NAME

terminfo − terminal capability data base

SYNOPSIS

/usr/share/lib/terminfo/?/∗

AVAILABILITY

This database is available with the System V software installation option.  Refer to OS/MP Release Notes for information on how to install optional software. 

DESCRIPTION

terminfo is a compiled database (see tic(8V)) describing the capabilities of terminals.  Terminals are described in terminfo source descriptions by giving a set of capabilities which they have, by describing how operations are performed, by describing padding requirements, and by specifying initialization sequences.  This database is used by applications programs, and by libraries such as curses(3V), so they can work with a variety of terminals without changes to the programs.  To obtain the source description for a terminal, use the −I option of infocmp(8V). 

Entries in terminfo source files consist of a number of comma-separated fields.  White space after each comma is ignored.  The first line of each terminal description in the terminfo database gives the name by which terminfo knows the terminal, separated by pipe (|) characters. The first name given is the most common abbreviation for the terminal (this is the one to which the environment variable TERM would normally be set), the last name given should be a long name fully identifying the terminal, and all others are understood as synonyms for the terminal name.  All names but the last should contain no blanks; the last name may contain blanks for readability. 

Terminal names (except for the last, verbose entry) should be chosen using the following conventions:

• The particular piece of hardware making up the terminal should have a root name chosen; for example, for the Hewlett-Packard 2621, hp2621.  This name should not contain hyphens. 

• Modes that the hardware can be in or user preferences should be indicated by appending a hyphen and an indicator of the mode.  Thus, a vt100 in 132-column mode would be given as: vt100−w.  The following suffixes should be used where possible:

Suffix	Meaning	Example
−w	wide mode (more than 80 columns)	vt100−w
−am	with automatic margins (usually default)	vt100−am
−nam	without automatic margins	vt100−nam
−n	number of lines on the screen	aaa−60
−na	no arrow keys (leave them in local)	concept100−na
−np	number of pages of memory	concept100−4p
−rv	reverse video	concept100−rv

CAPABILITIES

In the table below, the Variable is the name by which the C programmer (at the terminfo level) accesses the capability.  The capname is the short name for this variable used in the text of the database.  It is used by a person updating the database and by the tput(1V) command when asking what the value of the capability is for a particular terminal.  The Termcap Code is a two-letter code that corresponds to the old termcap capability name. 

Capability names have no hard length limit, but an informal limit of 5 characters has been adopted to keep them short.  Whenever possible, names are chosen to be the same as or similar to the ANSI X3.64-1979 standard.  Semantics are also intended to match those of the specification. 

All string capabilities listed below may have padding specified, with the exception of those used for input.  Input capabilities, listed under the Strings section in the table below, have names beginning with ‘key_’.  The following indicators may appear at the end of the Description for a variable. 

(G) indicates that the string is passed through tparm() with parameters (parms) as given (#i). 

(∗) indicates that padding may be based on the number of lines affected. 

(#i) indicates the ith parameter. 

