TERMCAP(3) BSD Programmer's Manual TERMCAP(3)
tgetent, tgetnum, tgetflag, tgetstr, tgoto, tputs - terminal independent
operation routines
char PC;
char *BC;
char *UP;
short ospeed;
int
tgetent(char *bp, char *name);
int
tgetnum(char *id);
int
tgetflag(char *id);
char *
tgetstr(char *id, char **area);
char *
tgoto(char *cm, destcol, destline);
void
tputs(register char *cp, int affcnt, int (*outc)());
These functions extract and use capabilities from a terminal capability
data base, usually /usr/share/misc/termcap, the format of which is
described in termcap(5). This version of these routines has been depre-
cated in favor of the emulation provided by termcap(3). This library is
provided solely for old applications that require behavior that is not
emulated.
The tgetent() function extracts the entry for terminal name into the
buffer at bp. The bp argument should be a character buffer of size 1024
and must be retained through all subsequent calls to tgetnum(), tget-
flag(), and tgetstr(). As an extension tgetent() can be passed NULL for
the bp argument, in which case an internal buffer will be used. If re-
peated calls to tgetent() are made with a NULL bp argument, some memory
will be leaked on each call subsequent to the first. The tgetent() func-
tion returns -1 if none of the termcap database files could be opened, 0
if the terminal name given does not have an entry, and 1 if all goes
well. It will look in the environment for a TERMCAP variable. If found,
and the value does not begin with a slash, and the terminal type name is
the same as the environment string TERM, the TERMCAP string is used in-
stead of reading a termcap file. If it does begin with a slash, the
string is used as a path name of the termcap file to search. If TERMCAP
does not begin with a slash and name is different from TERM, tgetent()
searches the files $HOME/.termcap and /usr/share/misc/termcap, in that
order, unless the environment variable TERMPATH exists, in which case it
specifies a list of file pathnames (separated by spaces or colons) to be
searched instead. Whenever multiple files are searched and a tc field oc-
curs in the requested entry, the entry it names must be found in the same
file or one of the succeeding files. This can speed up entry into pro-
grams that call tgetent(), as well as help debug new terminal descrip-
tions or make one for your terminal if you can't write the file
/usr/share/misc/termcap.
The tgetnum() function gets the numeric value of capability id, returning
-1 if it is not given for the terminal. The tgetflag() function returns 1
if the specified capability is present in the terminal's entry, 0 if it
is not. The tgetstr() function returns the string value of the capability
id, places it in the buffer at area, and advances the area pointer. It
decodes the abbreviations for this field described in termcap(5), except
for cursor addressing and padding information. The tgetstr() function re-
turns NULL if the capability was not found.
The tgoto() function returns a cursor addressing string decoded from cm
to go to column destcol in line destline. It uses the external variables
UP (from the up capability) and BC (if bc is given rather than bs) if
necessary to avoid placing \n, ^D or ^@ in the returned string. (Programs
which call tgoto() should be sure to turn off the XTABS bit(s), since
tgoto() may now output a tab. Note that programs using termcap should in
general turn off XTABS anyway since some terminals use control-I for oth-
er functions, such as nondestructive space.) If a % sequence is given
which is not understood, then tgoto() returns (OOPS).
The tputs() function decodes the leading padding information of the
string cp; affcnt gives the number of lines affected by the operation, or
1 if this is not applicable, outc is a routine which is called with each
character in turn. The external variable ospeed should contain the output
speed of the terminal as encoded by stty(3). The external variable PC
should contain a pad character to be used (from the pc capability) if a
null (^@) is inappropriate.
/usr/lib/libotermcap.a -l lotermcap library
/usr/share/misc/termcap standard terminal capability database
$HOME/.termcap user's terminal capability database
ex(1), curses(3), termcap(3), termcap(5)
The tgetent functions appeared in 4.0BSD.
MirBSD #10-current December 11, 1993 1