Provided by: ncurses-bin_6.3-2ubuntu0.1_amd64 bug

NAME

       terminfo - terminal capability database

SYNOPSIS

       /etc/terminfo/*/*

DESCRIPTION

       Terminfo  is  a  database  describing  terminals, used by screen-oriented programs such as
       nvi(1), lynx(1), mutt(1),  and  other  curses  applications,  using  high-level  calls  to
       libraries  such  as  ncurses(3NCURSES).  It is also used via low-level calls by non-curses
       applications which may be screen-oriented  (such  as  clear(1))  or  non-screen  (such  as
       tabs(1)).

       Terminfo  describes  terminals  by  giving  a  set  of  capabilities  which  they have, by
       specifying how to perform screen operations, and by specifying  padding  requirements  and
       initialization sequences.

       This manual describes ncurses version 6.3 (patch 20211021).

   Terminfo Entry Syntax
       Entries in terminfo consist of a sequence of fields:

       •   Each  field  ends with a comma “,” (embedded commas may be escaped with a backslash or
           written as “\054”).

       •   White space between fields is ignored.

       •   The first field in a terminfo entry begins in the first column.

       •   Newlines and leading whitespace (spaces or tabs) may be used  for  formatting  entries
           for readability.  These are removed from parsed entries.

           The  infocmp  -f and -W options rely on this to format if-then-else expressions, or to
           enforce maximum line-width.  The resulting formatted terminal description can be  read
           by tic.

       •   The  first  field  for each terminal gives the names which are known for the terminal,
           separated by “|” characters.

           The first name given is the most common abbreviation for  the  terminal  (its  primary
           name),  the  last name given should be a long name fully identifying the terminal (see
           longname(3X)), and all others are  treated  as  synonyms  (aliases)  for  the  primary
           terminal name.

           X/Open  Curses advises that all names but the last should be in lower case and contain
           no blanks; the last name may well contain upper case and blanks for readability.

           This implementation is not so strict; it allows mixed case in  the  primary  name  and
           aliases.   If the last name has no embedded blanks, it allows that to be both an alias
           and a verbose name (but will warn about this ambiguity).

       •   Lines beginning with a “#” in the first column are treated as comments.

           While comment lines are legal at any point, the  output  of  captoinfo  and  infotocap
           (aliases for tic) will move comments so they occur only between entries.

       Terminal  names  (except for the last, verbose entry) should be chosen using the following
       conventions.  The particular piece of hardware making up the terminal should have  a  root
       name,  thus  “hp2621”.  This name should not contain hyphens.  Modes that the hardware can
       be in, or user preferences, should be indicated by appending a hyphen and a  mode  suffix.
       Thus,  a vt100 in 132-column mode would be vt100-w.  The following suffixes should be used
       where possible:

                      Suffix                  Meaning                   Example
                      -nn      Number of lines on the screen            aaa-60
                      -np      Number of pages of memory                c100-4p
                      -am      With automargins (usually the default)   vt100-am
                      -m       Mono mode; suppress color                ansi-m
                      -mc      Magic cookie; spaces when highlighting   wy30-mc
                      -na      No arrow keys (leave them in local)      c100-na
                      -nam     Without automatic margins                vt100-nam
                      -nl      No status line                           att4415-nl
                      -ns      No status line                           hp2626-ns
                      -rv      Reverse video                            c100-rv
                      -s       Enable status line                       vt100-s
                      -vb      Use visible bell instead of beep         wy370-vb
                      -w       Wide mode (> 80 columns, usually 132)    vt100-w

       For more on terminal naming conventions, see the term(7) manual page.

   Terminfo Capabilities Syntax
       The terminfo entry consists of several capabilities, i.e., features that the terminal has,
       or methods for exercising the terminal's features.

       After  the  first field (giving the name(s) of the terminal entry), there should be one or
       more capability fields.  These are boolean, numeric or  string  names  with  corresponding
       values:

       •   Boolean  capabilities  are true when present, false when absent.  There is no explicit
           value for boolean capabilities.

       •   Numeric capabilities have a “#” following the name, then an unsigned  decimal  integer
           value.

       •   String capabilities have a “=” following the name, then an string of characters making
           up the capability value.

           String capabilities can be split into multiple lines, just as the fields comprising  a
           terminal  entry  can  be  split  into multiple lines.  While blanks between fields are
           ignored, blanks embedded within a string value are retained, except for leading blanks
           on a line.

       Any capability can be canceled, i.e., suppressed from the terminal entry, by following its
       name with “@” rather than a capability value.

   Similar Terminals
       If there are two very similar terminals, one (the variant) can be defined  as  being  just
       like  the other (the base) with certain exceptions.  In the definition of the variant, the
       string capability use can be given with the name of the base terminal:

       •   The capabilities given before use override those in the base type named by use.

       •   If there are multiple use capabilities, they are merged in reverse  order.   That  is,
           the  rightmost  use  reference  is  processed  first, then the one to its left, and so
           forth.

       •   Capabilities  given  explicitly  in  the  entry  override  those  brought  in  by  use
           references.

       A  capability can be canceled by placing xx@ to the left of the use reference that imports
       it, where xx is the capability.  For example, the entry

              2621-nl, smkx@, rmkx@, use=2621,

       defines a 2621-nl that does not have the smkx or rmkx capabilities,  and  hence  does  not
       turn  on  the function key labels when in visual mode.  This is useful for different modes
       for a terminal, or for different user preferences.

       An entry included via use can contain canceled capabilities, which have the same effect as
       if those cancels were inline in the using terminal entry.

   Predefined Capabilities
       The  following  is a complete table of the capabilities included in a terminfo description
       block and available to terminfo-using code.  In each line of the table,

       The variable is the name by which the programmer (at  the  terminfo  level)  accesses  the
       capability.

       The  capname  is  the short name used in the text of the database, and is used by a person
       updating the database.  Whenever possible, capnames are  chosen  to  be  the  same  as  or
       similar  to  the ANSI X3.64-1979 standard (now superseded by ECMA-48, which uses identical
       or very similar names).  Semantics are also intended to match those of the specification.

       The termcap code is the old termcap capability name (some capabilities are new,  and  have
       names which termcap did not originate).

       Capability names have no hard length limit, but an informal limit of 5 characters has been
       adopted to keep them short and to allow the tabs in  the  source  file  Caps  to  line  up
       nicely.

       Finally,  the  description  field attempts to convey the semantics of the capability.  You
       may find some codes in the description field:

       (P)    indicates that padding may be specified

       #[1-9] in the description field indicates that the string is passed through tparm(3X) with
              parameters as given (#i).

              If  no  parameters  are  listed  in  the  description,  passing  the string through
              tparm(3X) may give unexpected results, e.g., if it contains percent (%%) signs.

       (P*)   indicates that padding may vary in proportion to the number of lines affected

       (#i)   indicates the ith parameter.

       These are the boolean capabilities:

                           Variable            Cap-      TCap       Description
                           Booleans            name      Code
                   auto_left_margin            bw        bw     cub1 wraps from
                                                                column 0 to last
                                                                column
                   auto_right_margin           am        am     terminal has
                                                                automatic margins
                   back_color_erase            bce       ut     screen erased with
                                                                background color
                   can_change                  ccc       cc     terminal can re-
                                                                define existing
                                                                colors
                   ceol_standout_glitch        xhp       xs     standout not erased
                                                                by overwriting (hp)
                   col_addr_glitch             xhpa      YA     only positive motion
                                                                for hpa/mhpa caps
                   cpi_changes_res             cpix      YF     changing character
                                                                pitch changes
                                                                resolution
                   cr_cancels_micro_mode       crxm      YB     using cr turns off
                                                                micro mode
                   dest_tabs_magic_smso        xt        xt     tabs destructive,
                                                                magic so char
                                                                (t1061)

                   eat_newline_glitch          xenl      xn     newline ignored
                                                                after 80 cols
                                                                (concept)
                   erase_overstrike            eo        eo     can erase
                                                                overstrikes with a
                                                                blank
                   generic_type                gn        gn     generic line type
                   hard_copy                   hc        hc     hardcopy terminal
                   hard_cursor                 chts      HC     cursor is hard to
                                                                see
                   has_meta_key                km        km     Has a meta key
                                                                (i.e., sets 8th-bit)
                   has_print_wheel             daisy     YC     printer needs
                                                                operator to change
                                                                character set
                   has_status_line             hs        hs     has extra status
                                                                line
                   hue_lightness_saturation    hls       hl     terminal uses only
                                                                HLS color notation
                                                                (Tektronix)
                   insert_null_glitch          in        in     insert mode
                                                                distinguishes nulls
                   lpi_changes_res             lpix      YG     changing line pitch
                                                                changes resolution
                   memory_above                da        da     display may be
                                                                retained above the
                                                                screen
                   memory_below                db        db     display may be
                                                                retained below the
                                                                screen
                   move_insert_mode            mir       mi     safe to move while
                                                                in insert mode
                   move_standout_mode          msgr      ms     safe to move while
                                                                in standout mode
                   needs_xon_xoff              nxon      nx     padding will not
                                                                work, xon/xoff
                                                                required
                   no_esc_ctlc                 xsb       xb     beehive (f1=escape,
                                                                f2=ctrl C)
                   no_pad_char                 npc       NP     pad character does
                                                                not exist
                   non_dest_scroll_region      ndscr     ND     scrolling region is
                                                                non-destructive
                   non_rev_rmcup               nrrmc     NR     smcup does not
                                                                reverse rmcup
                   over_strike                 os        os     terminal can
                                                                overstrike
                   prtr_silent                 mc5i      5i     printer will not
                                                                echo on screen
                   row_addr_glitch             xvpa      YD     only positive motion
                                                                for vpa/mvpa caps
                   semi_auto_right_margin      sam       YE     printing in last
                                                                column causes cr
                   status_line_esc_ok          eslok     es     escape can be used
                                                                on the status line
                   tilde_glitch                hz        hz     cannot print ~'s
                                                                (Hazeltine)
                   transparent_underline       ul        ul     underline character
                                                                overstrikes
                   xon_xoff                    xon       xo     terminal uses
                                                                xon/xoff handshaking

       These are the numeric capabilities:

                           Variable            Cap-      TCap       Description
                            Numeric            name      Code
                   columns                     cols      co     number of columns in
                                                                a line
                   init_tabs                   it        it     tabs initially every
                                                                # spaces
                   label_height                lh        lh     rows in each label
                   label_width                 lw        lw     columns in each
                                                                label
                   lines                       lines     li     number of lines on
                                                                screen or page
                   lines_of_memory             lm        lm     lines of memory if >
                                                                line. 0 means varies
                   magic_cookie_glitch         xmc       sg     number of blank
                                                                characters left by
                                                                smso or rmso
                   max_attributes              ma        ma     maximum combined
                                                                attributes terminal
                                                                can handle
                   max_colors                  colors    Co     maximum number of
                                                                colors on screen
                   max_pairs                   pairs     pa     maximum number of
                                                                color-pairs on the
                                                                screen
                   maximum_windows             wnum      MW     maximum number of
                                                                definable windows
                   no_color_video              ncv       NC     video attributes
                                                                that cannot be used
                                                                with colors
                   num_labels                  nlab      Nl     number of labels on
                                                                screen
                   padding_baud_rate           pb        pb     lowest baud rate
                                                                where padding needed
                   virtual_terminal            vt        vt     virtual terminal
                                                                number (CB/unix)
                   width_status_line           wsl       ws     number of columns in
                                                                status line

       The  following  numeric capabilities are present in the SVr4.0 term structure, but are not
       yet documented in the man page.  They came in with SVr4's printer support.

