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ncurses(3X)                                                        ncurses(3X)



NAME
       ncurses - CRT screen handling and optimization package

SYNOPSIS
       #include <curses.h>

DESCRIPTION
       The  ncurses  library  routines  give  the  user a terminal-independent
       method of updating  character  screens  with  reasonable  optimization.
       This  implementation  is  ``new  curses'' (ncurses) and is the approved
       replacement for 4.4BSD classic curses, which has been discontinued.

       The ncurses routines emulate the curses(3X) library of System V Release
       4  UNIX,  and  the  XPG4  curses  standard (XSI curses) but the ncurses
       library is freely redistributable in source form.  Differences from the
       SVr4  curses  are  summarized under the EXTENSIONS and PORTABILITY sec-tions sections
       tions below and described  in  detail  in  the  respective  EXTENSIONS,
       PORTABILITY and BUGS sections of individual man pages.

       A  program  using  these  routines  must  be  linked with the -lncurses
       option, or (if it  has  been  generated)  with  the  debugging  library
       -lncurses_g.   (Your  system  integrator  may also have installed these
       libraries under the names  -lcurses  and  -lcurses_g.)   The  ncurses_g
       library  generates  trace logs (in a file called 'trace' in the current
       directory) that describe curses actions.

       The ncurses package supports: overall screen, window and pad  manipula-tion; manipulation;
       tion;  output to windows and pads; reading terminal input; control over
       terminal and curses input and output options;  environment  query  rou-tines; routines;
       tines;  color  manipulation; use of soft label keys; terminfo capabili-ties; capabilities;
       ties; and access to low-level terminal-manipulation 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 terminal 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 environ-ment environment
       ment variable TERM has been exported.  tset(1) is  usually  responsible
       for doing this.  [See terminfo(5) for further details.]

       The  ncurses  library  permits  manipulation of data structures, called
       windows, which can be thought of as two-dimensional arrays  of  charac-ters characters
       ters 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.

       Note  that  curses  does not handle overlapping windows, that's done by
       the panel(3X) library. This means that you can  either  use  stdscr  or
       divide  the screen into tiled windows and not using stdscr at all. Mix-ing Mixing
       ing the two will result in unpredictable, and undesired, effects.

       Windows are referred to by variables declared as WINDOW *.  These  data
       structures  are  manipulated with routines described here and elsewhere
       in the ncurses manual pages.  Among which the most basic  routines  are
       move  and  addch.  More general 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 manipulated.  These are windows
       which are not constrained to the size of the screen and whose  contents
       need  not  be completely displayed.  See curs_pad(3X) for more informa-tion. information.
       tion.

       In addition to drawing characters on the screen, video  attributes  and
       colors  may  be  supported,  causing  the characters 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 val-ues. values.
       ues.  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  pro-gram program
       gram  is executing in a window environment, line and column information
       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 (see ENVIRONMENT).

       If the environment variable TERMINFO  is  defined,  any  program  using
       curses  checks  for  a local terminal definition before checking in the
       standard place.  For example, if TERM is set to att4424, then the  com-piled compiled
       piled terminal definition is found in

             /usr/share/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/terminfo/a/att4424.

       This  is  useful  for developing experimental definitions or when write
       permission in /usr/share/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  rou-tines. routines.
       tines.

   Routine and Argument Names
       Many  curses routines have two or more versions.  The routines prefixed
       with w require a window argument.  The routines prefixed with p require
       a pad argument.  Those without a prefix generally use stdscr.

       The  routines  prefixed with mv require a y and x coordinate to move to
       before performing 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 argument is always specified before the  coor-dinates. coordinates.
       dinates.

       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 variables 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  man-ual manual
       ual  page  on  which  it  is  described.  Routines flagged with `*' are
       ncurses-specific, not described by XPG4 or present in SVr4.


                     curses Routine Name     Manual Page Name
                     --------------------------------------------COLOR_PAIR -------------------------------------------COLOR_PAIR
                     COLOR_PAIR              curs_color(3X)
                     PAIR_NUMBER             curs_attr(3X)
                     _nc_tracebits           curs_trace(3X)*
                     _traceattr              curs_trace(3X)*
                     _traceattr2             curs_trace(3X)*
                     _tracechar              curs_trace(3X)*
                     _tracechtype            curs_trace(3X)*
                     _tracechtype2           curs_trace(3X)*
                     _tracedump              curs_trace(3X)*
                     _tracef                 curs_trace(3X)*
                     _tracemouse             curs_trace(3X)*
                     add_wch                 curs_add_wch(3X)
                     add_wchnstr             curs_add_wchstr(3X)
                     add_wchstr              curs_add_wchstr(3X)
                     addch                   curs_addch(3X)
                     addchnstr               curs_addchstr(3X)
                     addchstr                curs_addchstr(3X)
                     addnstr                 curs_addstr(3X)
                     addnwstr                curs_addwstr(3X)
                     addstr                  curs_addstr(3X)
                     addwstr                 curs_addwstr(3X)
                     assume_default_colors   default_colors(3X)*
                     attr_get                curs_attr(3X)
                     attr_off                curs_attr(3X)
                     attr_on                 curs_attr(3X)
                     attr_set                curs_attr(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)
                     bkgrnd                  curs_bkgrnd(3X)
                     bkgrndset               curs_bkgrnd(3X)
                     border                  curs_border(3X)
                     border_set              curs_border_set(3X)
                     box                     curs_border(3X)

