TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
NAME
terminfo - terminal capability data base
SYNOPSIS
/usr/lib/terminfo/?/*
DESCRIPTION
terminfo is a database, produced by tic(1M), that describes
the capabilities of devices such as terminals and printers.
Devices are described in terminfo source files by specifying
a set of capabilities, by quantifying certain aspects of the
device, and by specifying character sequences that effect
particular results. This database is often used by screen
oriented applications such as vi(1) and curses(3X), as well
as by some UNIX system commands such as ls(1) and pg(1).
This usage allows them to work with a variety of devices
without changes to the programs. To obtain the source
description for a device, use the infocmp(1M) command.
terminfo source files consist of one or more device
descriptions. Each description consists of a header
(beginning in column 1) and one or more lines that list the
features for that particular device. Every line in a
terminfo source file must end in a comma (,). Every line in
a terminfo source file except the header must be indented
with one or more white spaces (either spaces or tabs).
Entries in terminfo source files consist of a number of
comma-separated fields. White space after each comma is
ignored. Embedded commas must be escaped by using a
backslash. The following example shows the format of a
terminfo source file.
Column 1
|
alias1 | alias2 | ... | aliasn | longname,
<white space> am, lines #24,
<white space> home=Eeh,
The first line, commonly referred to as the header line,
must begin in column one and it must contain at least two
aliases, separated by vertical bars. The last field in the
Page 1 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
header line must be the long name of the device and it may
contain any string. Alias names must be unique in the
terminfo database and they must conform to UNIX system file
naming conventions (see tic(1M)); they cannot, for example,
contain white space or slashes.
Every device must be assigned a name, such as "att5425" (for
the AT&T model 5425 device). Device names (except the long
name) should be chosen using the following conventions. The
name should not contain hyphens because hyphens are reserved
for use when adding suffixes that indicate special modes.
These special modes may be modes that the hardware can be
in, or user preferences. To assign a special mode to a
particular device, append a suffix, consisting of a hyphen
and an indicator of the mode, to the device name. For
example, the "-w" suffix means "wide mode"; when specified,
it allows for a width of 132 columns instead of the standard
80 columns. Therefore, if you want to use an AT&T 5425
device set to wide mode, name the device "att5410-w." Use
the following suffixes where possible.
Suffix Meaning Example
-w Wide mode (more than 80 columns) 5410-w
-am With auto. margins (usually default) vt100-am
-nam Without automatic margins vt100-nam
-n Number of lines on the screen 2300-40
-na No arrow keys (leave them in local) c100-na
-np Number of pages of memory c100-4p
-rv Reverse video 4415-rv
The terminfo reference manual page is organized in two
sections: "DEVICE CAPABILITIES" and "PRINTER CAPABILITIES."
PART 1: DEVICE CAPABILITIES
Capabilities in terminfo are of three types: Boolean
capabilities (which show that a device has or does not have
a particular feature), numeric capabilities (which quantify
particular features of a device), and string capabilities
(which provide sequences that can be used to perform
particular operations on devices).
Page 2 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
In the following tables, a Variable is the name by which a C
programmer accesses a capability (at the terminfo level). A
Capname is the short name for a capability specified in the
terminfo source file. It is used by a person updating the
source file and by the tput(1) command. A Termcap Code is a
two-letter sequence that corresponds to the termcap
capability name. (Note that termcap is no longer
supported.)
Capability names have no hard length limit, but an informal
limit of five characters has been adopted to keep them
short. Whenever possible, capability names are chosen to be
the same as or similar to those specified by the ANSI
X3.64-1979 standard. Semantics are also intended to match
those of the ANSI standard.
All string capabilities listed below may have padding
specified, with the exception of those used for input.
Input capabilities, listed under the Strings section in the
following tables, have names beginning with key. The #i
symbol in the description field of the following tables
refers to the ith parameter.
Booleans
Cap- Termcap
Variable name Code Description Page#
auto_left_margin bw bw cub1 wraps from column 0 to last column %1%
auto_right_margin am am Terminal has automatic margins %2%
back_color_erase bce be Screen erased with background color %3%
can_change ccc cc Terminal can re-define existing color %4%
ceol_standout_glitch xhp xs Standout not erased by overwriting (hp) %5%
col_addr_glitch xhpa YA Only positive motion for hpa/mhpa caps %6%
cpi_changes_res cpix YF Changing character pitch changes resolution %7%
cr_cancels_micro_mode crxm YB Using cr turns off micro mode %8%
eat_newline_glitch xenl xn Newline ignored after 80 columns (Concept) %9%
erase_overstrike eo eo Can erase overstrikes with a blank %10%
generic_type gn gn Generic line type (e.g., dialup, switch) %11%
hard_copy hc hc Hardcopy terminal %12%
Page 3 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
hard_cursor chts HC Cursor is hard to see %13%
has_meta_key km km Has a meta key (shift, sets parity bit) %14%
has_print_wheel daisy YC Printer needs operator to change character set %15%
has_status_line hs hs Has extra "status line" %16%
hue_lightness_saturation hls hl Terminal uses only HLS color notation (Tektronix) %17%
insert_null_glitch in in Insert mode distinguishes nulls %18%
lpi_changes_res lpix YG Changing line pitch changes resolution %19%
memory_above da da Display may be retained above the screen %20%
memory_below db db Display may be retained below the screen %21%
move_insert_mode mir mi Safe to move while in insert mode %22%
move_standout_mode msgr ms Safe to move in standout modes %23%
needs_xon_xoff nxon nx Padding won't work, xon/xoff required
no_esc_ctlc xsb xb Beehive (f1=escape, f2=ctrl C) %25%
non_rev_rmcup nrrmc NR smcup does not reverse rmcup %26%
no_pad_char npc NP Pad character doesn't exist %27%
over_strike os os Terminal overstrikes on hard-copy terminal %28%
prtr_silent mc5i 5i Printer won't echo on screen %29%
row_addr_glitch xvpa YD Only positive motion for vpa/mvpa caps %30%
semi_auto_right_margin sam YE Printing in last column causes cr %31%
status_line_esc_ok eslok es Escape can be used on the status line %32%
dest_tabs_magic_smso xt xt Destructive tabs, magic smso char (t1061) %33%
tilde_glitch hz hz Hazeltine; can't print tilde (~) %34%
transparent_underline ul ul Underline character overstrikes %35%
xon_xoff xon xo Terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking %36%
Numbers
Cap- Termcap
Variable name Code Description Page#
buffer_capacity bufsz Ya Number of bytes buffered before printing %37%
columns cols co Number of columns in a line %38%
dot_vert_spacing spinv Yb Spacing of pins vertically in pins per inch %39%
dot_horz_spacing spinh Yc Spacing of dots horizontally in dots per inch %40%
init_tabs it it Tabs initially every # spaces %41%
label_height lh lh Number of rows in each label %42%
label_width lw lw Number of columns in each label %43%
lines lines li Number of lines on a screen or a page %44%
lines_of_memory lm lm Lines of memory if > lines; 0 means varies %45%
magic_cookie_glitch xmc sg Number of blank characters left by smso or rmso %46%
max_colors colors Co Maximum number of colors on the screen %47%
Page 4 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
max_micro_address maddr Yd Maximum value in micro...address %48%
max_micro_jump mjump Ye Maximum value in parm...micro %49%
max_pairs pairs pa Maximum number of color-pairs on the screen %50%
micro_col_size mcs Yf Character step size when in micro mode %51%
micro_line_size mls Yg Line step size when in micro mode %52%
no_color_video ncv NC Video attributes that can't be used with colors %53%
number_of_pins npins Yh Number of pins in print-head %54%
num_labels nlab Nl Number of labels on screen (start at 1) %55%
output_res_char orc Yi Horizontal resolution in units per character %56%
output_res_line orl Yj Vertical resolution in units per line %57%
output_res_horz_inch orhi Yk Horizontal resolution in units per inch %58%
output_res_vert_inch orvi Yl Vertical resolution in units per inch %59%
padding_baud_rate pb pb Lowest baud rate where padding needed %60%
virtual_terminal vt vt Virtual terminal number (UNIX system)
wide_char_size widcs Yn Character step size when in double wide mode %63%
width_status_line wsl ws Number of columns in status line %64%
Strings
Cap- Termcap
Variable name Code Description Page#
acs_chars acsc ac Graphic charset pairs aAbBcC - def=vt100 %65%
back_tab cbt bt Back tab %66%
bell bel bl Audible signal (bell) %67%
carriage_return cr cr Carriage return %68%
change_char_pitch cpi ZA Change number of characters per inch %69%
change_line_pitch lpi ZB Change number of lines per inch %70%
change_res_horz chr ZC Change horizontal resolution %71%
change_res_vert cvr ZD Change vertical resolution %72%
change_scroll_region csr cs Change to lines #1 through #2 (vt100) %73%
char_padding rmp rP Like ip but when in replace mode %74%
char_set_names csnm Zy List of character set names %75%
clear_all_tabs tbc ct Clear all tab stops %76%
clear_margins mgc MC Clear all margins (top, bottom, and sides) %77%
clear_screen clear cl Clear screen and home cursor %78%
clr_bol el1 cb Clear to beginning of line, inclusive
clr_eol el ce Clear to end of line %80%
clr_eos ed cd Clear to end of display %81%
column_address hpa ch Horizontal position absolute %82%
command_character cmdch CC Terminal settable cmd character in prototype %83%
Page 5 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
cursor_address cup cm Move to row #1 col #2 %84%
cursor_down cud1 do Down one line %85%
cursor_home home ho Home cursor (if no cup) %86%
cursor_invisible civis vi Make cursor invisible %87%
cursor_left cub1 le Move left one space. %88%
cursor_mem_address mrcup CM Memory relative cursor addressing %89%
cursor_normal cnorm ve Make cursor appear normal (undo vs/vi) %90%
cursor_right cuf1 nd Non-destructive space (cursor or carriage right) %91%
cursor_to_ll ll ll Last line, first column (if no cup) %92%
cursor_up cuu1 up Upline (cursor up) %93%
cursor_visible cvvis vs Make cursor very visible %94%
define_char defc ZE Define a character in a character set† %95%
delete_character dch1 dc Delete character %96%
delete_line dl1 dl Delete line %97%
dis_status_line dsl ds Disable status line %98%
down_half_line hd hd Half-line down (forward 1/2 linefeed) %99%
ena_acs enacs eA Enable alternate character set %100%
enter_alt_charset_mode smacs as Start alternate character set %101%
enter_am_mode smam SA Turn on automatic margins
enter_blink_mode blink mb Turn on blinking %103%
enter_bold_mode bold md Turn on bold (extra bright) mode %104%
enter_ca_mode smcup ti String to begin programs that use cup %105%
enter_delete_mode smdc dm Delete mode (enter) %106%
enter_dim_mode dim mh Turn on half-bright mode %107%
enter_doublewide_mode swidm ZF Enable double wide printing %108%
enter_draft_quality sdrfq ZG Set draft quality print %109%
enter_insert_mode smir im Insert mode (enter) %110%
enter_italics_mode sitm ZH Enable italics %111%
enter_leftward_mode slm ZI Enable leftward carriage motion %112%
enter_micro_mode smicm ZJ Enable micro motion capabilities %113%
enter_near_letter_quality snlq ZK Set near-letter quality print %114%
enter_normal_quality snrmq ZL Set normal quality print %115%
enter_protected_mode prot mp Turn on protected mode %116%
enter_reverse_mode rev mr Turn on reverse video mode %117%
enter_secure_mode invis mk Turn on blank mode (characters invisible)
enter_shadow_mode sshm ZM Enable shadow printing %119%
enter_standout_mode smso so Begin standout mode %120%
enter_subscript_mode ssubm ZN Enable subscript printing %121%
Page 6 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
enter_superscript_mode ssupm ZO Enable superscript printing %122%
enter_underline_mode smul us Start underscore mode %123%
enter_upward_mode sum ZP Enable upward carriage motion %124%
enter_xon_mode smxon SX Turn on xon/xoff handshaking %125%
erase_chars ech ec Erase #1 characters %126%
exit_alt_charset_mode rmacs ae End alternate character set
exit_am_mode rmam RA Turn off automatic margins
exit_attribute_mode sgr0 me Turn off all attributes %129%
exit_ca_mode rmcup te String to end programs that use cup %130%
exit_delete_mode rmdc ed End delete mode %131%
exit_doublewide_mode rwidm ZQ Disable double wide printing %132%
exit_insert_mode rmir ei End insert mode %133%
exit_italics_mode ritm ZR Disable italics %134%
exit_leftward_mode rlm ZS Enable rightward (normal) carriage motion %135%
exit_micro_mode rmicm ZT Disable micro motion capabilities %136%
exit_shadow_mode rshm ZU Disable shadow printing %137%
exit_standout_mode rmso se End standout mode %138%
exit_subscript_mode rsubm ZV Disable subscript printing %139%
exit_superscript_mode rsupm ZW Disable superscript printing %140%
exit_underline_mode rmul ue End underscore mode %141%
