoto).
SVr3 introduced the functions for switching between terminal descriptions, e.g., set_curterm. Some of that was incremental improvements to the SVr2 library:
SVr4 added the vid_attr and vid_puts functions.
There are other low-level functions declared in the curses header files on Unix systems, but none were documented. The functions marked “obsolete” remained in use by the Unix vi(1) editor.
The function setterm is not described by X/Open and must be considered non-portable. All other functions are as described by X/Open.
Other implementions may not declare the capability name arrays. Some provide them without declaring them. X/Open does not specify them.
Extended terminal capability names, e.g., as defined by gtic -x, are not stored in the arrays described here.
The current version (ncurses6) uses output buffers managed directly by ncurses. Some of the low-level functions described in this manual page write to the standard output. They are not signal-safe. The high-level functions in ncurses use alternate versions of these functions using the more reliable buffering scheme.
In System V Release 4, the third argument of tputs has the type int (*putc)(char).
At least one implementation of X/Open Curses (Solaris) returns a value other than OK/ERR from tputs. That returns the length of the string, and does no error-checking.
X/Open notes that after calling mvcur, the curses state may not match the actual terminal state, and that an application should touch and refresh the window before resuming normal curses calls. Both ncurses and System V Release 4 curses implement mvcur using the SCREEN data allocated in either initscr or newterm. So though it is documented as a terminfo function, mvcur is really a curses function which is not well specified.
X/Open states that the old location must be given for mvcur. This implementation allows the caller to use -1's for the old ordinates. In that case, the old location is unknown.
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