Variable	Capname	Termcap	Description
Boolean
auto_left_margin	bw	bw	cub1 wraps from column 0 to last column
auto_right_margin	am	am	Terminal has automatic margins
no_esc_ctlc	xsb	xb	Beehive (f1=ESC, f2=^C)
ceol_standout_glitch	xhp	xs	Standout not erased by overwriting (Hewlett-Packard)
eat_newline_glitch	xenl	xn	NEWLINE ignored after 80 cols (Concept)
erase_overstrike	eo	eo	Can erase overstrikes with a blank
generic_type	gn	gn	Generic line type (for example, dialup, switch).
hard_copy	hc	hc	Hardcopy terminal
hard_cursor	chts	HC	Cursor is hard to see
has_meta_key	km	km	Has a meta key (shift, sets parity bit)
has_status_line	hs	hs	Has extra “status line”
insert_null_glitch	in	in	Insert mode distinguishes nulls
memory_above	da	da	Display may be retained above the screen
memory_below	db	db	Display may be retained below the screen
move_insert_mode	mir	mi	Safe to move while in insert mode
move_standout_mode	msgr	ms	Safe to move in standout modes
needs_xon_xoff	nxon	nx	Padding will not work, xon/xoff required
non_rev_rmcup	nrrmc	NR	smcup does not reverse rmcup
no_pad_char	npc	NP	Pad character does not exist
over_strike	os	os	Terminal overstrikes on hard-copy terminal
prtr_silent	mc5i	5i	Printer will not echo on screen
status_line_esc_ok	eslok	es	Escape can be used on the status line
dest_tabs_magic_smso	xt	xt	Destructive TAB characters, magic smso char (Teleray 1061)
tilde_glitch	hz	hz	Hazeltine; cannot print tildes(~)
transparent_underline	ul	ul	Underline character overstrikes
xon_xoff	xon	xo	Terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking
Number
columns	cols	co	Number of columns in a line
init_tabs	it	it	tab stops initially every # spaces
label_height	lh	lh	Number of rows in each label
label_width	lw	lw	Number of cols in each label
lines	lines	li	Number of lines on screen or page
lines_of_memory	lm	lm	Lines of memory if > lines; 0 means varies
magic_cookie_glitch	xmc	sg	Number blank chars left by smso or rmso
num_labels	nlab	Nl	Number of labels on screen (start at 1)
padding_baud_rate	pb	pb	Lowest baud rate where padding needed
virtual_terminal	vt	vt	Virtual terminal number (not supported on all systems)
width_status_line	wsl	ws	Number of columns in status line
String
acs_chars	acsc	ac	Graphic charset pairs aAbBcC - def=VT100
back_tab	cbt	bt	Back tab
bell	bel	bl	Audible signal (bell)
carriage_return	cr	cr	RETURN (∗)
change_scroll_region	csr	cs	Change to lines #1 through #2 (VT100) (G)
char_padding	rmp	rP	Like ip but when in replace mode
clear_all_tabs	tbc	ct	Clear all tab stops
clear_margins	mgc	MC	Clear left and right soft margins
clear_screen	clear	cl	Clear screen and home cursor (∗)
clr_bol	el1	cb	Clear to beginning of line, inclusive
clr_eol	el	ce	Clear to end of line
clr_eos	ed	cd	Clear to end of display (∗)
column_address	hpa	ch	Horizontal position absolute (G)
command_character	cmdch	CC	Terminal settable command char in prototype
cursor_address	cup	cm	Cursor motion to row #1 col #2 (G)
cursor_down	cud1	do	Down one line
cursor_home	home	ho	Home cursor (if no cup)
cursor_invisible	civis	vi	Make cursor invisible
cursor_left	cub1	le	Move cursor left one SPACE
cursor_mem_address	mrcup	CM	Memory relative cursor addressing (G)
cursor_normal	cnorm	ve	Make cursor appear normal (undo cvvis/civis)
cursor_right	cuf1	nd	Non-destructive space (cursor right)
cursor_to_ll	ll	ll	Last line, first column (if no cup)
cursor_up	cuu1	up	Upline (cursor up)
cursor_visible	cvvis	vs	Make cursor very visible
delete_character	dch1	dc	Delete character (∗)
delete_line	dl1	dl	Delete line (∗)
dis_status_line	dsl	ds	Disable status line
down_half_line	hd	hd	Half-line down (forward 1/2 LINEFEED)
ena_acs	enacs	eA	Enable alternate char set
enter_alt_charset_mode	smacs	as	Start alternate character set
enter_am_mode	smam	SA	Turn on automatic margins
enter_blink_mode	blink	mb	Turn on blinking
enter_bold_mode	bold	md	Turn on bold (extra bright) mode
enter_ca_mode	smcup	ti	String to begin programs that use cup
enter_delete_mode	smdc	dm	Delete mode (enter)
enter_dim_mode	dim	mh	Turn on half-bright mode
enter_insert_mode	smir	im	Insert mode (enter);
enter_protected_mode	prot	mp	Turn on protected mode
enter_reverse_mode	rev	mr	Turn on reverse video mode
enter_secure_mode	invis	mk	Turn on blank mode (chars invisible)
enter_standout_mode	smso	so	Begin standout mode
enter_underline_mode	smul	us	Start underscore mode
enter_xon_mode	smxon	SX	Turn on xon/xoff handshaking
erase_chars	ech	ec	Erase #1 characters (G)
exit_alt_charset_mode	rmacs	ae	End alternate character set
exit_am_mode	rmam	RA	Turn off automatic margins
exit_attribute_mode	sgr0	me	Turn off all attributes
exit_ca_mode	rmcup	te	String to end programs that use cup
exit_delete_mode	rmdc	ed	End delete mode
exit_insert_mode	rmir	ei	End insert mode;
exit_standout_mode	rmso	se	End standout mode
exit_underline_mode	rmul	ue	End underscore mode
exit_xon_mode	rmxon	RX	Turn off xon/xoff handshaking
flash_screen	flash	vb	Visible bell (must not move cursor)
form_feed	ff	ff	Hardcopy terminal page eject (∗)
from_status_line	fsl	fs	Return from status line
init_1string	is1	i1	Terminal initialization string
init_2string	is2	is	Terminal initialization string
init_3string	is3	i3	Terminal initialization string
init_file	if	if	Name of initialization file containing is
init_prog	iprog	iP	Path name of program for init
insert_character	ich1	ic	Insert character
insert_line	il1	al	Add new blank line (∗)
insert_padding	ip	ip	Insert pad after character inserted (∗)
key_a1	ka1	K1	KEY_A1, 0534, Upper left of keypad
key_a3	ka3	K3	KEY_A3, 0535, Upper right of keypad
key_b2	kb2	K2	KEY_B2, 0536, Center of keypad
key_backspace	kbs	kb	KEY_BACKSPACE, 0407, Sent by BACKSPACE key
key_beg	kbeg	@1	KEY_BEG, 0542, Sent by beg(inning) key
key_btab	kcbt	kB	KEY_BTAB, 0541, Sent by back-tab key
key_c1	kc1	K4	KEY_C1, 0537, Lower left of keypad
key_c3	kc3	K5	KEY_C3, 0540, Lower right of keypad
key_cancel	kcan	@2	KEY_CANCEL, 0543, Sent by cancel key
key_catab	ktbc	ka	KEY_CATAB, 0526, Sent by clear-all-tabs key
key_clear	kclr	kC	KEY_CLEAR, 0515, Sent by clear- screen or erase key
key_close	kclo	@3	KEY_CLOSE, 0544, Sent by close key
key_command	kcmd	@4	KEY_COMMAND, 0545, Sent by cmd (command) key
key_copy	kcpy	@5	KEY_COPY, 0546, Sent by copy key
key_create	kcrt	@6	KEY_CREATE, 0547, Sent by create key
key_ctab	kctab	kt	KEY_CTAB, 0525, Sent by clear-tab key
key_dc	kdch1	kD	KEY_DC, 0512, Sent by delete-character key
key_dl	kdl1	kL	KEY_DL, 0510, Sent by delete-line key
key_down	kcud1	kd	KEY_DOWN, 0402, Sent by terminal down-arrow key
key_eic	krmir	kM	KEY_EIC, 0514, Sent by rmir or smir in insert mode
key_end	kend	@7	KEY_END, 0550, Sent by end key
key_enter	kent	@8	KEY_ENTER, 0527, Sent by enter/send key
key_eol	kel	kE	KEY_EOL, 0517, Sent by clear-to-end- of-line key
key_eos	ked	kS	KEY_EOS, 0516, Sent by clear-to-end- of-screen key
key_exit	kext	@9	KEY_EXIT, 0551, Sent by exit key
key_f0	kf0	k0	KEY_F(0), 0410, Sent by function key f0
key_f1	kf1	k1	KEY_F(1), 0411, Sent by function key f1
key_f2	kf2	k2	KEY_F(2), 0412, Sent by function key f2
key_f3	kf3	k3	KEY_F(3), 0413, Sent by function key f3
key_f4	kf4	k4	KEY_F(4), 0414, Sent by function key f4
key_f5	kf5	k5	KEY_F(5), 0415, Sent by function key f5
key_f6	kf6	k6	KEY_F(6), 0416, Sent by function key f6
key_f7	kf7	k7	KEY_F(7), 0417, Sent by function key f7
key_f8	kf8	k8	KEY_F(8), 0420, Sent by function key f8
key_f9	kf9	k9	KEY_F(9), 0421, Sent by function key f9
key_f10	kf10	k;	KEY_F(10), 0422, Sent by function key f10
key_f11	kf11	F1	KEY_F(11), 0423, Sent by function key f11
key_f12	kf12	F2	KEY_F(12), 0424, Sent by function key f12
key_f13	kf13	F3	KEY_F(13), 0425, Sent by function key f13
key_f14	kf14	F4	KEY_F(14), 0426, Sent by function key f14
key_f15	kf15	F5	KEY_F(15), 0427, Sent by function key f15
key_f16	kf16	F6	KEY_F(16), 0430, Sent by function key f16
key_f17	kf17	F7	KEY_F(17), 0431, Sent by function key f17
key_f18	kf18	F8	KEY_F(18), 0432, Sent by function key f18
key_f19	kf19	F9	KEY_F(19), 0433, Sent by function key f19
key_f20	kf20	FA	KEY_F(20), 0434, Sent by function key f20
key_f21	kf21	FB	KEY_F(21), 0435, Sent by function key f21
key_f22	kf22	FC	KEY_F(22), 0436, Sent by function key f22
key_f23	kf23	FD	KEY_F(23), 0437, Sent by function key f23
key_f24	kf24	FE	KEY_F(24), 0440, Sent by function key f24
key_f25	kf25	FF	KEY_F(25), 0441, Sent by function key f25
key_f26	kf26	FG	KEY_F(26), 0442, Sent by function key f26
key_f27	kf27	FH	KEY_F(27), 0443, Sent by function key f27
key_f28	kf28	FI	KEY_F(28), 0444, Sent by function key f28