exit_upward_mode rum ZX Enable downward (normal) carriage motion %142%
exit_xon_mode rmxon RX Turn off xon/xoff handshaking %143%
flash_screen flash vb Visible bell (may not move cursor) %144%
form_feed ff ff Hardcopy terminal page eject %145%
from_status_line fsl fs Return from status line %146%
init_1string is1 i1 Terminal or printer initialization string %147%
init_2string is2 is Terminal or printer initialization string %148%
init_3string is3 i3 Terminal or printer initialization string %149%
init_file if if Name of initialization file %150%
init_prog iprog iP Path name of program for initialization %151%
initialize_color initc Ic Initialize the definition of color %152%
initialize_pair initp Ip Initialize color-pair %153%
insert_character ich1 ic Insert character %154%
insert_line il1 al Add new blank line %155%
insert_padding ip ip Insert pad after character inserted %156%
key_a1 ka1 K1 KEY_A1, 0534, upper left of keypad %157%
key_a3 ka3 K3 KEY_A3, 0535, upper right of keypad %158%
key_b2 kb2 K2 KEY_B2, 0536, center of keypad %159%
Page 7 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
key_backspace kbs kb KEY_BACKSPACE, 0407, sent by backspace key %160%
key_beg kbeg @1 KEY_BEG, 0542, sent by beg(inning) key
key_btab kcbt kB KEY_BTAB, 0541, sent by back-tab key
key_c1 kc1 K4 KEY_C1, 0537, lower left of keypad %163%
key_c3 kc3 K5 KEY_C3, 0540, lower right of keypad %164%
key_cancel kcan @2 KEY_CANCEL, 0543, sent by cancel key
key_catab ktbc ka KEY_CATAB, 0526, sent by clear-all-tabs key %166%
key_clear kclr kC KEY_CLEAR, 0515, sent by clear-screen or erase key %167%
key_close kclo @3 KEY_CLOSE, 0544, sent by close key
key_command kcmd @4 KEY_COMMAND, 0545, sent by cmd (command) key
key_copy kcpy @5 KEY_COPY, 0546, sent by copy key
key_create kcrt @6 KEY_CREATE, 0547, sent by create key
key_ctab kctab kt KEY_CTAB, 0525, sent by clear-tab key %172%
key_dc kdch1 kD KEY_DC, 0512, sent by delete-character key %173%
key_dl kdl1 kL KEY_DL, 0510, sent by delete-line key %174%
key_down kcud1 kd KEY_DOWN, 0402, sent by terminal down-arrow key %175%
key_eic krmir kM KEY_EIC, 0514, sent by rmir or smir in insert mode %176%
key_end kend @7 KEY_END, 0550, sent by end key
key_enter kent @8 KEY_ENTER, 0527, sent by enter/send key
key_eol kel kE KEY_EOL, 0517, sent by clear-to-end-of-line key %179%
key_eos ked kS KEY_EOS, 0516, sent by clear-to-end-of-screen key %180%
key_exit kext @9 KEY_EXIT, 0551, sent by exit key
key_f0 kf0 k0 KEY_F(0), 0410, sent by function key f0 %182%
key_f1 kf1 k1 KEY_F(1), 0411, sent by function key f1 %183%
key_f2 kf2 k2 KEY_F(2), 0412, sent by function key f2 %184%
key_f3 kf3 k3 KEY_F(3), 0413, sent by function key f3 %185%
key_f4 kf4 k4 KEY_F(4), 0414, sent by function key f4 %186%
key_f5 kf5 k5 KEY_F(5), 0415, sent by function key f5 %187%
key_f6 kf6 k6 KEY_F(6), 0416, sent by function key f6 %188%
key_f7 kf7 k7 KEY_F(7), 0417, sent by function key f7 %189%
key_f8 kf8 k8 KEY_F(8), 0420, sent by function key f8 %190%
key_f9 kf9 k9 KEY_F(9), 0421, sent by function key f9 %191%
key_f10 kf10 k; KEY_F(10), 0422, sent by function key f10 %192%
key_f11 kf11 F1 KEY_F(11), 0423, sent by function key f11 %193%
key_f12 kf12 F2 KEY_F(12), 0424, sent by function key f12 %194%
key_f13 kf13 F3 KEY_F(13), 0425, sent by function key f13 %195%
key_f14 kf14 F4 KEY_F(14), 0426, sent by function key f14 %196%
key_f15 kf15 F5 KEY_F(15), 0427, sent by function key f15 %197%
Page 8 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
key_f16 kf16 F6 KEY_F(16), 0430, sent by function key f16 %198%
key_f17 kf17 F7 KEY_F(17), 0431, sent by function key f17 %199%
key_f18 kf18 F8 KEY_F(18), 0432, sent by function key f18 %200%
key_f19 kf19 F9 KEY_F(19), 0433, sent by function key f19 %201%
key_f20 kf20 FA KEY_F(20), 0434, sent by function key f20 %202%
key_f21 kf21 FB KEY_F(21), 0435, sent by function key f21 %203%
key_f22 kf22 FC KEY_F(22), 0436, sent by function key f22 %204%
key_f23 kf23 FD KEY_F(23), 0437, sent by function key f23 %205%
key_f24 kf24 FE KEY_F(24), 0440, sent by function key f24 %206%
key_f25 kf25 FF KEY_F(25), 0441, sent by function key f25 %207%
key_f26 kf26 FG KEY_F(26), 0442, sent by function key f26 %208%
key_f27 kf27 FH KEY_F(27), 0443, sent by function key f27 %209%
key_f28 kf28 FI KEY_F(28), 0444, sent by function key f28 %210%
key_f29 kf29 FJ KEY_F(29), 0445, sent by function key f29 %211%
key_f30 kf30 FK KEY_F(30), 0446, sent by function key f30 %212%
key_f31 kf31 FL KEY_F(31), 0447, sent by function key f31 %213%
key_f32 kf32 FM KEY_F(32), 0450, sent by function key f32 %214%
key_f33 kf33 FN KEY_F(13), 0451, sent by function key f13 %215%
key_f34 kf34 FO KEY_F(34), 0452, sent by function key f34 %216%
key_f35 kf35 FP KEY_F(35), 0453, sent by function key f35 %217%
key_f36 kf36 FQ KEY_F(36), 0454, sent by function key f36 %218%
key_f37 kf37 FR KEY_F(37), 0455, sent by function key f37 %219%
key_f38 kf38 FS KEY_F(38), 0456, sent by function key f38 %220%
key_f39 kf39 FT KEY_F(39), 0457, sent by function key f39 %221%
key_f40 kf40 FU KEY_F(40), 0460, sent by function key f40 %222%
key_f41 kf41 FV KEY_F(41), 0461, sent by function key f41 %223%
key_f42 kf42 FW KEY_F(42), 0462, sent by function key f42 %224%
key_f43 kf43 FX KEY_F(43), 0463, sent by function key f43 %225%
key_f44 kf44 FY KEY_F(44), 0464, sent by function key f44 %226%
key_f45 kf45 FZ KEY_F(45), 0465, sent by function key f45 %227%
key_f46 kf46 Fa KEY_F(46), 0466, sent by function key f46 %228%
key_f47 kf47 Fb KEY_F(47), 0467, sent by function key f47 %229%
key_f48 kf48 Fc KEY_F(48), 0470, sent by function key f48 %230%
key_f49 kf49 Fd KEY_F(49), 0471, sent by function key f49 %231%
key_f50 kf50 Fe KEY_F(50), 0472, sent by function key f50 %232%
key_f51 kf51 Ff KEY_F(51), 0473, sent by function key f51 %233%
key_f52 kf52 Fg KEY_F(52), 0474, sent by function key f52 %234%
key_f53 kf53 Fh KEY_F(53), 0475, sent by function key f53 %235%
Page 9 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
key_f54 kf54 Fi KEY_F(54), 0476, sent by function key f54 %236%
key_f55 kf55 Fj KEY_F(55), 0477, sent by function key f55 %237%
key_f56 kf56 Fk KEY_F(56), 0500, sent by function key f56 %238%
key_f57 kf57 Fl KEY_F(57), 0501, sent by function key f57 %239%
key_f58 kf58 Fm KEY_F(58), 0502, sent by function key f58 %240%
key_f59 kf59 Fn KEY_F(59), 0503, sent by function key f59 %241%
key_f60 kf60 Fo KEY_F(60), 0504, sent by function key f60 %242%
key_f61 kf61 Fp KEY_F(61), 0505, sent by function key f61 %243%
key_f62 kf62 Fq KEY_F(62), 0506, sent by function key f62 %244%
key_f63 kf63 Fr KEY_F(63), 0507, sent by function key f63 %245%
key_find kfnd @0 KEY_FIND, 0552, sent by find key
key_help khlp %1 KEY_HELP, 0553, sent by help key
key_home khome kh KEY_HOME, 0406, sent by home key %248%
key_ic kich1 kI KEY_IC, 0513, sent by ins-char/enter ins-mode key %249%
key_il kil1 kA KEY_IL, 0511, sent by insert-line key %250%
key_left kcub1 kl KEY_LEFT, 0404, sent by terminal left-arrow key %251%
key_ll kll kH KEY_LL, 0533, sent by home-down key %252%
key_mark kmrk %2 KEY_MARK, 0554, sent by mark key
key_message kmsg %3 KEY_MESSAGE, 0555, sent by message key
key_move kmov %4 KEY_MOVE, 0556, sent by move key
key_next knxt %5 KEY_NEXT, 0557, sent by next-object key
key_npage knp kN KEY_NPAGE, 0522, sent by next-page key %257%
key_open kopn %6 KEY_OPEN, 0560, sent by open key
key_options kopt %7 KEY_OPTIONS, 0561, sent by options key
key_ppage kpp kP KEY_PPAGE, 0523, sent by previous-page key %260%
key_previous kprv %8 KEY_PREVIOUS, 0562, sent by previous-object key
key_print kprt %9 KEY_PRINT, 0532, sent by print or copy key
key_redo krdo %0 KEY_REDO, 0563, sent by redo key
key_reference kref &1 KEY_REFERENCE, 0564, sent by ref(erence) key
key_refresh krfr &2 KEY_REFRESH, 0565, sent by refresh key
key_replace krpl &3 KEY_REPLACE, 0566, sent by replace key
key_restart krst &4 KEY_RESTART, 0567, sent by restart key
key_resume kres &5 KEY_RESUME, 0570, sent by resume key
key_right kcuf1 kr KEY_RIGHT, 0405, sent by terminal right-arrow key %269%
key_save ksav &6 KEY_SAVE, 0571, sent by save key
key_sbeg kBEG &9 KEY_SBEG, 0572, sent by shifted beginning key
key_scancel kCAN &0 KEY_SCANCEL, 0573, sent by shifted cancel key
key_scommand kCMD *1 KEY_SCOMMAND, 0574, sent by shifted command key
Page 10 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
key_scopy kCPY *2 KEY_SCOPY, 0575, sent by shifted copy key
key_screate kCRT *3 KEY_SCREATE, 0576, sent by shifted create key
key_sdc kDC *4 KEY_SDC, 0577, sent by shifted delete-char key
key_sdl kDL *5 KEY_SDL, 0600, sent by shifted delete-line key
key_select kslt *6 KEY_SELECT, 0601, sent by select key
key_send kEND *7 KEY_SEND, 0602, sent by shifted end key
key_seol kEOL *8 KEY_SEOL, 0603, sent by shifted clear-line key
key_sexit kEXT *9 KEY_SEXIT, 0604, sent by shifted exit key
key_sf kind kF KEY_SF, 0520, sent by scroll-forward/down key %282%
key_sfind kFND *0 KEY_SFIND, 0605, sent by shifted find key
key_shelp kHLP #1 KEY_SHELP, 0606, sent by shifted help key
key_shome kHOM #2 KEY_SHOME, 0607, sent by shifted home key
key_sic kIC #3 KEY_SIC, 0610, sent by shifted input key
key_sleft kLFT #4 KEY_SLEFT, 0611, sent by shifted left-arrow key
key_smessage kMSG %a KEY_SMESSAGE, 0612, sent by shifted message key
key_smove kMOV %b KEY_SMOVE, 0613, sent by shifted move key
key_snext kNXT %c KEY_SNEXT, 0614, sent by shifted next key
key_soptions kOPT %d KEY_SOPTIONS, 0615, sent by shifted options key
key_sprevious kPRV %e KEY_SPREVIOUS, 0616, sent by shifted prev key
key_sprint kPRT %f KEY_SPRINT, 0617, sent by shifted print key
key_sr kri kR KEY_SR, 0521, sent by scroll-backward/up key %294%
key_sredo kRDO %g KEY_SREDO, 0620, sent by shifted redo key
key_sreplace kRPL %h KEY_SREPLACE, 0621, sent by shifted replace key
key_sright kRIT %i KEY_SRIGHT, 0622, sent by shifted right-arrow key
key_srsume kRES %j KEY_SRSUME, 0623, sent by shifted resume key
key_ssave kSAV !1 KEY_SSAVE, 0624, sent by shifted save key
key_ssuspend kSPD !2 KEY_SSUSPEND, 0625, sent by shifted suspend key
key_stab khts kT KEY_STAB, 0524, sent by set-tab key %301%
key_sundo kUND !3 KEY_SUNDO, 0626, sent by shifted undo key
key_suspend kspd &7 KEY_SUSPEND, 0627, sent by suspend key
key_undo kund &8 KEY_UNDO, 0630, sent by undo key
key_up kcuu1 ku KEY_UP, 0403, sent by terminal up-arrow key %305%
keypad_local rmkx ke Out of ``keypad-transmit'' mode %306%
keypad_xmit smkx ks Put terminal in ``keypad-transmit'' mode %307%
lab_f0 lf0 l0 Labels on function key f0 if not f0 %308%
lab_f1 lf1 l1 Labels on function key f1 if not f1 %309%
lab_f2 lf2 l2 Labels on function key f2 if not f2 %310%
lab_f3 lf3 l3 Labels on function key f3 if not f3 %311%
Page 11 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
lab_f4 lf4 l4 Labels on function key f4 if not f4 %312%
lab_f5 lf5 l5 Labels on function key f5 if not f5 %313%
lab_f6 lf6 l6 Labels on function key f6 if not f6 %314%
lab_f7 lf7 l7 Labels on function key f7 if not f7 %315%
lab_f8 lf8 l8 Labels on function key f8 if not f8 %316%
lab_f9 lf9 l9 Labels on function key f9 if not f9 %317%
lab_f10 lf10 la Labels on function key f10 if not f10 %318%
label_off rmln LF Turn off soft labels %319%
label_on smln LO Turn on soft labels %320%
meta_off rmm mo Turn off "meta mode" %321%
meta_on smm mm Turn on "meta mode" (8th bit) %322%
micro_column_address mhpa ZY Like columnaddress for micro adjustment %323%
micro_down mcud1 ZZ Like cursordown for micro adjustment %324%
micro_left mcub1 Za Like cursorleft for micro adjustment %325%
micro_right mcuf1 Zb Like cursorright for micro adjustment %326%
micro_row_address mvpa Zc Like rowaddress for micro adjustment %327%
micro_up mcuu1 Zd Like cursorup for micro adjustment %328%
newline nel nw Newline (behaves like cr followed by lf) %329%
order_of_pins porder Ze Matches software bits to print-head pins %330%
orig_colors oc oc Set all color(-pair)s to the original ones %331%
orig_pair op op Set default color-pair to the original one %332%
pad_char pad pc Pad character (rather than null) %333%
parm_dch dch DC Delete #1 chars %334%
parm_delete_line dl DL Delete #1 lines %335%
parm_down_cursor cud DO Move down #1 lines. %336%
parm_down_micro mcud Zf Like parmdowncursor for micro adjust. %337%
parm_ich ich IC Insert #1 blank chars
parm_index indn SF Scroll forward #1 lines. %339%
parm_insert_line il AL Add #1 new blank lines %340%
parm_left_cursor cub LE Move cursor left #1 spaces %341%
parm_left_micro mcub Zg Like parmleftcursor for micro adjust. %342%
parm_right_cursor cuf RI Move right #1 spaces. %343%
parm_right_micro mcuf Zh Like parmrightcursor for micro adjust. %344%
parm_rindex rin SR Scroll backward #1 lines. %345%
parm_up_cursor cuu UP Move cursor up #1 lines. %346%
parm_up_micro mcuu Zi Like parmupcursor for micro adjust. %347%
pkey_key pfkey pk Prog funct key #1 to type string #2 %348%
pkey_local pfloc pl Prog funct key #1 to execute string #2 %349%
Page 12 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
pkey_xmit pfx px Prog funct key #1 to xmit string #2 %350%
plab_norm pln pn Prog label #1 to show string #2 %351%
print_screen mc0 ps Print contents of the screen %352%
prtr_non mc5p pO Turn on the printer for #1 bytes %353%
prtr_off mc4 pf Turn off the printer %354%
prtr_on mc5 po Turn on the printer %355%
repeat_char rep rp Repeat char #1 #2 times %356%
req_for_input rfi RF Send next input char (for ptys) %357%
reset_1string rs1 r1 Reset terminal completely to sane modes %358%
reset_2string rs2 r2 Reset terminal completely to sane modes %359%
