1terminfo(5) File Formats terminfo(5)
2
6 terminfo - terminal capability data base
7
9 /usr/share/terminfo/*/*
10
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 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 This manual describes ncurses version 6.2 (patch 20210508).
23 Terminfo Entry Syntax
25 Entries in terminfo consist of a sequence of fields:
26 • Each field ends with a comma “,” (embedded commas may be escaped
28 with a backslash or written as “\054”).
29 • White space between fields is ignored.
31 • The first field in a terminfo entry begins in the first column.
33 • Newlines and leading whitespace (spaces or tabs) may be used for
35 formatting entries for readability. These are removed from parsed
36 entries.
37 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 • The first field for each terminal gives the names which are known
43 for the terminal, separated by “|” characters.
44 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 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 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 • Lines beginning with a “#” in the first column are treated as com‐
60 ments.
61 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 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 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 For more on terminal naming conventions, see the term(7) manual page.
90 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 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 • Boolean capabilities are true when present, false when absent.
101 There is no explicit value for boolean capabilities.
102 • Numeric capabilities have a “#” following the name, then an un‐
104 signed decimal integer value.
105 • String capabilities have a “=” following the name, then an string
107 of characters making up the capability value.
108 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 Any capability can be canceled, i.e., suppressed from the terminal en‐
116 try, by following its name with “@” rather than a capability value.
117 Similar Terminals
119 If there are two very similar terminals, one (the variant) can be de‐
120 fined as being just like the other (the base) with certain exceptions.
121 In the definition of the variant, the string capability use can be
122 given with the name of the base terminal:
123 • The capabilities given before use override those in the base type
125 named by use.
126 • 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 • Capabilities given explicitly in the entry override those brought
132 in by use references.
133 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 2621-nl, smkx@, rmkx@, use=2621,
139 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 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 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 The variable is the name by which the programmer (at the terminfo
155 level) accesses the capability.
156 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 The termcap code is the old termcap capability name (some capabilities
165 are new, and have names which termcap did not originate).
166 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 Finally, the description field attempts to convey the semantics of the
172 capability. You may find some codes in the description field:
173 (P) indicates that padding may be specified
175 #[1-9] in the description field indicates that the string is passed
177 through tparm(3X) with parameters as given (#i).
178 If no parameters are listed in the description, passing the
180 string through tparm(3X) may give unexpected results, e.g., if
181 it contains percent (%%) signs.
182 (P*) indicates that padding may vary in proportion to the number of
184 lines affected
185 (#i) indicates the ith parameter.
187 These are the boolean capabilities:
190 Variable Cap- TCap Description
193 Booleans name Code
194 auto_left_margin bw bw cub1 wraps from col‐
195 umn 0 to last column
196 auto_right_margin am am terminal has auto‐
197 matic margins
198 back_color_erase bce ut screen erased with
200 background color
201 can_change ccc cc terminal can re-de‐
202 fine existing colors
203 ceol_standout_glitch xhp xs standout not erased
204 by overwriting (hp)
205 col_addr_glitch xhpa YA only positive motion
206 for hpa/mhpa caps
207 cpi_changes_res cpix YF changing character
208 pitch changes reso‐
209 lution
210 cr_cancels_micro_mode crxm YB using cr turns off
211 micro mode
212 dest_tabs_magic_smso xt xt tabs destructive,
213 magic so char
214 (t1061)
215 eat_newline_glitch xenl xn newline ignored af‐
216 ter 80 cols (con‐
217 cept)
218 erase_overstrike eo eo can erase over‐
219 strikes with a blank
220 generic_type gn gn generic line type
221 hard_copy hc hc hardcopy terminal
222 hard_cursor chts HC cursor is hard to
223 see
224 has_meta_key km km Has a meta key
225 (i.e., sets 8th-bit)
226 has_print_wheel daisy YC printer needs opera‐
227 tor to change char‐
228 acter set
229 has_status_line hs hs has extra status
230 line
231 hue_lightness_saturation hls hl terminal uses only
232 HLS color notation
233 (Tektronix)
234 insert_null_glitch in in insert mode distin‐
235 guishes nulls
236 lpi_changes_res lpix YG changing line pitch
237 changes resolution
238 memory_above da da display may be re‐
239 tained above the
240 screen
241 memory_below db db display may be re‐
242 tained below the
243 screen
244 move_insert_mode mir mi safe to move while
245 in insert mode
246 move_standout_mode msgr ms safe to move while
247 in standout mode
248 needs_xon_xoff nxon nx padding will not
249 work, xon/xoff re‐
250 quired
251 no_esc_ctlc xsb xb beehive (f1=escape,
252 f2=ctrl C)
253 no_pad_char npc NP pad character does
254 not exist
255 non_dest_scroll_region ndscr ND scrolling region is
256 non-destructive
257 non_rev_rmcup nrrmc NR smcup does not re‐
258 verse rmcup
259 over_strike os os terminal can over‐
260 strike
261 prtr_silent mc5i 5i printer will not
262 echo on screen
263 row_addr_glitch xvpa YD only positive motion
266 for vpa/mvpa caps
267 semi_auto_right_margin sam YE printing in last
268 column causes cr
269 status_line_esc_ok eslok es escape can be used
270 on the status line
271 tilde_glitch hz hz cannot print ~'s
272 (Hazeltine)
273 transparent_underline ul ul underline character
274 overstrikes
275 xon_xoff xon xo terminal uses
276 xon/xoff handshaking
277 These are the numeric capabilities:
279 Variable Cap- TCap Description
282 Numeric name Code
283 columns cols co number of columns in
284 a line
285 init_tabs it it tabs initially every
286 # spaces
287 label_height lh lh rows in each label
288 label_width lw lw columns in each la‐
289 bel
290 lines lines li number of lines on
291 screen or page
292 lines_of_memory lm lm lines of memory if >
293 line. 0 means varies
294 magic_cookie_glitch xmc sg number of blank
295 characters left by
296 smso or rmso
297 max_attributes ma ma maximum combined at‐
298 tributes terminal
299 can handle
300 max_colors colors Co maximum number of
301 colors on screen
302 max_pairs pairs pa maximum number of
303 color-pairs on the
304 screen
305 maximum_windows wnum MW maximum number of
306 definable windows
307 no_color_video ncv NC video attributes
308 that cannot be used
309 with colors
310 num_labels nlab Nl number of labels on
311 screen
312 padding_baud_rate pb pb lowest baud rate
313 where padding needed
314 virtual_terminal vt vt virtual terminal
315 number (CB/unix)
316 width_status_line wsl ws number of columns in
317 status line
318 The following numeric capabilities are present in the SVr4.0 term
320 structure, but are not yet documented in the man page. They came in
321 with SVr4's printer support.
322 Variable Cap- TCap Description
325 Numeric name Code
326 bit_image_entwining bitwin Yo number of passes for
327 each bit-image row
328 bit_image_type bitype Yp type of bit-image
329 device
330 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 mi‐
343 cro_..._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 These are the string capabilities:
369 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 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 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 at‐
501 tributes
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 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 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 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 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 (in‐
772 stead 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 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 at‐
838 tributes #1-#9 (PG9)
839 set_background setb Sb Set background color
840 #1
841 set_bottom_margin smgb Zk Set bottom margin at
842 current line
843 set_bottom_margin_parm smgbp Zl Set bottom margin at
844 line #1 or (if smgtp
845 is not given) #2
846 lines from bottom
847 set_clock sclk SC set clock, #1 hrs #2
848 mins #3 secs
849 set_color_pair scp sp Set current color
850 pair to #1
851 set_foreground setf Sf Set foreground color
852 #1
853 set_left_margin smgl ML set left soft margin
854 at current col‐
855 umn. See smgl.
856 (ML is not in BSD
857 termcap).
858 set_left_margin_parm smglp Zm Set left (right)
860 margin at column #1
861 set_right_margin smgr MR set right soft mar‐
862 gin at current col‐
863 umn
864 set_right_margin_parm smgrp Zn Set right margin at
865 column #1
866 set_tab hts st set a tab in every
867 row, current columns
868 set_top_margin smgt Zo Set top margin at
869 current line
870 set_top_margin_parm smgtp Zp Set top (bottom)
871 margin at row #1
872 set_window wind wi current window is
873 lines #1-#2 cols
874 #3-#4
875 start_bit_image sbim Zq Start printing bit
876 image graphics
877 start_char_set_def scsd Zr Start character set
878 definition #1, with
879 #2 characters in the
880 set
881 stop_bit_image rbim Zs Stop printing bit
882 image graphics
883 stop_char_set_def rcsd Zt End definition of
884 character set #1
885 subscript_characters subcs Zu List of subscript‐
886 able characters
887 superscript_characters supcs Zv List of superscript‐
888 able characters
889 tab ht ta tab to next 8-space
890 hardware tab stop
891 these_cause_cr docr Zw Printing any of
892 these characters
893 causes CR
894 to_status_line tsl ts move to status line,
895 column #1
896 tone tone TO select touch tone
897 dialing
898 underline_char uc uc underline char and
899 move past it
900 up_half_line hu hu half a line up
901 user0 u0 u0 User string #0
902 user1 u1 u1 User string #1
903 user2 u2 u2 User string #2
904 user3 u3 u3 User string #3
905 user4 u4 u4 User string #4
906 user5 u5 u5 User string #5
907 user6 u6 u6 User string #6
908 user7 u7 u7 User string #7
909 user8 u8 u8 User string #8
910 user9 u9 u9 User string #9
911 wait_tone wait WA wait for dial-tone
912 xoff_character xoffc XF XOFF character
913 xon_character xonc XN XON character
914 zero_motion zerom Zx No motion for subse‐
915 quent character
916 The following string capabilities are present in the SVr4.0 term struc‐
918 ture, but were originally not documented in the man page.
