curses(3X) MISCELLANEOUS LIBRARY FUNCTIONS curses(3X)
NAME
curses - CRT screen handling and optimization package
SYNOPSIS
#include <curses.h>
DESCRIPTION
The curses library routines give the user a terminal-
independent method of updating character screens with rea-
sonable optimization. A program using these routines must
be compiled with the -lcurses option of cc. The curses
package allows: overall screen, window and pad manipula-
tion; output to windows and pads; reading terminal input;
control over terminal and curses input and output options;
environment query routines; color manipulation; use of soft
label keys; terminfo access; and access to low-level curses
routines. To initialize the routines, the routine initscr
or newterm must be called before any of the other routines
that deal with windows and screens are used. The routine
endwin must be called before exiting. To get character-at-
a-time input without echoing (most interactive, screen
oriented programs want this), the following sequence should
be used:
initscr,cbreak,noecho;
Most programs would additionally use the sequence:
nonl,intrflush(stdscr,FALSE),keypad(stdscr,TRUE);
Before a curses program is run, the tab stops of the termi-
nal should be set and its initialization strings, if
defined, must be output. This can be done by executing the
tput init command after the shell environment variable TERM
has been exported. [See terminfo(4) for further details.]
The curses library permits manipulation of data structures,
called windows, which can be thought of as two-dimensional
arrays of characters representing all or part of a CRT
screen. A default window called stdscr, which is the size
of the terminal screen, is supplied. Others may be created
with newwin.
Windows are referred to by variables declared as WINDOW *.
These data structures are manipulated with routines
described on 3X paages (whose names begin "curs_"). Among
which the most basic routines are move and addch. More gen-
eral versions of these routines are included with names
beginning with w, allowing the user to specify a window.
The routines not beginning with w affect stdscr.)
After using routines to manipulate a window, refresh is
called, telling curses to make the user's CRT screen look
like stdscr. The characters in a window are actually of
type chtype, (character and attribute data) so that other
information about the character may also be stored with each
character. Special windows called pads may also be
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curses(3X) MISCELLANEOUS LIBRARY FUNCTIONS curses(3X)
manipulated. These are windows which are not constrained to
the size of the screen and whose contents need not be com-
pletely displayed. See curs_pad(3X) for more information.
In addition to drawing characters on the screen, video
attributes and colors may be included, causing the charac-
ters to show up in such modes as underlined, in reverse
video, or in color on terminals that support such display
enhancements. Line drawing characters may be specified to
be output. On input, curses is also able to translate arrow
and function keys that transmit escape sequences into single
values. The video attributes, line drawing characters, and
input values use names, defined in <curses.h>, such as
A_REVERSE, ACS_HLINE, and KEY_LEFT. If the environment
variables LINES and COLUMNS are set, or if the program is
executing in a window environment, line and column informa-
tion in the environment will override information read by
terminfo. This would effect a program running in an AT&T
630 layer, for example, where the size of a screen is
changeable. If the environment variable TERMINFO is
defined, any program using curses checks for a local termi-
nal definition before checking in the standard place. For
example, if TERM is set to att4424, then the compiled termi-
nal definition is found in
/usr/share/lib/terminfo/a/att4424.
(The a is copied from the first letter of att4424 to avoid
creation of huge directories.) However, if TERMINFO is set
to $HOME/myterms, curses first checks
$HOME/myterms/a/att4424,
and if that fails, it then checks
/usr/share/lib/terminfo/a/att4424.
This is useful for developing experimental definitions or
when write permission in /usr/share/lib/terminfo is not
available. The integer variables LINES and COLS are defined
in <curses.h> and will be filled in by initscr with the size
of the screen. The constants TRUE and FALSE have the values
1 and 0, respectively. The curses routines also define the
WINDOW * variable curscr which is used for certain low-level
operations like clearing and redrawing a screen containing
garbage. The curscr can be used in only a few routines.
