TERM(5) TERM(5)
NAME
term - conventional names for terminals
DESCRIPTION
These names are used by certain commands (e.g., man(1),
tabs(1), tput(1), vi(1) and curses(3X)) and are maintained
as part of the shell environment in the environment variable
TERM (see sh(1), profile(4), and environ(5)).
Entries in terminfo(4) source files consist of a number of
comma-separated fields. (To obtain the source description
for a terminal, use the -I option of infocmp(1M).) White
space after each comma is ignored. The first line of each
terminal description in the terminfo(4) database gives the
names by which terminfo(4) knows the terminal, separated by
bar ( | ) characters. The first name given is the most
common abbreviation for the terminal (this is the one to use
to set the environment variable TERMINFO in $HOME/.profile;
see profile(4)), the last name given should be a long name
fully identifying the terminal, and all others are
understood as synonyms for the terminal name. All names but
the last should contain no blanks and must be unique in the
first 14 characters; the last name may contain blanks for
readability.
Terminal names (except for the last, verbose entry) should
be chosen using the following conventions. The particular
piece of hardware making up the terminal should have a root
name chosen, for example, for the AT&T 4425 terminal,
att4425. This name should not contain hyphens, except that
synonyms may be chosen that do not conflict with other
names. Up to 8 characters, chosen from [a-z0-9], make up a
basic terminal name. Names should generally be based on
original vendors, rather than local distributors. A
terminal acquired from one vendor should not have more than
one distinct basic name. Terminal sub-models, operational
modes that the hardware can be in, or user preferences,
should be indicated by appending a hyphen and an indicator
of the mode. Thus, an AT&T 4425 terminal in 132 column mode
would be att4425-w. The following suffixes should be used
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TERM(5) TERM(5)
where possible:
Suffix Meaning Example
-w Wide mode (more than 80 columns) att4425-w
-am With auto. margins (usually default) vt100-am
-nam Without automatic margins vt100-nam
-n Number of lines on the screen aaa-60
-na No arrow keys (leave them in local) c100-na
-np Number of pages of memory c100-4p
-rv Reverse video att4415-rv
To avoid conflicts with the naming conventions used in
describing the different modes of a terminal (e.g., -w), it
is recommended that a terminal's root name not contain
hyphens. Further, it is good practice to make all terminal
names used in the terminfo(4) database unique. Terminal
entries that are present only for inclusion in other entries
via the use= facilities should have a '+' in their name, as
in 4415+nl.
Some of the known terminal names may include the following
(for a complete list, type: ls -C /usr/lib/terminfo/?):
155 Motorola EXORterm 155
2621,hp2621 Hewlett-Packard 2621 series
2631 Hewlett-Packard 2631 line printer
2631-c Hewlett-Packard 2631 line printer - compressed mode
2631-e Hewlett-Packard 2631 line printer - expanded mode
2640,hp2640 Hewlett-Packard 2640 series
2645,hp2645 Hewlett-Packard 2645 series
3270 IBM Model 3270
33,tty33 AT&T Teletype Model 33 KSR
35,tty35 AT&T Teletype Model 35 KSR
37,tty37 AT&T Teletype Model 37 KSR
4000a Trendata 4000a
4014,tek4014 TEKTRONIX 4014
40,tty40 AT&T Teletype Dataspeed 40/2
43,tty43 AT&T Teletype Model 43 KSR
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TERM(5) TERM(5)
4410,5410 AT&T 4410/5410 terminal in 80-column mode - version 2
4410-nfk,5410-nfk AT&T 4410/5410 without function keys - version 1
4410-nsl,5410-nsl AT&T 4410/5410 without pln defined
4410-w,5410-w AT&T 4410/5410 in 132-column mode
4410v1,5410v1 AT&T 4410/5410 terminal in 80-column mode - version 1
4410v1-w,5410v1-w AT&T 4410/5410 terminal in 132-column mode - version 1
4415,5420 AT&T 4415/5420 in 80-column mode
4415-nl,5420-nl AT&T 4415/5420 without changing labels
4415-rv,5420-rv AT&T 4415/5420 80 columns in reverse video
4415-rv-nl,5420-rv-nl AT&T 4415/5420 reverse video without changing labels
4415-w,5420-w AT&T 4415/5420 in 132-column mode
4415-w-nl,5420-w-nl AT&T 4415/5420 in 132-column mode without changing
labels
4415-w-rv,5420-w-rv AT&T 4415/5420 132 columns in reverse video
4415-w-rv-nl,5420-w-rv-nl AT&T 4415/5420 132 columns reverse video
without changing labels
4418,5418 AT&T 5418 in 80-column mode
4418-w,5418-w AT&T 5418 in 132-column mode
4420 AT&T Teletype Model 4420
4424 AT&T Teletype Model 4424
4424-2 AT&T Teletype Model 4424 in display function group ii
4425,5425 AT&T 4425/5425
4425-fk,5425-fk AT&T 4425/5425 without function keys
4425-nl,5425-nl AT&T 4425/5425 without changing labels in 80-column
mode
4425-w,5425-w AT&T 4425/5425 in 132-column mode
4425-w-fk,5425-w-fk AT&T 4425/5425 without function keys in 132-column
mode
4425-nl-w,5425-nl-w AT&T 4425/5425 without changing labels in 132-column
mode
4426 AT&T Teletype Model 4426S
450 DASI 450 (same as Diablo 1620)
450-12 DASI 450 in 12-pitch mode
500,att500 AT&T-IS 500 terminal
510,510a AT&T 510/510a in 80-column mode
513bct,att513 AT&T 513 bct terminal
5320 AT&T 5320 hardcopy terminal
5420_2 AT&T 5420 model 2 in 80-column mode
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TERM(5) TERM(5)
5420_2-w AT&T 5420 model 2 in 132-column mode
5620,dmd AT&T 5620 terminal 88 columns
5620-24,dmd-24 AT&T Teletype Model DMD 5620 in a 24x80 layer
5620-34,dmd-34 AT&T Teletype Model DMD 5620 in a 34x80 layer
610,610bct AT&T 610 bct terminal in 80-column mode
610-w,610bct-w AT&T 610 bct terminal in 132-column mode
7300,pc7300,unix_pc AT&T UNIX PC Model 7300
735,ti Texas Instruments TI735 and TI725
745 Texas Instruments TI745
dumb generic name for terminals that lack reverse
line-feed and other special escape sequences
hp Hewlett-Packard (same as 2645)
lp generic name for a line printer
pt505 AT&T Personal Terminal 505 (22 lines)
pt505-24 AT&T Personal Terminal 505 (24-line mode)
sync generic name for synchronous Teletype Model
4540-compatible terminals
vt100 DEC VT100
Commands whose behavior depends on the type of terminal
should accept arguments of the form -Tterm where term is one
of the names given above; if no such argument is present,
such commands should obtain the terminal type from the
environment variable TERM, which, in turn, should contain
term.
FILES
/usr/lib/terminfo/?/* compiled terminal description database
SEE ALSO
curses(3X), profile(4), terminfo(4), environ(5).
man(1), sh(1), stty(1), tabs(1), tput(1), tplot(1G), vi(1)
in the User's Reference Manual.
infocmp(1M) in the System Administrator's Reference Manual.
Chapter 10 of the Programmer's Guide.
NOTES
Not all programs follow the above naming conventions.
Page 4 May 1989