key_f29	kf29	FJ	KEY_F(29), 0445, Sent by function key f29
key_f30	kf30	FK	KEY_F(30), 0446, Sent by function key f30
key_f31	kf31	FL	KEY_F(31), 0447, Sent by function key f31
key_f32	kf32	FM	KEY_F(32), 0450, Sent by function key f32
key_f33	kf33	FN	KEY_F(13), 0451, Sent by function key f13
key_f34	kf34	FO	KEY_F(34), 0452, Sent by function key f34
key_f35	kf35	FP	KEY_F(35), 0453, Sent by function key f35
key_f36	kf36	FQ	KEY_F(36), 0454, Sent by function key f36
key_f37	kf37	FR	KEY_F(37), 0455, Sent by function key f37
key_f38	kf38	FS	KEY_F(38), 0456, Sent by function key f38
key_f39	kf39	FT	KEY_F(39), 0457, Sent by function key f39
key_f40	kf40	FU	KEY_F(40), 0460, Sent by function key f40
key_f41	kf41	FV	KEY_F(41), 0461, Sent by function key f41
key_f42	kf42	FW	KEY_F(42), 0462, Sent by function key f42
key_f43	kf43	FX	KEY_F(43), 0463, Sent by function key f43
key_f44	kf44	FY	KEY_F(44), 0464, Sent by function key f44
key_f45	kf45	FZ	KEY_F(45), 0465, Sent by function key f45
key_f46	kf46	Fa	KEY_F(46), 0466, Sent by function key f46
key_f47	kf47	Fb	KEY_F(47), 0467, Sent by function key f47
key_f48	kf48	Fc	KEY_F(48), 0470, Sent by function key f48
key_f49	kf49	Fd	KEY_F(49), 0471, Sent by function key f49
key_f50	kf50	Fe	KEY_F(50), 0472, Sent by function key f50
key_f51	kf51	Ff	KEY_F(51), 0473, Sent by function key f51
key_f52	kf52	Fg	KEY_F(52), 0474, Sent by function key f52
key_f53	kf53	Fh	KEY_F(53), 0475, Sent by function key f53
key_f54	kf54	Fi	KEY_F(54), 0476, Sent by function key f54
key_f55	kf55	Fj	KEY_F(55), 0477, Sent by function key f55
key_f56	kf56	Fk	KEY_F(56), 0500, Sent by function key f56
key_f57	kf57	Fl	KEY_F(57), 0501, Sent by function key f57
key_f58	kf58	Fm	KEY_F(58), 0502, Sent by function key f58
key_f59	kf59	Fn	KEY_F(59), 0503, Sent by function key f59
key_f60	kf60	Fo	KEY_F(60), 0504, Sent by function key f60
key_f61	kf61	Fp	KEY_F(61), 0505, Sent by function key f61
key_f62	kf62	Fq	KEY_F(62), 0506, Sent by function key f62
key_f63	kf63	Fr	KEY_F(63), 0507, Sent by function key f63
key_find	kfnd	@0	KEY_FIND, 0552, Sent by find key
key_help	khlp	%1	KEY_HELP, 0553, Sent by help key
key_home	khome	kh	KEY_HOME, 0406, Sent by home key
key_ic	kich1	kI	KEY_IC, 0513, Sent by ins-char/enter ins-mode key
key_il	kil1	kA	KEY_IL, 0511, Sent by insert-line key
key_left	kcub1	kl	KEY_LEFT, 0404, Sent by terminal left-arrow key
key_ll	kll	kH	KEY_LL, 0533, Sent by home-down key
key_mark	kmrk	%2	KEY_MARK, 0554, Sent by mark key
key_message	kmsg	%3	KEY_MESSAGE, 0555, Sent by message key
key_move	kmov	%4	KEY_MOVE, 0556, Sent by move key
key_next	knxt	%5	KEY_NEXT, 0557, Sent by next-object key
key_npage	knp	kN	KEY_NPAGE, 0522, Sent by next-page key
key_open	kopn	%6	KEY_OPEN, 0560, Sent by open key
key_options	kopt	%7	KEY_OPTIONS, 0561, Sent by options key
key_ppage	kpp	kP	KEY_PPAGE, 0523, Sent by previous-page key
key_previous	kprv	%8	KEY_PREVIOUS, 0562, Sent by previous-object key
key_print	kprt	%9	KEY_PRINT, 0532, Sent by print or copy key
key_redo	krdo	%0	KEY_REDO, 0563, Sent by redo key
key_reference	kref	&1	KEY_REFERENCE, 0564, Sent by ref(erence) key
key_refresh	krfr	&2	KEY_REFRESH, 0565, Sent by refresh key
key_replace	krpl	&3	KEY_REPLACE, 0566, Sent by replace key
key_restart	krst	&4	KEY_RESTART, 0567, Sent by restart key
key_resume	kres	&5	KEY_RESUME, 0570, Sent by resume key
key_right	kcuf1	kr	KEY_RIGHT, 0405, Sent by terminal right-arrow key
key_save	ksav	&6	KEY_SAVE, 0571, Sent by save key
key_sbeg	kBEG	&9	KEY_SBEG, 0572, Sent by shifted beginning key
key_scancel	kCAN	&0	KEY_SCANCEL, 0573, Sent by shifted cancel key
key_scommand	kCMD	∗1	KEY_SCOMMAND, 0574, Sent by shifted command key
key_scopy	kCPY	∗2	KEY_SCOPY, 0575, Sent by shifted copy key
key_screate	kCRT	∗3	KEY_SCREATE, 0576, Sent by shifted create key
key_sdc	kDC	∗4	KEY_SDC, 0577, Sent by shifted delete-char key
key_sdl	kDL	∗5	KEY_SDL, 0600, Sent by shifted delete-line key
key_select	kslt	∗6	KEY_SELECT, 0601, Sent by select key
key_send	kEND	∗7	KEY_SEND, 0602, Sent by shifted end key
key_seol	kEOL	∗8	KEY_SEOL, 0603, Sent by shifted clear-line key
key_sexit	kEXT	∗9	KEY_SEXIT, 0604, Sent by shifted exit key
key_sf	kind	kF	KEY_SF, 0520, Sent by scroll-forward/down key
key_sfind	kFND	∗0	KEY_SFIND, 0605, Sent by shifted find key
key_shelp	kHLP	#1	KEY_SHELP, 0606, Sent by shifted help key
key_shome	kHOM	#2	KEY_SHOME, 0607, Sent by shifted home key
key_sic	kIC	#3	KEY_SIC, 0610, Sent by shifted input key
key_sleft	kLFT	#4	KEY_SLEFT, 0611, Sent by shifted left-arrow key
key_smessage	kMSG	%a	KEY_SMESSAGE, 0612, Sent by shifted message key
key_smove	kMOV	%b	KEY_SMOVE, 0613, Sent by shifted move key
key_snext	kNXT	%c	KEY_SNEXT, 0614, Sent by shifted next key
key_soptions	kOPT	%d	KEY_SOPTIONS, 0615, Sent by shifted options key
key_sprevious	kPRV	%e	KEY_SPREVIOUS, 0616, Sent by shifted prev key
key_sprint	kPRT	%f	KEY_SPRINT, 0617, Sent by shifted print key
key_sr	kri	kR	KEY_SR, 0521, Sent by scroll-backward/up key
key_sredo	kRDO	%g	KEY_SREDO, 0620, Sent by shifted redo key
key_sreplace	kRPL	%h	KEY_SREPLACE, 0621, Sent by shifted replace key
key_sright	kRIT	%i	KEY_SRIGHT, 0622, Sent by shifted right-arrow key
key_srsume	kRES	%j	KEY_SRSUME, 0623, Sent by shifted resume key
key_ssave	kSAV	!1	KEY_SSAVE, 0624, Sent by shifted save key
key_ssuspend	kSPD	!2	KEY_SSUSPEND, 0625, Sent by shifted suspend key
key_stab	khts	kT	KEY_STAB, 0524, Sent by set-tab key
key_sundo	kUND	!3	KEY_SUNDO, 0626, Sent by shifted undo key
key_suspend	kspd	&7	KEY_SUSPEND, 0627, Sent by suspend key
key_undo	kund	&8	KEY_UNDO, 0630, Sent by undo key
key_up	kcuu1	ku	KEY_UP, 0403, Sent by terminal up-arrow key
keypad_local	rmkx	ke	Out of “keypad-transmit” mode
keypad_xmit	smkx	ks	Put terminal in “keypad-transmit” mode
lab_f0	lf0	l0	Labels on function key f0 if not f0
lab_f1	lf1	l1	Labels on function key f1 if not f1
lab_f2	lf2	l2	Labels on function key f2 if not f2
lab_f3	lf3	l3	Labels on function key f3 if not f3
lab_f4	lf4	l4	Labels on function key f4 if not f4
lab_f5	lf5	l5	Labels on function key f5 if not f5
lab_f6	lf6	l6	Labels on function key f6 if not f6
lab_f7	lf7	l7	Labels on function key f7 if not f7
lab_f8	lf8	l8	Labels on function key f8 if not f8
lab_f9	lf9	l9	Labels on function key f9 if not f9
lab_f10	lf10	la	Labels on function key f10 if not f10
label_off	rmln	LF	Turn off soft labels
label_on	smln	LO	Turn on soft labels
meta_off	rmm	mo	Turn off “meta mode”
meta_on	smm	mm	Turn on “meta mode” (8th bit)
newline	nel	nw	NEWLINE (behaves like cr followed by lf)
pad_char	pad	pc	Pad character (rather than null)
parm_dch	dch	DC	Delete #1 chars (G∗)
parm_delete_line	dl	DL	Delete #1 lines (G∗)
parm_down_cursor	cud	DO	Move cursor down #1 lines. (G∗)
parm_ich	ich	IC	Insert #1 blank chars (G∗)
parm_index	indn	SF	Scroll forward #1 lines. (G)
parm_insert_line	il	AL	Add #1 new blank lines (G∗)
parm_left_cursor	cub	LE	Move cursor left #1 spaces (G)
parm_right_cursor	cuf	RI	Move cursor right #1 spaces. (G∗)
parm_rindex	rin	SR	Scroll backward #1 lines. (G)
parm_up_cursor	cuu	UP	Move cursor up #1 lines. (G∗)
pkey_key	pfkey	pk	Prog funct key #1 to type string #2
pkey_local	pfloc	pl	Prog funct key #1 to execute string #2
pkey_xmit	pfx	px	Prog funct key #1 to xmit string #2
plab_norm	pln	pn	Prog label #1 to show string #2
print_screen	mc0	ps	Print contents of the screen
prtr_non	mc5p	pO	Turn on the printer for #1 bytes
prtr_off	mc4	pf	Turn off the printer
prtr_on	mc5	po	Turn on the printer
repeat_char	rep	rp	Repeat char #1 #2 times (G∗)
req_for_input	rfi	RF	Send next input char (for ptys)
reset_1string	rs1	r1	Reset terminal completely to sane modes
reset_2string	rs2	r2	Reset terminal completely to sane modes
reset_3string	rs3	r3	Reset terminal completely to sane modes
reset_file	rf	rf	Name of file containing reset string
restore_cursor	rc	rc	Restore cursor to position of last sc
row_address	vpa	cv	Vertical position absolute (G)
save_cursor	sc	sc	Save cursor position
scroll_forward	ind	sf	Scroll text up
scroll_reverse	ri	sr	Scroll text down
set_attributes	sgr	sa	Define the video attributes #1-#9 (G)
set_left_margin	smgl	ML	Set soft left margin
set_right_margin	smgr	MR	Set soft right margin
set_tab	hts	st	Set a tab stop in all rows, current column
set_window	wind	wi	Current window is lines #1-#2 cols #3-#4 (G)
tab	ht	ta	Move the cursor to the next 8 space hardware tab stop
to_status_line	tsl	ts	Go to status line, col #1 (G)
underline_char	uc	uc	Underscore one char and move past it
up_half_line	hu	hu	Half-line up (reverse 1/2 line-feed)
xoff_character	xoffc	XF	X-off character
xon_character	xonc	XN	X-on character