919 Variable Cap- TCap Description
922 String name Code
923 alt_scancode_esc scesa S8 Alternate escape
926 for scancode emu‐
927 lation
928 bit_image_carriage_return bicr Yv Move to beginning
929 of same row
930 bit_image_newline binel Zz Move to next row
931 of the bit image
932 bit_image_repeat birep Xy Repeat bit image
933 cell #1 #2 times
934 char_set_names csnm Zy Produce #1'th item
935 from list of char‐
936 acter set names
937 code_set_init csin ci Init sequence for
938 multiple codesets
939 color_names colornm Yw Give name for
940 color #1
941 define_bit_image_region defbi Yx Define rectangular
942 bit image region
943 device_type devt dv Indicate lan‐
944 guage/codeset sup‐
945 port
946 display_pc_char dispc S1 Display PC charac‐
947 ter #1
948 end_bit_image_region endbi Yy End a bit-image
949 region
950 enter_pc_charset_mode smpch S2 Enter PC character
951 display mode
952 enter_scancode_mode smsc S4 Enter PC scancode
953 mode
954 exit_pc_charset_mode rmpch S3 Exit PC character
955 display mode
956 exit_scancode_mode rmsc S5 Exit PC scancode
957 mode
958 get_mouse getm Gm Curses should get
959 button events, pa‐
960 rameter #1 not
961 documented.
962 key_mouse kmous Km Mouse event has
963 occurred
964 mouse_info minfo Mi Mouse status in‐
965 formation
966 pc_term_options pctrm S6 PC terminal op‐
967 tions
968 pkey_plab pfxl xl Program function
969 key #1 to type
970 string #2 and show
971 string #3
972 req_mouse_pos reqmp RQ Request mouse po‐
973 sition
974 scancode_escape scesc S7 Escape for scan‐
975 code emulation
976 set0_des_seq s0ds s0 Shift to codeset 0
977 (EUC set 0, ASCII)
978 set1_des_seq s1ds s1 Shift to codeset 1
979 set2_des_seq s2ds s2 Shift to codeset 2
980 set3_des_seq s3ds s3 Shift to codeset 3
981 set_a_background setab AB Set background
982 color to #1, using
983 ANSI escape
984 set_a_foreground setaf AF Set foreground
985 color to #1, using
986 ANSI escape
987 set_color_band setcolor Yz Change to ribbon
988 color #1
989 set_lr_margin smglr ML Set both left and
992 right margins to
993 #1, #2. (ML is
994 not in BSD term‐
995 cap).
996 set_page_length slines YZ Set page length to
997 #1 lines
998 set_tb_margin smgtb MT Sets both top and
999 bottom margins to
1000 #1, #2
1001 The XSI Curses standard added these hardcopy capabilities. They were
1003 used in some post-4.1 versions of System V curses, e.g., Solaris 2.5
1004 and IRIX 6.x. Except for YI, the ncurses termcap names for them are
1005 invented. According to the XSI Curses standard, they have no termcap
1006 names. If your compiled terminfo entries use these, they may not be
1007 binary-compatible with System V terminfo entries after SVr4.1; beware!
1008 Variable Cap- TCap Description
1011 String name Code
1012 enter_horizontal_hl_mode ehhlm Xh Enter horizontal
1013 highlight mode
1014 enter_left_hl_mode elhlm Xl Enter left highlight
1015 mode
1016 enter_low_hl_mode elohlm Xo Enter low highlight
1017 mode
1018 enter_right_hl_mode erhlm Xr Enter right high‐
1019 light mode
1020 enter_top_hl_mode ethlm Xt Enter top highlight
1021 mode
1022 enter_vertical_hl_mode evhlm Xv Enter vertical high‐
1023 light mode
1024 set_a_attributes sgr1 sA Define second set of
1025 video attributes
1026 #1-#6
1027 set_pglen_inch slength YI Set page length to
1028 #1 hundredth of an
1029 inch (some implemen‐
1030 tations use sL for
1031 termcap).
1032 User-Defined Capabilities
1034 The preceding section listed the predefined capabilities. They deal
1035 with some special features for terminals no longer (or possibly never)
1036 produced. Occasionally there are special features of newer terminals
1037 which are awkward or impossible to represent by reusing the predefined
1038 capabilities.
1039 ncurses addresses this limitation by allowing user-defined capabili‐
1041 ties. The tic and infocmp programs provide the -x option for this pur‐
1042 pose. When -x is set, tic treats unknown capabilities as user-defined.
1043 That is, if tic encounters a capability name which it does not recog‐
1044 nize, it infers its type (boolean, number or string) from the syntax
1045 and makes an extended table entry for that capability. The use_ex‐
1046 tended_names(3X) function makes this information conditionally avail‐
1047 able to applications. The ncurses library provides the data leaving
1048 most of the behavior to applications:
1049 • User-defined capability strings whose name begins with “k” are
1051 treated as function keys.
1052 • The types (boolean, number, string) determined by tic can be in‐
1054 ferred by successful calls on tigetflag, etc.
1055 • If the capability name happens to be two characters, the capability
1057 is also available through the termcap interface.
1058 While termcap is said to be extensible because it does not use a prede‐
1060 fined set of capabilities, in practice it has been limited to the capa‐
1061 bilities defined by terminfo implementations. As a rule, user-defined
1062 capabilities intended for use by termcap applications should be limited
1063 to booleans and numbers to avoid running past the 1023 byte limit as‐
1064 sumed by termcap implementations and their applications. In particu‐
1065 lar, providing extended sets of function keys (past the 60 numbered
1066 keys and the handful of special named keys) is best done using the
1067 longer names available using terminfo.
1068 A Sample Entry
1070 The following entry, describing an ANSI-standard terminal, is represen‐
1071 tative of what a terminfo entry for a modern terminal typically looks
1072 like.
1073 ansi|ansi/pc-term compatible with color,
1075 am, mc5i, mir, msgr,
1076 colors#8, cols#80, it#8, lines#24, ncv#3, pairs#64,
1077 acsc=+\020\,\021-\030.^Y0\333`\004a\261f\370g\361h\260
1078 j\331k\277l\332m\300n\305o~p\304q\304r\304s_t\303
1079 u\264v\301w\302x\263y\363z\362{\343|\330}\234~\376,
1080 bel=^G, blink=\E[5m, bold=\E[1m, cbt=\E[Z, clear=\E[H\E[J,
1081 cr=^M, cub=\E[%p1%dD, cub1=\E[D, cud=\E[%p1%dB, cud1=\E[B,
1082 cuf=\E[%p1%dC, cuf1=\E[C, cup=\E[%i%p1%d;%p2%dH,
1083 cuu=\E[%p1%dA, cuu1=\E[A, dch=\E[%p1%dP, dch1=\E[P,
1084 dl=\E[%p1%dM, dl1=\E[M, ech=\E[%p1%dX, ed=\E[J, el=\E[K,
1085 el1=\E[1K, home=\E[H, hpa=\E[%i%p1%dG, ht=\E[I, hts=\EH,
1086 ich=\E[%p1%d@, il=\E[%p1%dL, il1=\E[L, ind=^J,
1087 indn=\E[%p1%dS, invis=\E[8m, kbs=^H, kcbt=\E[Z, kcub1=\E[D,
1088 kcud1=\E[B, kcuf1=\E[C, kcuu1=\E[A, khome=\E[H, kich1=\E[L,
1089 mc4=\E[4i, mc5=\E[5i, nel=\r\E[S, op=\E[39;49m,
1090 rep=%p1%c\E[%p2%{1}%-%db, rev=\E[7m, rin=\E[%p1%dT,
1091 rmacs=\E[10m, rmpch=\E[10m, rmso=\E[m, rmul=\E[m,
1092 s0ds=\E(B, s1ds=\E)B, s2ds=\E*B, s3ds=\E+B,
1093 setab=\E[4%p1%dm, setaf=\E[3%p1%dm,
1094 sgr=\E[0;10%?%p1%t;7%;
1095 %?%p2%t;4%;
1096 %?%p3%t;7%;
1097 %?%p4%t;5%;
1098 %?%p6%t;1%;
1099 %?%p7%t;8%;
1100 %?%p9%t;11%;m,
1101 sgr0=\E[0;10m, smacs=\E[11m, smpch=\E[11m, smso=\E[7m,
1102 smul=\E[4m, tbc=\E[3g, u6=\E[%i%d;%dR, u7=\E[6n,
1103 u8=\E[?%[;0123456789]c, u9=\E[c, vpa=\E[%i%p1%dd,
1104 Entries may continue onto multiple lines by placing white space at the
1106 beginning of each line except the first. Comments may be included on
1107 lines beginning with “#”. Capabilities in terminfo are of three types:
1108 • Boolean capabilities which indicate that the terminal has some par‐
1110 ticular feature,
1111 • numeric capabilities giving the size of the terminal or the size of
1113 particular delays, and
1114 • string capabilities, which give a sequence which can be used to
1116 perform particular terminal operations.
