1terminfo(5)                      File Formats                      terminfo(5)
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NAME

6       terminfo - terminal capability data base
7

SYNOPSIS

9       /usr/share/terminfo/*/*
10

DESCRIPTION

12       Terminfo  is  a data base describing terminals, used by screen-oriented
13       programs such as nvi(1), lynx(1), mutt(1), and  other  curses  applica‐
14       tions,  using  high-level calls to libraries such as curses(3X).  It is
15       also used via low-level calls by non-curses applications which  may  be
16       screen-oriented (such as clear(1)) or non-screen (such as tabs(1)).
17
18       Terminfo describes terminals by giving a set of capabilities which they
19       have, by specifying how to perform screen operations, and by specifying
20       padding requirements and initialization sequences.
21
22       This manual describes ncurses version 6.1 (patch 20191109).
23
24   Terminfo Entry Syntax
25       Entries in terminfo consist of a sequence of fields:
26
27       ·   Each  field  ends  with a comma “,” (embedded commas may be escaped
28           with a backslash or written as “\054”).
29
30       ·   White space between fields is ignored.
31
32       ·   The first field in a terminfo entry begins in the first column.
33
34       ·   Newlines and leading whitespace (spaces or tabs) may  be  used  for
35           formatting  entries for readability.  These are removed from parsed
36           entries.
37
38           The infocmp -f and -W options rely on this to  format  if-then-else
39           expressions,  or to enforce maximum line-width.  The resulting for‐
40           matted terminal description can be read by tic.
41
42       ·   The first field for each terminal gives the names which  are  known
43           for the terminal, separated by “|” characters.
44
45           The first name given is the most common abbreviation for the termi‐
46           nal (its primary name), the last name given should be a  long  name
47           fully  identifying  the terminal (see longname(3X)), and all others
48           are treated as synonyms (aliases) for the primary terminal name.
49
50           X/Open Curses advises that all names but  the  last  should  be  in
51           lower  case  and  contain no blanks; the last name may well contain
52           upper case and blanks for readability.
53
54           This implementation is not so strict; it allows mixed case  in  the
55           primary name and aliases.  If the last name has no embedded blanks,
56           it allows that to be both an alias and a  verbose  name  (but  will
57           warn about this ambiguity).
58
59       ·   Lines  beginning with a “#” in the first column are treated as com‐
60           ments.
61
62           While comment lines are legal at any point, the output of captoinfo
63           and  infotocap  (aliases  for tic) will move comments so they occur
64           only between entries.
65
66       Terminal names (except for the last, verbose entry)  should  be  chosen
67       using the following conventions.  The particular piece of hardware mak‐
68       ing up the terminal should have a root name, thus “hp2621”.  This  name
69       should not contain hyphens.  Modes that the hardware can be in, or user
70       preferences, should be indicated by appending a hyphen and a mode  suf‐
71       fix.  Thus, a vt100 in 132-column mode would be vt100-w.  The following
72       suffixes should be used where possible:
73
74            Suffix                  Meaning                   Example
75            -nn      Number of lines on the screen            aaa-60
76            -np      Number of pages of memory                c100-4p
77            -am      With automargins (usually the default)   vt100-am
78            -m       Mono mode; suppress color                ansi-m
79            -mc      Magic cookie; spaces when highlighting   wy30-mc
80            -na      No arrow keys (leave them in local)      c100-na
81            -nam     Without automatic margins                vt100-nam
82            -nl      No status line                           att4415-nl
83            -ns      No status line                           hp2626-ns
84            -rv      Reverse video                            c100-rv
85            -s       Enable status line                       vt100-s
86            -vb      Use visible bell instead of beep         wy370-vb
87            -w       Wide mode (> 80 columns, usually 132)    vt100-w
88
89       For more on terminal naming conventions, see the term(7) manual page.
90
91   Terminfo Capabilities Syntax
92       The terminfo entry consists of  several  capabilities,  i.e.,  features
93       that  the  terminal  has, or methods for exercising the terminal's fea‐
94       tures.
95
96       After the first field (giving the name(s) of the terminal entry), there
97       should be one or more capability fields.  These are boolean, numeric or
98       string names with corresponding values:
99
100       ·   Boolean capabilities are true  when  present,  false  when  absent.
101           There is no explicit value for boolean capabilities.
102
103       ·   Numeric  capabilities  have  a  “#”  following  the  name,  then an
104           unsigned decimal integer value.
105
106       ·   String capabilities have a “=” following the name, then  an  string
107           of characters making up the capability value.
108
109           String  capabilities  can be split into multiple lines, just as the
110           fields comprising a terminal  entry  can  be  split  into  multiple
111           lines.   While  blanks  between fields are ignored, blanks embedded
112           within a string value are retained, except for leading blanks on  a
113           line.
114
115       Any  capability  can  be  canceled,  i.e., suppressed from the terminal
116       entry, by following its name with “@” rather than a capability value.
117
118   Similar Terminals
119       If there are two very similar  terminals,  one  (the  variant)  can  be
120       defined  as  being  just  like the other (the base) with certain excep‐
121       tions.  In the definition of the variant, the string capability use can
122       be given with the name of the base terminal:
123
124       ·   The  capabilities  given before use override those in the base type
125           named by use.
126
127       ·   If there are multiple use capabilities, they are merged in  reverse
128           order.   That  is,  the rightmost use reference is processed first,
129           then the one to its left, and so forth.
130
131       ·   Capabilities given explicitly in the entry override  those  brought
132           in by use references.
133
134       A capability can be canceled by placing xx@ to the left of the use ref‐
135       erence that imports it, where xx is the capability.  For  example,  the
136       entry
137
138              2621-nl, smkx@, rmkx@, use=2621,
139
140       defines a 2621-nl that does not have the smkx or rmkx capabilities, and
141       hence does not turn on the function key labels  when  in  visual  mode.
142       This  is  useful  for  different modes for a terminal, or for different
143       user preferences.
144
145       An entry included via use can contain canceled capabilities, which have
146       the  same  effect as if those cancels were inline in the using terminal
147       entry.
148
149   Predefined Capabilities
150       The following is a complete table of the  capabilities  included  in  a
151       terminfo  description  block  and available to terminfo-using code.  In
152       each line of the table,
153
154       The variable is the name by  which  the  programmer  (at  the  terminfo
155       level) accesses the capability.
156
157       The  capname is the short name used in the text of the database, and is
158       used by a person updating the database.   Whenever  possible,  capnames
159       are chosen to be the same as or similar to the ANSI X3.64-1979 standard
160       (now superseded by  ECMA-48,  which  uses  identical  or  very  similar
161       names).   Semantics  are also intended to match those of the specifica‐
162       tion.
163
164       The termcap code is the old termcap capability name (some  capabilities
165       are new, and have names which termcap did not originate).
166
167       Capability  names have no hard length limit, but an informal limit of 5
168       characters has been adopted to keep them short and to allow the tabs in
169       the source file Caps to line up nicely.
170
171       Finally,  the description field attempts to convey the semantics of the
172       capability.  You may find some codes in the description field:
173
174       (P)    indicates that padding may be specified
175
176       #[1-9] in the description field indicates that  the  string  is  passed
177              through tparm with parms as given (#i).
178
179       (P*)   indicates  that  padding may vary in proportion to the number of
180              lines affected
181
182       (#i)   indicates the ith parameter.
183
184
185       These are the boolean capabilities:
186
187
188                  Variable            Cap-      TCap       Description
189                  Booleans            name      Code
190          auto_left_margin            bw        bw     cub1 wraps from col‐
191                                                       umn 0 to last column
192          auto_right_margin           am        am     terminal has auto‐
193                                                       matic margins
194          back_color_erase            bce       ut     screen erased with
195                                                       background color
196
197
198
199          can_change                  ccc       cc     terminal can re-
200                                                       define existing col‐
201                                                       ors
202          ceol_standout_glitch        xhp       xs     standout not erased
203                                                       by overwriting (hp)
204          col_addr_glitch             xhpa      YA     only positive motion
205                                                       for hpa/mhpa caps
206          cpi_changes_res             cpix      YF     changing character
207                                                       pitch changes reso‐
208                                                       lution
209          cr_cancels_micro_mode       crxm      YB     using cr turns off
210                                                       micro mode
211          dest_tabs_magic_smso        xt        xt     tabs destructive,
212                                                       magic so char
213                                                       (t1061)
214          eat_newline_glitch          xenl      xn     newline ignored
215                                                       after 80 cols (con‐
216                                                       cept)
217          erase_overstrike            eo        eo     can erase over‐
218                                                       strikes with a blank
219          generic_type                gn        gn     generic line type
220          hard_copy                   hc        hc     hardcopy terminal
221          hard_cursor                 chts      HC     cursor is hard to
222                                                       see
223          has_meta_key                km        km     Has a meta key
224                                                       (i.e., sets 8th-bit)
225          has_print_wheel             daisy     YC     printer needs opera‐
226                                                       tor to change char‐
227                                                       acter set
228          has_status_line             hs        hs     has extra status
229                                                       line
230          hue_lightness_saturation    hls       hl     terminal uses only
231                                                       HLS color notation
232                                                       (Tektronix)
233          insert_null_glitch          in        in     insert mode distin‐
234                                                       guishes nulls
235          lpi_changes_res             lpix      YG     changing line pitch
236                                                       changes resolution
237          memory_above                da        da     display may be
238                                                       retained above the
239                                                       screen
240          memory_below                db        db     display may be
241                                                       retained below the
242                                                       screen
243          move_insert_mode            mir       mi     safe to move while
244                                                       in insert mode
245          move_standout_mode          msgr      ms     safe to move while
246                                                       in standout mode
247          needs_xon_xoff              nxon      nx     padding will not
248                                                       work, xon/xoff
249                                                       required
250          no_esc_ctlc                 xsb       xb     beehive (f1=escape,
251                                                       f2=ctrl C)
252          no_pad_char                 npc       NP     pad character does
253                                                       not exist
254          non_dest_scroll_region      ndscr     ND     scrolling region is
255                                                       non-destructive
256          non_rev_rmcup               nrrmc     NR     smcup does not
257                                                       reverse rmcup
258          over_strike                 os        os     terminal can over‐
259                                                       strike
260          prtr_silent                 mc5i      5i     printer will not
261                                                       echo on screen
262          row_addr_glitch             xvpa      YD     only positive motion
263                                                       for vpa/mvpa caps
264
265          semi_auto_right_margin      sam       YE     printing in last
266                                                       column causes cr
267          status_line_esc_ok          eslok     es     escape can be used
268                                                       on the status line
269          tilde_glitch                hz        hz     cannot print ~'s
270                                                       (Hazeltine)
271          transparent_underline       ul        ul     underline character
272                                                       overstrikes
273          xon_xoff                    xon       xo     terminal uses
274                                                       xon/xoff handshaking
275
276       These are the numeric capabilities:
277
278
279                  Variable            Cap-      TCap       Description
280                   Numeric            name      Code
281          columns                     cols      co     number of columns in
282                                                       a line
283          init_tabs                   it        it     tabs initially every
284                                                       # spaces
285          label_height                lh        lh     rows in each label
286          label_width                 lw        lw     columns in each
287                                                       label
288          lines                       lines     li     number of lines on
289                                                       screen or page
290          lines_of_memory             lm        lm     lines of memory if >
291                                                       line. 0 means varies
292          magic_cookie_glitch         xmc       sg     number of blank
293                                                       characters left by
294                                                       smso or rmso
295          max_attributes              ma        ma     maximum combined
296                                                       attributes terminal
297                                                       can handle
298          max_colors                  colors    Co     maximum number of
299                                                       colors on screen
300          max_pairs                   pairs     pa     maximum number of
301                                                       color-pairs on the
302                                                       screen
303          maximum_windows             wnum      MW     maximum number of
304                                                       definable windows
305          no_color_video              ncv       NC     video attributes
306                                                       that cannot be used
307                                                       with colors
308          num_labels                  nlab      Nl     number of labels on
309                                                       screen
310          padding_baud_rate           pb        pb     lowest baud rate
311                                                       where padding needed
312          virtual_terminal            vt        vt     virtual terminal
313                                                       number (CB/unix)
314          width_status_line           wsl       ws     number of columns in
315                                                       status line
316
317       The  following  numeric  capabilities  are  present  in the SVr4.0 term
318       structure, but are not yet documented in the man page.   They  came  in
319       with SVr4's printer support.