SAMPLE ENTRY

The following entry, which describes the Concept 100 terminal, is among the more complex entries in the terminfo file as of this writing. 

concept100|c100|concept|c104|c100-4p|concept 100,
am, db, eo, in, mir, ul, xenl, cols#80, lines#24, pb#9600, vt#8,
bel=^G, blank=\EH, blink=\EC, clear=^L$<2∗>, cnorm=\Ew, cr=^M$<9>,
cub1=^H, cud1=^J, cuf1=\E=, cup=\Ea%p1%’ ’%+%c%p2%’ ’%+%c, cuu1=\E;,
cvvis=\EW, dch1=\E^A$<16∗>, dim=\EE, dl1=\E^B$<3∗>,
ed=\E^C$<16∗>, el=\E^U$<16>, flash=\Ek$<20>\EK, ht=\t$<8>,
il1=\E^R$<3∗>, ind=^J, .ind=^J$<9>, ip=$<16∗>,
is2=\EU\Ef\E7\E5\E8\El\ENH\EK\E\0\Eo&\0\Eo\47\E,
kbs=^h, kcub1=\E>, kcud1=\E<, kcuf1=\E=, kcuu1=\E;, kf1=\E5,
kf2=\E6, kf3=\E7, khome=\E?, prot=\EI,
rep=\Er%p1%c%p2%’ ’%+%c$<.2∗>, rev=\ED,
rmcup=\Ev\s\s\s\s$<6>\Ep\r\n, rmir=\E\0, rmkx=\Ex,
rmso=\Ed\Ee, rmul=\Eg, rmul=\Eg, sgr0=\EN\0,
smcup=\EU\Ev\s\s8p\Ep\r, smir=\E^P, smkx=\EX, smso=\EE\ED,
smul=\EG,
 

Entries may continue onto multiple lines by placing white space at the beginning of each line except the first.  Lines beginning with # are taken as comment lines.  Capabilities in terminfo are of three types: boolean capabilities which indicate that the terminal has some particular feature, numeric capabilities giving the size of the terminal or particular features, and string capabilities, which give a sequence which can be used to perform particular terminal operations. 

Types of Capabilities

All capabilities have names.  For instance, the fact that the Concept has automatic margins (that is, an automatic RETURN and LINEFEED when the end of a line is reached) is indicated by the capability am.  Hence the description of the Concept includes am.  Numeric capabilities are followed by the character # and then the value.  Thus cols, which indicates the number of columns the terminal has, gives the value 80 for the Concept.  The value may be specified in decimal, octal or hexadecimal using normal C conventions. 

Finally, string-valued capabilities, such as el (clear to end of line sequence) are given by the two- to five-character capname, an ‘=’, and then a string ending at the next following comma.  A delay in milliseconds may appear anywhere in such a capability, enclosed in $<..> brackets, as in ‘el=\EK$<3>’, and padding characters are supplied by tputs() (see curses(3V)) to provide this delay.  The delay can be either a number, for example, 20, or a number followed by an ∗ (for example, 3∗), a / (for example, 5/), or both (for example, 10∗/ ).  A ∗ indicates that the padding required is proportional to the number of lines affected by the operation, and the amount given is the per-affected-unit padding required.  (In the case of insert character, the factor is still the number of lines affected.  This is always one unless the terminal has in and the software uses it.)  When a ∗ is specified, it is sometimes useful to give a delay of the form 3.5 to specify a delay per unit to tenths of milliseconds.  (Only one decimal place is allowed.)  A / indicates that the padding is mandatory.  Otherwise, if the terminal has xon defined, the padding information is advisory and will only be used for cost estimates or when the terminal is in raw mode.  Mandatory padding will be transmitted regardless of the setting of xon. 

A number of escape sequences are provided in the string-valued capabilities for easy encoding of characters there:

\E, \e
map to ESC

^X maps to CTRL-X for any appropriate character X

\n maps to NEWLINE

\l maps to LINEFEED

\r maps to RETURN

\t maps to TAB

\b maps to BACKSPACE

\f maps to FORMFEED

\s maps to SPACE

\0 maps to NUL

(\0 will actually produce \200, which does not terminate a string but behaves as a null character on most terminals.)  Finally, characters may be given as three octal digits after a backslash (for example, \123), and the characters ^ (caret), \ (backslash), : (colon), and , (comma) may be given as \^, \\, \:, and \, respectively. 

Sometimes individual capabilities must be commented out.  To do this, put a period before the capability name.  For example, see the second ind in the example above.  Note: capabilities are defined in a left-to-right order and, therefore, a prior definition will override a later definition. 