1117 Types of Capabilities
1119 All capabilities have names. For instance, the fact that ANSI-standard
1120 terminals have automatic margins (i.e., an automatic return and line-
1121 feed when the end of a line is reached) is indicated by the capability
1122 am. Hence the description of ansi includes am. Numeric capabilities
1123 are followed by the character “#” and then a positive value. Thus
1124 cols, which indicates the number of columns the terminal has, gives the
1125 value “80” for ansi. Values for numeric capabilities may be specified
1126 in decimal, octal or hexadecimal, using the C programming language con‐
1127 ventions (e.g., 255, 0377 and 0xff or 0xFF).
1128 Finally, string valued capabilities, such as el (clear to end of line
1130 sequence) are given by the two-character code, an “=”, and then a
1131 string ending at the next following “,”.
1132 A number of escape sequences are provided in the string valued capabil‐
1134 ities for easy encoding of characters there:
1135 • Both \E and \e map to an ESCAPE character,
1137 • ^x maps to a control-x for any appropriate x, and
1139 • the sequences
1141 \n, \l, \r, \t, \b, \f, and \s
1143 produce
1145 newline, line-feed, return, tab, backspace, form-feed, and space,
1147 respectively.
1149 X/Open Curses does not say what “appropriate x” might be. In practice,
1151 that is a printable ASCII graphic character. The special case “^?” is
1152 interpreted as DEL (127). In all other cases, the character value is
1153 AND'd with 0x1f, mapping to ASCII control codes in the range 0 through
1154 31.
1155 Other escapes include
1157 • \^ for ^,
1159 • \\ for \,
1161 • \, for comma,
1163 • \: for :,
1165 • and \0 for null.
1167 \0 will produce \200, which does not terminate a string but behaves
1169 as a null character on most terminals, providing CS7 is specified.
1170 See stty(1).
1171 The reason for this quirk is to maintain binary compatibility of
1173 the compiled terminfo files with other implementations, e.g., the
1174 SVr4 systems, which document this. Compiled terminfo files use
1175 null-terminated strings, with no lengths. Modifying this would re‐
1176 quire a new binary format, which would not work with other imple‐
1177 mentations.
1178 Finally, characters may be given as three octal digits after a \.
1180 A delay in milliseconds may appear anywhere in a string capability, en‐
1182 closed in $<..> brackets, as in el=\EK$<5>, and padding characters are
1183 supplied by tputs(3X) to provide this delay.
1184 • The delay must be a number with at most one decimal place of preci‐
1186 sion; it may be followed by suffixes “*” or “/” or both.
1187 • A “*” indicates that the padding required is proportional to the
1189 number of lines affected by the operation, and the amount given is
1190 the per-affected-unit padding required. (In the case of insert
1191 character, the factor is still the number of lines affected.)
1192 Normally, padding is advisory if the device has the xon capability;
1194 it is used for cost computation but does not trigger delays.
1195 • A “/” suffix indicates that the padding is mandatory and forces a
1197 delay of the given number of milliseconds even on devices for which
1198 xon is present to indicate flow control.
1199 Sometimes individual capabilities must be commented out. To do this,
1201 put a period before the capability name. For example, see the second
1202 ind in the example above.
1203 Fetching Compiled Descriptions
1205 The ncurses library searches for terminal descriptions in several
1206 places. It uses only the first description found. The library has a
1207 compiled-in list of places to search which can be overridden by envi‐
1208 ronment variables. Before starting to search, ncurses eliminates du‐
1209 plicates in its search list.
1210 • If the environment variable TERMINFO is set, it is interpreted as
1212 the pathname of a directory containing the compiled description you
1213 are working on. Only that directory is searched.
1214 • If TERMINFO is not set, ncurses will instead look in the directory
1216 $HOME/.terminfo for a compiled description.
1217 • Next, if the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS is set, ncurses
1219 will interpret the contents of that variable as a list of colon-
1220 separated directories (or database files) to be searched.
1221 An empty directory name (i.e., if the variable begins or ends with
1223 a colon, or contains adjacent colons) is interpreted as the system
1224 location /usr/share/terminfo.
1225 • Finally, ncurses searches these compiled-in locations:
1227 • a list of directories (no default value), and
1229 • the system terminfo directory, /usr/share/terminfo (the com‐
1231 piled-in default).
1232 Preparing Descriptions
1234 We now outline how to prepare descriptions of terminals. The most ef‐
1235 fective way to prepare a terminal description is by imitating the de‐
1236 scription of a similar terminal in terminfo and to build up a descrip‐
1237 tion gradually, using partial descriptions with vi or some other
1238 screen-oriented program to check that they are correct. Be aware that
1239 a very unusual terminal may expose deficiencies in the ability of the
1240 terminfo file to describe it or bugs in the screen-handling code of the
1241 test program.
1242 To get the padding for insert line right (if the terminal manufacturer
1244 did not document it) a severe test is to edit a large file at 9600
1245 baud, delete 16 or so lines from the middle of the screen, then hit the
1246 “u” key several times quickly. If the terminal messes up, more padding
1247 is usually needed. A similar test can be used for insert character.
1248 Basic Capabilities
1250 The number of columns on each line for the terminal is given by the
1251 cols numeric capability. If the terminal is a CRT, then the number of
1252 lines on the screen is given by the lines capability. If the terminal
1253 wraps around to the beginning of the next line when it reaches the
1254 right margin, then it should have the am capability. If the terminal
1255 can clear its screen, leaving the cursor in the home position, then
1256 this is given by the clear string capability. If the terminal over‐
1257 strikes (rather than clearing a position when a character is struck
1258 over) then it should have the os capability. If the terminal is a
1259 printing terminal, with no soft copy unit, give it both hc and os. (os
1260 applies to storage scope terminals, such as TEKTRONIX 4010 series, as
1261 well as hard copy and APL terminals.) If there is a code to move the
1262 cursor to the left edge of the current row, give this as cr. (Normally
1263 this will be carriage return, control/M.) If there is a code to pro‐
1264 duce an audible signal (bell, beep, etc) give this as bel.
1265 If there is a code to move the cursor one position to the left (such as
1267 backspace) that capability should be given as cub1. Similarly, codes
1268 to move to the right, up, and down should be given as cuf1, cuu1, and
1269 cud1. These local cursor motions should not alter the text they pass
1270 over, for example, you would not normally use “cuf1= ” because the
1271 space would erase the character moved over.
1272 A very important point here is that the local cursor motions encoded in
1274 terminfo are undefined at the left and top edges of a CRT terminal.
1275 Programs should never attempt to backspace around the left edge, unless
1276 bw is given, and never attempt to go up locally off the top. In order
1277 to scroll text up, a program will go to the bottom left corner of the
1278 screen and send the ind (index) string.
1279 To scroll text down, a program goes to the top left corner of the
1281 screen and sends the ri (reverse index) string. The strings ind and ri
1282 are undefined when not on their respective corners of the screen.
1283 Parameterized versions of the scrolling sequences are indn and rin
1285 which have the same semantics as ind and ri except that they take one
1286 parameter, and scroll that many lines. They are also undefined except
1287 at the appropriate edge of the screen.
1288 The am capability tells whether the cursor sticks at the right edge of
1290 the screen when text is output, but this does not necessarily apply to
1291 a cuf1 from the last column. The only local motion which is defined
1292 from the left edge is if bw is given, then a cub1 from the left edge
1293 will move to the right edge of the previous row. If bw is not given,
1294 the effect is undefined. This is useful for drawing a box around the
1295 edge of the screen, for example. If the terminal has switch selectable
1296 automatic margins, the terminfo file usually assumes that this is on;
1297 i.e., am. If the terminal has a command which moves to the first col‐
1298 umn of the next line, that command can be given as nel (newline). It
1299 does not matter if the command clears the remainder of the current
1300 line, so if the terminal has no cr and lf it may still be possible to
1301 craft a working nel out of one or both of them.
1302 These capabilities suffice to describe hard-copy and “glass-tty” termi‐
1304 nals. Thus the model 33 teletype is described as
1305 33|tty33|tty|model 33 teletype,
1307 bel=^G, cols#72, cr=^M, cud1=^J, hc, ind=^J, os,
1308 while the Lear Siegler ADM-3 is described as
1310 adm3|3|lsi adm3,
1312 am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
1313 ind=^J, lines#24,
1314 Parameterized Strings
1316 Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters in the termi‐
1317 nal are described by a parameterized string capability, with printf-
1318 like escapes such as %x in it. For example, to address the cursor, the
1319 cup capability is given, using two parameters: the row and column to
1320 address to. (Rows and columns are numbered from zero and refer to the
1321 physical screen visible to the user, not to any unseen memory.) If the
1322 terminal has memory relative cursor addressing, that can be indicated
1323 by mrcup.
1324 The parameter mechanism uses a stack and special % codes to manipulate
1326 it. Typically a sequence will push one of the parameters onto the
1327 stack and then print it in some format. Print (e.g., "%d") is a spe‐
1328 cial case. Other operations, including "%t" pop their operand from the
1329 stack. It is noted that more complex operations are often necessary,
1330 e.g., in the sgr string.
