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<H1 class="no-header">curs_terminfo 3x 2025-11-11 ncurses 6.6 Library calls</H1>
<PRE>
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG> Library calls <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
<STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>putp</STRONG>, <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>,
<STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiparm_s</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiscan_s</STRONG>, <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>, <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG>,
<STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> - <EM>curses</EM> interfaces to <EM>terminfo</EM> database
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
<STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG><curses.h></STRONG>
<STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG><term.h></STRONG>
<STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>cur_term;</STRONG>
<STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>boolnames[];</STRONG>
<STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>boolcodes[];</STRONG>
<STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>boolfnames[];</STRONG>
<STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>numnames[];</STRONG>
<STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>numcodes[];</STRONG>
<STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>numfnames[];</STRONG>
<STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>strnames[];</STRONG>
<STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>strcodes[];</STRONG>
<STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>strfnames[];</STRONG>
<STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>setupterm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>term</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>filedes</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>errret</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
<STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>set_curterm(TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>nterm</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
<STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>del_curterm(TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>oterm</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
<STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>restartterm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>term</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>filedes</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>errret</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
<STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>tparm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> ...<STRONG>);</STRONG>
<EM>/*</EM> <EM>or</EM> <EM>*/</EM>
<STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>tparm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>long</STRONG> <EM>p1</EM> ... <STRONG>long</STRONG> <EM>p9</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
<STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>tputs(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>affcnt</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>(*</STRONG> <EM>putc</EM><STRONG>)(int));</STRONG>
<STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>putp(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
<STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>vidputs(chtype</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>(*</STRONG> <EM>putc</EM><STRONG>)(int));</STRONG>
<STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>vidattr(chtype</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
<STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>vid_puts(attr_t</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>short</STRONG> <EM>pair</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>void</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>opts</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>(*</STRONG> <EM>putc</EM><STRONG>)(int));</STRONG>
<STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>vid_attr(attr_t</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>short</STRONG> <EM>pair</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>void</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>opts</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
<STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>tigetflag(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>cap-code</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
<STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>tigetnum(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>cap-code</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
<STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>tigetstr(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>cap-code</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
<STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>tiparm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> ...<STRONG>);</STRONG>
<EM>/*</EM> <EM>extensions</EM> <EM>*/</EM>
<STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>tiparm_s(int</STRONG> <EM>expected</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>mask</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>...);</STRONG>
<STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>tiscan_s(int</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>expected</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>mask</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
<EM>/*</EM> <EM>deprecated</EM> <EM>*/</EM>
<STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>setterm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <EM>term</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
These lower-level functions of the <EM>curses</EM> standard must be called by
programs that deal directly with the <EM>terminfo</EM> database to handle
certain terminal capabilities, such as programming function keys. For
all other functionality, <EM>curses</EM> functions are more suitable and their
use is recommended.
None of these functions use (or are aware of) multibyte character
strings such as UTF-8.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Capability names and codes use the POSIX portable character set.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Capability string values have no associated encoding; they are
strings of 8-bit characters.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Initialization">Initialization</a></H3><PRE>
Call <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> from your application to have <EM>terminfo</EM> manage the
terminal device; this action initializes the terminal-dependent
variables listed in <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>. (A <EM>curses</EM> application calling
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">initscr(3x)</A></STRONG> or <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">newterm(3x)</A></STRONG> achieves the same result.) Applications can
use the terminal capabilities either directly, by object definitions
corresponding to capability names and codes (see <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>) or
by calling the functions documented here. <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> initializes the
<EM>terminfo</EM> variables <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG> as described in <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">use_env(3x)</A></STRONG>.
Pass parameterized string capability values through <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> to
instantiate them. All <EM>terminfo</EM> strings (including the output of <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>)
should be sent to the terminal device with <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> or <STRONG>putp</STRONG>. Call
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_kernel.3x.html">reset_shell_mode(3x)</A></STRONG> to restore the terminal modes before exiting. (A
<EM>curses</EM> application calling <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">endwin(3x)</A></STRONG> achieves the same result.)
