Files Reference

terminfo Directory

Purpose

Contains compiled terminfo source files.

Description

Terminfo is a compiled database describing the capabilities of terminals. Terminals are described in the terminfo source files via entries. Each entry contains information about the capabilities for a particular terminal or set of common terminals. Capabilities include the operations that can be performed, the padding requirements, cursor positioning, command sequences, and initialization sequences.

The compiled terminfo database is used by applications such as curses and vi that must have knowledge of the terminal but do not want to be terminal-dependent.

This article describes the terminfo source file format and covers the following topics:

• Source File Entries
• Types of Capabilities
• Preparing Descriptions
• Basic Capabilities
• Parameterized Strings
• Cursor Motions
• Area Clears
• Scrolling
• Insert or Delete Character
• Highlighting, Underlining, and Visual Bells
• Keypad
• Tabs and Initialization
• Miscellaneous Strings
• Status Lines
• Line Graphics
• Color Manipulation
• Special Cases
• Similar Terminals
• Printer Capabilities
• Database File Names

An example of a terminfo source file is provided.

This article explains the terminfo source file format. Before a terminfo description can be used by applications, the terminfo source file it resides in must be compiled using the tic command. Using the tic command results in the creation of one or more binaries, one for each terminal. The collection of terminfo binaries in a directory (usually /usr/share/lib/terminfo) is known as the terminfo database, or terminfo.

Source File Entries

You can edit or modify source files. A source file can contain one or more terminal descriptions or entries. A terminfo source file has a .ti suffix. Examples of source files are the /usr/share/lib/terminfo/ibm.ti file, which describes IBM terminals, and the /usr/share/lib/terminfo/dec.ti file, which describes DEC terminals.

See the infocmp command for obtaining the source description for a terminal when only the binary is available.

Each entry in a terminfo source file consists of a number of fields separated by commas. White space between commas is ignored. The following example shows a source file entry:

ibm6155-113|IBM 6155 Black & White display,
        font0=\E[10m,   font1=\E[11m,   font2=\E[12m,
        bold=\E[12m,    sgr0=\E[0;10m,
        cols#113,       lines#38,
        sgr=\E[%?%p1%t;7%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p3%t;7%;%?%p4%t;5%;%?%p6%t;12%;m,
        blink@,         use=ibm5151,

Entries can continue onto multiple lines by placing white space at the beginning of each subsequent line. To create a comment line, begin the line with a # (pound sign) character. To comment out an individual terminal capability, put a period before the capability name.

The first field (or line) for each terminal gives the various names by which the terminal is known, separated by | (pipe symbol) characters. The first name given should be the most common abbreviation for the terminal. (This name is the one most commonly used when setting the TERM environment variable.) The last name given should be a long name fully identifying the terminal. All other names are understood as synonyms for the terminal name. All names but the last should contain no blanks. The last name may contain blanks for readability. All names should be unique.

The remaining fields identify the terminal 's capabilities.

When choosing terminal names, there are some conventions you should follow. The root name should represent the particular hardware class of the terminal. Do not use hyphens in the root name, except to avoid synonyms that conflict with other names. To indicate possible modes for the hardware or user preferences, append a - (minus sign) and one of the following suffixes:

A terminal in 132-column mode would be Terminal-w.

Types of Capabilities

A terminfo entry can define any number of capabilities. All capabilities belong to one of three types:

This article provides tables that document the capability types. All the tables list the following:

Capability names have no absolute length limit. An informal limit of five characters is adopted to keep them short and to allow the tabs in the caps source file to be aligned. Whenever possible, names are chosen to be the same as or similar to the ANSI X3.64 standard of 1979.

For a detailed description of the various capabilities according to function, read:

• Basic Capabilities
• Parameterized Strings
• Cursor Motions
• Area Clears
• Insert or Delete Line
• Insert or Delete Line Character
• Highlighting, Underlining, and Visual Bells
• Keypad
• Tabs and Initialization
• Miscellaneous Strings

Boolean Capabilities

A Boolean capability indicates that the terminal has some particular feature. For instance, the am capability in a terminal description indicates that the terminal has automatic margins (such as an automatic new line when the end of a line is reached). The following are the Boolean capabilities:

Numeric Capabilities

Numeric capabilities are followed by the # (pound sign) character and a numeric value. The cols#80 capability indicates the terminal has 80 columns. The following are the numeric capabilities:

String Capabilities

You define string-valued capabilities, such as the el capability (clear to end of line) with a 2-character code, an = (equal sign), and a string ending with a , (comma). A delay in milliseconds can appear anywhere in a string capability. To define a delay, enclose the delay between a $< and a >. The following shows the el capability with a delay of 3:

el=\EK$<3>

The tputs subroutine provides padding characters for a delay. A delay can be a number, such as 20, or a number followed by an * (asterisk), such as 3*. An asterisk indicates that the required padding is proportional to the number of lines affected by the operation. The number given represents the required padding for each affected unit. (For insert character, the factor is the number of lines affected, which is always 1, unless the terminal has the xenl capability and the software supports it). If you specify an asterisk, it is sometimes useful to give a delay of the form a.b, such as 3.5, to specify a delay for each unit to tenths of milliseconds. You can only specify one decimal place.

The terminfo database provides several escape sequences in the string-valued capabilities for easy encoding of characters. The following escape codes are recognized:

The following conventions are used in the Description column of the String Capabilities table:

(G)

Indicates that the string is passed through tparm, with parameters as given (#i).

(*)

Indicates that padding can be based on the number of lines affected.

(#i)

Indicates the ith parameter.

