1ncurses(3X) ncurses(3X)
2
6 ncurses - CRT screen handling and optimization package
7
9 #include <curses.h>
10
12 The ncurses library routines give the user a terminal-independent
13 method of updating character screens with reasonable optimization.
14 This implementation is ``new curses'' (ncurses) and is the approved
15 replacement for 4.4BSD classic curses, which has been discontinued.
16 This describes ncurses version 5.7 (patch 20100703).
17 The ncurses library emulates the curses library of System V Release 4
19 UNIX, and XPG4 (X/Open Portability Guide) curses (also known as XSI
20 curses). XSI stands for X/Open System Interfaces Extension. The
21 ncurses library is freely redistributable in source form. Differences
22 from the SVr4 curses are summarized under the EXTENSIONS and PORTABIL‐
23 ITY sections below and described in detail in the respective EXTEN‐
24 SIONS, PORTABILITY and BUGS sections of individual man pages.
25 The ncurses library also provides many useful extensions, i.e., fea‐
27 tures which cannot be implemented by a simple add-on library but which
28 require access to the internals of the library.
29 A program using these routines must be linked with the -lncurses
31 option, or (if it has been generated) with the debugging library
32 -lncurses_g. (Your system integrator may also have installed these
33 libraries under the names -lcurses and -lcurses_g.) The ncurses_g
34 library generates trace logs (in a file called 'trace' in the current
35 directory) that describe curses actions. See also the section on
36 ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS.
37 The ncurses package supports: overall screen, window and pad manipula‐
39 tion; output to windows and pads; reading terminal input; control over
40 terminal and curses input and output options; environment query rou‐
41 tines; color manipulation; use of soft label keys; terminfo capabili‐
42 ties; and access to low-level terminal-manipulation routines.
43 The library uses the locale which the calling program has initialized.
45 That is normally done with setlocale:
46 setlocale(LC_ALL, "");
48 If the locale is not initialized, the library assumes that characters
50 are printable as in ISO-8859-1, to work with certain legacy programs.
51 You should initialize the locale and not rely on specific details of
52 the library when the locale has not been setup.
53 The function initscr or newterm must be called to initialize the
55 library before any of the other routines that deal with windows and
56 screens are used. The routine endwin must be called before exiting.
57 To get character-at-a-time input without echoing (most interactive,
59 screen oriented programs want this), the following sequence should be
60 used:
61 initscr(); cbreak(); noecho();
63 Most programs would additionally use the sequence:
65 nonl();
67 intrflush(stdscr, FALSE);
68 keypad(stdscr, TRUE);
69 Before a curses program is run, the tab stops of the terminal should be
71 set and its initialization strings, if defined, must be output. This
72 can be done by executing the tput init command after the shell environ‐
73 ment variable TERM has been exported. tset(1) is usually responsible
74 for doing this. [See terminfo(5) for further details.]
75 The ncurses library permits manipulation of data structures, called
77 windows, which can be thought of as two-dimensional arrays of charac‐
78 ters representing all or part of a CRT screen. A default window called
79 stdscr, which is the size of the terminal screen, is supplied. Others
80 may be created with newwin.
81 Note that curses does not handle overlapping windows, that's done by
83 the panel(3X) library. This means that you can either use stdscr or
84 divide the screen into tiled windows and not using stdscr at all. Mix‐
85 ing the two will result in unpredictable, and undesired, effects.
86 Windows are referred to by variables declared as WINDOW *. These data
88 structures are manipulated with routines described here and elsewhere
89 in the ncurses manual pages. Among those, the most basic routines are
90 move and addch. More general versions of these routines are included
91 with names beginning with w, allowing the user to specify a window.
92 The routines not beginning with w affect stdscr.
93 After using routines to manipulate a window, refresh is called, telling
95 curses to make the user's CRT screen look like stdscr. The characters
96 in a window are actually of type chtype, (character and attribute data)
97 so that other information about the character may also be stored with
98 each character.
99 Special windows called pads may also be manipulated. These are windows
101 which are not constrained to the size of the screen and whose contents
102 need not be completely displayed. See curs_pad(3X) for more informa‐
103 tion.
104 In addition to drawing characters on the screen, video attributes and
106 colors may be supported, causing the characters to show up in such
107 modes as underlined, in reverse video, or in color on terminals that
108 support such display enhancements. Line drawing characters may be
109 specified to be output. On input, curses is also able to translate
110 arrow and function keys that transmit escape sequences into single val‐
111 ues. The video attributes, line drawing characters, and input values
112 use names, defined in <curses.h>, such as A_REVERSE, ACS_HLINE, and
113 KEY_LEFT.
114 If the environment variables LINES and COLUMNS are set, or if the pro‐
116 gram is executing in a window environment, line and column information
117 in the environment will override information read by terminfo. This
118 would affect a program running in an AT&T 630 layer, for example, where
119 the size of a screen is changeable (see ENVIRONMENT).
120 If the environment variable TERMINFO is defined, any program using
122 curses checks for a local terminal definition before checking in the
123 standard place. For example, if TERM is set to att4424, then the com‐
124 piled terminal definition is found in
125 /usr/share/terminfo/a/att4424.
127 (The a is copied from the first letter of att4424 to avoid creation of
129 huge directories.) However, if TERMINFO is set to $HOME/myterms,
130 curses first checks
131 $HOME/myterms/a/att4424,
133 and if that fails, it then checks
135 /usr/share/terminfo/a/att4424.
137 This is useful for developing experimental definitions or when write
139 permission in /usr/share/terminfo is not available.