Preparing Descriptions

The most effective way to prepare a terminal description is by imitating the description of a similar terminal in terminfo and to build up a description gradually, using partial descriptions with some curses-based application to check that they are correct. Be aware that a very unusual terminal may expose deficiencies in the ability of the terminfo file to describe it or bugs in the application.  To test a new terminal description, set the environment variable TERMINFO to a pathname of a directory containing the compiled description you are working on and programs will look there rather than in /usr/share/lib/terminfo.  To get the padding for insert-line correct (if the terminal manufacturer did not document it) a severe test is to insert 16 lines into the middle of a full screen at 9600 baud.  If the display is corrupted, more padding is usually needed.  A similar test can be used for insert-character. 

Basic Capabilities

The number of columns on each line for the terminal is given by the cols numeric capability.  If the terminal has a screen, then the number of lines on the screen is given by the lines capability.  If the terminal wraps around to the beginning of the next line when it reaches the right margin, then it should have the am capability.  If the terminal can clear its screen, leaving the cursor in the home position, then this is given by the clear string capability.  If the terminal overstrikes (rather than clearing a position when a character is struck over) then it should have the os capability.  If the terminal is a printing terminal, with no soft copy unit, give it both hc and os.  (os applies to storage scope terminals, such as Tektronix 4010 series, as well as hard-copy and APL terminals.)  If there is a code to move the cursor to the left edge of the current row, give this as cr.  (Normally this will be RETURN, CTRL-M.)  If there is a code to produce an audible signal (bell, beep, etc) give this as bel.  If the terminal uses the xon-xoff flow-control protocol, like most terminals, specify xon. 

If there is a code to move the cursor one position to the left (such as backspace) that capability should be given as cub1.  Similarly, codes to move to the right, up, and down should be given as cuf1, cuu1, and cud1.  These local cursor motions should not alter the text they pass over; for example, you would not normally use cuf1=\s because the SPACE would erase the character moved over. 

A very important point here is that the local cursor motions encoded in terminfo are undefined at the left and top edges of a screen terminal.  Programs should never attempt to backspace around the left edge, unless bw is given, and should never attempt to go up locally off the top.  In order to scroll text up, a program will go to the bottom left corner of the screen and send the ind (index) string. 

To scroll text down, a program goes to the top left corner of the screen and sends the ri (reverse index) string.  The strings ind and ri are undefined when not on their respective corners of the screen. 

Parameterized versions of the scrolling sequences are indn and rin which have the same semantics as ind and ri except that they take one parameter, and scroll that many lines.  They are also undefined except at the appropriate edge of the screen. 

The am capability tells whether the cursor sticks at the right edge of the screen when text is output, but this does not necessarily apply to a cuf1 from the last column.  The only local motion which is defined from the left edge is if bw is given, then a cub1 from the left edge will move to the right edge of the previous row.  If bw is not given, the effect is undefined.  This is useful for drawing a box around the edge of the screen, for example.  If the terminal has switch selectable automatic margins, the terminfo file usually assumes that this is on; that is, am.  If the terminal has a command which moves to the first column of the next line, that command can be given as nel (NEWLINE).  It does not matter if the command clears the remainder of the current line, so if the terminal has no cr and lf it may still be possible to craft a working nel out of one or both of them. 

These capabilities suffice to describe hardcopy and screen terminals.  Thus the model 33 teletype is described as

33|tty33|tty|model 33 teletype,
bel=^G, cols#72, cr=^M, cud1=^J, hc, ind=^J, os,

while the Lear Siegler ADM−3 is described as

adm3|lsi adm3,
am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H,
cud1=^J, ind=^J, lines#24,

Parameterized Strings

Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters in the terminal are described by a parameterized string capability, with printf(3V)-like escapes (%x) in it.  For example, to address the cursor, the cup capability is given, using two parameters: the row and column to address to.  (Rows and columns are numbered from zero and refer to the physical screen visible to the user, not to any unseen memory.)  If the terminal has memory relative cursor addressing, that can be indicated by mrcup. 

The parameter mechanism uses a stack and special % codes to manipulate it in the manner of a Reverse Polish Notation (postfix) calculator.  Typically a sequence will push one of the parameters onto the stack and then print it in some format.  Often more complex operations are necessary.  Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands in the usual order.  That is, to get x−5 one would use ‘%gx%{5}%−’. 

The % encodings have the following meanings:

%% outputs %

%[[:]flags][width[.precision]][doxXs]
as in printf(3V), flags are [−+#] and SPACE

%c print pop() gives %c

%p[1-9] push ith parm

%P[a-z] set variable [a-z] to pop()

%g[a-z] get variable [a-z] and push it

%’c’ push char constant c

%{nn} push decimal constant nn

%l push strlen(pop())

%+ %− %∗ %/ %m
arithmetic (%m is mod): push(pop() op pop())

%& %| %^ bit operations: push(pop() op pop())

%= %> %<
logical operations: push(pop() op pop())

%A %O logical operations:  and, or

%! %~ unary operations: push(op pop())

%i (for ANSI terminals)

add 1 to first parm, if one parm present,
or first two parms, if more than one
parm present

%?expr%tthenpart%eelsepart%;
if-then-else, ‘%eelsepart’ is optional; else-if’s are possible in Algol 68:

%? c1 %t b1 %e c2 %t b2 %e c3 %t b3 %e c4 %t b4 %e b5%;

ci are conditions, bi are bodies. 

If the ‘−’ flag is used with ‘%[doxXs]’, then a colon (:) must be placed between the ‘%’ and the ‘−’ to differentiate the flag from the binary ‘%−’ operator, for example, ‘%:−16.16s’. 

Consider the Hewlett-Packard 2645, which, to get to row 3 and column 12, needs to be sent \E&a12c03Y padded for 6 milliseconds.  Note: the order of the rows and columns is inverted here, and that the row and column are zero-padded as two digits.  Thus its cup capability is:

cup=\E&a%p2%2.2dc%p1%2.2dY$<6>

The Micro-Term ACT-IV needs the current row and column sent preceded by a ^T, with the row and column simply encoded in binary, ‘cup=^T%p1%c%p2%c’.  Terminals which use %c need to be able to backspace the cursor (cub1), and to move the cursor up one line on the screen (cuu1).  This is necessary because it is not always safe to transmit \n, ^D, and \r, as the system may change or discard them.  (The library routines dealing with terminfo set tty modes so that TAB characters are never expanded, so \t is safe to send.  This turns out to be essential for the Ann Arbor 4080.) 

A final example is the LSI ADM-3a, which uses row and column offset by a blank character, thus ‘cup=\E=%p1%’\s’%+%c%p2%’\s’%+%c’.  After sending ‘\E=’, this pushes the first parameter, pushes the ASCII value for a space (32), adds them (pushing the sum on the stack in place of the two previous values), and outputs that value as a character.  Then the same is done for the second parameter.  More complex arithmetic is possible using the stack. 

Cursor Motions

If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very upper left corner of screen) then this can be given as home; similarly a fast way of getting to the lower left-hand corner can be given as ll; this may involve going up with cuu1 from the home position, but a program should never do this itself (unless ll does) because it can make no assumption about the effect of moving up from the home position.  Note: the home position is the same as addressing to (0,0): to the top left corner of the screen, not of memory.  (Thus, the \EH sequence on Hewlett-Packard terminals cannot be used for home without losing some of the other features on the terminal.) 

If the terminal has row or column absolute-cursor addressing, these can be given as single parameter capabilities hpa (horizontal position absolute) and vpa (vertical position absolute).  Sometimes these are shorter than the more general two-parameter sequence (as with the Hewlett-Packard 2645) and can be used in preference to cup.  If there are parameterized local motions (for example, move n spaces to the right) these can be given as cud, cub, cuf, and cuu with a single parameter indicating how many spaces to move.  These are primarily useful if the terminal does not have cup, such as the Tektronix 4025. 