Programs that use cursor addressing should emit certain capabilities at
specific times. Specifically, output
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>enter_ca_mode</STRONG> upon startup, and
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>exit_ca_mode</STRONG> before exiting.
Programs that execute shell subprocesses should
<STRONG>o</STRONG> call <STRONG><A HREF="curs_kernel.3x.html">reset_shell_mode(3x)</A></STRONG> and output <STRONG>exit_ca_mode</STRONG> before the shell
is called, and
<STRONG>o</STRONG> output <STRONG>enter_ca_mode</STRONG> and call <STRONG><A HREF="curs_kernel.3x.html">reset_prog_mode(3x)</A></STRONG> after returning
from the shell.
<STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> reads in the <EM>terminfo</EM> database, initializing the <EM>terminfo</EM>
structures, but does not set up the output virtualization structures
used by <EM>curses</EM>. Its parameters follow.
<EM>term</EM> is the terminal type, a character string. If <EM>term</EM> is null, the
environment variable <EM>TERM</EM> is read.
<EM>filedes</EM>
is the file descriptor used for getting and setting terminal
I/O modes.
Higher-level applications use <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">newterm(3x)</A></STRONG> to initialize the
terminal, passing an output <EM>stream</EM> rather than a <EM>descriptor</EM>.
In <EM>curses</EM>, the two are the same because <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> calls
<STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>, passing the file descriptor derived from its output
stream parameter.
<EM>errret</EM>
points to an optional location where an error status can be
returned to the caller. If <EM>errret</EM> is not null, then <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
returns <STRONG>OK</STRONG> or <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> and stores a status value in the integer
pointed to by <EM>errret</EM>. A return value of <STRONG>OK</STRONG> combined with
status of <STRONG>1</STRONG> in <EM>errret</EM> is normal.
If <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> is returned, examine <EM>errret</EM>.
<STRONG>1</STRONG> means that the terminal is a hard-copy type (lacks
destructive backspace), and cannot be used for <EM>curses</EM>
applications. The library determines this fact by
checking the terminal type's <STRONG>hardcopy</STRONG> (<STRONG>hc</STRONG>) capability.
<STRONG>0</STRONG> means that the terminal could not be found, or that it is
a generic type, having too little information for <EM>curses</EM>
applications to run.
<STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> determines if the entry is a generic type by
checking the <STRONG>generic_type</STRONG> (<STRONG>gn</STRONG>) capability.
<STRONG>-1</STRONG> means that the <EM>terminfo</EM> database could not be found.
If <EM>errret</EM> is null, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> reports an error message upon
finding an error and exits. Thus, the simplest call is:
setupterm((char *) NULL, 1, (int *) NULL);
which uses all the defaults and sends the output to <EM>stdout</EM>.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-The-Terminal-State">The Terminal State</a></H3><PRE>
<STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> stores its information about the terminal in a <EM>TERMINAL</EM>
structure pointed to by the global variable <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>. If it detects an
error, or decides that the terminal is unsuitable (hardcopy or
generic), it discards this information, making it unavailable to
applications.
If <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> is called repeatedly for the same terminal type, it reuses
the information. It maintains only one copy of a given type's
capabilities in memory. If called for different types, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
allocates new storage for each set of terminal capabilities.
<STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG> sets <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG> to <EM>nterm</EM>, making all of the <EM>terminfo</EM> Boolean,
numeric, and string capabilities use the values from <EM>nterm</EM>. It returns
the old value of <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>.
<STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG> releases the memory pointed to by <EM>oterm</EM>. If <EM>oterm</EM> is the
same as <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>, references to any of the <EM>terminfo</EM> Boolean, numeric,
and string capabilities thereafter may refer to invalid memory
locations until <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> is called again.
<STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> is similar to <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>, but is intended for use after
restoring program memory to a previous state (for example, when
reloading an application that has been suspended from one terminal
session and restored in another). <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> assumes that the display
dimensions and the input and output options are the same as when memory
was saved, but the terminal type and line speed may differ.
