NAME

       get_wstr, getn_wstr, wget_wstr, wgetn_wstr, mvget_wstr, mvgetn_wstr, mvwget_wstr,
       mvwgetn_wstr - get an array of wide characters from a curses terminal keyboard

SYNOPSIS

       #include <curses.h>

       int get_wstr(wint_t *wstr);
       int getn_wstr(wint_t *wstr, int n);
       int wget_wstr(WINDOW *win, wint_t *wstr);
       int wgetn_wstr(WINDOW *win, wint_t *wstr, int n);

       int mvget_wstr(int y, int x, wint_t *wstr);
       int mvgetn_wstr(int y, int x, wint_t *wstr, int n);
       int mvwget_wstr(WINDOW *win, int y, int x, wint_t *wstr);
       int mvwgetn_wstr(WINDOW *win, int y, int x, wint_t *wstr, int n);

DESCRIPTION

       The effect of get_wstr is as though a series of calls to get_wch(3X) were  made,  until  a
       newline,  other  end-of-line,  or  end-of-file  condition  is  processed.   An end-of-file
       condition is represented by WEOF, as defined in <wchar.h>.  The  newline  and  end-of-line
       conditions  are  represented  by  the  \n wchar_t value.  In all instances, the end of the
       string is terminated by a null wchar_t.  The routine places resulting values in  the  area
       pointed to by wstr.

       The  user's  erase  and  kill  characters  are  interpreted.  If keypad mode is on for the
       window, KEY_LEFT and KEY_BACKSPACE are both  considered  equivalent  to  the  user's  kill
       character.

       Characters  input  are  echoed  only  if echo is currently on.  In that case, backspace is
       echoed as deletion of the previous character (typically a left motion).

       The effect of wget_wstr is as though a series of calls to wget_wch were made.

       The effect of mvget_wstr is as though a call to move and then a series of calls to get_wch
       were made.

       The  effect  of  mvwget_wstr  is  as  though a call to wmove and then a series of calls to
       wget_wch were made.

       The getn_wstr, mvgetn_wstr, mvwgetn_wstr, and wgetn_wstr functions are  identical  to  the
       get_wstr,  mvget_wstr, mvwget_wstr, and wget_wstr functions, respectively, except that the
       *n_* versions read at most n characters, letting the application prevent overflow  of  the
       input buffer.

NOTES

       Using  get_wstr,  mvget_wstr,  mvwget_wstr, or wget_wstr to read a line that overflows the
       array pointed to by wstr causes undefined results.  The  use  of  getn_wstr,  mvgetn_wstr,
       mvwgetn_wstr, or wgetn_wstr, respectively, is recommended.

       These  functions  cannot  return KEY_ values because there is no way to distinguish a KEY_
       value from a valid wchar_t value.

       All of these routines except wgetn_wstr may be macros.

RETURN VALUE

       All of these functions return OK upon successful completion.  Otherwise, they return ERR.

       Functions using a window parameter return an error if it is null.

              wgetn_wstr
                   returns an error if the associated call to wget_wch failed.

       Functions with a “mv” prefix first perform a cursor movement using wmove,  and  return  an
       error if the position is outside the window, or if the window pointer is null.

PORTABILITY

       These  functions  are  described  in  The  Single Unix Specification, Version 2.  No error
       conditions are defined.  This implementation returns ERR if the window pointer is null, or
       if  the  lower-level  wget_wch  call  returns  an  ERR.  In the latter case, an ERR return
       without other data is treated as an end-of-file condition, and the returned array contains
       a WEOF followed by a null wchar_t.

       X/Open curses documented these functions to pass an array of wchar_t in 1997, but that was
       an error because of this part of the description:

              The effect of get_wstr is as though a series of calls to get_wch were made, until a
              newline character, end-of-line character, or end-of-file character is processed.

       The latter function get_wch can return a negative value, while wchar_t is a unsigned type.
       All of the vendors implement this using wint_t, following the standard.

       X/Open Curses, Issue 7 (2009) is unclear regarding whether the  terminating  null  wchar_t
       value  is  counted  in  the  length  parameter  n.   X/Open  Curses,  Issue  7 revised the
       corresponding description of wgetnstr to address this issue.  The unrevised description of
       wget_nwstr  can  be  interpreted either way.  This implementation counts the terminator in
       the length.

       X/Open Curses does not specify what happens if the length n is negative.

       •   For analogy with wgetnstr, ncurses 6.2 uses a limit (based on LINE_MAX).

       •   Some other implementations (such  as  Solaris  xcurses)  do  the  same,  while  others
           (PDCurses) do not allow this.

       •   NetBSD  7  curses  imitates ncurses 6.1 in this regard, treating a -1 as an indefinite
           number of characters.

SEE ALSO

       Functions: ncurses(3NCURSES), get_wch(3NCURSES), getstr(3NCURSES).