String Capabilities
Variable	Cap Name	I.Code	Description
appl_defined_str	apstr	za	Application-defined terminal string.
asc_chars	acsc	ac	Alternate character set mapping of glyph to characters.
back_tab	cbt	bt	Back tab.
bell	bel	bl	Produces an audible signal (bell).
box_chars_1	box1	bx	Box characters, primary set.
box_chars_2	box2	by	Box characters, alternate set.
box_attr_1	batt1	Bx	Attributes for box_chars_1.
box_attr_2	batt2	By	Attributes for box_chars_2.
carriage_return	cr	cr	Indicates carriage return. (*)
change_char_pitch	cpi	ZA	Change number of characters per inch.
change_line_pitch	lpi	ZB	Change number of lines per inch.
change_res_horz	chr	ZC	Change horizontal resolution.
change_res_vert	cvr	XD	Change vertical resolution.
char_padding	rmp	rP	Specifies character padding when in replace mode.
change_scroll_region	csr	cs	Changes scroll region to lines #1 through #2. (G)
char_set_names	csnm	Zy	List of character set names.
clear_all_tabs	tbc	ct	Clears all tab stops.
clear_margins	mgc	MC	Clear left and right soft margins.
clear_screen	clear	cl	Clears screen and puts cursor in home position. (*)
clr_bol	el1	cb	Clear to beginning of line, inclusive.
clr_eol	el	ce	Clears to end of line.
clr_eod	ed	cd	Clears to end of the display.(*)
color_bg_0	colb0	d0	Background color 0, black.
color_bg_1	colb1	d1	Background color 1, red.
color_bg_2	colb2	d2	Background color 2, green.
color_bg_3	colb3	d3	Background color 3, brown.
color_bg_4	colb4	d4	Background color 4, blue.
color_bg_5	colb5	d5	Background color 5, magenta.
color_bg_6	colb6	d6	Background color 6, cyan.
color_bg_7	colb7	d7	Background color 7, white.
color_fg_0	colf0	c0	Foreground color 0, black.
color_fg_1	colf1	c1	Foreground color 1, red.
color_fg_2	colf2	c2	Foreground color 2, green.
color_fg_3	colf3	c3	Foreground color 3, brown.
color_fg_4	colf4	c4	Foreground color 4, blue.
color_fg_5	colf5	c5	Foreground color 5, magenta.
color_fg_6	colf6	c6	Foreground color 6, cyan.
color_fg_7	colf7	c7	Foreground color 7, white.
column_address	hpa	ch	Sets cursor column. (G)
command_character	cmdch	CC	Indicates that a terminal command-prototype character can be set.
create_window	cwin	CW	Define win #1 to go from #2, #3 to #4, #5.
cursor_address	cup	cm	Indicates screen-relative cursor motion row #1, col #2. (G)
cursor_down	cud1	do	Moves cursor down one line.
cursor_home	home	ho	Moves cursor to home position (if no cup addressing).
cursor_invisible	civis	vi	Makes cursor invisible.
cursor_left	cub1	le	Moves cursor left one space.
cursor_mem_address	mrcup	CM	Indicates memory relative cursor addressing. (G)
cursor_normal	cnorm	ve	Makes cursor appear normal (undo vs or vi).
cursor_right	cuf1	nd	Indicates nondestructive space (cursor right).
cursor_to_ll	ll	ll	Moves cursor to first column of last line (if no cup addressing).
cursor_up	cuu1	up	Moves cursor up one line.
cursor_visible	cvvis	vs	Makes cursor very visible.
define char	defc	ZE	Define a character in a character set.
delete_character	dch1	dc	Deletes character. (*)
delete_line	dl1	dl	Deletes line. (*)
dial_phone	dial	DI	Dial phone number #1.
dis_status_line	dsl	ds	Disables status line.
display_clock	dclk	DK	Display time-of-day clock.
down_half_line	hd	hd	Indicates subscript (forward 1/2 line feed).
ena_acs	enacs	eA	Enable alternate character set.
enter_alt_charset_mode	smacs	as	Starts alternate character set.
enter_am_mode	smam	SA	Turn on automatic margins.
enter_blink_mode	blink	mb	Enables blinking.
enter_bold_mode	bold	md	Enables bold (extra bright)mode.
enter_bottom_mode	btml	bm	Starts bottom line mode. This string capability is an aid for drawing tables and is valid only for aixterm and aixterm-m terminal definitions.
enter_ca_mode	smcup	ti	Begins programs that use cup addresing.
enter_delete_mode	smdc	dm	Starts delete mode.
enter_dim_mode	dim	mh	Enables half-bright mode.
enter_doublewide_mode	swidm	ZF	Enable double-wide printing.
enter_draft_quality	sdrfq	ZG	Set draft quality print.
enter_insert_mode	smir	im	Starts insert mode.
enter_italics_mode	sitm	ZH	Enable italics.
enter_leftward_mode	slm	Zl	Enable leftward carrige motion.
enter_lvert_mode	lvert	lv	Starts left vertical line mode. This string capability is an aid for drawing tables. Valid only for aixterm and aixterm-m terminal definitions.
enter_micro_mode	smicm	ZJ	Enable micro motion capabilities.
enter_near_letter_quality	snlq	ZK	Set near-letter quality print.
enter_normal_quality	snrmq	ZL	Set normal quality print.
enter_protected_mode	prot	mp	Enables protected mode.
enter_reverse_mode	rev	mr	Enables reverse video mode.
enter_rvert_mode	rvert	rv	Starts right vertical line mode. This string capability is an aid for drawing tables and is valid only for aixterm and aixterm-m terminal definitions.
enter_secure_mode	invis	mk	Enables blank mode (characters are invisible).
enter_shadow_mode	sshm	ZM	Enable shadow printing.
enter_standout_mode	smso	so	Begins standout mode.
enter_subscript_mode	ssubm	ZN	Enable subscript printing.
enter_superscript_mode	ssupm	ZO	Enable superscript printing.
enter_topline_mode	topl	tp	Starts top line mode. This string capability is an aid for drawing tables and is valid only for aixterm and aixterm-m terminal definitions.
enter_underline_mode	smul	us	Starts underscore mode.
enter_upward_mode	sum	ZP	Enable upward carriage motion.
enter_xon_mode	smxon	SX	Turn on xon/xoff handshaking.
erase_chars	ech	ec	Erases #1 characters. (G)
exit_alt_charset_mode	rmacs	ae	Ends alternate character set.
exit_am_mode	rmam	RA	Turn off automatic margins.
exit_attribute_mode	sgr0	me	Disables all attributes.
exit_ca_mode	rmcup	te	Ends programs that use cup addressing.
exit_delete_mode	rmdc	ed	Ends delete mode.
exit_doublewide_mode	rwidm	ZQ	Disable double-wide printing.
exit_insert_mode	rmir	ei	Ends insert mode.
exit_italics_mode	ritm	ZR	Disable italics.
exit_leftward_mode	rlm	ZS	Enable rightward (normal) carriage motion.
exit_micro_mode	micm	ZT	Disable micro motion capabilities.
exit_shadow_mode	rshm	ZU	Disable shadow printing.
exit_standout_mode	rmso	se	Ends standout mode.
exit_subscript_mode	rsubm	ZV	Disable subscript printing.
exit_superscript_mode	rsupm	ZW	Disable superscript printing.
exit_underline_mode	rmul	ue	Ends underscore mode.
exit_upward_mode	rum	ZX	Enable downard (normal) carrige motion.
exit_xon_mode	rmxon	RX	Turn off xon/xoff handshaking.
flash_screen	flash	vb	Indicates visual bell (may not move cursor).
fixed_pause	pause	PA	Pause for 2-3 seconds.
flash_hook	hook	fh	Flash the switch hook.
font_0	font0	f0	Select font 0.
font_1	font1	f1	Select font 1.
font_2	font2	f2	Select font 2.
font_3	font3	f3	Select font 3.
font_4	font4	f4	Select font 4.
font_5	font5	f5	Select font 5.
font_6	font6	f6	Select font 6.
font_7	font7	f7	Select font 7.
form_feed	ff	ff	Ejects page (hardcopy terminal). (*)
from_status_line	fsl	fs	Returns from status line.
goto_window	wingo	WG	Go to window #1.
hangup	hup	HU	Hang-up phone.
init_1string	is1	i1	Initializes terminal.
init_2string	is2	is	Initializes terminal.
init_3string	is3	i3	Initializes terminal.
init_file	if	if	Identifies file containing is long initialization strings.
init_prog	iprog	iP	Locates the program for initialization.
initialize_color	initc	Ic	Initialize the color definition.
initialize_pair	initp	Ip	Initialize color pair.
insert_character	ich1	ic	Inserts character.
insert_line	il1	al	Adds new blank line. (*)
insert_padding	ip	ip	Inserts pad after character inserted. (*)
key_a1	ka1	K1	Specifies upper left of keypad.
key_a3	ka3	K3	Specifies upper right of keypad.
key_action	kact	kJ	Sent by action key.
key_b2	kb2	K2	Specifies center of keypad.
key_backspace	kbs	kb	Sent by backspace key.
key_beg	kbeg	@1	Beginning key. KEY_BEG
key_btab	kcbt	kB	Sent by backtab key. KEY_BTAB
key_c1	kc1	K4	Specifies lower left of keypad.
key_c3	kc3	K5	Specifies lower right of keypad.
key_cancel	kcan	@2	Cancel key. KEY_CANCEL
key_catab	ktbc	ka	Sent by clear-all-tabs key.
key_clear	kclr	kC	Sent by clear screen or erase key.
key_close	kclo	@3	Close key. KEY_CLOSE
key_command	kcmd	@4	Command-request key.
key_command_pane	kcpn	@7	Command-pane key.
key_copy	kcpy	@5	Copy key. KEY_COPY
key_create	kcrt	@6	Create key. KEY_CREATE
key_ctab	kctab	kt	Sent by clear tab key.
key_dc	kdch1	kD	Sent by delete-character key.
key_dl	kdl1	kL	Sent by delete-line key.
key_do	kdo	ki	Do request key.
key_down	kcud1	kd	Sent by terminal down-arrow key.
key_eic	krmir	kM	Sent by rmir or smir in insert mode.
key_end	kend	@7	End key. KEY_END
key_enter	kent	@8	Enter/send (unreliable). KEY_ENTER.
key_eol	kel	kE	Sent by clear-to-end-of-line key.
key_eos	ked	kS	Sent by clear-to-end-of-screen key.
key_exit	kext	@9	Exit key. KEY_EXIT.
key_f0	kf0	k0	Sent by function key F0.
key_f1	kf1	k1	Sent by function key F1.
key_f2	kf2	k2	Sent by function key F2.
key_f3	kf3	k3	Sent by function key F3.
key_f4	kf4	k4	Sent by function key F4.
key_f5	kf5	k5	Sent by function key F5.
key_f6	kf6	k6	Sent by function key F6.
key_f7	kf7	k7	Sent by function key F7.
key_f8	kf8	k8	Sent by function key F8.
key_f9	kf9	k9	Sent by function key F9.
key_f10	kf10	k;	Sent by function key F10.
key_f11	kf11	F1	Sent by function key F11.
key_f12	kf12	F2	Sent by function key F12.
key_f13	kf13	F3	Sent by function key F13. KEY_F(13)
key_f14	kf14	F4	Sent by function key F14. KEY_F(14)
key_f15	kf15	F5	Sent by function key F15. KEY_F(15)
key_f16	kf16	F6	Sent by function key 16. KEY_F(16)
key_f17	kf17	F7	Sent by function key 17. KEY_F(17)
key_f18	kf18	F8	Sent by function key 18. KEY_F(18)
key_f19	kf19	F9	Sent by function key 19. KEY_F(19)
key_f20	kf20	FA	Sent by function key 20. KEY_F(20)
key_f21	kf21	FB	Sent by function key 21. KEY_F(21)
key_f22	kf22	FC	Sent by function key 22. KEY_F(22)
key_f23	kf23	FD	Sent by function key 23. KEY_F(23)
key_f24	kf24	FE	Sent by function key 24. KEY_F(24)
key_f25	kf25	FF	Sent by function key 25. KEY_F(25)
key_f26	kf26	FG	Sent by function key 26. KEY_F(26)
key_f27	kf27	FH	Sent by function key 27. KEY_F(27), 03543
key_f28	kf28	FI	Sent by function key 28. KEY_F(28)
key_f29	kf29	FJ	Sent by function key 29. KEY_F(29)
key_f30	kf30	FK	Sent by function key 30. KEY_F(30)
key_f31	kf31	FL	Sent by function key 31. KEY_F(31)
key_f32	kf32	FM	Sent by function key 32. KEY_F(32)
key_f33	kf33	FN	Sent by function key 33. KEY_F(33)
key_f34	kf34	FO	Sent by function key 34. KEY_F(34)
key_f35	kf35	FP	Sent by function key 35. KEY_F(35)
key_f36	kf36	FP	Sent by function key 36. KEY_F(36)
key_f37	kf37	FQ	Sent by function key 37. KEY_F(37)
key_f38	kf38	FR	Sent by function key 38. KEY_F(38)
key_f39	kf39	FS	Sent by function key 39. KEY_F(39)
key_f40	kf40	FT	Sent by function key 40. KEY_F(40)
key_f41	kf41	FU	Sent by function key 41. KEY_F(41)
key_f42	kf42	FV	Sent by function key 42. KEY_F(42)
key_f43	kf43	FW	Sent by function key 43. KEY_F(43)