                           Variable            Cap-      TCap       Description
                            Numeric            name      Code
                   bit_image_entwining         bitwin    Yo     number of passes for
                                                                each bit-image row
                   bit_image_type              bitype    Yp     type of bit-image
                                                                device
                   buffer_capacity             bufsz     Ya     numbers of bytes
                                                                buffered before
                                                                printing
                   buttons                     btns      BT     number of buttons on
                                                                mouse
                   dot_horz_spacing            spinh     Yc     spacing of dots
                                                                horizontally in dots
                                                                per inch
                   dot_vert_spacing            spinv     Yb     spacing of pins
                                                                vertically in pins
                                                                per inch
                   max_micro_address           maddr     Yd     maximum value in
                                                                micro_..._address
                   max_micro_jump              mjump     Ye     maximum value in
                                                                parm_..._micro
                   micro_col_size              mcs       Yf     character step size
                                                                when in micro mode

                   micro_line_size             mls       Yg     line step size when
                                                                in micro mode
                   number_of_pins              npins     Yh     numbers of pins in
                                                                print-head
                   output_res_char             orc       Yi     horizontal
                                                                resolution in units
                                                                per line
                   output_res_horz_inch        orhi      Yk     horizontal
                                                                resolution in units
                                                                per inch
                   output_res_line             orl       Yj     vertical resolution
                                                                in units per line
                   output_res_vert_inch        orvi      Yl     vertical resolution
                                                                in units per inch
                   print_rate                  cps       Ym     print rate in
                                                                characters per
                                                                second
                   wide_char_size              widcs     Yn     character step size
                                                                when in double wide
                                                                mode

       These are the string capabilities:

                           Variable            Cap-      TCap       Description
                            String             name      Code
                   acs_chars                   acsc      ac     graphics charset
                                                                pairs, based on
                                                                vt100
                   back_tab                    cbt       bt     back tab (P)
                   bell                        bel       bl     audible signal
                                                                (bell) (P)
                   carriage_return             cr        cr     carriage return (P*)
                                                                (P*)
                   change_char_pitch           cpi       ZA     Change number of
                                                                characters per inch
                                                                to #1
                   change_line_pitch           lpi       ZB     Change number of
                                                                lines per inch to #1
                   change_res_horz             chr       ZC     Change horizontal
                                                                resolution to #1
                   change_res_vert             cvr       ZD     Change vertical
                                                                resolution to #1
                   change_scroll_region        csr       cs     change region to
                                                                line #1 to line #2
                                                                (P)
                   char_padding                rmp       rP     like ip but when in
                                                                insert mode
                   clear_all_tabs              tbc       ct     clear all tab stops
                                                                (P)
                   clear_margins               mgc       MC     clear right and left
                                                                soft margins
                   clear_screen                clear     cl     clear screen and
                                                                home cursor (P*)
                   clr_bol                     el1       cb     Clear to beginning
                                                                of line
                   clr_eol                     el        ce     clear to end of line
                                                                (P)
                   clr_eos                     ed        cd     clear to end of
                                                                screen (P*)
                   column_address              hpa       ch     horizontal position
                                                                #1, absolute (P)
                   command_character           cmdch     CC     terminal settable
                                                                cmd character in
                                                                prototype !?

                   create_window               cwin      CW     define a window #1
                                                                from #2,#3 to #4,#5
                   cursor_address              cup       cm     move to row #1
                                                                columns #2
                   cursor_down                 cud1      do     down one line
                   cursor_home                 home      ho     home cursor (if no
                                                                cup)
                   cursor_invisible            civis     vi     make cursor
                                                                invisible
                   cursor_left                 cub1      le     move left one space
                   cursor_mem_address          mrcup     CM     memory relative
                                                                cursor addressing,
                                                                move to row #1
                                                                columns #2
                   cursor_normal               cnorm     ve     make cursor appear
                                                                normal (undo
                                                                civis/cvvis)
                   cursor_right                cuf1      nd     non-destructive
                                                                space (move right
                                                                one space)
                   cursor_to_ll                ll        ll     last line, first
                                                                column (if no cup)
                   cursor_up                   cuu1      up     up one line
                   cursor_visible              cvvis     vs     make cursor very
                                                                visible
                   define_char                 defc      ZE     Define a character
                                                                #1, #2 dots wide,
                                                                descender #3
                   delete_character            dch1      dc     delete character
                                                                (P*)
                   delete_line                 dl1       dl     delete line (P*)
                   dial_phone                  dial      DI     dial number #1
                   dis_status_line             dsl       ds     disable status line
                   display_clock               dclk      DK     display clock
                   down_half_line              hd        hd     half a line down
                   ena_acs                     enacs     eA     enable alternate
                                                                char set
                   enter_alt_charset_mode      smacs     as     start alternate
                                                                character set (P)
                   enter_am_mode               smam      SA     turn on automatic
                                                                margins
                   enter_blink_mode            blink     mb     turn on blinking
                   enter_bold_mode             bold      md     turn on bold (extra
                                                                bright) mode
                   enter_ca_mode               smcup     ti     string to start
                                                                programs using cup
                   enter_delete_mode           smdc      dm     enter delete mode
                   enter_dim_mode              dim       mh     turn on half-bright
                                                                mode
                   enter_doublewide_mode       swidm     ZF     Enter double-wide
                                                                mode
                   enter_draft_quality         sdrfq     ZG     Enter draft-quality
                                                                mode
                   enter_insert_mode           smir      im     enter insert mode
                   enter_italics_mode          sitm      ZH     Enter italic mode
                   enter_leftward_mode         slm       ZI     Start leftward
                                                                carriage motion
                   enter_micro_mode            smicm     ZJ     Start micro-motion
                                                                mode
                   enter_near_letter_quality   snlq      ZK     Enter NLQ mode
                   enter_normal_quality        snrmq     ZL     Enter normal-quality
                                                                mode
                   enter_protected_mode        prot      mp     turn on protected
                                                                mode

                   enter_reverse_mode          rev       mr     turn on reverse
                                                                video mode
                   enter_secure_mode           invis     mk     turn on blank mode
                                                                (characters
                                                                invisible)
                   enter_shadow_mode           sshm      ZM     Enter shadow-print
                                                                mode
                   enter_standout_mode         smso      so     begin standout mode
                   enter_subscript_mode        ssubm     ZN     Enter subscript mode
                   enter_superscript_mode      ssupm     ZO     Enter superscript
                                                                mode
                   enter_underline_mode        smul      us     begin underline mode
                   enter_upward_mode           sum       ZP     Start upward
                                                                carriage motion
                   enter_xon_mode              smxon     SX     turn on xon/xoff
                                                                handshaking
                   erase_chars                 ech       ec     erase #1 characters
                                                                (P)
                   exit_alt_charset_mode       rmacs     ae     end alternate
                                                                character set (P)
                   exit_am_mode                rmam      RA     turn off automatic
                                                                margins
                   exit_attribute_mode         sgr0      me     turn off all
                                                                attributes
                   exit_ca_mode                rmcup     te     strings to end
                                                                programs using cup
                   exit_delete_mode            rmdc      ed     end delete mode
                   exit_doublewide_mode        rwidm     ZQ     End double-wide mode
                   exit_insert_mode            rmir      ei     exit insert mode
                   exit_italics_mode           ritm      ZR     End italic mode
                   exit_leftward_mode          rlm       ZS     End left-motion mode
                   exit_micro_mode             rmicm     ZT     End micro-motion
                                                                mode
                   exit_shadow_mode            rshm      ZU     End shadow-print
                                                                mode
                   exit_standout_mode          rmso      se     exit standout mode
                   exit_subscript_mode         rsubm     ZV     End subscript mode
                   exit_superscript_mode       rsupm     ZW     End superscript mode
                   exit_underline_mode         rmul      ue     exit underline mode
                   exit_upward_mode            rum       ZX     End reverse
                                                                character motion
                   exit_xon_mode               rmxon     RX     turn off xon/xoff
                                                                handshaking
                   fixed_pause                 pause     PA     pause for 2-3
                                                                seconds
                   flash_hook                  hook      fh     flash switch hook
                   flash_screen                flash     vb     visible bell (may
                                                                not move cursor)
                   form_feed                   ff        ff     hardcopy terminal
                                                                page eject (P*)
                   from_status_line            fsl       fs     return from status
                                                                line
                   goto_window                 wingo     WG     go to window #1
                   hangup                      hup       HU     hang-up phone
                   init_1string                is1       i1     initialization
                                                                string
                   init_2string                is2       is     initialization
                                                                string
                   init_3string                is3       i3     initialization
                                                                string
                   init_file                   if        if     name of
                                                                initialization file
                   init_prog                   iprog     iP     path name of program
                                                                for initialization

                   initialize_color            initc     Ic     initialize color #1
                                                                to (#2,#3,#4)
                   initialize_pair             initp     Ip     Initialize color
                                                                pair #1 to
                                                                fg=(#2,#3,#4),
                                                                bg=(#5,#6,#7)
                   insert_character            ich1      ic     insert character (P)
                   insert_line                 il1       al     insert line (P*)
                   insert_padding              ip        ip     insert padding after
                                                                inserted character
                   key_a1                      ka1       K1     upper left of keypad
                   key_a3                      ka3       K3     upper right of
                                                                keypad
                   key_b2                      kb2       K2     center of keypad
                   key_backspace               kbs       kb     backspace key
                   key_beg                     kbeg      @1     begin key
                   key_btab                    kcbt      kB     back-tab key
                   key_c1                      kc1       K4     lower left of keypad
                   key_c3                      kc3       K5     lower right of
                                                                keypad
                   key_cancel                  kcan      @2     cancel key
                   key_catab                   ktbc      ka     clear-all-tabs key
                   key_clear                   kclr      kC     clear-screen or
                                                                erase key
                   key_close                   kclo      @3     close key
                   key_command                 kcmd      @4     command key
                   key_copy                    kcpy      @5     copy key
                   key_create                  kcrt      @6     create key
                   key_ctab                    kctab     kt     clear-tab key
                   key_dc                      kdch1     kD     delete-character key
                   key_dl                      kdl1      kL     delete-line key
                   key_down                    kcud1     kd     down-arrow key
                   key_eic                     krmir     kM     sent by rmir or smir
                                                                in insert mode
                   key_end                     kend      @7     end key
                   key_enter                   kent      @8     enter/send key
                   key_eol                     kel       kE     clear-to-end-of-line
                                                                key
                   key_eos                     ked       kS     clear-to-end-of-
                                                                screen key
                   key_exit                    kext      @9     exit key
                   key_f0                      kf0       k0     F0 function key
                   key_f1                      kf1       k1     F1 function key
                   key_f10                     kf10      k;     F10 function key
                   key_f11                     kf11      F1     F11 function key
                   key_f12                     kf12      F2     F12 function key
                   key_f13                     kf13      F3     F13 function key
                   key_f14                     kf14      F4     F14 function key
                   key_f15                     kf15      F5     F15 function key
                   key_f16                     kf16      F6     F16 function key
                   key_f17                     kf17      F7     F17 function key
                   key_f18                     kf18      F8     F18 function key
                   key_f19                     kf19      F9     F19 function key
                   key_f2                      kf2       k2     F2 function key
                   key_f20                     kf20      FA     F20 function key
                   key_f21                     kf21      FB     F21 function key
                   key_f22                     kf22      FC     F22 function key
                   key_f23                     kf23      FD     F23 function key
                   key_f24                     kf24      FE     F24 function key
                   key_f25                     kf25      FF     F25 function key
                   key_f26                     kf26      FG     F26 function key
                   key_f27                     kf27      FH     F27 function key
                   key_f28                     kf28      FI     F28 function key
                   key_f29                     kf29      FJ     F29 function key
                   key_f3                      kf3       k3     F3 function key

