Miscellaneous Library Functions curs_terminfo(3X)
NAME
del_curterm, mvcur, putp, restartterm, set_curterm, setterm,
setupterm, tigetflag, tigetnum, tigetstr, tparm, tputs,vid_attr, vid_puts, vidattr, vidputs - curses interfaces to
terminfo databaseSYNOPSIS
#include
#include
int setupterm(char *term, int fildes, int *errret); int setterm(char *term);TERMINAL *set_curterm(TERMINAL *nterm);
int del_curterm(TERMINAL *oterm);
int restartterm(char *term, int fildes, int *errret); char *tparm(char *str, ...); int tputs(const char *str, int affcnt, int (*putc)(int));int putp(const char *str);
int vidputs(chtype attrs, int (*putc)(int)); int vidattr(chtype attrs);int vid_puts(attr_t attrs, short pair, void *opts, int (*putc)(char));
int vid_attr(attr_t attrs, short pair, void *opts);
int mvcur(int oldrow, int oldcol, int newrow, int newcol); int tigetflag(char *capname); int tigetnum(char *capname); char *tigetstr(char *capname);DESCRIPTION
These low-level routines must be called by programs that
have to deal directly with the terminfo database to handle certain terminal capabilities, such as programming function keys. For all other functionality, curses routines are more suitable and their use is recommended. Initially, setupterm should be called. Note that setuptermis automatically called by initscr and newterm. This de-
fines the set of terminal-dependent variables [listed in
terminfo(5)]. The terminfo variables lines and columns are initialized by setupterm as follows:If use_env(FALSE) has been called, values for lines and
columns specified in terminfo are used. Otherwise, if the environment variables LINES andCOLUMNS exist, their values are used. If these en-
vironment variables do not exist and the program is running in a window, the current window size is used. Otherwise, if the environment variables do not exist,the values for lines and columns specified in the ter-
minfo database are used. SunOS 5.10 Last change: 1Miscellaneous Library Functions curs_terminfo(3X)
The header files curses.h and term.h should be included (in this order) to get the definitions for these strings, numbers, and flags. Parameterized strings should be passedthrough tparm to instantiate them. All terminfo strings [in-
cluding the output of tparm] should be printed with tputs orputp. Call the reset_shell_mode to restore the tty modes
before exiting [see curs_kernel(3X)]. Programs which use
cursor addressing should output enter_ca_mode upon startup
and should output exit_ca_mode before exiting. Programs
desiring shell escapes should callreset_shell_mode and output exit_ca_mode before the shell is
called and should output enter_ca_mode and call
reset_prog_mode after returning from the shell.
The setupterm routine reads in the terminfo database, ini-
tializing the terminfo structures, but does not set up theoutput virtualization structures used by curses. The termi-
nal type is the character string term; if term is null, the environment variable TERM is used. All output is to file descriptor fildes which is initialized for output. If errret is not null, then setupterm returns OK or ERR and stores a status value in the integer pointed to by errret. A return value of OK combined with status of 1 in errret is normal. If ERR is returned, examine errret: 1 means that the terminal is hardcopy, cannot be used for curses applications. 0 means that the terminal could not be found, orthat it is a generic type, having too little in-
formation for curses applications to run.-1 means that the terminfo database could not be
found. If errret is null, setupterm prints an error message upon finding an error and exits. Thus, the simplest call is: setupterm((char *)0, 1, (int *)0);, which uses all the defaults and sends the output to stdout. The setterm routine is being replaced by setupterm. The call: setupterm(term, 1, (int *)0)provides the same functionality as setterm(term). The set-
term routine is included here for BSD compatibility, and is not recommended for new programs. SunOS 5.10 Last change: 2Miscellaneous Library Functions curs_terminfo(3X)
The set_curterm routine sets the variable cur_term to nterm,
and makes all of the terminfo boolean, numeric, and string variables use the values from nterm. It returns the oldvalue of cur_term.
The del_curterm routine frees the space pointed to by oterm
and makes it available for further use. If oterm is thesame as cur_term, references to any of the terminfo boolean,
numeric, and string variables thereafter may refer to in-
valid memory locations until another setupterm has been called. The restartterm routine is similar to setupterm and initscr,except that it is called after restoring memory to a previ-
ous state (for example, when reloading a game saved as a core image dump). It assumes that the windows and the input and output options are the same as when memory was saved,but the terminal type and baud rate may be different. Ac-
cordingly, it saves various tty state bits, calls setupterm, and then restores the bits.The tparm routine instantiates the string str with parame-
ters pi. A pointer is returned to the result of str with the parameters applied. The tputs routine applies padding information to the stringstr and outputs it. The str must be a terminfo string vari-
able or the return value from tparm, tgetstr, or tgoto.affcnt is the number of lines affected, or 1 if not applica-
ble. putc is a putchar-like routine to which the characters
are passed, one at a time.The putp routine calls tputs(str, 1, putchar). Note that
the output of putp always goes to stdout, not to the fildes
specified in setupterm. The vidputs routine displays the string on the terminal in the video attribute mode attrs, which is any combination of the attributes listed in curses(3X). The characters arepassed to the putchar-like routine putc.