key_f44	kf44	FX	Sent by function key 44. KEY_F(44)
key_f45	kf45	FY	Sent by function key 45. KEY_F(45)
key_f46	kf46	FZ	Sent by function key 46. KEY_F(46)
key_f47	kf47	Fa	Sent by function key 47. KEY_F(47)
key_f48	kf48	Fb	Sent by function key 48. KEY_F(48)
key_f49	kf49	Fc	Sent by function key 49. KEY_F(49)
key_f50	kf50	Fd	Sent by function key 50. KEY_F(50)
key_f51	kf51	Fe	Sent by function key f51. KEY_F(51)
key_f52	kf52	Ff	Sent by function key f52. KEY_F(52)
key_f53	kf53	Fg	Sent by function key f53. KEY_F(53)
key_f54	kf54	Fi	Sent by function key f54. KEY_F(54)
key_f55	kf55	Fj	Sent by function key f55. KEY_F(55)
key_f56	kf56	Fk	Sent by function key f56. KEY_F(56)
key_f57	kf57	Fl	Sent by function key f57. KEY_F(57)
key_f58	kf58	Fm	Sent by function key f58. KEY_F(58)
key_f59	kf59	Fn	Sent by function key f59. KEY_F(59)
key_f60	kf60	Fo	Sent by function key f60. KEY_F(60)
key_f61	kf61	Fp	Sent by function key f61. KEY_F(61)
key_f62	kf62	Fq	Sent by function key f62. KEY_F(62)
key_f63	kf63	Fr	Sent by function key f63. KEY_F(63)
key_find	kfnd	@0	Find key. KEY_FIND
key_help	khlp	kq	Help key.
key_home	khome	kh	Sent by home key.
key_ic	kich1	kI	Sent by insert-character/ enter-insert-mode key.
key_il	kil1	kA	Sent by insert line key.
key_left	kcub1	kl	Sent by terminal left-arrow key.
key_ll	kll	kH	Sent by home-down key.
key_mark	kmrk	%2	Mark key. KEY_MARK
key_message	kmsg	%3	Message key. KEY_MESSAGE
key_move	kmov	%4	Move key. KEY_MOVE
key_newline	knl	kn	New-line key.
key_next	knxt	%5	Next object key. KEY_NEXT
key_next_pane	knpn	kv	Next-pane key.
key_npage	knp	kN	Sent by next-page key.
key_open	kopn	%6	Open key. KEY_OPEN
key_options	kopt	%7	Options key. KEY_OPTIONS
key_ppage	kpp	kP	Sent by previous-page key.
key_prev_pane	kppn	kV	Sent by previous-pane key.
key_prev_cmd	kpcmd	kp	Sent by previous-command key.
key_previous	kprv	%8	Previous object key. KEY_PREVIOUS
key_print	kprt	%9	Print or copy. KEY_PRINT
key_quit	kquit	kQ	Quit key.
key_redo	krdo	%0	Redo key. KEY_REDO
key_reference	kref	&1	Reference key. KEY_REFERENCE
key_refresh	krfr	&2	Refresh key. KEY_REFRESH
key_replace	krpl	&3	Replace key. KEY_REPLACE
key_restart	krst	&4	Restart key. KEY_RESTART
key_resume	kres	&5	Resume key. KEY_RESUME
key_right	kcuf1	kr	Sent by terminal right-arrow key.
key_save	ksav	&6	Save key. KEY_SAVE
key_sbeg	kBEG	&9	Shifted beginning key. KEY_SBEG
key_scancel	kCAN	&0	Shifted cancel key. KEY_SCANCEL
key_scommand	kCMD	*1	Shifted command key. KEY_SCOMMAND
key_scopy	kCPY	*2	Shifted copy key. KEY_SCOPY
key_screate	kCRT	*3	Shifted create key. KEY_SCREATE
key_scroll_left	kscl	kz	Scroll left.
key_scroll_right	kscr	kZ	Scroll right.
key_sdc	kDC	*4	Shifted delete-character key. KEY_SDC
key_sdl	kDL	*5	Shifted delete-line key. KEY_SDL
key_select	kslt	*6	Select key.
key_send	kEND	*7	Shifted end key. KEY_SEND
key_seol	kEOL	*8	Shifted clear-line key. KEY_SEOL
key_sexit	kEXT	*9	Shifted exit key. KEY_SEXIT
key_sf	kind	kF	Sent by scroll-forward/ scroll-down key.
key_sf1	ksf1	S1	Special function key 1.
key_sf2	ksf2	S2	Special function key 2.
key_sf3	ksf3	S3	Special function key 3.
key_sf4	ksf4	S4	Special function key 4.
key_sf5	ksf5	S5	Special function key 5.
key_sf6	ksf6	S6	Special function key 6.
key_sf7	ksf7	S7	Special function key 7.
key_sf8	ksf8	S8	Special function key 8.
key_sf9	ksf9	S9	Special function key 9.
key_sf10	ksf10	S0	Special function key 10.
key_sfind	kFND	*0	Shifted find key. KEY_SFIND
key_shelp	kHLP	#1	Shifted help key. KEY_SHELP
key_shome	kHOM	#2	Shifted home key. KEY_SHOME
key_sic	kIC	#3	Shifted input key. KEY_SIC
key_sleft	kLFT	#4	Shifted left-arrow key. KEY_SLEFT
key_smap_in1	kmpf1	Kv	Input for special mapped key 1.
key_smap_in2	kmpf2	Kw	Input for special mapped key 2.
key_smap_in3	kmpf3	Kx	Input for special mapped key 3.
key_smap_in4	kmpf4	Ky	Input for special mapped key 4.
key_smap_in5	kmpf5	Kz	Input for special mapped key 5.
key_smap_in6	kmpf6	Kr	Input for special mapped key 6.
key_smap_in7	kmpf7	Ks	Input for special mapped key 7.
key_smap_in8	kmpf8	Kt	Input for special mapped key 8.
key_smap_in9	kmpf9	Ku	Input for special mapped key 9.
key_smap_out1	kmpt1	KV	Output for mapped key 1.
key_smap_out2	kmpt2	KW	Output for mapped key 2.
key_smap_out3	kmpt3	KX	Output for mapped key 3.
key_smap_out4	kmpt4	KY	Output for mapped key 4.
key_smap_out5	kmpt5	KZ	Output for mapped key 5.
key_smap_out6	kmpt6	KR	Output for mapped key 6.
key_smap_out7	kmpt7	KS	Output for mapped key 7.
key_smap_out8	kmpt8	KT	Output for mapped key 8.
key_smap_out9	kmpt9	KU	Output for mapped key 9.
key_smessage	kMSG	%a	Shifted message key. KEY_SMESSAGE
key_smove	kMOV	%b	Shifted move key. KEY_SMOVE
key_snext	kNXT	%c	Shifted next key. KEY_SNEXT
key_soptions	kOPT	%d	Shifted options key. KEY_SOPTIONS
key_sprevious	kPRV	%e	Shifted previous key. KEY_SPREVIOUS
key_sprint	kPRT	%f	Shifted print key. KEY_SPRINT
key_sr	kri	kR	Sent by scroll-backward key.
key_redo	kRDO	%g	Shifted redo key. KEY_SREDO
key_replace	kRPL	%h	Shifted replace key. KEY_REPLACE
key_sright	kRIT	%i	Shifted right-arrow key. KEY_SRIGHT
key_srsume	kRES	%j	Shifted resume key. KEY_SRSUME
key_ssave	kSAV	!1	Shifted save key. KEY_SSAVE
key_ssuspend	kSPD	!2	Shifted suspend key. KEY_SSUPEND
key_stab	khts	kT	Sent by set-tab key.
key_sundo	kUND	!3	Shifted undo key. KEY_SUNDO
key_suspend	kspd	&7	Suspend key. KEY_SUSPEND
key_tab	ktab	ko	Tab key.
key_undo	kund	&8	Undo key. KEY_UNDO
key_up	kcuu1	ku	Sent by terminal up-arrow key.
keypad_local	rmkx	ke	Ends keypad transmit mode.
keypad_xmit	smkx	ks	Puts terminal in keypad transmit mode.
lab_f0	lf0	l0	Labels function key F0, if not F0.
lab_f1	lf1	l1	Labels function key F1, if not F1.
lab_f2	lf2	l2	Labels function key F2, if not F2.
lab_f3	lf3	l3	Labels function key F3, if not F3.
lab_f4	lf4	l4	Labels function key F4, if not F4.
lab_f5	lf5	l5	Labels function key F5, if not F5.
lab_f6	lf6	l6	Labels function key F6, if not F6.
lab_f7	lf7	l7	Labels function key F7, if not F7.
lab_f8	lf8	l8	Labels function key F8, if not F8.
lab_f9	lf9	l9	Labels function key F9, if not F9.
lab_f10	lf10	la	Labels function key F10, if not F10.
label_format	fln	Lf	Label format.
label_off	rmln	LF	Turn off soft labels.
label_on	smln	LO	Turn on soft labels.
meta_on	smm	mm	Enables meta mode (8th bit).
meta_off	rmm	mo	Disables meta mode.
micro_column_address	mhpa	ZY	Move N steps from the left.
micro_down	mcud1	ZZ	Move 1 step down.
micro_left	mcub1	Za	Move 1 step left.
micro_right	mcuf1	Zb	Move 1 step right.
micro_row_address	mvpa	Zc	Move N steps from the top.
micro_up	mcuu1	Zd	Move 1 step up.
newline	nel	nw	Performs new-line function (behaves like carriage return followed by line feed).
order_of_pins	porder	Ze	Matches software bits to print-head pins.
orig_colors	oc	oc	Original colors.
orig_pair	op	op	Original color-pair.
pad_char	pad	pc	Pads character (instead of NULL).
parm_dch	dch	DC	Deletes #1 characters. (G)
parm_delete_line	dl	DL	Deletes #1 lines. (G)
parm_down_cursor	cud	DO	Moves cursor down #1 lines. (G*)
parm_down_micro	mcud	Zf	Move N steps down. (G*)
parm_ich	ich	IC	Inserts #1 blank characters. (G*)
parm_index	indn	SF	Scrolls forward #1 lines. (G)
parm_insert_line	il	AL	Adds #1 new blank lines. (G*)
parm_left_cursor	cub	LE	Moves cursor left #1 spaces. (G)
parm_left_micro	mcub	Zg	Move N steps left.
parm_right_cursor	cuf	RI	Moves cursor right #1 spaces. (G*)
parm_right_micro	mcuf	Zh	Move N steps right.
parm_rindex	rin	SR	Scrolls backward #1 lines. (G)
parm_up_cursor	cuu	UP	Moves cursor up #1 lines. (G*)
parm_up_micro	mcuu	Zi	Move N steps up.
pkey_key	pfkey	pk	Programs function key #1 to type string #2.
pkey_local	pfloc	pl	Programs function key #1 to execute string #2.
pkey_xmit	pfx	px	Programs function key #1 to transmit string #2.
plab_norm	pln	pn	Program label #1 to show string #2.
print_screen	mc0	ps	Prints contents of the screen.
prtr_non	mc5p	pO	Enables the printer for #1 bytes.
prtr_off	mc4	pf	Disables the printer.
prtr_on	mc5	po	Enables the printer.
pulse	pulse	PU	Select pulse dialing.
quick_dial	qdial	QD	Dial phone number #1, without progress detection.
remove_clock	rmclk	RC	Remove time-of-day clock.
repeat_char	rep	rp	Repeats #1 character #2 times. (G*)
req_for_input	rfi	RF	Send next input char (for pty's).
reset_1string	rs1	r1	Resets terminal to known modes.
reset_2string	rs2	r2	Resets terminal to known modes.
reset_3string	rs3	r3	Resets terminal to known modes.
reset_file	rf	rf	Identifies the file containing reset string.
restore_cursor	rc	rc	Restores cursor to position of last sc (save_cursor).
row_address	vpa	cv	Positions cursor to an absolute vertical position (set row). (G)
save_cursor	sc	sc	Saves cursor position.
scroll_forward	ind	sf	Scrolls text up.
scroll_reverse	ri	sr	Scrolls text down.
select_char_set	scs	Zj	Select character set.
set_attributes	sgr	sa	Defines the video attributes. (G) #1-#9
set_background	setb	Sb	Set background color.
set_bottom_margin	smgb	Zk	Set soft bottojm margin at current line.
set_bottom_margin_parm	smgbp	Zl	Set soft bottom margin.
set_clock	sclk	SC	Set time-of-day clock.
set_color_pair	scp	sp	Set color pair.
set_foreground	setf	Sf	Set foreground color.
set_left_margin	smgl	ML	Set soft left margin.
set_left_margin_parm	smglp	Zm	Set soft left margin.
set_right_margin	smgr	MR	Set soft right margin.
set_right_margin_parm	smgrp	Zn	Set soft right margin.
set_tab	hts	st	Sets a tab in every row of the current column.
set_top_margin	smgt	Zo	Set top margin at current line.
set_top_margin_parm	smgtp	Zp	Set soft top margin.
set_window	wind	wi	Indicates current window is lines #1-#2, columns #3-#4. (G)
start_bit_image	sbim	Zq	Start printing bit-image graphics.
start_char_set_def	scsd	Zr	Start definition of a character set.
stop_bit_image	rbim	Zs	End printing bit image graphics.
stop_char_set_def	rcsd	Zt	End definition of a character set.
subscript_characters	subcs	Zu	List of charcters that can appear in subscript.
superscript_characters	supcs	Zv	List of characters that can appear in superscript.
tab	ht	ta	Tabs to next 8-space hardware tab stop.
these_cause_cr	docr	Zw	Printing any of these characters cause a carrige return.
tone	tone	TO	Select touch-tone dialing.
to_status_line	tsl	ts	Moves to status line, column #1. (G)
underline_char	uc	uc	Underscores one character and moves beyond it.
up_half_line	hu	hu	Indicates superscript (reverse 1/2 line-feed)
user0	u0	u0	User string 0.
user1	u1	u1	User string 1.
user2	u2	u2	User string 2.
user3	u3	u3	User string 3.
user4	u4	u4	User string 4.
user5	u5	u5	User string 5.
user6	u6	u6	User string 6.
user7	u7	u7	User string 7.
user8	u8	u8	User string 8.
user9	u9	u9	User string 9.
wait_tone	wiat	WA	Wait for dial tone.
xoff_character	xoffc	XF	X-off character.
xon_character	xonc	XN	X-on character.
zero_motion	zerom	Zx	No motion for the subsequent character.