                   key_f30                     kf30      FK     F30 function key
                   key_f31                     kf31      FL     F31 function key
                   key_f32                     kf32      FM     F32 function key
                   key_f33                     kf33      FN     F33 function key
                   key_f34                     kf34      FO     F34 function key
                   key_f35                     kf35      FP     F35 function key
                   key_f36                     kf36      FQ     F36 function key
                   key_f37                     kf37      FR     F37 function key
                   key_f38                     kf38      FS     F38 function key
                   key_f39                     kf39      FT     F39 function key
                   key_f4                      kf4       k4     F4 function key
                   key_f40                     kf40      FU     F40 function key
                   key_f41                     kf41      FV     F41 function key
                   key_f42                     kf42      FW     F42 function key
                   key_f43                     kf43      FX     F43 function key
                   key_f44                     kf44      FY     F44 function key
                   key_f45                     kf45      FZ     F45 function key
                   key_f46                     kf46      Fa     F46 function key
                   key_f47                     kf47      Fb     F47 function key
                   key_f48                     kf48      Fc     F48 function key
                   key_f49                     kf49      Fd     F49 function key
                   key_f5                      kf5       k5     F5 function key
                   key_f50                     kf50      Fe     F50 function key
                   key_f51                     kf51      Ff     F51 function key
                   key_f52                     kf52      Fg     F52 function key
                   key_f53                     kf53      Fh     F53 function key
                   key_f54                     kf54      Fi     F54 function key
                   key_f55                     kf55      Fj     F55 function key
                   key_f56                     kf56      Fk     F56 function key
                   key_f57                     kf57      Fl     F57 function key
                   key_f58                     kf58      Fm     F58 function key
                   key_f59                     kf59      Fn     F59 function key
                   key_f6                      kf6       k6     F6 function key
                   key_f60                     kf60      Fo     F60 function key
                   key_f61                     kf61      Fp     F61 function key
                   key_f62                     kf62      Fq     F62 function key
                   key_f63                     kf63      Fr     F63 function key
                   key_f7                      kf7       k7     F7 function key
                   key_f8                      kf8       k8     F8 function key
                   key_f9                      kf9       k9     F9 function key
                   key_find                    kfnd      @0     find key
                   key_help                    khlp      %1     help key
                   key_home                    khome     kh     home key
                   key_ic                      kich1     kI     insert-character key
                   key_il                      kil1      kA     insert-line key
                   key_left                    kcub1     kl     left-arrow key
                   key_ll                      kll       kH     lower-left key (home
                                                                down)
                   key_mark                    kmrk      %2     mark key
                   key_message                 kmsg      %3     message key
                   key_move                    kmov      %4     move key
                   key_next                    knxt      %5     next key
                   key_npage                   knp       kN     next-page key
                   key_open                    kopn      %6     open key
                   key_options                 kopt      %7     options key
                   key_ppage                   kpp       kP     previous-page key
                   key_previous                kprv      %8     previous key
                   key_print                   kprt      %9     print key
                   key_redo                    krdo      %0     redo key
                   key_reference               kref      &1     reference key
                   key_refresh                 krfr      &2     refresh key
                   key_replace                 krpl      &3     replace key
                   key_restart                 krst      &4     restart key
                   key_resume                  kres      &5     resume key
                   key_right                   kcuf1     kr     right-arrow key

                   key_save                    ksav      &6     save key
                   key_sbeg                    kBEG      &9     shifted begin key
                   key_scancel                 kCAN      &0     shifted cancel key
                   key_scommand                kCMD      *1     shifted command key
                   key_scopy                   kCPY      *2     shifted copy key
                   key_screate                 kCRT      *3     shifted create key
                   key_sdc                     kDC       *4     shifted delete-
                                                                character key
                   key_sdl                     kDL       *5     shifted delete-line
                                                                key
                   key_select                  kslt      *6     select key
                   key_send                    kEND      *7     shifted end key
                   key_seol                    kEOL      *8     shifted clear-to-
                                                                end-of-line key
                   key_sexit                   kEXT      *9     shifted exit key
                   key_sf                      kind      kF     scroll-forward key
                   key_sfind                   kFND      *0     shifted find key
                   key_shelp                   kHLP      #1     shifted help key
                   key_shome                   kHOM      #2     shifted home key
                   key_sic                     kIC       #3     shifted insert-
                                                                character key
                   key_sleft                   kLFT      #4     shifted left-arrow
                                                                key
                   key_smessage                kMSG      %a     shifted message key
                   key_smove                   kMOV      %b     shifted move key
                   key_snext                   kNXT      %c     shifted next key
                   key_soptions                kOPT      %d     shifted options key
                   key_sprevious               kPRV      %e     shifted previous key
                   key_sprint                  kPRT      %f     shifted print key
                   key_sr                      kri       kR     scroll-backward key
                   key_sredo                   kRDO      %g     shifted redo key
                   key_sreplace                kRPL      %h     shifted replace key
                   key_sright                  kRIT      %i     shifted right-arrow
                                                                key
                   key_srsume                  kRES      %j     shifted resume key
                   key_ssave                   kSAV      !1     shifted save key
                   key_ssuspend                kSPD      !2     shifted suspend key
                   key_stab                    khts      kT     set-tab key
                   key_sundo                   kUND      !3     shifted undo key
                   key_suspend                 kspd      &7     suspend key
                   key_undo                    kund      &8     undo key
                   key_up                      kcuu1     ku     up-arrow key
                   keypad_local                rmkx      ke     leave
                                                                'keyboard_transmit'
                                                                mode
                   keypad_xmit                 smkx      ks     enter
                                                                'keyboard_transmit'
                                                                mode
                   lab_f0                      lf0       l0     label on function
                                                                key f0 if not f0
                   lab_f1                      lf1       l1     label on function
                                                                key f1 if not f1
                   lab_f10                     lf10      la     label on function
                                                                key f10 if not f10
                   lab_f2                      lf2       l2     label on function
                                                                key f2 if not f2
                   lab_f3                      lf3       l3     label on function
                                                                key f3 if not f3
                   lab_f4                      lf4       l4     label on function
                                                                key f4 if not f4
                   lab_f5                      lf5       l5     label on function
                                                                key f5 if not f5
                   lab_f6                      lf6       l6     label on function
                                                                key f6 if not f6

                   lab_f7                      lf7       l7     label on function
                                                                key f7 if not f7
                   lab_f8                      lf8       l8     label on function
                                                                key f8 if not f8
                   lab_f9                      lf9       l9     label on function
                                                                key f9 if not f9
                   label_format                fln       Lf     label format
                   label_off                   rmln      LF     turn off soft labels
                   label_on                    smln      LO     turn on soft labels
                   meta_off                    rmm       mo     turn off meta mode
                   meta_on                     smm       mm     turn on meta mode
                                                                (8th-bit on)
                   micro_column_address        mhpa      ZY     Like column_address
                                                                in micro mode
                   micro_down                  mcud1     ZZ     Like cursor_down in
                                                                micro mode
                   micro_left                  mcub1     Za     Like cursor_left in
                                                                micro mode
                   micro_right                 mcuf1     Zb     Like cursor_right in
                                                                micro mode
                   micro_row_address           mvpa      Zc     Like row_address #1
                                                                in micro mode
                   micro_up                    mcuu1     Zd     Like cursor_up in
                                                                micro mode
                   newline                     nel       nw     newline (behave like
                                                                cr followed by lf)
                   order_of_pins               porder    Ze     Match software bits
                                                                to print-head pins
                   orig_colors                 oc        oc     Set all color pairs
                                                                to the original ones
                   orig_pair                   op        op     Set default pair to
                                                                its original value
                   pad_char                    pad       pc     padding char
                                                                (instead of null)
                   parm_dch                    dch       DC     delete #1 characters
                                                                (P*)
                   parm_delete_line            dl        DL     delete #1 lines (P*)
                   parm_down_cursor            cud       DO     down #1 lines (P*)
                   parm_down_micro             mcud      Zf     Like
                                                                parm_down_cursor in
                                                                micro mode
                   parm_ich                    ich       IC     insert #1 characters
                                                                (P*)
                   parm_index                  indn      SF     scroll forward #1
                                                                lines (P)
                   parm_insert_line            il        AL     insert #1 lines (P*)
                   parm_left_cursor            cub       LE     move #1 characters
                                                                to the left (P)
                   parm_left_micro             mcub      Zg     Like
                                                                parm_left_cursor in
                                                                micro mode
                   parm_right_cursor           cuf       RI     move #1 characters
                                                                to the right (P*)
                   parm_right_micro            mcuf      Zh     Like
                                                                parm_right_cursor in
                                                                micro mode
                   parm_rindex                 rin       SR     scroll back #1 lines
                                                                (P)
                   parm_up_cursor              cuu       UP     up #1 lines (P*)
                   parm_up_micro               mcuu      Zi     Like parm_up_cursor
                                                                in micro mode
                   pkey_key                    pfkey     pk     program function key
                                                                #1 to type string #2

                   pkey_local                  pfloc     pl     program function key
                                                                #1 to execute string
                                                                #2
                   pkey_xmit                   pfx       px     program function key
                                                                #1 to transmit
                                                                string #2
                   plab_norm                   pln       pn     program label #1 to
                                                                show string #2
                   print_screen                mc0       ps     print contents of
                                                                screen
                   prtr_non                    mc5p      pO     turn on printer for
                                                                #1 bytes
                   prtr_off                    mc4       pf     turn off printer
                   prtr_on                     mc5       po     turn on printer
                   pulse                       pulse     PU     select pulse dialing
                   quick_dial                  qdial     QD     dial number #1
                                                                without checking
                   remove_clock                rmclk     RC     remove clock
                   repeat_char                 rep       rp     repeat char #1 #2
                                                                times (P*)
                   req_for_input               rfi       RF     send next input char
                                                                (for ptys)
                   reset_1string               rs1       r1     reset string
                   reset_2string               rs2       r2     reset string
                   reset_3string               rs3       r3     reset string
                   reset_file                  rf        rf     name of reset file
                   restore_cursor              rc        rc     restore cursor to
                                                                position of last
                                                                save_cursor
                   row_address                 vpa       cv     vertical position #1
                                                                absolute (P)
                   save_cursor                 sc        sc     save current cursor
                                                                position (P)
                   scroll_forward              ind       sf     scroll text up (P)
                   scroll_reverse              ri        sr     scroll text down (P)
                   select_char_set             scs       Zj     Select character
                                                                set, #1
                   set_attributes              sgr       sa     define video
                                                                attributes #1-#9
                                                                (PG9)
                   set_background              setb      Sb     Set background color
                                                                #1
                   set_bottom_margin           smgb      Zk     Set bottom margin at
                                                                current line
                   set_bottom_margin_parm      smgbp     Zl     Set bottom margin at
                                                                line #1 or (if smgtp
                                                                is not given) #2
                                                                lines from bottom
                   set_clock                   sclk      SC     set clock, #1 hrs #2
                                                                mins #3 secs
                   set_color_pair              scp       sp     Set current color
                                                                pair to #1
                   set_foreground              setf      Sf     Set foreground color
                                                                #1
                   set_left_margin             smgl      ML     set left soft margin
                                                                at current
                                                                column.     (ML is
                                                                not in BSD termcap).
                   set_left_margin_parm        smglp     Zm     Set left (right)
                                                                margin at column #1
                   set_right_margin            smgr      MR     set right soft
                                                                margin at current
                                                                column
                   set_right_margin_parm       smgrp     Zn     Set right margin at
                                                                column #1

