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<H1 class="no-header">terminfo 5 2025-08-16 ncurses 6.6 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>
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
<STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> - terminal capability database
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
/usr/share/terminfo/*/*
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
<EM>Terminfo</EM> is a database describing terminals, used by screen-oriented
programs such as <STRONG>nvi(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG>lynx(1)</STRONG>, <STRONG>mutt(1)</STRONG>, and other curses
applications, using high-level calls to libraries such as <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>.
It is also used via low-level calls by non-curses applications which
may be screen-oriented (such as <STRONG><A HREF="clear.1.html">clear(1)</A></STRONG>) or non-screen (such as
<STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG>).
<EM>Terminfo</EM> describes terminals by giving a set of capabilities which they
have, by specifying how to perform screen operations, and by specifying
padding requirements and initialization sequences.
This document describes <EM>ncurses</EM> version 6.6 (patch 20251230).
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-terminfo-Entry-Syntax"><EM>terminfo</EM> Entry Syntax</a></H3><PRE>
Entries in <EM>terminfo</EM> consist of a sequence of fields:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Each field ends with a comma "," (embedded commas may be escaped
with a backslash or written as "\054").
<STRONG>o</STRONG> White space between fields is ignored.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The first field in a <EM>terminfo</EM> entry begins in the first column.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Newlines and leading whitespace (spaces or tabs) may be used for
formatting entries for readability. These are removed from parsed
entries.
The <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> <STRONG>-f</STRONG> and <STRONG>-W</STRONG> options rely on this to format if-then-else
expressions, or to enforce maximum line-width. The resulting
formatted terminal description can be read by <STRONG>tic</STRONG>.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The first field for each terminal gives the names which are known
for the terminal, separated by "|" characters.
The first name given is the most common abbreviation for the
terminal (its primary name), the last name given should be a long
name fully identifying the terminal (see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termattrs.3x.html">longname(3x)</A></STRONG>), and all
others are treated as synonyms (aliases) for the primary terminal
name.
X/Open Curses advises that all names but the last should be in
lower case and contain no blanks; the last name may well contain
upper case and blanks for readability.
This implementation is not so strict; it allows mixed case in the
primary name and aliases. If the last name has no embedded blanks,
it allows that to be both an alias and a verbose name (but will
warn about this ambiguity).
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Lines beginning with a "#" in the first column are treated as
comments.
While comment lines are valid at any point, the output of <STRONG>captoinfo</STRONG>
and <STRONG>infotocap</STRONG> (aliases for <STRONG>tic</STRONG>) will move comments so they occur
only between entries.
Terminal names (except for the last, verbose entry) should be chosen
using the following conventions. The particular piece of hardware
making up the terminal should have a root name, thus "hp2621". This
name should not contain hyphens. Modes that the hardware can be in, or
user preferences, should be indicated by appending a hyphen and a mode
suffix. Thus, a vt100 in 132-column mode would be vt100-w. The
following suffixes should be used where possible:
<STRONG>Suffix</STRONG> <STRONG>Example</STRONG> <STRONG>Meaning</STRONG>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-<EM>nn</EM> aaa-60 Number of lines on the screen
-<EM>n</EM>p c100-4p Number of pages of memory
-am vt100-am With automargins (usually the default)
-m ansi-m Mono mode; suppress color
-mc wy30-mc Magic cookie; spaces when highlighting
-na c100-na No arrow keys (leave them in local)
-nam vt100-nam Without automatic margins
-nl hp2621-nl No status line
-ns hp2626-ns No status line
-rv c100-rv Reverse video
-s vt100-s Enable status line
-vb wy370-vb Use visible bell instead of beep
-w vt100-w Wide mode (> 80 columns, usually 132)
For more on terminal naming conventions, see the <STRONG><A HREF="term.7.html">term(7)</A></STRONG> manual page.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-terminfo-Capabilities-Syntax"><EM>terminfo</EM> Capabilities Syntax</a></H3><PRE>
The terminfo entry consists of several <EM>capabilities</EM>, i.e., features
that the terminal has, or methods for exercising the terminal's
features.
After the first field (giving the name(s) of the terminal entry), there
should be one or more <EM>capability</EM> fields. These are Boolean, numeric or
string names with corresponding values:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Boolean capabilities are true when present, false when absent.
There is no explicit value for Boolean capabilities.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Numeric capabilities have a "#" following the name, then an
unsigned decimal integer value.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> String capabilities have a "=" following the name, then an string
of characters making up the capability value.
String capabilities can be split into multiple lines, just as the
fields comprising a terminal entry can be split into multiple
lines. While blanks between fields are ignored, blanks embedded
within a string value are retained, except for leading blanks on a
line.
Any capability can be <EM>canceled</EM>, i.e., suppressed from the terminal
entry, by following its name with "@" rather than a capability value.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Similar-Terminals">Similar Terminals</a></H3><PRE>
If there are two very similar terminals, one (the variant) can be
defined as being just like the other (the base) with certain
exceptions. In the definition of the variant, the string capability
<STRONG>use</STRONG> can be given with the name of the base terminal:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The capabilities given before <STRONG>use</STRONG> override those in the base type
named by <STRONG>use</STRONG>.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> If there are multiple <STRONG>use</STRONG> capabilities, they are merged in reverse
order. That is, the rightmost <STRONG>use</STRONG> reference is processed first,
then the one to its left, and so forth.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Capabilities given explicitly in the entry override those brought
in by <STRONG>use</STRONG> references.
A capability can be canceled by placing <STRONG>xx@</STRONG> to the left of the use
reference that imports it, where <EM>xx</EM> is the capability. For example,
the entry
2621-nl, smkx@, rmkx@, use=2621,
defines a 2621-nl that does not have the <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> or <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG> capabilities, and
hence does not turn on the function key labels when in visual mode.
This is useful for different modes for a terminal, or for different
user preferences.
An entry included via <STRONG>use</STRONG> can contain canceled capabilities, which have
the same effect as if those cancels were inline in the using terminal
entry.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Standard-Capabilities">Standard Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
Tables of capabilities <EM>ncurses</EM> recognizes in a <EM>terminfo</EM> terminal type
description and available to <EM>terminfo</EM>-using code follow.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The capability name identifies the symbol by which the programmer
using the <EM>terminfo</EM> API accesses the capability.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The TI (<EM>terminfo</EM>) code is the short name used by a person composing
or updating a terminal type entry.
Whenever possible, these codes are the same as or similar to those
of the ANSI X3.64-1979 standard (now superseded by ECMA-48, which
uses identical or very similar names). Semantics are also intended
to match those of the specification.
<EM>terminfo</EM> codes have no hard length limit, but <EM>ncurses</EM> maintains an
informal one of 5 characters to keep them short and to allow the
tabs in the source file <EM>Caps</EM> to line up nicely. (Some standard
codes exceed this limit regardless.)
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The TC (<EM>termcap</EM>) code is that used by the corresponding API of
<EM>ncurses</EM>. (Some capabilities are new, and have names that BSD
<EM>termcap</EM> did not originate.)
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The description field attempts to convey the capability's
semantics.
The description field employs a handful of notations.
<STRONG>(P)</STRONG> indicates that padding may be specified.
<STRONG>(P*)</STRONG> indicates that padding may vary in proportion to the number of
output lines affected.
<STRONG>#</STRONG><EM>i</EM> indicates the <EM>i</EM>th parameter of a string capability; the
programmer should pass the string to <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tparm(3x)</A></STRONG> with the
parameters listed.
If the description lists no parameters, passing the string to
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tparm(3x)</A></STRONG> may produce unexpected behavior, for instance if the
string contains percent signs.
<STRONG>Code</STRONG>
<STRONG>Boolean</STRONG> <STRONG>Capability</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>TI</STRONG> <STRONG>TC</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
<STRONG>auto_left_margin</STRONG> <STRONG>bw</STRONG> <STRONG>bw</STRONG> cub1 wraps from column 0 to
last column
<STRONG>auto_right_margin</STRONG> <STRONG>am</STRONG> <STRONG>am</STRONG> terminal has automatic margins
<STRONG>no_esc_ctlc</STRONG> <STRONG>xsb</STRONG> <STRONG>xb</STRONG> beehive (f1=escape, f2=ctrl C)
<STRONG>ceol_standout_glitch</STRONG> <STRONG>xhp</STRONG> <STRONG>xs</STRONG> standout not erased by
overwriting (hp)
<STRONG>eat_newline_glitch</STRONG> <STRONG>xenl</STRONG> <STRONG>xn</STRONG> newline ignored after 80 cols
(concept)
<STRONG>erase_overstrike</STRONG> <STRONG>eo</STRONG> <STRONG>eo</STRONG> can erase overstrikes with a
blank
<STRONG>generic_type</STRONG> <STRONG>gn</STRONG> <STRONG>gn</STRONG> generic line type
<STRONG>hard_copy</STRONG> <STRONG>hc</STRONG> <STRONG>hc</STRONG> hardcopy terminal
<STRONG>has_meta_key</STRONG> <STRONG>km</STRONG> <STRONG>km</STRONG> Has a meta key (i.e., sets
8th-bit)
<STRONG>has_status_line</STRONG> <STRONG>hs</STRONG> <STRONG>hs</STRONG> has extra status line
<STRONG>insert_null_glitch</STRONG> <STRONG>in</STRONG> <STRONG>in</STRONG> insert mode distinguishes
nulls
<STRONG>memory_above</STRONG> <STRONG>da</STRONG> <STRONG>da</STRONG> display may be retained above
the screen
<STRONG>memory_below</STRONG> <STRONG>db</STRONG> <STRONG>db</STRONG> display may be retained below
the screen
<STRONG>move_insert_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>mir</STRONG> <STRONG>mi</STRONG> safe to move while in insert
mode
<STRONG>move_standout_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>msgr</STRONG> <STRONG>ms</STRONG> safe to move while in standout
mode
<STRONG>over_strike</STRONG> <STRONG>os</STRONG> <STRONG>os</STRONG> terminal can overstrike
<STRONG>status_line_esc_ok</STRONG> <STRONG>eslok</STRONG> <STRONG>es</STRONG> escape can be used on the
status line
<STRONG>dest_tabs_magic_smso</STRONG> <STRONG>xt</STRONG> <STRONG>xt</STRONG> tabs destructive, magic so
char (t1061)
<STRONG>tilde_glitch</STRONG> <STRONG>hz</STRONG> <STRONG>hz</STRONG> cannot print ~'s (Hazeltine)
<STRONG>transparent_underline</STRONG> <STRONG>ul</STRONG> <STRONG>ul</STRONG> underline character
overstrikes
<STRONG>xon_xoff</STRONG> <STRONG>xon</STRONG> <STRONG>xo</STRONG> terminal uses xon/xoff
handshaking
<STRONG>needs_xon_xoff</STRONG> <STRONG>nxon</STRONG> <STRONG>nx</STRONG> padding will not work,
xon/xoff required
<STRONG>prtr_silent</STRONG> <STRONG>mc5i</STRONG> <STRONG>5i</STRONG> printer will not echo on
screen
<STRONG>hard_cursor</STRONG> <STRONG>chts</STRONG> <STRONG>HC</STRONG> cursor is hard to see
<STRONG>non_rev_rmcup</STRONG> <STRONG>nrrmc</STRONG> <STRONG>NR</STRONG> smcup does not reverse rmcup
<STRONG>no_pad_char</STRONG> <STRONG>npc</STRONG> <STRONG>NP</STRONG> pad character does not exist
<STRONG>non_dest_scroll_region</STRONG> <STRONG>ndscr</STRONG> <STRONG>ND</STRONG> scrolling region is non-
destructive
<STRONG>can_change</STRONG> <STRONG>ccc</STRONG> <STRONG>cc</STRONG> terminal can re-define
existing colors
<STRONG>back_color_erase</STRONG> <STRONG>bce</STRONG> <STRONG>ut</STRONG> screen erased with background
color
<STRONG>hue_lightness_saturation</STRONG> <STRONG>hls</STRONG> <STRONG>hl</STRONG> terminal uses only HLS color
notation (Tektronix)
<STRONG>col_addr_glitch</STRONG> <STRONG>xhpa</STRONG> <STRONG>YA</STRONG> only positive motion for
hpa/mhpa caps
<STRONG>cr_cancels_micro_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>crxm</STRONG> <STRONG>YB</STRONG> using cr turns off micro mode
<STRONG>has_print_wheel</STRONG> <STRONG>daisy</STRONG> <STRONG>YC</STRONG> printer needs operator to
change character set
<STRONG>row_addr_glitch</STRONG> <STRONG>xvpa</STRONG> <STRONG>YD</STRONG> only positive motion for
vpa/mvpa caps
<STRONG>semi_auto_right_margin</STRONG> <STRONG>sam</STRONG> <STRONG>YE</STRONG> printing in last column causes
cr
<STRONG>cpi_changes_res</STRONG> <STRONG>cpix</STRONG> <STRONG>YF</STRONG> changing character pitch
changes resolution
<STRONG>lpi_changes_res</STRONG> <STRONG>lpix</STRONG> <STRONG>YG</STRONG> changing line pitch changes
resolution
<STRONG>Code</STRONG>
<STRONG>Numeric</STRONG> <STRONG>Capability</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>TI</STRONG> <STRONG>TC</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
<STRONG>columns</STRONG> <STRONG>cols</STRONG> <STRONG>co</STRONG> number of columns in a line
<STRONG>init_tabs</STRONG> <STRONG>it</STRONG> <STRONG>it</STRONG> tabs initially every # spaces
<STRONG>lines</STRONG> <STRONG>lines</STRONG> <STRONG>li</STRONG> number of lines on screen or
page
<STRONG>lines_of_memory</STRONG> <STRONG>lm</STRONG> <STRONG>lm</STRONG> lines of memory if > line. 0
means varies
<STRONG>magic_cookie_glitch</STRONG> <STRONG>xmc</STRONG> <STRONG>sg</STRONG> number of blank characters
left by smso or rmso
<STRONG>padding_baud_rate</STRONG> <STRONG>pb</STRONG> <STRONG>pb</STRONG> lowest baud rate where padding
needed
<STRONG>virtual_terminal</STRONG> <STRONG>vt</STRONG> <STRONG>vt</STRONG> virtual terminal number
(CB/unix)
<STRONG>width_status_line</STRONG> <STRONG>wsl</STRONG> <STRONG>ws</STRONG> number of columns in status
line
<STRONG>num_labels</STRONG> <STRONG>nlab</STRONG> <STRONG>Nl</STRONG> number of labels on screen
<STRONG>label_height</STRONG> <STRONG>lh</STRONG> <STRONG>lh</STRONG> rows in each label
<STRONG>label_width</STRONG> <STRONG>lw</STRONG> <STRONG>lw</STRONG> columns in each label
<STRONG>max_attributes</STRONG> <STRONG>ma</STRONG> <STRONG>ma</STRONG> maximum combined attributes
terminal can handle
<STRONG>maximum_windows</STRONG> <STRONG>wnum</STRONG> <STRONG>MW</STRONG> maximum number of definable
windows
<STRONG>max_colors</STRONG> <STRONG>colors</STRONG> <STRONG>Co</STRONG> maximum number of colors on
screen
<STRONG>max_pairs</STRONG> <STRONG>pairs</STRONG> <STRONG>pa</STRONG> maximum number of color-pairs
on the screen
<STRONG>no_color_video</STRONG> <STRONG>ncv</STRONG> <STRONG>NC</STRONG> video attributes that cannot
be used with colors
The following numeric capabilities are present in the SVr4.0 term
structure, but are not yet documented in the man page. They came in
with SVr4's printer support.