1331 The % encodings have the following meanings:
1333 %% outputs “%”
1335 %[[:]flags][width[.precision]][doxXs]
1337 as in printf(3), flags are [-+#] and space. Use a “:” to allow
1338 the next character to be a “-” flag, avoiding interpreting “%-” as
1339 an operator.
1340 %c print pop() like %c in printf
1342 %s print pop() like %s in printf
1344 %p[1-9]
1346 push i'th parameter
1347 %P[a-z]
1349 set dynamic variable [a-z] to pop()
1350 %g[a-z]/
1352 get dynamic variable [a-z] and push it
1353 %P[A-Z]
1355 set static variable [a-z] to pop()
1356 %g[A-Z]
1358 get static variable [a-z] and push it
1359 The terms “static” and “dynamic” are misleading. Historically,
1361 these are simply two different sets of variables, whose values are
1362 not reset between calls to tparm(3X). However, that fact is not
1363 documented in other implementations. Relying on it will adversely
1364 impact portability to other implementations.
1365 %'c' char constant c
1367 %{nn}
1369 integer constant nn
1370 %l push strlen(pop)
1372 %+, %-, %*, %/, %m
1374 arithmetic (%m is mod): push(pop() op pop())
1375 %&, %|, %^
1377 bit operations (AND, OR and exclusive-OR): push(pop() op pop())
1378 %=, %>, %<
1380 logical operations: push(pop() op pop())
1381 %A, %O
1383 logical AND and OR operations (for conditionals)
1384 %!, %~
1386 unary operations (logical and bit complement): push(op pop())
1387 %i add 1 to first two parameters (for ANSI terminals)
1389 %? expr %t thenpart %e elsepart %;
1391 This forms an if-then-else. The %e elsepart is optional. Usually
1392 the %? expr part pushes a value onto the stack, and %t pops it
1393 from the stack, testing if it is nonzero (true). If it is zero
1394 (false), control passes to the %e (else) part.
1395 It is possible to form else-if's a la Algol 68:
1397 %? c1 %t b1 %e c2 %t b2 %e c3 %t b3 %e c4 %t b4 %e %;
1398 where ci are conditions, bi are bodies.
1400 Use the -f option of tic or infocmp to see the structure of if-
1402 then-else's. Some strings, e.g., sgr can be very complicated when
1403 written on one line. The -f option splits the string into lines
1404 with the parts indented.
1405 Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands in the usual
1407 order. That is, to get x-5 one would use "%gx%{5}%-". %P and %g vari‐
1408 ables are persistent across escape-string evaluations.
1409 Consider the HP2645, which, to get to row 3 and column 12, needs to be
1411 sent \E&a12c03Y padded for 6 milliseconds. Note that the order of the
1412 rows and columns is inverted here, and that the row and column are
1413 printed as two digits. Thus its cup capability is
1414 “cup=6\E&%p2%2dc%p1%2dY”.
1415 The Microterm ACT-IV needs the current row and column sent preceded by
1417 a ^T, with the row and column simply encoded in binary,
1418 “cup=^T%p1%c%p2%c”. Terminals which use “%c” need to be able to
1419 backspace the cursor (cub1), and to move the cursor up one line on the
1420 screen (cuu1). This is necessary because it is not always safe to
1421 transmit \n ^D and \r, as the system may change or discard them. (The
1422 library routines dealing with terminfo set tty modes so that tabs are
1423 never expanded, so \t is safe to send. This turns out to be essential
1424 for the Ann Arbor 4080.)
1425 A final example is the LSI ADM-3a, which uses row and column offset by
1427 a blank character, thus “cup=\E=%p1%' '%+%c%p2%' '%+%c”. After sending
1428 “\E=”, this pushes the first parameter, pushes the ASCII value for a
1429 space (32), adds them (pushing the sum on the stack in place of the two
1430 previous values) and outputs that value as a character. Then the same
1431 is done for the second parameter. More complex arithmetic is possible
1432 using the stack.
1433 Cursor Motions
1435 If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very upper left
1436 corner of screen) then this can be given as home; similarly a fast way
1437 of getting to the lower left-hand corner can be given as ll; this may
1438 involve going up with cuu1 from the home position, but a program should
1439 never do this itself (unless ll does) because it can make no assumption
1440 about the effect of moving up from the home position. Note that the
1441 home position is the same as addressing to (0,0): to the top left cor‐
1442 ner of the screen, not of memory. (Thus, the \EH sequence on HP termi‐
1443 nals cannot be used for home.)
1444 If the terminal has row or column absolute cursor addressing, these can
1446 be given as single parameter capabilities hpa (horizontal position ab‐
1447 solute) and vpa (vertical position absolute). Sometimes these are
1448 shorter than the more general two parameter sequence (as with the
1449 hp2645) and can be used in preference to cup. If there are parameter‐
1450 ized local motions (e.g., move n spaces to the right) these can be
1451 given as cud, cub, cuf, and cuu with a single parameter indicating how
1452 many spaces to move. These are primarily useful if the terminal does
1453 not have cup, such as the TEKTRONIX 4025.
1454 If the terminal needs to be in a special mode when running a program
1456 that uses these capabilities, the codes to enter and exit this mode can
1457 be given as smcup and rmcup. This arises, for example, from terminals
1458 like the Concept with more than one page of memory. If the terminal
1459 has only memory relative cursor addressing and not screen relative cur‐
1460 sor addressing, a one screen-sized window must be fixed into the termi‐
1461 nal for cursor addressing to work properly. This is also used for the
1462 TEKTRONIX 4025, where smcup sets the command character to be the one
1463 used by terminfo. If the smcup sequence will not restore the screen
1464 after an rmcup sequence is output (to the state prior to outputting rm‐
1465 cup), specify nrrmc.
1466 Area Clears
1468 If the terminal can clear from the current position to the end of the
1469 line, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be given as el. If
1470 the terminal can clear from the beginning of the line to the current
1471 position inclusive, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be
1472 given as el1. If the terminal can clear from the current position to
1473 the end of the display, then this should be given as ed. Ed is only
1474 defined from the first column of a line. (Thus, it can be simulated by
1475 a request to delete a large number of lines, if a true ed is not avail‐
1476 able.)
1477 Insert/delete line and vertical motions
1479 If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line where the
1480 cursor is, this should be given as il1; this is done only from the
1481 first position of a line. The cursor must then appear on the newly
1482 blank line. If the terminal can delete the line which the cursor is
1483 on, then this should be given as dl1; this is done only from the first
1484 position on the line to be deleted. Versions of il1 and dl1 which take
1485 a single parameter and insert or delete that many lines can be given as
1486 il and dl.
1487 If the terminal has a settable scrolling region (like the vt100) the
1489 command to set this can be described with the csr capability, which
1490 takes two parameters: the top and bottom lines of the scrolling region.
1491 The cursor position is, alas, undefined after using this command.
1492 It is possible to get the effect of insert or delete line using csr on
1494 a properly chosen region; the sc and rc (save and restore cursor) com‐
1495 mands may be useful for ensuring that your synthesized insert/delete
1496 string does not move the cursor. (Note that the ncurses(3X) library
1497 does this synthesis automatically, so you need not compose in‐
1498 sert/delete strings for an entry with csr).
1499 Yet another way to construct insert and delete might be to use a combi‐
1501 nation of index with the memory-lock feature found on some terminals
1502 (like the HP-700/90 series, which however also has insert/delete).
1503 Inserting lines at the top or bottom of the screen can also be done us‐
1505 ing ri or ind on many terminals without a true insert/delete line, and
1506 is often faster even on terminals with those features.
1507 The boolean non_dest_scroll_region should be set if each scrolling win‐
1509 dow is effectively a view port on a screen-sized canvas. To test for
1510 this capability, create a scrolling region in the middle of the screen,
1511 write something to the bottom line, move the cursor to the top of the
1512 region, and do ri followed by dl1 or ind. If the data scrolled off the
1513 bottom of the region by the ri re-appears, then scrolling is non-de‐
1514 structive. System V and XSI Curses expect that ind, ri, indn, and rin
1515 will simulate destructive scrolling; their documentation cautions you
1516 not to define csr unless this is true. This curses implementation is
1517 more liberal and will do explicit erases after scrolling if ndsrc is
1518 defined.
1519 If the terminal has the ability to define a window as part of memory,
1521 which all commands affect, it should be given as the parameterized
1522 string wind. The four parameters are the starting and ending lines in
1523 memory and the starting and ending columns in memory, in that order.
1524 If the terminal can retain display memory above, then the da capability
1526 should be given; if display memory can be retained below, then db
1527 should be given. These indicate that deleting a line or scrolling may
1528 bring non-blank lines up from below or that scrolling back with ri may
1529 bring down non-blank lines.
1530 Insert/Delete Character
1532 There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with respect to in‐
1533 sert/delete character which can be described using terminfo. The most
1534 common insert/delete character operations affect only the characters on
1535 the current line and shift characters off the end of the line rigidly.
1536 Other terminals, such as the Concept 100 and the Perkin Elmer Owl, make
1537 a distinction between typed and untyped blanks on the screen, shifting
1538 upon an insert or delete only to an untyped blank on the screen which
1539 is either eliminated, or expanded to two untyped blanks.