                   set_tab                     hts       st     set a tab in every
                                                                row, current columns
                   set_top_margin              smgt      Zo     Set top margin at
                                                                current line
                   set_top_margin_parm         smgtp     Zp     Set top (bottom)
                                                                margin at row #1
                   set_window                  wind      wi     current window is
                                                                lines #1-#2 cols
                                                                #3-#4
                   start_bit_image             sbim      Zq     Start printing bit
                                                                image graphics
                   start_char_set_def          scsd      Zr     Start character set
                                                                definition #1, with
                                                                #2 characters in the
                                                                set
                   stop_bit_image              rbim      Zs     Stop printing bit
                                                                image graphics
                   stop_char_set_def           rcsd      Zt     End definition of
                                                                character set #1
                   subscript_characters        subcs     Zu     List of
                                                                subscriptable
                                                                characters
                   superscript_characters      supcs     Zv     List of
                                                                superscriptable
                                                                characters
                   tab                         ht        ta     tab to next 8-space
                                                                hardware tab stop
                   these_cause_cr              docr      Zw     Printing any of
                                                                these characters
                                                                causes CR
                   to_status_line              tsl       ts     move to status line,
                                                                column #1
                   tone                        tone      TO     select touch tone
                                                                dialing
                   underline_char              uc        uc     underline char and
                                                                move past it
                   up_half_line                hu        hu     half a line up
                   user0                       u0        u0     User string #0
                   user1                       u1        u1     User string #1
                   user2                       u2        u2     User string #2
                   user3                       u3        u3     User string #3
                   user4                       u4        u4     User string #4
                   user5                       u5        u5     User string #5
                   user6                       u6        u6     User string #6
                   user7                       u7        u7     User string #7
                   user8                       u8        u8     User string #8
                   user9                       u9        u9     User string #9
                   wait_tone                   wait      WA     wait for dial-tone
                   xoff_character              xoffc     XF     XOFF character
                   xon_character               xonc      XN     XON character
                   zero_motion                 zerom     Zx     No motion for
                                                                subsequent character

       The  following  string  capabilities  are  present  in the SVr4.0 term structure, but were
       originally not documented in the man page.

                            Variable            Cap-       TCap      Description
                             String             name       Code
                    alt_scancode_esc            scesa      S8     Alternate escape
                                                                  for scancode
                                                                  emulation
                    bit_image_carriage_return   bicr       Yv     Move to beginning
                                                                  of same row

                    bit_image_newline           binel      Zz     Move to next row
                                                                  of the bit image
                    bit_image_repeat            birep      Xy     Repeat bit image
                                                                  cell #1 #2 times
                    char_set_names              csnm       Zy     Produce #1'th item
                                                                  from list of
                                                                  character set
                                                                  names
                    code_set_init               csin       ci     Init sequence for
                                                                  multiple codesets
                    color_names                 colornm    Yw     Give name for
                                                                  color #1
                    define_bit_image_region     defbi      Yx     Define rectangular
                                                                  bit image region
                    device_type                 devt       dv     Indicate
                                                                  language/codeset
                                                                  support
                    display_pc_char             dispc      S1     Display PC
                                                                  character #1
                    end_bit_image_region        endbi      Yy     End a bit-image
                                                                  region
                    enter_pc_charset_mode       smpch      S2     Enter PC character
                                                                  display mode
                    enter_scancode_mode         smsc       S4     Enter PC scancode
                                                                  mode
                    exit_pc_charset_mode        rmpch      S3     Exit PC character
                                                                  display mode
                    exit_scancode_mode          rmsc       S5     Exit PC scancode
                                                                  mode
                    get_mouse                   getm       Gm     Curses should get
                                                                  button events,
                                                                  parameter #1 not
                                                                  documented.
                    key_mouse                   kmous      Km     Mouse event has
                                                                  occurred
                    mouse_info                  minfo      Mi     Mouse status
                                                                  information
                    pc_term_options             pctrm      S6     PC terminal
                                                                  options
                    pkey_plab                   pfxl       xl     Program function
                                                                  key #1 to type
                                                                  string #2 and show
                                                                  string #3
                    req_mouse_pos               reqmp      RQ     Request mouse
                                                                  position
                    scancode_escape             scesc      S7     Escape for
                                                                  scancode emulation
                    set0_des_seq                s0ds       s0     Shift to codeset 0
                                                                  (EUC set 0, ASCII)
                    set1_des_seq                s1ds       s1     Shift to codeset 1
                    set2_des_seq                s2ds       s2     Shift to codeset 2
                    set3_des_seq                s3ds       s3     Shift to codeset 3
                    set_a_background            setab      AB     Set background
                                                                  color to #1, using
                                                                  ANSI escape
                    set_a_foreground            setaf      AF     Set foreground
                                                                  color to #1, using
                                                                  ANSI escape
                    set_color_band              setcolor   Yz     Change to ribbon
                                                                  color #1
                    set_lr_margin               smglr      ML     Set both left and
                                                                  right margins to
                                                                  #1, #2.  (ML is
                                                                  not in BSD
                                                                  termcap).

                    set_page_length             slines     YZ     Set page length to
                                                                  #1 lines
                    set_tb_margin               smgtb      MT     Sets both top and
                                                                  bottom margins to
                                                                  #1, #2

        The  XSI  Curses  standard  added  these  hardcopy  capabilities.  They were used in some
        post-4.1 versions of System V curses, e.g., Solaris 2.5 and IRIX 6.x.  Except for YI, the
        ncurses  termcap names for them are invented.  According to the XSI Curses standard, they
        have no termcap names.  If your compiled terminfo entries use  these,  they  may  not  be
        binary-compatible with System V terminfo entries after SVr4.1; beware!

                            Variable            Cap-      TCap       Description
                             String             name      Code
                    enter_horizontal_hl_mode    ehhlm     Xh     Enter horizontal
                                                                 highlight mode
                    enter_left_hl_mode          elhlm     Xl     Enter left highlight
                                                                 mode
                    enter_low_hl_mode           elohlm    Xo     Enter low highlight
                                                                 mode
                    enter_right_hl_mode         erhlm     Xr     Enter right
                                                                 highlight mode
                    enter_top_hl_mode           ethlm     Xt     Enter top highlight
                                                                 mode
                    enter_vertical_hl_mode      evhlm     Xv     Enter vertical
                                                                 highlight mode
                    set_a_attributes            sgr1      sA     Define second set of
                                                                 video attributes
                                                                 #1-#6
                    set_pglen_inch              slength   YI     Set page length to
                                                                 #1 hundredth of an
                                                                 inch (some
                                                                 implementations use
                                                                 sL for termcap).

   User-Defined Capabilities
       The  preceding  section  listed  the predefined capabilities.  They deal with some special
       features for terminals no longer (or possibly never)  produced.   Occasionally  there  are
       special  features  of  newer  terminals  which  are  awkward or impossible to represent by
       reusing the predefined capabilities.

       ncurses addresses this limitation by allowing  user-defined  capabilities.   The  tic  and
       infocmp  programs  provide  the  -x  option  for this purpose.  When -x is set, tic treats
       unknown capabilities as user-defined.  That is, if tic encounters a capability name  which
       it  does not recognize, it infers its type (boolean, number or string) from the syntax and
       makes an extended table entry for that capability.   The  use_extended_names(3X)  function
       makes  this  information  conditionally  available  to  applications.  The ncurses library
       provides the data leaving most of the behavior to applications:

       •   User-defined capability strings whose name begins with “k”  are  treated  as  function
           keys.

       •   The  types  (boolean,  number, string) determined by tic can be inferred by successful
           calls on tigetflag, etc.

       •   If the capability name happens to be two characters, the capability is also  available
           through the termcap interface.

       While  termcap  is  said  to  be  extensible  because  it does not use a predefined set of
       capabilities, in practice it has been limited to  the  capabilities  defined  by  terminfo
       implementations.   As  a  rule,  user-defined  capabilities  intended  for  use by termcap
       applications should be limited to booleans and numbers to avoid running past the 1023 byte
       limit assumed by termcap implementations and their applications.  In particular, providing
       extended sets of function keys (past the 60 numbered keys and the handful of special named
       keys) is best done using the longer names available using terminfo.

   A Sample Entry
       The  following  entry,  describing  an ANSI-standard terminal, is representative of what a
       terminfo entry for a modern terminal typically looks like.

       ansi|ansi/pc-term compatible with color,
               am, mc5i, mir, msgr,
               colors#8, cols#80, it#8, lines#24, ncv#3, pairs#64,
               acsc=+\020\,\021-\030.^Y0\333`\004a\261f\370g\361h\260
                    j\331k\277l\332m\300n\305o~p\304q\304r\304s_t\303
                    u\264v\301w\302x\263y\363z\362{\343|\330}\234~\376,
               bel=^G, blink=\E[5m, bold=\E[1m, cbt=\E[Z, clear=\E[H\E[J,
               cr=^M, cub=\E[%p1%dD, cub1=\E[D, 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, dch=\E[%p1%dP, dch1=\E[P,
               dl=\E[%p1%dM, dl1=\E[M, ech=\E[%p1%dX, ed=\E[J, el=\E[K,
               el1=\E[1K, home=\E[H, hpa=\E[%i%p1%dG, ht=\E[I, hts=\EH,
               ich=\E[%p1%d@, il=\E[%p1%dL, il1=\E[L, ind=^J,
               indn=\E[%p1%dS, invis=\E[8m, kbs=^H, kcbt=\E[Z, kcub1=\E[D,
               kcud1=\E[B, kcuf1=\E[C, kcuu1=\E[A, khome=\E[H, kich1=\E[L,
               mc4=\E[4i, mc5=\E[5i, nel=\r\E[S, op=\E[39;49m,
               rep=%p1%c\E[%p2%{1}%-%db, rev=\E[7m, rin=\E[%p1%dT,
               rmacs=\E[10m, rmpch=\E[10m, rmso=\E[m, rmul=\E[m,
               s0ds=\E(B, s1ds=\E)B, s2ds=\E*B, s3ds=\E+B,
               setab=\E[4%p1%dm, setaf=\E[3%p1%dm,
               sgr=\E[0;10%?%p1%t;7%;
                          %?%p2%t;4%;
                          %?%p3%t;7%;
                          %?%p4%t;5%;
                          %?%p6%t;1%;
                          %?%p7%t;8%;
                          %?%p9%t;11%;m,
               sgr0=\E[0;10m, smacs=\E[11m, smpch=\E[11m, smso=\E[7m,
               smul=\E[4m, tbc=\E[3g, u6=\E[%i%d;%dR, u7=\E[6n,
               u8=\E[?%[;0123456789]c, u9=\E[c, vpa=\E[%i%p1%dd,

       Entries may continue onto multiple lines by placing white space at the beginning  of  each
       line   except  the  first.   Comments  may  be  included  on  lines  beginning  with  “#”.
       Capabilities in terminfo are of three types:

       •   Boolean capabilities which indicate that the terminal has some particular feature,

       •   numeric capabilities giving the size of the terminal or the size of particular delays,
           and

       •   string  capabilities,  which  give  a sequence which can be used to perform particular
           terminal operations.

