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