140 The integer variables LINES and COLS are defined in <curses.h> and will
142 be filled in by initscr with the size of the screen. The constants
143 TRUE and FALSE have the values 1 and 0, respectively.
144 The curses routines also define the WINDOW * variable curscr which is
146 used for certain low-level operations like clearing and redrawing a
147 screen containing garbage. The curscr can be used in only a few rou‐
148 tines.
149 Routine and Argument Names
151 Many curses routines have two or more versions. The routines prefixed
152 with w require a window argument. The routines prefixed with p require
153 a pad argument. Those without a prefix generally use stdscr.
154 The routines prefixed with mv require a y and x coordinate to move to
156 before performing the appropriate action. The mv routines imply a call
157 to move before the call to the other routine. The coordinate y always
158 refers to the row (of the window), and x always refers to the column.
159 The upper left-hand corner is always (0,0), not (1,1).
160 The routines prefixed with mvw take both a window argument and x and y
162 coordinates. The window argument is always specified before the coor‐
163 dinates.
164 In each case, win is the window affected, and pad is the pad affected;
166 win and pad are always pointers to type WINDOW.
167 Option setting routines require a Boolean flag bf with the value TRUE
169 or FALSE; bf is always of type bool. Most of the data types used in
170 the library routines, such as WINDOW, SCREEN, bool, and chtype are
171 defined in <curses.h>. Types used for the terminfo routines such as
172 TERMINAL are defined in <term.h>.
173 This manual page describes functions which may appear in any configura‐
175 tion of the library. There are two common configurations of the
176 library:
177 ncurses
179 the "normal" library, which handles 8-bit characters. The
180 normal (8-bit) library stores characters combined with
181 attributes in chtype data.
182 Attributes alone (no corresponding character) may be stored
184 in chtype or the equivalent attr_t data. In either case,
185 the data is stored in something like an integer.
186 Each cell (row and column) in a WINDOW is stored as a
188 chtype.
189 ncursesw
191 the so-called "wide" library, which handles multibyte char‐
192 acters (See the section on ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS). The
193 "wide" library includes all of the calls from the "normal"
194 library. It adds about one third more calls using data
195 types which store multibyte characters:
196 cchar_t
198 corresponds to chtype. However it is a structure,
199 because more data is stored than can fit into an inte‐
200 ger. The characters are large enough to require a
201 full integer value - and there may be more than one
202 character per cell. The video attributes and color
203 are stored in separate fields of the structure.
204 Each cell (row and column) in a WINDOW is stored as a
206 cchar_t.
207 wchar_t
209 stores a "wide" character. Like chtype, this may be
210 an integer.
211 wint_t
213 stores a wchar_t or WEOF - not the same, though both
214 may have the same size.
215 The "wide" library provides new functions which are analo‐
217 gous to functions in the "normal" library. There is a nam‐
218 ing convention which relates many of the normal/wide vari‐
219 ants: a "_w" is inserted into the name. For example, wad‐
220 dch becomes wadd_wch.
221 Routine Name Index
223 The following table lists each curses routine and the name of the man‐
224 ual page on which it is described. Routines flagged with `*' are
225 ncurses-specific, not described by XPG4 or present in SVr4.
226 curses Routine Name Manual Page Name
228 ────────────────────────────────────────────
229 COLOR_PAIR curs_color(3X)
230 PAIR_NUMBER curs_attr(3X)
231 _nc_free_and_exit curs_memleaks(3X)*
232 _nc_freeall curs_memleaks(3X)*
233 _nc_tracebits curs_trace(3X)*
234 _traceattr curs_trace(3X)*
235 _traceattr2 curs_trace(3X)*
236 _tracechar curs_trace(3X)*
237 _tracechtype curs_trace(3X)*
238 _tracechtype2 curs_trace(3X)*
239 _tracedump curs_trace(3X)*
240 _tracef curs_trace(3X)*
241 _tracemouse curs_trace(3X)*
242 add_wch curs_add_wch(3X)
