termcap(3x)
NAME
tgetent, tgetnum, tgetflag, tgetstr, tgoto, tputs − terminal independent operation routines
SYNTAX
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 capability data base termcap(.). These are low level routines; see curses() for a higher level package.
The tgetent function extracts the entry for terminal name into the buffer at bp. The bp should be a character buffer of size 1024 and must be retained through all subsequent calls to tgetnum, tgetflag, and tgetstr. The tgetent function 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 pathname 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 cannot write the file /etc/termcap.
The tgetnum function gets the numeric value of capability id, returning −1 if is not given for the terminal. The tgetflag returns 1 if the specified capability is present in the terminal’s entry, 0 if it is not. The tgetstr function gets the string value of capability id, placing it in the buffer at area, advancing the area pointer. It decodes the abbreviations for this field described in termcap(,), except for cursor addressing and padding information.
The tgoto function returns a cursor addressing string decoded from cm to go to column 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 that call tgoto should be sure to turn off the XTABS bit(s), because tgoto may now output a tab. Note that programs using termcap should in general turn off XTABS anyway, because some terminals use control I for other functions, such as nondestructive space. If a % sequence is given that is not understood, then tgoto returns “OOPS”.
The tputs function 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 that is called with each character in turn. The external variable ospeed should contain the output speed of the terminal as encoded by stty(.). 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/termcapdata base