320
321
322                  Variable            Cap-      TCap       Description
323                   Numeric            name      Code
324          bit_image_entwining         bitwin    Yo     number of passes for
325                                                       each bit-image row
326          bit_image_type              bitype    Yp     type of bit-image
327                                                       device
328
329
330
331          buffer_capacity             bufsz     Ya     numbers of bytes
332                                                       buffered before
333                                                       printing
334          buttons                     btns      BT     number of buttons on
335                                                       mouse
336          dot_horz_spacing            spinh     Yc     spacing of dots hor‐
337                                                       izontally in dots
338                                                       per inch
339          dot_vert_spacing            spinv     Yb     spacing of pins ver‐
340                                                       tically in pins per
341                                                       inch
342          max_micro_address           maddr     Yd     maximum value in
343                                                       micro_..._address
344          max_micro_jump              mjump     Ye     maximum value in
345                                                       parm_..._micro
346          micro_col_size              mcs       Yf     character step size
347                                                       when in micro mode
348          micro_line_size             mls       Yg     line step size when
349                                                       in micro mode
350          number_of_pins              npins     Yh     numbers of pins in
351                                                       print-head
352          output_res_char             orc       Yi     horizontal resolu‐
353                                                       tion in units per
354                                                       line
355          output_res_horz_inch        orhi      Yk     horizontal resolu‐
356                                                       tion in units per
357                                                       inch
358          output_res_line             orl       Yj     vertical resolution
359                                                       in units per line
360          output_res_vert_inch        orvi      Yl     vertical resolution
361                                                       in units per inch
362          print_rate                  cps       Ym     print rate in char‐
363                                                       acters per second
364          wide_char_size              widcs     Yn     character step size
365                                                       when in double wide
366                                                       mode
367
368       These are the string capabilities:
369
370
371                  Variable            Cap-      TCap       Description
372                   String             name      Code
373          acs_chars                   acsc      ac     graphics charset
374                                                       pairs, based on
375                                                       vt100
376          back_tab                    cbt       bt     back tab (P)
377          bell                        bel       bl     audible signal
378                                                       (bell) (P)
379          carriage_return             cr        cr     carriage return (P*)
380                                                       (P*)
381          change_char_pitch           cpi       ZA     Change number of
382                                                       characters per inch
383                                                       to #1
384          change_line_pitch           lpi       ZB     Change number of
385                                                       lines per inch to #1
386          change_res_horz             chr       ZC     Change horizontal
387                                                       resolution to #1
388          change_res_vert             cvr       ZD     Change vertical res‐
389                                                       olution to #1
390          change_scroll_region        csr       cs     change region to
391                                                       line #1 to line #2
392                                                       (P)
393          char_padding                rmp       rP     like ip but when in
394                                                       insert mode
395
396
397          clear_all_tabs              tbc       ct     clear all tab stops
398                                                       (P)
399          clear_margins               mgc       MC     clear right and left
400                                                       soft margins
401          clear_screen                clear     cl     clear screen and
402                                                       home cursor (P*)
403          clr_bol                     el1       cb     Clear to beginning
404                                                       of line
405          clr_eol                     el        ce     clear to end of line
406                                                       (P)
407          clr_eos                     ed        cd     clear to end of
408                                                       screen (P*)
409          column_address              hpa       ch     horizontal position
410                                                       #1, absolute (P)
411          command_character           cmdch     CC     terminal settable
412                                                       cmd character in
413                                                       prototype !?
414          create_window               cwin      CW     define a window #1
415                                                       from #2,#3 to #4,#5
416          cursor_address              cup       cm     move to row #1 col‐
417                                                       umns #2
418          cursor_down                 cud1      do     down one line
419          cursor_home                 home      ho     home cursor (if no
420                                                       cup)
421          cursor_invisible            civis     vi     make cursor invisi‐
422                                                       ble
423          cursor_left                 cub1      le     move left one space
424          cursor_mem_address          mrcup     CM     memory relative cur‐
425                                                       sor addressing, move
426                                                       to row #1 columns #2
427          cursor_normal               cnorm     ve     make cursor appear
428                                                       normal (undo
429                                                       civis/cvvis)
430          cursor_right                cuf1      nd     non-destructive
431                                                       space (move right
432                                                       one space)
433          cursor_to_ll                ll        ll     last line, first
434                                                       column (if no cup)
435          cursor_up                   cuu1      up     up one line
436          cursor_visible              cvvis     vs     make cursor very
437                                                       visible
438          define_char                 defc      ZE     Define a character
439                                                       #1, #2 dots wide,
440                                                       descender #3
441          delete_character            dch1      dc     delete character
442                                                       (P*)
443          delete_line                 dl1       dl     delete line (P*)
444          dial_phone                  dial      DI     dial number #1
445          dis_status_line             dsl       ds     disable status line
446          display_clock               dclk      DK     display clock
447          down_half_line              hd        hd     half a line down
448          ena_acs                     enacs     eA     enable alternate
449                                                       char set
450          enter_alt_charset_mode      smacs     as     start alternate
451                                                       character set (P)
452          enter_am_mode               smam      SA     turn on automatic
453                                                       margins
454          enter_blink_mode            blink     mb     turn on blinking
455          enter_bold_mode             bold      md     turn on bold (extra
456                                                       bright) mode
457          enter_ca_mode               smcup     ti     string to start pro‐
458                                                       grams using cup
459          enter_delete_mode           smdc      dm     enter delete mode
460          enter_dim_mode              dim       mh     turn on half-bright
461                                                       mode
462
463          enter_doublewide_mode       swidm     ZF     Enter double-wide
464                                                       mode
465          enter_draft_quality         sdrfq     ZG     Enter draft-quality
466                                                       mode
467          enter_insert_mode           smir      im     enter insert mode
468          enter_italics_mode          sitm      ZH     Enter italic mode
469          enter_leftward_mode         slm       ZI     Start leftward car‐
470                                                       riage motion
471          enter_micro_mode            smicm     ZJ     Start micro-motion
472                                                       mode
473          enter_near_letter_quality   snlq      ZK     Enter NLQ mode
474          enter_normal_quality        snrmq     ZL     Enter normal-quality
475                                                       mode
476          enter_protected_mode        prot      mp     turn on protected
477                                                       mode
478          enter_reverse_mode          rev       mr     turn on reverse
479                                                       video mode
480          enter_secure_mode           invis     mk     turn on blank mode
481                                                       (characters invisi‐
482                                                       ble)
483          enter_shadow_mode           sshm      ZM     Enter shadow-print
484                                                       mode
485          enter_standout_mode         smso      so     begin standout mode
486          enter_subscript_mode        ssubm     ZN     Enter subscript mode
487          enter_superscript_mode      ssupm     ZO     Enter superscript
488                                                       mode
489          enter_underline_mode        smul      us     begin underline mode
490          enter_upward_mode           sum       ZP     Start upward car‐
491                                                       riage motion
492          enter_xon_mode              smxon     SX     turn on xon/xoff
493                                                       handshaking
494          erase_chars                 ech       ec     erase #1 characters
495                                                       (P)
496          exit_alt_charset_mode       rmacs     ae     end alternate char‐
497                                                       acter set (P)
498          exit_am_mode                rmam      RA     turn off automatic
499                                                       margins
500          exit_attribute_mode         sgr0      me     turn off all
501                                                       attributes
502          exit_ca_mode                rmcup     te     strings to end pro‐
503                                                       grams using cup
504          exit_delete_mode            rmdc      ed     end delete mode
505          exit_doublewide_mode        rwidm     ZQ     End double-wide mode
506          exit_insert_mode            rmir      ei     exit insert mode
507          exit_italics_mode           ritm      ZR     End italic mode
508          exit_leftward_mode          rlm       ZS     End left-motion mode
509          exit_micro_mode             rmicm     ZT     End micro-motion
510                                                       mode
511          exit_shadow_mode            rshm      ZU     End shadow-print
512                                                       mode
513          exit_standout_mode          rmso      se     exit standout mode
514          exit_subscript_mode         rsubm     ZV     End subscript mode
515          exit_superscript_mode       rsupm     ZW     End superscript mode
516          exit_underline_mode         rmul      ue     exit underline mode
517          exit_upward_mode            rum       ZX     End reverse charac‐
518                                                       ter motion
519          exit_xon_mode               rmxon     RX     turn off xon/xoff
520                                                       handshaking
521          fixed_pause                 pause     PA     pause for 2-3 sec‐
522                                                       onds
523          flash_hook                  hook      fh     flash switch hook
524          flash_screen                flash     vb     visible bell (may
525                                                       not move cursor)
526          form_feed                   ff        ff     hardcopy terminal
527                                                       page eject (P*)
528
529          from_status_line            fsl       fs     return from status
530                                                       line
531          goto_window                 wingo     WG     go to window #1
532          hangup                      hup       HU     hang-up phone
533          init_1string                is1       i1     initialization
534                                                       string
535          init_2string                is2       is     initialization
536                                                       string
537          init_3string                is3       i3     initialization
538                                                       string
539          init_file                   if        if     name of initializa‐
540                                                       tion file
541          init_prog                   iprog     iP     path name of program
542                                                       for initialization
543          initialize_color            initc     Ic     initialize color #1
544                                                       to (#2,#3,#4)
545          initialize_pair             initp     Ip     Initialize color
546                                                       pair #1 to
547                                                       fg=(#2,#3,#4),
548                                                       bg=(#5,#6,#7)
549          insert_character            ich1      ic     insert character (P)
550          insert_line                 il1       al     insert line (P*)
551          insert_padding              ip        ip     insert padding after
552                                                       inserted character
553          key_a1                      ka1       K1     upper left of keypad
554          key_a3                      ka3       K3     upper right of key‐
555                                                       pad
556          key_b2                      kb2       K2     center of keypad
557          key_backspace               kbs       kb     backspace key
558          key_beg                     kbeg      @1     begin key
559          key_btab                    kcbt      kB     back-tab key
560          key_c1                      kc1       K4     lower left of keypad
561          key_c3                      kc3       K5     lower right of key‐
562                                                       pad
563          key_cancel                  kcan      @2     cancel key
564          key_catab                   ktbc      ka     clear-all-tabs key
565          key_clear                   kclr      kC     clear-screen or
566                                                       erase key
567          key_close                   kclo      @3     close key
568          key_command                 kcmd      @4     command key
569          key_copy                    kcpy      @5     copy key
570          key_create                  kcrt      @6     create key
571          key_ctab                    kctab     kt     clear-tab key
572          key_dc                      kdch1     kD     delete-character key
573          key_dl                      kdl1      kL     delete-line key
574          key_down                    kcud1     kd     down-arrow key
575          key_eic                     krmir     kM     sent by rmir or smir
576                                                       in insert mode
577          key_end                     kend      @7     end key
578          key_enter                   kent      @8     enter/send key
579          key_eol                     kel       kE     clear-to-end-of-line
580                                                       key
581          key_eos                     ked       kS     clear-to-end-of-
582                                                       screen key
583          key_exit                    kext      @9     exit key
584          key_f0                      kf0       k0     F0 function key
585          key_f1                      kf1       k1     F1 function key
586          key_f10                     kf10      k;     F10 function key
587          key_f11                     kf11      F1     F11 function key
588          key_f12                     kf12      F2     F12 function key
589          key_f13                     kf13      F3     F13 function key
590          key_f14                     kf14      F4     F14 function key
591          key_f15                     kf15      F5     F15 function key
592          key_f16                     kf16      F6     F16 function key
593          key_f17                     kf17      F7     F17 function key
594
595          key_f18                     kf18      F8     F18 function key
596          key_f19                     kf19      F9     F19 function key
597          key_f2                      kf2       k2     F2 function key
598          key_f20                     kf20      FA     F20 function key
599          key_f21                     kf21      FB     F21 function key
600          key_f22                     kf22      FC     F22 function key
601          key_f23                     kf23      FD     F23 function key
602          key_f24                     kf24      FE     F24 function key
603          key_f25                     kf25      FF     F25 function key
604          key_f26                     kf26      FG     F26 function key
605          key_f27                     kf27      FH     F27 function key
606          key_f28                     kf28      FI     F28 function key
607          key_f29                     kf29      FJ     F29 function key
608          key_f3                      kf3       k3     F3 function key
609          key_f30                     kf30      FK     F30 function key
610          key_f31                     kf31      FL     F31 function key
611          key_f32                     kf32      FM     F32 function key
612          key_f33                     kf33      FN     F33 function key
613          key_f34                     kf34      FO     F34 function key
614          key_f35                     kf35      FP     F35 function key
615          key_f36                     kf36      FQ     F36 function key
616          key_f37                     kf37      FR     F37 function key
617          key_f38                     kf38      FS     F38 function key
618          key_f39                     kf39      FT     F39 function key
619          key_f4                      kf4       k4     F4 function key
620          key_f40                     kf40      FU     F40 function key
621          key_f41                     kf41      FV     F41 function key
622          key_f42                     kf42      FW     F42 function key
623          key_f43                     kf43      FX     F43 function key
624          key_f44                     kf44      FY     F44 function key
625          key_f45                     kf45      FZ     F45 function key
626          key_f46                     kf46      Fa     F46 function key
627          key_f47                     kf47      Fb     F47 function key
628          key_f48                     kf48      Fc     F48 function key
629          key_f49                     kf49      Fd     F49 function key
630          key_f5                      kf5       k5     F5 function key
631          key_f50                     kf50      Fe     F50 function key
632          key_f51                     kf51      Ff     F51 function key
633          key_f52                     kf52      Fg     F52 function key
634          key_f53                     kf53      Fh     F53 function key
635          key_f54                     kf54      Fi     F54 function key
636          key_f55                     kf55      Fj     F55 function key
637          key_f56                     kf56      Fk     F56 function key
638          key_f57                     kf57      Fl     F57 function key
639          key_f58                     kf58      Fm     F58 function key
640          key_f59                     kf59      Fn     F59 function key
641          key_f6                      kf6       k6     F6 function key
642          key_f60                     kf60      Fo     F60 function key
643          key_f61                     kf61      Fp     F61 function key
644          key_f62                     kf62      Fq     F62 function key
645          key_f63                     kf63      Fr     F63 function key
646          key_f7                      kf7       k7     F7 function key
647          key_f8                      kf8       k8     F8 function key
648          key_f9                      kf9       k9     F9 function key
649          key_find                    kfnd      @0     find key
650          key_help                    khlp      %1     help key
651          key_home                    khome     kh     home key
652          key_ic                      kich1     kI     insert-character key
653          key_il                      kil1      kA     insert-line key
654          key_left                    kcub1     kl     left-arrow key
655          key_ll                      kll       kH     lower-left key (home
656                                                       down)
657          key_mark                    kmrk      %2     mark key
658          key_message                 kmsg      %3     message key
659          key_move                    kmov      %4     move key
660
661          key_next                    knxt      %5     next key