243 add_wchnstr curs_add_wchstr(3X)
244 add_wchstr curs_add_wchstr(3X)
245 addch curs_addch(3X)
246 addchnstr curs_addchstr(3X)
247 addchstr curs_addchstr(3X)
248 addnstr curs_addstr(3X)
249 addnwstr curs_addwstr(3X)
250 addstr curs_addstr(3X)
251 addwstr curs_addwstr(3X)
252 assume_default_colors default_colors(3X)*
253 attr_get curs_attr(3X)
254 attr_off curs_attr(3X)
255 attr_on curs_attr(3X)
256 attr_set curs_attr(3X)
257 attroff curs_attr(3X)
258 attron curs_attr(3X)
259 attrset curs_attr(3X)
260 baudrate curs_termattrs(3X)
261 beep curs_beep(3X)
262 bkgd curs_bkgd(3X)
263 bkgdset curs_bkgd(3X)
264 bkgrnd curs_bkgrnd(3X)
265 bkgrndset curs_bkgrnd(3X)
266 border curs_border(3X)
268 border_set curs_border_set(3X)
269 box curs_border(3X)
270 box_set curs_border_set(3X)
271 can_change_color curs_color(3X)
272 cbreak curs_inopts(3X)
273 chgat curs_attr(3X)
274 clear curs_clear(3X)
275 clearok curs_outopts(3X)
276 clrtobot curs_clear(3X)
277 clrtoeol curs_clear(3X)
278 color_content curs_color(3X)
279 color_set curs_attr(3X)
280 copywin curs_overlay(3X)
281 curs_set curs_kernel(3X)
282 curses_version curs_extend(3X)*
283 def_prog_mode curs_kernel(3X)
284 def_shell_mode curs_kernel(3X)
285 define_key define_key(3X)*
286 del_curterm curs_terminfo(3X)
287 delay_output curs_util(3X)
288 delch curs_delch(3X)
289 deleteln curs_deleteln(3X)
290 delscreen curs_initscr(3X)
291 delwin curs_window(3X)
292 derwin curs_window(3X)
293 doupdate curs_refresh(3X)
294 dupwin curs_window(3X)
295 echo curs_inopts(3X)
296 echo_wchar curs_add_wch(3X)
297 echochar curs_addch(3X)
298 endwin curs_initscr(3X)
299 erase curs_clear(3X)
300 erasechar curs_termattrs(3X)
301 erasewchar curs_termattrs(3X)
302 filter curs_util(3X)
303 flash curs_beep(3X)
304 flushinp curs_util(3X)
305 get_wch curs_get_wch(3X)
306 get_wstr curs_get_wstr(3X)
307 getattrs curs_attr(3X)
308 getbegx curs_legacy(3X)*
309 getbegy curs_legacy(3X)*
310 getbegyx curs_getyx(3X)
311 getbkgd curs_bkgd(3X)
312 getbkgrnd curs_bkgrnd(3X)
313 getcchar curs_getcchar(3X)
314 getch curs_getch(3X)
315 getcurx curs_legacy(3X)*
316 getcury curs_legacy(3X)*
317 getmaxx curs_legacy(3X)*
318 getmaxy curs_legacy(3X)*
319 getmaxyx curs_getyx(3X)
320 getmouse curs_mouse(3X)*
321 getn_wstr curs_get_wstr(3X)
322 getnstr curs_getstr(3X)
323 getparx curs_legacy(3X)*
324 getpary curs_legacy(3X)*
325 getparyx curs_getyx(3X)
326 getstr curs_getstr(3X)
327 getsyx curs_kernel(3X)
328 getwin curs_util(3X)
329 getyx curs_getyx(3X)
330 halfdelay curs_inopts(3X)
331 has_colors curs_color(3X)
332 has_ic curs_termattrs(3X)
333 has_il curs_termattrs(3X)
335 has_key curs_getch(3X)*
336 hline curs_border(3X)
337 hline_set curs_border_set(3X)
338 idcok curs_outopts(3X)
339 idlok curs_outopts(3X)
340 immedok curs_outopts(3X)
341 in_wch curs_in_wch(3X)
342 in_wchnstr curs_in_wchstr(3X)
343 in_wchstr curs_in_wchstr(3X)
344 inch curs_inch(3X)
345 inchnstr curs_inchstr(3X)
346 inchstr curs_inchstr(3X)
347 init_color curs_color(3X)
348 init_pair curs_color(3X)
349 initscr curs_initscr(3X)
350 innstr curs_instr(3X)
351 innwstr curs_inwstr(3X)
352 ins_nwstr curs_ins_wstr(3X)
353 ins_wch curs_ins_wch(3X)
354 ins_wstr curs_ins_wstr(3X)
355 insch curs_insch(3X)
356 insdelln curs_deleteln(3X)
357 insertln curs_deleteln(3X)
358 insnstr curs_insstr(3X)
359 insstr curs_insstr(3X)
360 instr curs_instr(3X)
361 intrflush curs_inopts(3X)
362 inwstr curs_inwstr(3X)
363 is_cleared curs_opaque(3X)*
364 is_idcok curs_opaque(3X)*
365 is_idlok curs_opaque(3X)*
366 is_immedok curs_opaque(3X)*
367 is_keypad curs_opaque(3X)*
368 is_leaveok curs_opaque(3X)*
369 is_linetouched curs_touch(3X)
370 is_nodelay curs_opaque(3X)*
371 is_notimeout curs_opaque(3X)*
372 is_scrollok curs_opaque(3X)*
373 is_syncok curs_opaque(3X)*
374 is_term_resized resizeterm(3X)*
375 is_wintouched curs_touch(3X)
376 isendwin curs_initscr(3X)
377 key_defined key_defined(3X)*
378 key_name curs_util(3X)
379 keybound keybound(3X)*
380 keyname curs_util(3X)
381 keyok keyok(3X)*
382 keypad curs_inopts(3X)
383 killchar curs_termattrs(3X)
384 killwchar curs_termattrs(3X)
385 leaveok curs_outopts(3X)
386 longname curs_termattrs(3X)
387 mcprint curs_print(3X)*
388 meta curs_inopts(3X)