   Types of Capabilities
       All capabilities have names.  For instance, the fact  that  ANSI-standard  terminals  have
       automatic  margins  (i.e.,  an  automatic  return  and line-feed when the end of a line is
       reached) is indicated by the capability am.  Hence the description of  ansi  includes  am.
       Numeric  capabilities  are  followed by the character “#” and then a positive value.  Thus
       cols, which indicates the number of columns the terminal has, gives  the  value  “80”  for
       ansi.   Values for numeric capabilities may be specified in decimal, octal or hexadecimal,
       using the C programming language conventions (e.g., 255, 0377 and 0xff or 0xFF).

       Finally, string valued capabilities, such as el (clear to end of line sequence) are  given
       by the two-character code, an “=”, and then a string ending at the next following “,”.

       A  number  of  escape  sequences  are  provided in the string valued capabilities for easy
       encoding of characters there:

       •   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

           produce

             newline, line-feed, return, tab, backspace, form-feed, and space,

           respectively.

       X/Open Curses does not say what  “appropriate  x”  might  be.   In  practice,  that  is  a
       printable ASCII graphic character.  The special case “^?” is interpreted as DEL (127).  In
       all other cases, the character value is AND'd with 0x1f, mapping to ASCII control codes in
       the range 0 through 31.

       Other escapes include

       •   \^ for ^,

       •   \\ for \,

       •   \, for comma,

       •   \: for :,

       •   and \0 for null.

           \0  will  produce  \200,  which  does  not  terminate  a  string but behaves as a null
           character on most terminals, providing CS7 is specified.  See stty(1).

           The reason for this quirk is to maintain binary compatibility of the compiled terminfo
           files  with  other  implementations,  e.g.,  the  SVr4  systems,  which document this.
           Compiled terminfo files use null-terminated strings, with no lengths.  Modifying  this
           would require a new binary format, which would not work with other implementations.

       Finally, characters may be given as three octal digits after a \.

       A  delay  in  milliseconds  may  appear anywhere in a string capability, enclosed in $<..>
       brackets, as in el=\EK$<5>, and padding characters are supplied by  tputs(3X)  to  provide
       this delay.

       •   The  delay  must  be  a  number with at most one decimal place of precision; it may be
           followed by suffixes “*” or “/” or both.

       •   A “*” indicates 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 character, the factor is still the number  of  lines
           affected.)

           Normally,  padding  is  advisory  if the device has the xon capability; it is used for
           cost computation but does not trigger delays.

       •   A “/” suffix indicates that the padding is mandatory and forces a delay of  the  given
           number  of  milliseconds  even  on  devices  for which xon is present to indicate flow
           control.

       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.

   Fetching Compiled Descriptions
       The  ncurses  library  searches for terminal descriptions in several places.  It uses only
       the first description found.  The library has a compiled-in list of places to search which
       can be overridden by environment variables.  Before starting to search, ncurses eliminates
       duplicates in its search list.

       •   If the environment variable TERMINFO is set, it is interpreted as the  pathname  of  a
           directory containing the compiled description you are working on.  Only that directory
           is searched.

       •   If TERMINFO is not set, ncurses will instead look in the directory $HOME/.terminfo for
           a compiled description.

       •   Next,  if  the  environment  variable TERMINFO_DIRS is set, ncurses will interpret the
           contents of that variable as a list of colon-separated directories (or database files)
           to be searched.

           An  empty  directory  name  (i.e.,  if  the  variable  begins or ends with a colon, or
           contains adjacent colons) is interpreted as the system location /etc/terminfo.

       •   Finally, ncurses searches these compiled-in locations:

           •   a list of directories (no default value), and

           •   the system terminfo directory, /etc/terminfo (the compiled-in default).

   Preparing Descriptions
       We now outline how to prepare descriptions  of  terminals.   The  most  effective  way  to
       prepare  a  terminal  description is by imitating the description of a similar terminal in
       terminfo and to build up a description gradually, using partial descriptions  with  vi  or
       some  other  screen-oriented program to check that they are correct.  Be aware that a very
       unusual terminal may expose deficiencies in the ability of the terminfo file  to  describe
       it or bugs in the screen-handling code of the test program.

       To  get  the  padding for insert line right (if the terminal manufacturer did not document
       it) a severe test is to edit a large file at 9600 baud, delete 16 or  so  lines  from  the
       middle  of the screen, then hit the “u” key several times quickly.  If the terminal messes
       up, more padding is usually needed.  A similar test can be used for insert character.

   Basic Capabilities
       The number of columns on each  line  for  the  terminal  is  given  by  the  cols  numeric
       capability.   If the terminal is a CRT, then the number of lines on the screen is given by
       the lines capability.  If the terminal 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  terminal  is  a
       printing terminal, with no soft copy unit, give it both hc and os.  (os applies to storage
       scope terminals, such as TEKTRONIX 4010 series, as well as hard copy and  APL  terminals.)
       If  there  is  a code to move the cursor to the left edge of the current row, give this as
       cr.  (Normally this will be carriage return, control/M.)  If there is a code to produce an
       audible signal (bell, beep, etc) give this as bel.

       If  there  is  a code to move the cursor one position to the left (such as backspace) that
       capability should be given as cub1.  Similarly, codes to move to the right, up,  and  down
       should  be given as cuf1, cuu1, and cud1.  These local cursor motions should not alter the
       text they pass over, for example, you would not normally use “cuf1= ”  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 CRT terminal.  Programs should never  attempt  to
       backspace around the left edge, unless bw is given, and never attempt to go up locally off
       the top.  In order to scroll text up, a program will go to the bottom left corner  of  the
       screen and send 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.

       Parameterized  versions  of  the  scrolling sequences are indn and rin which have the same
       semantics as ind and ri except that they take one parameter, and scroll that  many  lines.
       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.   The
       only  local motion which is defined from the left edge is if bw is given, then a cub1 from
       the left edge 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 terminal has switch  selectable  automatic  margins,  the  terminfo  file
       usually  assumes  that this is on; i.e., am.  If the terminal has a command which 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 terminal 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 hard-copy  and  “glass-tty”  terminals.   Thus  the
       model 33 teletype is described as

       33|tty33|tty|model 33 teletype,
               bel=^G, cols#72, cr=^M, cud1=^J, hc, ind=^J, os,

       while the Lear Siegler ADM-3 is described as

       adm3|3|lsi adm3,
               am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
               ind=^J, lines#24,

   Parameterized Strings
       Cursor  addressing and other strings requiring parameters in the terminal are described by
       a parameterized string capability, with  printf-like  escapes  such  as  %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  it.   Typically  a
       sequence  will push one of the parameters onto the stack and then print it in some format.
       Print (e.g., “%d”) is a special case.  Other operations, including “%t” pop their  operand
       from  the  stack.   It is noted that more complex operations are often necessary, e.g., in
       the sgr string.

       The % encodings have the following meanings:

       %%   outputs “%”

       %[[:]flags][width[.precision]][doxXs]
            as in printf(3), flags are [-+#] and space.  Use a “:” to allow the next character to
            be a “-” flag, avoiding interpreting “%-” as an operator.

       %c   print pop() like %c in printf

       %s   print pop() like %s in printf

       %p[1-9]
            push i'th parameter

       %P[a-z]
            set dynamic variable [a-z] to pop()

       %g[a-z]/
            get dynamic variable [a-z] and push it

       %P[A-Z]
            set static variable [a-z] to pop()

       %g[A-Z]
            get static variable [a-z] and push it

            The  terms “static” and “dynamic” are misleading.  Historically, these are simply two
            different sets of variables, whose values are not reset between calls  to  tparm(3X).
            However,  that  fact  is not documented in other implementations.  Relying on it will
            adversely impact portability to other implementations:

            •   SVr2 curses supported dynamic variables.  Those are set only by a %P operator.  A
                %g  for a given variable without first setting it with %P will give unpredictable
                results, because dynamic variables are an uninitialized local array on the  stack
                in the tparm function.

            •   SVr3.2  curses  supported  static  variables.  Those are an array in the TERMINAL
                structure (declared in term.h), and are zeroed automatically when  the  setupterm
                function allocates the data.

            •   SVr4 curses made no further improvements to the dynamic/static variable feature.

            •   Solaris  XPG4  curses  does not distinguish between dynamic and static variables.
                They are the same.  Like SVr4 curses,  XPG4  curses  does  not  initialize  these
                explicitly.

            •   Before  version  6.3,  ncurses  stores  both  dynamic  and  static  variables  in
                persistent storage, initialized to zeros.

            •   Beginning with version 6.3, ncurses stores static and dynamic  variables  in  the
                same  manner  as  SVr4.   Unlike  other  implementations,  ncurses  zeros dynamic
                variables before the first %g or %P operator.

       %'c' char constant c

       %{nn}
            integer constant nn

       %l   push strlen(pop)

       %+, %-, %*, %/, %m
            arithmetic (%m is mod): push(pop() op pop())

       %&, %|, %^
            bit operations (AND, OR and exclusive-OR): push(pop() op pop())

       %=, %>, %<
            logical operations: push(pop() op pop())

       %A, %O
            logical AND and OR operations (for conditionals)

       %!, %~
            unary operations (logical and bit complement): push(op pop())

       %i   add 1 to first two parameters (for ANSI terminals)

       %? expr %t thenpart %e elsepart %;
            This forms an if-then-else.  The %e elsepart is optional.  Usually the %?  expr  part
            pushes  a  value  onto  the  stack,  and  %t pops it from the stack, testing if it is
            nonzero (true).  If it is zero (false), control passes to the %e (else) part.

            It is possible to form else-if's a la Algol 68:
            %? c1 %t b1 %e c2 %t b2 %e c3 %t b3 %e c4 %t b4 %e %;

            where ci are conditions, bi are bodies.

            Use the -f option of tic or infocmp to see the  structure  of  if-then-else's.   Some
            strings,  e.g.,  sgr can be very complicated when written on one line.  The -f option
            splits the string into lines with the parts indented.

       Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands in the usual order.  That  is,  to
       get  x-5  one  would  use  “%gx%{5}%-”.  %P and %g variables are persistent across escape-
       string evaluations.

       Consider the HP2645, 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 printed  as  two  digits.   Thus  its  cup  capability  is
       “cup=6\E&%p2%2dc%p1%2dY”.

