4.3BSD - /usr/man/cat3/termcap.0

TERMCAP(3X)                                                        TERMCAP(3X)


NAME
       tgetent,  tgetnum,  tgetflag, tgetstr, tgoto, tputs - terminal indepen‐
       dent operation routines

SYNOPSIS
       char PC;
       char *BC;
       char *UP;
       short ospeed;

       tgetent(bp, name)
       char *bp, *name;

       tgetnum(id)
       char *id;

       tgetflag(id)
       char *id;

       char *
       tgetstr(id, area)
       char *id, **area;

       char *
       tgoto(cm, destcol, destline)
       char *cm;

       tputs(cp, affcnt, outc)
       register char *cp;
       int affcnt;
       int (*outc)();

DESCRIPTION
       These functions extract and use capabilities from the terminal capabil‐
       ity data base termcap(5).  These are low level routines; see curses(3X)
       for a higher level package.

       Tgetent extracts the entry for terminal name into the buffer at bp.  Bp
       should  be a character buffer of size 1024 and must be retained through
       all subsequent  calls  to  tgetnum,  tgetflag,  and  tgetstr.   Tgetent
       returns  -1  if it cannot open the termcap file, 0 if the terminal name
       given does not have an entry, and 1 if all goes well.  It will look  in
       the  environment  for a TERMCAP variable.  If found, and the value does
       not begin with a slash, and the terminal type name is the same  as  the
       environment  string TERM, the TERMCAP string is used instead of reading
       the termcap file.  If it does begin with a slash, the string is used as
       a  path  name  rather  than /etc/termcap.  This can speed up entry into
       programs that call tgetent, as well  as  to  help  debug  new  terminal
       descriptions  or  to  make one for your terminal if you can’t write the
       file /etc/termcap.

       Tgetnum gets the numeric value of capability id, returning -1 if is not
       given for the terminal.  Tgetflag returns 1 if the specified capability
       is present in the terminal’s entry, 0 if it is  not.   Tgetstr  returns
       the string value of the capability id, places it in the buffer at area,
       and advances the area pointer.  It decodes the abbreviations  for  this
       field described in termcap(5), except for cursor addressing and padding
       information.  Tgetstr returns NULL if the capability was not found.

       Tgoto returns a cursor addressing string decoded from cm to go to  col‐
       umn  destcol in line destline.  It uses the external variables UP (from
       the up capability) and BC (if bc is given rather than bs) if  necessary
       to  avoid placing \n, ^D or ^@ in the returned string.  (Programs which
       call tgoto should be sure to turn off the XTABS bit(s), since tgoto may
       now  output  a tab.  Note that programs using termcap should in general
       turn off XTABS anyway since some terminals  use  control  I  for  other
       functions,  such  as  nondestructive  space.)  If a % sequence is given
       which is not understood, then tgoto returns “OOPS”.

       Tputs decodes the leading padding information of the string cp;  affcnt
       gives  the  number  of lines affected by the operation, or 1 if this is
       not applicable, outc is a routine which is called with  each  character
       in  turn.  The external variable ospeed should contain the output speed
       of the terminal as encoded by stty(3).  The external variable PC should
       contain  a  pad character to be used (from the pc capability) if a null
       (^@) is inappropriate.

FILES
       /usr/lib/libtermcap.a  -ltermcap library
       /etc/termcap           data base

SEE ALSO
       ex(1), curses(3X), termcap(5)

AUTHOR
       William Joy


4th Berkeley Distribution        May 15, 1985                      TERMCAP(3X)