Area Clears

If the terminal can clear from the current position to the end of the line, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be given as el.  If the terminal can clear from the beginning of the line to the current position inclusive, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be given as el1.  If the terminal can clear from the current position to the end of the display, then this should be given as ed.  ed is only defined from the first column of a line.  (Thus, it can be simulated by a request to delete a large number of lines, if a true ed is not available.) 

Insert/Delete Line

If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line where the cursor is, this should be given as ‘il1’; this is done only from the first position of a line.  The cursor must then appear on the newly blank line.  If the terminal can delete the line which the cursor is on, then this should be given as ‘dl1’; this is done only from the first position on the line to be deleted.  Versions of il1 and dl1 which take a single parameter and insert or delete that many lines can be given as il and dl. 

If the terminal has a settable destructive scrolling region (like the VT100) the command to set this can be described with the csr capability, which takes two parameters: the top and bottom lines of the scrolling region.  The cursor position is, alas, undefined after using this command.  It is possible to get the effect of insert or delete line using this command — the sc and rc (save and restore cursor) commands are also useful.  Inserting lines at the top or bottom of the screen can also be done using ri or ind on many terminals without a true insert/delete line, and is often faster even on terminals with those features. 

To determine whether a terminal has destructive scrolling regions or non-destructive scrolling regions, create a scrolling region in the middle of the screen, place data on the bottom line of the scrolling region, move the cursor to the top line of the scrolling region, and do a reverse index (ri) followed by a delete line (dl1) or index (ind).  If the data that was originally on the bottom line of the scrolling region was restored into the scrolling region by the dl1 or ind, then the terminal has non-destructive scrolling regions.  Otherwise, it has destructive scrolling regions.  Do not specify csr if the terminal has non-destructive scrolling regions, unless ind, ri, indn, rin, dl, and dl1 all simulate destructive scrolling. 

If the terminal has the ability to define a window as part of memory, which all commands affect, it should be given as the parameterized string wind.  The four parameters are the starting and ending lines in memory and the starting and ending columns in memory, in that order. 

If the terminal can retain display memory above, then the da capability should be given; if display memory can be retained below, then db should be given.  These indicate that deleting a line or scrolling a full screen may bring non-blank lines up from below or that scrolling back with ri may bring down non-blank lines. 

Insert/Delete Character

There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with respect to insert/delete character operations which can be described using terminfo.  The most common insert/delete character operations affect only the characters on the current line and shift characters off the end of the line rigidly.  Other terminals, such as the Concept 100 and the Perkin Elmer Owl, make a distinction between typed and untyped blanks on the screen, shifting upon an insert or delete only to an untyped blank on the screen which is either eliminated, or expanded to two untyped blanks.  You can determine the kind of terminal you have by clearing the screen and then typing text separated by cursor motions.  Type ‘abc    def’ using local cursor motions (not SPACE characters) between the abc and the def.  Then position the cursor before the abc and put the terminal in insert mode.  If typing characters causes the rest of the line to shift rigidly and characters to fall off the end, then your terminal does not distinguish between blanks and untyped positions.  If the abc shifts over to the def which then move together around the end of the current line and onto the next as you insert, you have the second type of terminal, and should give the capability in, which stands for “insert null”.  While these are two logically separate attributes (one line versus multiline insert mode, and special treatment of untyped blanks) we have seen no terminals whose insert mode cannot be described with the single attribute. 

terminfo can describe both terminals which have an insert mode and terminals which send a simple sequence to open a blank position on the current line.  Give as smir the sequence to get into insert mode.  Give as rmir the sequence to leave insert mode.  Now give as ich1 any sequence needed to be sent just before sending the character to be inserted.  Most terminals with a true insert mode will not give ich1; terminals which send a sequence to open a screen position should give it here.  (If your terminal has both, insert mode is usually preferable to ich1.  Do not give both unless the terminal actually requires both to be used in combination.)  If post-insert padding is needed, give this as a number of milliseconds padding in ip (a string option).  Any other sequence which may need to be sent after an insert of a single character may also be given in ip.  If your terminal needs both to be placed into an “insert mode” and a special code to precede each inserted character, then both smir/rmir and ich1 can be given, and both will be used.  The ich capability, with one parameter, n, will repeat the effects of ich1 n times. 

If padding is necessary between characters typed while not in insert mode, give this as a number of milliseconds padding in rmp. 

It is occasionally necessary to move around while in insert mode to delete characters on the same line (for example, if there is a TAB character after the insertion position).  If your terminal allows motion while in insert mode you can give the capability mir to speed up inserting in this case.  Omitting mir will affect only speed.  Some terminals (notably Datamedia’s) must not have mir because of the way their insert mode works. 

Finally, you can specify dch1 to delete a single character, dch with one parameter, n, to delete n characters, and delete mode by giving smdc and rmdc to enter and exit delete mode (any mode the terminal needs to be placed in for dch1 to work). 

A command to erase n characters (equivalent to outputting n blanks without moving the cursor) can be given as ech with one parameter. 

Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells

If your terminal has one or more kinds of display attributes, these can be represented in a number of different ways.  You should choose one display form as standout mode (see curses(3V)), representing a good, high contrast, easy-on-the-eyes, format for highlighting error messages and other attention getters.  (If you have a choice, reverse-video plus half-bright is good, or reverse-video alone; however, different users have different preferences on different terminals.)  The sequences to enter and exit standout mode are given as smso and rmso, respectively.  If the code to change into or out of standout mode leaves one or even two blanks on the screen, as the TVI 912 and Teleray 1061 do, then xmc should be given to tell how many blanks are left. 

Codes to begin underlining and end underlining can be given as smul and rmul respectively.  If the terminal has a code to underline the current character and move the cursor one position to the right, such as the Micro-Term MIME, this can be given as uc. 

Other capabilities to enter various highlighting modes include blink (blinking), bold (bold or extra-bright), dim (dim or half-bright), invis (blanking or invisible text), prot (protected), rev (reverse-video), sgr0 (turn off all attribute modes), smacs (enter alternate-character-set mode), and rmacs (exit alternate-character-set mode).  Turning on any of these modes singly may or may not turn off other modes.  If a command is necessary before alternate character set mode is entered, give the sequence in enacs (enable alternate-character-set mode). 

If there is a sequence to set arbitrary combinations of modes, this should be given as sgr (set attributes), taking nine parameters.  Each parameter is either 0 or non-zero, as the corresponding attribute is on or off.  The nine parameters are, in order: standout, underline, reverse, blink, dim, bold, blank, protect, alternate character set.  Not all modes need be supported by sgr, only those for which corresponding separate attribute commands exist.  (See the example at the end of this section.) 

Terminals with the “magic cookie” glitch (xmc) deposit special “cookies” when they receive mode-setting sequences, which affect the display algorithm rather than having extra bits for each character.  Some terminals, such as the Hewlett-Packard 2621, automatically leave standout mode when they move to a new line or the cursor is addressed.  Programs using standout mode should exit standout mode before moving the cursor or sending a newline, unless the msgr capability, asserting that it is safe to move in standout mode, is present. 

If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indicate an error quietly (a bell replacement), then this can be given as flash; it must not move the cursor.  A good flash can be done by changing the screen into reverse video, pad for 200 ms, then return the screen to normal video. 

If the cursor needs to be made more visible than normal when it is not on the bottom line (to make, for example, a non-blinking underline into an easier to find block or blinking underline) give this sequence as cvvis.  The boolean chts should also be given.  If there is a way to make the cursor completely invisible, give that as civis.  The capability cnorm should be given which undoes the effects of either of these modes. 

If the terminal needs to be in a special mode when running a program that uses these capabilities, the codes to enter and exit this mode can be given as smcup and rmcup.  This arises, for example, from terminals like the Concept with more than one page of memory.  If the terminal has only memory relative cursor addressing and not screen relative cursor addressing, a one screen-sized window must be fixed into the terminal for cursor addressing to work properly.  This is also used for the Tektronix 4025, where smcup sets the command character to be the one used by terminfo.  If the smcup sequence will not restore the screen after an rmcup sequence is output (to the state prior to outputting rmcup), specify nrrmc. 

