TERMINFO(3)

TERMINFO(3) | Library Functions Manual | TERMINFO(3)

# NAME

setupterm, set_curterm, del_curterm, termname, longname, tigetflag, tigetnum, tigetstr, tparm, tputs, putp — terminal independent operation routines

# LIBRARY

Terminal Information Library (libterminfo, -lterminfo)

# SYNOPSIS

#include <term.h>
char PC;
short ospeed;
TERMINAL *cur_term;
int
setupterm(const char *name, int fildes, int *errret);
TERMINAL *
set_curterm(TERMINAL *nterm);
int
del_curterm(TERMINAL *oterm);
char *
termname(void);
char *
longname(void);
int
tigetnum(const char *id);
int
tigetflag(const char *id);
char *
tigetstr(const char *id);
char *
tparm(const char *cm, long p1, long p2, long p3, long p4, long p5, long p6, long p7, long p8, long p9);
int
tputs(const char *cp, int affcnt, int (*outc)(int));
int
putp(const char *cp);
int
ti_setupterm(TERMINAL **, const char *name, int fildes, int *error);
int
ti_getflag(const TERMINAL *, const char *id);
int
ti_getnum(const TERMINAL *, const char *id);
const char *
ti_getstr(const TERMINAL *, const char *id);
char *
tiparm(const char *cm, ...);
char *
ti_tiparm(TERMINAL *, const char *cm, ...);
int
ti_puts(const TERMINAL *term, const char *str, int affcnt, int (*outc)(int ch, void *arg), void *arg);
int
ti_putp(const TERMINAL *term, const char *str);

# DESCRIPTION

These functions extract and use capabilities from a terminal capability database, usually /usr/share/misc/terminfo, the format of which is described in terminfo(5). These are low level routines; see curses(3) for a higher level package.
The setupterm() function extracts the entry for terminal name and then calls set_curterm() to set cur_term to it. If name is `NULL` then it is replaced by the environment variable `TERM`. The setupterm() function returns 0 on success and -1 on error. errret is set to -1 if the terminfo database could not be opened, 0 if the terminal could not be found in the database, and 1 if all went well.
The set_curterm() function sets the variable cur_term to nterm and makes all of the terminfo boolean, numeric and string variables use the values from nterm. The global variables PC and ospeed are then set. The old value of cur_term is returned. The del_curterm() function frees space pointed to by oterm.
The termname() function returns the name of cur_term. The longname() function returns the description of cur_term.
The tigetflag() function gets the boolean value of capability id, returning -1 if it is not a valid capability. The tigetnum() function gets the numeric value of the capability id, returning -2 if it is not a valid capability. The tigetstr() function returns the string value of the capability id, returning (char *)-1 if it is not a valid capability.
The tparm() function returns a string decoded from cm with the parameters p1 ... p9 applied. Some capabilities require string parameters and only platforms that can fit a char * pointer inside a long can use them. For platforms which don't support this, `NULL` is returned and errno is set to `ENOTSUPP`. The string encoding and parameter application is described in terminfo(5).
The tputs() function applies padding information to the string cp; affcnt gives the number of lines affected by the operation, or 1 if this is not applicable; outc is a function which is called by each character in turn. The external variable ospeed controls how many padding characters are sent in relation to the terminal speed. The putp() function calls tputs(str, 1, putchar). The output from putp() always goes to stdout.

## NetBSD Extensions To Terminfo

The tiparm() function allows variadic parameters instead of 9 fixed longs. Numeric parameters must be passed as int. String parameters must be passed as char * and works on all platforms, unlike tparm().
The ti_*() functions correspond to the standard t*() functions but take an additional TERMINAL * parameter so that the terminal can be specified instead of assuming cur_term. These functions use private variables to the TERMINAL instead of the global variables, such as PC and ospeed.

# SEE ALSO

ex(1), curses(3), terminfo(5)

# AUTHORS

Roy Marples <roy@NetBSD.org>

November 23, 2015 | NetBSD 8.3