INFOCMP(1M) (Terminal Information Utilities) INFOCMP(1M)
NAME
infocmp - compare or print out terminfo descriptions
SYNOPSIS
infocmp [-d] [-c] [-n] [-I] [-L] [-C] [-r] [-u] [-s d|i|l|c]
[-v] [-V] [-1] [-w width] [-A directory] [-B directory]
[termname ...]
DESCRIPTION
infocmp can be used to compare a binary terminfo(4) entry
with other terminfo entries, rewrite a terminfo(4)
description to take advantage of the use= terminfo field, or
print out a terminfo(4) description from the binary file
(term(4)) in a variety of formats. In all cases, the
boolean fields will be printed first, followed by the
numeric fields, followed by the string fields.
Default Options
If no options are specified and zero or one termnames are
specified, the -I option will be assumed. If more than one
termname is specified, the -d option will be assumed.
Comparison Options [-d] [-c] [-n]
infocmp compares the terminfo(4) description of the first
terminal termname with each of the descriptions given by the
entries for the other terminal's termnames. If a capability
is defined for only one of the terminals, the value returned
will depend on the type of the capability: F for boolean
variables, -1 for integer variables, and NULL for string
variables.
-d produce a list of each capability that is different.
In this manner, if one has two entries for the same
terminal or similar terminals, using infocmp will
show what is different between the two entries.
This is sometimes necessary when more than one
person produces an entry for the same terminal and
one wants to see what is different between the two.
-c produce a list of each capability that is common
Page 1 May 1989
INFOCMP(1M) (Terminal Information Utilities) INFOCMP(1M)
between the two entries. Capabilities that are not
set are ignored. This option can be used as a quick
check to see if the -u option is worth using.
-n produce a list of each capability that is in neither
entry. If no termnames are given, the environment
variable TERM will be used for both of the
termnames. This can be used as a quick check to see
if anything was left out of the description.
Source Listing Options [-I] [-L] [-C] [-r]
The -I, -L, and -C options will produce a source listing for
each terminal named.
-I use the terminfo(4) names
-L use the long C variable name listed in <term.h>
-C use the termcap names
-r when using -C, put out all capabilities in termcap
form
If no termnames are given, the environment variable TERM
will be used for the terminal name.
The source produced by the -C option may be used directly as
a termcap entry, but not all of the parameterized strings
may be changed to the termcap format. infocmp will attempt
to convert most of the parameterized information, but that
which it doesn't will be plainly marked in the output and
commented out. These should be edited by hand.
All padding information for strings will be collected
together and placed at the beginning of the string where
termcap expects it. Mandatory padding (padding information
with a trailing '/') will become optional.
All termcap variables no longer supported by terminfo(4),
but which are derivable from other terminfo(4) variables,
Page 2 May 1989
INFOCMP(1M) (Terminal Information Utilities) INFOCMP(1M)
will be output. Not all terminfo(4) capabilities will be
translated; only those variables which were part of termcap
will normally be output. Specifying the -r option will take
off this restriction, allowing all capabilities to be output
in termcap form.
Note that because padding is collected to the beginning of
the capability, not all capabilities are output, mandatory
padding is not supported, and termcap strings were not as
flexible, it is not always possible to convert a terminfo(4)
string capability into an equivalent termcap format. Not
all of these strings will be able to be converted. A
subsequent conversion of the termcap file back into
terminfo(4) format will not necessarily reproduce the
original terminfo(4) source.