reset_3string rs3 r3 Reset terminal completely to sane modes %360%
reset_file rf rf Name of file containing reset string %361%
restore_cursor rc rc Restore cursor to position of last sc %362%
row_address vpa cv Vertical position absolute %363%
save_cursor sc sc Save cursor position %364%
scroll_forward ind sf Scroll text up %365%
scroll_reverse ri sr Scroll text down %366%
select_char_set scs Zj Select character set %367%
set_attributes sgr sa Define the video attributes #1-#9 %368%
set_background setb Sb Set current background color %369%
set_bottom_margin smgb Zk Set bottom margin at current line %370%
set_bottom_margin_parm smgbp Zl Set bottom margin at line #1 or #2 lines from bottom %371%
set_color_pair scp sp Set current color-pair %372%
set_foreground setf Sf Set current foreground color1 %373%
set_left_margin smgl ML Set left margin at current line %374%
set_left_margin_parm smglp Zm Set left (right) margin at column #1 (#2) %375%
set_right_margin smgr MR Set right margin at current column %376%
set_right_margin_parm smgrp Zn Set right margin at column #1 %377%
set_tab hts st Set a tab in all rows, current column %378%
set_top_margin smgt Zo Set top margin at current line %379%
set_top_margin_parm smgtp Zp Set top (bottom) margin at line #1 (#2) %380%
set_window wind wi Current window is lines #1-#2 cols #3-#4
start_bit_image sbim Zq Start printing bit image graphics %382%
start_char_set_def scsd Zr Start definition of a character set %383%
stop_bit_image rbim Zs End printing bit image graphics %384%
stop_char_set_def rcsd Zt End definition of a character set %385%
subscript_characters subcs Zu List of ``subscript-able'' characters %386%
superscript_characters supcs Zv List of ``superscript-able'' characters %387%
Page 13 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
tab ht ta Tab to next 8-space hardware tab stop %388%
these_cause_cr docr Zw Printing any of these chars causes cr %389%
to_status_line tsl ts Go to status line, col #1 %390%
underline_char uc uc Underscore one char and move past it
up_half_line hu hu Half-line up (reverse 1/2 linefeed) %392%
xoff_character xoffc XF X-off character %393%
xon_character xonc XN X-on character %394%
zero_motion zerom Zx No motion for the subsequent character %395%
Booleans
Cap- Termcap
name Variable Code Description Page#
am auto_right_margin am Terminal has automatic margins %2%
bw auto_left_margin bw cub1 wraps from column 0 to last column %1%
ccc can_change cc Terminal can re-define existing color %4%
chts hard_cursor HC Cursor is hard to see %13%
cpix cpi_changes_res YF Changing character pitch changes resolution %7%
crxm cr_cancels_micro_modem YB Using cr turns off micro mode %8%
da memory_above da Display may be retained above the screen %20%
daisy has_print_wheel YC Printer needs operator to change character set %15%
db memory_below db Display may be retained below the screen %21%
eo erase_overstrike eo Can erase overstrikes with a blank %10%
eslok status_line_esc_ok es Escape can be used on the status line %32%
gn generic_type gn Generic line type (e.g., dialup, switch) %11%
hc hard_copy hc Hardcopy terminal %12%
hls hue_lightness_saturation hl Terminal uses only HLS color notation (Tektronix) %17%
hs has_status_line hs Has extra "status line" %16%
hz tilde_glitch hz Hazeltine; can't print tilde (~) %34%
in insert_null_glitch in Insert mode distinguishes nulls %18%
km has_meta_key km Has a meta key (shift, sets parity bit) %14%
lpix lpi_changes_res YG Changing line pitch changes resolution %19%
mc5i prtr_silent 5i Printer won't echo on screen %29%
mir move_insert_mode mi Safe to move while in insert mode %22%
msgr move_standout_mode ms Safe to move in standout modes %23%
npc no_pad_char NP Pad character doesn't exist %27%
nrrmc non_rev_rmcup NR smcup does not reverse rmcup %26%
nxon needs_xon_xoff nx Padding won't work, xon/xoff required
os over_strike os Terminal overstrikes on hard-copy terminal %28%
sam semi_auto_right_margin YE Printing in last column causes cr %31%
Page 14 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
ul transparent_underline ul Underline character overstrikes %35%
xenl eat_newline_glitch xn Newline ignored after 80 columns (Concept) %9%
xhp ceol_standout_glitch xs Standout not erased by overwriting (hp) %5%
xhpa col_addr_glitch YA Only positive motion for hpa/mhpa caps %6%
xon xon_xoff xo Terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking %36%
xsb no_esc_ctlc xb Beehive (f1=escape, f2=ctrl C) %25%
xt dest_tabs_magic_smso xt Destructive tabs, magic smso char (t1061) %33%
xvpa row_addr_glitch YD Only positive motion for vpa/mvpa caps %30%
Page 15 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
Numbers
Cap- Termcap
name Variable Code Description Page#
bufsz buffer_capacity Ya Number of bytes buffered before printing %37%
colors max_colors Co Maximum number of colors on the screen %47%
cols columns co Number of columns in a line %38%
cps print_rate Ym Average print rate in characters per second %61%
it init_tabs it Tabs initially every # spaces %41%
lh label_height lh Number of rows in each label %42%
lines lines li Number of lines on a screen or a page %44%
lm lines_of_memory lm Lines of memory if > lines; 0 means varies %45%
lw label_width lw Number of columns in each label %43%
maddr max_micro_address Yd Maximum value in micro...address %48%
mcs micro_col_size Yf Character step size when in micro mode %51%
mjump max_micro_jump Ye Maximum value in parm...micro %49%
mls micro_line_size Yg Line step size when in micro mode %52%
ncv no_color_video NC Video attributes that can't be used with colors %53%
nlab num_labels Nl Number of labels on screen (start at 1) %55%
npins number_of_pins Yh Number of pins in print-head %54%
orc output_res_char Yi Horizontal resolution in units per character %56%
orhi output_res_horz_inch Yk Horizontal resolution in units per inch %58%
orl output_res_line Yj Vertical resolution in units per line %57%
orvi output_res_vert_inch Yl Vertical resolution in units per inch %59%
pairs max_pairs pa Maximum number of color-pairs on the screen %50%
pb padding_baud_rate pb Lowest baud rate where padding needed %60%
spinh dot_horz_spacing Yc Spacing of dots horizontally in dots per inch %40%
spinv dot_vert_spacing Yb Spacing of pins vertically in pins per inch %39%
vt virtual_terminal vt Virtual terminal number (UNIX system)
widcs wide_char_size Yn Character step size when in double wide mode %63%
wsl width_status_line ws Number of columns in status line %64%
xmc magic_cookie_glitch sg Number of blank characters left by smso or rmso %46%
Strings
Cap- Termcap
name Variable Code Description Page#
acsc acs_chars ac Graphic charset pairs aAbBcC - def=vt100 %65%
bel bell bl Audible signal (bell) %67%
blink enter_blink_mode mb Turn on blinking %103%
Page 16 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
bold enter_bold_mode md Turn on bold (extra bright) mode %104%
cbt back_tab bt Back tab %66%
chr change_res_horz ZC Change horizontal resolution %71%
civis cursor_invisible vi Make cursor invisible %87%
clear clear_screen cl Clear screen and home cursor %78%
cmdch command_character CC Terminal settable cmd character in prototype %83%
cnorm cursor_normal ve Make cursor appear normal (undo vs/vi) %90%
cpi change_char_pitch ZA Change number of characters per inch %69%
cr carriage_return cr Carriage return %68%
csnm char_set_names Zy List of character set names %75%
csr change_scroll_region cs Change to lines #1 through #2 (vt100) %73%
cub parm_left_cursor LE Move cursor left #1 spaces %341%
cub1 cursor_left le Move left one space. %88%
cud parm_down_cursor DO Move down #1 lines. %336%
cuf parm_right_cursor RI Move right #1 spaces. %343%
cuf1 cursor_right nd Non-destructive space (cursor or carriage right) %91%
cup cursor_address cm Move to row #1 col #2 %84%
cuu parm_up_cursor UP Move cursor up #1 lines. %346%
cvr change_res_vert ZD Change vertical resolution %72%
cvvis cursor_visible vs Make cursor very visible %94%
dch parm_dch DC Delete #1 chars %334%
dch1 delete_character dc Delete character %96%
defc define_char ZE Define a character in a character set %95%
dim enter_dim_mode mh Turn on half-bright mode %107%
dl delete_line dl1 Delete line %97%
dl parm_delete_line DL Delete #1 lines %335%
do cursor_down do Down one line %85%
docr these_cause_cr Zw Printing any of these chars causes cr %389%
dsl dis_status_line ds Disable status line %98%
ech erase_chars ec Erase #1 characters %126%
ed clr_eos cd Clear to end of display %81%
el clr_eol ce Clear to end of line %80%
el1 clr_bol cb Clear to beginning of line, inclusive %78%
enacs ena_acs eA Enable alternate character set %100%
ff form_feed ff Hardcopy terminal page eject %145%
flash flash_screen vb Visible bell (may not move cursor) %144%
fsl from_status_line fs Return from status line %146%
hd down_half_line hd Half-line down (forward 1/2 linefeed) %99%
Page 17 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
home cursor_home ho Home cursor (if no cup) %86%
hpa column_address ch Horizontal position absolute %82%
ht tab ta Tab to next 8-space hardware tab stop %388%
hts set_tab st Set a tab in all rows, current column %378%
hu up_half_line hu Half-line up (reverse 1/2 linefeed) %392%
ich parm_ich IC Insert #1 blank chars
ich1 insert_character ic Insert character %154%
if init_file if Name of initialization file %150%
il parm_insert_line AL Add #1 new blank lines %340%
il1 insert_line al Add new blank line %155%
ind scroll_forward sf Scroll text up %365%
indn parm_index SF Scroll forward #1 lines. %339%
initc initialize_color Ic Initialize the definition of color %152%
initp initialize_pair Ip Initialize color-pair %153%
invis enter_secure_mode mk Turn on blank mode (characters invisible)
ip insert_padding ip Insert pad after character inserted %156%
iprog init_prog iP Path name of program for initialization %151%
is1 init_1string i1 Terminal or printer initialization string %147%
is2 init_2string is Terminal or printer initialization string %148%
is3 init_3string i3 Terminal or printer initialization string %149%
kBEG key_sbeg &9 KEY_SBEG, 0572, sent by shifted beginning key
kCAN key_scancel &0 KEY_SCANCEL, 0573, sent by shifted cancel key
kCMD key_scommand *1 KEY_SCOMMAND, 0574, sent by shifted command key
kCPY key_scopy *2 KEY_SCOPY, 0575, sent by shifted copy key
kCRT key_screate *3 KEY_SCREATE, 0576, sent by shifted create key
kDC key_sdc *4 KEY_SDC, 0577, sent by shifted delete-char key
kDL key_sdl *5 KEY_SDL, 0600, sent by shifted delete-line key
kEND key_send *7 KEY_SEND, 0602, sent by shifted end key
kEOL key_seol *8 KEY_SEOL, 0603, sent by shifted clear-line key
kEXT key_sexit *9 KEY_SEXIT, 0604, sent by shifted exit key
kFND key_sfind *0 KEY_SFIND, 0605, sent by shifted find key
kHLP key_shelp #1 KEY_SHELP, 0606, sent by shifted help key
kHOM key_shome #2 KEY_SHOME, 0607, sent by shifted home key
kIC key_sic #3 KEY_SIC, 0610, sent by shifted input key
kLFT key_sleft #4 KEY_SLEFT, 0611, sent by shifted left-arrow key
kMOV key_smove %b KEY_SMOVE, 0613, sent by shifted move key
kMSG key_smessage %a KEY_SMESSAGE, 0612, sent by shifted message key
kNXT key_snext %c KEY_SNEXT, 0614, sent by shifted next key
Page 18 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
kOPT key_soptions %d KEY_SOPTIONS, 0615, sent by shifted options key
kPRT key_sprint %f KEY_SPRINT, 0617, sent by shifted print key
kPRV key_sprevious %e KEY_SPREVIOUS, 0616, sent by shifted prev key
kRDO key_sredo %g KEY_SREDO, 0620, sent by shifted redo key
kRES key_srsume %j KEY_SRSUME, 0623, sent by shifted resume key
kRIT key_sright %i KEY_SRIGHT, 0622, sent by shifted right-arrow key
kRPL key_sreplace %h KEY_SREPLACE, 0621, sent by shifted replace key
kSAV key_ssave !1 KEY_SSAVE, 0624, sent by shifted save key
kSPD key_ssuspend !2 KEY_SSUSPEND, 0625, sent by shifted suspend key
kUND key_sundo !3 KEY_SUNDO, 0626, sent by shifted undo key
ka1 key_a1 K1 KEY_A1, 0534, upper left of keypad %157%
ka3 key_a3 K3 KEY_A3, 0535, upper right of keypad %158%
kb2 key_b2 K2 KEY_B2, 0536, center of keypad %159%
kbeg key_beg @1 KEY_BEG, 0542, sent by beg(inning) key
kbs key_backspace kb KEY_BACKSPACE, 0407, sent by backspace key %160%
kc1 key_c1 K4 KEY_C1, 0537, lower left of keypad %163%
kc3 key_c3 K5 KEY_C3, 0540, lower right of keypad %164%
kcan key_cancel @2 KEY_CANCEL, 0543, sent by cancel key
kcbt key_btab kB KEY_BTAB, 0541, sent by back-tab key
kclo key_close @3 KEY_CLOSE, 0544, sent by close key
kclr key_clear kC KEY_CLEAR, 0515, sent by clear-screen or erase key %167%
kcmd key_command @4 KEY_COMMAND, 0545, sent by cmd (command) key
kcpy key_copy @5 KEY_COPY, 0546, sent by copy key
kcrt key_create @6 KEY_CREATE, 0547, sent by create key
kctab key_ctab kt KEY_CTAB, 0525, sent by clear-tab key %172%
kcub1 key_left kl KEY_LEFT, 0404, sent by terminal left-arrow key %251%
kcud1 key_down kd KEY_DOWN, 0402, sent by terminal down-arrow key %175%
kcuf1 key_right kr KEY_RIGHT, 0405, sent by terminal right-arrow key %269%
kcuu1 key_up ku KEY_UP, 0403, sent by terminal up-arrow key %305%
kdch1 key_dc kD KEY_DC, 0512, sent by delete-character key %173%
kdl1 key_dl kL KEY_DL, 0510, sent by delete-line key %174%
ked key_eos ked KEY_EOS, 0516, sent by clear-to-end-of-screen key %180%
kel key_eol kE KEY_EOL, 0517, sent by clear-to-end-of-line key %179%
kend key_end @7 KEY_END, 0550, sent by end kee
kent key_enter @8 KEY_ENTER, 0527, sent by enter/send key
kext key_exit @9 KEY_EXIT, 0551, sent by exit key
kf0 key_f0 k0 KEY_F(0), 0410, sent by function key f0 %182%