Preparing Descriptions

You can create a terminal description by copying and then modifying the description of a similar terminal. You can check the accuracy of your partial descriptions with the vi editor. Some terminals may reveal bugs in the vi editor as well as deficiencies in the ability of the terminfo database to provide a terminal description.

To test a new terminal description, set the TERMINFO environment variable to the path name of the directory containing the compiled description on which you are working. Programs then check that directory instead of the /usr/share/lib/terminfo directory.

To test for correct padding (if known), do the following:

1. Edit the /etc/passwd file at 9600 baud.
2. Delete about 16 lines from the middle of the screen.
3. Press the u key several times quickly.

   If the terminal fails to display the result properly, more padding is usually needed. You can perform a similar test for insert character.

   Note: Excessive padding slows down the terminal.

Basic Capabilities

This section describes some basic terminal capabilities. If a terminal supports one of these capabilities, the terminal's terminfo source file entry indicates it. The following list is a list of basic capabilities:

If the LINES and COLUMNS environment variables are set, these variables override the values in the terminfo database.

The local cursor motions encoded in the terminfo database files are undefined at the left and top edges of a CRT terminal. Programs should never attempt to backspace around the left edge (unless the bw string is given) or to go up locally off the top.

To scroll text up, a program should go to the bottom left corner of the screen and send the index string. To scroll text down, a program goes to the top left corner of the screen and sends the reverse index string. The index string is specified by the ind capability and the reverse index string is specified by the ri capability. The index string and the reverse index string are undefined when not on their respective corners of the screen.

The am capability determines whether the cursor sticks at the right edge of the screen when text is output, but this does not necessarily apply when the cursor is moved to the right (the cuf1 capability) from the last column. A terminal has local motion from the left edge only if the bw capability is defined. The cursor then goes to the right edge of the previous row when moved to the left (the cub1 capability) from the left edge. If the terminal does not have the bw capability, the effect is undefined, which is useful for drawing a box around the edge of the screen, for example.

A terminal has switch-selectable automatic margins if the am capability is specified. If the terminal has a command that moves to the first column of the next line, you can define the nel (new-line) capability. It does not matter whether the command clears the remainder of the current line. Therefore, if the terminal has no cr and lf, a working nel can still be crafted out of one or both of them.

These capabilities suffice to describe printing terminals and simple CRT terminals. Thus, the Model 33 Teletype is described as:

33 | tty33 | tty | Model 33 Teletype
         bel=^G, cols#72, cr=^M, cud1=^J, hc, ind=^J, os, xon,

Another terminal is described as:

xxxx | x | xxxxxxxx,
        am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
        ind=^J, lines#24,

Parameterized Strings

Cursor-addressing and other strings requiring parameters are described by parameterized string capabilities. These strings have escape sequences similar to the printf %x format. For example, to address the cursor, you specify the cup capability using the row and column parameters.

The parameterized capabilities include:

The parameter mechanism uses a stack and has special % (percent sign) codes to manipulate the stack. Typically, a sequence pushes one of the parameters onto the stack and then prints it in some format. Often, more complex operations are necessary. The encodings have the following meanings:

%? c1 %t b1 %e c2 %t b2 %e c3 %t b3 %e b4 %;

Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands in the usual order. That is, to get x - 5 use %gx%{5}%-.

If you use the - (minus sign) flag with %[doxXs], then you must place a colon between the % (percent sign) and the - (minus sign) to differentiate the flag from the %- binary operation, for example, %:-16.16s.

Consider a terminal that needs to be sent \E&a12c03Y padded for 6 milliseconds to get to row 3 and column 12. Here the order of the rows and columns is inverted, and the row and column are zero-padded as two digits. Thus, the cup capability of this terminal is cup=\E&a%p2%2.2dc%p1%2.2dY$<6>.

Some terminals need the current row and column sent, preceded by a ^T, with the row and column encoded in binary: cup=^T%p1%c%p2%c. Terminals that use %c need to be able to backspace the cursor (cub1) and to move the cursor up one line on the screen (cuu1). This is necessary because it is not always safe to transmit \n, ^D, and \r characters, since the system may change or discard them.

Note: The library routines dealing with the terminfo database files set terminal modes so that tabs are not expanded by the operating system; thus, \t (tab) is safe to send.

A final example is a terminal that uses row and column offset by a blank character: cup=\E=%p1%'\s'%+%c%p2'\s'%+%c. After sending \E=, this operation pushes the first parameter, pushes the ASCII value for a space (32), adds them (pushing the sum on the stack in place of the two previous values), and outputs that value as a character. Then the same is done for the second parameter. More complex arithmetic is possible using the stack.

Cursor Motions

The top left corner of the screen is the home position. If the terminal has a fast way to get the cursor to the home position, specify the home capability. Specify, a fast way of getting to the bottom left corner with the ll capability. This method may involve going up (cuu1) from the home position, but a program should never do this itself (unless ll does) because the effect of moving up from the home position is not certain.

Note: The home position is the same as addressing (0,0) to the top left corner of the screen, not of memory.

If the terminal has row or column absolute-cursor addressing, you should specify the single hpa capability (horizontal position above) and the vpa capability (vertical position absolute). Sometimes these are shorter than the more general two parameter sequence and you can use them instead of the cup capability.

If the terminal has parameterized local motions for example, it is capable of moving the cursor n spaces right, you can specify the cud, cub, cuf, and cuu capabilities with a single parameter indicating how many spaces to move. These capabilities are useful if the terminal does not have the cup capability.

Area Clears

The following capabilities clear large areas of the terminal:

Scrolling

The following insert-line and delete-line capabilities are used to indicate a terminal can:

A terminal that has the csr capability can scroll part of its screen while leaving other lines above and below the region untouched. A forward scroll applied to a region deletes the top of the region, shifts, and adds a line to the bottom of the region. When finished with the scrolling region, you should use the csr capability to restore the scrolling region to the full screen.

Be sure you move the cursor into the scrolling region with the cup capability before you attempt to scroll the region. You should not move the cursor from the region until you are done with it.

Note: If you are using a terminals csr capability, you may also need to use the sc and rc capability.

Terminals that have csr defined have a destructive scrolling region. Once a line is scrolled off the screen, the terminal cannot retrieve it. A terminal with a non-destructive scrolling region can restore scrolled lines by reversing the scrolling. Unless the ind, ri, indn, rin, dl, and dl1 all simulate destructive scrolling, do not specify the csr capability if the terminal has non-destructive scrolling regions.

On multipage terminals, scrolling can put a line onto another page and scrolling in the opposite direction brings the line back. Similarly, deleting a line can cause a line from another page to appear on the screen. Multipage terminals should have the da and db capabilities defined so that program that use scrolling can adjust their behavior.

A few terminals can define a window as part of memory. For these types of terminals, all clearing, deletion, insertion, and wrapping commands affect the area in memory where the window is defined.

Insert or Delete Character

Generally, terminals handle insert/delete character operations in one of two ways. The most common insert/delete character operations affect only the characters on the current line and shift characters to the right and off the line. Other terminals make a distinctions between typed and untyped blanks on the screen. When inserting a character, the displayed data is shifted and an untyped blank is eliminated. Once all the untyped blanks are eliminated, the displayed data wraps to the next line if you continue to insert characters. When deleting a character, an untyped blank is added to the line to compensate for the deleted character.

Generally, terminals insert/delete characters in one-line mode or multiline mode. The two types of terminals also handle untyped spaces differently. One-line mode is the most common mode. In one-line mode, insert/delete character operations affect only the characters on the current line. Insertions shift characters to the right and off the line.

Multiline mode terminals can affect more than one line. In this mode, the terminal makes a distinction between typed and untyped blanks on the screen. Inserting a character on a multiline mode terminal shifts the displayed data and eliminates untyped blanks. If all the untyped blanks are eliminated and you continue to insert characters, the display wraps to the next line. When deleting a character, multiline terminals add an untyped blank to the line to compensate for the deleted character.