<STRONG>Code</STRONG>
<STRONG>Numeric</STRONG> <STRONG>Capability</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>TI</STRONG> <STRONG>TC</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
<STRONG>buffer_capacity</STRONG> <STRONG>bufsz</STRONG> <STRONG>Ya</STRONG> numbers of bytes buffered
before printing
<STRONG>dot_vert_spacing</STRONG> <STRONG>spinv</STRONG> <STRONG>Yb</STRONG> spacing of pins vertically in
pins per inch
<STRONG>dot_horz_spacing</STRONG> <STRONG>spinh</STRONG> <STRONG>Yc</STRONG> spacing of dots horizontally
in dots per inch
<STRONG>max_micro_address</STRONG> <STRONG>maddr</STRONG> <STRONG>Yd</STRONG> maximum value in
micro_..._address
<STRONG>max_micro_jump</STRONG> <STRONG>mjump</STRONG> <STRONG>Ye</STRONG> maximum value in
parm_..._micro
<STRONG>micro_col_size</STRONG> <STRONG>mcs</STRONG> <STRONG>Yf</STRONG> character step size when in
micro mode
<STRONG>micro_line_size</STRONG> <STRONG>mls</STRONG> <STRONG>Yg</STRONG> line step size when in micro
mode
<STRONG>number_of_pins</STRONG> <STRONG>npins</STRONG> <STRONG>Yh</STRONG> numbers of pins in print-head
<STRONG>output_res_char</STRONG> <STRONG>orc</STRONG> <STRONG>Yi</STRONG> horizontal resolution in units
per line
<STRONG>output_res_line</STRONG> <STRONG>orl</STRONG> <STRONG>Yj</STRONG> vertical resolution in units
per line
<STRONG>output_res_horz_inch</STRONG> <STRONG>orhi</STRONG> <STRONG>Yk</STRONG> horizontal resolution in units
per inch
<STRONG>output_res_vert_inch</STRONG> <STRONG>orvi</STRONG> <STRONG>Yl</STRONG> vertical resolution in units
per inch
<STRONG>print_rate</STRONG> <STRONG>cps</STRONG> <STRONG>Ym</STRONG> print rate in characters per
second
<STRONG>wide_char_size</STRONG> <STRONG>widcs</STRONG> <STRONG>Yn</STRONG> character step size when in
double wide mode
<STRONG>buttons</STRONG> <STRONG>btns</STRONG> <STRONG>BT</STRONG> number of buttons on mouse
<STRONG>bit_image_entwining</STRONG> <STRONG>bitwin</STRONG> <STRONG>Yo</STRONG> number of passes for each bit-
image row
<STRONG>bit_image_type</STRONG> <STRONG>bitype</STRONG> <STRONG>Yp</STRONG> type of bit-image device
<STRONG>Code</STRONG>
<STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>Capability</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>TI</STRONG> <STRONG>TC</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
<STRONG>back_tab</STRONG> <STRONG>cbt</STRONG> <STRONG>bt</STRONG> back tab (P)
<STRONG>bell</STRONG> <STRONG>bel</STRONG> <STRONG>bl</STRONG> audible signal (bell) (P)
<STRONG>carriage_return</STRONG> <STRONG>cr</STRONG> <STRONG>cr</STRONG> carriage return (P*) (P*)
<STRONG>change_scroll_region</STRONG> <STRONG>csr</STRONG> <STRONG>cs</STRONG> change region to line #1 to
line #2 (P)
<STRONG>clear_all_tabs</STRONG> <STRONG>tbc</STRONG> <STRONG>ct</STRONG> clear all tab stops (P)
<STRONG>clear_screen</STRONG> <STRONG>clear</STRONG> <STRONG>cl</STRONG> clear screen and home cursor
(P*)
<STRONG>clr_eol</STRONG> <STRONG>el</STRONG> <STRONG>ce</STRONG> clear to end of line (P)
<STRONG>clr_eos</STRONG> <STRONG>ed</STRONG> <STRONG>cd</STRONG> clear to end of screen (P*)
<STRONG>column_address</STRONG> <STRONG>hpa</STRONG> <STRONG>ch</STRONG> horizontal position #1,
absolute (P)
<STRONG>command_character</STRONG> <STRONG>cmdch</STRONG> <STRONG>CC</STRONG> terminal settable cmd
character in prototype !?
<STRONG>cursor_address</STRONG> <STRONG>cup</STRONG> <STRONG>cm</STRONG> move to row #1 columns #2
<STRONG>cursor_down</STRONG> <STRONG>cud1</STRONG> <STRONG>do</STRONG> down one line
<STRONG>cursor_home</STRONG> <STRONG>home</STRONG> <STRONG>ho</STRONG> home cursor (if no cup)
<STRONG>cursor_invisible</STRONG> <STRONG>civis</STRONG> <STRONG>vi</STRONG> make cursor invisible
<STRONG>cursor_left</STRONG> <STRONG>cub1</STRONG> <STRONG>le</STRONG> move left one space
<STRONG>cursor_mem_address</STRONG> <STRONG>mrcup</STRONG> <STRONG>CM</STRONG> memory relative cursor
addressing, move to row #1
columns #2
<STRONG>cursor_normal</STRONG> <STRONG>cnorm</STRONG> <STRONG>ve</STRONG> make cursor appear normal
(undo civis/cvvis)
<STRONG>cursor_right</STRONG> <STRONG>cuf1</STRONG> <STRONG>nd</STRONG> non-destructive space (move
right one space)
<STRONG>cursor_to_ll</STRONG> <STRONG>ll</STRONG> <STRONG>ll</STRONG> last line, first column (if no
cup)
<STRONG>cursor_up</STRONG> <STRONG>cuu1</STRONG> <STRONG>up</STRONG> up one line
<STRONG>cursor_visible</STRONG> <STRONG>cvvis</STRONG> <STRONG>vs</STRONG> make cursor very visible
<STRONG>delete_character</STRONG> <STRONG>dch1</STRONG> <STRONG>dc</STRONG> delete character (P*)
<STRONG>delete_line</STRONG> <STRONG>dl1</STRONG> <STRONG>dl</STRONG> delete line (P*)
<STRONG>dis_status_line</STRONG> <STRONG>dsl</STRONG> <STRONG>ds</STRONG> disable status line
<STRONG>down_half_line</STRONG> <STRONG>hd</STRONG> <STRONG>hd</STRONG> half a line down
<STRONG>enter_alt_charset_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>smacs</STRONG> <STRONG>as</STRONG> start alternate character set
(P)
<STRONG>enter_blink_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>blink</STRONG> <STRONG>mb</STRONG> turn on blinking
<STRONG>enter_bold_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>bold</STRONG> <STRONG>md</STRONG> turn on bold (extra bright)
mode
<STRONG>enter_ca_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>smcup</STRONG> <STRONG>ti</STRONG> string to start programs using
cup
<STRONG>enter_delete_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>smdc</STRONG> <STRONG>dm</STRONG> enter delete mode
<STRONG>enter_dim_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>dim</STRONG> <STRONG>mh</STRONG> turn on half-bright mode
<STRONG>enter_insert_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>smir</STRONG> <STRONG>im</STRONG> enter insert mode
<STRONG>enter_secure_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>invis</STRONG> <STRONG>mk</STRONG> turn on blank mode (characters
invisible)
<STRONG>enter_protected_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>prot</STRONG> <STRONG>mp</STRONG> turn on protected mode
<STRONG>enter_reverse_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>rev</STRONG> <STRONG>mr</STRONG> turn on reverse video mode
<STRONG>enter_standout_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>smso</STRONG> <STRONG>so</STRONG> begin standout mode
<STRONG>enter_underline_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>smul</STRONG> <STRONG>us</STRONG> begin underline mode
<STRONG>erase_chars</STRONG> <STRONG>ech</STRONG> <STRONG>ec</STRONG> erase #1 characters (P)
<STRONG>exit_alt_charset_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>rmacs</STRONG> <STRONG>ae</STRONG> end alternate character set
(P)
<STRONG>exit_attribute_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>sgr0</STRONG> <STRONG>me</STRONG> turn off all attributes
<STRONG>exit_ca_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>rmcup</STRONG> <STRONG>te</STRONG> strings to end programs using
cup
<STRONG>exit_delete_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>rmdc</STRONG> <STRONG>ed</STRONG> end delete mode
<STRONG>exit_insert_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>rmir</STRONG> <STRONG>ei</STRONG> exit insert mode
<STRONG>exit_standout_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>rmso</STRONG> <STRONG>se</STRONG> exit standout mode
<STRONG>exit_underline_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>rmul</STRONG> <STRONG>ue</STRONG> exit underline mode
<STRONG>flash_screen</STRONG> <STRONG>flash</STRONG> <STRONG>vb</STRONG> visible bell (may not move
cursor)
<STRONG>form_feed</STRONG> <STRONG>ff</STRONG> <STRONG>ff</STRONG> hardcopy terminal page eject
(P*)
<STRONG>from_status_line</STRONG> <STRONG>fsl</STRONG> <STRONG>fs</STRONG> return from status line
<STRONG>init_1string</STRONG> <STRONG>is1</STRONG> <STRONG>i1</STRONG> initialization string
<STRONG>init_2string</STRONG> <STRONG>is2</STRONG> <STRONG>is</STRONG> initialization string
<STRONG>init_3string</STRONG> <STRONG>is3</STRONG> <STRONG>i3</STRONG> initialization string
<STRONG>init_file</STRONG> <STRONG>if</STRONG> <STRONG>if</STRONG> name of initialization file
<STRONG>insert_character</STRONG> <STRONG>ich1</STRONG> <STRONG>ic</STRONG> insert character (P)
<STRONG>insert_line</STRONG> <STRONG>il1</STRONG> <STRONG>al</STRONG> insert line (P*)
<STRONG>insert_padding</STRONG> <STRONG>ip</STRONG> <STRONG>ip</STRONG> insert padding after inserted
character
<STRONG>key_backspace</STRONG> <STRONG>kbs</STRONG> <STRONG>kb</STRONG> backspace key
<STRONG>key_catab</STRONG> <STRONG>ktbc</STRONG> <STRONG>ka</STRONG> clear-all-tabs key
<STRONG>key_clear</STRONG> <STRONG>kclr</STRONG> <STRONG>kC</STRONG> clear-screen or erase key
<STRONG>key_ctab</STRONG> <STRONG>kctab</STRONG> <STRONG>kt</STRONG> clear-tab key
<STRONG>key_dc</STRONG> <STRONG>kdch1</STRONG> <STRONG>kD</STRONG> delete-character key
<STRONG>key_dl</STRONG> <STRONG>kdl1</STRONG> <STRONG>kL</STRONG> delete-line key
<STRONG>key_down</STRONG> <STRONG>kcud1</STRONG> <STRONG>kd</STRONG> down-arrow key
<STRONG>key_eic</STRONG> <STRONG>krmir</STRONG> <STRONG>kM</STRONG> sent by rmir or smir in insert
mode
<STRONG>key_eol</STRONG> <STRONG>kel</STRONG> <STRONG>kE</STRONG> clear-to-end-of-line key
<STRONG>key_eos</STRONG> <STRONG>ked</STRONG> <STRONG>kS</STRONG> clear-to-end-of-screen key
<STRONG>key_f0</STRONG> <STRONG>kf0</STRONG> <STRONG>k0</STRONG> F0 function key