Accordingly, <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> saves relevant terminal state, calls
<STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>, then restores that state.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Formatting-Output">Formatting Output</a></H3><PRE>
<STRONG>tparm</STRONG> instantiates the string <EM>str</EM> with parameters <EM>pi</EM>. It returns a
pointer to a character string representing <EM>str</EM> with the parameters
applied to "%" expressions within. Application developers should keep
in mind some quirks of the interface.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Although <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>'s actual parameters may be integers or strings, the
prototype expects <EM>long</EM> (integer) values.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Aside from the <STRONG>set_attributes</STRONG> (<STRONG>sgr</STRONG>) capability, most terminal
capabilities require no more than one or two parameters.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Padding information is ignored by <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>; it is interpreted by
<STRONG>tputs</STRONG>.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The capability string is null-terminated. Use "\200" where an
ASCII NUL is needed in the output.
<STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> is a newer form of <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> that uses <EM>stdarg.h</EM> rather than a fixed-
length parameter list. Its numeric parameters are <EM>int</EM>s rather than
<EM>long</EM>s.
<STRONG>tparm</STRONG> and <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> assume that the application passes parameters
consistent with the terminal description. <EM>ncurses</EM> provides two
extensions as alternatives to deal with untrusted data.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The <STRONG>tiparm_s</STRONG> extension is a safer formatting function than <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> or
<STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>, because it allows the developer to tell the <EM>curses</EM> library
how many parameters to expect in the parameter list, and which may
be string parameters.
The <EM>mask</EM> parameter has one bit set for each of the parameters (up
to 9) passed as <EM>char</EM> pointers rather than numbers.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The extension <STRONG>tiscan_s</STRONG> allows the application to inspect a
formatting capability to see what the <EM>curses</EM> library would assume.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Output-Functions">Output Functions</a></H3><PRE>
String capabilities can contain <EM>padding</EM>, a time delay (accommodating
performance limitations of hardware terminals) expressed as <STRONG>$<</STRONG><EM>n</EM><STRONG>></STRONG>, where
<EM>n</EM> is a nonnegative integral count of milliseconds. If <EM>n</EM> exceeds 30,000
(thirty seconds), <EM>ncurses</EM> caps it at that value.
<STRONG>tputs</STRONG> interprets time delays in the string <EM>str</EM> and acts upon them.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The <EM>str</EM> parameter must be a <EM>terminfo</EM> string capability or the
return value of <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> or <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>affcnt</EM> is the number of lines affected, or <STRONG>1</STRONG> if not applicable.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>putc</EM> is a <EM>putchar</EM>-like function to which the characters are passed,
one at a time.
<STRONG>tputs</STRONG> processes each time delay with the <STRONG><A HREF="curs_util.3x.html">delay_output(3x)</A></STRONG> function,
routing any resulting padding characters through this function.
<STRONG>putp</STRONG> calls "<STRONG>tputs(</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>1,</STRONG> <STRONG>putchar)</STRONG>". The output of <STRONG>putp</STRONG> always goes to
<EM>stdout</EM>, rather than the <EM>filedes</EM> specified in <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>.
<STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> displays the string on the terminal in the video attribute mode
<EM>attrs</EM>, which is any combination of the attributes listed in <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>.
The characters are passed to the <EM>putchar</EM>-like function <EM>putc</EM>.
<STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> is like <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG>, except that it outputs through <STRONG>putchar(3)</STRONG>.
<STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> correspond to <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG>, respectively.
They use multiple parameters to represent the character attributes and
color; namely,
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM>, of type <EM>attr</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>t</EM>, for the attributes and
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>pair</EM>, of type <EM>short</EM>, for the color pair number.
Use the attribute constants prefixed with "<STRONG>WA_</STRONG>" with <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and
<STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG>.
X/Open Curses reserves the <EM>opts</EM> argument for future use, saying that
applications must provide a null pointer for that argument; but see
section "EXTENSIONS" below.
While <STRONG>putp</STRONG> is a lower-level function that does not use higher-level
<EM>curses</EM> state, <EM>ncurses</EM> declares it in <EM>curses.h</EM> because System V did so
(see section "HISTORY" below).