Determining Your Terminal's Type

Clearing a screen and then typing text separated by cursor motions helps you determine the type of insert/delete operations your terminal performs. Clear the screen, then proceed as follows:

1. Type abc  def using local cursor movements, not spaces, between the abc and the def.
2. Position the cursor before the abc.
3. Place the terminal in insert mode.
4. Type a line of text. If your typing causes the abc def characters to shift right and exit the right side of the display, the terminal does not distinguish between blanks and untyped positions.

   If the abc moves to positions to the immediate left of the def and the characters move to the right on the line, around the end, and to the next line, the terminal is the second type. This is described by the in capability, which signifies insert null.

Although these two attributes (one-line versus multiline insert mode, and different treatment of untyped spaces) are logically separate, there are no known terminals whose insert mode cannot be described with a single attribute.

Insert or Delete Character Capabilities

The terminfo database describes terminals that have an insert mode as well as terminals that send a simple sequence to open a blank position on the current line. The following are used to describe insert/delete character capabilities:

If you are creating a terminfo description for a terminal that requires an insert mode and also needs a special code to precede each inserted character, then define the smir/rmr, and ich1 capabilities. The ich capability, with the one parameter n, opens up n spaces so that n characters can be inserted.

Highlighting, Underlining, and Visual Bells

If your terminal has one or more kinds of display attributes, such as highlighting, underlining, and visual bells, you can present these in a number of ways. Highlighting, such as standout mode, presents a high-contrast, easy-to-read format that adds emphasis to error messages and other important messages. Underlining is another method to focus attention on a particular portion of the terminal. Visual bells include methods such as flashing the screen. The following capabilities describe highlighting, underlining, and visual bells:

blink

Indicates terminal has blink highlighting mode.

bold

Indicates terminal has extra bright highlighting mode.

civis

Makes the cursor invisible.

cnorm

Displays a normal cursor. This capability reverses the effects of the civis and cvvis capabilities.

cvvis

Makes the cursor more visible than normal when it is not on the bottom line.

dim

Indicates the terminal has half-bright highlighting modes.

eo

Indicates that blanks erase overstrikes.

enacs

Specifies a command string that enables alternate character set mode. Some terminals cannot enter alternate character set mode without first receiving a specific command. The enacs capability defines the command.

flash

Indicates the terminal has a way of making the screen flash (as a bell replacement) for errors, without moving the cursor.

invis

Indicates the terminal has blanking or invisible-text highlighting modes.

msgr

Indicates it is safe to move the cursor in standout mode. Otherwise, programs using standout mode should exit this mode before moving the cursor or sending a new-line. Some terminals automatically leave standout mode when they move to a new line or when the cursor is addressed.

nrrmc

Indicates that the smcup sequence does not restore the screen after a rmcup sequence is output. This means that you cannot restore the screen to the state prior to outputting rmcup.

os

Indicates the terminal can overstrike an existing character without erasing the original. Overstriking creates a compound character.

prot

Indicates the terminal has protected text mode. This means the terminal protects the text from overwriting or erasing. The method of protection is terminal dependent.

rev

Indicates the terminal has reverse-video mode.

rmacs

Exits the alternate character set mode.

rmso

Exits standout mode.

rmul

Ends underlining.

sgr

Provides a sequence to set arbitrary combinations of attributes. The sgr capability can set nine attributes. In order, these attributes are the following:

• standout
• underline
• blink
• dim
• bold
• blank
• protect
• alternate character set

To turn a mode on, set it to a nonzero value. To turn a mode off, set it to 0. The sgr capability can only support those modes for which separate capabilities already exist on the terminal.

sgr0

Turns of all the special modes, including the alternate character set.

smacs

Enters the alternate character set mode.

smcup and rmcup

Indicate the terminal must be in a special mode when running a program that uses any of the highlighting, underlining, or visual bell capabilities. The smcup capability enters this mode, and the rmcup capability exits this mode.

This need arises, for example, with terminals having more than one page of memory. If the terminal has only memory-relative cursor addressing, and not screen-relative cursor addressing, a screen-sized window must be fixed into the terminal for cursor addressing to work properly. This is also used when the smcup capability sets the command character to be used by the terminfo database file.

smso

Enters standout mode.

smul

Begins underlining.

uc

Underlines the current character and moves the cursor one space to the right.

ul

Indicates the terminal correctly generates underlined characters (with no special codes needed), even though it does not overstrike.

xmc

Indicates the number of blanks left if the capability to enter or exit standout mode leaves blank spaces on the screen.

Highlighting, Overstriking, and Underlining

You should choose one display method as standout mode and use it to highlight error messages and other kinds of text to which you want to draw attention. For example, you could choose reverse-video plus half-bright or reverse-video alone. The sequences to enter and exit standout mode are given by the smso and rmso capabilities. If the code to change into or out of standout mode leaves one or even two blank spaces on the screen, then xmc should be given to tell how many spaces are left.

You should specify the ul boolean capability if your terminal generates underlined characters by using the underline character with no special codes. You should specify this capability even if the terminal does not otherwise overstrike characters. For terminals where a character overstriking another leaves both characters on the screen, specify the os capability. If the terminal can erase overstrikes with a blank, then indicate this by specifying the eo capability.

Example of Using the sgr Capability

The following example demonstrates how to use the sgr capability to turn on various modes. Assume that you must define a terminal that requires the following escape sequences to turn on various modes:

Note: Each escape sequence requires a 0 to turn off other modes before turning on its own mode.

You can simulate some modes by combining others. In this example, the standout attribute escape sequence is a combination of the reverse and dim sequences. Also, in the example the bold sequence is a combination of the reverse and underline sequences. To combine such modes as underline and blink, the sequence to use would be \E[0;3;5m.

You cannot simulate certain modes by combining others. For example, you cannot simulate the protect mode. In this example, the system ignores the p8 parameter. The altcharset mode is different in that it is either ^O or ^N, depending on whether the alternate character mode set is on or off. If all modes were turned on, the sequence would appear as \E[0;3;4;5;7;8m^N.

Some sequences are outputted for one or more modes. For example, the ;3 is outputted when either the p2 parameter or p6 parameter is true. If you write out the above sequences along with their dependencies, the result is the following;

The final result would produce a sgr sequence that appears as follows:

sgr=\E[0%?%p2%p6%|%t;3%;%?%p1%p3%|%p6%|%t;4%;%?%p4%t;5;%?%p1%p5%|
%t;7%;%?%p1%t;8%;m%?%p9%t^N%e^O%;,

Keypad

If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes when the keys are pressed, you can define this in the terminfo entry for the terminal. It is not possible to handle terminals where the keypad only works in local mode. If the keypad can be set to transmit or not transmit, give these codes as smkx and rmkx. Otherwise, the keypad is assumed to always transmit.

To define the codes sent by the left-arrow, right-arrow, up-arrow, down-arrow, and home keys, use the kcub1, kcuf1, kcud1, and khome capabilities, respectively. If there are function keys such as F0, F1, ..., F63, the codes they send can be given as the kf0, kf1, ..., kf63 capabilities. If the first eleven keys have labels other than the default F0 through F10, you can specify the labels with the lf0, lf1, ..., lf10 capabilities. The codes transmitted by certain other special keys can be defined with:

In addition, if the keypad has a three-by-three array of keys including the four arrow keys, specify the other five keys as ka1, ka3, kb2 kc1, and kc3. These keys are useful when you need the effects of a three-by-three directional pad.

Strings that program function keys can be given as the pfkey, pfloc, and pfx capabilities. A string to program the soft screen labels can be given as pln. Each of these strings takes two parameters: the function key number to program (from 0 to 10) and the string with which to program it. Function key numbers out of this range can program undefined keys in a terminal-dependent manner. The capabilities differ in that pfkey causes pressing a given key to be the same as the user typing the given string, pfloc causes the string to be executed by the terminal in local mode, and pfx causes the string to be transmitted to the computer. The capabilities nlab, lw, and lh define the number of soft labels and the width and height. Use smln and rmln to specify the commands for turning on and off soft labels. smln is normally output after one or more pln sequences to ensure the change becomes visible.

Tabs and Initialization

If the terminal has hardware tabs, you can use ht capability (usually Ctrl-I) to specify the command to advance to the next tab stop. To specify the command to move left toward the previous tab stop, use the cbt capability. By convention, if the terminal modes indicate that operating system is expanding the tabs rather than sending them to the terminal, programs should not use the ht or cbt capabilities even if they are present, since the user may not have the tab stops properly set.

If the terminal has hardware tabs that are initially set every n spaces when the terminal is powered up, its terminfo description should define the numeric capability it to show the number of spaces the tabs are set to. Normally, the tput init command uses the it parameter to determine whether to set the mode for hardware tab expansion and whether to set the tab stops. If the terminal has tab stops that can be saved in nonvolatile memory, the terminfo description can assume that they are properly set.

Other, similar capabilities include the is1, is2, and is3 initialization strings for the terminal; the iprog capability that specifies the terminal's initialization program, and the if capability that identifies the name of a file containing long initialization strings. These strings are expected to set the terminal into modes consistent with the rest of the terminfo file description. They are normally sent to the terminal by the tput init command each time the user logs in. When the user logs in, the system does the following:

• Runs the iprog program.
• Prints is1.
• Print is2.
• Sets the margins using the mgc, smgl, and smgr capabilities.
• Sets the tabs using tbc and hts capabilities.
• Prints the if file.
• Prints is3.

You can set up special terminal modes without duplicating strings by putting the common sequences in the is2 capability and special cases in the is1 and is3 capabilities. To specify sequences that do a harder reset from a totally unknown state, specify the rs1, rs2, rs3, and rf capabilities that are the same as is1, is2, is3, and the if capabilities.

A few terminals use the if and rf files. However, the recommended method is to use the initialization and reset strings. These strings are output by the tput reset command. This command is used when the terminal starts behaving strangely or is not responding at all. Commands are normally placed in the rs1, rs2, rs3 and rf capabilities only if they produce annoying effects on the screen and are not necessary when logging in. For example, the command to set the terminal into 80-column mode would normally be part of is2, but it causes an annoying screen behavior and is not necessary since most terminals initialize in 80-column mode.

If there are commands to set and clear tab stops, specify them using the tbc (clear all tab stops) and the hts (set a tab stop in the current column of every row) capabilities. If a more complex sequence is needed to set the tabs, the place the sequence in the is2 or the if capability.