Some common terminfo parameter sequences, their termcap
equivalents, and some terminal types which commonly have
such sequences, are:
Terminfo Termcap Representative Terminals
%p1%c %. adm
%p1%d %d hp, ANSI standard, vt100
%p1%'x'%+%c %+x concept
%i %i ANSI standard, vt100
%p1%?%'x'%>%t%p1%'y'%+%; %>xy concept
%p2 is printed before %p1 %r hp
Use= Option [-u]
-u produce a terminfo(4) source description of the
first terminal termname which is relative to the sum
of the descriptions given by the entries for the
other terminals termnames. It does this by
analyzing the differences between the first termname
and the other termnames and producing a description
with use= fields for the other terminals. In this
manner, it is possible to retrofit generic terminfo
entries into a terminal's description. Or, if two
similar terminals exist, but were coded at different
Page 3 May 1989
INFOCMP(1M) (Terminal Information Utilities) INFOCMP(1M)
times or by different people so that each
description is a full description, using infocmp
will show what can be done to change one description
to be relative to the other.
A capability will get printed with an at-sign (@) if it no
longer exists in the first termname, but one of the other
termname entries contains a value for it. A capability's
value gets printed if the value in the first termname is not
found in any of the other termname entries, or if the first
of the other termname entries that has this capability gives
a different value for the capability than that in the first
termname.
The order of the other termname entries is significant.
Since the terminfo compiler tic(1M) does a left-to-right
scan of the capabilities, specifying two use= entries that
contain differing entries for the same capabilities will
produce different results depending on the order that the
entries are given in. infocmp will flag any such
inconsistencies between the other termname entries as they
are found.
Alternatively, specifying a capability after a use= entry
that contains that capability will cause the second
specification to be ignored. Using infocmp to recreate a
description can be a useful check to make sure that
everything was specified correctly in the original source
description.
Another error that does not cause incorrect compiled files,
but will slow down the compilation time, is specifying extra
use= fields that are superfluous. infocmp will flag any
other termname use= fields that were not needed.
Other Options [-s d|i|l|c] [-v] [-V] [-1] [-w width]
-s sort the fields within each type according to the
argument below:
d leave fields in the order that they are stored
Page 4 May 1989
INFOCMP(1M) (Terminal Information Utilities) INFOCMP(1M)
in the terminfo database.
i sort by terminfo name.
l sort by the long C variable name.
c sort by the termcap name.
If no -s option is given, the fields printed out
will be sorted alphabetically by the terminfo name
within each type, except in the case of the -C or
the -L options, which cause the sorting to be done
by the termcap name or the long C variable name,
respectively.
-v print out tracing information on standard error as
the program runs.
-V print out the version of the program in use on
standard error and exit.
-1 cause the fields to printed out one to a line.
Otherwise, the fields will be printed several to a
line to a maximum width of 60 characters.
-w change the output to width characters.
Changing Databases [-A directory] [-B directory]
The location of the compiled terminfo(4) database is taken
from the environment variable TERMINFO. If the variable is
not defined, or the terminal is not found in that location,
the system terminfo(4) database, usually in
/usr/lib/terminfo, will be used. The options -A and -B may
be used to override this location. The -A option will set
TERMINFO for the first termname and the -B option will set
TERMINFO for the other termnames. With this, it is possible
to compare descriptions for a terminal with the same name
located in two different databases. This is useful for
comparing descriptions for the same terminal created by
different people. Otherwise the terminals would have to be
Page 5 May 1989
INFOCMP(1M) (Terminal Information Utilities) INFOCMP(1M)
named differently in the terminfo(4) database for a
comparison to be made.
FILES
/usr/lib/terminfo/?/* compiled terminal description database
DIAGNOSTICS
malloc is out of space!
There was not enough memory available to process
all the terminal descriptions requested. Run
infocmp several times, each time including a
subset of the desired termnames.
use= order dependency found:
A value specified in one relative terminal
specification was different from that in another
relative terminal specification.
A relative terminal name did not contribute anything to the final
description.
done.
must have at least two terminal names for a comparison to be
The -u, -d and -c options require at least two
terminal names.
SEE ALSO
tic(1M), curses(3X), term(4), terminfo(4) in the
Programmer's Reference Manual.
captoinfo(1M) in the System Administrator's Reference
Manual.
Chapter 10 of the Programmer's Guide.
NOTE
The termcap database (from earlier releases of UNIX System
V) may not be supplied in future releases.
Page 6 May 1989