662          key_npage                   knp       kN     next-page key
663          key_open                    kopn      %6     open key
664          key_options                 kopt      %7     options key
665          key_ppage                   kpp       kP     previous-page key
666          key_previous                kprv      %8     previous key
667          key_print                   kprt      %9     print key
668          key_redo                    krdo      %0     redo key
669          key_reference               kref      &1     reference key
670          key_refresh                 krfr      &2     refresh key
671          key_replace                 krpl      &3     replace key
672          key_restart                 krst      &4     restart key
673          key_resume                  kres      &5     resume key
674          key_right                   kcuf1     kr     right-arrow key
675          key_save                    ksav      &6     save key
676          key_sbeg                    kBEG      &9     shifted begin key
677          key_scancel                 kCAN      &0     shifted cancel key
678          key_scommand                kCMD      *1     shifted command key
679          key_scopy                   kCPY      *2     shifted copy key
680          key_screate                 kCRT      *3     shifted create key
681          key_sdc                     kDC       *4     shifted delete-char‐
682                                                       acter key
683          key_sdl                     kDL       *5     shifted delete-line
684                                                       key
685          key_select                  kslt      *6     select key
686          key_send                    kEND      *7     shifted end key
687          key_seol                    kEOL      *8     shifted clear-to-
688                                                       end-of-line key
689          key_sexit                   kEXT      *9     shifted exit key
690          key_sf                      kind      kF     scroll-forward key
691          key_sfind                   kFND      *0     shifted find key
692          key_shelp                   kHLP      #1     shifted help key
693          key_shome                   kHOM      #2     shifted home key
694          key_sic                     kIC       #3     shifted insert-char‐
695                                                       acter key
696          key_sleft                   kLFT      #4     shifted left-arrow
697                                                       key
698          key_smessage                kMSG      %a     shifted message key
699          key_smove                   kMOV      %b     shifted move key
700          key_snext                   kNXT      %c     shifted next key
701          key_soptions                kOPT      %d     shifted options key
702          key_sprevious               kPRV      %e     shifted previous key
703          key_sprint                  kPRT      %f     shifted print key
704          key_sr                      kri       kR     scroll-backward key
705          key_sredo                   kRDO      %g     shifted redo key
706          key_sreplace                kRPL      %h     shifted replace key
707          key_sright                  kRIT      %i     shifted right-arrow
708                                                       key
709          key_srsume                  kRES      %j     shifted resume key
710          key_ssave                   kSAV      !1     shifted save key
711          key_ssuspend                kSPD      !2     shifted suspend key
712          key_stab                    khts      kT     set-tab key
713          key_sundo                   kUND      !3     shifted undo key
714          key_suspend                 kspd      &7     suspend key
715          key_undo                    kund      &8     undo key
716          key_up                      kcuu1     ku     up-arrow key
717          keypad_local                rmkx      ke     leave 'key‐
718                                                       board_transmit' mode
719          keypad_xmit                 smkx      ks     enter 'key‐
720                                                       board_transmit' mode
721          lab_f0                      lf0       l0     label on function
722                                                       key f0 if not f0
723          lab_f1                      lf1       l1     label on function
724                                                       key f1 if not f1
725
726
727          lab_f10                     lf10      la     label on function
728                                                       key f10 if not f10
729          lab_f2                      lf2       l2     label on function
730                                                       key f2 if not f2
731          lab_f3                      lf3       l3     label on function
732                                                       key f3 if not f3
733          lab_f4                      lf4       l4     label on function
734                                                       key f4 if not f4
735          lab_f5                      lf5       l5     label on function
736                                                       key f5 if not f5
737          lab_f6                      lf6       l6     label on function
738                                                       key f6 if not f6
739          lab_f7                      lf7       l7     label on function
740                                                       key f7 if not f7
741          lab_f8                      lf8       l8     label on function
742                                                       key f8 if not f8
743          lab_f9                      lf9       l9     label on function
744                                                       key f9 if not f9
745          label_format                fln       Lf     label format
746          label_off                   rmln      LF     turn off soft labels
747          label_on                    smln      LO     turn on soft labels
748          meta_off                    rmm       mo     turn off meta mode
749          meta_on                     smm       mm     turn on meta mode
750                                                       (8th-bit on)
751          micro_column_address        mhpa      ZY     Like column_address
752                                                       in micro mode
753          micro_down                  mcud1     ZZ     Like cursor_down in
754                                                       micro mode
755          micro_left                  mcub1     Za     Like cursor_left in
756                                                       micro mode
757          micro_right                 mcuf1     Zb     Like cursor_right in
758                                                       micro mode
759          micro_row_address           mvpa      Zc     Like row_address #1
760                                                       in micro mode
761          micro_up                    mcuu1     Zd     Like cursor_up in
762                                                       micro mode
763          newline                     nel       nw     newline (behave like
764                                                       cr followed by lf)
765          order_of_pins               porder    Ze     Match software bits
766                                                       to print-head pins
767          orig_colors                 oc        oc     Set all color pairs
768                                                       to the original ones
769          orig_pair                   op        op     Set default pair to
770                                                       its original value
771          pad_char                    pad       pc     padding char
772                                                       (instead of null)
773          parm_dch                    dch       DC     delete #1 characters
774                                                       (P*)
775          parm_delete_line            dl        DL     delete #1 lines (P*)
776          parm_down_cursor            cud       DO     down #1 lines (P*)
777          parm_down_micro             mcud      Zf     Like parm_down_cur‐
778                                                       sor in micro mode
779          parm_ich                    ich       IC     insert #1 characters
780                                                       (P*)
781          parm_index                  indn      SF     scroll forward #1
782                                                       lines (P)
783          parm_insert_line            il        AL     insert #1 lines (P*)
784          parm_left_cursor            cub       LE     move #1 characters
785                                                       to the left (P)
786          parm_left_micro             mcub      Zg     Like parm_left_cur‐
787                                                       sor in micro mode
788          parm_right_cursor           cuf       RI     move #1 characters
789                                                       to the right (P*)
790          parm_right_micro            mcuf      Zh     Like parm_right_cur‐
791                                                       sor in micro mode
792
793          parm_rindex                 rin       SR     scroll back #1 lines
794                                                       (P)
795          parm_up_cursor              cuu       UP     up #1 lines (P*)
796          parm_up_micro               mcuu      Zi     Like parm_up_cursor
797                                                       in micro mode
798          pkey_key                    pfkey     pk     program function key
799                                                       #1 to type string #2
800          pkey_local                  pfloc     pl     program function key
801                                                       #1 to execute string
802                                                       #2
803          pkey_xmit                   pfx       px     program function key
804                                                       #1 to transmit
805                                                       string #2
806          plab_norm                   pln       pn     program label #1 to
807                                                       show string #2
808          print_screen                mc0       ps     print contents of
809                                                       screen
810          prtr_non                    mc5p      pO     turn on printer for
811                                                       #1 bytes
812          prtr_off                    mc4       pf     turn off printer
813          prtr_on                     mc5       po     turn on printer
814          pulse                       pulse     PU     select pulse dialing
815          quick_dial                  qdial     QD     dial number #1 with‐
816                                                       out checking
817          remove_clock                rmclk     RC     remove clock
818          repeat_char                 rep       rp     repeat char #1 #2
819                                                       times (P*)
820          req_for_input               rfi       RF     send next input char
821                                                       (for ptys)
822          reset_1string               rs1       r1     reset string
823          reset_2string               rs2       r2     reset string
824          reset_3string               rs3       r3     reset string
825          reset_file                  rf        rf     name of reset file
826          restore_cursor              rc        rc     restore cursor to
827                                                       position of last
828                                                       save_cursor
829          row_address                 vpa       cv     vertical position #1
830                                                       absolute (P)
831          save_cursor                 sc        sc     save current cursor
832                                                       position (P)
833          scroll_forward              ind       sf     scroll text up (P)
834          scroll_reverse              ri        sr     scroll text down (P)
835          select_char_set             scs       Zj     Select character
836                                                       set, #1
837          set_attributes              sgr       sa     define video
838                                                       attributes #1-#9
839                                                       (PG9)
840          set_background              setb      Sb     Set background color
841                                                       #1
842          set_bottom_margin           smgb      Zk     Set bottom margin at
843                                                       current line
844          set_bottom_margin_parm      smgbp     Zl     Set bottom margin at
845                                                       line #1 or (if smgtp
846                                                       is not given) #2
847                                                       lines from bottom
848          set_clock                   sclk      SC     set clock, #1 hrs #2
849                                                       mins #3 secs
850          set_color_pair              scp       sp     Set current color
851                                                       pair to #1
852          set_foreground              setf      Sf     Set foreground color
853                                                       #1
854
855
856
857
858
859          set_left_margin             smgl      ML     set left soft margin
860                                                       at current col‐
861                                                       umn.     See smgl.
862                                                       (ML is not in BSD
863                                                       termcap).
864          set_left_margin_parm        smglp     Zm     Set left (right)
865                                                       margin at column #1
866          set_right_margin            smgr      MR     set right soft mar‐
867                                                       gin at current col‐
868                                                       umn
869          set_right_margin_parm       smgrp     Zn     Set right margin at
870                                                       column #1
871          set_tab                     hts       st     set a tab in every
872                                                       row, current columns
873          set_top_margin              smgt      Zo     Set top margin at
874                                                       current line
875          set_top_margin_parm         smgtp     Zp     Set top (bottom)
876                                                       margin at row #1
877          set_window                  wind      wi     current window is
878                                                       lines #1-#2 cols
879                                                       #3-#4
880          start_bit_image             sbim      Zq     Start printing bit
881                                                       image graphics
882          start_char_set_def          scsd      Zr     Start character set
883                                                       definition #1, with
884                                                       #2 characters in the
885                                                       set
886          stop_bit_image              rbim      Zs     Stop printing bit
887                                                       image graphics
888          stop_char_set_def           rcsd      Zt     End definition of
889                                                       character set #1
890          subscript_characters        subcs     Zu     List of subscript‐
891                                                       able characters
892          superscript_characters      supcs     Zv     List of superscript‐
893                                                       able characters
894          tab                         ht        ta     tab to next 8-space
895                                                       hardware tab stop
896          these_cause_cr              docr      Zw     Printing any of
897                                                       these characters
898                                                       causes CR
899          to_status_line              tsl       ts     move to status line,
900                                                       column #1
901          tone                        tone      TO     select touch tone
902                                                       dialing
903          underline_char              uc        uc     underline char and
904                                                       move past it
905          up_half_line                hu        hu     half a line up
906          user0                       u0        u0     User string #0
907          user1                       u1        u1     User string #1
908          user2                       u2        u2     User string #2
909          user3                       u3        u3     User string #3
910          user4                       u4        u4     User string #4
911          user5                       u5        u5     User string #5
912          user6                       u6        u6     User string #6
913          user7                       u7        u7     User string #7
914          user8                       u8        u8     User string #8
915          user9                       u9        u9     User string #9
916          wait_tone                   wait      WA     wait for dial-tone
917          xoff_character              xoffc     XF     XOFF character
918          xon_character               xonc      XN     XON character
919          zero_motion                 zerom     Zx     No motion for subse‐
920                                                       quent character
921
922       The following string capabilities are present in the SVr4.0 term struc‐
923       ture, but were originally not documented in the man page.
924
925
926                  Variable            Cap-       TCap      Description
927                   String             name       Code
928          alt_scancode_esc            scesa      S8     Alternate escape
929                                                        for scancode emu‐
930                                                        lation
931          bit_image_carriage_return   bicr       Yv     Move to beginning
932                                                        of same row
933          bit_image_newline           binel      Zz     Move to next row
934                                                        of the bit image
935          bit_image_repeat            birep      Xy     Repeat bit image
936                                                        cell #1 #2 times
937          char_set_names              csnm       Zy     Produce #1'th item
938                                                        from list of char‐
939                                                        acter set names
940          code_set_init               csin       ci     Init sequence for
941                                                        multiple codesets
942          color_names                 colornm    Yw     Give name for
943                                                        color #1
944          define_bit_image_region     defbi      Yx     Define rectangular
945                                                        bit image region
946          device_type                 devt       dv     Indicate lan‐
947                                                        guage/codeset sup‐
948                                                        port
949          display_pc_char             dispc      S1     Display PC charac‐
950                                                        ter #1
951          end_bit_image_region        endbi      Yy     End a bit-image
952                                                        region
953          enter_pc_charset_mode       smpch      S2     Enter PC character
954                                                        display mode
955          enter_scancode_mode         smsc       S4     Enter PC scancode
956                                                        mode
957          exit_pc_charset_mode        rmpch      S3     Exit PC character
958                                                        display mode
959          exit_scancode_mode          rmsc       S5     Exit PC scancode
960                                                        mode
961          get_mouse                   getm       Gm     Curses should get
962                                                        button events,
963                                                        parameter #1 not
964                                                        documented.
965          key_mouse                   kmous      Km     Mouse event has
966                                                        occurred
967          mouse_info                  minfo      Mi     Mouse status
968                                                        information
969          pc_term_options             pctrm      S6     PC terminal
970                                                        options
971          pkey_plab                   pfxl       xl     Program function
972                                                        key #1 to type
973                                                        string #2 and show
974                                                        string #3
975          req_mouse_pos               reqmp      RQ     Request mouse
976                                                        position
977          scancode_escape             scesc      S7     Escape for scan‐
978                                                        code emulation
979          set0_des_seq                s0ds       s0     Shift to codeset 0
980                                                        (EUC set 0, ASCII)
981          set1_des_seq                s1ds       s1     Shift to codeset 1
982          set2_des_seq                s2ds       s2     Shift to codeset 2
983          set3_des_seq                s3ds       s3     Shift to codeset 3
984          set_a_background            setab      AB     Set background
985                                                        color to #1, using
986                                                        ANSI escape
987          set_a_foreground            setaf      AF     Set foreground
988                                                        color to #1, using
989                                                        ANSI escape
990
991          set_color_band              setcolor   Yz     Change to ribbon
992                                                        color #1
993          set_lr_margin               smglr      ML     Set both left and
994                                                        right margins to
995                                                        #1, #2.  (ML is
996                                                        not in BSD term‐
997                                                        cap).
