TERMCAP(3)                386BSD Programmer's Manual                TERMCAP(3)

NAME
     tgetent, tgetnum, tgetflag, tgetstr, tgoto, tputs - terminal independent
     operation routines

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

     tgetent(char *bp, char *name)

     tgetnum(char *id)

     tgetflag(char *id)

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

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

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

DESCRIPTION
     These functions extract and use capabilities from a terminal capability
     data base, usually /usr/share/misc/termcap, the format of which is
     described in termcap(5).  These are low level routines; see curses(3) for
     a higher level package.

     The tgetent() function extracts the entry for terminal name into the
     buffer at bp. The bp argument 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 none of
     the termcap data base files could be opened, 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 a
     termcap file.  If it does begin with a slash, the string is used as a
     path name of the termcap file to search.  If TERMCAP does not begin with
     a slash and name is different from TERM, tgetent() searches the files
     $HOME/.termcap and /usr/share/misc/termcap, in that order, unless the
     environment variable TERMPATH exists, in which case it specifies a list
     of file pathnames (separated by spaces or colons) to be searched instead.
     Whenever multiple files are searched and a tc field occurs in the
     requested entry, the entry it names must be found in the same file or one
     of the succeeding files.  This can speed up entry into programs that call
     tgetent(), as well as help debug new terminal descriptions or make one
     for your terminal if you can't write the file /usr/share/misc/termcap.

     The tgetnum() function gets the numeric value of capability id, returning
     -1 if is not given for the terminal.  The tgetflag() function returns 1
     if the specified capability is present in the terminal's entry, 0 if it
     is not.  The tgetstr() function 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.  The
     tgetstr() function returns NULL if the capability was not found.

     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 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).

     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 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
     capability) if a null (^@) is inappropriate.

FILES
     /usr/lib/libtermcap.a    -l ltermcap library (also known as -l ltermlib)
     /usr/share/misc/termcap  standard terminal capability data base
     $HOME/.termcap           user's terminal capability data base

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

HISTORY
     The tgetent functions appeared in 4.0BSD.

4th Berkeley Distribution       April 19, 1991                               2