389 mouse_trafo curs_mouse(3X)*
390 mouseinterval curs_mouse(3X)*
391 mousemask curs_mouse(3X)*
392 move curs_move(3X)
393 mvadd_wch curs_add_wch(3X)
394 mvadd_wchnstr curs_add_wchstr(3X)
395 mvadd_wchstr curs_add_wchstr(3X)
396 mvaddch curs_addch(3X)
397 mvaddchnstr curs_addchstr(3X)
398 mvaddchstr curs_addchstr(3X)
399 mvaddnstr curs_addstr(3X)
400 mvaddnwstr curs_addwstr(3X)
402 mvaddstr curs_addstr(3X)
403 mvaddwstr curs_addwstr(3X)
404 mvchgat curs_attr(3X)
405 mvcur curs_terminfo(3X)
406 mvdelch curs_delch(3X)
407 mvderwin curs_window(3X)
408 mvget_wch curs_get_wch(3X)
409 mvget_wstr curs_get_wstr(3X)
410 mvgetch curs_getch(3X)
411 mvgetn_wstr curs_get_wstr(3X)
412 mvgetnstr curs_getstr(3X)
413 mvgetstr curs_getstr(3X)
414 mvhline curs_border(3X)
415 mvhline_set curs_border_set(3X)
416 mvin_wch curs_in_wch(3X)
417 mvin_wchnstr curs_in_wchstr(3X)
418 mvin_wchstr curs_in_wchstr(3X)
419 mvinch curs_inch(3X)
420 mvinchnstr curs_inchstr(3X)
421 mvinchstr curs_inchstr(3X)
422 mvinnstr curs_instr(3X)
423 mvinnwstr curs_inwstr(3X)
424 mvins_nwstr curs_ins_wstr(3X)
425 mvins_wch curs_ins_wch(3X)
426 mvins_wstr curs_ins_wstr(3X)
427 mvinsch curs_insch(3X)
428 mvinsnstr curs_insstr(3X)
429 mvinsstr curs_insstr(3X)
430 mvinstr curs_instr(3X)
431 mvinwstr curs_inwstr(3X)
432 mvprintw curs_printw(3X)
433 mvscanw curs_scanw(3X)
434 mvvline curs_border(3X)
435 mvvline_set curs_border_set(3X)
436 mvwadd_wch curs_add_wch(3X)
437 mvwadd_wchnstr curs_add_wchstr(3X)
438 mvwadd_wchstr curs_add_wchstr(3X)
439 mvwaddch curs_addch(3X)
440 mvwaddchnstr curs_addchstr(3X)
441 mvwaddchstr curs_addchstr(3X)
442 mvwaddnstr curs_addstr(3X)
443 mvwaddnwstr curs_addwstr(3X)
444 mvwaddstr curs_addstr(3X)
445 mvwaddwstr curs_addwstr(3X)
446 mvwchgat curs_attr(3X)
447 mvwdelch curs_delch(3X)
448 mvwget_wch curs_get_wch(3X)
449 mvwget_wstr curs_get_wstr(3X)
450 mvwgetch curs_getch(3X)
451 mvwgetn_wstr curs_get_wstr(3X)
452 mvwgetnstr curs_getstr(3X)
453 mvwgetstr curs_getstr(3X)
454 mvwhline curs_border(3X)
455 mvwhline_set curs_border_set(3X)
456 mvwin curs_window(3X)
457 mvwin_wch curs_in_wch(3X)
458 mvwin_wchnstr curs_in_wchstr(3X)
459 mvwin_wchstr curs_in_wchstr(3X)
460 mvwinch curs_inch(3X)
461 mvwinchnstr curs_inchstr(3X)
462 mvwinchstr curs_inchstr(3X)
463 mvwinnstr curs_instr(3X)
464 mvwinnwstr curs_inwstr(3X)
465 mvwins_nwstr curs_ins_wstr(3X)
466 mvwins_wch curs_ins_wch(3X)
467 mvwins_wstr curs_ins_wstr(3X)
469 mvwinsch curs_insch(3X)
470 mvwinsnstr curs_insstr(3X)
471 mvwinsstr curs_insstr(3X)
472 mvwinstr curs_instr(3X)
473 mvwinwstr curs_inwstr(3X)
474 mvwprintw curs_printw(3X)
475 mvwscanw curs_scanw(3X)
476 mvwvline curs_border(3X)
477 mvwvline_set curs_border_set(3X)
478 napms curs_kernel(3X)
479 newpad curs_pad(3X)
480 newterm curs_initscr(3X)
481 newwin curs_window(3X)
482 nl curs_outopts(3X)
483 nocbreak curs_inopts(3X)
484 nodelay curs_inopts(3X)
485 noecho curs_inopts(3X)
486 nofilter curs_util(3X)*
487 nonl curs_outopts(3X)
488 noqiflush curs_inopts(3X)
489 noraw curs_inopts(3X)
490 notimeout curs_inopts(3X)
491 overlay curs_overlay(3X)
492 overwrite curs_overlay(3X)
493 pair_content curs_color(3X)
494 pechochar curs_pad(3X)
495 pnoutrefresh curs_pad(3X)
496 prefresh curs_pad(3X)
497 printw curs_printw(3X)
498 putp curs_terminfo(3X)
499 putwin curs_util(3X)
500 qiflush curs_inopts(3X)
501 raw curs_inopts(3X)
502 redrawwin curs_refresh(3X)
503 refresh curs_refresh(3X)
504 reset_prog_mode curs_kernel(3X)
505 reset_shell_mode curs_kernel(3X)
506 resetty curs_kernel(3X)
507 resizeterm resizeterm(3X)*
508 restartterm curs_terminfo(3X)
509 ripoffline curs_kernel(3X)
510 savetty curs_kernel(3X)
511 scanw curs_scanw(3X)
512 scr_dump curs_scr_dump(3X)
513 scr_init curs_scr_dump(3X)
514 scr_restore curs_scr_dump(3X)
515 scr_set curs_scr_dump(3X)
516 scrl curs_scroll(3X)
517 scroll curs_scroll(3X)
518 scrollok curs_outopts(3X)
519 set_curterm curs_terminfo(3X)
520 set_term curs_initscr(3X)
521 setcchar curs_getcchar(3X)
522 setscrreg curs_outopts(3X)
523 setsyx curs_kernel(3X)
524 setterm curs_terminfo(3X)
525 setupterm curs_terminfo(3X)
526 slk_attr curs_slk(3X)*
527 slk_attr_off curs_slk(3X)
528 slk_attr_on curs_slk(3X)
529 slk_attr_set curs_slk(3X)