998          set_page_length             slines     YZ     Set page length to
999                                                        #1 lines
1000          set_tb_margin               smgtb      MT     Sets both top and
1001                                                        bottom margins to
1002                                                        #1, #2
1003
1004        The  XSI Curses standard added these hardcopy capabilities.  They were
1005        used in some post-4.1 versions of System V curses, e.g.,  Solaris  2.5
1006        and  IRIX  6.x.  Except for YI, the ncurses termcap names for them are
1007        invented.  According to the XSI Curses standard, they have no  termcap
1008        names.   If  your compiled terminfo entries use these, they may not be
1009        binary-compatible with System V terminfo entries after SVr4.1; beware!
1010
1011
1012                  Variable            Cap-      TCap       Description
1013                   String             name      Code
1014          enter_horizontal_hl_mode    ehhlm     Xh     Enter horizontal
1015                                                       highlight mode
1016          enter_left_hl_mode          elhlm     Xl     Enter left highlight
1017                                                       mode
1018          enter_low_hl_mode           elohlm    Xo     Enter low highlight
1019                                                       mode
1020          enter_right_hl_mode         erhlm     Xr     Enter right high‐
1021                                                       light mode
1022          enter_top_hl_mode           ethlm     Xt     Enter top highlight
1023                                                       mode
1024          enter_vertical_hl_mode      evhlm     Xv     Enter vertical high‐
1025                                                       light mode
1026          set_a_attributes            sgr1      sA     Define second set of
1027                                                       video attributes
1028                                                       #1-#6
1029          set_pglen_inch              slength   YI     Set page length to
1030                                                       #1 hundredth of an
1031                                                       inch (some implemen‐
1032                                                       tations use sL for
1033                                                       termcap).
1034
1035   User-Defined Capabilities
1036       The preceding section listed the predefined  capabilities.   They  deal
1037       with  some special features for terminals no longer (or possibly never)
1038       produced.  Occasionally there are special features of  newer  terminals
1039       which  are awkward or impossible to represent by reusing the predefined
1040       capabilities.
1041
1042       ncurses addresses this limitation by  allowing  user-defined  capabili‐
1043       ties.  The tic and infocmp programs provide the -x option for this pur‐
1044       pose.  When -x is set, tic treats unknown capabilities as user-defined.
1045       That  is,  if tic encounters a capability name which it does not recog‐
1046       nize, it infers its type (boolean, number or string)  from  the  syntax
1047       and   makes   an   extended  table  entry  for  that  capability.   The
1048       use_extended_names(3X) function makes  this  information  conditionally
1049       available to applications.  The ncurses library provides the data leav‐
1050       ing most of the behavior to applications:
1051
1052       ·   User-defined capability strings whose  name  begins  with  “k”  are
1053           treated as function keys.
1054
1055       ·   The  types  (boolean,  number,  string)  determined  by  tic can be
1056           inferred by successful calls on tigetflag, etc.
1057
1058       ·   If the capability name happens to be two characters, the capability
1059           is also available through the termcap interface.
1060
1061       While termcap is said to be extensible because it does not use a prede‐
1062       fined set of capabilities, in practice it has been limited to the capa‐
1063       bilities  defined by terminfo implementations.  As a rule, user-defined
1064       capabilities intended for use by termcap applications should be limited
1065       to  booleans  and  numbers  to  avoid  running past the 1023 byte limit
1066       assumed by termcap implementations and their applications.  In particu‐
1067       lar,  providing  extended  sets  of function keys (past the 60 numbered
1068       keys and the handful of special named keys)  is  best  done  using  the
1069       longer names available using terminfo.
1070
1071   A Sample Entry
1072       The following entry, describing an ANSI-standard terminal, is represen‐
1073       tative of what a terminfo entry for a modern terminal  typically  looks
1074       like.
1075
1076       ansi|ansi/pc-term compatible with color,
1077               am, mc5i, mir, msgr,
1078               colors#8, cols#80, it#8, lines#24, ncv#3, pairs#64,
1079               acsc=+\020\,\021-\030.^Y0\333`\004a\261f\370g\361h\260
1080                    j\331k\277l\332m\300n\305o~p\304q\304r\304s_t\303
1081                    u\264v\301w\302x\263y\363z\362{\343|\330}\234~\376,
1082               bel=^G, blink=\E[5m, bold=\E[1m, cbt=\E[Z, clear=\E[H\E[J,
1083               cr=^M, cub=\E[%p1%dD, cub1=\E[D, cud=\E[%p1%dB, cud1=\E[B,
1084               cuf=\E[%p1%dC, cuf1=\E[C, cup=\E[%i%p1%d;%p2%dH,
1085               cuu=\E[%p1%dA, cuu1=\E[A, dch=\E[%p1%dP, dch1=\E[P,
1086               dl=\E[%p1%dM, dl1=\E[M, ech=\E[%p1%dX, ed=\E[J, el=\E[K,
1087               el1=\E[1K, home=\E[H, hpa=\E[%i%p1%dG, ht=\E[I, hts=\EH,
1088               ich=\E[%p1%d@, il=\E[%p1%dL, il1=\E[L, ind=^J,
1089               indn=\E[%p1%dS, invis=\E[8m, kbs=^H, kcbt=\E[Z, kcub1=\E[D,
1090               kcud1=\E[B, kcuf1=\E[C, kcuu1=\E[A, khome=\E[H, kich1=\E[L,
1091               mc4=\E[4i, mc5=\E[5i, nel=\r\E[S, op=\E[39;49m,
1092               rep=%p1%c\E[%p2%{1}%-%db, rev=\E[7m, rin=\E[%p1%dT,
1093               rmacs=\E[10m, rmpch=\E[10m, rmso=\E[m, rmul=\E[m,
1094               s0ds=\E(B, s1ds=\E)B, s2ds=\E*B, s3ds=\E+B,
1095               setab=\E[4%p1%dm, setaf=\E[3%p1%dm,
1096               sgr=\E[0;10%?%p1%t;7%;
1097                          %?%p2%t;4%;
1098                          %?%p3%t;7%;
1099                          %?%p4%t;5%;
1100                          %?%p6%t;1%;
1101                          %?%p7%t;8%;
1102                          %?%p9%t;11%;m,
1103               sgr0=\E[0;10m, smacs=\E[11m, smpch=\E[11m, smso=\E[7m,
1104               smul=\E[4m, tbc=\E[3g, u6=\E[%i%d;%dR, u7=\E[6n,
1105               u8=\E[?%[;0123456789]c, u9=\E[c, vpa=\E[%i%p1%dd,
1106
1107       Entries  may continue onto multiple lines by placing white space at the
1108       beginning of each line except the first.  Comments may be  included  on
1109       lines beginning with “#”.  Capabilities in terminfo are of three types:
1110
1111       ·   Boolean capabilities which indicate that the terminal has some par‐
1112           ticular feature,
1113
1114       ·   numeric capabilities giving the size of the terminal or the size of
1115           particular delays, and
1116
1117       ·   string  capabilities,  which  give  a sequence which can be used to
1118           perform particular terminal operations.
1119
1120   Types of Capabilities
1121       All capabilities have names.  For instance, the fact that ANSI-standard
1122       terminals  have  automatic margins (i.e., an automatic return and line-
1123       feed when the end of a line is reached) is indicated by the  capability
1124       am.   Hence  the description of ansi includes am.  Numeric capabilities
1125       are followed by the character “#” and  then  a  positive  value.   Thus
1126       cols, which indicates the number of columns the terminal has, gives the
1127       value “80” for ansi.  Values for numeric capabilities may be  specified
1128       in decimal, octal or hexadecimal, using the C programming language con‐
1129       ventions (e.g., 255, 0377 and 0xff or 0xFF).
1130
1131       Finally, string valued capabilities, such as el (clear to end  of  line
1132       sequence)  are  given  by  the  two-character  code, an “=”, and then a
1133       string ending at the next following “,”.
1134
1135       A number of escape sequences are provided in the string valued capabil‐
1136       ities for easy encoding of characters there:
1137
1138       ·   Both \E and \e map to an ESCAPE character,
1139
1140       ·   ^x maps to a control-x for any appropriate x, and
1141
1142       ·   the sequences
1143
1144             \n, \l, \r, \t, \b, \f, and \s
1145
1146           produce
1147
1148             newline, line-feed, return, tab, backspace, form-feed, and space,
1149
1150           respectively.
1151
1152       X/Open Curses does not say what “appropriate x” might be.  In practice,
1153       that is a printable ASCII graphic character.  The special case “^?”  is
1154       interpreted  as  DEL (127).  In all other cases, the character value is
1155       AND'd with 0x1f, mapping to ASCII control codes in the range 0  through
1156       31.
1157
1158       Other escapes include
1159
1160       ·   \^ for ^,
1161
1162       ·   \\ for \,
1163
1164       ·   \, for comma,
1165
1166       ·   \: for :,
1167
1168       ·   and \0 for null.
1169
1170           \0 will produce \200, which does not terminate a string but behaves
1171           as a null character on most terminals, providing CS7 is  specified.
1172           See stty(1).
1173
1174           The  reason  for  this quirk is to maintain binary compatibility of
1175           the compiled terminfo files with other implementations,  e.g.,  the
1176           SVr4  systems,  which  document  this.  Compiled terminfo files use
1177           null-terminated strings, with no  lengths.   Modifying  this  would
1178           require a new binary format, which would not work with other imple‐
1179           mentations.
1180
1181       Finally, characters may be given as three octal digits after a \.
1182
1183       A delay in milliseconds may appear anywhere  in  a  string  capability,
1184       enclosed  in  $<..>  brackets, as in el=\EK$<5>, and padding characters
1185       are supplied by tputs(3X) to provide this delay.
1186
1187       ·   The delay must be a number with at most one decimal place of preci‐
1188           sion; it may be followed by suffixes “*” or “/” or both.
1189
1190       ·   A  “*”  indicates  that the padding required is proportional to the
1191           number of lines affected by the operation, and the amount given  is
1192           the  per-affected-unit  padding  required.   (In the case of insert
1193           character, the factor is still the number of lines affected.)
1194
1195           Normally, padding is advisory if the device has the xon capability;
1196           it is used for cost computation but does not trigger delays.
1197
1198       ·   A  “/”  suffix indicates that the padding is mandatory and forces a
1199           delay of the given number of milliseconds even on devices for which
1200           xon is present to indicate flow control.
1201
1202       Sometimes  individual  capabilities must be commented out.  To do this,
1203       put a period before the capability name.  For example, see  the  second
1204       ind in the example above.
1205
1206   Fetching Compiled Descriptions
1207       The  ncurses  library  searches  for  terminal  descriptions in several
1208       places.  It uses only the first description found.  The library  has  a
1209       compiled-in  list  of places to search which can be overridden by envi‐
1210       ronment variables.   Before  starting  to  search,  ncurses  eliminates
1211       duplicates in its search list.
1212
1213       ·   If  the  environment variable TERMINFO is set, it is interpreted as
1214           the pathname of a directory containing the compiled description you
1215           are working on.  Only that directory is searched.
1216
1217       ·   If  TERMINFO is not set, ncurses will instead look in the directory
1218           $HOME/.terminfo for a compiled description.
1219
1220       ·   Next, if the environment variable  TERMINFO_DIRS  is  set,  ncurses
1221           will  interpret  the  contents of that variable as a list of colon-
1222           separated directories (or database files) to be searched.
1223
1224           An empty directory name (i.e., if the variable begins or ends  with
1225           a  colon, or contains adjacent colons) is interpreted as the system
1226           location /usr/share/terminfo.
1227
1228       ·   Finally, ncurses searches these compiled-in locations:
1229
1230           ·   a list of directories (no default value), and
1231
1232           ·   the system terminfo directory,  /usr/share/terminfo  (the  com‐
1233               piled-in default).
1234
1235   Preparing Descriptions
1236       We  now  outline  how  to  prepare descriptions of terminals.  The most
1237       effective way to prepare a terminal description  is  by  imitating  the
1238       description  of  a  similar  terminal  in  terminfo  and  to build up a
1239       description gradually, using partial descriptions with vi or some other
1240       screen-oriented  program to check that they are correct.  Be aware that
1241       a very unusual terminal may expose deficiencies in the ability  of  the
1242       terminfo file to describe it or bugs in the screen-handling code of the
1243       test program.
1244
1245       To get the padding for insert line right (if the terminal  manufacturer
1246       did  not  document  it)  a  severe test is to edit a large file at 9600
1247       baud, delete 16 or so lines from the middle of the screen, then hit the
1248       “u” key several times quickly.  If the terminal messes up, more padding
1249       is usually needed.  A similar test can be used for insert character.
1250
1251   Basic Capabilities
1252       The number of columns on each line for the terminal  is  given  by  the
1253       cols  numeric capability.  If the terminal is a CRT, then the number of
1254       lines on the screen is given by the lines capability.  If the  terminal
1255       wraps  around  to  the  beginning  of the next line when it reaches the
1256       right margin, then it should have the am capability.  If  the  terminal
1257       can  clear  its  screen,  leaving the cursor in the home position, then
1258       this is given by the clear string capability.  If  the  terminal  over‐
1259       strikes  (rather  than  clearing  a position when a character is struck
1260       over) then it should have the os capability.   If  the  terminal  is  a
1261       printing terminal, with no soft copy unit, give it both hc and os.  (os
1262       applies to storage scope terminals, such as TEKTRONIX 4010  series,  as
1263       well  as  hard copy and APL terminals.)  If there is a code to move the
1264       cursor to the left edge of the current row, give this as cr.  (Normally
1265       this  will  be carriage return, control/M.)  If there is a code to pro‐
1266       duce an audible signal (bell, beep, etc) give this as bel.