<STRONG>key_f1</STRONG> <STRONG>kf1</STRONG> <STRONG>k1</STRONG> F1 function key
<STRONG>key_f10</STRONG> <STRONG>kf10</STRONG> <STRONG>k;</STRONG> F10 function key
<STRONG>key_f2</STRONG> <STRONG>kf2</STRONG> <STRONG>k2</STRONG> F2 function key
<STRONG>key_f3</STRONG> <STRONG>kf3</STRONG> <STRONG>k3</STRONG> F3 function key
<STRONG>key_f4</STRONG> <STRONG>kf4</STRONG> <STRONG>k4</STRONG> F4 function key
<STRONG>key_f5</STRONG> <STRONG>kf5</STRONG> <STRONG>k5</STRONG> F5 function key
<STRONG>key_f6</STRONG> <STRONG>kf6</STRONG> <STRONG>k6</STRONG> F6 function key
<STRONG>key_f7</STRONG> <STRONG>kf7</STRONG> <STRONG>k7</STRONG> F7 function key
<STRONG>key_f8</STRONG> <STRONG>kf8</STRONG> <STRONG>k8</STRONG> F8 function key
<STRONG>key_f9</STRONG> <STRONG>kf9</STRONG> <STRONG>k9</STRONG> F9 function key
<STRONG>key_home</STRONG> <STRONG>khome</STRONG> <STRONG>kh</STRONG> home key
<STRONG>key_ic</STRONG> <STRONG>kich1</STRONG> <STRONG>kI</STRONG> insert-character key
<STRONG>key_il</STRONG> <STRONG>kil1</STRONG> <STRONG>kA</STRONG> insert-line key
<STRONG>key_left</STRONG> <STRONG>kcub1</STRONG> <STRONG>kl</STRONG> left-arrow key
<STRONG>key_ll</STRONG> <STRONG>kll</STRONG> <STRONG>kH</STRONG> lower-left key (home down)
<STRONG>key_npage</STRONG> <STRONG>knp</STRONG> <STRONG>kN</STRONG> next-page key
<STRONG>key_ppage</STRONG> <STRONG>kpp</STRONG> <STRONG>kP</STRONG> previous-page key
<STRONG>key_right</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuf1</STRONG> <STRONG>kr</STRONG> right-arrow key
<STRONG>key_sf</STRONG> <STRONG>kind</STRONG> <STRONG>kF</STRONG> scroll-forward key
<STRONG>key_sr</STRONG> <STRONG>kri</STRONG> <STRONG>kR</STRONG> scroll-backward key
<STRONG>key_stab</STRONG> <STRONG>khts</STRONG> <STRONG>kT</STRONG> set-tab key
<STRONG>key_up</STRONG> <STRONG>kcuu1</STRONG> <STRONG>ku</STRONG> up-arrow key
<STRONG>keypad_local</STRONG> <STRONG>rmkx</STRONG> <STRONG>ke</STRONG> leave keypad transmit mode
<STRONG>keypad_xmit</STRONG> <STRONG>smkx</STRONG> <STRONG>ks</STRONG> enter keypad transmit mode
<STRONG>lab_f0</STRONG> <STRONG>lf0</STRONG> <STRONG>l0</STRONG> label on function key f0 if
not f0
<STRONG>lab_f1</STRONG> <STRONG>lf1</STRONG> <STRONG>l1</STRONG> label on function key f1 if
not f1
<STRONG>lab_f10</STRONG> <STRONG>lf10</STRONG> <STRONG>la</STRONG> label on function key f10 if
not f10
<STRONG>lab_f2</STRONG> <STRONG>lf2</STRONG> <STRONG>l2</STRONG> label on function key f2 if
not f2
<STRONG>lab_f3</STRONG> <STRONG>lf3</STRONG> <STRONG>l3</STRONG> label on function key f3 if
not f3
<STRONG>lab_f4</STRONG> <STRONG>lf4</STRONG> <STRONG>l4</STRONG> label on function key f4 if
not f4
<STRONG>lab_f5</STRONG> <STRONG>lf5</STRONG> <STRONG>l5</STRONG> label on function key f5 if
not f5
<STRONG>lab_f6</STRONG> <STRONG>lf6</STRONG> <STRONG>l6</STRONG> label on function key f6 if
not f6
<STRONG>lab_f7</STRONG> <STRONG>lf7</STRONG> <STRONG>l7</STRONG> label on function key f7 if
not f7
<STRONG>lab_f8</STRONG> <STRONG>lf8</STRONG> <STRONG>l8</STRONG> label on function key f8 if
not f8
<STRONG>lab_f9</STRONG> <STRONG>lf9</STRONG> <STRONG>l9</STRONG> label on function key f9 if
not f9
<STRONG>meta_off</STRONG> <STRONG>rmm</STRONG> <STRONG>mo</STRONG> turn off meta mode
<STRONG>meta_on</STRONG> <STRONG>smm</STRONG> <STRONG>mm</STRONG> turn on meta mode (8th-bit on)
<STRONG>newline</STRONG> <STRONG>nel</STRONG> <STRONG>nw</STRONG> newline (behave like cr
followed by lf)
<STRONG>pad_char</STRONG> <STRONG>pad</STRONG> <STRONG>pc</STRONG> padding char (instead of null)
<STRONG>parm_dch</STRONG> <STRONG>dch</STRONG> <STRONG>DC</STRONG> delete #1 characters (P*)
<STRONG>parm_delete_line</STRONG> <STRONG>dl</STRONG> <STRONG>DL</STRONG> delete #1 lines (P*)
<STRONG>parm_down_cursor</STRONG> <STRONG>cud</STRONG> <STRONG>DO</STRONG> down #1 lines (P*)
<STRONG>parm_ich</STRONG> <STRONG>ich</STRONG> <STRONG>IC</STRONG> insert #1 characters (P*)
<STRONG>parm_index</STRONG> <STRONG>indn</STRONG> <STRONG>SF</STRONG> scroll forward #1 lines (P)
<STRONG>parm_insert_line</STRONG> <STRONG>il</STRONG> <STRONG>AL</STRONG> insert #1 lines (P*)
<STRONG>parm_left_cursor</STRONG> <STRONG>cub</STRONG> <STRONG>LE</STRONG> move #1 characters to the left
(P)
<STRONG>parm_right_cursor</STRONG> <STRONG>cuf</STRONG> <STRONG>RI</STRONG> move #1 characters to the
right (P*)
<STRONG>parm_rindex</STRONG> <STRONG>rin</STRONG> <STRONG>SR</STRONG> scroll back #1 lines (P)
<STRONG>parm_up_cursor</STRONG> <STRONG>cuu</STRONG> <STRONG>UP</STRONG> up #1 lines (P*)
<STRONG>pkey_key</STRONG> <STRONG>pfkey</STRONG> <STRONG>pk</STRONG> program function key #1 to
type string #2
<STRONG>pkey_local</STRONG> <STRONG>pfloc</STRONG> <STRONG>pl</STRONG> program function key #1 to
execute string #2
<STRONG>pkey_xmit</STRONG> <STRONG>pfx</STRONG> <STRONG>px</STRONG> program function key #1 to
transmit string #2
<STRONG>print_screen</STRONG> <STRONG>mc0</STRONG> <STRONG>ps</STRONG> print contents of screen
<STRONG>prtr_off</STRONG> <STRONG>mc4</STRONG> <STRONG>pf</STRONG> turn off printer
<STRONG>prtr_on</STRONG> <STRONG>mc5</STRONG> <STRONG>po</STRONG> turn on printer
<STRONG>repeat_char</STRONG> <STRONG>rep</STRONG> <STRONG>rp</STRONG> repeat char #1 #2 times (P*)
<STRONG>reset_1string</STRONG> <STRONG>rs1</STRONG> <STRONG>r1</STRONG> reset string
<STRONG>reset_2string</STRONG> <STRONG>rs2</STRONG> <STRONG>r2</STRONG> reset string
<STRONG>reset_3string</STRONG> <STRONG>rs3</STRONG> <STRONG>r3</STRONG> reset string
<STRONG>reset_file</STRONG> <STRONG>rf</STRONG> <STRONG>rf</STRONG> name of reset file
<STRONG>restore_cursor</STRONG> <STRONG>rc</STRONG> <STRONG>rc</STRONG> restore cursor to position of
last save_cursor
<STRONG>row_address</STRONG> <STRONG>vpa</STRONG> <STRONG>cv</STRONG> vertical position #1 absolute
(P)
<STRONG>save_cursor</STRONG> <STRONG>sc</STRONG> <STRONG>sc</STRONG> save current cursor position
(P)
<STRONG>scroll_forward</STRONG> <STRONG>ind</STRONG> <STRONG>sf</STRONG> scroll text up (P)
<STRONG>scroll_reverse</STRONG> <STRONG>ri</STRONG> <STRONG>sr</STRONG> scroll text down (P)
<STRONG>set_attributes</STRONG> <STRONG>sgr</STRONG> <STRONG>sa</STRONG> define video attributes #1-#9
(PG9)
<STRONG>set_tab</STRONG> <STRONG>hts</STRONG> <STRONG>st</STRONG> set a tab in every row,
current columns
<STRONG>set_window</STRONG> <STRONG>wind</STRONG> <STRONG>wi</STRONG> current window is lines #1-#2
cols #3-#4
<STRONG>tab</STRONG> <STRONG>ht</STRONG> <STRONG>ta</STRONG> tab to next 8-space hardware
tab stop
<STRONG>to_status_line</STRONG> <STRONG>tsl</STRONG> <STRONG>ts</STRONG> move to status line, column #1
<STRONG>underline_char</STRONG> <STRONG>uc</STRONG> <STRONG>uc</STRONG> underline char and move past
it
<STRONG>up_half_line</STRONG> <STRONG>hu</STRONG> <STRONG>hu</STRONG> half a line up
<STRONG>init_prog</STRONG> <STRONG>iprog</STRONG> <STRONG>iP</STRONG> path name of program for
initialization
<STRONG>key_a1</STRONG> <STRONG>ka1</STRONG> <STRONG>K1</STRONG> upper left of keypad
<STRONG>key_a3</STRONG> <STRONG>ka3</STRONG> <STRONG>K3</STRONG> upper right of keypad
<STRONG>key_b2</STRONG> <STRONG>kb2</STRONG> <STRONG>K2</STRONG> center of keypad
<STRONG>key_c1</STRONG> <STRONG>kc1</STRONG> <STRONG>K4</STRONG> lower left of keypad
<STRONG>key_c3</STRONG> <STRONG>kc3</STRONG> <STRONG>K5</STRONG> lower right of keypad
<STRONG>prtr_non</STRONG> <STRONG>mc5p</STRONG> <STRONG>pO</STRONG> turn on printer for #1 bytes
<STRONG>char_padding</STRONG> <STRONG>rmp</STRONG> <STRONG>rP</STRONG> like ip but when in insert
mode
<STRONG>acs_chars</STRONG> <STRONG>acsc</STRONG> <STRONG>ac</STRONG> graphics charset pairs, based
on vt100
<STRONG>plab_norm</STRONG> <STRONG>pln</STRONG> <STRONG>pn</STRONG> program label #1 to show
string #2
<STRONG>key_btab</STRONG> <STRONG>kcbt</STRONG> <STRONG>kB</STRONG> back-tab key
<STRONG>enter_xon_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>smxon</STRONG> <STRONG>SX</STRONG> turn on xon/xoff handshaking
<STRONG>exit_xon_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>rmxon</STRONG> <STRONG>RX</STRONG> turn off xon/xoff handshaking
<STRONG>enter_am_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>smam</STRONG> <STRONG>SA</STRONG> turn on automatic margins
<STRONG>exit_am_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>rmam</STRONG> <STRONG>RA</STRONG> turn off automatic margins
<STRONG>xon_character</STRONG> <STRONG>xonc</STRONG> <STRONG>XN</STRONG> XON character
<STRONG>xoff_character</STRONG> <STRONG>xoffc</STRONG> <STRONG>XF</STRONG> XOFF character
<STRONG>ena_acs</STRONG> <STRONG>enacs</STRONG> <STRONG>eA</STRONG> enable alternate char set
<STRONG>label_on</STRONG> <STRONG>smln</STRONG> <STRONG>LO</STRONG> turn on soft labels
<STRONG>label_off</STRONG> <STRONG>rmln</STRONG> <STRONG>LF</STRONG> turn off soft labels
<STRONG>key_beg</STRONG> <STRONG>kbeg</STRONG> <STRONG>@1</STRONG> begin key
<STRONG>key_cancel</STRONG> <STRONG>kcan</STRONG> <STRONG>@2</STRONG> cancel key
<STRONG>key_close</STRONG> <STRONG>kclo</STRONG> <STRONG>@3</STRONG> close key
<STRONG>key_command</STRONG> <STRONG>kcmd</STRONG> <STRONG>@4</STRONG> command key
<STRONG>key_copy</STRONG> <STRONG>kcpy</STRONG> <STRONG>@5</STRONG> copy key
<STRONG>key_create</STRONG> <STRONG>kcrt</STRONG> <STRONG>@6</STRONG> create key
<STRONG>key_end</STRONG> <STRONG>kend</STRONG> <STRONG>@7</STRONG> end key
<STRONG>key_enter</STRONG> <STRONG>kent</STRONG> <STRONG>@8</STRONG> enter/send key