530 slk_attroff curs_slk(3X)
531 slk_attron curs_slk(3X)
532 slk_attrset curs_slk(3X)
533 slk_clear curs_slk(3X)
534 slk_color curs_slk(3X)
536 slk_init curs_slk(3X)
537 slk_label curs_slk(3X)
538 slk_noutrefresh curs_slk(3X)
539 slk_refresh curs_slk(3X)
540 slk_restore curs_slk(3X)
541 slk_set curs_slk(3X)
542 slk_touch curs_slk(3X)
543 standend curs_attr(3X)
544 standout curs_attr(3X)
545 start_color curs_color(3X)
546 subpad curs_pad(3X)
547 subwin curs_window(3X)
548 syncok curs_window(3X)
549 term_attrs curs_termattrs(3X)
550 termattrs curs_termattrs(3X)
551 termname curs_termattrs(3X)
552 tgetent curs_termcap(3X)
553 tgetflag curs_termcap(3X)
554 tgetnum curs_termcap(3X)
555 tgetstr curs_termcap(3X)
556 tgoto curs_termcap(3X)
557 tigetflag curs_terminfo(3X)
558 tigetnum curs_terminfo(3X)
559 tigetstr curs_terminfo(3X)
560 timeout curs_inopts(3X)
561 touchline curs_touch(3X)
562 touchwin curs_touch(3X)
563 tparm curs_terminfo(3X)
564 tputs curs_termcap(3X)
565 tputs curs_terminfo(3X)
566 trace curs_trace(3X)*
567 typeahead curs_inopts(3X)
568 unctrl curs_util(3X)
569 unget_wch curs_get_wch(3X)
570 ungetch curs_getch(3X)
571 ungetmouse curs_mouse(3X)*
572 untouchwin curs_touch(3X)
573 use_default_colors default_colors(3X)*
574 use_env curs_util(3X)
575 use_extended_names curs_extend(3X)*
576 use_legacy_coding legacy_coding(3X)*
577 vid_attr curs_terminfo(3X)
578 vid_puts curs_terminfo(3X)
579 vidattr curs_terminfo(3X)
580 vidputs curs_terminfo(3X)
581 vline curs_border(3X)
582 vline_set curs_border_set(3X)
583 vw_printw curs_printw(3X)
584 vw_scanw curs_scanw(3X)
585 vwprintw curs_printw(3X)
586 vwscanw curs_scanw(3X)
587 wadd_wch curs_add_wch(3X)
588 wadd_wchnstr curs_add_wchstr(3X)
589 wadd_wchstr curs_add_wchstr(3X)
590 waddch curs_addch(3X)
591 waddchnstr curs_addchstr(3X)
592 waddchstr curs_addchstr(3X)
593 waddnstr curs_addstr(3X)
594 waddnwstr curs_addwstr(3X)
595 waddstr curs_addstr(3X)
596 waddwstr curs_addwstr(3X)
597 wattr_get curs_attr(3X)
598 wattr_off curs_attr(3X)
599 wattr_on curs_attr(3X)
600 wattr_set curs_attr(3X)
601 wattroff curs_attr(3X)
603 wattron curs_attr(3X)
604 wattrset curs_attr(3X)
605 wbkgd curs_bkgd(3X)
606 wbkgdset curs_bkgd(3X)
607 wbkgrnd curs_bkgrnd(3X)
608 wbkgrndset curs_bkgrnd(3X)
609 wborder curs_border(3X)
610 wborder_set curs_border_set(3X)
611 wchgat curs_attr(3X)
612 wclear curs_clear(3X)
613 wclrtobot curs_clear(3X)
614 wclrtoeol curs_clear(3X)
615 wcolor_set curs_attr(3X)
616 wcursyncup curs_window(3X)
617 wdelch curs_delch(3X)
618 wdeleteln curs_deleteln(3X)
619 wecho_wchar curs_add_wch(3X)
620 wechochar curs_addch(3X)
621 wenclose curs_mouse(3X)*
622 werase curs_clear(3X)
623 wget_wch curs_get_wch(3X)
624 wget_wstr curs_get_wstr(3X)
625 wgetbkgrnd curs_bkgrnd(3X)
626 wgetch curs_getch(3X)
627 wgetn_wstr curs_get_wstr(3X)
628 wgetnstr curs_getstr(3X)
629 wgetstr curs_getstr(3X)
630 whline curs_border(3X)
631 whline_set curs_border_set(3X)
632 win_wch curs_in_wch(3X)
633 win_wchnstr curs_in_wchstr(3X)
634 win_wchstr curs_in_wchstr(3X)
635 winch curs_inch(3X)
636 winchnstr curs_inchstr(3X)
637 winchstr curs_inchstr(3X)
638 winnstr curs_instr(3X)
639 winnwstr curs_inwstr(3X)
640 wins_nwstr curs_ins_wstr(3X)
641 wins_wch curs_ins_wch(3X)
642 wins_wstr curs_ins_wstr(3X)
643 winsch curs_insch(3X)
644 winsdelln curs_deleteln(3X)
645 winsertln curs_deleteln(3X)
646 winsnstr curs_insstr(3X)
647 winsstr curs_insstr(3X)
648 winstr curs_instr(3X)
649 winwstr curs_inwstr(3X)
650 wmouse_trafo curs_mouse(3X)*
651 wmove curs_move(3X)
652 wnoutrefresh curs_refresh(3X)
653 wprintw curs_printw(3X)
654 wredrawln curs_refresh(3X)
655 wrefresh curs_refresh(3X)
656 wresize wresize(3X)*
657 wscanw curs_scanw(3X)
658 wscrl curs_scroll(3X)
659 wsetscrreg curs_outopts(3X)
660 wstandend curs_attr(3X)
661 wstandout curs_attr(3X)
662 wsyncdown curs_window(3X)
663 wsyncup curs_window(3X)
664 wtimeout curs_inopts(3X)
665 wtouchln curs_touch(3X)
666 wunctrl curs_util(3X)
667 wvline curs_border(3X)
668 wvline_set curs_border_set(3X)
670
672 Routines that return an integer return ERR upon failure and an integer
673 value other than ERR upon successful completion, unless otherwise noted
674 in the routine descriptions.