1267
1268       If there is a code to move the cursor one position to the left (such as
1269       backspace)  that  capability should be given as cub1.  Similarly, codes
1270       to move to the right, up, and down should be given as cuf1,  cuu1,  and
1271       cud1.   These  local cursor motions should not alter the text they pass
1272       over, for example, you would not  normally  use  “cuf1= ”  because  the
1273       space would erase the character moved over.
1274
1275       A very important point here is that the local cursor motions encoded in
1276       terminfo are undefined at the left and top edges  of  a  CRT  terminal.
1277       Programs should never attempt to backspace around the left edge, unless
1278       bw is given, and never attempt to go up locally off the top.  In  order
1279       to  scroll  text up, a program will go to the bottom left corner of the
1280       screen and send the ind (index) string.
1281
1282       To scroll text down, a program goes to  the  top  left  corner  of  the
1283       screen and sends the ri (reverse index) string.  The strings ind and ri
1284       are undefined when not on their respective corners of the screen.
1285
1286       Parameterized versions of the scrolling  sequences  are  indn  and  rin
1287       which  have  the same semantics as ind and ri except that they take one
1288       parameter, and scroll that many lines.  They are also undefined  except
1289       at the appropriate edge of the screen.
1290
1291       The  am capability tells whether the cursor sticks at the right edge of
1292       the screen when text is output, but this does not necessarily apply  to
1293       a  cuf1  from  the last column.  The only local motion which is defined
1294       from the left edge is if bw is given, then a cub1 from  the  left  edge
1295       will  move  to the right edge of the previous row.  If bw is not given,
1296       the effect is undefined.  This is useful for drawing a box  around  the
1297       edge of the screen, for example.  If the terminal has switch selectable
1298       automatic margins, the terminfo file usually assumes that this  is  on;
1299       i.e.,  am.  If the terminal has a command which moves to the first col‐
1300       umn of the next line, that command can be given as nel  (newline).   It
1301       does  not  matter  if  the  command clears the remainder of the current
1302       line, so if the terminal has no cr and lf it may still be  possible  to
1303       craft a working nel out of one or both of them.
1304
1305       These capabilities suffice to describe hard-copy and “glass-tty” termi‐
1306       nals.  Thus the model 33 teletype is described as
1307
1308       33|tty33|tty|model 33 teletype,
1309               bel=^G, cols#72, cr=^M, cud1=^J, hc, ind=^J, os,
1310
1311       while the Lear Siegler ADM-3 is described as
1312
1313       adm3|3|lsi adm3,
1314               am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
1315               ind=^J, lines#24,
1316
1317   Parameterized Strings
1318       Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters in the  termi‐
1319       nal  are  described  by a parameterized string capability, with printf-
1320       like escapes such as %x in it.  For example, to address the cursor, the
1321       cup  capability  is  given, using two parameters: the row and column to
1322       address to.  (Rows and columns are numbered from zero and refer to  the
1323       physical screen visible to the user, not to any unseen memory.)  If the
1324       terminal has memory relative cursor addressing, that can  be  indicated
1325       by mrcup.
1326
1327       The  parameter mechanism uses a stack and special % codes to manipulate
1328       it.  Typically a sequence will push one  of  the  parameters  onto  the
1329       stack  and  then print it in some format.  Print (e.g., "%d") is a spe‐
1330       cial case.  Other operations, including "%t" pop their operand from the
1331       stack.   It  is noted that more complex operations are often necessary,
1332       e.g., in the sgr string.
1333
1334       The % encodings have the following meanings:
1335
1336       %%   outputs “%”
1337
1338       %[[:]flags][width[.precision]][doxXs]
1339            as in printf(3), flags are [-+#] and space.  Use a  “:”  to  allow
1340            the next character to be a “-” flag, avoiding interpreting “%-” as
1341            an operator.
1342
1343       %c   print pop() like %c in printf
1344
1345       %s   print pop() like %s in printf
1346
1347       %p[1-9]
1348            push i'th parameter
1349
1350       %P[a-z]
1351            set dynamic variable [a-z] to pop()
1352
1353       %g[a-z]/
1354            get dynamic variable [a-z] and push it
1355
1356       %P[A-Z]
1357            set static variable [a-z] to pop()
1358
1359       %g[A-Z]
1360            get static variable [a-z] and push it
1361
1362            The terms "static" and "dynamic"  are  misleading.   Historically,
1363            these are simply two different sets of variables, whose values are
1364            not reset between calls to tparm(3X).  However, that fact  is  not
1365            documented in other implementations.  Relying on it will adversely
1366            impact portability to other implementations.
1367
1368       %'c' char constant c
1369
1370       %{nn}
1371            integer constant nn
1372
1373       %l   push strlen(pop)
1374
1375       %+, %-, %*, %/, %m
1376            arithmetic (%m is mod): push(pop() op pop())
1377
1378       %&, %|, %^
1379            bit operations (AND, OR and exclusive-OR): push(pop() op pop())
1380
1381       %=, %>, %<
1382            logical operations: push(pop() op pop())
1383
1384       %A, %O
1385            logical AND and OR operations (for conditionals)
1386
1387       %!, %~
1388            unary operations (logical and bit complement): push(op pop())
1389
1390       %i   add 1 to first two parameters (for ANSI terminals)
1391
1392       %? expr %t thenpart %e elsepart %;
1393            This forms an if-then-else.  The %e elsepart is optional.  Usually
1394            the  %?  expr  part  pushes a value onto the stack, and %t pops it
1395            from the stack, testing if it is nonzero (true).  If  it  is  zero
1396            (false), control passes to the %e (else) part.
1397
1398            It is possible to form else-if's a la Algol 68:
1399            %? c1 %t b1 %e c2 %t b2 %e c3 %t b3 %e c4 %t b4 %e %;
1400
1401            where ci are conditions, bi are bodies.
1402
1403            Use  the  -f  option of tic or infocmp to see the structure of if-
1404            then-else's.  Some strings, e.g., sgr can be very complicated when
1405            written  on  one line.  The -f option splits the string into lines
1406            with the parts indented.
1407
1408       Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands  in  the  usual
1409       order.  That is, to get x-5 one would use "%gx%{5}%-".  %P and %g vari‐
1410       ables are persistent across escape-string evaluations.
1411
1412       Consider the HP2645, which, to get to row 3 and column 12, needs to  be
1413       sent  \E&a12c03Y padded for 6 milliseconds.  Note that the order of the
1414       rows and columns is inverted here, and that  the  row  and  column  are
1415       printed    as    two    digits.     Thus    its   cup   capability   is
1416       “cup=6\E&%p2%2dc%p1%2dY”.
1417
1418       The Microterm ACT-IV needs the current row and column sent preceded  by
1419       a   ^T,   with   the   row   and   column  simply  encoded  in  binary,
1420       “cup=^T%p1%c%p2%c”.  Terminals which  use  “%c”  need  to  be  able  to
1421       backspace  the cursor (cub1), and to move the cursor up one line on the
1422       screen (cuu1).  This is necessary because it  is  not  always  safe  to
1423       transmit  \n ^D and \r, as the system may change or discard them.  (The
1424       library routines dealing with terminfo set tty modes so that  tabs  are
1425       never  expanded, so \t is safe to send.  This turns out to be essential
1426       for the Ann Arbor 4080.)
1427
1428       A final example is the LSI ADM-3a, which uses row and column offset  by
1429       a blank character, thus “cup=\E=%p1%' '%+%c%p2%' '%+%c”.  After sending
1430       “\E=”, this pushes the first parameter, pushes the ASCII  value  for  a
1431       space (32), adds them (pushing the sum on the stack in place of the two
1432       previous values) and outputs that value as a character.  Then the  same
1433       is  done for the second parameter.  More complex arithmetic is possible
1434       using the stack.
1435
1436   Cursor Motions
1437       If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very  upper  left
1438       corner  of screen) then this can be given as home; similarly a fast way
1439       of getting to the lower left-hand corner can be given as ll;  this  may
1440       involve going up with cuu1 from the home position, but a program should
1441       never do this itself (unless ll does) because it can make no assumption
1442       about  the  effect  of moving up from the home position.  Note that the
1443       home position is the same as addressing to (0,0): to the top left  cor‐
1444       ner of the screen, not of memory.  (Thus, the \EH sequence on HP termi‐
1445       nals cannot be used for home.)
1446
1447       If the terminal has row or column absolute cursor addressing, these can
1448       be  given  as  single  parameter  capabilities hpa (horizontal position
1449       absolute) and vpa (vertical position absolute).   Sometimes  these  are
1450       shorter  than  the  more  general  two  parameter sequence (as with the
1451       hp2645) and can be used in preference to cup.  If there are  parameter‐
1452       ized  local  motions  (e.g.,  move  n spaces to the right) these can be
1453       given as cud, cub, cuf, and cuu with a single parameter indicating  how
1454       many  spaces  to move.  These are primarily useful if the terminal does
1455       not have cup, such as the TEKTRONIX 4025.
1456
1457       If the terminal needs to be in a special mode when  running  a  program
1458       that uses these capabilities, the codes to enter and exit this mode can
1459       be given as smcup and rmcup.  This arises, for example, from  terminals
1460       like  the  Concept  with more than one page of memory.  If the terminal
1461       has only memory relative cursor addressing and not screen relative cur‐
1462       sor addressing, a one screen-sized window must be fixed into the termi‐
1463       nal for cursor addressing to work properly.  This is also used for  the
1464       TEKTRONIX  4025,  where  smcup sets the command character to be the one
1465       used by terminfo.  If the smcup sequence will not  restore  the  screen
1466       after  an  rmcup  sequence  is output (to the state prior to outputting
1467       rmcup), specify nrrmc.
1468
1469   Area Clears
1470       If the terminal can clear from the current position to the end  of  the
1471       line,  leaving  the cursor where it is, this should be given as el.  If
1472       the terminal can clear from the beginning of the line  to  the  current
1473       position  inclusive,  leaving  the  cursor  where it is, this should be
1474       given as el1.  If the terminal can clear from the current  position  to
1475       the  end  of  the display, then this should be given as ed.  Ed is only
1476       defined from the first column of a line.  (Thus, it can be simulated by
1477       a request to delete a large number of lines, if a true ed is not avail‐
1478       able.)
1479
1480   Insert/delete line and vertical motions
1481       If the terminal can open a new blank line before  the  line  where  the
1482       cursor  is,  this  should  be  given as il1; this is done only from the
1483       first position of a line.  The cursor must then  appear  on  the  newly
1484       blank  line.   If  the terminal can delete the line which the cursor is
1485       on, then this should be given as dl1; this is done only from the  first
1486       position on the line to be deleted.  Versions of il1 and dl1 which take
1487       a single parameter and insert or delete that many lines can be given as
1488       il and dl.
1489
1490       If  the  terminal  has a settable scrolling region (like the vt100) the
1491       command to set this can be described with  the  csr  capability,  which
1492       takes two parameters: the top and bottom lines of the scrolling region.
1493       The cursor position is, alas, undefined after using this command.
1494
1495       It is possible to get the effect of insert or delete line using csr  on
1496       a  properly chosen region; the sc and rc (save and restore cursor) com‐
1497       mands may be useful for ensuring that  your  synthesized  insert/delete
1498       string  does  not  move the cursor.  (Note that the ncurses(3X) library
1499       does  this  synthesis  automatically,   so   you   need   not   compose
1500       insert/delete strings for an entry with csr).
1501
1502       Yet another way to construct insert and delete might be to use a combi‐
1503       nation of index with the memory-lock feature found  on  some  terminals
1504       (like the HP-700/90 series, which however also has insert/delete).
1505
1506       Inserting  lines  at  the  top or bottom of the screen can also be done
1507       using ri or ind on many terminals without a  true  insert/delete  line,
1508       and is often faster even on terminals with those features.
1509
1510       The boolean non_dest_scroll_region should be set if each scrolling win‐
1511       dow is effectively a view port on a screen-sized canvas.  To  test  for
1512       this capability, create a scrolling region in the middle of the screen,
1513       write something to the bottom line, move the cursor to the top  of  the
1514       region, and do ri followed by dl1 or ind.  If the data scrolled off the
1515       bottom of the region by the  ri  re-appears,  then  scrolling  is  non-
1516       destructive.   System  V  and XSI Curses expect that ind, ri, indn, and
1517       rin will simulate destructive scrolling; their  documentation  cautions
1518       you  not to define csr unless this is true.  This curses implementation
1519       is more liberal and will do explicit erases after scrolling if ndsrc is
1520       defined.
1521
1522       If  the  terminal has the ability to define a window as part of memory,
1523       which all commands affect, it should  be  given  as  the  parameterized
1524       string  wind.  The four parameters are the starting and ending lines in
1525       memory and the starting and ending columns in memory, in that order.
1526
1527       If the terminal can retain display memory above, then the da capability
1528       should  be  given;  if  display  memory  can be retained below, then db
1529       should be given.  These indicate that deleting a line or scrolling  may
1530       bring  non-blank lines up from below or that scrolling back with ri may
1531       bring down non-blank lines.
1532
1533   Insert/Delete Character
1534       There are two basic kinds of  intelligent  terminals  with  respect  to
1535       insert/delete  character  which  can  be described using terminfo.  The
1536       most common insert/delete character operations affect only the  charac‐
1537       ters  on  the current line and shift characters off the end of the line
1538       rigidly.  Other terminals, such as the Concept 100 and the Perkin Elmer
1539       Owl, make a distinction between typed and untyped blanks on the screen,
1540       shifting upon an insert or delete only  to  an  untyped  blank  on  the
1541       screen which is either eliminated, or expanded to two untyped blanks.
