NAME

curs_get_wch, get_wch, wget_wch, mvget_wch, mvwget_wch, unget_wch − Get (or push back) a wide character from Curses terminal keyboard

SYNOPSIS

#include <curses.h>
int get_wch(
        win_t ∗wch ); int wget_wch(
        WINDOW ∗win,
        win_t ∗wch ); int mvget_wch(
        int y,
        int x,
        win_t ∗wch ); int mvwget_wch(
        WINDOW ∗win,
        int y,
        int x,
        win_t ∗wch ); int unget_wch(
        const wchar_t wch );

LIBRARY

Curses Library (libcurses)

STANDARDS

Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards as follows:

get_wch, wget_wch, mvget_wch, mvwget_wch, unget_wch:  XCURSES4.2

Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about industry standards and associated tags. 

DESCRIPTION

The get_wch, wget_wch, mvget_wch, and mvwget_wch functions read a character from the terminal associated with the current or specified window. In no-delay mode, if no input is waiting, these functions return ERR.  In delay mode, the program waits until the system passes text through to the program. Depending on the setting of cbreak, the program waits until it receives one character (in cbreak mode) or the first newline (in nocbreak mode). In half-delay mode, the program waits until the user types a character or the specified timeout interval has elapsed. Unless noecho has been set, these routines echo the character into the designated window. 

If the window is not a pad and has been moved or modified since the last call to wrefresh, wrefresh is called before another character is read. 

If keypad is enabled, these functions respond to the pressing of a function key by setting the object pointed to by wch to the corresponding KEY_ value defined in <curses.h> and returning KEY_CODE_YES. If a character (such as escape) that could be the beginning of a function key is received, Curses sets a timer. If the remainder of the sequence does arrive within the designated time, Curses passes through the character; otherwise, Curses returns the function key value. For this reason, many terminals experience a delay between the time a user presses the escape key and the time the escape is returned to the program. 

The unget_wch function pushes the wide character wch back onto the head of the input queue, so the wide character is returned by the next call to get_wch. The pushback of one character is guaranteed. If the program calls unget_wch too many times without an intervening call to get_wch, the operation may fail. 

Function Keys

The following function keys, defined in <curses.h>, may be returned by get_wch and related functions if keypad has been enabled. Note that a particular terminal may not support all of these function keys. In other words, the routines do not return a function key if the terminal does not transmit a unique code when the key is pressed or if the definition for the key is not present in the terminfo database,

NOTES

The header file <curses.h> automatically includes the header file <stdio.h>. 

Applications should not define the escape key by itself as a single-character function. 

When using get_wch, wget_wch, mvget_wch, or mvwget_wch, applications should not use nocbreak mode and echo mode at the same time. Depending on the state of the tty driver when each character is typed, the program may produce undesirable results. 

Note that get_wch, mvget_wch, and mvwget_wch may be macros. 

RETURN VALUES

When get_wch, wget_wch, mvget_wch, and mvwget_wch functions successfully report the pressing of a function key, they return KEY_CODE_YES. When they successfully report a wide character, they return OK. Otherwise, they return ERR. 

Upon successful completion, unget_wch returns OK. Otherwise, the function returns ERR. 

SEE ALSO

Functions: curses(3), curs_ins_wch(3), curs_inopts(3), curs_move(3), curs_refresh(3)

Others: standards(5)