       The  Microterm 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”.  Terminals which 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%'  '%+%c%p2%'  '%+%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 parameter.  More complex arithmetic is possible using the
       stack.

   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 HP terminals cannot be used for home.)

       If the terminal 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  hp2645) 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 terminal does not have cup, such as the TEKTRONIX 4025.

       If the terminal 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 like the Concept with more than one  page  of  memory.
       If  the terminal has only memory relative cursor addressing and not screen relative cursor
       addressing, a one  screen-sized  window  must  be  fixed  into  the  terminal  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 rmcup sequence is output (to the state prior to outputting
       rmcup), specify nrrmc.

   Margins
       SVr4 (and X/Open Curses) list several string capabilities for setting margins.   Two  were
       intended for use with terminals, and another six were intended for use with printers.

       •   The  two  terminal  capabilities  assume  that the terminal may have the capability of
           setting the left and/or right margin at the current cursor column position.

       •   The printer capabilities assume that the printer may have two types of capability:

           •   the ability to set a top and/or bottom margin using the current line position, and

           •   parameterized capabilities for setting the top, bottom, left, right margins  given
               the number of rows or columns.

       In practice, the categorization into “terminal” and “printer” is not suitable:

       •   The AT&T SVr4 terminal database uses smgl four times, for AT&T hardware.

           Three  of  the  four are printers.  They lack the ability to set left/right margins by
           specifying the column.

       •   Other (non-AT&T) terminals may support margins but using  different  assumptions  from
           AT&T.

           For  instance,  the  DEC  VT420  supports  left/right margins, but only using a column
           parameter.  As an added complication, the VT420 uses  two  settings  to  fully  enable
           left/right  margins (left/right margin mode, and origin mode).  The former enables the
           margins, which causes printed text to wrap within margins, but the latter is needed to
           prevent cursor-addressing outside those margins.

       •   Both  DEC  VT420 left/right margins are set with a single control sequence.  If either
           is omitted, the corresponding margin is set to the left or right edge of  the  display
           (rather than leaving the margin unmodified).

       These are the margin-related capabilities:

                         Name       Description
                         ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
                         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
                         smglr      Set both left and right margins to L and R
                         smgtb      Set both top and bottom margins to T and B

       When writing an application that uses these string capabilities, the pairs should be first
       checked to see if each capability in the pair is set or only one is set:

       •   If both 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  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.

           •   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 and the second counting from
               the bottom.  This accommodates the two styles of specifying the bottom  margin  in
               different manufacturers' printers.

           When  designing a terminfo entry for a printer that has a settable bottom margin, only
           the first or  second  argument  should  be  used,  depending  on  the  printer.   When
           developing  an  application  that  uses smgbp to set the bottom margin, both arguments
           must be given.

       Conversely, when only one capability in the pair is set:

       •   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.

           When  designing  a  terminfo  entry  for a printer that requires setting both left and
           right or top and bottom margins simultaneously, only one capability in the pairs smglp
           and smgrp or smgtp and smgbp should be defined, leaving the other unset.

       Except for very old terminal descriptions, e.g., those developed for SVr4, the scheme just
       described should be considered obsolete.  An improved set of capabilities was  added  late
       in  the  SVr4  releases (smglr and smgtb), which explicitly use two parameters for setting
       the left/right or top/bottom margins.

       When setting margins, the line- and column-values are zero-based.

       The mgc string capability should be defined.  Applications such as tabs(1) rely upon  this
       to reset all margins.

   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.)

   Insert/delete line and vertical motions
       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 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 csr on a properly chosen
       region; the sc and rc (save and restore cursor) commands may be useful for  ensuring  that
       your  synthesized  insert/delete  string  does  not  move  the  cursor.   (Note  that  the
       ncurses(3NCURSES) library does this synthesis  automatically,  so  you  need  not  compose
       insert/delete strings for an entry with csr).

       Yet another way to construct insert and delete might be to use a combination of index with
       the memory-lock feature found on some terminals (like the HP-700/90 series, which  however
       also has insert/delete).

       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.

       The boolean non_dest_scroll_region should be set if each scrolling window is effectively a
       view port on a screen-sized canvas.  To test  for  this  capability,  create  a  scrolling
       region in the middle of the screen, write something to the bottom line, move the cursor to
       the top of the region, and do ri followed by dl1 or ind.  If the  data  scrolled  off  the
       bottom  of  the  region by the ri re-appears, then scrolling is non-destructive.  System V
       and XSI Curses expect that ind, ri, indn, and rin  will  simulate  destructive  scrolling;
       their  documentation  cautions  you  not  to  define csr unless this is true.  This curses
       implementation is more liberal and will do explicit erases after  scrolling  if  ndsrc  is
       defined.

       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 may bring non-blank lines up from  below  or  that  scrolling
       back with ri may bring down non-blank lines.

   Insert/Delete Character
       There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with respect to insert/delete character
       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 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 multi-line 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 which 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 which send a sequence
       to open a screen position should give it here.

       If your terminal has both, insert mode is usually preferable to  ich1.   Technically,  you
       should not give both unless the terminal actually requires both to be used in combination.
       Accordingly, some non-curses applications get confused if both are present; the symptom is
       doubled  characters  in  an  update  using insert.  This requirement is now rare; most ich
       sequences do not require previous smir, and most smir insert modes  do  not  require  ich1
       before  each  character.   Therefore, the new curses actually assumes this is the case and
       uses either rmir/smir or ich/ich1 as appropriate (but not both).  If you have to write  an
       entry  to  be  used  under  new curses for a terminal old enough to need both, include the
       rmir/smir sequences in ich1.

       If post insert padding is needed, give this as a number of milliseconds 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 repeat the effects of ich1 n times.

       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 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.

   Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells
       If  your terminal has one or more kinds of display attributes, these can be represented in
       a number of different ways.   You  should  choose  one  display  form  as  standout  mode,
       representing  a  good,  high  contrast,  easy-on-the-eyes,  format  for highlighting error
       messages and other attention getters.  (If you have a choice,  reverse  video  plus  half-
       bright  is  good,  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.

       Codes to begin underlining and end underlining can be given as smul and rmul respectively.
       If  the  terminal  has  a  code to underline the current character and move the cursor one
       space to the right, such as the Microterm Mime, this can be given as uc.

       Other capabilities to enter various highlighting modes include blink (blinking) bold (bold
       or  extra  bright)  dim  (dim  or  half-bright)  invis  (blanking  or invisible text) prot
       (protected) rev (reverse video) sgr0 (turn off all attribute modes) smacs (enter alternate
       character  set  mode)  and  rmacs  (exit alternate character set mode).  Turning on any of
       these modes singly may or may not turn off other modes.

       If there is a sequence to set arbitrary combinations of modes, this should be given as sgr
       (set  attributes),  taking  9  parameters.   Each parameter is either 0 or nonzero, as the
       corresponding attribute is  on  or  off.   The  9  parameters  are,  in  order:  standout,
       underline,  reverse,  blink,  dim, bold, blank, protect, alternate character set.  Not all
       modes need be supported by sgr, only those  for  which  corresponding  separate  attribute
       commands exist.

       For example, the DEC vt220 supports most of the modes:

                         tparm parameter      attribute        escape sequence

                         none                 none             \E[0m
                         p1                   standout         \E[0;1;7m
                         p2                   underline        \E[0;4m
                         p3                   reverse          \E[0;7m
                         p4                   blink            \E[0;5m
                         p5                   dim              not available
                         p6                   bold             \E[0;1m
                         p7                   invis            \E[0;8m
                         p8                   protect          not used
                         p9                   altcharset       ^O (off) ^N (on)

       We  begin  each escape sequence by turning off any existing modes, since there is no quick
       way to determine whether they are active.  Standout is set up to  be  the  combination  of
       reverse  and  bold.  The vt220 terminal has a protect mode, though it is not commonly used
       in sgr because it protects characters  on  the  screen  from  the  host's  erasures.   The
       altcharset  mode  also is different in that it is either ^O or ^N, depending on whether it
       is off or on.  If all modes are turned on, the resulting sequence is \E[0;1;4;5;7;8m^N.

       Some sequences are common to different modes.  For example, ;7 is output when either p1 or
       p3 is true, that is, if either standout or reverse modes are turned on.

       Writing out the above sequences, along with their dependencies yields

                     sequence             when to output      terminfo translation

                     \E[0                 always              \E[0
                     ;1                   if p1 or p6         %?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;
                     ;4                   if p2               %?%p2%|%t;4%;
                     ;5                   if p4               %?%p4%|%t;5%;
                     ;7                   if p1 or p3         %?%p1%p3%|%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%?%p1%p6%|%t;1%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p4%t;5%;
               %?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;%?%p7%t;8%;m%?%p9%t\016%e\017%;,

       Remember  that if you specify sgr, you must also specify sgr0.  Also, some implementations
       rely on sgr being given if sgr0 is, Not all  terminfo  entries  necessarily  have  an  sgr
       string, however.  Many terminfo entries are derived from termcap entries which have no sgr
       string.  The only drawback to adding an sgr string is that termcap also assumes that  sgr0
       does not exit alternate character set mode.

       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 HP 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.

       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.  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 both of these modes.

       If  your terminal correctly generates underlined characters (with no special codes needed)
       even though it does not overstrike,  then  you  should  give  the  capability  ul.   If  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
       giving eo.

   Keypad and Function Keys
       If  the  terminal  has  a  keypad  that  transmits  codes  when the keys are pressed, this
       information can be given.  Note that it is not possible  to  handle  terminals  where  the
       keypad only works in local (this applies, for example, to the unshifted HP 2621 keys).  If
       the keypad can be set to transmit or not transmit, give these  codes  as  smkx  and  rmkx.
       Otherwise the keypad is assumed to always transmit.

       The  codes sent by the left arrow, right arrow, up arrow, down arrow, and home keys can be
       given as kcub1, kcuf1, kcuu1, kcud1, and khome respectively.  If there are  function  keys
       such  as  f0,  f1,  ..., f10, the codes they send can be given as kf0, kf1, ..., kf10.  If
       these 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.

       Strings  to  program  function  keys  can  be given as pfkey, pfloc, and pfx.  A string to
       program screen labels should be specified  as  pln.   Each  of  these  strings  takes  two
       parameters: the function key number to program (from 0 to 10) and the string to program it
       with.  Function key numbers out of this range may program undefined  keys  in  a  terminal
       dependent  manner.   The difference between the capabilities is that 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; 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.

   Tabs and Initialization
       A few capabilities are used only for tabs:

       •   If  the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance to the next tab stop can be
           given as ht (usually control/I).

       •   A “back-tab” command which moves leftward to the preceding tab stop can  be  given  as
           cbt.

           By  convention,  if  the  teletype  modes indicate that tabs are being expanded by the
           computer rather than being sent to the terminal, programs should not  use  ht  or  cbt
           even if they are present, since the user may not have the tab stops properly set.

       •   If  the  terminal  has  hardware  tabs which are initially set every n spaces when the
           terminal is powered up, the numeric parameter it  is  given,  showing  the  number  of
           spaces the tabs are set to.

           The it capability is normally used by the tset command to determine whether to set the
           mode for hardware tab expansion, and whether to set the tab stops.   If  the  terminal
           has  tab  stops that can be saved in non-volatile memory, the terminfo description can
           assume that they are properly set.