675 All macros return the value of the w version, except setscrreg,
677 wsetscrreg, getyx, getbegyx, and getmaxyx. The return values of
678 setscrreg, wsetscrreg, getyx, getbegyx, and getmaxyx are undefined
679 (i.e., these should not be used as the right-hand side of assignment
680 statements).
681 Routines that return pointers return NULL on error.
683
685 The following environment symbols are useful for customizing the run‐
686 time behavior of the ncurses library. The most important ones have
687 been already discussed in detail.
688 BAUDRATE
690 The debugging library checks this environment symbol when the
691 application has redirected output to a file. The symbol's numeric
692 value is used for the baudrate. If no value is found, ncurses
693 uses 9600. This allows testers to construct repeatable test-cases
694 that take into account costs that depend on baudrate.
695 CC When set, change occurrences of the command_character (i.e., the
697 cmdch capability) of the loaded terminfo entries to the value of
698 this symbol. Very few terminfo entries provide this feature.
699 Because this name is also used in development environments to rep‐
701 resent the C compiler's name, ncurses ignores it if it does not
702 happen to be a single character.
703 COLUMNS
705 Specify the width of the screen in characters. Applications run‐
706 ning in a windowing environment usually are able to obtain the
707 width of the window in which they are executing. If neither the
708 COLUMNS value nor the terminal's screen size is available, ncurses
709 uses the size which may be specified in the terminfo database
710 (i.e., the cols capability).
711 It is important that your application use a correct size for the
713 screen. This is not always possible because your application may
714 be running on a host which does not honor NAWS (Negotiations About
715 Window Size), or because you are temporarily running as another
716 user. However, setting COLUMNS and/or LINES overrides the
717 library's use of the screen size obtained from the operating sys‐
718 tem.
719 Either COLUMNS or LINES symbols may be specified independently.
721 This is mainly useful to circumvent legacy misfeatures of terminal
722 descriptions, e.g., xterm which commonly specifies a 65 line
723 screen. For best results, lines and cols should not be specified
724 in a terminal description for terminals which are run as emula‐
725 tions.
726 Use the use_env function to disable all use of external environ‐
728 ment (including system calls) to determine the screen size.
729 ESCDELAY
731 Specifies the total time, in milliseconds, for which ncurses will
732 await a character sequence, e.g., a function key. The default
733 value, 1000 milliseconds, is enough for most uses. However, it is
734 made a variable to accommodate unusual applications.
735 The most common instance where you may wish to change this value
737 is to work with slow hosts, e.g., running on a network. If the
738 host cannot read characters rapidly enough, it will have the same
739 effect as if the terminal did not send characters rapidly enough.
740 The library will still see a timeout.
741 Note that xterm mouse events are built up from character sequences
743 received from the xterm. If your application makes heavy use of
744 multiple-clicking, you may wish to lengthen this default value
745 because the timeout applies to the composed multi-click event as
746 well as the individual clicks.
747 In addition to the environment variable, this implementation pro‐
749 vides a global variable with the same name. Portable applications
750 should not rely upon the presence of ESCDELAY in either form, but
751 setting the environment variable rather than the global variable
752 does not create problems when compiling an application.
753 HOME Tells ncurses where your home directory is. That is where it may
755 read and write auxiliary terminal descriptions:
756 $HOME/.termcap
758 $HOME/.terminfo
759 LINES
761 Like COLUMNS, specify the height of the screen in characters. See
762 COLUMNS for a detailed description.
763 MOUSE_BUTTONS_123
765 This applies only to the OS/2 EMX port. It specifies the order of
766 buttons on the mouse. OS/2 numbers a 3-button mouse inconsis‐
767 tently from other platforms:
768 1 = left
770 2 = right
771 3 = middle.
772 This symbol lets you customize the mouse. The symbol must be
774 three numeric digits 1-3 in any order, e.g., 123 or 321. If it is
775 not specified, ncurses uses 132.
776 NCURSES_ASSUMED_COLORS
778 Override the compiled-in assumption that the terminal's default
779 colors are white-on-black (see default_colors(3X)). You may set
780 the foreground and background color values with this environment
781 variable by proving a 2-element list: foreground,background. For
782 example, to tell ncurses to not assume anything about the colors,
783 set this to "-1,-1". To make it green-on-black, set it to "2,0".
784 Any positive value from zero to the terminfo max_colors value is
785 allowed.
786 NCURSES_GPM_TERMS
788 This applies only to ncurses configured to use the GPM interface.
789 If present, the environment variable is a list of one or more ter‐
791 minal names against which the TERM environment variable is
792 matched. Setting it to an empty value disables the GPM interface;
793 using the built-in support for xterm, etc.