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminal-Capability-Functions">Terminal Capability Functions</a></H3><PRE>
<STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG>, and <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG> return the value of the capability
corresponding to the <EM>terminfo</EM> <EM>cap-code</EM>, such as <STRONG>xenl</STRONG>, passed to them.
The <EM>cap-code</EM> for each capability is given in the table column of that
name in the "Capabilities" section of <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>.
These functions return special values to denote errors.
<STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG> returns
<STRONG>-1</STRONG> if <EM>cap-code</EM> is not a Boolean capability, or
<STRONG>0</STRONG> if it is canceled or absent from the terminal description.
<STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG> returns
<STRONG>-2</STRONG> if <EM>cap-code</EM> is not a numeric capability, or
<STRONG>-1</STRONG> if it is canceled or absent from the terminal description.
<STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG> returns
<STRONG>(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*)-1</STRONG>
if <EM>cap-code</EM> is not a string capability, or
<STRONG>NULL</STRONG> if it is canceled or absent from the terminal description.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminal-Capability-Names">Terminal Capability Names</a></H3><PRE>
These null-terminated arrays contain
<STRONG>o</STRONG> the short <EM>terminfo</EM> names ("codes"),
<STRONG>o</STRONG> the <EM>termcap</EM> names ("names"), and
<STRONG>o</STRONG> the long <EM>terminfo</EM> names ("fnames")
for each standard <EM>terminfo</EM> capability name.
<STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*boolnames[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*boolcodes[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*boolfnames[]</STRONG>
<STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*numnames[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*numcodes[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*numfnames[]</STRONG>
<STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*strnames[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*strcodes[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*strfnames[]</STRONG>
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Releasing-Memory">Releasing Memory</a></H3><PRE>
Each successful call to <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> allocates memory to hold the terminal
description. As a side effect, it sets <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG> to point to this
memory. If an application calls
del_curterm(cur_term);
the memory will be freed.
The formatting functions <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> and <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> extend the storage allocated
by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> as follows.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> They add the "static" <EM>terminfo</EM> variables [a-z]. Before <EM>ncurses</EM>
6.3, those were shared by all screens. With <EM>ncurses</EM> 6.3, those are
allocated per screen. See <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> To improve performance, <EM>ncurses</EM> 6.3 caches the result of analyzing
<EM>terminfo</EM> strings for their parameter types. That is stored as a
binary tree referenced from the <EM>TERMINAL</EM> structure.
The higher-level <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> and <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> functions use <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>. Normally
they do not free this memory, but it is possible to do that using the
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">delscreen(3x)</A></STRONG> function.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></H2><PRE>
Functions that return integers return <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon failure and <STRONG>OK</STRONG> upon
success.
In <EM>ncurses</EM>,
<STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG>
fails if its terminal parameter is null.
<STRONG>putp</STRONG> calls <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>, returning the same error codes.
<STRONG>restartterm</STRONG>
fails if the associated call to <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> returns <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>.
<STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
fails if it cannot allocate enough memory, or create the initial
windows (<STRONG>stdscr</STRONG>, <STRONG>curscr</STRONG>, and <STRONG>newscr</STRONG>). Other error conditions are
documented above.
<STRONG>tparm</STRONG>
returns a null pointer if the capability would require unexpected
parameters; that is, too many, too few, or incorrect types
(strings where integers are expected, or vice versa).
<STRONG>tputs</STRONG>
fails if the string parameter is null. It does not detect I/O
errors: X/Open Curses states that <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> ignores the return value
of the output function <EM>putc</EM>.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-NOTES">NOTES</a></H2><PRE>
The <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> function in <EM>ncurses</EM> is a special case. It was originally
implemented based on a draft of X/Open Curses, as a macro, before other
parts of the <EM>ncurses</EM> wide-character API were developed, and unlike the
other wide-character functions, is also provided in the non-wide-
character configuration.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></H2><PRE>
The functions marked as extensions originated in <EM>ncurses</EM>, and are not
found in SVr4 <EM>curses</EM>, 4.4BSD <EM>curses</EM>, or any other previous <EM>curses</EM>
implementation.