Routine and Argument Names
Many curses routines have two or more versions. The rou-
tines prefixed with w require a window argument. The rou-
tines prefixed with p require a pad argument. Those without
a prefix generally use stdscr. The routines prefixed with
mv require an x and y coordinate to move to before perform-
ing the appropriate action. The mv routines imply a call to
move before the call to the other routine. The coordinate y
always refers to the row (of the window), and x always
refers to the column. The upper left-hand corner is always
(0,0), not (1,1). The routines prefixed with mvw take both
a window argument and x and y coordinates. The window
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curses(3X) MISCELLANEOUS LIBRARY FUNCTIONS curses(3X)
argument is always specified before the coordinates. In
each case, win is the window affected, and pad is the pad
affected; win and pad are always pointers to type WINDOW.
Option setting routines require a Boolean flag bf with the
value TRUE or FALSE; bf is always of type bool. The vari-
ables ch and attrs below are always of type chtype. The
types WINDOW, SCREEN, bool, and chtype are defined in
<curses.h>. The type TERMINAL is defined in <term.h>. All
other arguments are integers.
Routine Name Index
The following table lists each curses routine and the name
of the manual page on which it is described.
curses Routine Name Manual Page Name
___________________________________________
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addch curs_addch(3X)
addchnstr curs_addchstr(3X)
addchstr curs_addchstr(3X)
addnstr curs_addstr(3X)
addstr curs_addstr(3X)
attroff curs_attr(3X)
attron curs_attr(3X)
attrset curs_attr(3X)
baudrate curs_termattrs(3X)
beep curs_beep(3X)
bkgd curs_bkgd(3X)
bkgdset curs_bkgd(3X)
border curs_border(3X)
box curs_border(3X)
can_change_color curs_color(3X)
cbreak curs_inopts(3X)
clear curs_clear(3X)
clearok curs_outopts(3X)
clrtobot curs_clear(3X)
clrtoeol curs_clear(3X)
color_content curs_color(3X)
copywin curs_overlay(3X)
curs_set curs_kernel(3X)
def_prog_mode curs_kernel(3X)
def_shell_mode curs_kernel(3X)
del_curterm curs_terminfo(4)
delay_output curs_util(3X)
delch curs_delch(3X)
deleteln curs_deleteln(3X)
delscreen curs_initscr(3X)
delwin curs_window(3X)
derwin curs_window(3X)
doupdate curs_refresh(3X)
dupwin curs_window(3X)
echo curs_inopts(3X)
echochar curs_addch(3X)
endwin curs_initscr(3X)
erase curs_clear(3X)
erasechar curs_termattrs(3X)
filter curs_util(3X)
flash curs_beep(3X)
flushinp curs_util(3X)
getbegyx curs_getyx(3X)
getch curs_getch(3X)
getmaxyx curs_getyx(3X)
getparyx curs_getyx(3X)
getstr curs_getstr(3X)
getsyx curs_kernel(3X)
getwin curs_util(3X)
getyx curs_getyx(3X)
halfdelay curs_inopts(3X)
has_colors curs_color(3X)
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has_ic curs_termattrs(3X)
has_il curs_termattrs(3X)
idcok curs_outopts(3X)
idlok curs_outopts(3X)
immedok curs_outopts(3X)
inch curs_inch(3X)