794 If the environment variable is absent, ncurses will attempt to
796 open GPM if TERM contains "linux".
797 NCURSES_NO_HARD_TABS
799 Ncurses may use tabs as part of the cursor movement optimization.
800 In some cases, your terminal driver may not handle these properly.
801 Set this environment variable to disable the feature. You can
802 also adjust your stty settings to avoid the problem.
803 NCURSES_NO_MAGIC_COOKIES
805 Some terminals use a magic-cookie feature which requires special
806 handling to make highlighting and other video attributes display
807 properly. You can suppress the highlighting entirely for these
808 terminals by setting this environment variable.
809 NCURSES_NO_PADDING
811 Most of the terminal descriptions in the terminfo database are
812 written for real "hardware" terminals. Many people use terminal
813 emulators which run in a windowing environment and use curses-
814 based applications. Terminal emulators can duplicate all of the
815 important aspects of a hardware terminal, but they do not have the
816 same limitations. The chief limitation of a hardware terminal
817 from the standpoint of your application is the management of
818 dataflow, i.e., timing. Unless a hardware terminal is interfaced
819 into a terminal concentrator (which does flow control), it (or
820 your application) must manage dataflow, preventing overruns. The
821 cheapest solution (no hardware cost) is for your program to do
822 this by pausing after operations that the terminal does slowly,
823 such as clearing the display.
824 As a result, many terminal descriptions (including the vt100) have
826 delay times embedded. You may wish to use these descriptions, but
827 not want to pay the performance penalty.
828 Set the NCURSES_NO_PADDING symbol to disable all but mandatory
830 padding. Mandatory padding is used as a part of special control
831 sequences such as flash.
832 NCURSES_NO_SETBUF
834 Normally ncurses enables buffered output during terminal initial‐
835 ization. This is done (as in SVr4 curses) for performance rea‐
836 sons. For testing purposes, both of ncurses and certain applica‐
837 tions, this feature is made optional. Setting the NCURSES_NO_SET‐
838 BUF variable disables output buffering, leaving the output in the
839 original (usually line buffered) mode.
840 NCURSES_NO_UTF8_ACS
842 During initialization, the ncurses library checks for special
843 cases where VT100 line-drawing (and the corresponding alternate
844 character set capabilities) described in the terminfo are known to
845 be missing. Specifically, when running in a UTF-8 locale, the
846 Linux console emulator and the GNU screen program ignore these.
847 Ncurses checks the TERM environment variable for these. For other
848 special cases, you should set this environment variable. Doing
849 this tells ncurses to use Unicode values which correspond to the
850 VT100 line-drawing glyphs. That works for the special cases
851 cited, and is likely to work for terminal emulators.
852 When setting this variable, you should set it to a nonzero value.
854 Setting it to zero (or to a nonnumber) disables the special check
855 for "linux" and "screen".
856 NCURSES_TRACE
858 During initialization, the ncurses debugging library checks the
859 NCURSES_TRACE symbol. If it is defined, to a numeric value,
860 ncurses calls the trace function, using that value as the argu‐
861 ment.
862 The argument values, which are defined in curses.h, provide sev‐
864 eral types of information. When running with traces enabled, your
865 application will write the file trace to the current directory.
866 TERM Denotes your terminal type. Each terminal type is distinct,
868 though many are similar.
869 TERMCAP
871 If the ncurses library has been configured with termcap support,
872 ncurses will check for a terminal's description in termcap form if
873 it is not available in the terminfo database.
874 The TERMCAP symbol contains either a terminal description (with
876 newlines stripped out), or a file name telling where the informa‐
877 tion denoted by the TERM symbol exists. In either case, setting
878 it directs ncurses to ignore the usual place for this information,
879 e.g., /etc/termcap.
880 TERMINFO
882 Overrides the directory in which ncurses searches for your termi‐
883 nal description. This is the simplest, but not the only way to
884 change the list of directories. The complete list of directories
885 in order follows:
886 - the last directory to which ncurses wrote, if any, is searched
888 first
889 - the directory specified by the TERMINFO symbol
891 - $HOME/.terminfo
893 - directories listed in the TERMINFO_DIRS symbol
895 - one or more directories whose names are configured and compiled
897 into the ncurses library, e.g., /usr/share/terminfo
898 TERMINFO_DIRS
900 Specifies a list of directories to search for terminal descrip‐
901 tions. The list is separated by colons (i.e., ":") on Unix, semi‐
902 colons on OS/2 EMX. All of the terminal descriptions are in ter‐
903 minfo form, which makes a subdirectory named for the first letter
904 of the terminal names therein.
905 TERMPATH
907 If TERMCAP does not hold a file name then ncurses checks the
908 TERMPATH symbol. This is a list of filenames separated by spaces
909 or colons (i.e., ":") on Unix, semicolons on OS/2 EMX. If the
910 TERMPATH symbol is not set, ncurses looks in the files /etc/term‐
911 cap, /usr/share/misc/termcap and $HOME/.termcap, in that order.
912 The library may be configured to disregard the following variables when
914 the current user is the superuser (root), or if the application uses
915 setuid or setgid permissions: $TERMINFO, $TERMINFO_DIRS, $TERMPATH, as
916 well as $HOME.