1542
1543       You  can determine the kind of terminal you have by clearing the screen
1544       and then typing text separated by cursor  motions.   Type  “abc    def”
1545       using  local  cursor  motions  (not  spaces)  between the “abc” and the
1546       “def”.  Then position the cursor before the “abc” and put the  terminal
1547       in  insert  mode.   If typing characters causes the rest of the line to
1548       shift rigidly and characters to fall off the end,  then  your  terminal
1549       does  not  distinguish  between  blanks  and untyped positions.  If the
1550       “abc” shifts over to the “def” which then move together around the  end
1551       of  the current line and onto the next as you insert, you have the sec‐
1552       ond type of terminal, and should give the capability in,  which  stands
1553       for “insert null”.
1554
1555       While  these  are  two  logically  separate attributes (one line versus
1556       multi-line insert mode, and special treatment  of  untyped  spaces)  we
1557       have  seen  no terminals whose insert mode cannot be described with the
1558       single attribute.
1559
1560       Terminfo can describe both terminals which have  an  insert  mode,  and
1561       terminals  which send a simple sequence to open a blank position on the
1562       current line.  Give as smir the sequence to get into insert mode.  Give
1563       as  rmir  the  sequence  to  leave  insert  mode.  Now give as ich1 any
1564       sequence needed to be sent just before  sending  the  character  to  be
1565       inserted.   Most  terminals with a true insert mode will not give ich1;
1566       terminals which send a sequence to open a screen position  should  give
1567       it here.
1568
1569       If  your  terminal has both, insert mode is usually preferable to ich1.
1570       Technically, you should not give  both  unless  the  terminal  actually
1571       requires  both to be used in combination.  Accordingly, some non-curses
1572       applications get confused if both are present; the symptom  is  doubled
1573       characters  in  an  update using insert.  This requirement is now rare;
1574       most ich sequences do not require previous smir, and most  smir  insert
1575       modes  do  not  require ich1 before each character.  Therefore, the new
1576       curses actually assumes this is the case and uses either  rmir/smir  or
1577       ich/ich1  as appropriate (but not both).  If you have to write an entry
1578       to be used under new curses for a terminal old  enough  to  need  both,
1579       include the rmir/smir sequences in ich1.
1580
1581       If post insert padding is needed, give this as a number of milliseconds
1582       in ip (a string option).  Any other sequence which may need to be  sent
1583       after an insert of a single character may also be given in ip.  If your
1584       terminal needs both to be placed into an “insert mode”  and  a  special
1585       code  to  precede each inserted character, then both smir/rmir and ich1
1586       can be given, and both will be used.   The  ich  capability,  with  one
1587       parameter, n, will repeat the effects of ich1 n times.
1588
1589       If  padding  is  necessary between characters typed while not in insert
1590       mode, give this as a number of milliseconds padding in rmp.
1591
1592       It is occasionally necessary to move around while  in  insert  mode  to
1593       delete  characters  on the same line (e.g., if there is a tab after the
1594       insertion position).  If your terminal allows motion  while  in  insert
1595       mode  you  can  give  the  capability mir to speed up inserting in this
1596       case.  Omitting mir will affect only speed.   Some  terminals  (notably
1597       Datamedia's)  must  not  have  mir because of the way their insert mode
1598       works.
1599
1600       Finally, you can specify dch1 to delete a single  character,  dch  with
1601       one  parameter,  n,  to  delete n characters, and delete mode by giving
1602       smdc and rmdc to enter and exit delete  mode  (any  mode  the  terminal
1603       needs to be placed in for dch1 to work).
1604
1605       A  command  to  erase  n  characters (equivalent to outputting n blanks
1606       without moving the cursor) can be given as ech with one parameter.
1607
1608   Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells
1609       If your terminal has one or more kinds of display attributes, these can
1610       be  represented  in  a number of different ways.  You should choose one
1611       display form as standout mode,  representing  a  good,  high  contrast,
1612       easy-on-the-eyes,  format  for  highlighting  error  messages and other
1613       attention getters.  (If you have a choice,  reverse  video  plus  half-
1614       bright  is  good,  or reverse video alone.)  The sequences to enter and
1615       exit standout mode are given as smso and rmso,  respectively.   If  the
1616       code  to  change  into  or  out of standout mode leaves one or even two
1617       blank spaces on the screen, as the TVI 912 and Teleray  1061  do,  then
1618       xmc should be given to tell how many spaces are left.
1619
1620       Codes to begin underlining and end underlining can be given as smul and
1621       rmul respectively.  If the terminal has a code to underline the current
1622       character  and  move  the  cursor  one  space to the right, such as the
1623       Microterm Mime, this can be given as uc.
1624
1625       Other capabilities to enter various highlighting  modes  include  blink
1626       (blinking)  bold  (bold or extra bright) dim (dim or half-bright) invis
1627       (blanking or invisible text) prot (protected) rev (reverse video)  sgr0
1628       (turn  off  all  attribute  modes) smacs (enter alternate character set
1629       mode) and rmacs (exit alternate character set mode).  Turning on any of
1630       these modes singly may or may not turn off other modes.
1631
1632       If  there  is  a  sequence to set arbitrary combinations of modes, this
1633       should be given as sgr (set attributes),  taking  9  parameters.   Each
1634       parameter  is either 0 or nonzero, as the corresponding attribute is on
1635       or off.  The 9 parameters are, in order: standout, underline,  reverse,
1636       blink,  dim,  bold,  blank,  protect, alternate character set.  Not all
1637       modes need be supported by sgr, only those for which corresponding sep‐
1638       arate attribute commands exist.
1639
1640       For example, the DEC vt220 supports most of the modes:
1641
1642               tparm parameter      attribute        escape sequence
1643
1644               none                 none             \E[0m
1645               p1                   standout         \E[0;1;7m
1646               p2                   underline        \E[0;4m
1647               p3                   reverse          \E[0;7m
1648               p4                   blink            \E[0;5m
1649               p5                   dim              not available
1650
1651               p6                   bold             \E[0;1m
1652               p7                   invis            \E[0;8m
1653               p8                   protect          not used
1654               p9                   altcharset       ^O (off) ^N (on)
1655
1656       We  begin each escape sequence by turning off any existing modes, since
1657       there is no quick way to determine whether they are  active.   Standout
1658       is  set up to be the combination of reverse and bold.  The vt220 termi‐
1659       nal has a protect mode, though it is not commonly used in  sgr  because
1660       it  protects  characters  on  the screen from the host's erasures.  The
1661       altcharset mode also is different in  that  it  is  either  ^O  or  ^N,
1662       depending  on whether it is off or on.  If all modes are turned on, the
1663       resulting sequence is \E[0;1;4;5;7;8m^N.
1664
1665       Some sequences are common to different modes.  For example, ;7 is  out‐
1666       put  when  either  p1  or  p3  is  true, that is, if either standout or
1667       reverse modes are turned on.
1668
1669       Writing out the above sequences, along with their dependencies yields
1670
1671            sequence             when to output      terminfo translation
1672
1673            \E[0                 always              \E[0
1674            ;1                   if p1 or p6         %?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;
1675            ;4                   if p2               %?%p2%|%t;4%;
1676            ;5                   if p4               %?%p4%|%t;5%;
1677            ;7                   if p1 or p3         %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;
1678            ;8                   if p7               %?%p7%|%t;8%;
1679            m                    always              m
1680            ^N or ^O             if p9 ^N, else ^O   %?%p9%t^N%e^O%;
1681
1682       Putting this all together into the sgr sequence gives:
1683
1684           sgr=\E[0%?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p4%t;5%;
1685               %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;%?%p7%t;8%;m%?%p9%t\016%e\017%;,
1686
1687       Remember that if you specify sgr, you must also  specify  sgr0.   Also,
1688       some  implementations  rely on sgr being given if sgr0 is, Not all ter‐
1689       minfo entries necessarily have an sgr string, however.   Many  terminfo
1690       entries are derived from termcap entries which have no sgr string.  The
1691       only drawback to adding an sgr string is that termcap also assumes that
1692       sgr0 does not exit alternate character set mode.
1693
1694       Terminals  with  the “magic cookie” glitch (xmc) deposit special “cook‐
1695       ies” when they receive mode-setting sequences, which affect the display
1696       algorithm  rather than having extra bits for each character.  Some ter‐
1697       minals, such as the HP 2621, automatically  leave  standout  mode  when
1698       they  move  to  a  new line or the cursor is addressed.  Programs using
1699       standout mode should exit standout mode before  moving  the  cursor  or
1700       sending  a  newline,  unless  the msgr capability, asserting that it is
1701       safe to move in standout mode, is present.
1702
1703       If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indicate  an  error
1704       quietly  (a  bell replacement) then this can be given as flash; it must
1705       not move the cursor.
1706
1707       If the cursor needs to be made more visible than normal when it is  not
1708       on the bottom line (to make, for example, a non-blinking underline into
1709       an easier to find block or blinking underline) give  this  sequence  as
1710       cvvis.  If there is a way to make the cursor completely invisible, give
1711       that as civis.  The capability cnorm should be given which  undoes  the
1712       effects of both of these modes.
1713
1714       If  your  terminal  correctly  generates underlined characters (with no
1715       special codes needed) even though it  does  not  overstrike,  then  you
1716       should  give  the  capability  ul.  If a character overstriking another
1717       leaves both characters on the screen, specify the  capability  os.   If
1718       overstrikes are erasable with a blank, then this should be indicated by
1719       giving eo.
1720
1721   Keypad and Function Keys
1722       If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes  when  the  keys  are
1723       pressed,  this  information can be given.  Note that it is not possible
1724       to handle terminals where the keypad only works in local (this applies,
1725       for  example, to the unshifted HP 2621 keys).  If the keypad can be set
1726       to transmit or not transmit, give these codes as smkx and rmkx.  Other‐
1727       wise the keypad is assumed to always transmit.
1728
1729       The  codes  sent  by the left arrow, right arrow, up arrow, down arrow,
1730       and home keys can be given as kcub1, kcuf1,  kcuu1,  kcud1,  and  khome
1731       respectively.  If there are function keys such as f0, f1, ..., f10, the
1732       codes they send can be given as kf0, kf1, ...,  kf10.   If  these  keys
1733       have  labels  other  than the default f0 through f10, the labels can be
1734       given as lf0, lf1, ..., lf10.
1735
1736       The codes transmitted by certain other special keys can be given:
1737
1738       ·   kll (home down),
1739
1740       ·   kbs (backspace),
1741
1742       ·   ktbc (clear all tabs),
1743
1744       ·   kctab (clear the tab stop in this column),
1745
1746       ·   kclr (clear screen or erase key),
1747
1748       ·   kdch1 (delete character),
1749
1750       ·   kdl1 (delete line),
1751
1752       ·   krmir (exit insert mode),
1753
1754       ·   kel (clear to end of line),
1755
1756       ·   ked (clear to end of screen),
1757
1758       ·   kich1 (insert character or enter insert mode),
1759
1760       ·   kil1 (insert line),
1761
1762       ·   knp (next page),
1763
1764       ·   kpp (previous page),
1765
1766       ·   kind (scroll forward/down),
1767
1768       ·   kri (scroll backward/up),
1769
1770       ·   khts (set a tab stop in this column).
1771
1772       In addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3 array  of  keys  including  the
1773       four  arrow  keys,  the  other five keys can be given as ka1, ka3, kb2,
1774       kc1, and kc3.  These keys are useful when the  effects  of  a  3  by  3
1775       directional pad are needed.
1776
1777       Strings to program function keys can be given as pfkey, pfloc, and pfx.
1778       A string to program screen labels should be specified as pln.  Each  of
1779       these  strings takes two parameters: the function key number to program
1780       (from 0 to 10) and the string to program it with.  Function key numbers
1781       out  of  this  range may program undefined keys in a terminal dependent
1782       manner.  The difference between the capabilities is that  pfkey  causes
1783       pressing  the  given  key  to  be the same as the user typing the given
1784       string; pfloc causes the string to  be  executed  by  the  terminal  in
1785       local; and pfx causes the string to be transmitted to the computer.
1786
1787       The  capabilities  nlab,  lw  and  lh define the number of programmable
1788       screen labels and their width and height.  If  there  are  commands  to
1789       turn  the  labels on and off, give them in smln and rmln.  smln is nor‐
1790       mally output after one or more pln sequences  to  make  sure  that  the
1791       change becomes visible.
1792
1793   Tabs and Initialization
1794       A few capabilities are used only for tabs:
1795
1796       ·   If  the  terminal  has hardware tabs, the command to advance to the
1797           next tab stop can be given as ht (usually control/I).
1798
1799       ·   A “back-tab” command which moves leftward to the preceding tab stop
1800           can be given as cbt.
1801
1802           By  convention,  if the teletype modes indicate that tabs are being
1803           expanded by the computer rather than being sent  to  the  terminal,
1804           programs  should  not use ht or cbt even if they are present, since
1805           the user may not have the tab stops properly set.
1806
1807       ·   If the terminal has hardware tabs which are initially set  every  n
1808           spaces when the terminal is powered up, the numeric parameter it is
1809           given, showing the number of spaces the tabs are set to.
1810
1811           The it capability is normally used by the tset command to determine
1812           whether  to set the mode for hardware tab expansion, and whether to
1813           set the tab stops.  If the terminal has tab stops that can be saved
1814           in  non-volatile  memory,  the terminfo description can assume that
1815           they are properly set.
1816
1817       Other capabilities include
1818
1819       ·   is1, is2, and is3, initialization strings for the terminal,
1820
1821       ·   iprog, the path name of a program to be run to initialize the  ter‐
1822           minal,
1823
1824       ·   and if, the name of a file containing long initialization strings.
1825
1826       These  strings  are  expected to set the terminal into modes consistent
1827       with the rest of the terminfo description.  They are normally  sent  to
1828       the  terminal,  by  the  init option of the tput program, each time the
1829       user logs in.  They will be printed in the following order:
1830
1831              run the program
1832                     iprog
1833
1834              output
1835                     is1 and
1836                     is2
1837
1838              set the margins using
1839                     mgc or
1840                     smglp and smgrp or
1841                     smgl and smgr
1842
1843              set tabs using
1844                     tbc and hts
1845
1846              print the file
1847                     if
1848
1849              and finally output
1850                     is3.