If your terminal generates underlined characters by using the underline character (with no special codes needed) even though it does not otherwise overstrike characters, then you should give the capability ul.  For terminals where a character overstriking another leaves both characters on the screen, give the capability os.  If overstrikes are erasable with a blank, then this should be indicated by giving eo. 

Example of highlighting: assume that the terminal under question needs the following escape sequences to turn on various modes. 

tparm	attribute	escape sequence
parameter
	none	\E[0m
p1	standout	\E[0;4;7m
p2	underline	\E[0;3m
p3	reverse	\E[0;4m
p4	blink	\E[0;5m
p5	dim	\E[0;7m
p6	bold	\E[0;3;4m
p7	invis	\E[0;8m
p8	protect	not available
p9	altcharset	^O (off) ^N(on)

Note: each escape sequence requires a 0 to turn off other modes before turning on its own mode.  Also note that, as suggested above, standout is set up to be the combination of reverse and dim. Also, since this terminal has no bold mode, bold is set up as the combination of reverse and underline. In addition, to allow combinations, such as underline+blink, the sequence to use would be ‘\E[0;3;5m’.  The terminal does not have protect mode, either, but that cannot be simulated in any way, so p8 is ignored.  The altcharset mode is different in that it is either ^O or ^N depending on whether it is off or on.  If all modes were to be turned on, the sequence would be ‘\E[0;3;4;5;7;8m^N’. 

Now look at when different sequences are output.  For example, ‘;3’ is output when either ‘p2’ or ‘p6’ is true, that is, if either underline or bold modes are turned on.  Writing out the above sequences, along with their dependencies, gives the following:

sequence	when to output	terminfo translation
\E[0	always	\E[0
;3	if p2 or p6	%?%p2%p6%|%t;3%;
;4	if p1 or p3 or p6	%?%p1%p3%|%p6%|%t;4%;
;5	if p4	%?%p4%t;5%;
;7	if p1 or p5	%?%p1%p5%|%t;7%;
;8	if p7	%?%p7%t;8%;
m	always	m
^N or ^O	if p9 ^N, else ^O	%?%p9%t^N%e^O%;

Putting this all together into the sgr sequence gives:

sgr=\E[0%?%p2%p6%|%t;3%;%?%p1%p3%|%p6%|%t;4%;%?%p5%t;5%;%?%p1%p5%

|%t;7%;%?%p7%t;8%;m%?%p9%t^N%e^O%;,

Keypad

If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes when the keys are pressed, this information can be given.  Note: it is not possible to handle terminals where the keypad only works in local (this applies, for example, to the unshifted Hewlett-Packard 2621 keys).  If the keypad can be set to transmit or not transmit, give these codes as smkx and rmkx.  Otherwise the keypad is assumed to always transmit. 

The codes sent by the left arrow, right arrow, up arrow, down arrow, and home keys can be given as kcub1, kcuf1, kcuu1, kcud1, and khome respectively.  If there are function keys such as f0, f1, ..., f63, the codes they send can be given as kf0, kf1, ..., kf63.  If the first 11 keys have labels other than the default f0 through f10, the labels can be given as lf0, lf1, ..., lf10.  The codes transmitted by certain other special keys can be given: kll (home down), kbs (BACKSPACE), ktbc (clear all tab stops), kctab (clear the tab stop in this column), kclr (clear screen or erase key), kdch1 (delete character), kdl1 (delete line), krmir (exit insert mode), kel (clear to end of line), ked (clear to end of screen), kich1 (insert character or enter insert mode), kil1 (insert line), knp (next page), kpp (previous page), kind (scroll forward/down), kri (scroll backward/up), khts (set a tab stop in this column).  In addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3 array of keys including the four arrow keys, the other five keys can be given as ka1, ka3, kb2, kc1, and kc3.  These keys are useful when the effects of a 3 by 3 directional pad are needed.  Further keys are defined above in the capabilities list. 

Strings to program function keys can be given as pfkey, pfloc, and pfx.  A string to program their soft-screen labels can be given as pln.  Each of these strings takes two parameters: the function key number to program (from 0 to 10) and the string to program it with.  Function key numbers out of this range may program undefined keys in a terminal-dependent manner.  The difference between the capabilities is that pfkey causes pressing the given key to be the same as the user typing the given string; pfloc executes the string by the terminal in local mode; and pfx transmits the string to the computer.  The capabilities nlab, lw and lh define how many soft labels there are and their width and height.  If there are commands to turn the labels on and off, give them in smln and rmln.  smln is normally output after one or more pln sequences to make sure that the change becomes visible. 

Tabs and Initialization

If the terminal has hardware tab stops, the command to advance to the next tab stop can be given as ht (usually CTRL-I).  A “backtab” command which moves leftward to the next tab stop can be given as cbt.  By convention, if the teletype modes indicate that TAB characters are being expanded by the computer rather than being sent to the terminal, programs should not use ht or cbt even if they are present, since the user may not have the tab stops properly set.  If the terminal has hardware tab stops which are initially set every n spaces when the terminal is powered up, the numeric parameter it is given, showing the number of spaces the tab stops are set to.  This is normally used by ‘tput init’ (see tput(1V)) to determine whether to set the mode for hardware TAB expansion and whether to set the tab stops.  If the terminal has tab stops that can be saved in nonvolatile memory, the terminfo description can assume that they are properly set.  If there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can be given as tbc (clear all tab stops) and hts (set a tab stop in the current column of every row). 

Other capabilities include: is1, is2, and is3, initialization strings for the terminal; iprog, the path name of a program to be run to initialize the terminal; and if, the name of a file containing long initialization strings.  These strings are expected to set the terminal into modes consistent with the rest of the terminfo description.  They must be sent to the terminal each time the user logs in and be output in the following order: run the program iprog; output is1; output is2; set the margins using mgc, smgl and smgr; set the tab stops using tbc and hts; print the file if; and finally output is3.  This is usually done using the init option of tput(1V). 

Most initialization is done with is2.  Special terminal modes can be set up without duplicating strings by putting the common sequences in is2 and special cases in is1 and is3.  Sequences that do a harder reset from a totally unknown state can be given as rs1, rs2, rf, and rs3, analogous to is1, is2, is3, and if.  (The method using files, if and rf, is used for a few terminals, from /usr/share/lib/tabset/∗; however, the recommended method is to use the initialization and reset strings.)  These strings are output by ‘tput reset’, which is used when the terminal gets into a wedged state.  Commands are normally placed in rs1, rs2, rs3, and rf only if they produce annoying effects on the screen and are not necessary when logging in.  For example, the command to set a terminal into 80-column mode would normally be part of is2, but on some terminals it causes an annoying glitch on the screen and is not normally needed since the terminal is usually already in 80-column mode. 

If a more complex sequence is needed to set the tab stops than can be described by using tbc and hts, the sequence can be placed in is2 or if. 

If there are commands to set and clear margins, they can be given as mgc (clear all margins), smgl (set left margin), and smgr (set right margin). 

Delays

Certain capabilities control padding in the terminal driver.  These are primarily needed by hard-copy terminals, and are used by ‘tput init’ to set tty modes appropriately.  Delays embedded in the capabilities cr, ind, cub1, ff, and tab can be used to set the appropriate delay bits to be set in the tty driver.  If pb (padding baud rate) is given, these values can be ignored at baud rates below the value of pb. 