917
919 Several different configurations are possible, depending on the config‐
920 ure script options used when building ncurses. There are a few main
921 options whose effects are visible to the applications developer using
922 ncurses:
923 --disable-overwrite
925 The standard include for ncurses is as noted in SYNOPSIS:
926 #include <curses.h>
928 This option is used to avoid filename conflicts when ncurses is
930 not the main implementation of curses of the computer. If ncurses
931 is installed disabling overwrite, it puts its headers in a subdi‐
932 rectory, e.g.,
933 #include <ncurses/curses.h>
935 It also omits a symbolic link which would allow you to use
937 -lcurses to build executables.
938 --enable-widec
940 The configure script renames the library and (if the --disable-
941 overwrite option is used) puts the header files in a different
942 subdirectory. All of the library names have a "w" appended to
943 them, i.e., instead of
944 -lncurses
946 you link with
948 -lncursesw
950 You must also define _XOPEN_SOURCE_EXTENDED when compiling for the
952 wide-character library to use the extended (wide-character) func‐
953 tions. The curses.h file which is installed for the wide-charac‐
954 ter library is designed to be compatible with the normal library's
955 header. Only the size of the WINDOW structure differs, and very
956 few applications require more than a pointer to WINDOWs. If the
957 headers are installed allowing overwrite, the wide-character
958 library's headers should be installed last, to allow applications
959 to be built using either library from the same set of headers.
960 --with-shared
962 --with-normal
964 --with-debug
966 --with-profile
968 The shared and normal (static) library names differ by their suf‐
969 fixes, e.g., libncurses.so and libncurses.a. The debug and pro‐
970 filing libraries add a "_g" and a "_p" to the root names respec‐
971 tively, e.g., libncurses_g.a and libncurses_p.a.
972 --with-trace
974 The trace function normally resides in the debug library, but it
975 is sometimes useful to configure this in the shared library. Con‐
976 figure scripts should check for the function's existence rather
977 than assuming it is always in the debug library.
978
980 /usr/share/tabset
981 directory containing initialization files for the terminal capa‐
982 bility database /usr/share/terminfo terminal capability database
983
985 terminfo(5) and related pages whose names begin "curs_" for detailed
986 routine descriptions.
987
989 The ncurses library can be compiled with an option (-DUSE_GETCAP) that
990 falls back to the old-style /etc/termcap file if the terminal setup
991 code cannot find a terminfo entry corresponding to TERM. Use of this
992 feature is not recommended, as it essentially includes an entire term‐
993 cap compiler in the ncurses startup code, at significant cost in core
994 and startup cycles.
995 The ncurses library includes facilities for capturing mouse events on
997 certain terminals (including xterm). See the curs_mouse(3X) manual
998 page for details.
999 The ncurses library includes facilities for responding to window resiz‐
1001 ing events, e.g., when running in an xterm. See the resizeterm(3X) and
1002 wresize(3X) manual pages for details. In addition, the library may be
1003 configured with a SIGWINCH handler.
1004 The ncurses library extends the fixed set of function key capabilities
1006 of terminals by allowing the application designer to define additional
1007 key sequences at runtime. See the define_key(3X) key_defined(3X), and
1008 keyok(3X) manual pages for details.
1009 The ncurses library can exploit the capabilities of terminals which
1011 implement the ISO-6429 SGR 39 and SGR 49 controls, which allow an
1012 application to reset the terminal to its original foreground and back‐
1013 ground colors. From the users' perspective, the application is able to
1014 draw colored text on a background whose color is set independently,
1015 providing better control over color contrasts. See the default_col‐
1016 ors(3X) manual page for details.
1017 The ncurses library includes a function for directing application out‐
1019 put to a printer attached to the terminal device. See the
1020 curs_print(3X) manual page for details.
1021
1023 The ncurses library is intended to be BASE-level conformant with XSI
1024 Curses. The EXTENDED XSI Curses functionality (including color sup‐
1025 port) is supported.
1026 A small number of local differences (that is, individual differences
1028 between the XSI Curses and ncurses calls) are described in PORTABILITY
1029 sections of the library man pages.
1030 This implementation also contains several extensions:
1032 The routine has_key is not part of XPG4, nor is it present in
1034 SVr4. See the curs_getch(3X) manual page for details.
1035 The routine slk_attr is not part of XPG4, nor is it present in
1037 SVr4. See the curs_slk(3X) manual page for details.
1038 The routines getmouse, mousemask, ungetmouse, mouseinterval, and
1040 wenclose relating to mouse interfacing are not part of XPG4, nor
1041 are they present in SVr4. See the curs_mouse(3X) manual page for
1042 details.
1043 The routine mcprint was not present in any previous curses imple‐
1045 mentation. See the curs_print(3X) manual page for details.
1046 The routine wresize is not part of XPG4, nor is it present in
1048 SVr4. See the wresize(3X) manual page for details.
1049 The WINDOW structure's internal details can be hidden from appli‐
1051 cation programs. See curs_opaque(3X) for the discussion of
1052 is_scrollok, etc.
1053 In historic curses versions, delays embedded in the capabilities cr,
1055 ind, cub1, ff and tab activated corresponding delay bits in the UNIX
1056 tty driver. In this implementation, all padding is done by sending NUL
1057 bytes. This method is slightly more expensive, but narrows the inter‐
1058 face to the UNIX kernel significantly and increases the package's
1059 portability correspondingly.
1060
1062 The header file <curses.h> automatically includes the header files
1063 <stdio.h> and <unctrl.h>.
1064 If standard output from a ncurses program is re-directed to something
1066 which is not a tty, screen updates will be directed to standard error.
1067 This was an undocumented feature of AT&T System V Release 3 curses.
1068
1070 Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey. Based on pcurses
1071 by Pavel Curtis.
1072 ncurses(3X)