<EM>ncurses</EM> allows <EM>opts</EM> to be a pointer to <EM>int</EM>, which overrides the <EM>pair</EM>
(<EM>short</EM>) argument.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
Except for <EM>setterm</EM>, X/Open Curses Issue 4 describes these functions.
It specifies no error conditions for them.
SVr4 describes a successful return value except where "otherwise noted"
as "an integer value other than <EM>ERR</EM>".
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Header-Files">Header Files</a></H3><PRE>
On legacy <EM>curses</EM> systems, include <EM>curses.h</EM> and <EM>term.h</EM> in that order to
make visible the definitions of the string arrays storing the
capability names and codes.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Compatibility-Macros">Compatibility Macros</a></H3><PRE>
<EM>ncurses</EM> implements a few macros for early System V <EM>curses</EM> compatibility
(see section "HISTORY" below). They include <EM>crmode</EM>, <EM>fixterm</EM>, <EM>gettmode</EM>,
<EM>nocrmode</EM>, <EM>resetterm</EM>, <EM>saveterm</EM>, and <EM>setterm</EM>.
In SVr4, these are found in <EM>curses.h</EM>, but except for <EM>setterm</EM>, are
likewise macros. The one function, <EM>setterm</EM>, is mentioned in the manual
page. It further notes that <EM>setterm</EM> was replaced by <EM>setupterm</EM>, stating
that the call
setupterm(<EM>term</EM>, 1, (int *)0)
provides the same functionality as
setterm(<EM>term</EM>)
and discouraging the latter for new programs.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Legacy-Data">Legacy Data</a></H3><PRE>
<EM>setupterm</EM> copies the terminal name to the array <EM>ttytype</EM>. This behavior
is not specified by X/Open Curses, but is assumed by some applications.
Other implementations may not declare the capability name arrays. Some
provide them without declaring them. X/Open Curses does not specify
them.
Extended terminal capability names, as defined by "<STRONG>tic</STRONG> <STRONG>-x</STRONG>", are not
stored in the arrays described here.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Output-Buffering">Output Buffering</a></H3><PRE>
Older versions of <EM>ncurses</EM> assumed that the file descriptor passed to
<EM>setupterm</EM> from <EM>initscr</EM> or <EM>newterm</EM> used buffered I/O, and wrote to the
corresponding <EM>stdio</EM> stream. In addition to the limitation that the
terminal was left in block-buffered mode on exit (like System V
<EM>curses</EM>), it was problematic because <EM>ncurses</EM> did not allow a reliable
way to clean up on receiving <EM>SIGTSTP</EM>.
<EM>ncurses</EM> 6.<EM>x</EM> uses output buffers managed directly by <EM>ncurses</EM>. The
lower-level functions described here that write to the terminal device
do so via the standard output stream; they thus are not signal-safe.
The higher-level functions in <EM>ncurses</EM> employ alternate versions of
these functions using a more reliable buffering scheme.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Function-Prototypes">Function Prototypes</a></H3><PRE>
The X/Open Curses prototypes are based on the SVr4 <EM>curses</EM> header
declarations, which were defined at the same time the C language was
first standardized in the late 1980s.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses uses <EM>const</EM> less effectively than a later design
might, sometimes applying it needlessly to function parameters that
are passed by value (and therefore copied), and in most cases
overlooking parameters that normally would benefit from <EM>const</EM>.
Passing <EM>const</EM>-qualified parameters to functions that do not declare
them <EM>const</EM> may prevent the program from compiling. On the other
hand, "writable strings" are an obsolescent C language feature.
As an extension, <EM>ncurses</EM> can be configured to change the function
prototypes to use the <EM>const</EM> keyword. The <EM>ncurses</EM> ABI 6 enables
this feature by default.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> X/Open Curses prototypes <EM>tparm</EM> with a fixed number of parameters,
rather than a variable argument list.
<EM>ncurses</EM> uses a variable argument list, but can be configured to use
the fixed-parameter list. Portable applications should provide
nine parameters after the format; zeroes are fine for this purpose.
In response to review comments by Thomas E. Dickey, X/Open Curses
Issue 7 proposed the <EM>tiparm</EM> function in mid-2009.