The vidattr routine is like the vidputs routine, except that it outputs through putchar.The vid_attr and vid_puts routines correspond to vidattr and
vidputs, respectively. They use a set of arguments for representing the video attributes plus color, i.e., one oftype attr_t for the attributes and one of short for the
color_pair number. The vid_attr and vid_puts routines are
designed to use the attribute constants with the WA_ prefix.
The opts argument is reserved for future use. Currently, applications must provide a null pointer for that argument. SunOS 5.10 Last change: 3Miscellaneous Library Functions curs_terminfo(3X)
The mvcur routine provides low-level cursor motion. It
takes effect immediately (rather than at the next refresh). The tigetflag, tigetnum and tigetstr routines return thevalue of the capability corresponding to the terminfo cap-
name passed to them, such as xenl.The tigetflag routine returns the value -1 if capname is not
a boolean capability, or 0 if it is canceled or absent from the terminal description.The tigetnum routine returns the value -2 if capname is not
a numeric capability, or -1 if it is canceled or absent from
the terminal description.The tigetstr routine returns the value (char *)-1 if capname
is not a string capability, or 0 if it is canceled or absent from the terminal description. The capname for each capability is given in the table columnentitled capname code in the capabilities section of termin-
fo(5). char *boolnames[], *boolcodes[], *boolfnames[] char *numnames[], *numcodes[], *numfnames[] char *strnames[], *strcodes[], *strfnames[]These null-terminated arrays contain the capnames, the
termcap codes, and the full C names, for each of the termin-
fo variables. RETURN VALUE Routines that return an integer return ERR upon failure and OK (SVr4 only specifies "an integer value other than ERR") upon successful completion, unless otherwise noted in the preceding routine descriptions. Routines that return pointers always return NULL on error.X/Open defines no error conditions. In this implementation
del_curterm
returns an error if its terminal parameter is null.putp calls tputs, returning the same error-codes.
restarttermreturns an error if the associated call to setup-
term returns an error. SunOS 5.10 Last change: 4Miscellaneous Library Functions curs_terminfo(3X)
setupterm returns an error if it cannot allocate enough memory, or create the initial windows (stdscr,curscr, newscr). Other error conditions are docu-
mented above. tputs returns an error if the string parameter is null.It does not detect I/O errors: X/Open states that
tputs ignores the return value of the output func-
tion putc. NOTES The setupterm routine should be used in place of setterm.It may be useful when you want to test for terminal capabil-
ities without committing to the allocation of storage in-
volved in initscr. Note that vidattr and vidputs may be macros. PORTABILITYThe function setterm is not described by X/Open and must be
considered non-portable. All other functions are as
described by X/Open. setupterm copies the terminal name to the array ttytype.
This is not part of X/Open Curses, but is assumed by some applications.
In System V Release 4, set_curterm has an int return type
and returns OK or ERR. We have chosen to implement theX/Open Curses semantics. In System V Release 4, the third argument of tputs has the type int (*putc)(char).
At least one implementation of X/Open Curses (Solaris) re-
turns a value other than OK/ERR from tputs. That returns
the length of the string, and does no error-checking.
X/Open Curses prototypes tparm with a fixed number of param-
eters, rather than a variable argument list. This implemen-
tation uses a variable argument list. Portable applications should provide 9 parameters after the format; zeroes are fine for this purpose.X/Open notes that after calling mvcur, the curses state may not match the actual terminal state, and that an application should touch and refresh the window before resuming normal curses calls. Both ncurses and System V Release 4 curses implement mvcur using the SCREEN data allocated in either
initscr or newterm. So though it is documented as a termin-
SunOS 5.10 Last change: 5Miscellaneous Library Functions curs_terminfo(3X)
fo function, mvcur is really a curses function which is not well specified.X/Open states that the old location must be given for mvcur.
This implementation allows the caller to use -1's for the
old ordinates. In that case, the old location is unknown. Extended terminal capability names, e.g., as defined bytic -x, are not stored in the arrays described in this sec-
tion.SEE ALSO
curses(3X), curs_initscr(3X), curs_kernel(3X),
curs_termcap(3X), putc(3), terminfo(5)
SunOS 5.10 Last change: 6