1851
1852       Most initialization is done with is2.  Special terminal  modes  can  be
1853       set  up  without duplicating strings by putting the common sequences in
1854       is2 and special cases in is1 and is3.
1855
1856       A set of sequences that does a harder  reset  from  a  totally  unknown
1857       state can be given as rs1, rs2, rf and rs3, analogous to is1 , is2 , if
1858       and is3 respectively.  These strings are  output  by  reset  option  of
1859       tput,  or  by  the reset program (an alias of tset), which is used when
1860       the terminal gets into a wedged state.  Commands are normally placed in
1861       rs1, rs2 rs3 and rf only if they produce annoying effects on the screen
1862       and are not necessary when logging in.  For example, the command to set
1863       the  vt100  into  80-column  mode would normally be part of is2, but it
1864       causes an annoying glitch of the screen  and  is  not  normally  needed
1865       since the terminal is usually already in 80-column mode.
1866
1867       The  reset  program  writes  strings including iprog, etc., in the same
1868       order as the init program, using rs1, etc., instead of  is1,  etc.   If
1869       any  of  rs1, rs2, rs3, or rf reset capability strings are missing, the
1870       reset program falls back upon the corresponding initialization capabil‐
1871       ity string.
1872
1873       If  there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can be given as
1874       tbc (clear all tab stops) and hts (set a tab stop in the current column
1875       of  every  row).   If a more complex sequence is needed to set the tabs
1876       than can be described by this, the sequence can be placed in is2 or if.
1877
1878       The tput reset command uses the same capability strings  as  the  reset
1879       command,  although  the two programs (tput and reset) provide different
1880       command-line options.
1881
1882       In practice, these terminfo capabilities are not often used in initial‐
1883       ization of tabs (though they are required for the tabs program):
1884
1885       ·   Almost all hardware terminals (at least those which supported tabs)
1886           initialized those to every eight columns:
1887
1888           The only exception was the AT&T 2300  series,  which  set  tabs  to
1889           every five columns.
1890
1891       ·   In  particular, developers of the hardware terminals which are com‐
1892           monly used as models for modern terminal emulators  provided  docu‐
1893           mentation demonstrating that eight columns were the standard.
1894
1895       ·   Because of this, the terminal initialization programs tput and tset
1896           use  the  tbc  (clear_all_tabs)  and  hts  (set_tab)   capabilities
1897           directly  only when the it (init_tabs) capability is set to a value
1898           other than eight.
1899
1900   Delays and Padding
1901       Many older and slower terminals do not support either XON/XOFF  or  DTR
1902       handshaking,  including  hard copy terminals and some very archaic CRTs
1903       (including, for example, DEC VT100s).  These may require padding  char‐
1904       acters after certain cursor motions and screen changes.
1905
1906       If the terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking for flow control (that is, it
1907       automatically emits ^S back to the host  when  its  input  buffers  are
1908       close  to  full),  set xon.  This capability suppresses the emission of
1909       padding.  You can also set it for memory-mapped console devices  effec‐
1910       tively  that  do  not  have  a speed limit.  Padding information should
1911       still be included so that routines can make better decisions about rel‐
1912       ative costs, but actual pad characters will not be transmitted.
1913
1914       If pb (padding baud rate) is given, padding is suppressed at baud rates
1915       below the value of pb.  If the entry has no  padding  baud  rate,  then
1916       whether padding is emitted or not is completely controlled by xon.
1917
1918       If  the  terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
1919       then this can be given as pad.  Only the first  character  of  the  pad
1920       string is used.
1921
1922   Status Lines
1923       Some  terminals  have an extra “status line” which is not normally used
1924       by software (and thus not counted in the terminal's lines capability).
1925
1926       The simplest case is a status line which is cursor-addressable but  not
1927       part of the main scrolling region on the screen; the Heathkit H19 has a
1928       status line of this kind, as would  a  24-line  VT100  with  a  23-line
1929       scrolling region set up on initialization.  This situation is indicated
1930       by the hs capability.
1931
1932       Some terminals with status lines need special sequences to  access  the
1933       status  line.  These may be expressed as a string with single parameter
1934       tsl which takes the cursor to a given zero-origin column on the  status
1935       line.   The  capability fsl must return to the main-screen cursor posi‐
1936       tions before the last tsl.  You may need to embed the string values  of
1937       sc  (save  cursor) and rc (restore cursor) in tsl and fsl to accomplish
1938       this.
1939
1940       The status line is normally assumed to be the same width as  the  width
1941       of  the  terminal.   If  this  is  untrue,  you can specify it with the
1942       numeric capability wsl.
1943
1944       A command to erase or blank the status line may be specified as dsl.
1945
1946       The boolean capability eslok specifies  that  escape  sequences,  tabs,
1947       etc., work ordinarily in the status line.
1948
1949       The  ncurses implementation does not yet use any of these capabilities.
1950       They are documented here in case they ever become important.
1951
1952   Line Graphics
1953       Many terminals have alternate character sets useful for  forms-drawing.
1954       Terminfo and curses have built-in support for most of the drawing char‐
1955       acters supported by the VT100,  with  some  characters  from  the  AT&T
1956       4410v1  added.   This  alternate  character set may be specified by the
1957       acsc capability.
1958
1959         Glyph                       ACS            Ascii     acsc     acsc
1960         Name                        Name           Default   Char     Value
1961         ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
1962         arrow pointing right        ACS_RARROW     >         +        0x2b
1963         arrow pointing left         ACS_LARROW     <         ,        0x2c
1964         arrow pointing up           ACS_UARROW     ^         -        0x2d
1965         arrow pointing down         ACS_DARROW     v         .        0x2e
1966         solid square block          ACS_BLOCK      #         0        0x30
1967         diamond                     ACS_DIAMOND    +         `        0x60
1968         checker board (stipple)     ACS_CKBOARD    :         a        0x61
1969         degree symbol               ACS_DEGREE     \         f        0x66
1970         plus/minus                  ACS_PLMINUS    #         g        0x67
1971         board of squares            ACS_BOARD      #         h        0x68
1972         lantern symbol              ACS_LANTERN    #         i        0x69
1973         lower right corner          ACS_LRCORNER   +         j        0x6a
1974         upper right corner          ACS_URCORNER   +         k        0x6b
1975         upper left corner           ACS_ULCORNER   +         l        0x6c
1976         lower left corner           ACS_LLCORNER   +         m        0x6d
1977         large plus or crossover     ACS_PLUS       +         n        0x6e
1978         scan line 1                 ACS_S1         ~         o        0x6f
1979         scan line 3                 ACS_S3         -         p        0x70
1980
1981         horizontal line             ACS_HLINE      -         q        0x71
1982         scan line 7                 ACS_S7         -         r        0x72
1983         scan line 9                 ACS_S9         _         s        0x73
1984         tee pointing right          ACS_LTEE       +         t        0x74
1985         tee pointing left           ACS_RTEE       +         u        0x75
1986         tee pointing up             ACS_BTEE       +         v        0x76
1987         tee pointing down           ACS_TTEE       +         w        0x77
1988         vertical line               ACS_VLINE      |         x        0x78
1989         less-than-or-equal-to       ACS_LEQUAL     <         y        0x79
1990         greater-than-or-equal-to    ACS_GEQUAL     >         z        0x7a
1991         greek pi                    ACS_PI         *         {        0x7b
1992         not-equal                   ACS_NEQUAL     !         |        0x7c
1993         UK pound sign               ACS_STERLING   f         }        0x7d
1994         bullet                      ACS_BULLET     o         ~        0x7e
1995
1996       A few notes apply to the table itself:
1997
1998       ·   X/Open Curses incorrectly states that the mapping  for  lantern  is
1999           uppercase  “I”  although Unix implementations use the lowercase “i”
2000           mapping.
2001
2002       ·   The DEC VT100 implemented graphics using  the  alternate  character
2003           set  feature, temporarily switching modes and sending characters in
2004           the range 0x60 (96) to 0x7e (126) (the acsc Value column in the ta‐
2005           ble).
2006
2007       ·   The AT&T terminal added graphics characters outside that range.
2008
2009           Some  of  the  characters  within the range do not match the VT100;
2010           presumably they were used in the AT&T terminal:  board  of  squares
2011           replaces  the  VT100  newline symbol, while lantern symbol replaces
2012           the VT100 vertical tab symbol.  The other VT100 symbols for control
2013           characters  (horizontal tab, carriage return and line-feed) are not
2014           (re)used in curses.
2015
2016       The best way to define a new device's graphics set is to add  a  column
2017       to  a  copy of this table for your terminal, giving the character which
2018       (when emitted between smacs/rmacs switches) will  be  rendered  as  the
2019       corresponding graphic.  Then read off the VT100/your terminal character
2020       pairs right to left in sequence; these become the ACSC string.
2021
2022   Color Handling
2023       The curses library functions init_pair and  init_color  manipulate  the
2024       color   pairs   and   color  values  discussed  in  this  section  (see
2025       curs_color(3X) for details on these and related functions).
2026
2027       Most color terminals are either “Tektronix-like” or “HP-like”:
2028
2029       ·   Tektronix-like terminals have a predefined set of N colors (where N
2030           is usually 8), and can set character-cell foreground and background
2031           characters independently, mixing them into N * N color-pairs.
2032
2033       ·   On HP-like terminals, the user must set each color  pair  up  sepa‐
2034           rately  (foreground and background are not independently settable).
2035           Up to M color-pairs may be set up from 2*M different colors.  ANSI-
2036           compatible terminals are Tektronix-like.
2037
2038       Some basic color capabilities are independent of the color method.  The
2039       numeric capabilities colors and pairs specify the  maximum  numbers  of
2040       colors  and  color-pairs  that can be displayed simultaneously.  The op
2041       (original pair) string resets foreground and background colors to their
2042       default  values  for  the terminal.  The oc string resets all colors or
2043       color-pairs to their default values for the terminal.   Some  terminals
2044       (including many PC terminal emulators) erase screen areas with the cur‐
2045       rent background color rather  than  the  power-up  default  background;
2046       these should have the boolean capability bce.
2047
2048       While the curses library works with color pairs (reflecting the inabil‐
2049       ity of some devices to set foreground and  background  colors  indepen‐
2050       dently), there are separate capabilities for setting these features:
2051
2052       ·   To  change  the  current  foreground  or background color on a Tek‐
2053           tronix-type terminal, use setaf (set  ANSI  foreground)  and  setab
2054           (set  ANSI background) or setf (set foreground) and setb (set back‐
2055           ground).  These take one parameter, the  color  number.   The  SVr4
2056           documentation  describes only setaf/setab; the XPG4 draft says that
2057           "If the terminal supports ANSI escape sequences to  set  background
2058           and  foreground,  they  should be coded as setaf and setab, respec‐
2059           tively.
2060
2061       ·   If the terminal supports other escape sequences to  set  background
2062           and  foreground,  they  should  be  coded as setf and setb, respec‐
2063           tively.  The vidputs and the refresh(3X) functions  use  the  setaf
2064           and setab capabilities if they are defined.
2065
2066       The  setaf/setab and setf/setb capabilities take a single numeric argu‐
2067       ment each.  Argument values 0-7 of setaf/setab are portably defined  as
2068       follows  (the  middle  column  is the symbolic #define available in the
2069       header for the curses or ncurses libraries).  The terminal hardware  is
2070       free to map these as it likes, but the RGB values indicate normal loca‐
2071       tions in color space.
2072
2073                    Color       #define       Value       RGB
2074                    black     COLOR_BLACK       0     0, 0, 0
2075                    red       COLOR_RED         1     max,0,0
2076                    green     COLOR_GREEN       2     0,max,0
2077                    yellow    COLOR_YELLOW      3     max,max,0
2078                    blue      COLOR_BLUE        4     0,0,max
2079                    magenta   COLOR_MAGENTA     5     max,0,max
2080                    cyan      COLOR_CYAN        6     0,max,max
2081                    white     COLOR_WHITE       7     max,max,max
2082
2083       The argument values of setf/setb historically correspond to a different
2084       mapping, i.e.,
2085
2086                    Color       #define       Value       RGB
2087                    black     COLOR_BLACK       0     0, 0, 0
2088                    blue      COLOR_BLUE        1     0,0,max
2089                    green     COLOR_GREEN       2     0,max,0
2090                    cyan      COLOR_CYAN        3     0,max,max
2091                    red       COLOR_RED         4     max,0,0
2092                    magenta   COLOR_MAGENTA     5     max,0,max
2093                    yellow    COLOR_YELLOW      6     max,max,0
2094                    white     COLOR_WHITE       7     max,max,max
2095
2096       It is important to not confuse the two sets of color capabilities; oth‐
2097       erwise red/blue will be interchanged on the display.
2098
2099       On an HP-like terminal, use scp with a color-pair number  parameter  to
2100       set which color pair is current.