<STRONG>key_exit</STRONG> <STRONG>kext</STRONG> <STRONG>@9</STRONG> exit key
<STRONG>key_find</STRONG> <STRONG>kfnd</STRONG> <STRONG>@0</STRONG> find key
<STRONG>key_help</STRONG> <STRONG>khlp</STRONG> <STRONG>%1</STRONG> help key
<STRONG>key_mark</STRONG> <STRONG>kmrk</STRONG> <STRONG>%2</STRONG> mark key
<STRONG>key_message</STRONG> <STRONG>kmsg</STRONG> <STRONG>%3</STRONG> message key
<STRONG>key_move</STRONG> <STRONG>kmov</STRONG> <STRONG>%4</STRONG> move key
<STRONG>key_next</STRONG> <STRONG>knxt</STRONG> <STRONG>%5</STRONG> next key
<STRONG>key_open</STRONG> <STRONG>kopn</STRONG> <STRONG>%6</STRONG> open key
<STRONG>key_options</STRONG> <STRONG>kopt</STRONG> <STRONG>%7</STRONG> options key
<STRONG>key_previous</STRONG> <STRONG>kprv</STRONG> <STRONG>%8</STRONG> previous key
<STRONG>key_print</STRONG> <STRONG>kprt</STRONG> <STRONG>%9</STRONG> print key
<STRONG>key_redo</STRONG> <STRONG>krdo</STRONG> <STRONG>%0</STRONG> redo key
<STRONG>key_reference</STRONG> <STRONG>kref</STRONG> <STRONG>&1</STRONG> reference key
<STRONG>key_refresh</STRONG> <STRONG>krfr</STRONG> <STRONG>&2</STRONG> refresh key
<STRONG>key_replace</STRONG> <STRONG>krpl</STRONG> <STRONG>&3</STRONG> replace key
<STRONG>key_restart</STRONG> <STRONG>krst</STRONG> <STRONG>&4</STRONG> restart key
<STRONG>key_resume</STRONG> <STRONG>kres</STRONG> <STRONG>&5</STRONG> resume key
<STRONG>key_save</STRONG> <STRONG>ksav</STRONG> <STRONG>&6</STRONG> save key
<STRONG>key_suspend</STRONG> <STRONG>kspd</STRONG> <STRONG>&7</STRONG> suspend key
<STRONG>key_undo</STRONG> <STRONG>kund</STRONG> <STRONG>&8</STRONG> undo key
<STRONG>key_sbeg</STRONG> <STRONG>kBEG</STRONG> <STRONG>&9</STRONG> shifted begin key
<STRONG>key_scancel</STRONG> <STRONG>kCAN</STRONG> <STRONG>&0</STRONG> shifted cancel key
<STRONG>key_scommand</STRONG> <STRONG>kCMD</STRONG> <STRONG>*1</STRONG> shifted command key
<STRONG>key_scopy</STRONG> <STRONG>kCPY</STRONG> <STRONG>*2</STRONG> shifted copy key
<STRONG>key_screate</STRONG> <STRONG>kCRT</STRONG> <STRONG>*3</STRONG> shifted create key
<STRONG>key_sdc</STRONG> <STRONG>kDC</STRONG> <STRONG>*4</STRONG> shifted delete-character key
<STRONG>key_sdl</STRONG> <STRONG>kDL</STRONG> <STRONG>*5</STRONG> shifted delete-line key
<STRONG>key_select</STRONG> <STRONG>kslt</STRONG> <STRONG>*6</STRONG> select key
<STRONG>key_send</STRONG> <STRONG>kEND</STRONG> <STRONG>*7</STRONG> shifted end key
<STRONG>key_seol</STRONG> <STRONG>kEOL</STRONG> <STRONG>*8</STRONG> shifted clear-to-end-of-line
key
<STRONG>key_sexit</STRONG> <STRONG>kEXT</STRONG> <STRONG>*9</STRONG> shifted exit key
<STRONG>key_sfind</STRONG> <STRONG>kFND</STRONG> <STRONG>*0</STRONG> shifted find key
<STRONG>key_shelp</STRONG> <STRONG>kHLP</STRONG> <STRONG>#1</STRONG> shifted help key
<STRONG>key_shome</STRONG> <STRONG>kHOM</STRONG> <STRONG>#2</STRONG> shifted home key
<STRONG>key_sic</STRONG> <STRONG>kIC</STRONG> <STRONG>#3</STRONG> shifted insert-character key
<STRONG>key_sleft</STRONG> <STRONG>kLFT</STRONG> <STRONG>#4</STRONG> shifted left-arrow key
<STRONG>key_smessage</STRONG> <STRONG>kMSG</STRONG> <STRONG>%a</STRONG> shifted message key
<STRONG>key_smove</STRONG> <STRONG>kMOV</STRONG> <STRONG>%b</STRONG> shifted move key
<STRONG>key_snext</STRONG> <STRONG>kNXT</STRONG> <STRONG>%c</STRONG> shifted next key
<STRONG>key_soptions</STRONG> <STRONG>kOPT</STRONG> <STRONG>%d</STRONG> shifted options key
<STRONG>key_sprevious</STRONG> <STRONG>kPRV</STRONG> <STRONG>%e</STRONG> shifted previous key
<STRONG>key_sprint</STRONG> <STRONG>kPRT</STRONG> <STRONG>%f</STRONG> shifted print key
<STRONG>key_sredo</STRONG> <STRONG>kRDO</STRONG> <STRONG>%g</STRONG> shifted redo key
<STRONG>key_sreplace</STRONG> <STRONG>kRPL</STRONG> <STRONG>%h</STRONG> shifted replace key
<STRONG>key_sright</STRONG> <STRONG>kRIT</STRONG> <STRONG>%i</STRONG> shifted right-arrow key
<STRONG>key_srsume</STRONG> <STRONG>kRES</STRONG> <STRONG>%j</STRONG> shifted resume key
<STRONG>key_ssave</STRONG> <STRONG>kSAV</STRONG> <STRONG>!1</STRONG> shifted save key
<STRONG>key_ssuspend</STRONG> <STRONG>kSPD</STRONG> <STRONG>!2</STRONG> shifted suspend key
<STRONG>key_sundo</STRONG> <STRONG>kUND</STRONG> <STRONG>!3</STRONG> shifted undo key
<STRONG>req_for_input</STRONG> <STRONG>rfi</STRONG> <STRONG>RF</STRONG> send next input char (for
ptys)
<STRONG>key_f11</STRONG> <STRONG>kf11</STRONG> <STRONG>F1</STRONG> F11 function key
<STRONG>key_f12</STRONG> <STRONG>kf12</STRONG> <STRONG>F2</STRONG> F12 function key
<STRONG>key_f13</STRONG> <STRONG>kf13</STRONG> <STRONG>F3</STRONG> F13 function key
<STRONG>key_f14</STRONG> <STRONG>kf14</STRONG> <STRONG>F4</STRONG> F14 function key
<STRONG>key_f15</STRONG> <STRONG>kf15</STRONG> <STRONG>F5</STRONG> F15 function key
<STRONG>key_f16</STRONG> <STRONG>kf16</STRONG> <STRONG>F6</STRONG> F16 function key
<STRONG>key_f17</STRONG> <STRONG>kf17</STRONG> <STRONG>F7</STRONG> F17 function key
<STRONG>key_f18</STRONG> <STRONG>kf18</STRONG> <STRONG>F8</STRONG> F18 function key
<STRONG>key_f19</STRONG> <STRONG>kf19</STRONG> <STRONG>F9</STRONG> F19 function key
<STRONG>key_f20</STRONG> <STRONG>kf20</STRONG> <STRONG>FA</STRONG> F20 function key
<STRONG>key_f21</STRONG> <STRONG>kf21</STRONG> <STRONG>FB</STRONG> F21 function key
<STRONG>key_f22</STRONG> <STRONG>kf22</STRONG> <STRONG>FC</STRONG> F22 function key
<STRONG>key_f23</STRONG> <STRONG>kf23</STRONG> <STRONG>FD</STRONG> F23 function key
<STRONG>key_f24</STRONG> <STRONG>kf24</STRONG> <STRONG>FE</STRONG> F24 function key
<STRONG>key_f25</STRONG> <STRONG>kf25</STRONG> <STRONG>FF</STRONG> F25 function key
<STRONG>key_f26</STRONG> <STRONG>kf26</STRONG> <STRONG>FG</STRONG> F26 function key
<STRONG>key_f27</STRONG> <STRONG>kf27</STRONG> <STRONG>FH</STRONG> F27 function key
<STRONG>key_f28</STRONG> <STRONG>kf28</STRONG> <STRONG>FI</STRONG> F28 function key
<STRONG>key_f29</STRONG> <STRONG>kf29</STRONG> <STRONG>FJ</STRONG> F29 function key
<STRONG>key_f30</STRONG> <STRONG>kf30</STRONG> <STRONG>FK</STRONG> F30 function key
<STRONG>key_f31</STRONG> <STRONG>kf31</STRONG> <STRONG>FL</STRONG> F31 function key
<STRONG>key_f32</STRONG> <STRONG>kf32</STRONG> <STRONG>FM</STRONG> F32 function key
<STRONG>key_f33</STRONG> <STRONG>kf33</STRONG> <STRONG>FN</STRONG> F33 function key
<STRONG>key_f34</STRONG> <STRONG>kf34</STRONG> <STRONG>FO</STRONG> F34 function key
<STRONG>key_f35</STRONG> <STRONG>kf35</STRONG> <STRONG>FP</STRONG> F35 function key
<STRONG>key_f36</STRONG> <STRONG>kf36</STRONG> <STRONG>FQ</STRONG> F36 function key
<STRONG>key_f37</STRONG> <STRONG>kf37</STRONG> <STRONG>FR</STRONG> F37 function key
<STRONG>key_f38</STRONG> <STRONG>kf38</STRONG> <STRONG>FS</STRONG> F38 function key
<STRONG>key_f39</STRONG> <STRONG>kf39</STRONG> <STRONG>FT</STRONG> F39 function key
<STRONG>key_f40</STRONG> <STRONG>kf40</STRONG> <STRONG>FU</STRONG> F40 function key
<STRONG>key_f41</STRONG> <STRONG>kf41</STRONG> <STRONG>FV</STRONG> F41 function key
<STRONG>key_f42</STRONG> <STRONG>kf42</STRONG> <STRONG>FW</STRONG> F42 function key
<STRONG>key_f43</STRONG> <STRONG>kf43</STRONG> <STRONG>FX</STRONG> F43 function key
<STRONG>key_f44</STRONG> <STRONG>kf44</STRONG> <STRONG>FY</STRONG> F44 function key
<STRONG>key_f45</STRONG> <STRONG>kf45</STRONG> <STRONG>FZ</STRONG> F45 function key
<STRONG>key_f46</STRONG> <STRONG>kf46</STRONG> <STRONG>Fa</STRONG> F46 function key
<STRONG>key_f47</STRONG> <STRONG>kf47</STRONG> <STRONG>Fb</STRONG> F47 function key
<STRONG>key_f48</STRONG> <STRONG>kf48</STRONG> <STRONG>Fc</STRONG> F48 function key
<STRONG>key_f49</STRONG> <STRONG>kf49</STRONG> <STRONG>Fd</STRONG> F49 function key
<STRONG>key_f50</STRONG> <STRONG>kf50</STRONG> <STRONG>Fe</STRONG> F50 function key
<STRONG>key_f51</STRONG> <STRONG>kf51</STRONG> <STRONG>Ff</STRONG> F51 function key
<STRONG>key_f52</STRONG> <STRONG>kf52</STRONG> <STRONG>Fg</STRONG> F52 function key
<STRONG>key_f53</STRONG> <STRONG>kf53</STRONG> <STRONG>Fh</STRONG> F53 function key
<STRONG>key_f54</STRONG> <STRONG>kf54</STRONG> <STRONG>Fi</STRONG> F54 function key
<STRONG>key_f55</STRONG> <STRONG>kf55</STRONG> <STRONG>Fj</STRONG> F55 function key
<STRONG>key_f56</STRONG> <STRONG>kf56</STRONG> <STRONG>Fk</STRONG> F56 function key
<STRONG>key_f57</STRONG> <STRONG>kf57</STRONG> <STRONG>Fl</STRONG> F57 function key
<STRONG>key_f58</STRONG> <STRONG>kf58</STRONG> <STRONG>Fm</STRONG> F58 function key
<STRONG>key_f59</STRONG> <STRONG>kf59</STRONG> <STRONG>Fn</STRONG> F59 function key
<STRONG>key_f60</STRONG> <STRONG>kf60</STRONG> <STRONG>Fo</STRONG> F60 function key
<STRONG>key_f61</STRONG> <STRONG>kf61</STRONG> <STRONG>Fp</STRONG> F61 function key
<STRONG>key_f62</STRONG> <STRONG>kf62</STRONG> <STRONG>Fq</STRONG> F62 function key
<STRONG>key_f63</STRONG> <STRONG>kf63</STRONG> <STRONG>Fr</STRONG> F63 function key
<STRONG>clr_bol</STRONG> <STRONG>el1</STRONG> <STRONG>cb</STRONG> Clear to beginning of line
<STRONG>clear_margins</STRONG> <STRONG>mgc</STRONG> <STRONG>MC</STRONG> clear right and left soft
margins
<STRONG>set_left_margin</STRONG> <STRONG>smgl</STRONG> <STRONG>ML</STRONG> set left soft margin at
current column (not in BSD
<EM>termcap</EM>)
<STRONG>set_right_margin</STRONG> <STRONG>smgr</STRONG> <STRONG>MR</STRONG> set right soft margin at
current column
<STRONG>label_format</STRONG> <STRONG>fln</STRONG> <STRONG>Lf</STRONG> label format
<STRONG>set_clock</STRONG> <STRONG>sclk</STRONG> <STRONG>SC</STRONG> set clock, #1 hrs #2 mins #3
secs
<STRONG>display_clock</STRONG> <STRONG>dclk</STRONG> <STRONG>DK</STRONG> display clock