kf1 key_f1 k1 KEY_F(1), 0411, sent by function key f1 %183%
Page 19 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
kf10 key_f10 k; KEY_F(10), 0422, sent by function key f10 %192%
kf11 key_f11 F1 KEY_F(11), 0423, sent by function key f11 %193%
kf12 key_f12 F2 KEY_F(12), 0424, sent by function key f12 %194%
kf13 key_f13 F3 KEY_F(13), 0425, sent by function key f13 %195%
kf14 key_f14 F4 KEY_F(14), 0426, sent by function key f14 %196%
kf15 key_f15 F5 KEY_F(15), 0427, sent by function key f15 %197%
kf16 key_f16 F6 KEY_F(16), 0430, sent by function key f16 %198%
kf17 key_f17 F7 KEY_F(17), 0431, sent by function key f17 %199%
kf18 key_f18 F8 KEY_F(18), 0432, sent by function key f18 %200%
kf19 key_f19 F9 KEY_F(19), 0433, sent by function key f19 %201%
kf2 key_f2 k2 KEY_F(2), 0412, sent by function key f2 %184%
kf20 key_f20 FA KEY_F(20), 0434, sent by function key f20 %202%
kf21 key_f21 FB KEY_F(21), 0435, sent by function key f21 %203%
kf22 key_f22 FC KEY_F(22), 0436, sent by function key f22 %204%
kf23 key_f23 FD KEY_F(23), 0437, sent by function key f23 %205%
kf24 key_f24 FE KEY_F(24), 0440, sent by function key f24 %206%
kf25 key_f25 FF KEY_F(25), 0441, sent by function key f25 %207%
kf26 key_f26 FG KEY_F(26), 0442, sent by function key f26 %208%
kf27 key_f27 FH KEY_F(27), 0443, sent by function key f27 %209%
kf28 key_f28 FI KEY_F(28), 0444, sent by function key f28 %210%
kf29 key_f29 FJ KEY_F(29), 0445, sent by function key f29 %211%
kf3 key_f3 k3 KEY_F(3), 0413, sent by function key f3 %185%
kf30 key_f30 FK KEY_F(30), 0446, sent by function key f30 %212%
kf31 key_f31 FL KEY_F(31), 0447, sent by function key f31 %213%
kf32 key_f32 FM KEY_F(32), 0450, sent by function key f32 %214%
kf33 key_f33 FN KEY_F(13), 0451, sent by function key f13 %215%
kf34 key_f34 FO KEY_F(34), 0452, sent by function key f34 %216%
kf35 key_f35 FP KEY_F(35), 0453, sent by function key f35 %217%
kf36 key_f36 FQ KEY_F(36), 0454, sent by function key f36 %218%
kf37 key_f37 FR KEY_F(37), 0455, sent by function key f37 %219%
kf38 key_f38 FS KEY_F(38), 0456, sent by function key f38 %220%
kf39 key_f39 FT KEY_F(39), 0457, sent by function key f39 %221%
kf4 key_f4 k4 KEY_F(4), 0414, sent by function key f4 %186%
kf40 key_f40 FU KEY_F(40), 0460, sent by function key f40 %222%
kf41 key_f41 FV KEY_F(41), 0461, sent by function key f41 %223%
kf42 key_f42 FW KEY_F(42), 0462, sent by function key f42 %224%
kf43 key_f43 FX KEY_F(43), 0463, sent by function key f43 %225%
kf44 key_f44 FY KEY_F(44), 0464, sent by function key f44 %226%
Page 20 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
kf45 key_f45 FZ KEY_F(45), 0465, sent by function key f45 %227%
kf46 key_f46 Fa KEY_F(46), 0466, sent by function key f46 %228%
kf47 key_f47 Fb KEY_F(47), 0467, sent by function key f47 %229%
kf48 key_f48 Fc KEY_F(48), 0470, sent by function key f48 %230%
kf49 key_f49 Fd KEY_F(49), 0471, sent by function key f49 %231%
kf5 key_f5 k5 KEY_F(5), 0415, sent by function key f5 %187%
kf50 key_f50 Fe KEY_F(50), 0472, sent by function key f50 %232%
kf51 key_f51 Ff KEY_F(51), 0473, sent by function key f51 %233%
kf52 key_f52 Fg KEY_F(52), 0474, sent by function key f52 %234%
kf53 key_f53 Fh KEY_F(53), 0475, sent by function key f53 %235%
kf54 key_f54 Fi KEY_F(54), 0476, sent by function key f54 %236%
kf55 key_f55 Fj KEY_F(55), 0477, sent by function key f55 %237%
kf56 key_f56 Fk KEY_F(56), 0500, sent by function key f56 %238%
kf57 key_f57 Fl KEY_F(57), 0501, sent by function key f57 %239%
kf58 key_f58 Fm KEY_F(58), 0502, sent by function key f58 %240%
kf59 key_f59 Fn KEY_F(59), 0503, sent by function key f59 %241%
kf6 key_f6 k6 KEY_F(6), 0416, sent by function key f6 %188%
kf60 key_f60 Fo KEY_F(60), 0504, sent by function key f60 %242%
kf61 key_f61 Fp KEY_F(61), 0505, sent by function key f61 %243%
kf62 key_f62 Fq KEY_F(62), 0506, sent by function key f62 %244%
kf63 key_f63 Fr KEY_F(63), 0507, sent by function key f63 %245%
kf7 key_f7 k7 KEY_F(7), 0417, sent by function key f7 %189%
kf8 key_f8 k8 KEY_F(8), 0420, sent by function key f8 %190%
kf9 key_f9 k9 KEY_F(9), 0421, sent by function key f9 %191%
kfnd key_find @0 KEY_FIND, 0552, sent by find key
khlp key_help %1 KEY_HELP, 0553, sent by help key
khome key_home kh KEY_HOME, 0406, sent by home key %248%
khts key_stab kT KEY_STAB, 0524, sent by set-tab key %301%
kich1 key_ic kI KEY_IC, 0513, sent by ins-char/enter ins-mode key %249%
kil1 key_il kA KEY_IL, 0511, sent by insert-line key %250%
kind key_sf kF KEY_SF, 0520, sent by scroll-forward/down key %282%
kll key_ll kH KEY_LL, 0533, sent by home-down key %252%
kmov key_move %4 KEY_MOVE, 0556, sent by move key
kmrk key_mark %2 KEY_MARK, 0554, sent by mark key
kmsg key_message %3 KEY_MESSAGE, 0555, sent by message key
knp key_npage kN KEY_NPAGE, 0522, sent by next-page key %257%
knxt key_next %5 KEY_NEXT, 0557, sent by next-object key
kopn key_open %6 KEY_OPEN, 0560, sent by open key
Page 21 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
kopt key_options %7 KEY_OPTIONS, 0561, sent by options key
kpp key_ppage kP KEY_PPAGE, 0523, sent by previous-page key %260%
kprt key_print %9 KEY_PRINT, 0532, sent by print or copy key
kprv key_previous %8 KEY_PREVIOUS, 0562, sent by previous-object key
krdo key_redo %0 KEY_REDO, 0563, sent by redo key
kref key_reference &1 KEY_REFERENCE, 0564, sent by ref(erence) key
kres key_resume &5 KEY_RESUME, 0570, sent by resume key
krfr key_refresh &2 KEY_REFRESH, 0565, sent by refresh key
kri key_sr kR KEY_SR, 0521, sent by scroll-backward/up key %294%
krmir key_eic kM KEY_EIC, 0514, sent by rmir or smir in insert mode %176%
krpl key_replace &3 KEY_REPLACE, 0566, sent by replace key
krst key_restart &4 KEY_RESTART, 0567, sent by restart key
ksav key_save &6 KEY_SAVE, 0571, sent by save key
kslt key_select *6 KEY_SELECT, 0601, sent by select key
kspd key_suspend &7 KEY_SUSPEND, 0627, sent by suspend key
ktbc key_catab ka KEY_CATAB, 0526, sent by clear-all-tabs key %166%
kund key_undo &8 KEY_UNDO, 0630, sent by undo key
lf0 lab_f0 l0 Labels on function key f0 if not f0 %308%
lf1 lab_f1 l1 Labels on function key f1 if not f1 %309%
lf10 lab_f10 la Labels on function key f10 if not f10 %318%
lf2 lab_f2 l2 Labels on function key f2 if not f2 %310%
lf3 lab_f3 l3 Labels on function key f3 if not f3 %311%
lf4 lab_f4 l4 Labels on function key f4 if not f4 %312%
lf5 lab_f5 l5 Labels on function key f5 if not f5 %313%
lf6 lab_f6 l6 Labels on function key f6 if not f6 %314%
lf7 lab_f7 l7 Labels on function key f7 if not f7 %315%
lf8 lab_f8 l8 Labels on function key f8 if not f8 %316%
lf9 lab_f9 l9 Labels on function key f9 if not f9 %317%
ll cursor_to_ll ll Last line, first column (if no cup) %92%
lpi change_line_pitch ZB Change number of lines per inch %70%
mc0 print_screen ps Print contents of the screen %352%
mc4 prtr_off pf Turn off the printer %354%
mc5 prtr_on po Turn on the printer %355%
mc5p prtr_non pO Turn on the printer for #1 bytes %353%
mcub parm_left_micro Zg Like parmleftcursor for micro adjust. %342%
mcub1 micro_left Za Like cursorleft for micro adjustment %325%
mcud parm_down_micro Zf Like parmdowncursor for micro adjust. %337%
mcud1 micro_down ZZ Like cursordown for micro adjustment %324%
Page 22 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
mcuf parm_right_micro Zh Like parmrightcursor for micro adjust. %344%
mcuf1 micro_right Zb Like cursorright for micro adjustment %326%
mcuu parm_up_micro Zi Like parmupcursor for micro adjust. %347%
mcuu1 micro_up Zd Like cursorup for micro adjustment) %328%
mgc clear_margins MC Clear all margins (top, bottom, and sides) %77%
mhpa micro_column_address ZY Like columnaddress for micro adjustment %323%
mrcup cursor_mem_address CM Memory relative cursor addressing %89%
mvpa micro_row_address Zc Like rowaddress for micro adjustment %327%
nel newline nw Newline (behaves like cr followed by lf) %329%
oc orig_colors oc Set all color(-pair)s to the original ones %331%
op orig_pair op Set default color-pair to the original one %332%
pad pad_char pc Pad character (rather than null) %333%
pfkey pkey_key pk Prog funct key #1 to type string #2 %348%
pfloc pkey_local pl Prog funct key #1 to execute string #2 %349%
pfx pkey_xmit px Prog funct key #1 to xmit string #2 %350%
pln plab_norm pn Prog label #1 to show string #2 %351%
porder order_of_pins Ze Matches software bits to print-head pins %330%
prot enter_protected_mode mp Turn on protected mode %116%
rbim stop_bit_image Zs End printing bit image graphics %384%
rc restore_cursor rc Restore cursor to position of last sc %362%
rcsd stop_char_set_def Zt End definition of a character set %385%
rep repeat_char rp Repeat char #1 #2 times %356%
rev enter_reverse_mode mr Turn on reverse video mode %117%
rf reset_file rf Name of file containing reset string %361%
rfi req_for_input RF Send next input char (for ptys) %357%
ri scroll_reverse sr Scroll text down %366%
rin parm_rindex SR Scroll backward #1 lines. %345%
ritm exit_italics_mode ZR Disable italics %134%
rlm exit_leftward_mode ZS Enable rightward (normal) carriage motion %135%
rmacs exit_alt_charset_mode ae End alternate character set
rmam exit_am_mode RA Turn off automatic margins
rmcup exit_ca_mode te String to end programs that use cup %130%
rmdc exit_delete_mode ed End delete mode %131%
rmicm exit_micro_mode ZT Disable micro motion capabilities %136%
rmir exit_insert_mode ei End insert mode %133%
rmkx keypad_local ke Out of ``keypad-transmit'' modey %306%
rmln label_off LF Turn off soft labels %319%
rmm meta_off mo Turn off "meta mode" %321%
Page 23 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
rmp char_padding rP Like ip but when in replace mode %74%
rmso exit_standout_mode se End standout mode %138%
rmul exit_underline_mode ue End underscore mode %141%
rmxon exit_xon_mode RX Turn off xon/xoff handshaking %143%
rs1 reset_1string r1 Reset terminal completely to sane modes %358%
rs2 reset_2string r2 Reset terminal completely to sane modes %359%
rs3 reset_3string r3 Reset terminal completely to sane modes %360%
rshm exit_shadow_mode ZU Disable shadow printing %137%
rsubm exit_subscript_mode ZV Disable subscript printing %139%
rsupm exit_superscript_mode ZW Disable superscript printing %140%
rum exit_upward_mode ZX Enable downward (normal) carriage motion %142%
rwidm exit_doublewide_mode ZQ Disable double wide printing %132%
sbim start_bit_image Zq Start printing bit image graphics %382%
sc save_cursor sc Save cursor position %364%
scp set_color_pair sp Set current color-pair %372%
scs select_char_set Zj Select character set %367%
scsc start_char_set_def Zr Start definition of a character set %383%
sdrfq enter_draft_quality ZG Set draft quality print %109%
setb set_background Sb Set current background color %369%
setf set_foreground Sf Set current foreground color %373%
sgr set_attributes sa Define the video attributes #1-#9 %368%
sgr0 exit_attribute_mode me Turn off all attributes %129%
sitm enter_italics_mode ZH Enable italics %111%
slm enter_leftward_mode ZI Enable leftward carriage motion %112%
smacs enter_alt_charset_mode as Start alternate character set %101%
smam enter_am_mode SA Turn on automatic margins
smcup enter_ca_mode ti String to begin programs that use cup %105%
smdc enter_delete_mode dm Delete mode (enter) %106%
smgb set_bottom_margin Zk Set bottom margin at current line %370%
smgbp set_bottom_margin_parm Zl Set bottom margin at line #1 or #2 lines from bottom %371%
smgl set_left_margin ML Set left margin at current line %374%
smglp set_left_margin_parm Zm Set left (right) margin at column #1 (#2) %375%
smgr set_right_margin MR Set right margin at current column %376%
smgrp set_right_margin_parm Zn Set right margin at column #1 %377%
smgt set_top_margin Zo Set top margin at current line %379%
smgtp set_top_margin_parm Zp Set top (bottom) margin at line #1 (#2) %380%
smicm enter_micro_mode ZJ Enable micro motion capabilities %113%
smir enter_insert_mode im Insert mode (enter) %110%
Page 24 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
smkx keypad_xmit ks Put terminal in ``keypad-transmit'' mode %307%
smln label_on LO Turn on soft labels %320%
smm meta_on mm Turn on "meta mode" (8th bit) %322%
smso enter_standout_mode so Begin standout mode %120%
smul enter_underline_mode us Start underscore mode %123%
smxon enter_xon_mode SX Turn on xon/xoff handshaking %125%
snlq enter_near_letter_qualiZ
tK
y Set near-letter quality print %114%
snrmq enter_normal_quality ZL Set normal quality print %115%
sshm enter_shadow_mode ZM Enable shadow printing %119%
ssubm enter_subscript_mode ZN Enable subscript printing %121%
ssupm enter_superscript_mode ZO Enable superscript printing %122%
subcs subscript_characters Zu List of ``subscript-able'' characters %386%
sum enter_upward_mode ZP Enable upward carriage motion %124%
supcs superscript_characters Zv List of ``superscript-able'' characters %387%
swidm enter_doublewide_mode ZF Enable double wide printing %108%
tbc clear_all_tabs ct Clear all tab stops %76%
tsl to_status_line ts Go to status line, col #1 %390%
uc underline_char uc Underscore one char and move past it
up cursor_up cuu1 Upline (cursor up) %93%
vpa row_address cv Vertical position absolute %363%
wind set_window wi Current window is lines #1-#2 cols #3-#4
xoffc xoff_character XF X-off character %393%
xonc xon_character XN X-on character %394%
zerom zero_motion Zx No motion for the subsequent character %395%
SAMPLE ENTRY
The following entry, which describes the AT&T 610 terminal,
is among the more complex entries in the terminfo file as of
this writing.