inchnstr curs_inchstr(3X)
inchstr curs_inchstr(3X)
init_color curs_color(3X)
init_pair curs_color(3X)
initscr curs_initscr(3X)
innstr curs_instr(3X)
insch curs_insch(3X)
insdelln curs_deleteln(3X)
insertln curs_deleteln(3X)
insnstr curs_insstr(3X)
insstr curs_insstr(3X)
instr curs_instr(3X)
intrflush curs_inopts(3X)
is_linetouched curs_touch(3X)
is_wintouched curs_touch(3X)
isendwin curs_initscr(3X)
keyname curs_util(3X)
keypad curs_inopts(3X)
killchar curs_termattrs(3X)
leaveok curs_outopts(3X)
longname curs_termattrs(3X)
meta curs_inopts(3X)
move curs_move(3X)
mvaddch curs_addch(3X)
mvaddchnstr curs_addchstr(3X)
mvaddchstr curs_addchstr(3X)
mvaddnstr curs_addstr(3X)
mvaddstr curs_addstr(3X)
mvcur curs_terminfo(4)
mvdelch curs_delch(3X)
mvderwin curs_window(3X)
mvgetch curs_getch(3X)
mvgetstr curs_getstr(3X)
mvinch curs_inch(3X)
mvinchnstr curs_inchstr(3X)
mvinchstr curs_inchstr(3X)
mvinnstr curs_instr(3X)
mvinsch curs_insch(3X)
mvinsnstr curs_insstr(3X)
mvinsstr curs_insstr(3X)
mvinstr curs_instr(3X)
mvprintw curs_printw(3X)
mvscanw curs_scanw(3X)
mvwaddch curs_addch(3X)
mvwaddchnstr curs_addchstr(3X)
mvwaddchstr curs_addchstr(3X)
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() MISC. REFERENCE MANUAL PAGES ()
mvwaddnstr curs_addstr(3X)
mvwaddstr curs_addstr(3X)
mvwdelch curs_delch(3X)
mvwgetch curs_getch(3X)
mvwgetstr curs_getstr(3X)
mvwin curs_window(3X)
mvwinch curs_inch(3X)
mvwinchnstr curs_inchstr(3X)
mvwinchstr curs_inchstr(3X)
mvwinnstr curs_instr(3X)
mvwinsch curs_insch(3X)
mvwinsnstr curs_insstr(3X)
mvwinsstr curs_insstr(3X)
mvwinstr curs_instr(3X)
mvwprintw curs_printw(3X)
mvwscanw curs_scanw(3X)
napms curs_kernel(3X)
newpad curs_pad(3X)
newterm curs_initscr(3X)
newwin curs_window(3X)
nl curs_outopts(3X)
nocbreak curs_inopts(3X)
nodelay curs_inopts(3X)
noecho curs_inopts(3X)
nonl curs_outopts(3X)
noqiflush curs_inopts(3X)
noraw curs_inopts(3X)
notimeout curs_inopts(3X)
overlay curs_overlay(3X)
overwrite curs_overlay(3X)
pair_content curs_color(3X)
pechochar curs_pad(3X)
pnoutrefresh curs_pad(3X)
prefresh curs_pad(3X)
printw curs_printw(3X)
putp curs_terminfo(4)
putwin curs_util(3X)
qiflush curs_inopts(3X)
raw curs_inopts(3X)
redrawwin curs_refresh(3X)
refresh curs_refresh(3X)
reset_prog_mode curs_kernel(3X)
reset_shell_mode curs_kernel(3X)
resetty curs_kernel(3X)
restartterm curs_terminfo(4)
ripoffline curs_kernel(3X)
savetty curs_kernel(3X)
scanw curs_scanw(3X)
scr_dump curs_scr_dump(3X)
scr_init curs_scr_dump(3X)
scr_restore curs_scr_dump(3X)
scr_set curs_scr_dump(3X)
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scroll curs_scroll(3X)
scrollok curs_outopts(3X)
set_curterm curs_terminfo(4)
set_term curs_initscr(3X)
setscrreg curs_outopts(3X)
setsyx curs_kernel(3X)
setterm curs_terminfo(4)
setupterm curs_terminfo(4)
slk_attroff curs_slk(3X)
slk_attron curs_slk(3X)
slk_attrset curs_slk(3X)
slk_clear curs_slk(3X)
slk_init curs_slk(3X)
slk_label curs_slk(3X)