<STRONG>remove_clock</STRONG> <STRONG>rmclk</STRONG> <STRONG>RC</STRONG> remove clock
<STRONG>create_window</STRONG> <STRONG>cwin</STRONG> <STRONG>CW</STRONG> define a window #1 from #2,#3
to #4,#5
<STRONG>goto_window</STRONG> <STRONG>wingo</STRONG> <STRONG>WG</STRONG> go to window #1
<STRONG>hangup</STRONG> <STRONG>hup</STRONG> <STRONG>HU</STRONG> hang-up phone
<STRONG>dial_phone</STRONG> <STRONG>dial</STRONG> <STRONG>DI</STRONG> dial number #1
<STRONG>quick_dial</STRONG> <STRONG>qdial</STRONG> <STRONG>QD</STRONG> dial number #1 without
checking
<STRONG>tone</STRONG> <STRONG>tone</STRONG> <STRONG>TO</STRONG> select touch tone dialing
<STRONG>pulse</STRONG> <STRONG>pulse</STRONG> <STRONG>PU</STRONG> select pulse dialing
<STRONG>flash_hook</STRONG> <STRONG>hook</STRONG> <STRONG>fh</STRONG> flash switch hook
<STRONG>fixed_pause</STRONG> <STRONG>pause</STRONG> <STRONG>PA</STRONG> pause for 2-3 seconds
<STRONG>wait_tone</STRONG> <STRONG>wait</STRONG> <STRONG>WA</STRONG> wait for dial-tone
<STRONG>user0</STRONG> <STRONG>u0</STRONG> <STRONG>u0</STRONG> User string #0
<STRONG>user1</STRONG> <STRONG>u1</STRONG> <STRONG>u1</STRONG> User string #1
<STRONG>user2</STRONG> <STRONG>u2</STRONG> <STRONG>u2</STRONG> User string #2
<STRONG>user3</STRONG> <STRONG>u3</STRONG> <STRONG>u3</STRONG> User string #3
<STRONG>user4</STRONG> <STRONG>u4</STRONG> <STRONG>u4</STRONG> User string #4
<STRONG>user5</STRONG> <STRONG>u5</STRONG> <STRONG>u5</STRONG> User string #5
<STRONG>user6</STRONG> <STRONG>u6</STRONG> <STRONG>u6</STRONG> User string #6
<STRONG>user7</STRONG> <STRONG>u7</STRONG> <STRONG>u7</STRONG> User string #7
<STRONG>user8</STRONG> <STRONG>u8</STRONG> <STRONG>u8</STRONG> User string #8
<STRONG>user9</STRONG> <STRONG>u9</STRONG> <STRONG>u9</STRONG> User string #9
<STRONG>orig_pair</STRONG> <STRONG>op</STRONG> <STRONG>op</STRONG> Set default pair to its
original value
<STRONG>orig_colors</STRONG> <STRONG>oc</STRONG> <STRONG>oc</STRONG> Set all color pairs to the
original ones
<STRONG>initialize_color</STRONG> <STRONG>initc</STRONG> <STRONG>Ic</STRONG> initialize color #1 to
(#2,#3,#4)
<STRONG>initialize_pair</STRONG> <STRONG>initp</STRONG> <STRONG>Ip</STRONG> Initialize color pair #1 to
fg=(#2,#3,#4), bg=(#5,#6,#7)
<STRONG>set_color_pair</STRONG> <STRONG>scp</STRONG> <STRONG>sp</STRONG> Set current color pair to #1
<STRONG>set_foreground</STRONG> <STRONG>setf</STRONG> <STRONG>Sf</STRONG> Set foreground color #1
<STRONG>set_background</STRONG> <STRONG>setb</STRONG> <STRONG>Sb</STRONG> Set background color #1
<STRONG>change_char_pitch</STRONG> <STRONG>cpi</STRONG> <STRONG>ZA</STRONG> Change number of characters
per inch to #1
<STRONG>change_line_pitch</STRONG> <STRONG>lpi</STRONG> <STRONG>ZB</STRONG> Change number of lines per
inch to #1
<STRONG>change_res_horz</STRONG> <STRONG>chr</STRONG> <STRONG>ZC</STRONG> Change horizontal resolution
to #1
<STRONG>change_res_vert</STRONG> <STRONG>cvr</STRONG> <STRONG>ZD</STRONG> Change vertical resolution to
#1
<STRONG>define_char</STRONG> <STRONG>defc</STRONG> <STRONG>ZE</STRONG> Define a character #1, #2 dots
wide, descender #3
<STRONG>enter_doublewide_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>swidm</STRONG> <STRONG>ZF</STRONG> Enter double-wide mode
<STRONG>enter_draft_quality</STRONG> <STRONG>sdrfq</STRONG> <STRONG>ZG</STRONG> Enter draft-quality mode
<STRONG>enter_italics_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>sitm</STRONG> <STRONG>ZH</STRONG> Enter italic mode
<STRONG>enter_leftward_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>slm</STRONG> <STRONG>ZI</STRONG> Start leftward carriage motion
<STRONG>enter_micro_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>smicm</STRONG> <STRONG>ZJ</STRONG> Start micro-motion mode
<STRONG>enter_near_letter_quality</STRONG> <STRONG>snlq</STRONG> <STRONG>ZK</STRONG> Enter NLQ mode
<STRONG>enter_normal_quality</STRONG> <STRONG>snrmq</STRONG> <STRONG>ZL</STRONG> Enter normal-quality mode
<STRONG>enter_shadow_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>sshm</STRONG> <STRONG>ZM</STRONG> Enter shadow-print mode
<STRONG>enter_subscript_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>ssubm</STRONG> <STRONG>ZN</STRONG> Enter subscript mode
<STRONG>enter_superscript_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>ssupm</STRONG> <STRONG>ZO</STRONG> Enter superscript mode
<STRONG>enter_upward_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>sum</STRONG> <STRONG>ZP</STRONG> Start upward carriage motion
<STRONG>exit_doublewide_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>rwidm</STRONG> <STRONG>ZQ</STRONG> End double-wide mode
<STRONG>exit_italics_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>ritm</STRONG> <STRONG>ZR</STRONG> End italic mode
<STRONG>exit_leftward_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>rlm</STRONG> <STRONG>ZS</STRONG> End left-motion mode
<STRONG>exit_micro_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>rmicm</STRONG> <STRONG>ZT</STRONG> End micro-motion mode
<STRONG>exit_shadow_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>rshm</STRONG> <STRONG>ZU</STRONG> End shadow-print mode
<STRONG>exit_subscript_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>rsubm</STRONG> <STRONG>ZV</STRONG> End subscript mode
<STRONG>exit_superscript_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>rsupm</STRONG> <STRONG>ZW</STRONG> End superscript mode
<STRONG>exit_upward_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>rum</STRONG> <STRONG>ZX</STRONG> End reverse character motion
<STRONG>micro_column_address</STRONG> <STRONG>mhpa</STRONG> <STRONG>ZY</STRONG> Like column_address in micro
mode
<STRONG>micro_down</STRONG> <STRONG>mcud1</STRONG> <STRONG>ZZ</STRONG> Like cursor_down in micro mode
<STRONG>micro_left</STRONG> <STRONG>mcub1</STRONG> <STRONG>Za</STRONG> Like cursor_left in micro mode
<STRONG>micro_right</STRONG> <STRONG>mcuf1</STRONG> <STRONG>Zb</STRONG> Like cursor_right in micro
mode
<STRONG>micro_row_address</STRONG> <STRONG>mvpa</STRONG> <STRONG>Zc</STRONG> Like row_address #1 in micro
mode
<STRONG>micro_up</STRONG> <STRONG>mcuu1</STRONG> <STRONG>Zd</STRONG> Like cursor_up in micro mode
<STRONG>order_of_pins</STRONG> <STRONG>porder</STRONG> <STRONG>Ze</STRONG> Match software bits to print-
head pins
<STRONG>parm_down_micro</STRONG> <STRONG>mcud</STRONG> <STRONG>Zf</STRONG> Like parm_down_cursor in micro
mode
<STRONG>parm_left_micro</STRONG> <STRONG>mcub</STRONG> <STRONG>Zg</STRONG> Like parm_left_cursor in micro
mode
<STRONG>parm_right_micro</STRONG> <STRONG>mcuf</STRONG> <STRONG>Zh</STRONG> Like parm_right_cursor in
micro mode
<STRONG>parm_up_micro</STRONG> <STRONG>mcuu</STRONG> <STRONG>Zi</STRONG> Like parm_up_cursor in micro
mode
<STRONG>select_char_set</STRONG> <STRONG>scs</STRONG> <STRONG>Zj</STRONG> Select character set, #1
<STRONG>set_bottom_margin</STRONG> <STRONG>smgb</STRONG> <STRONG>Zk</STRONG> Set bottom margin at current
line
<STRONG>set_bottom_margin_parm</STRONG> <STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> <STRONG>Zl</STRONG> Set bottom margin at line #1
or (if smgtp is not given) #2
lines from bottom
<STRONG>set_left_margin_parm</STRONG> <STRONG>smglp</STRONG> <STRONG>Zm</STRONG> Set left (right) margin at
column #1
<STRONG>set_right_margin_parm</STRONG> <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> <STRONG>Zn</STRONG> Set right margin at column #1
<STRONG>set_top_margin</STRONG> <STRONG>smgt</STRONG> <STRONG>Zo</STRONG> Set top margin at current line
<STRONG>set_top_margin_parm</STRONG> <STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> <STRONG>Zp</STRONG> Set top (bottom) margin at row
#1
<STRONG>start_bit_image</STRONG> <STRONG>sbim</STRONG> <STRONG>Zq</STRONG> Start printing bit image
graphics
<STRONG>start_char_set_def</STRONG> <STRONG>scsd</STRONG> <STRONG>Zr</STRONG> Start character set definition
#1, with #2 characters in the
set
<STRONG>stop_bit_image</STRONG> <STRONG>rbim</STRONG> <STRONG>Zs</STRONG> Stop printing bit image
graphics
<STRONG>stop_char_set_def</STRONG> <STRONG>rcsd</STRONG> <STRONG>Zt</STRONG> End definition of character
set #1
<STRONG>subscript_characters</STRONG> <STRONG>subcs</STRONG> <STRONG>Zu</STRONG> List of subscriptable
characters
<STRONG>superscript_characters</STRONG> <STRONG>supcs</STRONG> <STRONG>Zv</STRONG> List of superscriptable
characters
<STRONG>these_cause_cr</STRONG> <STRONG>docr</STRONG> <STRONG>Zw</STRONG> Printing any of these
characters causes CR
<STRONG>zero_motion</STRONG> <STRONG>zerom</STRONG> <STRONG>Zx</STRONG> No motion for subsequent
character
The following string capabilities are present in the SVr4.0 term
structure, but were originally not documented in the man page.
<STRONG>Code</STRONG>
<STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>Capability</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>TI</STRONG> <STRONG>TC</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
<STRONG>char_set_names</STRONG> <STRONG>csnm</STRONG> <STRONG>Zy</STRONG> Produce #1'th item from list
of character set names
<STRONG>key_mouse</STRONG> <STRONG>kmous</STRONG> <STRONG>Km</STRONG> Mouse event has occurred
<STRONG>mouse_info</STRONG> <STRONG>minfo</STRONG> <STRONG>Mi</STRONG> Mouse status information
<STRONG>req_mouse_pos</STRONG> <STRONG>reqmp</STRONG> <STRONG>RQ</STRONG> Request mouse position
<STRONG>get_mouse</STRONG> <STRONG>getm</STRONG> <STRONG>Gm</STRONG> Curses should get button
events, parameter #1 not
documented.