610|610bct|ATT610|att610|AT&T610;80column;98key keyboard
am, eslok, hs, mir, msgr, xenl, xon,
cols#80, it#8, lh#2, lines#24, lw#8, nlab#8, wsl#80,
acsc=``aaffggjjkkllmmnnooppqqrrssttuuvvwwxxyyzz{{ | | }}~~,
bel=^G, blink=\E[5m, bold=\E[1m, cbt=\E[Z,
civis=\E[?25l, clear=\E[H\E[J, cnorm=\E[?25h\E[?12l,
cr=\r, csr=\E[%i%p1%d;%p2%dr, cub=\E[%p1%dD, cub1=\b,
cud=\E[%p1%dB, cud1=\E[B, cuf=\E[%p1%dC, cuf1=\E[C,
cup=\E[%i%p1%d;%p2%dH, cuu=\E[%p1%dA, cuu1=\E[A,
cvvis=\E[?12;25h, dch=\E[%p1%dP, dch1=\E[P, dim=\E[2m,
Page 25 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
dl=\E[%p1%dM, dl1=\E[M, ed=\E[J, el=\E[K, el1=\E[1K,
flash=\E[?5h$<200>\E[?5l, fsl=\E8, home=\E[H, ht=\t,
ich=\E[%p1%d@, il=\E[%p1%dL, il1=\E[L, ind=\ED,
invis=\E[8m,
is1=\E[8;0 | \E[?3;4;5;13;15l\E[13;20l\E[?7h\E[12h\E(B\E)0,
is2=\E[0m^O, is3=\E(B\E)0, kLFT=\E[\s@, kRIT=\E[\sA,
kbs=\b, kcbt=\E[Z, kclr=\E[2J, kcub1=\E[D, kcud1=\E[B,
kcuf1=\E[C, kcuu1=\E[A, kf1=\EOc, kf10=\ENp,
kf11=\ENq, kf12=\ENr, kf13=\ENs, kf14=\ENt, kf2=\EOd,
kf3=\EOe, kf4=\EOf, kf5=\EOg, kf6=\EOh, kf7=\EOi,
kf8=\EOj, kf9=\ENo, khome=\E[H, kind=\E[S, kri=\E[T,
ll=\E[24H, mc4=\E[?4i, mc5=\E[?5i, nel=\EE,
pfx=\E[%p1%d;%p2%l%02dq\s\s\sF%p1%1d\s\s\s\s\s
\s\s\s\s\s\s%p2%s,
pln=\E[%p1%d;0;0;0q%p2%:-16.16s, rc=\E8, rev=\E[7m,
ri=\EM, rmacs=^O, rmir=\E[4l, rmln=\E[2p, rmso=\E[m,
rmul=\E[m, rs2=\Ec\E[?3l, sc=\E7,
sgr=\E[0%?%p6%t;1%;%?%p5%t;2%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p4%t;5%;
%?%p3%p1% | %t;7%;%?%p7%t;8%;m%?%p9%t^N%e^O%;,
sgr0=\E[m^O, smacs=^N, smir=\E[4h, smln=\E[p,
smso=\E[7m, smul=\E[4m, tsl=\E7\E[25;%i%p1%dx,
Types of Capabilities in the Sample Entry
The sample entry shows the formats for the three types of
terminfo capabilities listed: Boolean, numeric, and string.
All capabilities specified in the terminfo source file must
be followed by commas, including the last capability in the
source file. In terminfo source files, capabilities are
referenced by their capability names (as shown in the
previous tables).
Boolean capabilities are specified simply by their comma
separated cap names.
Numeric capabilities are followed by the character `#' and
then a positive integer value. Thus, in the sample, cols
(which shows the number of columns available on a device) is
assigned the value 80 for the AT&T 610. (Values for numeric
capabilities may be specified in decimal, octal or
hexadecimal, using normal C conventions.)
Page 26 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
Finally, string-valued capabilities such as el (clear to end
of line sequence) are listed by a two- to five-character
capname, an `=', and a string ended by the next occurrence
of a comma. A delay in milliseconds may appear anywhere in
such a capability, enclosed in $<..> brackets, as in
el=\EK$<3>. Padding characters are supplied by tputs().
The delay can be any of the following: a number (5), a
number followed by a `*' (5*), a number followed by a `/'
(5/), or a number followed by both (5*/). A `*' shows that
the padding required is proportional to the number of lines
affected by the operation, and the amount given is the per-
affected-unit padding required. (In the case of insert
characters, the factor is still the number of lines
affected. This is always 1 unless the device has in and the
software uses it.) When a `*' is specified, it is sometimes
useful to give a delay of the form 3.5 to specify a delay
per unit to tenths of milliseconds. (Only one decimal place
is allowed.)
A `/' indicates that the padding is mandatory. If a device
has xon defined, the padding information is advisory and
will only be used for cost estimates or when the device is
in raw mode. Mandatory padding will be transmitted
regardless of the setting of xon. If padding (whether
advisory or mandatory) is specified for bel or flash,
however, it will always be used, regardless of whether xon
is specified.
terminfo offers notation for encoding special characters.
Both \E and \e map to an ESCAPE character, ^x maps to a
control-x for any appropriate x, and the sequences \n, \l,
\r, \t, \b, \f, and \s give a newline, linefeed, return,
tab, backspace, formfeed, and space, respectively. Other
escapes include: \^ for caret (^); \\ for backslash (\); \,
for comma (,); \: for colon (:); and \0 for null. (\0 will
actually produce \200, which does not terminate a string but
behaves as a null character on most devices, providing CS7
is specified. (See stty(1).) Finally, characters may be
given as three octal digits after a backslash (e.g., \123).
Page 27 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
Sometimes individual capabilities must be commented out. To
do this, put a period before the capability name. For
example, see the second ind in the example above. Note that
capabilities are defined in a left-to-right order and,
therefore, a prior definition will override a later
definition.
Preparing Descriptions
The most effective way to prepare a device description is by
imitating the description of a similar device in terminfo
and building up a description gradually, using partial
descriptions with vi(1) to check that they are correct. Be
aware that a very unusual device may expose deficiencies in
the ability of the terminfo file to describe it or the
inability of vi(1) to work with that device. To test a new
device description, set the environment variable TERMINFO to
the pathname of a directory containing the compiled
description you are working on and programs will look there
rather than in /usr/lib/terminfo. To get the padding for
insert-line correct (if the device manufacturer did not
document it) a severe test is to comment out xon, edit a
large file at 9600 baud with vi(1), delete 16 or so lines
from the middle of the screen, and then hit the u key
several times quickly. If the display is corrupted, more
padding is usually needed. A similar test can be used for
insert-character.
Section 1-1: Basic Capabilities
The number of columns on each line for the device is given
by the cols numeric capability. If the device has a screen,
then the number of lines on the screen is given by the lines
capability. If the device wraps around to the beginning of
the next line when it reaches the right margin, then it
should have the am capability. If the terminal can clear
its screen, leaving the cursor in the home position, then
this is given by the clear string capability. If the
terminal overstrikes (rather than clearing a position when a
character is struck over) then it should have the os
capability. If the device is a printing terminal, with no
soft copy unit, specify both hc and os. If there is a way
Page 28 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
to move the cursor to the left edge of the current row,
specify this as cr. (Normally this will be carriage return,
control M.) If there is a way to produce an audible signal
(such as a bell or a beep), specify it as bel. If, like
most devices, the device uses the xon-xoff flow-control
protocol, specify xon.
If there is a way to move the cursor one position to the
left (such as backspace), that capability should be given as
cub1. Similarly, sequences to move to the right, up, and
down should be given as cuf1, cuu1, and cud1, respectively.
These local cursor motions must not alter the text they pass
over; for example, you would not normally use ``cuf1=\s''
because the space would erase the character moved over.
A very important point here is that the local cursor motions
encoded IN terminfo are undefined at the left and top edges
of a screen terminal. Programs should never attempt to
backspace around the left edge, unless bw is specified, and
should never attempt to go up locally off the top. To
scroll text up, a program goes to the bottom left corner of
the screen and sends the ind (index) string.
To scroll text down, a program goes to the top left corner
of the screen and sends the ri (reverse index) string. The
strings ind and ri are undefined when not on their
respective corners of the screen.
Page 29 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
Parameterized versions of the scrolling sequences are indn
and rin. These versions have the same semantics as ind and
ri, except that they take one parameter and scroll the
number of lines specified by that parameter. They are also
undefined except at the appropriate edge of the screen.
The am capability tells whether the cursor sticks at the
right edge of the screen when text is output, but this does
not necessarily apply to a cuf1 from the last column.
Backward motion from the left edge of the screen is possible
only when bw is specified. In this case, cub1 will move to
the right edge of the previous row. If bw is not given, the
effect is undefined. This is useful for drawing a box
around the edge of the screen, for example. If the device
has switch selectable automatic margins, am should be
specified in the terminfo source file. In this case,
initialization strings should turn on this option, if
possible. If the device has a command that moves to the
first column of the next line, that command can be given as
nel (newline). It does not matter if the command clears the
remainder of the current line, so if the device has no cr
and lf it may still be possible to craft a working nel out
of one or both of them.
These capabilities suffice to describe hardcopy and screen
terminals. Thus the AT&T 5320 hardcopy terminal is
described as follows:
5320|att5320|AT&T 5320 hardcopy terminal,
am, hc, os,
cols#132,
bel=^G, cr=\r, cub1=\b, cnd1=\n,
dch1=\E[P, dl1=\E[M,
ind=\n,
while the Lear Siegler ADM-3 is described as
adm3|lsi adm3,
am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H,
cud1=^J, ind=^J, lines#24,
Page 30 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
Section 1-2: Parameterized Strings
Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters are
described by a parameterized string capability, with
printf(3S)-like escapes (%x) in it. For example, to address
the cursor, the cup capability is given, using two
parameters: the row and column to address to. (Rows and
columns are numbered from zero and refer to the physical
screen visible to the user, not to any unseen memory.) If
the terminal has memory relative cursor addressing, that can
be indicated by mrcup.
The parameter mechanism uses a stack and special % codes to
manipulate the stack in the manner of Reverse Polish
Notation (postfix). Typically a sequence will push one of
the parameters onto the stack and then print it in some
format. Often more complex operations are necessary.
Operations are in postfix form with the operands in the
usual order. That is, to subtract 5 from the first
parameter, one would use %p1%{5}%-.
The % encodings have the following meanings:
%% outputs `%'
%[[:]flags][width[.precision]][doxXs]
as in printf, flags are [-+#] and space
%c print pop() gives %c
%p[1-9] push ith parm
%P[a-z] set variable [a-z] to pop()
%g[a-z] get variable [a-z] and push it
%'c' push char constant c
%{nn} push decimal constant nn
%l push strlen(pop())
%+ %- %* %/ %m
arithmetic (%m is mod): push(pop integer2() op pop integer1())
%& %| %^ bit operations: push(pop integer2() op pop integersub1())
%= %> %< logical operations: push(pop() op pop())
%A %O logical operations: and, or
%! %~ unary operations: push(op pop())
Page 31 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
%i (for ANSI terminals)
add 1 to first parm, if one parm present,
or first two parms, if more than one parm present
%? expr %t thenpart %e elsepart %;
if-then-else, %e elsepart is optional;
else-if's are possible ala Algol 68:
%? c1 %t b1 %e c2 %t b2 %e c3 %t b3 %e c4 %t b4 %e b5%;
ci are conditions, bi are bodies.
If the ``-'' flag is used with ``%[doxXs]'', then a colon
(:) must be placed between the ``%'' and the ``-'' to
differentiate the flag from the binary ``%-'' operator, .e.g
``%:-16.16s''.
Consider the Hewlett-Packard 2645, which, to get to row 3
and column 12, needs to be sent \E&a12c03Y padded for 6
milliseconds. Note that the order of the rows and columns
is inverted here, and that the row and column are zero-
padded as two digits. Thus its cup capability is
``cup=\E&a%p2%2.2dc%p1%2.2dY$<6>''.
The Micro-Term ACT-IV needs the current row and column sent
preceded by a ^T, with the row and column simply encoded in
binary, ``cup=^T%p1%c%p2%c''. Devices 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, as
the system may change or discard them. (The library
routines dealing with terminfo set tty modes so that tabs
are never expanded, so \t is safe to send. This turns out
to be essential for the Ann Arbor 4080.)
A final example is the LSI ADM-3a, which uses row and column
offset by a blank character, thus
``cup=\E=%p1%'\s'%+%c%p2%'\s'%+%c''. After sending ``\E='',
this 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
Page 32 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
parameter. More complex arithmetic is possible using the
stack.
Section 1-3: Cursor Motions
If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very
upper left corner of screen) then this can be given as home;
similarly a fast way of getting to the lower left-hand
corner can be given as ll; this may involve going up with
cuu1 from the home position, but a program should never do
this itself (unless ll does) because it can make no
assumption about the effect of moving up from the home
position. Note that the home position is the same as
addressing to (0,0): to the top left corner of the screen,
not of memory. (Thus, the \EH sequence on Hewlett-Packard
terminals cannot be used for home without losing some of the
other features on the terminal.)
If the device has row or column absolute-cursor addressing,
these can be given as single parameter capabilities hpa
(horizontal position absolute) and vpa (vertical position
absolute). Sometimes these are shorter than the more
general two-parameter sequence (as with the Hewlett-Packard
2645) and can be used in preference to cup. If there are
parameterized local motions (e.g., move n spaces to the
right) these can be given as cud, cub, cuf, and cuu with a
single parameter indicating how many spaces to move. These
are primarily useful if the device does not have cup, such
as the Tektronix 4025.
If the device needs to be in a special mode when running a
program that uses these capabilities, the codes to enter and
exit this mode can be given as smcup and rmcup. This
arises, for example, from terminals, such as the Concept,
with more than one page of memory. If the device has only
memory relative cursor addressing and not screen relative
cursor addressing, a one screen-sized window must be fixed
into the device for cursor addressing to work properly.