Status Lines

If the terminal has an extra “status line” that is not normally used by software, this fact can be indicated.  If the status line is viewed as an extra line below the bottom line, into which one can cursor address normally (such as the Heathkit H19’s 25th line, or the 24th line of a VT100 which is set to a 23-line scrolling region), the capability hs should be given.  Special strings that go to a given column of the status line and return from the status line can be given as tsl and fsl.  (fsl must leave the cursor position in the same place it was before tsl.  If necessary, the sc and rc strings can be included in tsl and fsl to get this effect.)  The capability tsl takes one parameter, which is the column number of the status line the cursor is to be moved to. 

If escape sequences and other special commands, such as TAB, work while in the status line, the flag eslok can be given.  A string which turns off the status line (or otherwise erases its contents) should be given as dsl.  If the terminal has commands to save and restore the position of the cursor, give them as sc and rc.  The status line is normally assumed to be the same width as the rest of the screen, for example, cols.  If the status line is a different width (possibly because the terminal does not allow an entire line to be loaded) the width, in columns, can be indicated with the numeric parameter wsl. 

Line Graphics

If the terminal has a line drawing alternate character set, the mapping of glyph to character would be given in acsc.  The definition of this string is based on the alternate character set used in the DEC VT100 terminal, extended slightly with some characters from the AT&T 4410v1 terminal. 

glyph name	VT100+
	character
arrow pointing right	+
arrow pointing left	,
arrow pointing down	.
solid square block	0
lantern symbol	I
arrow pointing up	−
diamond	‘
checker board (stipple)	a
degree symbol	f
plus/minus	g
board of squares	h
lower right corner	j
upper right corner	k
upper left corner	l
lower left corner	m
plus	n
scan line 1	o
horizontal line	q
scan line 9	s
left tee (⏐-)	t
right tee (−⏐)	u
bottom tee (_ ⏐)	v
top tee (‾ ⏐)	w
vertical line	x
bullet	~

The best way to describe a new terminal’s line graphics set is to add a third column to the above table with the characters for the new terminal that produce the appropriate glyph when the terminal is in the alternate character set mode.  For example,

glyph name	VT100+	new tty
	char	char
upper left corner	l	R
lower left corner	m	F
upper right corner	k	T
lower right corner	j	G
horizontal line	q	,
vertical line	x	.

Now write down the characters left to right, as in ‘acsc=lRmFkTjGq\,x.’. 

Miscellaneous

If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad, then this can be given as pad.  Only the first character of the pad string is used.  If the terminal does not have a pad character, specify npc. 

If the terminal can move up or down half a line, this can be indicated with hu (half-line up) and hd (half-line down).  This is primarily useful for superscripts and subscripts on hardcopy terminals.  If a hardcopy terminal can eject to the next page (form feed), give this as ff (usually CTRL-L). 

If there is a command to repeat a given character a given number of times (to save time transmitting a large number of identical characters) this can be indicated with the parameterized string rep.  The first parameter is the character to be repeated and the second is the number of times to repeat it.  Thus, ‘tparm(repeat_char, ’x’, 10)’ is the same as ‘xxxxxxxxxx’. 

If the terminal has a settable command character, such as the Tektronix 4025, this can be indicated with cmdch.  A prototype command character is chosen which is used in all capabilities.  This character is given in the cmdch capability to identify it.  On some UNIX systems, when the environment variable CC is set to a single-character value, all occurrences of the prototype character are replaced with that character. 

Terminal descriptions that do not represent a specific kind of known terminal, such as switch, dialup, patch, and network, should include the gn (generic) capability so that programs can complain that they do not know how to talk to the terminal.  (This capability does not apply to virtual terminal descriptions for which the escape sequences are known.)  If the terminal is one of those supported by the UNIX system virtual terminal protocol, the terminal number can be given as vt.  A line-turn-around sequence to be transmitted before doing reads should be specified in rfi. 

If the terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking for flow control, give xon.  Padding information should still be included so that routines can make better decisions about costs, but actual pad characters will not be transmitted.  Sequences to turn on and off xon/xoff handshaking may be given in smxon and rmxon.  If the characters used for handshaking are not ^S and ^Q (CTRL-S and CTRL-Q, respectively), they may be specified with xonc and xoffc. 

If the terminal has a “meta key” which acts as a shift key, setting the 8th bit of any character transmitted, this fact can be indicated with km.  Otherwise, software will assume that the 8th bit is parity and it will usually be cleared.  If strings exist to turn this “meta mode” on and off, they can be given as smm and rmm. 

If the terminal has more lines of memory than will fit on the screen at once, the number of lines of memory can be indicated with lm.  A value of lm#0 indicates that the number of lines is not fixed, but that there is still more memory than fits on the screen. 

Media copy strings which control an auxiliary printer connected to the terminal can be given as mc0: print the contents of the screen, mc4: turn off the printer, and mc5: turn on the printer.  When the printer is on, all text sent to the terminal will be sent to the printer.  A variation, mc5p, takes one parameter, and leaves the printer on for as many characters as the value of the parameter, then turns the printer off.  The parameter should not exceed 255.  If the text is not displayed on the terminal screen when the printer is on, specify mc5i (silent printer).  All text, including mc4, is transparently passed to the printer while an mc5p is in effect. 

Special Cases

The working model used by terminfo fits most terminals reasonably well.  However, some terminals do not completely match that model, requiring special support by terminfo.  These are not meant to be construed as deficiencies in the terminals; they are just differences between the working model and the actual hardware.  They may be unusual devices or, for some reason, do not have all the features of the terminfo model implemented. 

Terminals which can not display tilde (~) characters, such as certain Hazeltine terminals, should indicate hz. 

Terminals which ignore a LINEFEED immediately after an am wrap, such as the Concept 100, should indicate xenl.  Those terminals whose cursor remains on the right-most column until another character has been received, rather than wrapping immediately upon receiving the right-most character, such as the VT100, should also indicate xenl. 

If el is required to get rid of standout (instead of writing normal text on top of it), xhp should be given. 

Those Teleray terminals whose tabs turn all characters moved over to blanks, should indicate xt (destructive TAB characters).  This capability is also taken to mean that it is not possible to position the cursor on top of a “magic cookie” therefore, to erase standout mode, it is instead necessary to use delete and insert line. 

Those Beehive Superbee terminals which do not transmit the escape or CTRL-C characters, should specify xsb, indicating that the f1 key is to be used for escape and the f2 key for CTRL-C. 

Similar Terminals

If there are two very similar terminals, one can be defined as being just like the other with certain exceptions.  The string capability use can be given with the name of the similar terminal.  The capabilities given before use override those in the terminal type invoked by use.  A capability can be canceled by placing xx@ to the left of the capability definition, where xx is the capability.  For example, the entry

att4424-2|Teletype 4424 in display function group ii,

rev@, sgr@, smul@, use=att4424,

defines an AT&T 4424 terminal that does not have the rev, sgr, and smul capabilities, and hence cannot do highlighting.  This is useful for different modes for a terminal, or for different user preferences.  More than one use capability may be given. 

FILES

/usr/share/lib/terminfo/?/∗
compiled terminal description database

/usr/share/lib/tabset/∗
tab stop settings for some terminals, in a format appropriate to be output to the terminal (escape sequences that set margins and tab stops)

SEE ALSO

tput(1V), curses(3V), printf(3V), term(5V), captoinfo(8V), infocmp(8V), tic(8V)

WARNING

As described in the Tabs and Initialization section above, a terminal’s initialization strings, is1, is2, and is3, if defined, must be output before a curses(3V) program is run.  An available mechanism for outputting such strings is tput init (see tput(1V)). 

Tampering with entries in /usr/share/lib/terminfo/?/∗ (for example, changing or removing an entry) can affect programs that expect the entry to be present and correct.  In particular, removing the description for the “dumb” terminal will cause unexpected problems. 

Solbourne Computer, Inc.  —  26 February 1988