<STRONG>set_a_foreground</STRONG> <STRONG>setaf</STRONG> <STRONG>AF</STRONG> Set foreground color to #1,
using ANSI escape
<STRONG>set_a_background</STRONG> <STRONG>setab</STRONG> <STRONG>AB</STRONG> Set background color to #1,
using ANSI escape
<STRONG>pkey_plab</STRONG> <STRONG>pfxl</STRONG> <STRONG>xl</STRONG> Program function key #1 to
type string #2 and show string
#3
<STRONG>device_type</STRONG> <STRONG>devt</STRONG> <STRONG>dv</STRONG> Indicate language, codeset
support
<STRONG>code_set_init</STRONG> <STRONG>csin</STRONG> <STRONG>ci</STRONG> Init sequence for multiple
codesets
<STRONG>set0_des_seq</STRONG> <STRONG>s0ds</STRONG> <STRONG>s0</STRONG> Shift to codeset 0 (EUC set 0,
ASCII)
<STRONG>set1_des_seq</STRONG> <STRONG>s1ds</STRONG> <STRONG>s1</STRONG> Shift to codeset 1
<STRONG>set2_des_seq</STRONG> <STRONG>s2ds</STRONG> <STRONG>s2</STRONG> Shift to codeset 2
<STRONG>set3_des_seq</STRONG> <STRONG>s3ds</STRONG> <STRONG>s3</STRONG> Shift to codeset 3
<STRONG>set_lr_margin</STRONG> <STRONG>smglr</STRONG> <STRONG>ML</STRONG> Set both left and right
margins to #1, #2. (ML is not
in BSD termcap).
<STRONG>set_tb_margin</STRONG> <STRONG>smgtb</STRONG> <STRONG>MT</STRONG> Sets both top and bottom
margins to #1, #2
<STRONG>bit_image_repeat</STRONG> <STRONG>birep</STRONG> <STRONG>Xy</STRONG> Repeat bit image cell #1 #2
times
<STRONG>bit_image_newline</STRONG> <STRONG>binel</STRONG> <STRONG>Zz</STRONG> Move to next row of the bit
image
<STRONG>bit_image_carriage_return</STRONG> <STRONG>bicr</STRONG> <STRONG>Yv</STRONG> Move to beginning of same row
<STRONG>color_names</STRONG> <STRONG>colornm</STRONG> <STRONG>Yw</STRONG> Give name for color #1
<STRONG>define_bit_image_region</STRONG> <STRONG>defbi</STRONG> <STRONG>Yx</STRONG> Define rectangular bit image
region
<STRONG>end_bit_image_region</STRONG> <STRONG>endbi</STRONG> <STRONG>Yy</STRONG> End a bit-image region
<STRONG>set_color_band</STRONG> <STRONG>setcolor</STRONG> <STRONG>Yz</STRONG> Change to ribbon color #1
<STRONG>set_page_length</STRONG> <STRONG>slines</STRONG> <STRONG>YZ</STRONG> Set page length to #1 lines
<STRONG>display_pc_char</STRONG> <STRONG>dispc</STRONG> <STRONG>S1</STRONG> Display PC character #1
<STRONG>enter_pc_charset_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>smpch</STRONG> <STRONG>S2</STRONG> Enter PC character display
mode
<STRONG>exit_pc_charset_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>rmpch</STRONG> <STRONG>S3</STRONG> Exit PC character display mode
<STRONG>enter_scancode_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>smsc</STRONG> <STRONG>S4</STRONG> Enter PC scancode mode
<STRONG>exit_scancode_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>rmsc</STRONG> <STRONG>S5</STRONG> Exit PC scancode mode
<STRONG>pc_term_options</STRONG> <STRONG>pctrm</STRONG> <STRONG>S6</STRONG> PC terminal options
<STRONG>scancode_escape</STRONG> <STRONG>scesc</STRONG> <STRONG>S7</STRONG> Escape for scancode emulation
<STRONG>alt_scancode_esc</STRONG> <STRONG>scesa</STRONG> <STRONG>S8</STRONG> Alternate escape for scancode
emulation
The XSI Curses standard added these hardcopy capabilities. They were
used in some post-4.1 versions of System V curses, e.g., Solaris 2.5
and IRIX 6.x. Except for <STRONG>YI</STRONG>, the <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> termcap names for them are
invented. According to the XSI Curses standard, they have no termcap
names. If your compiled terminfo entries use these, they may not be
binary-compatible with System V terminfo entries after SVr4.1; beware!
<STRONG>Code</STRONG>
<STRONG>String</STRONG> <STRONG>Capability</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>TI</STRONG> <STRONG>TC</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
<STRONG>enter_horizontal_hl_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>ehhlm</STRONG> <STRONG>Xh</STRONG> Enter horizontal highlight
mode
<STRONG>enter_left_hl_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>elhlm</STRONG> <STRONG>Xl</STRONG> Enter left highlight mode
<STRONG>enter_low_hl_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>elohlm</STRONG> <STRONG>Xo</STRONG> Enter low highlight mode
<STRONG>enter_right_hl_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>erhlm</STRONG> <STRONG>Xr</STRONG> Enter right highlight mode
<STRONG>enter_top_hl_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>ethlm</STRONG> <STRONG>Xt</STRONG> Enter top highlight mode
<STRONG>enter_vertical_hl_mode</STRONG> <STRONG>evhlm</STRONG> <STRONG>Xv</STRONG> Enter vertical highlight mode
<STRONG>set_a_attributes</STRONG> <STRONG>sgr1</STRONG> <STRONG>sA</STRONG> Define second set of video
attributes #1-#6
<STRONG>set_pglen_inch</STRONG> <STRONG>slength</STRONG> <STRONG>YI</STRONG> Set page length to #1
hundredth of an inch (some
implementations use sL for
termcap).
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-User-Defined-Capabilities">User-Defined Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
The preceding section listed the <EM>standard</EM> capabilities. Some are
esoteric, supporting functionality that terminal emulators do not
implement, or may never have been realized in manufactured hardware.
Occasionally, emulators have special features that are awkward or
impossible to represent via standard capabilities.
<EM>ncurses</EM> addresses this limitation by allowing user-defined
capabilities. The <STRONG>tic</STRONG> and <STRONG>infocmp</STRONG> programs provide an <STRONG>-x</STRONG> option for
this purpose. When <STRONG>-x</STRONG> is used, <STRONG>tic</STRONG> treats unknown capabilities as
user-defined. That is, if <STRONG>tic</STRONG> encounters a capability name that it
does not recognize, the program infers the capability's type (Boolean,
numeric, or string) from the syntax of the capability value and makes
an extended table entry for that capability. <STRONG><A HREF="curs_extend.3x.html">use_extended_names(3x)</A></STRONG>
makes this information conditionally available to applications.
<EM>ncurses</EM> library functions supply callers with capability data, the
interpretation of which is mostly up to the application.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>ncurses</EM> treats user-defined string capabilities whose names begin
with "k" as function keys.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Capability types (Boolean, numeric, or string) determined by <STRONG>tic</STRONG>
can be inferred by successful <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tigetflag(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tigetnum(3x)</A></STRONG>, and
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tigetstr(3x)</A></STRONG> calls.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> If the capability name happens to be two characters, the capability
is also available through the termcap interface.
While <EM>termcap</EM> is said to be extensible because it mandates no
capabilities, in practice it has been limited to those defined by <EM>term-</EM>
<EM>info</EM> implementations. As a rule, employ only user-defined capabilities
of Boolean and numeric type with <EM>termcap</EM> applications to avoid
overrunning the 1023 byte limit assumed by <EM>termcap</EM> implementations and
their applications. Specifically, support for extended sets of
function keys (past the 60 numbered keys and the handful of special
named keys) is better achieved with longer names available via <EM>term-</EM>
<EM>info</EM>.
The <EM>ncurses</EM> library uses a few of these user-defined capabilities, as
described in <STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG>. For other user-defined capabilities,
including function keys, consult the source form of the terminal
database, <EM>terminfo.src</EM>, under the heading "NCURSES USER-DEFINABLE
CAPABILITIES".
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-A-Sample-Entry">A Sample Entry</a></H3><PRE>
The following entry, describing an ANSI X3.64- (or ECMA-48-) -standard
terminal (henceforth "ANSI-standard" for brevity), is representative of
what a <EM>terminfo</EM> entry for a modern terminal typically looks like.
ansi|ansi/pc-term compatible with color,
am, mc5i, mir, msgr,
colors#8, cols#80, it#8, lines#24, ncv#3, pairs#64,
acsc=+\020\,\021-\030.^Y0\333`\004a\261f\370g\361h\260
j\331k\277l\332m\300n\305o~p\304q\304r\304s_t\303
u\264v\301w\302x\263y\363z\362{\343|\330}\234~\376,
bel=^G, blink=\E[5m, bold=\E[1m, cbt=\E[Z, clear=\E[H\E[J,
cr=^M, cub=\E[%p1%dD, cub1=\E[D, cud=\E[%p1%dB, cud1=\E[B,
cuf=\E[%p1%dC, cuf1=\E[C, cup=\E[%i%p1%d;%p2%dH,
cuu=\E[%p1%dA, cuu1=\E[A, dch=\E[%p1%dP, dch1=\E[P,
dl=\E[%p1%dM, dl1=\E[M, ech=\E[%p1%dX, ed=\E[J, el=\E[K,
el1=\E[1K, home=\E[H, hpa=\E[%i%p1%dG, ht=\E[I, hts=\EH,
ich=\E[%p1%d@, il=\E[%p1%dL, il1=\E[L, ind=^J,
indn=\E[%p1%dS, invis=\E[8m, kbs=^H, kcbt=\E[Z, kcub1=\E[D,
kcud1=\E[B, kcuf1=\E[C, kcuu1=\E[A, khome=\E[H, kich1=\E[L,
mc4=\E[4i, mc5=\E[5i, nel=\r\E[S, op=\E[39;49m,
rep=%p1%c\E[%p2%{1}%-%db, rev=\E[7m, rin=\E[%p1%dT,
rmacs=\E[10m, rmpch=\E[10m, rmso=\E[m, rmul=\E[m,
s0ds=\E(B, s1ds=\E)B, s2ds=\E*B, s3ds=\E+B,
setab=\E[4%p1%dm, setaf=\E[3%p1%dm,
sgr=\E[0;10%?%p1%t;7%;
%?%p2%t;4%;
%?%p3%t;7%;
%?%p4%t;5%;
%?%p6%t;1%;
%?%p7%t;8%;
%?%p9%t;11%;m,
sgr0=\E[0;10m, smacs=\E[11m, smpch=\E[11m, smso=\E[7m,
smul=\E[4m, tbc=\E[3g, u6=\E[%i%d;%dR, u7=\E[6n,
u8=\E[?%[;0123456789]c, u9=\E[c, vpa=\E[%i%p1%dd,
Entries may continue onto multiple lines by placing white space at the
beginning of each line except the first. Comments may be included on
lines beginning with "#". Capabilities in <EM>terminfo</EM> are of three types:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Boolean capabilities which indicate that the terminal has some
particular feature,
<STRONG>o</STRONG> numeric capabilities giving the size of the terminal or the size of
particular delays, and
<STRONG>o</STRONG> string capabilities, which give a sequence which can be used to
perform particular terminal operations.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Types-of-Capabilities">Types of Capabilities</a></H3><PRE>
All capabilities have names. For instance, the fact that ANSI-standard
terminals have <EM>automatic</EM> <EM>margins</EM> (i.e., an automatic return and line-
feed when the end of a line is reached) is indicated by the capability
<STRONG>am</STRONG>. Hence the description of ansi includes <STRONG>am</STRONG>. Numeric capabilities
are followed by the character "#" and then a positive value. Thus
<STRONG>cols</STRONG>, which indicates the number of columns the terminal has, gives the
value "80" for ansi. Values for numeric capabilities may be specified
in decimal, octal, or hexadecimal, using the C programming language
conventions (e.g., 255, 0377 and 0xff or 0xFF).
Finally, string valued capabilities, such as <STRONG>el</STRONG> (clear to end of line
sequence) are given by the two-character code, an "=", and then a
string ending at the next following ",".
A number of escape sequences are provided in the string valued
capabilities for easy encoding of characters there:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Both <STRONG>\E</STRONG> and <STRONG>\e</STRONG> map to an ESCAPE character,
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>^</STRONG><STRONG><EM>x</EM></STRONG> maps to a control-<EM>x</EM> for any appropriate <EM>x</EM>, and
<STRONG>o</STRONG> the sequences
<STRONG>\n</STRONG>, <STRONG>\l</STRONG>, <STRONG>\r</STRONG>, <STRONG>\t</STRONG>, <STRONG>\b</STRONG>, <STRONG>\f</STRONG>, and <STRONG>\s</STRONG>
produce
<EM>newline</EM>, <EM>line-feed</EM>, <EM>return</EM>, <EM>tab</EM>, <EM>backspace</EM>, <EM>form-feed</EM>, and <EM>space</EM>,
respectively.
X/Open Curses does not say what "appropriate <EM>x</EM>" might be. In practice,
that is a printable ASCII graphic character. The special case "^?" is
interpreted as DEL (127). In all other cases, the character value is
logically "and"-ed with 0x1f, mapping to ASCII control codes in the
range 0 through 31.
Other escapes include
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\^</STRONG> for <STRONG>^</STRONG>,
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\\</STRONG> for <STRONG>\</STRONG>,
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\</STRONG>, for comma,
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>\:</STRONG> for <STRONG>:</STRONG>,
<STRONG>o</STRONG> and <STRONG>\0</STRONG> for null.
<STRONG>\0</STRONG> will produce \200, which does not terminate a string but behaves
as a null character on most terminals, providing CS7 is specified.
See <STRONG>stty(1)</STRONG>.