This is also used for the Tektronix 4025, where smcup sets
the command character to be the one used by terminfo. If
the smcup sequence will not restore the screen after an
Page 33 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
rmcup sequence is output (to the state prior to outputting
rmcup), specify nrrmc.
Section 1-4: Area Clears
If the terminal can clear from the current position to the
end of the line, leaving the cursor where it is, this should
be given as el. If the terminal can clear from the
beginning of the line to the current position inclusive,
leaving the cursor where it is, this should be given as el1.
If the terminal can clear from the current position to the
end of the display, then this should be given as ed. ed is
only defined from the first column of a line. (Thus, it can
be simulated by a request to delete a large number of lines,
if a true ed is not available.)
Section 1-5: Insert/Delete Line
If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line
where the cursor is, this should be given as il1; this is
done only from the first position of a line. The cursor
must then appear on the newly blank line. If the terminal
can delete the line which the cursor is on, then this should
be given as dl1; this is done only from the first position
on the line to be deleted. Versions of il1 and dl1 which
take a single parameter and insert or delete that many lines
can be given as il and dl.
If the terminal has a settable destructive scrolling region
(like the VT100) the command to set this can be described
with the csr capability, which takes two parameters: the
top and bottom lines of the scrolling region. The cursor
position is, alas, undefined after using this command. It
is possible to get the effect of insert or delete line using
this command -- the sc and rc (save and restore cursor)
commands are also useful. Inserting lines at the top or
bottom of the screen can also be done using ri or ind on
many terminals without a true insert/delete line, and is
often faster even on terminals with those features.
To determine whether a terminal has destructive scrolling
regions or non-destructive scrolling regions, create a
Page 34 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
scrolling region in the middle of the screen, place data on
the bottom line of the scrolling region, move the cursor to
the top line of the scrolling region, and do a reverse index
(ri) followed by a delete line (dl1) or index (ind). If the
data that was originally on the bottom line of the scrolling
region was restored into the scrolling region by the dl1 or
ind, then the terminal has non-destructive scrolling
regions. Otherwise, it has destructive scrolling regions.
Do not specify csr if the terminal has non-destructive
scrolling regions, unless ind, ri, indn, rin, dl, and dl1
all simulate destructive scrolling.
If the terminal has the ability to define a window as part
of memory, which all commands affect, it should be given as
the parameterized string wind. The four parameters are the
starting and ending lines in memory and the starting and
ending columns in memory, in that order.
If the terminal can retain display memory above, then the da
capability should be given; if display memory can be
retained below, then db should be given. These indicate
that deleting a line or scrolling a full screen may bring
non-blank lines up from below or that scrolling back with ri
may bring down non-blank lines.
Section 1-6: Insert/Delete Character
There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with
respect to insert/delete character operations which can be
described using terminfo. The most common insert/delete
character operations affect only the characters on the
current line and shift characters off the end of the line
rigidly. Other terminals, such as the Concept 100 and the
Perkin Elmer Owl, make a distinction between typed and
untyped blanks on the screen, shifting upon an insert or
delete only to an untyped blank on the screen which is
either eliminated, or expanded to two untyped blanks. You
can determine the kind of terminal you have by clearing the
screen and then typing text separated by cursor motions.
Type ``abc def'' using local cursor motions (not spaces)
between the abc and the def. Then position the cursor
Page 35 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
before the abc and put the terminal in insert mode. If
typing characters causes the rest of the line to shift
rigidly and characters to fall off the end, then your
terminal does not distinguish between blanks and untyped
positions. If the abc shifts over to the def which then
move together around the end of the current line and onto
the next as you insert, you have the second type of
terminal, and should give the capability in, which stands
for ``insert null.'' While these are two logically separate
attributes (one line versus multiline insert mode, and
special treatment of untyped spaces) we have seen no
terminals whose insert mode cannot be described with the
single attribute.
terminfo can describe both terminals that have an insert
mode and terminals which send a simple sequence to open a
blank position on the current line. Give as smir the
sequence to get into insert mode. Give as rmir the sequence
to leave insert mode. Now give as ich1 any sequence needed
to be sent just before sending the character to be inserted.
Most terminals with a true insert mode will not give ich1;
terminals that send a sequence to open a screen position
should give it here. (If your terminal has both, insert
mode is usually preferable to ich1. Do not give both unless
the terminal actually requires both to be used in
combination.) If post-insert padding is needed, give this
as a number of milliseconds padding in ip (a string option).
Any other sequence which may need to be sent after an insert
of a single character may also be given in ip. If your
terminal needs both to be placed into an `insert mode' and a
special code to precede each inserted character, then both
smir/rmir and ich1 can be given, and both will be used. The
ich capability, with one parameter, n, will insert n blanks.
If padding is necessary between characters typed while not
in insert mode, give this as a number of milliseconds
padding in rmp.
It is occasionally necessary to move around while in insert
mode to delete characters on the same line (e.g., if there
Page 36 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
is a tab after the insertion position). If your terminal
allows motion while in insert mode you can give the
capability mir to speed up inserting in this case. Omitting
mir will affect only speed. Some terminals (notably
Datamedia's) must not have mir because of the way their
insert mode works.
Finally, you can specify dch1 to delete a single character,
dch with one parameter, n, to delete n characters, and
delete mode by giving smdc and rmdc to enter and exit delete
mode (any mode the terminal needs to be placed in for dch1
to work).
A command to erase n characters (equivalent to outputting n
blanks without moving the cursor) can be given as ech with
one parameter.
Section 1-7: Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells
Your device may have one or more kinds of display attributes
that allow you to highlight selected characters when they
appear on the screen. The following display modes (shown
with the names by which they are set) may be available: a
blinking screen (blink), bold or extra-bright characters
(bold), dim or half-bright characters (dim), blanking or
invisible text (invis), protected text (prot), a reverse-
video screen (rev), and an alternate character set (smacs to
enter this mode and rmacs to exit it). (If a command is
necessary before you can enter alternate character set mode,
give the sequence in enacs or "enable alternate-character-
set" mode.) Turning on any of these modes singly may or may
not turn off other modes.
sgr0 should be used to turn off all video enhancement
capabilities. It should always be specified because it
represents the only way to turn off some capabilities, such
as dim or blink.
You should choose one display method as standout mode (see
curses(3X)) and use it to highlight error messages and other
kinds of text to which you want to draw attention. Choose a
Page 37 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
form of display that provides strong contrast but that is
easy on the eyes. (We recommend reverse-video plus half-
bright or reverse-video alone.) The sequences to enter and
exit standout mode are given as smso and rmso, respectively.
If the code to change into or out of standout mode leaves
one or even two blank spaces on the screen, as the TVI 912
and Teleray 1061 do, then xmc should be given to tell how
many spaces are left.
Sequences to begin underlining and end underlining can be
specified as smul and rmul , respectively. If the device
has a sequence to underline the current character and to
move the cursor one space to the right (such as the Micro-
Term MIME), this sequence can be specified as uc.
Terminals with the ``magic cookie'' glitch (xmc) deposit
special ``cookies'' when they receive mode-setting
sequences, which affect the display algorithm rather than
having extra bits for each character. Some terminals, such
as the Hewlett-Packard 2621, automatically leave standout
mode when they move to a new line or the cursor is
addressed. Programs using standout mode should exit
standout mode before moving the cursor or sending a newline,
unless the msgr capability, asserting that it is safe to
move in standout mode, is present.
If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indicate
an error quietly (a bell replacement), then this can be
given as flash; it must not move the cursor. A good flash
can be done by changing the screen into reverse video, pad
for 200 ms, then return the screen to normal video.
If the cursor needs to be made more visible than normal when
it is not on the bottom line (to make, for example, a non-
blinking underline into an easier to find block or blinking
underline) give this sequence as cvvis. The boolean chts
should also be given. If there is a way to make the cursor
completely invisible, give that as civis. The capability
cnorm should be given which undoes the effects of either of
these modes.
Page 38 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
If your terminal generates underlined characters by using
the underline character (with no special sequences needed)
even though it does not otherwise overstrike characters,
then you should specify the capability ul. For devices on
which a character overstriking another leaves both
characters on the screen, specify the capability os. If
overstrikes are erasable with a blank, then this should be
indicated by specifying eo.
If there is a sequence to set arbitrary combinations of
modes, this should be given as sgr (set attributes), taking
nine parameters. Each parameter is either 0 or non-zero, as
the corresponding attribute is on or off. The nine
parameters are, in order: standout, underline, reverse,
blink, dim, bold, blank, protect, alternate character set.
Not all modes need to be supported by sgr; only those for
which corresponding separate attribute commands exist should
be supported. For example, let's assume that the terminal
in question needs the following escape sequences to turn on
various modes.
tparm
parameter attribute escape sequence
none \E[0m
p1 standout \E[0;4;7m
p2 underline \E[0;3m
p3 reverse \E[0;4m
p4 blink \E[0;5m
p5 dim \E[0;7m
p6 bold \E[0;3;4m
p7 invis \E[0;8m
p8 protect not available
p9 altcharset ^O (off) ^N(on)
Note that each escape sequence requires a 0 to turn off
other modes before turning on its own mode. Also note that,
as suggested above, standout is set up to be the combination
of reverse and dim. Also, because this terminal has no bold
mode, bold is set up as the combination of reverse and
underline. In addition, to allow combinations, such as
underline+blink, the sequence to use would be \E[0;3;5m.
Page 39 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
The terminal doesn't have protect mode, either, but that
cannot be simulated in any way, so p8 is ignored. The
altcharset mode is different in that it is either ^O or ^N,
depending on whether it is off or on. If all modes were to
be turned on, the sequence would be \E[0;3;4;5;7;8m^N.
Now look at when different sequences are output. For
example, ;3 is output when either p2 or p6 is true, that is,
if either underline or bold modes are turned on. Writing
out the above sequences, along with their dependencies,
gives the following:
sequence when to output terminfo translation
\E[0 always \E[0
;3 if p2 or p6 %?%p2%p6%|%t;3%;
;4 if p1 or p3 or p6 %?%p1%p3%|%p6%|%t;4%;
;5 if p4 %?%p4%t;5%;
;7 if p1 or p5 %?%p1%p5%|%t;7%;
;8 if p7 %?%p7%t;8%;
m always m
^N or ^O if p9 ^N, else ^O %?%p9%t^N%e^O%;
Putting this all together into the sgr sequence gives:
sgr=\E[0%?%p2%p6%|%t;3%;%?%p1%p3%|%p6%|%t;4%;%?%p5%t;5%;%?%p1%p5%
|%t;7%;%?%p7%t;8%;m%?%p9%t^N%e^O%;,
REMEMBER THAT sgr AND sgr0 MUST ALWAYS BE SPECIFIED.
Section 1-8: Keypad
If the device has a keypad that transmits sequences when the
keys are pressed, this information can also be specified.
Note that it is not possible to handle devices where the
keypad only works in local (this applies, for example, to
the unshifted Hewlett-Packard 2621 keys). If the keypad can
be set to transmit or not transmit, specify these sequences
as smkx and rmkx. Otherwise the keypad is assumed to always
transmit.
The sequences sent by the left arrow, right arrow, up arrow,
down arrow, and home keys can be given as kcub1, kcuf1,
Page 40 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
kcuu1, kcud1, and khome, respectively. If there are
function keys such as f0, f1, ..., f63, the sequences they
send can be specified as kf0, kf1, ..., kf63. If the first
11 keys have labels other than the default f0 through f10,
the labels can be given as lf0, lf1, ..., lf10. The codes
transmitted by certain other special keys can be given: kll
(home down), kbs (backspace), ktbc (clear all tabs), kctab
(clear the tab stop in this column), kclr (clear screen or
erase key), kdch1 (delete character), kdl1 (delete line),
krmir (exit insert mode), kel (clear to end of line), ked
(clear to end of screen), kich1 (insert character or enter
insert mode), kil1 (insert line), knp (next page), kpp
(previous page), kind (scroll forward/down), kri (scroll
backward/up), khts (set a tab stop in this column). In
addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3 array of keys including
the four arrow keys, the other five keys can be given as
ka1, ka3, kb2, kc1, and kc3. These keys are useful when the
effects of a 3 by 3 directional pad are needed. Further
keys are defined above in the capabilities list.
Strings to program function keys can be specified as pfkey,
pfloc, and pfx. A string to program screen labels should be
specified as pln. Each of these strings takes two
parameters: a function key identifier and a string to
program it with. pfkey causes pressing the 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
programmable screen labels and their width and height. If
there are commands to turn the labels on and off, give them
in smln and rmln. smln is normally output after one or more
pln sequences to make sure that the change becomes visible.
Section 1-9: Tabs and Initialization
If the device has hardware tabs, the command to advance to
the next tab stop can be given as ht (usually control I). A
``backtab'' command that moves leftward to the next tab stop
can be given as cbt. By convention, if tty modes show that
tabs are being expanded by the computer rather than being
Page 41 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
sent to the device, programs should not use ht or cbt (even
if they are present) because the user may not have the tab
stops properly set. If the device has hardware tabs that
are initially set every n spaces when the device is powered
up, the numeric parameter it is given, showing the number of
spaces the tabs are set to. This is normally used by tput
init (see tput(1)) to determine whether to set the mode for
hardware tab expansion and whether to set the tab stops. If
the device has tab stops that can be saved in nonvolatile
memory, the terminfo description can assume that they are
properly set. If there are commands to set and clear tab
stops, they can be given as tbc (clear all tab stops) and
hts (set a tab stop in the current column of every row).
Other capabilities include: is1, is2, and is3,
initialization strings for the device; iprog, the path name
of a program to be run to initialize the device; and if, the
name of a file containing long initialization strings.
These strings are expected to set the device into modes
consistent with the rest of the terminfo description. They
must be sent to the device each time the user logs in and be
output in the following order: run the program iprog;
output is1; output is2; set the margins using mgc, smgl and
smgr; set the tabs using tbc and hts; print the file if; and
finally output is3. This is usually done using the init
option of tput(1); see profile(4).
Most initialization is done with is2. Special device modes
can be set up without duplicating strings by putting the
common sequences in is2 and special cases in is1 and is3.
Sequences that do a harder reset from a totally unknown
state can be given as rs1, rs2, rf, and rs3, analogous to
is1, is2, is3, and if. (The method using files, if and rf,
is used for a few terminals, from /usr/lib/tabset/*;
however, the recommended method is to use the initialization
and reset strings.) These strings are output by tput reset,
which is used when the terminal gets into a wedged state.
Commands are normally placed in rs1, rs2, rs3, and rf only
if they produce annoying effects on the screen and are not
necessary when logging in. For example, the command to set
Page 42 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
a terminal into 80-column mode would normally be part of
is2, but on some terminals it causes an annoying glitch on
the screen and is not normally needed because the terminal
is usually already in 80-column mode.
If a more complex sequence is needed to set the tabs than
can be described by using tbc and hts, the sequence can be
placed in is2 or if.