1540 You can determine the kind of terminal you have by clearing the screen
1542 and then typing text separated by cursor motions. Type “abc def”
1543 using local cursor motions (not spaces) between the “abc” and the
1544 “def”. Then position the cursor before the “abc” and put the terminal
1545 in insert mode. If typing characters causes the rest of the line to
1546 shift rigidly and characters to fall off the end, then your terminal
1547 does not distinguish between blanks and untyped positions. If the
1548 “abc” shifts over to the “def” which then move together around the end
1549 of the current line and onto the next as you insert, you have the sec‐
1550 ond type of terminal, and should give the capability in, which stands
1551 for “insert null”.
1552 While these are two logically separate attributes (one line versus
1554 multi-line insert mode, and special treatment of untyped spaces) we
1555 have seen no terminals whose insert mode cannot be described with the
1556 single attribute.
1557 Terminfo can describe both terminals which have an insert mode, and
1559 terminals which send a simple sequence to open a blank position on the
1560 current line. Give as smir the sequence to get into insert mode. Give
1561 as rmir the sequence to leave insert mode. Now give as ich1 any se‐
1562 quence needed to be sent just before sending the character to be in‐
1563 serted. Most terminals with a true insert mode will not give ich1;
1564 terminals which send a sequence to open a screen position should give
1565 it here.
1566 If your terminal has both, insert mode is usually preferable to ich1.
1568 Technically, you should not give both unless the terminal actually re‐
1569 quires both to be used in combination. Accordingly, some non-curses
1570 applications get confused if both are present; the symptom is doubled
1571 characters in an update using insert. This requirement is now rare;
1572 most ich sequences do not require previous smir, and most smir insert
1573 modes do not require ich1 before each character. Therefore, the new
1574 curses actually assumes this is the case and uses either rmir/smir or
1575 ich/ich1 as appropriate (but not both). If you have to write an entry
1576 to be used under new curses for a terminal old enough to need both, in‐
1577 clude the rmir/smir sequences in ich1.
1578 If post insert padding is needed, give this as a number of milliseconds
1580 in ip (a string option). Any other sequence which may need to be sent
1581 after an insert of a single character may also be given in ip. If your
1582 terminal needs both to be placed into an “insert mode” and a special
1583 code to precede each inserted character, then both smir/rmir and ich1
1584 can be given, and both will be used. The ich capability, with one pa‐
1585 rameter, n, will repeat the effects of ich1 n times.
1586 If padding is necessary between characters typed while not in insert
1588 mode, give this as a number of milliseconds padding in rmp.
1589 It is occasionally necessary to move around while in insert mode to
1591 delete characters on the same line (e.g., if there is a tab after the
1592 insertion position). If your terminal allows motion while in insert
1593 mode you can give the capability mir to speed up inserting in this
1594 case. Omitting mir will affect only speed. Some terminals (notably
1595 Datamedia's) must not have mir because of the way their insert mode
1596 works.
1597 Finally, you can specify dch1 to delete a single character, dch with
1599 one parameter, n, to delete n characters, and delete mode by giving
1600 smdc and rmdc to enter and exit delete mode (any mode the terminal
1601 needs to be placed in for dch1 to work).
1602 A command to erase n characters (equivalent to outputting n blanks
1604 without moving the cursor) can be given as ech with one parameter.
1605 Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells
1607 If your terminal has one or more kinds of display attributes, these can
1608 be represented in a number of different ways. You should choose one
1609 display form as standout mode, representing a good, high contrast,
1610 easy-on-the-eyes, format for highlighting error messages and other at‐
1611 tention getters. (If you have a choice, reverse video plus half-bright
1612 is good, or reverse video alone.) The sequences to enter and exit
1613 standout mode are given as smso and rmso, respectively. If the code to
1614 change into or out of standout mode leaves one or even two blank spaces
1615 on the screen, as the TVI 912 and Teleray 1061 do, then xmc should be
1616 given to tell how many spaces are left.
1617 Codes to begin underlining and end underlining can be given as smul and
1619 rmul respectively. If the terminal has a code to underline the current
1620 character and move the cursor one space to the right, such as the Mi‐
1621 croterm Mime, this can be given as uc.
1622 Other capabilities to enter various highlighting modes include blink
1624 (blinking) bold (bold or extra bright) dim (dim or half-bright) invis
1625 (blanking or invisible text) prot (protected) rev (reverse video) sgr0
1626 (turn off all attribute modes) smacs (enter alternate character set
1627 mode) and rmacs (exit alternate character set mode). Turning on any of
1628 these modes singly may or may not turn off other modes.
1629 If there is a sequence to set arbitrary combinations of modes, this
1631 should be given as sgr (set attributes), taking 9 parameters. Each pa‐
1632 rameter is either 0 or nonzero, as the corresponding attribute is on or
1633 off. The 9 parameters are, in order: standout, underline, reverse,
1634 blink, dim, bold, blank, protect, alternate character set. Not all
1635 modes need be supported by sgr, only those for which corresponding sep‐
1636 arate attribute commands exist.
1637 For example, the DEC vt220 supports most of the modes:
1639 tparm parameter attribute escape sequence
1641 none none \E[0m
1643 p1 standout \E[0;1;7m
1644 p2 underline \E[0;4m
1645 p3 reverse \E[0;7m
1646 p4 blink \E[0;5m
1647 p5 dim not available
1648 p6 bold \E[0;1m
1649 p7 invis \E[0;8m
1650 p8 protect not used
1651 p9 altcharset ^O (off) ^N (on)
1652 We begin each escape sequence by turning off any existing modes, since
1654 there is no quick way to determine whether they are active. Standout
1655 is set up to be the combination of reverse and bold. The vt220 termi‐
1656 nal has a protect mode, though it is not commonly used in sgr because
1657 it protects characters on the screen from the host's erasures. The
1658 altcharset mode also is different in that it is either ^O or ^N, de‐
1659 pending on whether it is off or on. If all modes are turned on, the
1660 resulting sequence is \E[0;1;4;5;7;8m^N.
1661 Some sequences are common to different modes. For example, ;7 is out‐
1663 put when either p1 or p3 is true, that is, if either standout or re‐
1664 verse modes are turned on.
1665 Writing out the above sequences, along with their dependencies yields
1667 sequence when to output terminfo translation
1669 \E[0 always \E[0
1671 ;1 if p1 or p6 %?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;
1672 ;4 if p2 %?%p2%|%t;4%;
1673 ;5 if p4 %?%p4%|%t;5%;
1674 ;7 if p1 or p3 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;
1675 ;8 if p7 %?%p7%|%t;8%;
1676 m always m
1677 ^N or ^O if p9 ^N, else ^O %?%p9%t^N%e^O%;
1678 Putting this all together into the sgr sequence gives:
1680 sgr=\E[0%?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p4%t;5%;
1682 %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;%?%p7%t;8%;m%?%p9%t\016%e\017%;,
1683 Remember that if you specify sgr, you must also specify sgr0. Also,
1685 some implementations rely on sgr being given if sgr0 is, Not all ter‐
1686 minfo entries necessarily have an sgr string, however. Many terminfo
1687 entries are derived from termcap entries which have no sgr string. The
1688 only drawback to adding an sgr string is that termcap also assumes that
1689 sgr0 does not exit alternate character set mode.
1690 Terminals with the “magic cookie” glitch (xmc) deposit special “cook‐
1692 ies” when they receive mode-setting sequences, which affect the display
1693 algorithm rather than having extra bits for each character. Some ter‐
1694 minals, such as the HP 2621, automatically leave standout mode when
1695 they move to a new line or the cursor is addressed. Programs using
1696 standout mode should exit standout mode before moving the cursor or
1697 sending a newline, unless the msgr capability, asserting that it is
1698 safe to move in standout mode, is present.
1699 If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indicate an error
1701 quietly (a bell replacement) then this can be given as flash; it must
1702 not move the cursor.
1703 If the cursor needs to be made more visible than normal when it is not
1705 on the bottom line (to make, for example, a non-blinking underline into
1706 an easier to find block or blinking underline) give this sequence as
1707 cvvis. If there is a way to make the cursor completely invisible, give
1708 that as civis. The capability cnorm should be given which undoes the
1709 effects of both of these modes.
1710 If your terminal correctly generates underlined characters (with no
1712 special codes needed) even though it does not overstrike, then you
1713 should give the capability ul. If a character overstriking another
1714 leaves both characters on the screen, specify the capability os. If
1715 overstrikes are erasable with a blank, then this should be indicated by
1716 giving eo.
1717 Keypad and Function Keys
1719 If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes when the keys are
1720 pressed, this information can be given. Note that it is not possible
1721 to handle terminals where the keypad only works in local (this applies,
1722 for example, to the unshifted HP 2621 keys). If the keypad can be set
1723 to transmit or not transmit, give these codes as smkx and rmkx. Other‐
1724 wise the keypad is assumed to always transmit.
1725 The codes sent by the left arrow, right arrow, up arrow, down arrow,
1727 and home keys can be given as kcub1, kcuf1, kcuu1, kcud1, and khome re‐
1728 spectively. If there are function keys such as f0, f1, ..., f10, the
1729 codes they send can be given as kf0, kf1, ..., kf10. If these keys
1730 have labels other than the default f0 through f10, the labels can be
1731 given as lf0, lf1, ..., lf10.