       Other capabilities include

       •   is1, is2, and is3, initialization strings for the terminal,

       •   iprog, the path name of a program to be run to initialize the terminal,

       •   and if, the name of a file containing long initialization strings.

       These strings are expected to set the terminal into modes consistent with the rest of  the
       terminfo  description.   They are normally sent to the terminal, by the init option of the
       tput program, each time the user logs in.  They will be printed in the following order:

              run the program
                     iprog

              output
                     is1 and
                     is2

              set the margins using
                     mgc or
                     smglp and smgrp or
                     smgl and smgr

              set tabs using
                     tbc and hts

              print the file
                     if

              and finally output
                     is3.

       Most initialization is done with is2.  Special  terminal  modes  can  be  set  up  without
       duplicating  strings  by  putting the common sequences in is2 and special cases in is1 and
       is3.

       A set of sequences that does a harder reset from a totally unknown state can be  given  as
       rs1, rs2, rf and rs3, analogous to is1 , is2 , if and is3 respectively.  These strings are
       output by reset option of tput, or by the reset program (an alias of tset), 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 the vt100 into 80-column mode would normally
       be part of is2, but it causes an annoying glitch of the screen and is not normally  needed
       since the terminal is usually already in 80-column mode.

       The  reset  program  writes  strings  including iprog, etc., in the same order as the init
       program, using rs1, etc., instead of is1, etc.  If any of  rs1,  rs2,  rs3,  or  rf  reset
       capability  strings  are  missing,  the  reset  program  falls back upon the corresponding
       initialization capability string.

       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).  If a more complex
       sequence is needed to set the tabs than can be described by  this,  the  sequence  can  be
       placed in is2 or if.

       The tput reset command uses the same capability strings as the reset command, although the
       two programs (tput and reset) provide different command-line options.

       In practice, these terminfo capabilities are not often  used  in  initialization  of  tabs
       (though they are required for the tabs program):

       •   Almost  all hardware terminals (at least those which supported tabs) initialized those
           to every eight columns:

           The only exception was the AT&T 2300 series, which set tabs to every five columns.

       •   In particular, developers of the hardware terminals which are commonly used as  models
           for  modern terminal emulators provided documentation demonstrating that eight columns
           were the standard.

       •   Because of this, the terminal initialization  programs  tput  and  tset  use  the  tbc
           (clear_all_tabs)  and hts (set_tab) capabilities directly only when the it (init_tabs)
           capability is set to a value other than eight.

   Delays and Padding
       Many older and slower terminals  do  not  support  either  XON/XOFF  or  DTR  handshaking,
       including  hard  copy  terminals  and  some very archaic CRTs (including, for example, DEC
       VT100s).  These may require padding characters after certain  cursor  motions  and  screen
       changes.

       If  the  terminal  uses  xon/xoff  handshaking for flow control (that is, it automatically
       emits ^S back to the host when its input buffers  are  close  to  full),  set  xon.   This
       capability  suppresses  the  emission  of  padding.  You can also set it for memory-mapped
       console devices effectively that do not have a speed limit.   Padding  information  should
       still  be  included  so  that routines can make better decisions about relative costs, but
       actual pad characters will not be transmitted.

       If pb (padding baud rate) is given, padding is suppressed at baud rates below the value of
       pb.   If  the  entry  has  no padding baud rate, then whether padding is emitted or not is
       completely controlled by xon.

       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.

   Status Lines
       Some  terminals  have  an  extra “status line” which is not normally used by software (and
       thus not counted in the terminal's lines capability).

       The simplest case is a status line which is cursor-addressable but not part  of  the  main
       scrolling  region on the screen; the Heathkit H19 has a status line of this kind, as would
       a 24-line VT100 with a 23-line scrolling region set up on initialization.  This  situation
       is indicated by the hs capability.

       Some  terminals with status lines need special sequences to access the status line.  These
       may be expressed as a string with single parameter tsl which takes the cursor to  a  given
       zero-origin  column on the status line.  The capability fsl must return to the main-screen
       cursor positions before the last tsl.  You may need to embed the string values of sc (save
       cursor) and rc (restore cursor) in tsl and fsl to accomplish this.

       The status line is normally assumed to be the same width as the width of the terminal.  If
       this is untrue, you can specify it with the numeric capability wsl.

       A command to erase or blank the status line may be specified as dsl.

       The boolean capability eslok specifies that escape sequences, tabs, etc., work  ordinarily
       in the status line.

       The  ncurses  implementation  does  not  yet  use  any  of  these  capabilities.  They are
       documented here in case they ever become important.

   Line Graphics
       Many terminals have alternate character  sets  useful  for  forms-drawing.   Terminfo  and
       curses  have  built-in  support for most of the drawing characters supported by the VT100,
       with some characters from the AT&T 4410v1 added.  This  alternate  character  set  may  be
       specified by the acsc capability.

                  Glyph                       ACS            Ascii     acsc     acsc
                  Name                        Name           Default   Char     Value
                  ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
                  arrow pointing right        ACS_RARROW     >         +        0x2b
                  arrow pointing left         ACS_LARROW     <         ,        0x2c
                  arrow pointing up           ACS_UARROW     ^         -        0x2d
                  arrow pointing down         ACS_DARROW     v         .        0x2e
                  solid square block          ACS_BLOCK      #         0        0x30
                  diamond                     ACS_DIAMOND    +         `        0x60
                  checker board (stipple)     ACS_CKBOARD    :         a        0x61
                  degree symbol               ACS_DEGREE     \         f        0x66
                  plus/minus                  ACS_PLMINUS    #         g        0x67
                  board of squares            ACS_BOARD      #         h        0x68
                  lantern symbol              ACS_LANTERN    #         i        0x69
                  lower right corner          ACS_LRCORNER   +         j        0x6a
                  upper right corner          ACS_URCORNER   +         k        0x6b
                  upper left corner           ACS_ULCORNER   +         l        0x6c
                  lower left corner           ACS_LLCORNER   +         m        0x6d
                  large plus or crossover     ACS_PLUS       +         n        0x6e
                  scan line 1                 ACS_S1         ~         o        0x6f
                  scan line 3                 ACS_S3         -         p        0x70
                  horizontal line             ACS_HLINE      -         q        0x71
                  scan line 7                 ACS_S7         -         r        0x72
                  scan line 9                 ACS_S9         _         s        0x73
                  tee pointing right          ACS_LTEE       +         t        0x74
                  tee pointing left           ACS_RTEE       +         u        0x75
                  tee pointing up             ACS_BTEE       +         v        0x76
                  tee pointing down           ACS_TTEE       +         w        0x77
                  vertical line               ACS_VLINE      |         x        0x78
                  less-than-or-equal-to       ACS_LEQUAL     <         y        0x79
                  greater-than-or-equal-to    ACS_GEQUAL     >         z        0x7a
                  greek pi                    ACS_PI         *         {        0x7b
                  not-equal                   ACS_NEQUAL     !         |        0x7c
                  UK pound sign               ACS_STERLING   f         }        0x7d
                  bullet                      ACS_BULLET     o         ~        0x7e

       A few notes apply to the table itself:

       •   X/Open  Curses  incorrectly  states  that  the  mapping  for  lantern is uppercase “I”
           although Unix implementations use the lowercase “i” mapping.

       •   The DEC  VT100  implemented  graphics  using  the  alternate  character  set  feature,
           temporarily  switching  modes  and  sending  characters in the range 0x60 (96) to 0x7e
           (126) (the acsc Value column in the table).

       •   The AT&T terminal added graphics characters outside that range.

           Some of the characters within the range do not match the VT100; presumably  they  were
           used  in  the AT&T terminal: board of squares replaces the VT100 newline symbol, while
           lantern symbol replaces the VT100 vertical tab symbol.  The other  VT100  symbols  for
           control characters (horizontal tab, carriage return and line-feed) are not (re)used in
           curses.

       The best way to define a new device's graphics set is to add a column to a  copy  of  this
       table  for  your  terminal,  giving  the character which (when emitted between smacs/rmacs
       switches) will be rendered as the corresponding graphic.  Then  read  off  the  VT100/your
       terminal character pairs right to left in sequence; these become the ACSC string.

   Color Handling
       The curses library functions init_pair and init_color manipulate the color pairs and color
       values discussed in this section (see curs_color(3X) for  details  on  these  and  related
       functions).

       Most color terminals are either “Tektronix-like” or “HP-like”:

       •   Tektronix-like terminals have a predefined set of N colors (where N is usually 8), and
           can set character-cell foreground and background characters independently, mixing them
           into N * N color-pairs.

       •   On  HP-like terminals, the user must set each color pair up separately (foreground and
           background are not independently settable).  Up to M color-pairs may be  set  up  from
           2*M different colors.  ANSI-compatible terminals are Tektronix-like.

       Some  basic  color  capabilities  are  independent  of  the  color  method.   The  numeric
       capabilities colors and pairs specify the maximum numbers of colors and  color-pairs  that
       can  be  displayed  simultaneously.   The  op (original pair) string resets foreground and
       background colors to their default values for the terminal.   The  oc  string  resets  all
       colors or color-pairs to their default values for the terminal.  Some terminals (including
       many PC terminal emulators) erase screen areas with the current  background  color  rather
       than the power-up default background; these should have the boolean capability bce.

       While  the curses library works with color pairs (reflecting the inability of some devices
       to set foreground and background colors independently), there  are  separate  capabilities
       for setting these features:

       •   To change the current foreground or background color on a Tektronix-type terminal, use
           setaf (set ANSI foreground) and setab (set ANSI background) or setf  (set  foreground)
           and  setb  (set  background).   These  take one parameter, the color number.  The SVr4
           documentation describes only setaf/setab; the XPG4 draft says that  "If  the  terminal
           supports  ANSI escape sequences to set background and foreground, they should be coded
           as setaf and setab, respectively.

       •   If the terminal supports other escape sequences to set background and foreground, they
           should  be  coded  as  setf  and  setb, respectively.  The vidputs and the refresh(3X)
           functions use the setaf and setab capabilities if they are defined.

       The setaf/setab and setf/setb capabilities take a single numeric argument each.   Argument
       values  0-7  of  setaf/setab  are  portably  defined  as follows (the middle column is the
       symbolic #define available in the header  for  the  curses  or  ncurses  libraries).   The
       terminal  hardware  is  free  to map these as it likes, but the RGB values indicate normal
       locations in color space.

                             Color       #define       Value       RGB
                             black     COLOR_BLACK       0     0, 0, 0
                             red       COLOR_RED         1     max,0,0
                             green     COLOR_GREEN       2     0,max,0
                             yellow    COLOR_YELLOW      3     max,max,0
                             blue      COLOR_BLUE        4     0,0,max
                             magenta   COLOR_MAGENTA     5     max,0,max
                             cyan      COLOR_CYAN        6     0,max,max
                             white     COLOR_WHITE       7     max,max,max

       The argument values of setf/setb historically correspond to a different mapping, i.e.,

                             Color       #define       Value       RGB
                             black     COLOR_BLACK       0     0, 0, 0
                             blue      COLOR_BLUE        1     0,0,max
                             green     COLOR_GREEN       2     0,max,0
                             cyan      COLOR_CYAN        3     0,max,max
                             red       COLOR_RED         4     max,0,0
                             magenta   COLOR_MAGENTA     5     max,0,max
                             yellow    COLOR_YELLOW      6     max,max,0
                             white     COLOR_WHITE       7     max,max,max

       It is important to not confuse the two sets of color capabilities; otherwise red/blue will
       be interchanged on the display.