slk_noutrefresh curs_slk(3X)
slk_refresh curs_slk(3X)
slk_restore curs_slk(3X)
slk_set curs_slk(3X)
slk_touch curs_slk(3X)
srcl curs_scroll(3X)
standend curs_attr(3X)
standout curs_attr(3X)
start_color curs_color(3X)
subpad curs_pad(3X)
subwin curs_window(3X)
syncok curs_window(3X)
termattrs curs_termattrs(3X)
termname curs_termattrs(3X)
tgetent curs_termcap(3X)
tgetflag curs_termcap(3X)
tgetnum curs_termcap(3X)
tgetstr curs_termcap(3X)
tgoto curs_termcap(3X)
tigetflag curs_terminfo(4)
tigetnum curs_terminfo(4)
tigetstr curs_terminfo(4)
timeout curs_inopts(3X)
touchline curs_touch(3X)
touchwin curs_touch(3X)
tparm curs_terminfo(4)
tputs curs_termcap(3X)
tputs curs_terminfo(4)
typeahead curs_inopts(3X)
unctrl curs_util(3X)
ungetch curs_getch(3X)
untouchwin curs_touch(3X)
use_env curs_util(3X)
vidattr curs_terminfo(4)
vidputs curs_terminfo(4)
vwprintw curs_printw(3X)
vwscanw curs_scanw(3X)
waddch curs_addch(3X)
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waddchnstr curs_addchstr(3X)
waddchstr curs_addchstr(3X)
waddnstr curs_addstr(3X)
waddstr curs_addstr(3X)
wattroff curs_attr(3X)
wattron curs_attr(3X)
wattrset curs_attr(3X)
wbkgd curs_bkgd(3X)
wbkgdset curs_bkgd(3X)
wborder curs_border(3X)
wclear curs_clear(3X)
wclrtobot curs_clear(3X)
wclrtoeol curs_clear(3X)
wcursyncup curs_window(3X)
wdelch curs_delch(3X)
wdeleteln curs_deleteln(3X)
wechochar curs_addch(3X)
werase curs_clear(3X)
wgetch curs_getch(3X)
wgetnstr curs_getstr(3X)
wgetstr curs_getstr(3X)
whline curs_border(3X)
winch curs_inch(3X)
winchnstr curs_inchstr(3X)
winchstr curs_inchstr(3X)
winnstr curs_instr(3X)
winsch curs_insch(3X)
winsdelln curs_deleteln(3X)
winsertln curs_deleteln(3X)
winsnstr curs_insstr(3X)
winsstr curs_insstr(3X)
winstr curs_instr(3X)
wmove curs_move(3X)
wnoutrefresh curs_refresh(3X)
wprintw curs_printw(3X)
wredrawln curs_refresh(3X)
wrefresh curs_refresh(3X)
wscanw curs_scanw(3X)
wscrl curs_scroll(3X)
wsetscrreg curs_outopts(3X)
wstandend curs_attr(3X)
wstandout curs_attr(3X)
wsyncdown curs_window(3X)
wsyncup curs_window(3X)
wtimeout curs_inopts(3X)
wtouchln curs_touch(3X)
wvline curs_border(3X)
RETURN VALUE
Routines that return an integer return ERR upon failure and
an integer value other than ERR upon successful completion,
unless otherwise noted in the routine descriptions. All
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() MISC. REFERENCE MANUAL PAGES ()
macros return the value of the w version, except setscrreg,
wsetscrreg, getyx, getbegyx, getmaxyx. The return values of
setscrreg, wsetscrreg, getyx, getbegyx, and getmaxyx are
undefined (i.e., these should not be used as the right-hand
side of assignment statements). Routines that return
pointers return NULL on error.
SEE ALSO
terminfo(4) and 3X pages whose names begin "curs_" for
detailed routine descriptions.
NOTES
The header file <curses.h> automatically includes the header
files <stdio.h> and <unctrl.h>.
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