2101
2102       Some terminals allow the color values to be modified:
2103
2104       ·   On  a Tektronix-like terminal, the capability ccc may be present to
2105           indicate that colors can be modified.  If so, the initc  capability
2106           will take a color number (0 to colors - 1)and three more parameters
2107           which describe the color.  These three parameters default to  being
2108           interpreted as RGB (Red, Green, Blue) values.  If the boolean capa‐
2109           bility hls is present, they are instead  as  HLS  (Hue,  Lightness,
2110           Saturation) indices.  The ranges are terminal-dependent.
2111
2112       ·   On  an HP-like terminal, initp may give a capability for changing a
2113           color-pair value.  It will take seven parameters; a color-pair num‐
2114           ber  (0  to  max_pairs - 1), and two triples describing first back‐
2115           ground and then foreground colors.  These parameters must be  (Red,
2116           Green, Blue) or (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) depending on hls.
2117
2118       On  some color terminals, colors collide with highlights.  You can reg‐
2119       ister these collisions with the ncv capability.  This is a bit-mask  of
2120       attributes  not to be used when colors are enabled.  The correspondence
2121       with the attributes understood by curses is as follows:
2122
2123                  Attribute              Bit   Decimal      Set by
2124                  A_STANDOUT             0     1            sgr
2125                  A_UNDERLINE            1     2            sgr
2126                  A_REVERSE              2     4            sgr
2127                  A_BLINK                3     8            sgr
2128                  A_DIM                  4     16           sgr
2129                  A_BOLD                 5     32           sgr
2130                  A_INVIS                6     64           sgr
2131                  A_PROTECT              7     128          sgr
2132                  A_ALTCHARSET           8     256          sgr
2133                  A_HORIZONTAL           9     512          sgr1
2134                  A_LEFT                 10    1024         sgr1
2135                  A_LOW                  11    2048         sgr1
2136                  A_RIGHT                12    4096         sgr1
2137                  A_TOP                  13    8192         sgr1
2138                  A_VERTICAL             14    16384        sgr1
2139                  A_ITALIC               15    32768        sitm
2140
2141       For example, on many IBM PC consoles, the underline attribute  collides
2142       with  the  foreground  color  blue  and is not available in color mode.
2143       These should have an ncv capability of 2.
2144
2145       SVr4 curses does nothing with ncv, ncurses recognizes it and  optimizes
2146       the output in favor of colors.
2147
2148   Miscellaneous
2149       If  the  terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
2150       then this can be given as pad.  Only the first  character  of  the  pad
2151       string is used.  If the terminal does not have a pad character, specify
2152       npc.  Note that ncurses implements the termcap-compatible PC  variable;
2153       though  the  application  may  set this value to something other than a
2154       null, ncurses will test npc first and use napms if the terminal has  no
2155       pad character.
2156
2157       If  the terminal can move up or down half a line, this can be indicated
2158       with hu (half-line up) and hd (half-line down).  This is primarily use‐
2159       ful for superscripts and subscripts on hard-copy terminals.  If a hard-
2160       copy terminal can eject to the next page (form feed), give this  as  ff
2161       (usually control/L).
2162
2163       If  there  is  a  command to repeat a given character a given number of
2164       times (to save time transmitting a large number  of  identical  charac‐
2165       ters)  this  can  be  indicated with the parameterized string rep.  The
2166       first parameter is the character to be repeated and the second  is  the
2167       number of times to repeat it.  Thus, tparm(repeat_char, 'x', 10) is the
2168       same as “xxxxxxxxxx”.
2169
2170       If the terminal has a settable command character, such as the TEKTRONIX
2171       4025,  this can be indicated with cmdch.  A prototype command character
2172       is chosen which is used in all capabilities.  This character  is  given
2173       in  the  cmdch  capability to identify it.  The following convention is
2174       supported on some UNIX systems: The environment is to be searched for a
2175       CC  variable,  and if found, all occurrences of the prototype character
2176       are replaced with the character in the environment variable.
2177
2178       Terminal descriptions that do not represent a specific  kind  of  known
2179       terminal,  such  as  switch, dialup, patch, and network, should include
2180       the gn (generic) capability so that programs can complain that they  do
2181       not  know how to talk to the terminal.  (This capability does not apply
2182       to virtual terminal descriptions for which  the  escape  sequences  are
2183       known.)
2184
2185       If the terminal has a “meta key” which acts as a shift key, setting the
2186       8th bit of any character transmitted, this fact can be  indicated  with
2187       km.   Otherwise, software will assume that the 8th bit is parity and it
2188       will usually be cleared.  If strings exist to turn this “meta mode”  on
2189       and off, they can be given as smm and rmm.
2190
2191       If the terminal has more lines of memory than will fit on the screen at
2192       once, the number of lines of memory can be indicated with lm.  A  value
2193       of lm#0 indicates that the number of lines is not fixed, but that there
2194       is still more memory than fits on the screen.
2195
2196       If the terminal is one of those supported by the UNIX virtual  terminal
2197       protocol, the terminal number can be given as vt.
2198
2199       Media  copy strings which control an auxiliary printer connected to the
2200       terminal can be given as mc0: print the contents of  the  screen,  mc4:
2201       turn  off  the printer, and mc5: turn on the printer.  When the printer
2202       is on, all text sent to the terminal will be sent to the  printer.   It
2203       is  undefined whether the text is also displayed on the terminal screen
2204       when the printer is on.  A variation  mc5p  takes  one  parameter,  and
2205       leaves the printer on for as many characters as the value of the param‐
2206       eter, then turns the printer off.  The parameter should not exceed 255.
2207       All  text,  including mc4, is transparently passed to the printer while
2208       an mc5p is in effect.
2209
2210   Glitches and Braindamage
2211       Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow “~” characters to be  displayed
2212       should indicate hz.
2213
2214       Terminals  which  ignore a line-feed immediately after an am wrap, such
2215       as the Concept and vt100, should indicate xenl.
2216
2217       If el is required to get rid of standout  (instead  of  merely  writing
2218       normal text on top of it), xhp should be given.
2219
2220       Teleray terminals, where tabs turn all characters moved over to blanks,
2221       should indicate xt (destructive tabs).  Note: the  variable  indicating
2222       this  is  now  “dest_tabs_magic_smso”;  in  older versions, it was tel‐
2223       eray_glitch.  This glitch is also taken to mean that it is not possible
2224       to position the cursor on top of a “magic cookie”, that to erase stand‐
2225       out mode it is instead necessary to use delete and  insert  line.   The
2226       ncurses implementation ignores this glitch.
2227
2228       The  Beehive Superbee, which is unable to correctly transmit the escape
2229       or control/C characters, has xsb, indicating that the f1  key  is  used
2230       for  escape  and  f2  for control/C.  (Only certain Superbees have this
2231       problem, depending on the ROM.)  Note that in older terminfo  versions,
2232       this capability was called “beehive_glitch”; it is now “no_esc_ctl_c”.
2233
2234       Other  specific terminal problems may be corrected by adding more capa‐
2235       bilities of the form xx.
2236
2237   Pitfalls of Long Entries
2238       Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to date,  no  entry
2239       has  even approached terminfo's 4096-byte string-table maximum.  Unfor‐
2240       tunately, the termcap translations are much more strictly  limited  (to
2241       1023  bytes),  thus  termcap  translations of long terminfo entries can
2242       cause problems.
2243
2244       The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions  of  tgetent  instruct  the
2245       user  to  allocate a 1024-byte buffer for the termcap entry.  The entry
2246       gets null-terminated by the termcap library, so that makes the  maximum
2247       safe  length  for a termcap entry 1k-1 (1023) bytes.  Depending on what
2248       the application and the termcap library being used does, and  where  in
2249       the  termcap  file  the terminal type that tgetent is searching for is,
2250       several bad things can happen.
2251
2252       Some termcap libraries print a warning message or exit if they find  an
2253       entry that's longer than 1023 bytes; others do not; others truncate the
2254       entries to 1023 bytes.  Some application programs  allocate  more  than
2255       the recommended 1K for the termcap entry; others do not.
2256
2257       Each  termcap  entry has two important sizes associated with it: before
2258       "tc" expansion, and after "tc" expansion.  "tc" is the capability  that
2259       tacks on another termcap entry to the end of the current one, to add on
2260       its capabilities.  If a termcap entry does not use the "tc" capability,
2261       then of course the two lengths are the same.
2262
2263       The  "before tc expansion" length is the most important one, because it
2264       affects more than just users of that particular terminal.  This is  the
2265       length  of the entry as it exists in /etc/termcap, minus the backslash-
2266       newline pairs, which tgetent strips out while reading it.  Some termcap
2267       libraries strip off the final newline, too (GNU termcap does not).  Now
2268       suppose:
2269
2270       ·   a termcap entry before expansion is more than 1023 bytes long,
2271
2272       ·   and the application has only allocated a 1k buffer,
2273
2274       ·   and the termcap library (like the one in BSD/OS 1.1 and GNU)  reads
2275           the  whole entry into the buffer, no matter what its length, to see
2276           if it is the entry it wants,
2277
2278       ·   and tgetent is searching for a terminal type  that  either  is  the
2279           long  entry,  appears  in the termcap file after the long entry, or
2280           does not appear in the file at all (so that tgetent has  to  search
2281           the whole termcap file).
2282
2283       Then  tgetent  will  overwrite  memory, perhaps its stack, and probably
2284       core dump the program.  Programs like telnet are particularly  vulnera‐
2285       ble;  modern telnets pass along values like the terminal type automati‐
2286       cally.  The results are almost as undesirable with a  termcap  library,
2287       like  SunOS  4.1.3 and Ultrix 4.4, that prints warning messages when it
2288       reads an overly long termcap entry.  If  a  termcap  library  truncates
2289       long  entries,  like  OSF/1  3.0,  it  is immune to dying here but will
2290       return incorrect data for the terminal.
2291
2292       The "after tc expansion" length will  have  a  similar  effect  to  the
2293       above, but only for people who actually set TERM to that terminal type,
2294       since tgetent only does "tc" expansion once it is  found  the  terminal
2295       type it was looking for, not while searching.
2296
2297       In  summary,  a termcap entry that is longer than 1023 bytes can cause,
2298       on various combinations of termcap libraries and applications,  a  core
2299       dump,  warnings, or incorrect operation.  If it is too long even before
2300       "tc" expansion, it will have this effect even for users of  some  other
2301       terminal  types  and  users whose TERM variable does not have a termcap
2302       entry.
2303
2304       When in -C (translate to termcap) mode, the ncurses  implementation  of
2305       tic(1M)  issues  warning  messages  when the pre-tc length of a termcap
2306       translation is too long.  The -c (check) option  also  checks  resolved
2307       (after tc expansion) lengths.
2308
2309   Binary Compatibility
2310       It  is  not  wise  to  count  on portability of binary terminfo entries
2311       between commercial UNIX versions.  The problem is  that  there  are  at
2312       least  two  versions  of  terminfo (under HP-UX and AIX) which diverged
2313       from System V terminfo after SVr1, and have added  extension  capabili‐
2314       ties  to the string table that (in the binary format) collide with Sys‐
2315       tem V and XSI Curses extensions.
2316

EXTENSIONS

2318       Searching  for  terminal  descriptions  in  $HOME/.terminfo  and   TER‐
2319       MINFO_DIRS is not supported by older implementations.
2320
2321       Some  SVr4  curses  implementations,  and  all previous to SVr4, do not
2322       interpret the %A and %O operators in parameter strings.
2323
2324       SVr4/XPG4 do not specify whether msgr licenses  movement  while  in  an
2325       alternate-character-set  mode  (such modes may, among other things, map
2326       CR and NL to characters  that  do  not  trigger  local  motions).   The
2327       ncurses  implementation  ignores  msgr in ALTCHARSET mode.  This raises
2328       the possibility that an XPG4 implementation making the opposite  inter‐
2329       pretation  may  need  terminfo  entries  made  for ncurses to have msgr
2330       turned off.
2331
2332       The ncurses library handles insert-character and insert-character modes
2333       in  a  slightly  non-standard way to get better update efficiency.  See
2334       the Insert/Delete Character subsection above.
2335
2336       The parameter substitutions for set_clock  and  display_clock  are  not
2337       documented  in  SVr4 or the XSI Curses standard.  They are deduced from
2338       the documentation for the AT&T 505 terminal.
2339
2340       Be careful assigning the kmous capability.  The ncurses  library  wants
2341       to  interpret  it as KEY_MOUSE, for use by terminals and emulators like
2342       xterm that can return mouse-tracking information in the  keyboard-input
2343       stream.
2344
2345       X/Open  Curses  does  not  mention italics.  Portable applications must
2346       assume that  numeric  capabilities  are  signed  16-bit  values.   This
2347       includes  the  no_color_video  (ncv)  capability.  The 32768 mask value
2348       used for italics with ncv can be confused with an absent  or  cancelled
2349       ncv.   If  italics  should work with colors, then the ncv value must be
2350       specified, even if it is zero.
2351
2352       Different commercial ports of terminfo  and  curses  support  different
2353       subsets of the XSI Curses standard and (in some cases) different exten‐
2354       sion sets.  Here is a summary, accurate as of October 1995:
2355
2356       ·   SVR4, Solaris, ncurses -- These support all SVr4 capabilities.
2357
2358       ·   SGI -- Supports the SVr4 set, adds one undocumented extended string
2359           capability (set_pglen).
2360
2361       ·   SVr1, Ultrix -- These support a restricted subset of terminfo capa‐
2362           bilities.  The  booleans  end  with  xon_xoff;  the  numerics  with
2363           width_status_line; and the strings with prtr_non.
2364
2365       ·   HP/UX  --  Supports  the  SVr1  subset,  plus the SVr[234] numerics
2366           num_labels,  label_height,  label_width,  plus  function  keys   11
2367           through  63,  plus  plab_norm,  label_on,  and label_off, plus some
2368           incompatible extensions in the string table.
2369
2370       ·   AIX -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11 through  63,
2371           plus a number of incompatible string table extensions.
2372
2373       ·   OSF -- Supports both the SVr4 set and the AIX extensions.
2374

FILES

2376       /usr/share/terminfo/?/*  files containing terminal descriptions
2377

SEE ALSO

2379       tabs(1),  tic(1M),  infocmp(1M), curses(3X), curs_color(3X), curs_vari‐
2380       ables(3X), printf(3), term(5).  term_variables(3X).  user_caps(5).
2381

AUTHORS

2383       Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.  Based on pcurses
2384       by Pavel Curtis.
2385
2386
2387
2388                                                                   terminfo(5)
Impressum