       On an HP-like terminal, use scp with a color-pair number parameter to set which color pair
       is current.

       Some terminals allow the color values to be modified:

       •   On a Tektronix-like terminal, the capability ccc  may  be  present  to  indicate  that
           colors  can  be  modified.  If so, the initc capability will take a color number (0 to
           colors - 1)and three more parameters which describe the color.  These three parameters
           default  to  being  interpreted  as  RGB  (Red,  Green,  Blue) values.  If the boolean
           capability hls is present, they  are  instead  as  HLS  (Hue,  Lightness,  Saturation)
           indices.  The ranges are terminal-dependent.

       •   On  an  HP-like terminal, initp may give a capability for changing a color-pair value.
           It will take seven parameters; a color-pair number (0  to  max_pairs  -  1),  and  two
           triples describing first background and then foreground colors.  These parameters must
           be (Red, Green, Blue) or (Hue, Lightness, Saturation) depending on hls.

       On some  color  terminals,  colors  collide  with  highlights.   You  can  register  these
       collisions  with the ncv capability.  This is a bit-mask of attributes not to be used when
       colors are enabled.  The correspondence with the attributes understood  by  curses  is  as
       follows:

                            Attribute              Bit   Decimal      Set by
                            A_STANDOUT             0     1            sgr
                            A_UNDERLINE            1     2            sgr
                            A_REVERSE              2     4            sgr
                            A_BLINK                3     8            sgr
                            A_DIM                  4     16           sgr
                            A_BOLD                 5     32           sgr
                            A_INVIS                6     64           sgr
                            A_PROTECT              7     128          sgr
                            A_ALTCHARSET           8     256          sgr
                            A_HORIZONTAL           9     512          sgr1
                            A_LEFT                 10    1024         sgr1
                            A_LOW                  11    2048         sgr1
                            A_RIGHT                12    4096         sgr1
                            A_TOP                  13    8192         sgr1
                            A_VERTICAL             14    16384        sgr1
                            A_ITALIC               15    32768        sitm

       For example, on many IBM PC consoles, the underline attribute collides with the foreground
       color blue and is not available in color mode.  These should have an ncv capability of 2.

       SVr4 curses does nothing with ncv, ncurses recognizes it and optimizes the output in favor
       of colors.

   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.   Note  that  ncurses implements the termcap-
       compatible PC variable; though the application may set this value to something other  than
       a null, ncurses will test npc first and use napms if the terminal has no pad character.

       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
       hard-copy terminals.  If a hard-copy 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 character to  be  repeated  and  the
       second is the number of times to repeat it.  Thus, tparm(repeat_char, '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: The environment is to be searched
       for a CC variable, and if found, all occurrences of the prototype character  are  replaced
       with the character in the environment variable.

       Terminal  descriptions  that  do  not represent a specific kind of known terminal, such as
       switch, dialup, patch, and network, should include the gn  (generic)  capability  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 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 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.

       If  the  terminal  is  one  of  those supported by the UNIX virtual terminal protocol, the
       terminal number can be given as vt.

       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.   It  is undefined whether the text is also displayed on the terminal screen when
       the printer is on.  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.  All text, including mc4, is transparently passed  to  the  printer
       while an mc5p is in effect.

   Glitches and Braindamage
       Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow “~” characters to be displayed should indicate hz.

       Terminals  which  ignore a line-feed immediately after an am wrap, such as the Concept and
       vt100, should indicate xenl.

       If el is required to get rid of standout (instead of merely writing normal text on top  of
       it), xhp should be given.

       Teleray terminals, where tabs turn all characters moved over to blanks, should indicate xt
       (destructive tabs).  Note: the variable indicating this is now “dest_tabs_magic_smso”;  in
       older  versions,  it was teleray_glitch.  This glitch is also taken to mean that it is not
       possible to position the cursor on top of a “magic cookie”, that to erase standout mode it
       is  instead  necessary  to use delete and insert line.  The ncurses implementation ignores
       this glitch.

       The Beehive Superbee, which is unable  to  correctly  transmit  the  escape  or  control/C
       characters,  has  xsb, indicating that the f1 key is used for escape and f2 for control/C.
       (Only certain Superbees have this problem, depending on the  ROM.)   Note  that  in  older
       terminfo versions, this capability was called “beehive_glitch”; it is now “no_esc_ctl_c”.

       Other  specific terminal problems may be corrected by adding more capabilities of the form
       xx.

   Pitfalls of Long Entries
       Long terminfo entries are unlikely to be a problem; to date, no entry has even  approached
       terminfo's  4096-byte  string-table  maximum.  Unfortunately, the termcap translations are
       much more strictly limited (to 1023 bytes), thus termcap  translations  of  long  terminfo
       entries can cause problems.

       The  man  pages  for  4.3BSD and older versions of tgetent instruct the user to allocate a
       1024-byte buffer for the termcap entry.  The entry gets  null-terminated  by  the  termcap
       library,  so  that  makes  the  maximum safe length for a termcap entry 1k-1 (1023) bytes.
       Depending on what the application and the termcap library being used does,  and  where  in
       the  termcap  file  the terminal type that tgetent is searching for is, several bad things
       can happen.

       Some termcap libraries print a warning message or exit if they find an entry that's longer
       than  1023  bytes;  others  do  not;  others  truncate  the  entries  to 1023 bytes.  Some
       application programs allocate more than the recommended 1K for the termcap  entry;  others
       do not.

       Each  termcap entry has two important sizes associated with it: before “tc” expansion, and
       after “tc” expansion.  “tc” is the capability that tacks on another termcap entry  to  the
       end  of  the current one, to add on its capabilities.  If a termcap entry does not use the
       “tc” capability, then of course the two lengths are the same.

       The “before tc expansion” length is the most important one, because it affects  more  than
       just  users  of that particular terminal.  This is the length of the entry as it exists in
       /etc/termcap, minus the backslash-newline pairs, which tgetent strips  out  while  reading
       it.   Some termcap libraries strip off the final newline, too (GNU termcap does not).  Now
       suppose:

       •   a termcap entry before expansion is more than 1023 bytes long,

       •   and the application has only allocated a 1k buffer,

       •   and the termcap library (like the one in BSD/OS 1.1 and GNU)  reads  the  whole  entry
           into the buffer, no matter what its length, to see if it is the entry it wants,

       •   and tgetent is searching for a terminal type that either is the long entry, appears in
           the termcap file after the long entry, or does not appear in the file at all (so  that
           tgetent has to search the whole termcap file).

       Then tgetent will overwrite memory, perhaps its stack, and probably core dump the program.
       Programs like telnet are particularly vulnerable; modern telnets pass  along  values  like
       the  terminal  type  automatically.   The results are almost as undesirable with a termcap
       library, like SunOS 4.1.3 and Ultrix 4.4, that prints warning messages when  it  reads  an
       overly  long  termcap entry.  If a termcap library truncates long entries, like OSF/1 3.0,
       it is immune to dying here but will return incorrect data for the terminal.

       The “after tc expansion” length will have a similar effect to  the  above,  but  only  for
       people who actually set TERM to that terminal type, since tgetent only does “tc” expansion
       once it is found the terminal type it was looking for, not while searching.

       In summary, a termcap entry  that  is  longer  than  1023  bytes  can  cause,  on  various
       combinations  of  termcap  libraries and applications, a core dump, warnings, or incorrect
       operation.  If it is too long even before “tc” expansion, it will have  this  effect  even
       for  users  of  some  other  terminal  types and users whose TERM variable does not have a
       termcap entry.

       When in -C (translate to termcap)  mode,  the  ncurses  implementation  of  tic(1)  issues
       warning  messages  when  the  pre-tc  length of a termcap translation is too long.  The -c
       (check) option also checks resolved (after tc expansion) lengths.

   Binary Compatibility
       It is not wise to count on portability of binary terminfo entries between commercial  UNIX
       versions.   The  problem  is that there are at least two versions of terminfo (under HP-UX
       and AIX) which diverged from System V  terminfo  after  SVr1,  and  have  added  extension
       capabilities to the string table that (in the binary format) collide with System V and XSI
       Curses extensions.

EXTENSIONS

       Searching for terminal descriptions in $HOME/.terminfo and TERMINFO_DIRS is not  supported
       by older implementations.

       Some SVr4 curses implementations, and all previous to SVr4, do not interpret the %A and %O
       operators in parameter strings.

       SVr4/XPG4 do not specify whether msgr licenses movement while in  an  alternate-character-
       set  mode  (such  modes  may,  among other things, map CR and NL to characters that do not
       trigger local motions).  The ncurses implementation ignores msgr in ALTCHARSET mode.  This
       raises  the possibility that an XPG4 implementation making the opposite interpretation may
       need terminfo entries made for ncurses to have msgr turned off.

       The ncurses library handles insert-character and insert-character modes in a slightly non-
       standard  way to get better update efficiency.  See the Insert/Delete Character subsection
       above.

       The parameter substitutions for set_clock and display_clock are not documented in SVr4  or
       the  XSI  Curses  standard.   They  are  deduced  from  the documentation for the AT&T 505
       terminal.

       Be careful assigning the kmous capability.  The ncurses library wants to interpret  it  as
       KEY_MOUSE,  for  use  by terminals and emulators like xterm that can return mouse-tracking
       information in the keyboard-input stream.

       X/Open Curses does not mention italics.  Portable applications must  assume  that  numeric
       capabilities are signed 16-bit values.  This includes the no_color_video (ncv) capability.
       The 32768 mask value used for italics with ncv can be confused with an absent or cancelled
       ncv.  If italics should work with colors, then the ncv value must be specified, even if it
       is zero.

       Different commercial ports of terminfo and curses support different  subsets  of  the  XSI
       Curses standard and (in some cases) different extension sets.  Here is a summary, accurate
       as of October 1995:

       •   SVR4, Solaris, ncurses -- These support all SVr4 capabilities.

       •   SGI -- Supports the  SVr4  set,  adds  one  undocumented  extended  string  capability
           (set_pglen).

       •   SVr1,  Ultrix  --  These  support  a  restricted subset of terminfo capabilities.  The
           booleans end with xon_xoff; the numerics with width_status_line; and the strings  with
           prtr_non.

       •   HP/UX   --   Supports   the  SVr1  subset,  plus  the  SVr[234]  numerics  num_labels,
           label_height, label_width, plus function keys 11 through 63, plus plab_norm, label_on,
           and label_off, plus some incompatible extensions in the string table.

       •   AIX  --  Supports  the SVr1 subset, plus function keys 11 through 63, plus a number of
           incompatible string table extensions.

       •   OSF -- Supports both the SVr4 set and the AIX extensions.

FILES

       /etc/terminfo/?/*        files containing terminal descriptions

SEE ALSO

       infocmp(1),       tabs(1),       tic(1),        ncurses(3NCURSES),        color(3NCURSES),
       curses_variables(3NCURSES),     printf(3),     terminfo_variables(3NCURSES).      term(5).
       user_caps(5).

AUTHORS

       Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.  Based on pcurses by Pavel Curtis.

                                                                                      terminfo(5)