While <EM>tiparm</EM> is always provided in <EM>ncurses</EM>, the older form is
available only as a build-time configuration option. If not
specially configured, <EM>tparm</EM> is the same as <EM>tiparm</EM>.
Both forms of <EM>tparm</EM> have drawbacks.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Most calls to <EM>tparm</EM> require only one or two parameters. Passing
nine on each call is awkward.
Using <EM>long</EM> for the numeric parameter type is a workaround to make
the parameter use the same amount of stack memory as a pointer.
That approach dates to the mid-1980s, before C was standardized.
Since ANSI C (1989), C language standards do not require a pointer
to fit in a <EM>long</EM>).
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Providing the right number of parameters for a variadic function
such as <EM>tiparm</EM> can be a problem, in particular for string
parameters. However, only a few <EM>terminfo</EM> capabilities use string
parameters (for instance, the ones used for programmable function
keys).
The <EM>ncurses</EM> library checks usage of these capabilities, and returns
<EM>ERR</EM> if the capability mishandles string parameters. But it cannot
check if a calling program provides strings in the right places for
the <EM>tparm</EM> calls.
<EM>ncurses</EM>'s <STRONG><A HREF="tput.1.html">tput(1)</A></STRONG> checks its use of these capabilities with a
table, so that it calls <EM>tparm</EM> correctly.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Special-TERM-treatment">Special TERM treatment</a></H3><PRE>
If <EM>ncurses</EM> is configured to use a terminal driver that does not employ
the POSIX <EM>termios</EM> API, as with the MinGW port,
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>setupterm</EM> interprets a missing or empty <EM>TERM</EM> variable as the
special value "unknown".
SVr4 <EM>curses</EM> uses the special value "dumb".
The difference between the two is that the former uses the
<STRONG>generic_type</STRONG> (<STRONG>gn</STRONG>) <EM>terminfo</EM> capability, while the latter does not.
A generic terminal is unsuitable for full-screen applications.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>setupterm</EM> allows explicit use of the Microsoft Windows console
driver by checking whether the <EM>TERM</EM> environment variable has the
value "#win32con" or an abbreviation of that string.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Other-Portability-Issues">Other Portability Issues</a></H3><PRE>
In SVr4, <EM>set</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>curterm</EM> returns an <EM>int</EM>, <EM>OK</EM> or <EM>ERR</EM>. We have chosen to
implement the X/Open Curses semantics.
In SVr4, the third argument of <EM>tputs</EM> has the type "<STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>(*)(char)</STRONG>".
At least one implementation of X/Open Curses (Solaris <EM>xcurses</EM>) returns
a value other than <EM>OK</EM> or <EM>ERR</EM> from <EM>tputs</EM>. It instead returns the length
of the string, and does no error checking.
Very old versions of AIX <EM>curses</EM> required inclusion of <EM>curses.h</EM> before
<EM>term.h</EM>.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-HISTORY">HISTORY</a></H2><PRE>
SVr2 (1984) introduced the <EM>terminfo</EM> feature. Its programming manual
mentioned the following low-level functions.
<STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
<EM>fixterm</EM> restore terminal to "in <EM>curses</EM>" state
<EM>gettmode</EM> establish current terminal modes
<EM>mvcur</EM> low level cursor motion
<EM>putp</EM> use <EM>tputs</EM> to send characters via <EM>putchar</EM>
<EM>resetterm</EM> set terminal modes to "out of <EM>curses</EM>" state
<EM>resetty</EM> reset terminal flags to stored value
<EM>saveterm</EM> save current modes as "in <EM>curses</EM>" state
<EM>savetty</EM> store current terminal flags
<EM>setterm</EM> establish terminal with given type
<EM>setupterm</EM> establish terminal with given type
<EM>tparm</EM> interpolate parameters into string capability
<EM>tputs</EM> apply padding information to a string
<EM>vidattr</EM> like <EM>vidputs</EM>, but output through <EM>putchar</EM>
<EM>vidputs</EM> write string to terminal, applying specified attributes
The programming manual also mentioned functions provided for <EM>termcap</EM>
compatibility (commenting that they "may go away at a later date").
<STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
<EM>tgetent</EM> look up <EM>termcap</EM> entry for given <EM>name</EM>
<EM>tgetflag</EM> get Boolean entry for given <EM>id</EM>
<EM>tgetnum</EM> get numeric entry for given <EM>id</EM>
<EM>tgetstr</EM> get string entry for given <EM>id</EM>
<EM>tgoto</EM> apply parameters to given capability
<EM>tputs</EM> write characters via a function parameter, applying padding
Early <EM>terminfo</EM> programs obtained capability values from the <EM>TERMINAL</EM>
structure initialized by <EM>setupterm</EM>.
SVr3 (1987) extended <EM>terminfo</EM> by adding functions to retrieve
capability values (like the <EM>termcap</EM> interface), and reusing <EM>tgoto</EM> and
<EM>tputs</EM>.
<STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
<EM>tigetflag</EM> get Boolean entry for given <EM>id</EM>
<EM>tigetnum</EM> get numeric entry for given <EM>id</EM>
<EM>tigetstr</EM> get string entry for given <EM>id</EM>
SVr3 also replaced several of the SVr2 <EM>terminfo</EM> functions that had no
counterpart in the <EM>termcap</EM> interface, documenting them as obsolete.
<STRONG>Function</STRONG> <STRONG>Replaced</STRONG> <STRONG>by</STRONG>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
<EM>crmode</EM> <EM>cbreak</EM>
<EM>fixterm</EM> <EM>reset</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>prog</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>mode</EM>
<EM>gettmode</EM> n/a
<EM>nocrmode</EM> <EM>nocbreak</EM>
<EM>resetterm</EM> <EM>reset</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>shell</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>mode</EM>
<EM>saveterm</EM> <EM>def</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>prog</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>mode</EM>
<EM>setterm</EM> <EM>setupterm</EM>
SVr3 kept the <EM>mvcur</EM>, <EM>vidattr</EM>, and <EM>vidputs</EM> functions, along with <EM>putp</EM>,
<EM>tparm</EM>, and <EM>tputs</EM>. The latter were needed to support padding, and to
handle capabilities accessed by functions such as <EM>vidattr</EM> (which used
more than the two parameters supported by <EM>tgoto</EM>).
SVr3 introduced the functions for switching between terminal
descriptions; for example, <EM>set</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>curterm</EM>. Some changes reflected
incremental improvements to the SVr2 library.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The <EM>TERMINAL</EM> type definition was introduced in SVr3.01, for the
<EM>term</EM> structure provided in SVr2.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Various global variables such as <EM>boolnames</EM> were mentioned in the
programming manual at this point, though the variables had been
provided in SVr2.
SVr4 (1989) added the <EM>vid</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>attr</EM> and <EM>vid</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>puts</EM> functions.
Other low-level functions are declared in the <EM>curses</EM> header files of
Unix systems, but none are documented. Those noted as "obsolete" by
SVr3 remained in use by System V's <STRONG>vi(1)</STRONG> editor.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
<STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">curs_initscr(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_kernel.3x.html">curs_kernel(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_memleaks.3x.html">curs_memleaks(3x)</A></STRONG>,
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_termcap.3x.html">curs_termcap(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_variables.3x.html">curs_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>putc(3)</STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>,
<STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>
ncurses 6.6 2025-11-11 <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
<div class="nav">
<ul>
<li><a href="#h2-NAME">NAME</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#h3-Initialization">Initialization</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-The-Terminal-State">The Terminal State</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Formatting-Output">Formatting Output</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Output-Functions">Output Functions</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Terminal-Capability-Functions">Terminal Capability Functions</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Terminal-Capability-Names">Terminal Capability Names</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Releasing-Memory">Releasing Memory</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-NOTES">NOTES</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#h3-Header-Files">Header Files</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Compatibility-Macros">Compatibility Macros</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Legacy-Data">Legacy Data</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Output-Buffering">Output Buffering</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Function-Prototypes">Function Prototypes</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Special-TERM-treatment">Special TERM treatment</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Other-Portability-Issues">Other Portability Issues</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#h2-HISTORY">HISTORY</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
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