1732 The codes transmitted by certain other special keys can be given:
1734 • kll (home down),
1736 • kbs (backspace),
1738 • ktbc (clear all tabs),
1740 • kctab (clear the tab stop in this column),
1742 • kclr (clear screen or erase key),
1744 • kdch1 (delete character),
1746 • kdl1 (delete line),
1748 • krmir (exit insert mode),
1750 • kel (clear to end of line),
1752 • ked (clear to end of screen),
1754 • kich1 (insert character or enter insert mode),
1756 • kil1 (insert line),
1758 • knp (next page),
1760 • kpp (previous page),
1762 • kind (scroll forward/down),
1764 • kri (scroll backward/up),
1766 • khts (set a tab stop in this column).
1768 In addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3 array of keys including the
1770 four arrow keys, the other five keys can be given as ka1, ka3, kb2,
1771 kc1, and kc3. These keys are useful when the effects of a 3 by 3 di‐
1772 rectional pad are needed.
1773 Strings to program function keys can be given as pfkey, pfloc, and pfx.
1775 A string to program screen labels should be specified as pln. Each of
1776 these strings takes two parameters: the function key number to program
1777 (from 0 to 10) and the string to program it with. Function key numbers
1778 out of this range may program undefined keys in a terminal dependent
1779 manner. The difference between the capabilities is that pfkey causes
1780 pressing the given key to be the same as the user typing the given
1781 string; pfloc causes the string to be executed by the terminal in lo‐
1782 cal; and pfx causes the string to be transmitted to the computer.
1783 The capabilities nlab, lw and lh define the number of programmable
1785 screen labels and their width and height. If there are commands to
1786 turn the labels on and off, give them in smln and rmln. smln is nor‐
1787 mally output after one or more pln sequences to make sure that the
1788 change becomes visible.
1789 Tabs and Initialization
1791 A few capabilities are used only for tabs:
1792 • If the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance to the
1794 next tab stop can be given as ht (usually control/I).
1795 • A “back-tab” command which moves leftward to the preceding tab stop
1797 can be given as cbt.
1798 By convention, if the teletype modes indicate that tabs are being
1800 expanded by the computer rather than being sent to the terminal,
1801 programs should not use ht or cbt even if they are present, since
1802 the user may not have the tab stops properly set.
1803 • If the terminal has hardware tabs which are initially set every n
1805 spaces when the terminal is powered up, the numeric parameter it is
1806 given, showing the number of spaces the tabs are set to.
1807 The it capability is normally used by the tset command to determine
1809 whether to set the mode for hardware tab expansion, and whether to
1810 set the tab stops. If the terminal has tab stops that can be saved
1811 in non-volatile memory, the terminfo description can assume that
1812 they are properly set.
1813 Other capabilities include
1815 • is1, is2, and is3, initialization strings for the terminal,
1817 • iprog, the path name of a program to be run to initialize the ter‐
1819 minal,
1820 • and if, the name of a file containing long initialization strings.
1822 These strings are expected to set the terminal into modes consistent
1824 with the rest of the terminfo description. They are normally sent to
1825 the terminal, by the init option of the tput program, each time the
1826 user logs in. They will be printed in the following order:
1827 run the program
1829 iprog
1830 output
1832 is1 and
1833 is2
1834 set the margins using
1836 mgc or
1837 smglp and smgrp or
1838 smgl and smgr
1839 set tabs using
1841 tbc and hts
1842 print the file
1844 if
1845 and finally output
1847 is3.
1848 Most initialization is done with is2. Special terminal modes can be
1850 set up without duplicating strings by putting the common sequences in
1851 is2 and special cases in is1 and is3.
1852 A set of sequences that does a harder reset from a totally unknown
1854 state can be given as rs1, rs2, rf and rs3, analogous to is1 , is2 , if
1855 and is3 respectively. These strings are output by reset option of
1856 tput, or by the reset program (an alias of tset), which is used when
1857 the terminal gets into a wedged state. Commands are normally placed in
1858 rs1, rs2 rs3 and rf only if they produce annoying effects on the screen
1859 and are not necessary when logging in. For example, the command to set
1860 the vt100 into 80-column mode would normally be part of is2, but it
1861 causes an annoying glitch of the screen and is not normally needed
1862 since the terminal is usually already in 80-column mode.
1863 The reset program writes strings including iprog, etc., in the same or‐
1865 der as the init program, using rs1, etc., instead of is1, etc. If any
1866 of rs1, rs2, rs3, or rf reset capability strings are missing, the reset
1867 program falls back upon the corresponding initialization capability
1868 string.
1869 If there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can be given as
1871 tbc (clear all tab stops) and hts (set a tab stop in the current column
1872 of every row). If a more complex sequence is needed to set the tabs
1873 than can be described by this, the sequence can be placed in is2 or if.
1874 The tput reset command uses the same capability strings as the reset
1876 command, although the two programs (tput and reset) provide different
1877 command-line options.
1878 In practice, these terminfo capabilities are not often used in initial‐
1880 ization of tabs (though they are required for the tabs program):
1881 • Almost all hardware terminals (at least those which supported tabs)
1883 initialized those to every eight columns:
1884 The only exception was the AT&T 2300 series, which set tabs to ev‐
1886 ery five columns.
1887 • In particular, developers of the hardware terminals which are com‐
1889 monly used as models for modern terminal emulators provided docu‐
1890 mentation demonstrating that eight columns were the standard.
1891 • Because of this, the terminal initialization programs tput and tset
1893 use the tbc (clear_all_tabs) and hts (set_tab) capabilities di‐
1894 rectly only when the it (init_tabs) capability is set to a value
1895 other than eight.
1896 Delays and Padding
1898 Many older and slower terminals do not support either XON/XOFF or DTR
1899 handshaking, including hard copy terminals and some very archaic CRTs
1900 (including, for example, DEC VT100s). These may require padding char‐
1901 acters after certain cursor motions and screen changes.
1902 If the terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking for flow control (that is, it
1904 automatically emits ^S back to the host when its input buffers are
1905 close to full), set xon. This capability suppresses the emission of
1906 padding. You can also set it for memory-mapped console devices effec‐
1907 tively that do not have a speed limit. Padding information should
1908 still be included so that routines can make better decisions about rel‐
1909 ative costs, but actual pad characters will not be transmitted.
1910 If pb (padding baud rate) is given, padding is suppressed at baud rates
1912 below the value of pb. If the entry has no padding baud rate, then
1913 whether padding is emitted or not is completely controlled by xon.
1914 If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
1916 then this can be given as pad. Only the first character of the pad
1917 string is used.
1918 Status Lines
1920 Some terminals have an extra “status line” which is not normally used
1921 by software (and thus not counted in the terminal's lines capability).
1922 The simplest case is a status line which is cursor-addressable but not
1924 part of the main scrolling region on the screen; the Heathkit H19 has a
1925 status line of this kind, as would a 24-line VT100 with a 23-line
1926 scrolling region set up on initialization. This situation is indicated
1927 by the hs capability.
1928 Some terminals with status lines need special sequences to access the
1930 status line. These may be expressed as a string with single parameter
1931 tsl which takes the cursor to a given zero-origin column on the status
1932 line. The capability fsl must return to the main-screen cursor posi‐
1933 tions before the last tsl. You may need to embed the string values of
1934 sc (save cursor) and rc (restore cursor) in tsl and fsl to accomplish
1935 this.
1936 The status line is normally assumed to be the same width as the width
1938 of the terminal. If this is untrue, you can specify it with the nu‐
1939 meric capability wsl.
1940 A command to erase or blank the status line may be specified as dsl.
1942 The boolean capability eslok specifies that escape sequences, tabs,
1944 etc., work ordinarily in the status line.
1945 The ncurses implementation does not yet use any of these capabilities.
1947 They are documented here in case they ever become important.
1948 Line Graphics
1950 Many terminals have alternate character sets useful for forms-drawing.
1951 Terminfo and curses have built-in support for most of the drawing char‐
1952 acters supported by the VT100, with some characters from the AT&T
1953 4410v1 added. This alternate character set may be specified by the
1954 acsc capability.
1955 Glyph ACS Ascii acsc acsc
1957 Name Name Default Char Value
1958 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
1959 arrow pointing right ACS_RARROW > + 0x2b
1960 arrow pointing left ACS_LARROW < , 0x2c
1961 arrow pointing up ACS_UARROW ^ - 0x2d
1962 arrow pointing down ACS_DARROW v . 0x2e
1963 solid square block ACS_BLOCK # 0 0x30
1964 diamond ACS_DIAMOND + ` 0x60
1965 checker board (stipple) ACS_CKBOARD : a 0x61
1966 degree symbol ACS_DEGREE \ f 0x66
1967 plus/minus ACS_PLMINUS # g 0x67
1968 board of squares ACS_BOARD # h 0x68
1969 lantern symbol ACS_LANTERN # i 0x69
1970 lower right corner ACS_LRCORNER + j 0x6a
1971 upper right corner ACS_URCORNER + k 0x6b
1972 upper left corner ACS_ULCORNER + l 0x6c
1973 lower left corner ACS_LLCORNER + m 0x6d
1974 large plus or crossover ACS_PLUS + n 0x6e
1975 scan line 1 ACS_S1 ~ o 0x6f
1976 scan line 3 ACS_S3 - p 0x70
1977 horizontal line ACS_HLINE - q 0x71
1978 scan line 7 ACS_S7 - r 0x72
1979 scan line 9 ACS_S9 _ s 0x73
1980 tee pointing right ACS_LTEE + t 0x74
1981 tee pointing left ACS_RTEE + u 0x75
1982 tee pointing up ACS_BTEE + v 0x76
1983 tee pointing down ACS_TTEE + w 0x77
1984 vertical line ACS_VLINE | x 0x78
1985 less-than-or-equal-to ACS_LEQUAL < y 0x79
1986 greater-than-or-equal-to ACS_GEQUAL > z 0x7a
1987 greek pi ACS_PI * { 0x7b
1988 not-equal ACS_NEQUAL ! | 0x7c
1989 UK pound sign ACS_STERLING f } 0x7d
1990 bullet ACS_BULLET o ~ 0x7e
1991 A few notes apply to the table itself:
1993 • X/Open Curses incorrectly states that the mapping for lantern is
1995 uppercase “I” although Unix implementations use the lowercase “i”
1996 mapping.