The reason for this quirk is to maintain binary compatibility of
the compiled terminfo files with other implementations, e.g., the
SVr4 systems, which document this. Compiled terminfo files use
null-terminated strings, with no lengths. Modifying this would
require a new binary format, which would not work with other
implementations.
Finally, characters may be given as three octal digits after a <STRONG>\</STRONG>.
A delay in milliseconds may appear anywhere in a string capability,
enclosed in $<..> brackets, as in <STRONG>el</STRONG>=\EK$<5>, and padding characters
are supplied by <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">tputs(3x)</A></STRONG> to provide this delay.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The delay must be a number with at most one decimal place of
precision; it may be followed by suffixes "*" or "/" or both.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> A "*" indicates that the padding required is proportional to the
number of lines affected by the operation, and the amount given is
the per-affected-unit padding required. (In the case of insert
character, the factor is still the number of <EM>lines</EM> affected.)
Normally, padding is advisory if the device has the <STRONG>xon</STRONG> capability;
it is used for cost computation but does not trigger delays.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> A "/" suffix indicates that the padding is mandatory and forces a
delay of the given number of milliseconds even on devices for which
<STRONG>xon</STRONG> is present to indicate flow control.
Sometimes individual capabilities must be commented out. To do this,
put a period before the capability name. For example, see the second
<STRONG>ind</STRONG> in the example above.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Fetching-Compiled-Descriptions">Fetching Compiled Descriptions</a></H3><PRE>
Terminal descriptions in <EM>ncurses</EM> 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>),
The library uses a compiled-in list of pathnames, which can be
overridden by environment variables. Before starting to search,
<EM>ncurses</EM> checks the search list, eliminating duplicates and pathnames
where no terminal database is found. The <EM>ncurses</EM> library reads the
first description which passes its consistency checks.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The environment variable <STRONG>TERMINFO</STRONG> is checked first, for a terminal
database containing the terminal description.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Next, <EM>ncurses</EM> looks in <EM>$HOME/.terminfo</EM> for a compiled description.
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 <EM>TERMINFO</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>DIRS</EM> is set, <EM>ncurses</EM>
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, <EM>ncurses</EM> 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 <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 <EM>ncurses</EM> 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 <EM>ncurses</EM>, which uses
terminal descriptions prepared in <EM>terminfo</EM> format. While <EM>termcap</EM> is
less expressive, <EM>ncurses</EM> can also be configured to read <EM>termcap</EM>
descriptions. In that configuration, it checks the <EM>TERMCAP</EM> and
<EM>TERMPATH</EM> 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
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
<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
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
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
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
cursor to the left edge of the current line, give this as <STRONG>cr</STRONG>.
(Normally 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
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.
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
screen and send the <STRONG>ind</STRONG> (index) string.
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
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 line. 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
craft a working <STRONG>nel</STRONG> out of one or both of them.
These capabilities suffice to describe hard-copy and "glass-tty"
terminals. Thus the model 33 teletype is described as
33|tty33|tty|model 33 teletype,
bel=^G, cols#72, cr=^M, cud1=^J, hc, ind=^J, os,
while the Lear Siegler ADM-3 is described as
adm3|3|lsi adm3,
am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
ind=^J, lines#24,
</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 line and
column to address to. (Lines 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
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
the next character to be a "-" flag, avoiding interpreting "%-" as
an operator.
<STRONG>%c</STRONG> print <EM>pop()</EM> like %c in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
<STRONG>%s</STRONG> print <EM>pop()</EM> like %s in <STRONG>printf</STRONG>
<STRONG>%p</STRONG><EM>[1-9]</EM>
push <EM>i</EM>'th parameter
<STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[a-z]</EM>
set dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to <EM>pop()</EM>
<STRONG>%g</STRONG><EM>[a-z]</EM>
get dynamic variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> and push it
<STRONG>%P</STRONG><EM>[A-Z]</EM>
set static variable <EM>[a-z]</EM> to <EM>pop()</EM>
<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,
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
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
stack in the <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> function.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr3.2 curses supported <EM>static</EM> variables. Those are an array
in the <EM>TERMINAL</EM> 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
curses does not initialize these explicitly.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Before version 6.3, <EM>ncurses</EM> stores both <EM>dynamic</EM> and <EM>static</EM>
variables in persistent storage, initialized to zeros.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Beginning with version 6.3, <EM>ncurses</EM> stores <EM>static</EM> and <EM>dynamic</EM>
variables in the same manner as SVr4.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Unlike other implementations, <EM>ncurses</EM> 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 <EM>ncurses</EM> is
within the current call to <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>. Use static variables if
persistent storage is needed.
<STRONG>%'</STRONG><EM>c</EM><STRONG>'</STRONG> char constant <EM>c</EM>
<STRONG>%{</STRONG><EM>nn</EM><STRONG>}</STRONG>
integer constant <EM>nn</EM>
<STRONG>%l</STRONG> push strlen(pop)
<STRONG>%+</STRONG>, <STRONG>%-</STRONG>, <STRONG>%*</STRONG>, <STRONG>%/</STRONG>, <STRONG>%m</STRONG>
arithmetic (%m is <EM>mod</EM>): <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
<STRONG>%&</STRONG>, <STRONG>%|</STRONG>, <STRONG>%^</STRONG>
bit operations ("and", "or" and exclusive "or"): <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM>
<EM>pop())</EM>
<STRONG>%=</STRONG>, <STRONG>%></STRONG>, <STRONG>%<</STRONG>
logical operations: <EM>push(pop()</EM> <EM>op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
<STRONG>%A</STRONG>, <STRONG>%O</STRONG>
logical "and" and "or" operations (for conditionals)
<STRONG>%!</STRONG>, <STRONG>%~</STRONG>
unary operations (logical and bit complement): <EM>push(op</EM> <EM>pop())</EM>
<STRONG>%i</STRONG> add 1 to first two parameters (for ANSI terminals)
<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
(false), control passes to the <STRONG>%e</STRONG> (else) part.
It is possible to form else-if's a la Algol 68:
<STRONG>%?</STRONG> c1 <STRONG>%t</STRONG> b1 <STRONG>%e</STRONG> c2 <STRONG>%t</STRONG> b2 <STRONG>%e</STRONG> c3 <STRONG>%t</STRONG> b3 <STRONG>%e</STRONG> c4 <STRONG>%t</STRONG> b4 <STRONG>%e</STRONG> <STRONG>%;</STRONG>
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-
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
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>
variables are persistent across escape-string evaluations.
Consider the HP2645, which, to get to line 3 and column 12, needs to be
sent \E&a12c03Y padded for 6 milliseconds. The order of the lines and
columns is inverted here, and the lines 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 line and column sent preceded by
a <STRONG>^T</STRONG>, with the line 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
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
safe to send. This turns out to be essential for the Ann Arbor 4080.)
A final example is the LSI ADM-3A, which uses line and column offset by
a space, 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
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
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
terminals cannot be used for <STRONG>home</STRONG>.)
If the terminal has line 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
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
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
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
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
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
cursor column position.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> The printer capabilities assume that the printer may have two types
of capability:
<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,
right margins given the number of lines or columns.
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
hardware.
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
assumptions from AT&T.
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
needed to prevent cursor-addressing outside those margins.
<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
margin unmodified).
These are the margin-related capabilities:
<STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Description</STRONG>
---------------------------------------------------
<STRONG>smgl</STRONG> Set left margin at current column
<STRONG>smgr</STRONG> Set right margin at current column
<STRONG>smgb</STRONG> Set bottom margin at current line
<STRONG>smgt</STRONG> Set top margin at current line
<STRONG>smgbp</STRONG> Set bottom margin at line <EM>N</EM>
<STRONG>smglp</STRONG> Set left margin at column <EM>N</EM>
<STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> Set right margin at column <EM>N</EM>
<STRONG>smgtp</STRONG> Set top margin at line <EM>N</EM>
<STRONG>smglr</STRONG> Set both left and right margins to <EM>L</EM> and <EM>R</EM>
<STRONG>smgtb</STRONG> 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
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
margin, respectively.
<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
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
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,
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
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
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>
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
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
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
<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
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
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
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
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)
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
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
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,
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 X/Open 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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,
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
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
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
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
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> characters, 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
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
<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
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
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
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.
Not all modes need be supported by <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>, only those for which
corresponding separate attribute commands exist.
For example, the DEC vt220 supports most of the modes:
<STRONG>tparm</STRONG> <STRONG>Parameter</STRONG> <STRONG>Attribute</STRONG> <STRONG>Escape</STRONG> <STRONG>Sequence</STRONG>
------------------------------------------------
none none \E[0m
p1 standout \E[0;1;7m
p2 underline \E[0;4m
p3 reverse \E[0;7m
p4 blink \E[0;5m
p5 dim not available
p6 bold \E[0;1m
p7 invis \E[0;8m
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
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
reverse modes are turned on.
Writing out the above sequences, along with their dependencies yields
<STRONG>Sequence</STRONG> <STRONG>When</STRONG> <STRONG>to</STRONG> <STRONG>Output</STRONG> <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> <STRONG>Translation</STRONG>
----------------------------------------------------
\E[0 always \E[0
;1 if p1 or p6 %?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;
;4 if p2 %?%p2%|%t;4%;
;5 if p4 %?%p4%|%t;5%;
;7 if p1 or p3 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;
;8 if p7 %?%p7%|%t;8%;
m always m
^N or ^O if p9 ^N, else ^O %?%p9%t^N%e^O%;
Putting this all together into the sgr sequence gives:
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
terminfo entries necessarily have an sgr string, however. Many
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
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
not move the cursor.
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
<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
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
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
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>.
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>
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
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>kll</STRONG> (home down),
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kbs</STRONG> (backspace),
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ktbc</STRONG> (clear all tabs),
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kctab</STRONG> (clear the tab stop in this column),
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kclr</STRONG> (clear screen or erase key),
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdch1</STRONG> (delete character),
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kdl1</STRONG> (delete line),
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>krmir</STRONG> (exit insert mode),
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kel</STRONG> (clear to end of line),
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>ked</STRONG> (clear to end of screen),
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kich1</STRONG> (insert character or enter insert mode),
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kil1</STRONG> (insert line),
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>knp</STRONG> (next page),
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kpp</STRONG> (previous page),
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kind</STRONG> (scroll forward/down),
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <STRONG>kri</STRONG> (scroll backward/up),
<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
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
(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
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
change becomes visible.
</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Tabs-and-Initialization">Tabs and Initialization</a></H3><PRE>
A few capabilities are used only to manage tab stops.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal has hardware tabs, specify the character sequence
that advances to the next tab stop as the value of the <STRONG>tab</STRONG> (<STRONG>ht</STRONG>)
string capability (usually Control+I).
<STRONG>o</STRONG> Specify a character sequence that retreats (moves leftward) to the
preceding tab stop as the value of the <STRONG>back_tab</STRONG> (<STRONG>cbt</STRONG>) string
capability.
By convention, if the terminal modes are configured such that tabs
are expanded by the host rather than terminal, applications should
not employ the <STRONG>tab</STRONG> (<STRONG>ht</STRONG>) or <STRONG>back_tab</STRONG> (<STRONG>cbt</STRONG>) capabilities even if they
are present, since the user may not have the tab stops properly
set.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> If the terminal has hardware tab stops that are set at every <EM>n</EM>
character cells when the terminal is powered up, specify <EM>n</EM> as the
value of the the numeric capability <STRONG>init_tabs</STRONG> (<STRONG>it</STRONG>).
The <STRONG>tset</STRONG> and "<STRONG>tput</STRONG> <STRONG>init</STRONG>" commands interpret the presence of the
<STRONG>init_tabs</STRONG> (<STRONG>it</STRONG>) capability as implying that the terminal is
responsible for tab stop expansion as well as an instruction to set
the tab stops to its value. If the terminal has tab stops that can
be saved in non-volatile memory, its <EM>terminfo</EM> type 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
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
user logs in. They will be printed in the following order:
run the program
<STRONG>iprog</STRONG>
output
<STRONG>is1</STRONG> and
<STRONG>is2</STRONG>
set the margins using
<STRONG>mgc</STRONG> or
<STRONG>smglp</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgrp</STRONG> or
<STRONG>smgl</STRONG> and <STRONG>smgr</STRONG>
set tabs using
<STRONG>tbc</STRONG> and <STRONG>hts</STRONG>
print the file
<STRONG>if</STRONG>
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
<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
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
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
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
capability string.
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 line). 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
command-line options.
In practice, these terminfo capabilities are not often used in
initialization of tabs (though they are required for the <STRONG>tabs</STRONG> program):
<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
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
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
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
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
effectively that do not have a speed limit. Padding information should
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
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>
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
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
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
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
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
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
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,
etc., work ordinarily in the status line.
The <EM>ncurses</EM> 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
<STRONG>acsc</STRONG> capability.