The mgc capability can clear any margin. For more information about how to set and clear margins, see Margins.

Miscellaneous Strings

If the terminal requires a character other than a null character as a pad, then specify the pad string. Only the first character of the pad string is used. If a terminal does not have a pad character, specify the npc capability.

If the terminal can move up or down half a line, define the hu (half-line up) and hd (half-line down) capabilities. These capabilities are primarily useful for superscripts and subscripts on hardcopy terminals. If a hardcopy terminal can eject to the next page (form feed), specify the as ff (usually Ctrl-L) capability.

If there is a command to repeat a given character a given number of times (to save time transmitting a large number of identical characters), this can be indicated with the rep parameterized string. The first parameter is the character to be repeated, and the second is the number of times to repeat it. Thus following:

tparm(repeat_char,'x',10)

is the same as

xxxxxxxxxx

If the terminal has a settable command character, such as the Tektronix 4025, indicate this with the cmdch capability. A prototype command character is chosen that is used in all capabilities. This character is given in the cmdch capability to identify it. On some UNIX systems, if the CC environment variable exists, all occurrences of the prototype character are replaced with the character in the CC variable.

Terminal descriptions that do not represent a specific kind of known terminal such as switch, dialup, patch, and network, should include the gn (generic) capability. This capability allows programs to return errors if they cannot talk to the terminal. The gn capability does not apply to virtual terminal descriptions for which the escape sequences are known. If a terminal is supported by the UNIX system virtual terminal protocol, use the vt capability to define its terminal number.

If a terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking for the flow control, its description should include the xon capability. You should still include padding information as well so that routines can make better decisions about costs. However, actual pad characters are not transmitted. To specify sequences to turn on and off xon/xoff handshaking, use the smxon and rmxon capabilities. If the characters used for handshaking are not ^S and ^Q, use the xonc and xoffc capabilities to define them.

If a terminal has a meta key that acts as a shift key to set the eighth bit of any character transmitted, identify the key with the km capability. Otherwise, software assumes that the eighth bit is parity, and it will usually be cleared. If strings exist to turn this meta mode on and off, they can be given as the smm and rmm capabilities.

If a terminal has more lines of memory than fit on the screen at once, use the lm capability to define the number of lines of memory. A value of lm#0 indicates that the number of lines is not fixed, but that there are still more lines of memory than fit on the screen.

Media copy strings that control an auxiliary printer connected to the terminal are identified with the following capabilities:

If the terminal screen does not display the text when the printer is on, specify the mc5i capability to signify a silent printer. All text, including the mc4, is transparently passed to the printer while an mc5p is in effect.

Status Lines

You can use the terminfo entry to indicate that the terminal has an extra status line that is not normally used by software,. If the status line is viewed as an extra line below the bottom line, into which the cursor can be addressed normally, the hs capability should be given. Special strings to go to the beginning of the status line and to return from the status line can be given as the tsl and fsl capabilities, respectively. (The fsl must leave the cursor position in the same place it was before the tsl. If necessary, the sc string and the rc string can be included in tsl and fsl to get this effect.) The tsl capability takes one parameter, which is the column number of the status line to which the cursor is to be moved.

If escape sequences and other special commands, such as tab, work while in the status line, specify the eslok capability. A string that turns off the status line (or otherwise erases its contents) should be given as dsl. If the terminal has commands to save and restore the position of the cursor, give them as sc and rc capabilities. The status line is normally assumed to be the same width as the rest of the screen, such as cols. If the status line is a different width (possibly because the terminal does not allow an entire line to be loaded), the width, in columns, can be indicated with the wsl numeric parameter.

Line Graphics

If the terminal has a line drawing alternate character set, specify the mapping of glyph to character in the acsc capability. The definition of this string is based on the alternate character set used in the DEC VT100 terminal, extended slightly with some characters from the AT&T4410v1 terminal. Use the following to define the string:

The best way to describe a new terminal's line graphics set is to add a third column to the above table with the characters for the new terminal that would produce the appropriate glyph when the terminal is in alternate character set mode. For example:

glyph name               vt100           tty
                         character       character

upper left corner        l               R

lower left corner        m               F

upper right corner       k               T

lower right corner       j               G

horizontal line          q               ,

vertical line            x               .

Then, you specify the acsc capability by specifying the characters from left to right as follows:

acsc=lRmFkTjGq\,x.

Color Manipulation

There are two methods of color manipulation, the HP method and the Tektronix method. Most existing color terminals belong to one of these two classes. The Tektronix method uses a set of N predefined colors (usually 8) from which a user can select current foreground and background colors. Thus, the terminal can support up to N colors mixed into N*N color-pairs that are displayed on the screen at the same time.

The HP method restricts the user from both defining the foreground independently of the background or the background independently of the foreground. Instead, the user must define an entire color-pair at once. Up to M color-pairs, made from 2*M different colors, can be defined this way.

The numeric variables colors and pairs define the number of colors and color-pairs that the terminal can display on the screen at one time. If a terminal can change the definition of a color, you should specify the ccc capability. To change the definition of a color using the Tektronix method, use the initc capability. This capability requires four parameters: a color number ranging from 0 to colors-1 and three Red, Green, Blue (RGB) values ranging from 0 to 1,000.

Tektronix 4100 series terminals use a type of color notation called HLS (Hue Lightness Saturation) instead of RGB color notation. For such terminals, you should define the hls boolean capability. The last three arguments to the initc capability would then be HLS values where H ranges from 0 to 360 and L and S range from 0 to 100.

Note: If a terminal can change the definitions of colors but uses a color notation different from RGB or HLS, you must develop a mapping to either RGB or HLS.

To set current foreground and background to a given color, use the setf and setb capabilities. These capabilities require a single parameter that specifies the number of the color. To use the HP method to initialize a color-pair, use the initp capability. This capability requires seven parameters:

• the number of the color-pair in the range of 0 to pairs -1
• three RGB values for the foreground
• three RGB values fro the background

When you use the initc or initp capabilities, be sure you specify the values in the order red, green, blue or hue, lightness, saturation, respectively. To make a color-pair current, use the scp capability. This capability takes one parameter, the number of the color-pair.

Some terminals erase areas of the screen with the current background color. In such cases, define the bce capability. The op capability contains a sequence for setting the foreground and the background colors to what they were at the terminal start-up time. Similarly, the oc capability contains a control sequence for setting all colors or -pairs to the values they had at the terminal start-up time.

Some color terminals substitute color for video attributes. Such video attributes should not be combined with colors. You should pack information about these video attributes into the ncv capability. There is a one-to-one correspondence between the nine least significant bits of that variable and the video attributes. The following table depicts this correspondence:

When a particular video attribute should not be used with colors, the corresponding ncv bit should be set to 1. Otherwise, set the bit to 0. For example, if the terminal uses colors to simulate reverse video and bold, bits 2 and 5 should be set to 1. The resulting values for ncv will be 22.

Special Cases

Some terminals require special support by the terminfo database. These terminals are not deficient. These terminals have hardware that may be slightly different than what the terminfo database expects of most terminals. Some of the special cases are discussed in this section. The programmer's manual for a terminal should provided all the information you need to code a terminfo description for the terminal.

For terminals that do not allow the ~ (tilde) character, use the hz capability.

Descriptions of terminals that ignore a line-feed character immediately after an am wrap should include the xenl capability. Those terminals whose cursor remains on the right-most column until another character is received rather than wrapping immediately upon receiving the right-most character, should also use the xenl capability.

If el capability is required to get rid of standout (instead of merely writing normal text on top of it), then you should specify xhp capability.

Terminals for which tabs change all moved characters into blanks should indicate the xt capability (destructive tabs). This capability is interpreted to mean that it is not possible to position the cursor on top of the pads inserted for standout mode. Instead, it is necessary to erase standout mode using delete and insert line.

A terminal that is unable to correctly transmit the ESC (escape) or Ctrl-C characters should specify the xsb capability, indicating that the F1 key is used for ESC and the F2 key is used for Ctrl-C.

Other specific terminal problems can be corrected by adding more capabilities.

Similar Terminals

If two terminals are very similar, you can define one as being just like the other with the use string capability. You can also use all of the definitions from an existing description and identify exceptions. The capabilities given before the use capability override those in the terminal type called by the use capability. To cancel a capability place xx@ to the left of the use capability definition, where xx is the capability. For example, the entry:

term-nl | Terminal smkx@, rmkx@, use=term

defines a terminal that does not have either the smkx or the rmkx capability, and hence does not turn on the function key labels when in visual mode. This is useful for different terminal modes or for different user preferences. You can specify more than one use capability.

Printer Capabilities

The terminfo database allows you to define the capabilities of printers as well as terminals. To find out what capabilities are available for printers as well as for terminals, see the two lists under Terminal Capabilities that the list the capabilities by variable and by capability name.

Rounding Values

Because parameterized string capabilities work only with integer values, we recommend that terminfo designers create strings that expect rounded numeric values. Programmers should always round values to the nearest integer before using them with a parameterized string capability.

Printer Resolution

A printer's resolution is the smallest spacing of characters it can achieve. In general, printers have independent resolution horizontally and vertically. To determine the vertical resolution of a printer, measure the smallest achievable distance between consecutive printing baselines. To determine the horizontal resolution, measure the smallest achievable distance between the left-most edges of consecutive printed, identical, characters.

The terminfo database assumes all printers are capable of printing with a uniform horizontal and vertical resolution. The terminfo database currently interacts with printers as if they print inside a uniform matrix. All characters are printed at fixed positions relative to each cell in the matrix. Furthermore, each cell has the same size given by the smallest horizontal and vertical step sizes dictated by the resolution.

Many printers are capable of proportional printing where the horizontal spacing depends on the size of the last character printed. The terminfo database does not make use of this capability, although it does provide enough capability definitions to allow an application to simulate proportional printing.

A printer must not only be able to print characters as close together as the horizontal and vertical resolutions suggest, but also of moving to a position that is an integral multiple of the smallest distance away from a previous position. Thus, printed characters can be spaced apart a distance that is an integral multiple of the smallest distance, up to the length of width of a single page.

Some printers can have different resolutions depending on different modes. In normal mode, the existing terminfo capabilities are assumed to work on columns and lines, just like a video terminal. For example, the old lines capability specify the length of a page in lines, and the cols capability specifies the width of a page in columns. In micro mode many terminfo capabilities work on increments of lines and columns. With some printers, the micro mode may exist concurrently with normal mode, so that all the capabilities work at the same time.