Any margin can be cleared with mgc. (For instructions on
how to specify commands to set and clear margins, see
"Margins" below under "PRINTER CAPABILITIES.")
Section 1-10: Delays
Certain capabilities control padding in the tty(7) driver.
These are primarily needed by hard-copy terminals, and are
used by tput init to set tty modes appropriately. Delays
embedded in the capabilities cr, ind, cub1, ff, and tab can
be used to set the appropriate delay bits to be set in the
tty driver. If pb (padding baud rate) is given, these
values can be ignored at baud rates below the value of pb.
Section 1-11: Status Lines
If the terminal has an extra ``status line'' that is not
normally used by software, this fact can be indicated. If
the status line is viewed as an extra line below the bottom
line, into which one can cursor address normally (such as
the Heathkit h19's 25th line, or the 24th line of a VT100
which is set to a 23-line scrolling region), the capability
hs should be given. Special strings that go to a given
column of the status line and return from the status line
can be given as tsl and fsl. (fsl must leave the cursor
position in the same place it was before tsl. If necessary,
the sc and rc strings can be included in tsl and fsl to get
this effect.) The capability tsl takes one parameter, which
is the column number of the status line the cursor is to be
moved to.
If escape sequences and other special commands, such as tab,
work while in the status line, the flag eslok can be given.
Page 43 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
A string which 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. The status line is
normally assumed to be the same width as the rest of the
screen, e.g., cols. If the status line is a different width
(possibly because
Page 44 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
the terminal does not allow an entire line to be loaded) the
width, in columns, can be indicated with the numeric
parameter wsl.
Section 1-12: Line Graphics
If the device has a line drawing alternate character set,
the mapping of glyph to character would be given in acsc.
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&T 4410v1 terminal.
vt100+
glyph name character
arrow pointing right +
arrow pointing left ,
arrow pointing down .
solid square block 0
lantern symbol I
arrow pointing up -
diamond `
checker board (stipple) a
degree symbol f
plus/minus g
board of squares h
lower right corner j
upper right corner k
upper left corner l
lower left corner m
plus n
scan line 1 o
horizontal line q
scan line 9 s
left tee (†) t
right tee (-|) u
bottom tee (|) v
|) top
w tee (
vertical line x
bullet ~
Page 45 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
The best way to describe a new device's line graphics set is
to add a third column to the above table with the characters
for the new device that produce the appropriate glyph when
the device is in the alternate character set mode. For
example,
vt100+ new tty
glyph name char char
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 .
Now write down the characters left to right, as in
``acsc=lRmFkTjGq\,x.''.
In addition, terminfo allows you to define multiple
character sets. See Section 2-5 for details.
Section 1-13: Color Manipulation
Let us define two methods of color manipulation: the
Tektronix method and the HP method. The Tektronix method
uses a set of N predefined colors (usually 8) from which a
user can select "current" foreground and background colors.
Thus a terminal can support up to N colors mixed into N*N
color-pairs to be displayed on the screen at the same time.
When using an HP method the user cannot define the
foreground independently of the background, or vice-versa.
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. Most existing color terminals belong to
one of these two classes of terminals.
The numeric variables colors and pairs define the number of
colors and color-pairs that can be displayed on the screen
at the same time. If a terminal can change the definition
of a color (for example, the Tektronix 4100 and 4200 series
terminals), this should be specified with ccc (can change
Page 46 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
color). To change the definition of a color (Tektronix
method), use initc (initialize color). It requires four
arguments: color number (ranging from 0 to colors-1) and
three RGB (red, green, and blue) values (ranging from 0 to
1000).
Tektronix 4100 series terminals use a type of color notation
called HLS (Hue Lightness Saturation) instead of RGB color
notation. For such terminals one must define a boolean
variable hls. The last three arguments to the initc string
would then be HLS values: H, ranging from 0 to 360; and L
and S, ranging from 0 to 100.
If a terminal can change the definitions of colors, but uses
a color notation different from RGB and HLS, a mapping to
either RGB or HLS must be developed.
To set current foreground or background to a given color,
use setf (set foreground) and setb (set background). They
require one parameter: the number of the color. To
initialize a color-pair (HP method), use initp (initialize
pair). It requires seven parameters: the number of a
color-pair (range=0 to pairs-1), and six RGB values: three
for the foreground followed by three for the background.
(Each of these groups of three should be in the order RGB.)
When initc or initp are used, RGB or HLS arguments should be
in the order "red, green, blue" or "hue, lightness,
saturation"), respectively. To make a color-pair current,
use scp (set color-pair). It takes one parameter, the
number of a color-pair.
Some terminals (for example, most color terminal emulators
for PCs) erase areas of the screen with current background
color. In such cases, bce (background color erase) should
be defined. The variable op (original pair) contains a
sequence for setting the foreground and the background
colors to what they were at the terminal start-up time.
Similarly, oc (original colors) contains a control sequence
for setting all colors (for the Tektronix method) or color-
pairs (for the HP method) to the values they had at the
Page 47 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
terminal start-up time.
Some color terminals substitute color for video attributes.
Such video attributes should not be combined with colors.
Information about these video attributes should be packed
into the ncv (no color video) variable. 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.
Page 48 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
Bit Decimal
Attribute Position Value
_________________________________
A_STANDOUT 0 1
A_UNDERLINE 1 2
A_REVERSE 2 4
A_BLINK 3 8
A_DIM 4 16
A_BOLD 5 32
A_INVIS 6 64
A_PROTECT 7 128
A_ALTCHARSET 8 256
When a particular video attribute should not be used with
colors, the corresponding ncv bit should be set to 1;
otherwise it should be set to zero. To determine the
information to pack into the ncv variable, you must add
together the decimal values corresponding to those
attributes that cannot coexist with colors. For example, if
the terminal uses colors to simulate reverse video (bit
number 2 and decimal value 4) and bold (bit number 5 and
decimal value 32), the resulting value for ncv will be 36 (4
+ 32).
Section 1-14: Miscellaneous
If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character
as a pad, then this can be given as pad. Only the first
character of the pad string is used. If the terminal does
not have a pad character, specify npc.
If the terminal can move up or down half a line, this can be
indicated with hu (half-line up) and hd (half-line down).
This is primarily useful for superscripts and subscripts on
hardcopy terminals. If a hardcopy terminal can eject to the
next page (form feed), give this as ff (usually control L).
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
parameterized string rep. The first parameter is the
Page 49 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
character to be repeated and the second is the number of
times to repeat it. Thus, tparm(repeatchar, 'x', 10) is
the same as xxxxxxxxxx.
If the terminal has a settable command character, such as
the Tektronix 4025, this can be indicated with cmdch. A
prototype command character is chosen which is used in all
capabilities. This character is given in the cmdch
capability to identify it. The following convention is
supported on some UNIX systems: If the environment variable
CC exists, all occurrences of the prototype character are
replaced with the character in CC.
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 so that
programs can complain that they do not know how to talk to
the terminal. (This capability does not apply to virtual
terminal descriptions for which the escape sequences are
known.) If the terminal is one of those supported by the
UNIX system virtual terminal protocol, the terminal number
can be given as vt. A line-turn-around sequence to be
transmitted before doing reads should be specified in rfi.
If the device uses xon/xoff handshaking for flow control,
give xon. Padding information should still be included so
that routines can make better decisions about costs, but
actual pad characters will not be transmitted. Sequences to
turn on and off xon/xoff handshaking may be given in smxon
and rmxon. If the characters used for handshaking are not
^S and ^Q, they may be specified with xonc and xoffc.
If the terminal has a ``meta key'' which acts as a shift
key, setting the 8th bit of any character transmitted, this
fact can be indicated with km. Otherwise, software will
assume that the 8th 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 smm and rmm.
If the terminal has more lines of memory than will fit on
Page 50 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
the screen at once, the number of lines of memory can be
indicated with lm. A value of lm#0 indicates that the
number of lines is not fixed, but that there is still more
memory than fits on the screen.
Media copy strings which control an auxiliary printer
connected to the terminal can be given as mc0: print the
contents of the screen, mc4: turn off the printer, and mc5:
turn on the printer. When the printer is on, all text sent
to the terminal will be sent to the printer. A variation,
mc5p, takes one parameter, and leaves the printer on for as
many characters as the value of the parameter, then turns
the printer off. The parameter should not exceed 255. If
the text is not displayed on the terminal screen when the
printer is on, specify mc5i (silent printer). All text,
including mc4, is transparently passed to the printer while
an mc5p is in effect.
Section 1-15: Special Cases
The working model used by terminfo fits most terminals
reasonably well. However, some terminals do not completely
match that model, requiring special support by terminfo.
These are not meant to be construed as deficiencies in the
terminals; they are just differences between the working
model and the
Page 51 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
actual hardware. They may be unusual devices or, for some
reason, do not have all the features of the terminfo model
implemented.
Terminals that can not display tilde (~) characters, such as
certain Hazeltine terminals, should indicate hz.
Terminals that ignore a linefeed immediately after an am
wrap, such as the Concept 100, should indicate xenl. Those
terminals whose cursor remains on the right-most column
until another character has been received, rather than
wrapping immediately upon receiving the right-most
character, such as the VT100, should also indicate xenl.
If el is required to get rid of standout (instead of writing
normal text on top of it), xhp should be given.
Those Teleray terminals whose tabs turn all characters moved
over to blanks, should indicate xt (destructive tabs). This
capability is also taken to mean that it is not possible to
position the cursor on top of a ``magic cookie.''
Therefore, to erase standout mode, it is necessary, instead,
to use delete and insert line.
Those Beehive Superbee terminals which do not transmit the
escape or control-C characters, should specify xsb,
indicating that the f1 key is to be used for escape and the
f2 key for control-C.
Section 1-16: Similar Terminals
If there are two very similar terminals, one can be defined
as being just like the other with certain exceptions. The
string capability use can be given with the name of the
similar terminal. The capabilities given before use
override those in the terminal type invoked by use. A
capability can be canceled by placing xx@ to the left of the
capability definition, where xx is the capability. For
example, the entry
att4424-2|Teletype 4424 in display function group ii,
rev@, sgr@, smul@, use=att4424,
Page 52 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
defines an AT&T 4424 terminal that does not have the rev,
sgr, and smul capabilities, and hence cannot do
highlighting. This is useful for different modes for a
terminal, or for different user preferences. More than one
use capability may be given.
PART 2: PRINTER CAPABILITIES
The terminfo database allows you to define 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 "DEVICE CAPABILITIES"
that list capabilities by variable and by capability name.
Section 2-1: Rounding Values
Because parameterized string capabilities work only with
integer values, we recommend that terminfo designers create
strings that expect numeric values that have been rounded.
Application designers should note this and should always
round values to the nearest integer before using them with a
parameterized string capability.
Section 2-2: Printer Resolution
A printer's resolution is defined to be the smallest spacing
of characters it can achieve. In general printers have
independent resolution horizontally and vertically. Thus
the vertical resolution of a printer can be determined by
measuring the smallest achievable distance between
consecutive printing baselines, while the horizontal
resolution can be determined by measuring the smallest
achievable distance between the left-most edges of
consecutive printed, identical, characters.
All printers are assumed to be capable of printing with a
uniform horizontal and vertical resolution. The view of
printing that terminfo currently presents is one of printing
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. (The cell size can be changed as will be seen
Page 53 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
later.)
Many printers are capable of ``proportional printing,''
where the horizontal spacing depends on the size of the
character last printed. terminfo 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 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
or 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. Thus the old lines
capability would give the length of a page in lines, and the
cols capability would give 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 be concomitant with normal mode, so that all
the capabilities work at the same time.
Section 2-3: Specifying Printer Resolution'
The printing resolution of a printer is given in several
ways. Each specifies the resolution as the number of
smallest steps per distance:
Specification of Printer Resolution
Characteristic Number of Smallest Steps
_______________________________________
orhi Steps per inch horizontally
orvi Steps per inch vertically
Page 54 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
orc Steps per column
orl Steps per line
When printing in normal mode, each character printed causes
movement 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 distance moved vertically 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.
Specification of Printer Resolution
Automatic Motion after Printing
___________________________________
Normal Mode:
orc Steps moved horizontally
orl Steps moved vertically
Micro Mode:
mcs Steps moved horizontally
mls Steps moved vertically
Some printers are capable of printing 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 whether in normal
mode or micro mode (mcs=orc), then the distance moved for a
wide character is also the same whether in normal mode or
micro mode. This doesn't mean the normal character distance
is necessarily the same as the wide character distance, just
that the distances don't change with a change in normal to
micro mode. However, if the distance moved for a regular
character is different in micro mode from the distance moved
in normal mode (mcs<orc), the micro mode distance is assumed
to be the same for a wide character printed in micro mode,
as the table below shows.
Page 55 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
Specification of Printer Resolution
Automatic Motion after Printing Wide Character
______________________________________________
Normal Mode or Micro Mode (mcs = orc):
widcs Steps moved horizontally
Micro Mode (mcs < orc):
mcs Steps moved horizontally
There may be 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:
Specification of Printer Resolution
Changing the Character/Line Pitches
______________________________________________________
cpi Change character pitch
cpix If set, cpi changes orhi, otherwise changes orc
lpi Change line pitch
lpix If set, lpi changes orvi, otherwise changes orl
chr Change steps per column
cvr Change steps per line
The cpi and lpi string capabilities are each used with a
single argument, the pitch in columns (or characters) and
lines per inch, respectively. The chr and cvr string
capabilities are each used with a single argument, the
number of steps per column and line, respectively.
Using any of the control sequences in these strings will
imply a change in some of the values of orc, orhi, orl, and
orvi. Also, the distance moved when a wide character is
printed, widcs, changes in relation to orc. 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 (see items marked with † in
the following table).
Programs that use cpi, lpi, chr, or cvr should recalculate
Page 56 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
the printer resolution (and should recalculate other values
see "Effect of Changing Printing Resolution" under "Dot-
Mapped Graphics").
Specification of Printer Resolution
Effects of Changing the Character/Line Pitches
_______________________________________________
Before After
_______________________________________________
Using cpi with cpix clear:
orhi ' orhiorhi
orc ' orc=Vcpi
Using cpi with cpix set:
orhi ' orhi=orc.Vcpi
orc ' orc
Using lpi with lpix clear:
orvi ' orviorvi
orl ' orl=Vlpi
Using lpi with lpix set:
orvi ' orvi=orl.Vlpi
orl ' orl
Using chr:
orhi ' orhi
orc ' Vchr
Using cvr:
orvi ' orvi
orl ' Vcvr
Using cpi or chr: _orc_orc
widcs†' m
wc
id
s=
cm
s=
cs
w'
id
oc
rc
s'orc'
Vcpi, Vlpi, Vchr, and Vcvr are the arguments used with cpi,
lpi, chr, and cvr, respectively. The † mark indicates the
old value.
Section 2-4: 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
Page 57 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
carriage position. Other printers have different
equivalents. In general, the current position is where a
character would be displayed if printed.
terminfo 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 smallest steps.