1997 • The DEC VT100 implemented graphics using the alternate character
1999 set feature, temporarily switching modes and sending characters in
2000 the range 0x60 (96) to 0x7e (126) (the acsc Value column in the ta‐
2001 ble).
2002 • The AT&T terminal added graphics characters outside that range.
2004 Some of the characters within the range do not match the VT100;
2006 presumably they were used in the AT&T terminal: board of squares
2007 replaces the VT100 newline symbol, while lantern symbol replaces
2008 the VT100 vertical tab symbol. The other VT100 symbols for control
2009 characters (horizontal tab, carriage return and line-feed) are not
2010 (re)used in curses.
2011 The best way to define a new device's graphics set is to add a column
2013 to a copy of this table for your terminal, giving the character which
2014 (when emitted between smacs/rmacs switches) will be rendered as the
2015 corresponding graphic. Then read off the VT100/your terminal character
2016 pairs right to left in sequence; these become the ACSC string.
2017 Color Handling
2019 The curses library functions init_pair and init_color manipulate the
2020 color pairs and color values discussed in this section (see
2021 curs_color(3X) for details on these and related functions).
2022 Most color terminals are either “Tektronix-like” or “HP-like”:
2024 • Tektronix-like terminals have a predefined set of N colors (where N
2026 is usually 8), and can set character-cell foreground and background
2027 characters independently, mixing them into N * N color-pairs.
2028 • On HP-like terminals, the user must set each color pair up sepa‐
2030 rately (foreground and background are not independently settable).
2031 Up to M color-pairs may be set up from 2*M different colors. ANSI-
2032 compatible terminals are Tektronix-like.
2033 Some basic color capabilities are independent of the color method. The
2035 numeric capabilities colors and pairs specify the maximum numbers of
2036 colors and color-pairs that can be displayed simultaneously. The op
2037 (original pair) string resets foreground and background colors to their
2038 default values for the terminal. The oc string resets all colors or
2039 color-pairs to their default values for the terminal. Some terminals
2040 (including many PC terminal emulators) erase screen areas with the cur‐
2041 rent background color rather than the power-up default background;
2042 these should have the boolean capability bce.
2043 While the curses library works with color pairs (reflecting the inabil‐
2045 ity of some devices to set foreground and background colors indepen‐
2046 dently), there are separate capabilities for setting these features:
2047 • To change the current foreground or background color on a Tek‐
2049 tronix-type terminal, use setaf (set ANSI foreground) and setab
2050 (set ANSI background) or setf (set foreground) and setb (set back‐
2051 ground). These take one parameter, the color number. The SVr4
2052 documentation describes only setaf/setab; the XPG4 draft says that
2053 "If the terminal supports ANSI escape sequences to set background
2054 and foreground, they should be coded as setaf and setab, respec‐
2055 tively.
2056 • If the terminal supports other escape sequences to set background
2058 and foreground, they should be coded as setf and setb, respec‐
2059 tively. The vidputs and the refresh(3X) functions use the setaf
2060 and setab capabilities if they are defined.
2061 The setaf/setab and setf/setb capabilities take a single numeric argu‐
2063 ment each. Argument values 0-7 of setaf/setab are portably defined as
2064 follows (the middle column is the symbolic #define available in the
2065 header for the curses or ncurses libraries). The terminal hardware is
2066 free to map these as it likes, but the RGB values indicate normal loca‐
2067 tions in color space.
2068 Color #define Value RGB
2070 black COLOR_BLACK 0 0, 0, 0
2071 red COLOR_RED 1 max,0,0
2072 green COLOR_GREEN 2 0,max,0
2073 yellow COLOR_YELLOW 3 max,max,0
2074 blue COLOR_BLUE 4 0,0,max
2075 magenta COLOR_MAGENTA 5 max,0,max
2076 cyan COLOR_CYAN 6 0,max,max
2077 white COLOR_WHITE 7 max,max,max
2078 The argument values of setf/setb historically correspond to a different
2080 mapping, i.e.,
2081 Color #define Value RGB
2083 black COLOR_BLACK 0 0, 0, 0
2084 blue COLOR_BLUE 1 0,0,max
2085 green COLOR_GREEN 2 0,max,0
2086 cyan COLOR_CYAN 3 0,max,max
2087 red COLOR_RED 4 max,0,0
2088 magenta COLOR_MAGENTA 5 max,0,max
2089 yellow COLOR_YELLOW 6 max,max,0
2090 white COLOR_WHITE 7 max,max,max
2091 It is important to not confuse the two sets of color capabilities; oth‐
2093 erwise red/blue will be interchanged on the display.
2094 On an HP-like terminal, use scp with a color-pair number parameter to
2096 set which color pair is current.
2097 Some terminals allow the color values to be modified:
2099 • On a Tektronix-like terminal, the capability ccc may be present to
2101 indicate that colors can be modified. If so, the initc capability
2102 will take a color number (0 to colors - 1)and three more parameters
2103 which describe the color. These three parameters default to being
2104 interpreted as RGB (Red, Green, Blue) values. If the boolean capa‐
2105 bility hls is present, they are instead as HLS (Hue, Lightness,
2106 Saturation) indices. The ranges are terminal-dependent.
2107 • On an HP-like terminal, initp may give a capability for changing a
2109 color-pair value. It will take seven parameters; a color-pair num‐
2110 ber (0 to max_pairs - 1), and two triples describing first back‐
2111 ground and then foreground colors. These parameters must be (Red,
2112 Green, Blue) or (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) depending on hls.
2113 On some color terminals, colors collide with highlights. You can reg‐
2115 ister these collisions with the ncv capability. This is a bit-mask of
2116 attributes not to be used when colors are enabled. The correspondence
2117 with the attributes understood by curses is as follows:
2118 Attribute Bit Decimal Set by
2120 A_STANDOUT 0 1 sgr
2121 A_UNDERLINE 1 2 sgr
2122 A_REVERSE 2 4 sgr
2123 A_BLINK 3 8 sgr
2124 A_DIM 4 16 sgr
2125 A_BOLD 5 32 sgr
2126 A_INVIS 6 64 sgr
2127 A_PROTECT 7 128 sgr
2128 A_ALTCHARSET 8 256 sgr
2129 A_HORIZONTAL 9 512 sgr1
2131 A_LEFT 10 1024 sgr1
2132 A_LOW 11 2048 sgr1
2133 A_RIGHT 12 4096 sgr1
2134 A_TOP 13 8192 sgr1
2135 A_VERTICAL 14 16384 sgr1
2136 A_ITALIC 15 32768 sitm
2137 For example, on many IBM PC consoles, the underline attribute collides
2139 with the foreground color blue and is not available in color mode.
2140 These should have an ncv capability of 2.
2141 SVr4 curses does nothing with ncv, ncurses recognizes it and optimizes
2143 the output in favor of colors.
2144 Miscellaneous
2146 If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad,
2147 then this can be given as pad. Only the first character of the pad
2148 string is used. If the terminal does not have a pad character, specify
2149 npc. Note that ncurses implements the termcap-compatible PC variable;
2150 though the application may set this value to something other than a
2151 null, ncurses will test npc first and use napms if the terminal has no
2152 pad character.
2153 If the terminal can move up or down half a line, this can be indicated
2155 with hu (half-line up) and hd (half-line down). This is primarily use‐
2156 ful for superscripts and subscripts on hard-copy terminals. If a hard-
2157 copy terminal can eject to the next page (form feed), give this as ff
2158 (usually control/L).
2159 If there is a command to repeat a given character a given number of
2161 times (to save time transmitting a large number of identical charac‐
2162 ters) this can be indicated with the parameterized string rep. The
2163 first parameter is the character to be repeated and the second is the
2164 number of times to repeat it. Thus, tparm(repeat_char, 'x', 10) is the
2165 same as “xxxxxxxxxx”.
2166 If the terminal has a settable command character, such as the TEKTRONIX
2168 4025, this can be indicated with cmdch. A prototype command character
2169 is chosen which is used in all capabilities. This character is given
2170 in the cmdch capability to identify it. The following convention is
2171 supported on some UNIX systems: The environment is to be searched for a
2172 CC variable, and if found, all occurrences of the prototype character
2173 are replaced with the character in the environment variable.
2174 Terminal descriptions that do not represent a specific kind of known
2176 terminal, such as switch, dialup, patch, and network, should include
2177 the gn (generic) capability so that programs can complain that they do
2178 not know how to talk to the terminal. (This capability does not apply
2179 to virtual terminal descriptions for which the escape sequences are
2180 known.)