Specifying Printer Resolution

You can specify a printer's printing resolution with several different capabilities. Each capability specifies distance in a different way. The following capabilities define print resolution:

When printing in normal mode, each character printed causes the printer to move to the next column, except in special cases described later. The distance moved is the same as the per-column resolution. Some printers cause an automatic movement to the next line when a character is printed in the rightmost position. The vertical distance moved is the same as the per-line resolution. When printing in micro mode, these distances can be different, and may be zero for some printers. The following specify printer resolution automatic motion after printing:

Some printers can print wide characters. The distance moved when a wide character is printed in normal mode may be different from when a regular width character is printed. The distance moved when a wide character is printed in micro mode may also be different from when a regular character is printed in micro mode, but the differences are assumed to be related.

If the distance moved for a regular character is the same in normal mode or micro mode (mcs=ocs), then the distance moved for a wide character is also the same in both modes. This does not mean the normal character distance is necessarily the same as the wide character distance, just that the distances do not change with a change from normal to micro mode. Use the widcs capability to specify the printer resolution when the automatic motion after printing a wide character is the same in both normal or micro mode.

If the distance moved for a regular character is different in micro mode from the distance moved in normal mode (mcs<orc), you can assume the micro mode distance is the same for a wide character printed in micro mode. In this case, you use the mcs capability to specify the distance moved. The printer uses the value you specify for both regular and wide characters

A printer may use control sequences to change the number of columns per inch (the character pitch) and to change the number of lines per inch (the line pitch). If these are used, the resolution of the printer changes but the type of change depends on the printer.

The cpi and lpi string capabilities have a single argument, the pitch in columns (or characters) and lines per inch, respectively. The chr capability and cvr string capabilities each have a single argument, the number of steps per column and line, respectively.

Using any of the control sequences in these strings implies a change in some of the values of the orc, orhi, orl, and orvi capabilities. Also, the distance moved when a wide character is printed, specified by the widcs capability, changes in relation to the orc value. The distance moved when a character is printed in micro mode, mcs, changes similarly, with one exception: if the distance is 0 or 1, then no change is assumed.

Programs that use the cpi, lpi, chr, or cvr capability should recalculate the printer resolution and should recalculate other values. For more information, see Effect of Changing Printing Resolution .

The figure "Specification of Printer Resolution Effects of Changing the Character/Line Pitches" on page *** shows the effects on printer resolution before and after a change.

Figure 2-2. . This illustration shows the effects of changing characterpitch and line pitch on printer resolution.

Vcpi, Vlpi, Vchr, and Vcvr are the arguments used with cpi, lpi, chr, and cvr respectively. The dagger symbol indicates the old value.

Capabilities that Cause Movement

In the following descriptions, movement refers to the motion of the current position. With video terminals this would be the cursor; with some printers this is the carriage position. Other printers have different equivalents. In general, the current position is where a character would be displayed if printed.

The terminfo database has string capabilities for control sequences that cause movement a number of full columns or lines. It also has equivalent string capabilities for control sequences that cause movement a number of small steps. The following are the string capabilities for motion:

The last six strings are each used with a single N argument.

Sometimes the motion is limited to less than the width or length of a page. Also, some printers do not accept absolute motion to the left of the current position. The following capabilities limit motion:

If a printer needs to be in micro mode for the motion capabilities to work, you can define a string capability to contain the control sequence to enter and exit micro mode. A boolean is available for those printers where using a carriage return causes an automatic return to normal mode. The following capabilities are related to micro mode behavior:

The movement made when a character is printed in the rightmost position varies among printers. Some make no movement, some move to the beginning of the next line, others move to the beginning of the same line. The terminfo database has boolean capabilities that description all three cases. The sam capability specifies that the printer automatically moves to the beginning of the same line after the character is printed in the rightmost margin.

Some printers can be put in a mode where the normal direction of motion is reversed. This mode is especially useful when there exists no capabilities for leftward or upward motion, you can build these capabilities from the motion reversal capability and the rightward or downward motion capabilities. It is best to leave it up to an application to build the leftward or upward capabilities, though, and not enter them into to the terminfo database. This allows several reverse motions to be strung together without intervening wasted steps that leave and reenter reverse mode. The following capabilities control entering and exiting reverse modes:

The following capabilities affect the screen while the horizontal motions are reversed:

The following capabilities affect the screen whilethe vertical motions are reversed:

The reverse motion mode should not affect the mvpa and mhpa absolute motion capabilities. The reverse vertical motion mode should, however, also reverse the action of the line wrapping that occurs when a character is printed in the right-most position. Thus printers that have the standard terminfo capability am defined should move to the beginning of the previous line when a character is printed on the right-most position and the printer is in reverse-vertical motion mode.

The action when any other motion capabilities are used in reverse motion modes is not defined. Thus, programs must exit reverse motion modes before using other motion capabilities.

Two miscellaneous capabilities complete the list of new motion capabilities, the docr and the zerom capability. The docr capability provides a list of control characters that cause a carriage return. This capability is useful for printers that move the current position to the beginning of a line when certain control characters, like line-feed or form-feed are used. The zerom capability prevents automatic motion after printing a single character. This capability suspends the motion that normally occurs after printing a character.

Margins

The terminfo database provides two strings for setting margins on terminals: one for the left and one for the right margin. Printers, however, have two additional margins for the top and bottom margins of each page. Furthermore, some printers do not require using motion strings to move the current position to a margin and fixing the margin there, as with existing capabilities, but require the specification of where a margin should be regardless of the current position. Therefore, the terminfo database offers six additional strings for defining margins with printers. The following capabilities affect margins:

The last four strings are used with a single N parameter. This parameter specifies a line or column number, where 0 is the top line and column 0 is the left-most column.

Note: Not all printers use 0 for the top line or the left-most column.

All margins can be cleared with the mgc capability.

Shadows, Italics, Wide Characters, Superscripts, and Subscripts

Five new sets of strings are used to describe the capabilities that printers have of enhancing printed text. The following define enhanced printing capabilities:

If a printer requires the sshm control sequence before every character to be shadow-printed, the rshm string is left blank. Thus, programs that find a control sequence in sshm but none in shadow printing mode should use the control sequence specified by the sshm capability before every character to be shadow printed. Otherwise, the control sequence should be used once before the set of characters to be shadow-printed, followed by exiting shadow-printing mode.

The terminfo database also has a capability for printing emboldened text, the bold capability. While shadow printing and emboldened printing are similar in that they darken the text, many printers produce these two types of print in slightly different ways. Generally emboldened printing is done by overstriking the same character one or more times. Shadow printing likewise usually involves overstriking, but with a slight movement up and/or to the side so that the character is fatter.

It is assumed that enhanced printing modes are independent modes, so that it would be possible, for instance, to shadow print italicized subscripts.

As mentioned earlier, the amount of motion automatically made after printing a wide character should be given in the widcs capability.

If only a subset of the printable ASCII characters can be printed as superscripts or subscripts, they should be listed in the supcs or subcs capabilities, respectively. If the ssupm or ssubm strings contain control sequences, but the corresponding supcs or subcs strings are empty, it is assumed that all printable ASCII characters are available as superscripts or subscripts.

Automatic motion made after printing a superscript or subscript is assumed to be the same as for regular characters. For example, printing any of the following result in equivalent motion:

Bi Bi Bi

The boolean capability msgr describes whether an application can use motion control sequences while in standout mode. This capability is extended to cover the enhanced printing modes added here. The mgsr capability should be set for those printers that accept any motion control sequences without affecting shadow, italicized, widened, superscript, or subscript printing. Conversely, if the mgsr capability is not set, a program should end these modes before attempting any motion.

Alternate Character Sets

In addition to allowing you to define line graphics, the terminfo database also lets you define alternate character sets. The following capabilities cover printers and terminals with multiple selectable or definable character sets:

Character set 0 is the default character set. This is the set that is present after the printer is initialized. Not every printer supports 64 character sets. If you specify a set that a printer does not support, the tparm subroutine returns a null result.

If your application must define a character before using it, use the scsd control sequence before defining the character set, and the rcsd after. If you specify an invalid character set for either of these capabilities, the tparm subroutine returns a null resolution. If your application must select a character set after it is defined, the scs control sequence should follow the rcsd control sequence. By examining the results of using each of the scs, scsd, and rcsd strings with a character set number in a call to the tparm subroutine, a program can determine which of the three are needed.

Between use of the scsd and rcsd strings, the defc string should be used to define each character. To print any character on printers defined in the terminfo database, the ASCII cod is sent to the printer. This is true for characters in an alternate set as well as normal characters. Thus, the definition of a character includes the ASCII code that represents it. In addition, the width of the character includes the ASCII code that represents it. In addition, the width of the character in dots is given, along with tan indication of whether the character is a descender. A descender is a character whose shape extends below the baseline, for example the character g is a descender. The width of the character is dots also indicates the number of image-data bytes that will follow the defc string. These image-data bytes indicate where in a dot-matrix pattern ink should be applied to draw the character. The number of these bytes and their form are defined below under Dot-Mapped Graphics.

It is easiest for the creator of terminfo entries to refer to each character set by number. However, these numbers will be meaningless to the application developer. The csnm capability alleviates this problem by providing names for each number.

When used with a character set number in a call to the tparm subroutine, the csnm capability produces the equivalent name. Use these names as a references only. No naming convention is implied, although anyone who creates a terminfo entry for a printer should use names consistent with the names found in user documents for the printer. Application developers should allow a user to specify a character set by number (leaving it up to the user to examine the csnm string to determine the correct number), or by name, where the application examines the csnm capability to determine the corresponding character set number.

The alternate character set capabilities are likely to be used only with dot-matrix printers. If they are not available, do not define these strings. For printers that have manually changed print-wheels or font cartridges, set the boolean daisy capability.

Dot-Matrix Graphics

Dot-matrix printers typically have the capability to reproduce raster-graphics images. Three new numeric capabilities and three new string capabilities can help a program draw raster-graphic images independent of the type of dot-matrix printer or the number of pins or dots the printer can handle at one time. The dot-matrix capabilities are as follows:

The model of dot-matrix or raster-graphics that the terminfo database presents is similar to the technique used for most dot-matrix printers. Each pass of the printer's print-head is assumed to produce a dot-matrix that is N dots high and B dots wide. This is typically a wide, squat, rectangle of dots. The height of this rectangle in dots varies from one printer to the next. This is given in the npins numeric capability. The size of the rectangle in fractions of an inch will also vary. The size can be deduced from the spinv and spinh numeric capabilities. With these three values an application can divide a complete raster-graphics image into several horizontal strips, perhaps interpolating to account for different dot spacing vertically and horizontally.