String Capabilities for Motion
__________________________________
mcub1 Move 1 step left
mcuf1 Move 1 step right
mcuu1 Move 1 step up
mcud1 Move 1 step down
mcub Move N steps left
mcuf Move N steps right
mcuu Move N steps up
mcud Move N steps down
mhpa Move N steps from the left
mvpa Move N steps from the top
The latter six strings are each used with a single argument,
N.
Sometimes the motion is limited to less than the width or
length of a page. Also, some printers don't accept absolute
motion to the left of the current position. terminfo has
capabilities for specifying these limits.
Limits to Motion
__________________________________________________
mjump Limit on use of mcub1, mcuf1, mcuu1, mcud1
maddr Limit on use of mhpa, mvpa
xhpa If set, hpa and mhpa can't move left
xvpa If set, vpa and mvpa can't move up
If a printer needs to be in a ``micro mode'' for the motion
capabilities described above to work, there are string
capabilities defined to contain the control sequence to
enter and exit this mode. A boolean is available for those
Page 58 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
printers where using a carriage return causes an automatic
return to normal mode.
Entering/Exiting Micro Mode
_________________________________
smicm Enter micro mode
rmicm Exit micro mode
crxm Using cr exits micro mode
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. terminfo has
boolean capabilities for describing all three cases.
What Happens After Character
Printed in Rightmost Position
______________________________________________
sam Automatic move to beginning of same line
Some printers can be put in a mode where the normal
direction of motion is reversed. This mode can be
especially useful when there are no capabilities for
leftward or upward motion, because those capabilities can be
built 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 in the terminfo
database. This allows several reverse motions to be strung
together without intervening wasted steps that leave and
reenter reverse mode.
Entering/Exiting Reverse Modes
___________________________________________
slm Reverse sense of horizontal motions
rlm Restore sense of horizontal motions
sum Reverse sense of vertical motions
rum Restore sense of vertical motions
Page 59 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
While sense of horizontal motions reversed:
mcub1 Move 1 step right
mcuf1 Move 1 step left
mcub Move N steps right
mcuf Move N steps left
cub1 Move 1 column right
cuf1 Move 1 column left
cub Move N columns right
cuf Move N columns left
While sense of vertical motions reversed:
mcuu1 Move 1 step down
mcud1 Move 1 step up
mcuu Move N steps down
mcud Move N steps up
cuu1 Move 1 line down
cud1 Move 1 line up
cuu Move N lines down
cud Move N lines up
The reverse motion modes 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 experience motion to
the beginning of the previous line when a character is
printed in the right-most position under 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. One of these is needed for printers
that move the current position to the beginning of a line
when certain control characters, such as ``line-feed'' or
``form-feed,'' are used. The other is used for the
capability of suspending the motion that normally occurs
Page 60 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
after printing a character.
Miscellaneous Motion Strings
________________________________________________________________
docr List of control characters causing cr
zerom Prevent auto motion after printing next single character
Margins
terminfo 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
require not using motion strings to move the current
position to a margin and then fixing the margin there, but
require the specification of where a margin should be
regardless of the current position. Therefore terminfo
offers six additional strings for defining margins with
printers.
Setting Margins
__________________________________________
smgl Set left margin at current column
smgr Set right margin at current column
smgb Set bottom margin at current line
smgt Set top margin at current line
smgbp Set bottom margin at line N
smglp Set left margin at column N
smgrp Set right margin at column N
smgtp Set top margin at line N
The last four strings are used with one or more arguments
that give the position of the margin or margins to set. If
both of smglp and smgrp are set, each is used with a single
argument, N , that gives the column number of the left and
right margin, respectively. If both of smgtp and smgbp are
set, each is used to set the top and bottom margin,
respectively: smgtp is used with a single argument, N , the
line number of the top margin; however, smgbp is used with
two arguments, N and M , that give the line number of the
bottom margin, the first counting from the top of the page
Page 61 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
and the second counting from the bottom. This accommodates
the two styles of specifying the bottom margin in different
manufacturers' printers. When coding a terminfo entry for a
printer that has a settable bottom margin, only the first or
second parameter should be used, depending on the printer.
When writing an application that uses smgbp to set the
bottom margin, both arguments must be given.
If only one of smglp and smgrp is set, then it is used with
two arguments, the column number of the left and right
margins, in that order. Likewise, if only one of smgtp and
smgbp is set, then it is used with two arguments that give
the top and bottom margins, in that order, counting from the
top of the page. Thus when coding a terminfo entry for a
printer that requires setting both left and right or top and
bottom margins simultaneously, only one of smglp and smgrp
or smgtp and smgbp should be defined; the other should be
left blank. When writing an application that uses these
string capabilities, the pairs should be first checked to
see if each in the pair is set or only one is set, and
should then be used accordingly.
In counting lines or columns, line zero is the top line and
column zero is the left-most column. A zero value for the
second argument with smgbp means the bottom line of the
page.
All margins can be cleared with mgc.
Shadows, Italics, Wide Characters, Superscripts, Subscripts
Five new sets of strings are used to describe the
capabilities printers have of enhancing printed text.
Enhanced Printing
____________________________________________________
sshm Enter shadow-printing mode
rshm Exit shadow-printing mode
sitm Enter italicizing mode
Page 62 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
ritm Exit italicizing mode
swidm Enter wide character mode
rwidm Exit wide character mode
ssupm Enter superscript mode
rsupm Exit superscript mode
supcs List of characters available as superscripts
ssubm Enter subscript mode
rsubm Exit subscript mode
subcs List of characters available as subscripts
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 rshm should use the sshm control sequence before
every character to be shadow-printed; otherwise, the sshm
control sequence should be used once before the set of
characters to be shadow-printed, followed by rshm. The same
is also true of each of the sitm/ritm, swidm/rwidm,
ssupm/rsupm, and ssubm/rsubm pairs.
Note that terminfo also has a capability for printing
emboldened text (bold). 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
widcs.
If only a subset of the printable ASCII characters can be
printed as superscripts or subscripts, they should be listed
Page 63 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
in supcs or subcs strings, 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. Thus, for example, printing any of the
following three examples will result in equivalent motion:
Bi Bi Bi
Note that the existing msgr boolean capability describes
whether motion control sequences can be used while in
``standout mode.'' This capability is extended to cover the
enhanced printing modes added here. msgr should be set for
those printers that accept any motion control sequences
without affecting shadow, italicized, widened, superscript,
or subscript printing. Conversely, if msgr is not set, a
program should end these modes before attempting any motion.
Section 2-5: Alternate Character Sets
In addition to allowing you to define line graphics
(described in Section 1-12), terminfo lets you define
alternate character sets. The following capabilities cover
printers and terminals with multiple selectable or definable
character sets.
Alternate Character Sets
_________________________________________________________
scs Select character set N
scsd Start definition of character set N, M characters
defc Define character A, B dots wide, descender D
rcsd End definition of character set N
csnm List of character set names
daisy Printer has manually changed print-wheels
The scs, rcsd, and csnm strings are used with a single
argument, N, a number from 0 to 63 that identifies the
character set. The scsd string is also used with the
Page 64 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
argument N and another, M, that gives the number of
characters in the set. The defc string is used with three
arguments: A gives the ASCII code representation for the
character, B gives the width of the character in dots, and D
is zero or one depending on whether the character is a
``descender'' or not. The defc string is also followed by a
string of ``image-data'' bytes that describe how the
character looks (see below).
Character set 0 is the default character set present after
the printer has been initialized. Not every printer has 64
character sets, of course; using scs with an argument that
doesn't select an available character set should cause a
null result from tparm().
If a character set has to be defined before it can be used,
the scsd control sequence is to be used before defining the
character set, and the rcsd is to be used after. They
should also cause a null result from tparm () when used with
an argument N that doesn't apply. If a character set still
has to be selected after being 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
tparm(), 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 covered by terminfo, the ASCII code 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 in
dots is given, along with an indication of whether the
character should descend below the print line (such as the
lower case letter ``g'' in most character sets). The width
of the character in 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
Page 65 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
should be applied to ``draw'' the character; the number of
these bytes and their form are defined below under ``Dot-
Mapped Graphics.''
It's 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 string
alleviates this problem by providing names for each number.
When used with a character set number in a call to tparm(),
the csnm string will produce the equivalent name. These
names should be used as a reference 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 string to
determine the corresponding character set number.
These capabilities are likely to be used only with dot-
matrix printers. If they are not available, the strings
should not be defined. For printers that have manually
changed print-wheels or font cartridges, the boolean daisy
is set.
Page 66 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
Section 2-6: Dot-Matrix Graphics
Dot-matrix printers typically have the capability of
reproducing ``raster-graphics'' images. Three new numeric
capabilities and three new string capabilities can help a
program draw raster-graphics images independent of the type
of dot-matrix printer or the number of pins or dots the
printer can handle at one time.
Dot-Matrix Graphics
_______________________________________________________
npins Number of pins, N, in print-head
spinv Spacing of pins vertically in pins per inch
spinh Spacing of dots horizontally in dots per inch
porder Matches software bits to print-head pins
sbim Start printing bit image graphics, B bits wide
rbim End printing bit image graphics
The sbim sring is used with a single argument, B, the width
of the image in dots.
The model of dot-matrix or raster-graphics that terminfo
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 will vary 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; it 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 strings are used to start and end a dot-
matrix image, respectively. The sbim string 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 string and before the rbim string.
The number of bytes is a integral multiple of the width of
the dot-matrix; the multiple and the form of each byte is
Page 67 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
determined by the porder string as described below.
The porder string is a comma separated list of pin numbers
optionally followed by an numerical offset. The offset, if
given, is separated from the list with a semicolon. The
position of each pin number in the list corresponds to a bit
in an 8-bit data byte. The pins are numbered consecutively
from 1 to npins, with 1 being the top pin. Note that the
term ``pin'' is used loosely here; ``ink-jet'' dot-matrix
printers don't have pins, but can be considered to 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. An application
produces 8-bit bytes in the order of the groups in porder .
An application computes the ``image-data bytes'' from the
internal image, mapping vertical dot positions in each
print-head pass into 8-bit bytes, using a 1 bit where ink
should be applied and 0 where no ink should be applied.
This can be reversed (0 bit for ink, 1 bit for no ink) by
giving a negative pin number. If a position is skipped in
porder, a 0 bit is used. If a position has a lower case `x'
instead of a pin number, a 1 bit is used in the skipped
position. For consistency, a lower case `o' can be used to
represent a 0 filled, skipped bit. 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. The offset, if given, is added to each data byte; the
offset can be negative.
Some examples may help clarify the use of the porder string.
The AT&T 470, AT&T 475 and C.Itoh 8510 printers provide
eight pins for graphics. The pins are identified top to
bottom by the 8 bits in a byte, from least significant to
most. The porder strings for these printers would be
8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1. The AT&T 478 and AT&T 479 printers also
provide eight pins for graphics. However, the pins are
identified in the reverse order. The porder strings for
these printers would be 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. The AT&T 5310,
Page 68 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
AT&T 5320, DEC LA100, and DEC LN03 printers provide six pins
for graphics. The pins are identified top to bottom by the
decimal values 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32. These correspond to
the low six bits in an 8-bit byte, although the decimal
values are further offset by the value 63. The porder
string for these printers would be 6,5,4,3,2,1;63, or
alternately o,o,6,5,4,3,2,1;63.
Section 2-7: 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:
Dot-Matrix Graphics
Changing the Character/Line Pitches
___________________________________
cpi Change character pitch
cpix If set, cpi changes spinh
lpi Change line pitch
lpix If set, lpi changes spinv
Programs that use cpi or lpi should recalculate the dot
spacing:
Dot-Matrix Graphics
Effects of Changing the Character/Line Pitches
_________________________________________________
Before After
_________________________________________________
Using cpi with cpix clear:
spinh ' spinh
Using cpi with cpix set: _orhi
spinh ' spinh=spinh'.orhi'
Using lpi with lpix clear:
spinv ' spinv
Using lpi with lpix set: _orhi
spinv ' spinv=spinv'.orhi'
Page 69 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
Using chr:
spinh ' spinh
Using cvr:
spinv ' spinv
orhi' and orhi 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.
Section 2-8: 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. There are
three new strings used to describe these capabilities.
Print Quality
_____________________________________
snlq Set near-letter quality print
snrmq Set normal quality print
sdrfq Set draft quality print
The capabilities are listed in decreasing levels of quality.
If a printer doesn't have all three levels, one or two of
the strings should be left blank as appropriate.
Section 2-9: Printing Rate and Buffer Size
Because there is no standard protocol that can be used to
keep a program synchronized with a printer, and because
modern printers can buffer data before printing it, a
program generally cannot determine at any time what has been
printed. Two new numeric capabilities can help a program
estimate what has been printed.
Page 70 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
Print Rate/Buffer Size
___________________________________________________
cps Nominal print rate in characters per second
bufsz Buffer capacity in characters
cps is the nominal or average rate at which the printer
prints characters; if this value is not given, the rate
should be estimated at one-tenth the prevailing baud rate.
bufsz is the maximum number of subsequent characters
buffered before the guaranteed printing of an earlier
character, assuming proper flow control has been 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.
Note that 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, and 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
Page 71 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
decide how much text has already been printed, it should
shrink the estimate. The application will thus err in favor
of the user, who wants, above all, to see all the output in
its correct place.
FILES
/usr/lib/terminfo/?/* compiled terminal description
database
/usr/lib/.COREterm/?/* subset of compiled terminal
description database
/usr/lib/tabset/* tab settings for some terminals, in
a format appropriate to be output
to the terminal (escape sequences
that set margins and tabs)
SEE ALSO
curses(3X), printf(3S) in the Programmer's Reference Manual.
captoinfo(1M), infocmp(1M), tic(1M), term(5), tty(7) in the
System Administrator's Reference Manual .
tput(1) in the User's Reference Manual.
Chapter 10 of the Programmer's Guide.
Page 72 May 1989
TERMINFO(4) (Terminal Information Utilities) TERMINFO(4)
WARNING
As described in the ``Tabs and Initialization'' section
above, a terminal's initialization strings, is1, is2, and
is3, if defined, must be output before a curses(3X) program
is run. An available mechanism for outputting such strings
is tput init (see tput(1) and profile(4)).
If a null character (\0) is encountered in a string, the
null and all characters after it are lost. Therefore it is
not possible to code a null character (\0) and send it to a
device (either terminal or printer). The suggestion of
sending a \0200, where a \0 (null) is needed can succeed
only if the device (terminal or printer) ignores the eighth
bit. For example, because all eight bits are used in the
standard international ASCII character set, devices that
adhere to this standard will treat \0200 differently from
\0.
Tampering with entries in /usr/lib/.COREterm/?/* or
/usr/lib/terminfo/?/* (for example, changing or removing an
entry) can affect programs such as vi(1) that expect the
entry to be present and correct. In particular, removing
the description for the "dumb" terminal will cause
unexpected problems.
NOTE
The termcap database (from earlier releases of UNIX System
V) may not be supplied in future releases.
Page 73 May 1989