2181 If the terminal has a “meta key” which acts as a shift key, setting the
2183 8th bit of any character transmitted, this fact can be indicated with
2184 km. Otherwise, software will assume that the 8th bit is parity and it
2185 will usually be cleared. If strings exist to turn this “meta mode” on
2186 and off, they can be given as smm and rmm.
2187 If the terminal has more lines of memory than will fit on the screen at
2189 once, the number of lines of memory can be indicated with lm. A value
2190 of lm#0 indicates that the number of lines is not fixed, but that there
2191 is still more memory than fits on the screen.
2192 If the terminal is one of those supported by the UNIX virtual terminal
2194 protocol, the terminal number can be given as vt.
2195 Media copy strings which control an auxiliary printer connected to the
2197 terminal can be given as mc0: print the contents of the screen, mc4:
2198 turn off the printer, and mc5: turn on the printer. When the printer
2199 is on, all text sent to the terminal will be sent to the printer. It
2200 is undefined whether the text is also displayed on the terminal screen
2201 when the printer is on. A variation mc5p takes one parameter, and
2202 leaves the printer on for as many characters as the value of the param‐
2203 eter, then turns the printer off. The parameter should not exceed 255.
2204 All text, including mc4, is transparently passed to the printer while
2205 an mc5p is in effect.
2206 Glitches and Braindamage
2208 Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow “~” characters to be displayed
2209 should indicate hz.
2210 Terminals which ignore a line-feed immediately after an am wrap, such
2212 as the Concept and vt100, should indicate xenl.
2213 If el is required to get rid of standout (instead of merely writing
2215 normal text on top of it), xhp should be given.
2216 Teleray terminals, where tabs turn all characters moved over to blanks,
2218 should indicate xt (destructive tabs). Note: the variable indicating
2219 this is now “dest_tabs_magic_smso”; in older versions, it was tel‐
2220 eray_glitch. This glitch is also taken to mean that it is not possible
2221 to position the cursor on top of a “magic cookie”, that to erase stand‐
2222 out mode it is instead necessary to use delete and insert line. The
2223 ncurses implementation ignores this glitch.
2224 The Beehive Superbee, which is unable to correctly transmit the escape
2226 or control/C characters, has xsb, indicating that the f1 key is used
2227 for escape and f2 for control/C. (Only certain Superbees have this
2228 problem, depending on the ROM.) Note that in older terminfo versions,
2229 this capability was called “beehive_glitch”; it is now “no_esc_ctl_c”.
2230 Other specific terminal problems may be corrected by adding more capa‐
2232 bilities of the form xx.
2233 Pitfalls of Long Entries
2235 Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to date, no entry
2236 has even approached terminfo's 4096-byte string-table maximum. Unfor‐
2237 tunately, the termcap translations are much more strictly limited (to
2238 1023 bytes), thus termcap translations of long terminfo entries can
2239 cause problems.
2240 The man pages for 4.3BSD and older versions of tgetent instruct the
2242 user to allocate a 1024-byte buffer for the termcap entry. The entry
2243 gets null-terminated by the termcap library, so that makes the maximum
2244 safe length for a termcap entry 1k-1 (1023) bytes. Depending on what
2245 the application and the termcap library being used does, and where in
2246 the termcap file the terminal type that tgetent is searching for is,
2247 several bad things can happen.
2248 Some termcap libraries print a warning message or exit if they find an
2250 entry that's longer than 1023 bytes; others do not; others truncate the
2251 entries to 1023 bytes. Some application programs allocate more than
2252 the recommended 1K for the termcap entry; others do not.
2253 Each termcap entry has two important sizes associated with it: before
2255 “tc” expansion, and after “tc” expansion. “tc” is the capability that
2256 tacks on another termcap entry to the end of the current one, to add on
2257 its capabilities. If a termcap entry does not use the “tc” capability,
2258 then of course the two lengths are the same.
2259 The “before tc expansion” length is the most important one, because it
2261 affects more than just users of that particular terminal. This is the
2262 length of the entry as it exists in /etc/termcap, minus the backslash-
2263 newline pairs, which tgetent strips out while reading it. Some termcap
2264 libraries strip off the final newline, too (GNU termcap does not). Now
2265 suppose:
2266 • a termcap entry before expansion is more than 1023 bytes long,
2268 • and the application has only allocated a 1k buffer,
2270 • and the termcap library (like the one in BSD/OS 1.1 and GNU) reads
2272 the whole entry into the buffer, no matter what its length, to see
2273 if it is the entry it wants,
2274 • and tgetent is searching for a terminal type that either is the
2276 long entry, appears in the termcap file after the long entry, or
2277 does not appear in the file at all (so that tgetent has to search
2278 the whole termcap file).
2279 Then tgetent will overwrite memory, perhaps its stack, and probably
2281 core dump the program. Programs like telnet are particularly vulnera‐
2282 ble; modern telnets pass along values like the terminal type automati‐
2283 cally. The results are almost as undesirable with a termcap library,
2284 like SunOS 4.1.3 and Ultrix 4.4, that prints warning messages when it
2285 reads an overly long termcap entry. If a termcap library truncates
2286 long entries, like OSF/1 3.0, it is immune to dying here but will re‐
2287 turn incorrect data for the terminal.
2288 The “after tc expansion” length will have a similar effect to the
2290 above, but only for people who actually set TERM to that terminal type,
2291 since tgetent only does “tc” expansion once it is found the terminal
2292 type it was looking for, not while searching.
2293 In summary, a termcap entry that is longer than 1023 bytes can cause,
2295 on various combinations of termcap libraries and applications, a core
2296 dump, warnings, or incorrect operation. If it is too long even before
2297 “tc” expansion, it will have this effect even for users of some other
2298 terminal types and users whose TERM variable does not have a termcap
2299 entry.
2300 When in -C (translate to termcap) mode, the ncurses implementation of
2302 tic(1M) issues warning messages when the pre-tc length of a termcap
2303 translation is too long. The -c (check) option also checks resolved
2304 (after tc expansion) lengths.
2305 Binary Compatibility
2307 It is not wise to count on portability of binary terminfo entries be‐
2308 tween commercial UNIX versions. The problem is that there are at least
2309 two versions of terminfo (under HP-UX and AIX) which diverged from Sys‐
2310 tem V terminfo after SVr1, and have added extension capabilities to the
2311 string table that (in the binary format) collide with System V and XSI
2312 Curses extensions.
2313
2315 Searching for terminal descriptions in $HOME/.terminfo and TER‐
2316 MINFO_DIRS is not supported by older implementations.
2317 Some SVr4 curses implementations, and all previous to SVr4, do not in‐
2319 terpret the %A and %O operators in parameter strings.
2320 SVr4/XPG4 do not specify whether msgr licenses movement while in an al‐
2322 ternate-character-set mode (such modes may, among other things, map CR
2323 and NL to characters that do not trigger local motions). The ncurses
2324 implementation ignores msgr in ALTCHARSET mode. This raises the possi‐
2325 bility that an XPG4 implementation making the opposite interpretation
2326 may need terminfo entries made for ncurses to have msgr turned off.
2327 The ncurses library handles insert-character and insert-character modes
2329 in a slightly non-standard way to get better update efficiency. See
2330 the Insert/Delete Character subsection above.
2331 The parameter substitutions for set_clock and display_clock are not
2333 documented in SVr4 or the XSI Curses standard. They are deduced from
2334 the documentation for the AT&T 505 terminal.
2335 Be careful assigning the kmous capability. The ncurses library wants
2337 to interpret it as KEY_MOUSE, for use by terminals and emulators like
2338 xterm that can return mouse-tracking information in the keyboard-input
2339 stream.
2340 X/Open Curses does not mention italics. Portable applications must as‐
2342 sume that numeric capabilities are signed 16-bit values. This includes
2343 the no_color_video (ncv) capability. The 32768 mask value used for
2344 italics with ncv can be confused with an absent or cancelled ncv. If
2345 italics should work with colors, then the ncv value must be specified,
2346 even if it is zero.
2347 Different commercial ports of terminfo and curses support different
2349 subsets of the XSI Curses standard and (in some cases) different exten‐
2350 sion sets. Here is a summary, accurate as of October 1995:
2351 • SVR4, Solaris, ncurses -- These support all SVr4 capabilities.
2353 • SGI -- Supports the SVr4 set, adds one undocumented extended string
2355 capability (set_pglen).
2356 • SVr1, Ultrix -- These support a restricted subset of terminfo capa‐
2358 bilities. The booleans end with xon_xoff; the numerics with
2359 width_status_line; and the strings with prtr_non.
2360 • HP/UX -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus the SVr[234] numerics
2362 num_labels, label_height, label_width, plus function keys 11
2363 through 63, plus plab_norm, label_on, and label_off, plus some in‐
2364 compatible extensions in the string table.
2365 • AIX -- Supports the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11 through 63,
2367 plus a number of incompatible string table extensions.
2368 • OSF -- Supports both the SVr4 set and the AIX extensions.
2370
2372 /usr/share/terminfo/?/* files containing terminal descriptions
2373
2375 infocmp(1M), tabs(1), tic(1M), curses(3X), curs_color(3X), curs_vari‐
2376 ables(3X), printf(3), term_variables(3X). term(5). user_caps(5).
2377
2379 Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey. Based on pcurses
2380 by Pavel Curtis.
2381 terminfo(5)