The sbim and rbim capabilities are used to start and end a dot-matrix image, respectively. The sbim capability is used with a single argument that gives the width of the dot-matrix in dots. A sequence of image-data bytes are sent to the printer after the sbim capability and before the rbim string. The number of bytes is an integral multiple of the width of the dot-matrix. The multiple and the form of each byte is determined by the porder capability is described below.

The porder capability is a comma-separated list of pin numbers. The position of each pin number in the list corresponds to a bit in a data byte. The pins are numbered consecutively from 1 to npins, with 1 being the top pin. The term pin is used loosely here. Ink-jet dot matrix printers don't have pins but they do have an equivalent method of applying a single dot of ink to paper. The bit positions in porder are in groups of 8, with the first position in each group the most significant bit and the last position the least significant bit.

The image-data bytes are computed from the dot-matrix image, mapping vertical dot positions in each print-head pass into eight-bit bytes, using a 1 bit where ink should be applied and 0 where no ink should be applied. If a position is skipped in porder, a 0 bit is used. There must be a multiple of 8 bit positions used or skipped in porder. If not, 0 bits are used to fill the last byte in the least significant bits.

Effect of Changing Printing Resolution

If the control sequences to change the character pitch or the line pitch are used, the pin or dot spacing may change. The following capabilities change pitch on dot-matrix graphics:

Programs that use cpi or lpi should recalculate the dot spacing. The figure "Dot-Matrix Graphics Effects of Changing the Character/Line Pitches" on page *** shows graphics both before and after a change in pitch.

Figure 2-3. . This illustration shows the effects of changing character pitch and line pitch on dot-matrix graphics.

The orhi' and orhi values are the values of the horizontal resolution in steps per inch, before using cpi and after using cpi, respectively. Likewise, orvi' and orvi are the values of the vertical resolution in steps per inch, before using lpi and after using lpi, respectively. Thus, the changes in the dots per inch for dot-matrix graphics follow the changes in steps per inch for printer resolution.

Print Quality

Many dot-matrix printers can alter the dot spacing of printed text to produce near letter-quality printing or draft-quality printing. Usually, it is important to be able to choose one or the other because the rate of printing generally falls off as the quality improves. The capabilities that specify print quality are the following:

The capabilities are listed in decreasing levels of quality. If a printer does not have all three levels, one or two of the strings should be left blank as appropriate.

Printing Rate and Buffer Size

Because there is no standard protocol that synchronizes a printer with a program, and because modern printers can buffer data before printing it, a program generally cannot determine at any time what has printed. Two new numeric capabilities can help a program estimate what has printed, the cps and bufsz capabilities.

The cps capability specifies the nominal print rate in characters per second. The cps capability is the nominal or average rate at which the printer prints characters. If this value is not given, estimate the rate at one-tenth the prevailing baud rate.

The bufsz capability defines a terminal's buffer capacity in characters. The bufsz value is the maximum number of subsequent characters buffered before the guaranteed printing of an earlier character, assuming proper flow control was used. If this value is not given it is assumed that the printer does not buffer characters, but prints them as they are received.

As an example, if a printer has a 1000-character buffer, then sending the letter "a" followed by 1000 additional characters is guaranteed to cause the letter "a" to print. If the same printer prints at the rate of 100 characters per second, then it should take 10 seconds to print all the characters in the buffer, less if the buffer is not full. By keeping track of the characters sent to a printer, and knowing the print rate and buffer size, a program can synchronize itself with the printer.

Most printer manufacturers advertise the maximum print rate, not the nominal print rate. A good way to get a value to put in for cps is to generate a few pages of text, count the number of printable characters, then see how long it takes to print the text.

Applications that use these values should recognize the variability in the print rate. Straight text, in short lines, with no embedded control sequences will probably print at close to the advertised print rate and probably faster than the rate in cps. Graphics data with a lot of control sequences, or very long lines of text, will print at well below the advertised rate and below the rate in cps. If the application is using cps to decide how long it should take a printer to print a block of text, the application should pad the estimate. If the application is using cps to decide how much text has already been printed, it should shrink the estimate. The application errs in favor of the user, who wants, above all, to see all the output in its correct place.

Database File Names

Compiled terminfo file descriptions are placed in subdirectories under the /usr/share/lib/terminfo directory to avoid performing linear searches through a single directory containing all of the terminfo file description files. A given description file is stored in the /usr/share/lib/terminfo/c/name file, where name is the name of the terminal, and c is the first letter of the terminal name. For example, the compiled description for the terminal term4-nl can be found in the file /usr/share/lib/terminfo/t/term4-nl. You can create synonyms for the same terminal by making multiple links to the same compiled file. (See the ln command on how to create multiple links to a file.)

Example

The following terminfo entry describes a terminal:

hft|High Function Terminal,
    cr=^M, cud1=\E[B, ind=\E[S, bel=^G, il1=\E[L, am,
    cub1=^H, ed=\E[J, el=\E[K, clear=\E[H\E[J,
    cup=\E[%ip1%d;%p2%dH, cols#80, lines=#25,
    dch1=\E[P, dl1=\E[M, home=\E[H,
    ich=\E[%p1%d@, ich1=\E[@, smir=\E[6, rmir=\E6,
    bold=\E[1m, rev=\E[7m, blink=\E[5m, invis=\E[8m, sgr0=\E[0m,
    sgr=\E[%?%p1%t7;%;%?%p2%t4;%;%?%p3%t7;%;%?%p4%t5;%;%?%p6t1;%;m,
    kcuu1=\E[A, kcud1=\E[B, kcub1=\E[D,
    kcuf1=\E[C, khome=\E[H, kbs=^H,
    cuf1=\E[C, ht=^I, cuu1=\E[A, xon,
    rmul1=\E[m, smul=\E[4m, rmso=\E[m, smso=\E[7m,
    kpp=\E[150q, knp=\E[154q,
    kf1=\E[001q, kf2=\E[002q, kf3=\E[003q, kf4=\E[004q,
    kf5=\E[005q, kf6=\E[006q, kf7=\E[007q, kf8=\E[008q,
    kf9=\E[009q, kf10=\E[010q,
    bw, eo, it#8, ms,
    ch=\E%i%p1%dG, ech=\E[%p15dx,
    kdch1=\E[P, kind=\E[151q, kich1=\E[139q, kimr=\E[41,
    kn=^M, ko=^I, ktab=\E[Z, kri=\E[155q,
    cub=\E[%p1%dD, cuf=\E[%p1%dC, indn=\E[%p1dS, rin=\E[%p1%dT,
    ri=\E[T, cuu=\E[%p1%dA,
    box1=332\304\277\263\331\300\302\264\301\303\305,
    box2=311\315\273\272\274\310\313\271\312\314\316,
    batt2=md,
    colf0=\E[30m, colf1=\E[31m, colf2=\E[32m, colf3=\E[33m,
    colf4=\E[34m, colf5=\E[35m, colf6=\E[36m, colf7=\E[37m,
    colb0=\E[40m, colb1=\E[41m, colb2=\E[42m, colb3=\E[43m,
    colb4=\E[44m, colb5=\E[45m, colb6=\E[46m, colb7=\E[47m,

The following terminfo entry describes a terminal:

ibm3161|ibm3163|wy60-316X|wyse60-316X|IBM 3161/3163 display,
        am,             mir,            cr=^M,          ind=^J,
        cols#80,        it#8,           lines#24,
kich1=\EP\040\010,
        ed=\EJ,         el=\EI,         cup=\EY%p1%' '%+%c%p2%'
'%+%c,
        clear=\EH\EJ,   dch1=\EQ,       dl1=\EO,        cud1=\EB,
        cub1=\ED,       blink=\E4D,     bold=\E4H,
sgr0=\E4@\E<@,
        invis=\E4P,     rev=\E4A,       cuf1=\EC,
rmso=\E4@,
        smso=\E4A,      rmul=\E4@,      cuu1=\EA,
smul=\E4B,
        sgr=\E4%'@'%?%p1%t%'A'%|%;
                   %?%p2%t%'B'%|%;
                   %?%p3%t%'A'%|%;
                   %?%p4%t%'D'%|%;
                   %?%p5%t%'@'%|%;
                   %?%p6%t%'H'%|%;
                   %?%p7%t%'P'%|%;%c
                   %?%p9%t\E>A%e\E<@%;,
        box1=\354\361\353\370\352\355\367\365\366\364\356,
        box2=\354\361\353\370\352\355\367\365\366\364\356,
batt2=md,
        ktbc=\E\0401,   kil1=\EN,       kbs=^H,
kclr=\EL^M,
        kcud1=\EB,      kdch1=\EQ,      kel=\EI,
khome=\EH,
        kcub1=\ED,      kdl1=\EO,       ktab=^I,        kcbt=\E2,
        kcuf1=\EC,      ked=\EJ,        kctab=\E1,      khts=\E0,
        kcuu1=\EA,      knl=\r,         kact=\E8\r,
        kf1=\Ea\r,      kf2=\Eb\r,      kf3=\Ec\r,
kf4=\Ed\r,
        kf5=\Ee\r,      kf6=\Ef\r,      kf7=\Eg\r,
kf8=\Eh\r,
        kf9=\Ei\r,      kf10=\Ej\r,     kf11=\Ek\r,
kf12=\El\r,
        kf13=\E!a\r,    kf14=\E!b\r,    kf15=\E!c\r,
kf16=\E!d\r,
        kf17=\E!e\r,    kf18=\E!f\r,    kf19=\E!g\r,
kf20=\E!h\r,
        kf21=\E!i\r,    kf22=\E!j\r,    kf23=\E!k\r,
kf24=\E!l\r,
        smcup=\E>A,     rmcup=\E>A,     msgr,
        home=\EH,       bel=^G, mc5=^P^R, mc4=^P^T,
    

Implementation Specifics

The terminfo database is part of Base Operating System (BOS) Runtime.

Files

Related Information

The captoinfo command, infocmp command, tic command.

The printf, fprintf, or sprintf subroutine.

Curses Overview for Programming in AIX 5L Version 5.1 General Programming Concepts: Writing and Debugging Programs.