<STRONG>acsc</STRONG>
<STRONG>ACS</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>Symbol</STRONG> <STRONG>ASCII</STRONG> <STRONG>Fallback</STRONG> <STRONG>/</STRONG> <STRONG>Glyph</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
<STRONG>ACS_RARROW</STRONG> 0x2b + <STRONG>></STRONG> arrow pointing right
<STRONG>ACS_LARROW</STRONG> 0x2c , <STRONG><</STRONG> arrow pointing left
<STRONG>ACS_UARROW</STRONG> 0x2d - <STRONG>^</STRONG> arrow pointing up
<STRONG>ACS_DARROW</STRONG> 0x2e . <STRONG>v</STRONG> arrow pointing down
<STRONG>ACS_BLOCK</STRONG> 0x30 0 <STRONG>#</STRONG> solid square block
<STRONG>ACS_DIAMOND</STRONG> 0x60 ` <STRONG>+</STRONG> diamond
<STRONG>ACS_CKBOARD</STRONG> 0x61 a <STRONG>:</STRONG> checker board (stipple)
<STRONG>ACS_DEGREE</STRONG> 0x66 f <STRONG>\</STRONG> degree symbol
<STRONG>ACS_PLMINUS</STRONG> 0x67 g <STRONG>#</STRONG> plus/minus
<STRONG>ACS_BOARD</STRONG> 0x68 h <STRONG>#</STRONG> board of squares
<STRONG>ACS_LANTERN</STRONG> 0x69 i <STRONG>#</STRONG> lantern symbol
<STRONG>ACS_LRCORNER</STRONG> 0x6a j <STRONG>+</STRONG> lower right corner
<STRONG>ACS_URCORNER</STRONG> 0x6b k <STRONG>+</STRONG> upper right corner
<STRONG>ACS_ULCORNER</STRONG> 0x6c l <STRONG>+</STRONG> upper left corner
<STRONG>ACS_LLCORNER</STRONG> 0x6d m <STRONG>+</STRONG> lower left corner
<STRONG>ACS_PLUS</STRONG> 0x6e n <STRONG>+</STRONG> large plus or crossover
<STRONG>ACS_S1</STRONG> 0x6f o <STRONG>~</STRONG> scan line 1
<STRONG>ACS_S3</STRONG> 0x70 p <STRONG>-</STRONG> scan line 3
<STRONG>ACS_HLINE</STRONG> 0x71 q <STRONG>-</STRONG> horizontal line
<STRONG>ACS_S7</STRONG> 0x72 r <STRONG>-</STRONG> scan line 7
<STRONG>ACS_S9</STRONG> 0x73 s <STRONG>_</STRONG> scan line 9
<STRONG>ACS_LTEE</STRONG> 0x74 t <STRONG>+</STRONG> tee pointing right
<STRONG>ACS_RTEE</STRONG> 0x75 u <STRONG>+</STRONG> tee pointing left
<STRONG>ACS_BTEE</STRONG> 0x76 v <STRONG>+</STRONG> tee pointing up
<STRONG>ACS_TTEE</STRONG> 0x77 w <STRONG>+</STRONG> tee pointing down
<STRONG>ACS_VLINE</STRONG> 0x78 x <STRONG>|</STRONG> vertical line
<STRONG>ACS_LEQUAL</STRONG> 0x79 y <STRONG><</STRONG> less-than-or-equal-to
<STRONG>ACS_GEQUAL</STRONG> 0x7a z <STRONG>></STRONG> greater-than-or-equal-to
<STRONG>ACS_PI</STRONG> 0x7b { <STRONG>*</STRONG> greek pi
<STRONG>ACS_NEQUAL</STRONG> 0x7c | <STRONG>!</STRONG> not-equal
<STRONG>ACS_STERLING</STRONG> 0x7d } <STRONG>f</STRONG> UK pound sign
<STRONG>ACS_BULLET</STRONG> 0x7e ~ <STRONG>o</STRONG> bullet
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"
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
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
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
(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
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 <EM>curses</EM> library functions <STRONG>init_pair</STRONG> and <STRONG>init_color</STRONG> manipulate the
<EM>color</EM> <EM>pairs</EM> and <EM>colors</EM> (color values or indices, such as "1=red")
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" in their
approach to color management.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> <EM>Tektronix-like</EM> terminals define a set of <EM>n</EM> colors (where <EM>n</EM> is
usually 8), and can alter character-cell foreground and background
colors independently, mixing them into <EM>n</EM>x<EM>n</EM> color pairs. ANSI-
standard terminals are Tektronix-like.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> On <EM>HP-like</EM> terminals, the user must set up each color pair
separately; foreground and background are not independently
alterable. Up to <EM>m</EM> color pairs may be configured from 2x<EM>m</EM>
different colors.
Some basic color management capabilities are independent of the color
encoding method. The numeric capabilities <STRONG>max_colors</STRONG> (<STRONG>colors</STRONG>) and
<STRONG>max_pairs</STRONG> (<STRONG>pairs</STRONG>) specify the maximum numbers of colors and color pairs
that the device can display simultaneously. The <STRONG>orig_pair</STRONG> (<STRONG>op</STRONG>)
("original pair") string capability resets foreground and background
colors to their default values for the terminal. The <STRONG>orig_colors</STRONG> (<STRONG>oc</STRONG>)
("original colors") string capability resets all colors or color pairs
to their default values for the terminal. Some terminal types
(including many PC terminal emulators) erase screen areas with the
current background color rather than the power-up default background;
these should declare the Boolean capability <STRONG>back_color_erase</STRONG> (<STRONG>bce</STRONG>).
While the <EM>curses</EM> 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
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>,
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>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
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 <EM>ncurses</EM> 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>
------------------------------------------------
black <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> 0 0, 0, 0
red <STRONG>COLOR_RED</STRONG> 1 max, 0, 0
green <STRONG>COLOR_GREEN</STRONG> 2 0, max, 0
yellow <STRONG>COLOR_YELLOW</STRONG> 3 max, max, 0
blue <STRONG>COLOR_BLUE</STRONG> 4 0, 0, max
magenta <STRONG>COLOR_MAGENTA</STRONG> 5 max, 0, max
cyan <STRONG>COLOR_CYAN</STRONG> 6 0, max, max
white <STRONG>COLOR_WHITE</STRONG> 7 max, max, max
The argument values of <STRONG>setf</STRONG>/<STRONG>setb</STRONG> historically correspond to a different
mapping, i.e.,
<STRONG>Color</STRONG> <STRONG>#define</STRONG> <STRONG>Value</STRONG> <STRONG>RGB</STRONG>
------------------------------------------------
black <STRONG>COLOR_BLACK</STRONG> 0 0, 0, 0
blue <STRONG>COLOR_BLUE</STRONG> 1 0, 0, max
green <STRONG>COLOR_GREEN</STRONG> 2 0, max, 0
cyan <STRONG>COLOR_CYAN</STRONG> 3 0, max, max
red <STRONG>COLOR_RED</STRONG> 4 max, 0, 0
magenta <STRONG>COLOR_MAGENTA</STRONG> 5 max, 0, max
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;
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
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
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
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>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
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>
--------------------------------------
<STRONG>A_STANDOUT</STRONG> 0 1 <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>
<STRONG>A_UNDERLINE</STRONG> 1 2 <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>
<STRONG>A_REVERSE</STRONG> 2 4 <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>
<STRONG>A_BLINK</STRONG> 3 8 <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>
<STRONG>A_DIM</STRONG> 4 16 <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>
<STRONG>A_BOLD</STRONG> 5 32 <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>
<STRONG>A_INVIS</STRONG> 6 64 <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>
<STRONG>A_PROTECT</STRONG> 7 128 <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>
<STRONG>A_ALTCHARSET</STRONG> 8 256 <STRONG>sgr</STRONG>
<STRONG>A_HORIZONTAL</STRONG> 9 512 <STRONG>sgr1</STRONG>
<STRONG>A_LEFT</STRONG> 10 1024 <STRONG>sgr1</STRONG>
<STRONG>A_LOW</STRONG> 11 2048 <STRONG>sgr1</STRONG>
<STRONG>A_RIGHT</STRONG> 12 4096 <STRONG>sgr1</STRONG>
<STRONG>A_TOP</STRONG> 13 8192 <STRONG>sgr1</STRONG>
<STRONG>A_VERTICAL</STRONG> 14 16384 <STRONG>sgr1</STRONG>
<STRONG>A_ITALIC</STRONG> 15 32768 <STRONG>sitm</STRONG>
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>, <EM>ncurses</EM> 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
string is used. If the terminal does not have a pad character, specify
npc. Note that <EM>ncurses</EM> implements the termcap-compatible <STRONG>PC</STRONG> variable;
though the application may set this value to something other than a
null, <EM>ncurses</EM> 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
parameter, then turns the printer off. The parameter should not exceed
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-Brain-Damage">Glitches and Brain Damage</a></H3><PRE>
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
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
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
line. The <EM>ncurses</EM> 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,
this capability was called "beehive_glitch"; it is now "no_esc_ctl_c".
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
(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,
several bad things can happen:
<STRONG>o</STRONG> some termcap libraries print a warning message,
<STRONG>o</STRONG> some exit if they find an entry that's longer than 1023 bytes,
<STRONG>o</STRONG> some neither exit nor warn, doing nothing useful, and
<STRONG>o</STRONG> some simply truncate the entries to 1023 bytes.
Some application programs allocate more than the recommended 1K for the
termcap entry; others do not.
Each termcap entry has two important sizes associated with it: before
"tc" expansion, and after "tc" expansion. "tc" is the capability that
tacks on another termcap entry to the end of the current one, to add on
its capabilities. If a termcap entry does not use the "tc" capability,
then 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-
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> a termcap entry before expansion is more than 1023 bytes long,
<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
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
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
will return incorrect data for the terminal.
The "after tc expansion" length will have a similar effect to the
above, but only for people who actually set <EM>TERM</EM> to that terminal type,
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 <EM>TERM</EM> variable does not have a termcap
entry.
When in -C (translate to termcap) mode, the <EM>ncurses</EM> 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><H2><a name="h2-FILES">FILES</a></H2><PRE>
<EM>/usr/share/terminfo</EM>
compiled terminal description database directory
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></H2><PRE>
Searching for terminal descriptions in <EM>$HOME/.terminfo</EM> and
<EM>TERMINFO</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG><EM>DIRS</EM> is not supported by older implementations.
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
<EM>ncurses</EM> 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 <EM>ncurses</EM> to have <STRONG>msgr</STRONG>
turned off.
The <EM>ncurses</EM> library handles insert-character and insert-character modes
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 X/Open Curses. They are deduced from the
documentation for the AT&T 505 terminal.
Be careful assigning the <STRONG>kmous</STRONG> capability. The <EM>ncurses</EM> 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 canceled
<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 <EM>terminfo</EM> and <EM>curses</EM> support different
subsets of X/Open Curses and (in some cases) different extensions.
Here is a summary, accurate as of October 1995, after which the
commercial Unix market contracted and lost diversity.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr4, Solaris, and <EM>ncurses</EM> support all SVr4 capabilities.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> IRIX supports the SVr4 set and adds one undocumented extended
string capability (<STRONG>set_pglen</STRONG>).
<STRONG>o</STRONG> SVr1 and Ultrix support a restricted subset of <EM>terminfo</EM>
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> HP/UX 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 a number
of incompatible string table extensions.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> AIX supports the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11 through 63,
plus a number of incompatible string table extensions.
<STRONG>o</STRONG> OSF/1 supports both the SVr4 set and the AIX extensions.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
Do not count on compiled (binary) <EM>terminfo</EM> entries being portable
between commercial Unix systems. At least two implementations of
<EM>terminfo</EM> (those of HP-UX and AIX) diverged from those of other System V
Unices after SVr1, adding extension capabilities to the string table
that (in the binary format) collide with subsequent System V and X/Open
Curses extensions.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></H2><PRE>
Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey. Based on <EM>pcurses</EM>
by Pavel Curtis.
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
<STRONG><A HREF="infocmp.1m.html">infocmp(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="tabs.1.html">tabs(1)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="tic.1m.html">tic(1m)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_color.3x.html">curs_color(3x)</A></STRONG>,
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_variables.3x.html">curs_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>printf(3)</STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>,
<STRONG><A HREF="term.5.html">term(5)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="user_caps.5.html">user_caps(5)</A></STRONG>
ncurses 6.6 2025-08-16 <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</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-terminfo-Entry-Syntax">terminfo Entry Syntax</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-terminfo-Capabilities-Syntax">terminfo Capabilities Syntax</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Similar-Terminals">Similar Terminals</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Standard-Capabilities">Standard Capabilities</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-User-Defined-Capabilities">User-Defined Capabilities</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-A-Sample-Entry">A Sample Entry</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Types-of-Capabilities">Types of Capabilities</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Fetching-Compiled-Descriptions">Fetching Compiled Descriptions</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Preparing-Descriptions">Preparing Descriptions</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Basic-Capabilities">Basic Capabilities</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Parameterized-Strings">Parameterized Strings</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Cursor-Motions">Cursor Motions</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Margins">Margins</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Area-Clears">Area Clears</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Insert_Delete-Line-and-Vertical-Motions">Insert/Delete Line and Vertical Motions</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Insert_Delete-Character">Insert/Delete Character</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Highlighting_Underlining_and-Visible-Bells">Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Keypad-and-Function-Keys">Keypad and Function Keys</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Tabs-and-Initialization">Tabs and Initialization</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Delays-and-Padding">Delays and Padding</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Status-Lines">Status Lines</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Line-Graphics">Line Graphics</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Color-Handling">Color Handling</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Glitches-and-Brain-Damage">Glitches and Brain Damage</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Pitfalls-of-Long-Entries">Pitfalls of Long Entries</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#h2-FILES">FILES</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-EXTENSIONS">EXTENSIONS</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
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