                     box_set                 curs_border_set(3X)
                     can_change_color        curs_color(3X)
                     cbreak                  curs_inopts(3X)
                     chgat                   curs_attr(3X)
                     clear                   curs_clear(3X)
                     clearok                 curs_outopts(3X)
                     clrtobot                curs_clear(3X)
                     clrtoeol                curs_clear(3X)
                     color_content           curs_color(3X)
                     color_set               curs_attr(3X)
                     copywin                 curs_overlay(3X)
                     curs_set                curs_kernel(3X)
                     curses_version          curs_extend(3X)*
                     def_prog_mode           curs_kernel(3X)
                     def_shell_mode          curs_kernel(3X)
                     define_key              define_key(3X)*
                     del_curterm             curs_terminfo(3X)
                     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)
                     echo_wchar              curs_add_wch(3X)
                     echochar                curs_addch(3X)
                     endwin                  curs_initscr(3X)
                     erase                   curs_clear(3X)
                     erasechar               curs_termattrs(3X)
                     erasewchar              curs_termattrs(3X)
                     filter                  curs_util(3X)
                     flash                   curs_beep(3X)
                     flushinp                curs_util(3X)
                     get_wch                 curs_get_wch(3X)
                     get_wstr                curs_get_wstr(3X)
                     getbegyx                curs_getyx(3X)
                     getbkgd                 curs_bkgd(3X)
                     getbkgrnd               curs_bkgrnd(3X)
                     getcchar                curs_getcchar(3X)
                     getch                   curs_getch(3X)
                     getmaxyx                curs_getyx(3X)
                     getmouse                curs_mouse(3X)*
                     getn_wstr               curs_get_wstr(3X)
                     getnstr                 curs_getstr(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)
                     has_ic                  curs_termattrs(3X)
                     has_il                  curs_termattrs(3X)
                     has_key                 curs_getch(3X)*
                     hline                   curs_border(3X)
                     hline_set               curs_border_set(3X)
                     idcok                   curs_outopts(3X)
                     idlok                   curs_outopts(3X)
                     immedok                 curs_outopts(3X)
                     in_wch                  curs_in_wch(3X)
                     in_wchnstr              curs_in_wchstr(3X)
                     in_wchstr               curs_in_wchstr(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)
                     innwstr                 curs_inwstr(3X)
                     ins_nwstr               curs_ins_wstr(3X)
                     ins_wch                 curs_ins_wch(3X)
                     ins_wstr                curs_ins_wstr(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)
                     inwstr                  curs_inwstr(3X)
                     is_linetouched          curs_touch(3X)
                     is_wintouched           curs_touch(3X)
                     isendwin                curs_initscr(3X)
                     key_defined             key_defined(3X)*
                     key_name                curs_util(3X)
                     keybound                keybound(3X)*
                     keyname                 curs_util(3X)
                     keyok                   keyok(3X)*
                     keypad                  curs_inopts(3X)
                     killchar                curs_termattrs(3X)
                     killwchar               curs_termattrs(3X)
                     leaveok                 curs_outopts(3X)
                     longname                curs_termattrs(3X)
                     mcprint                 curs_print(3X)*
                     meta                    curs_inopts(3X)
                     mouse_trafo             curs_mouse(3X)*
                     mouseinterval           curs_mouse(3X)*
                     mousemask               curs_mouse(3X)*
                     move                    curs_move(3X)
                     mvadd_wch               curs_add_wch(3X)
                     mvadd_wchnstr           curs_add_wchstr(3X)
                     mvadd_wchstr            curs_add_wchstr(3X)
                     mvaddch                 curs_addch(3X)
                     mvaddchnstr             curs_addchstr(3X)
                     mvaddchstr              curs_addchstr(3X)
                     mvaddnstr               curs_addstr(3X)
                     mvaddnwstr              curs_addwstr(3X)
                     mvaddstr                curs_addstr(3X)
                     mvaddwstr               curs_addwstr(3X)
                     mvchgat                 curs_attr(3X)
                     mvcur                   curs_terminfo(3X)
                     mvdelch                 curs_delch(3X)
                     mvderwin                curs_window(3X)
                     mvget_wch               curs_get_wch(3X)
                     mvget_wstr              curs_get_wstr(3X)
                     mvgetch                 curs_getch(3X)
                     mvgetn_wstr             curs_get_wstr(3X)
                     mvgetnstr               curs_getstr(3X)
                     mvgetstr                curs_getstr(3X)
                     mvhline                 curs_border(3X)
                     mvhline_set             curs_border_set(3X)
                     mvin_wch                curs_in_wch(3X)
                     mvin_wchnstr            curs_in_wchstr(3X)
                     mvin_wchstr             curs_in_wchstr(3X)
                     mvinch                  curs_inch(3X)
                     mvinchnstr              curs_inchstr(3X)
                     mvinchstr               curs_inchstr(3X)
                     mvinnstr                curs_instr(3X)
                     mvinnwstr               curs_inwstr(3X)
                     mvins_nwstr             curs_ins_wstr(3X)
                     mvins_wch               curs_ins_wch(3X)

                     mvins_wstr              curs_ins_wstr(3X)
                     mvinsch                 curs_insch(3X)
                     mvinsnstr               curs_insstr(3X)
                     mvinsstr                curs_insstr(3X)
                     mvinstr                 curs_instr(3X)
                     mvinwstr                curs_inwstr(3X)
                     mvprintw                curs_printw(3X)
                     mvscanw                 curs_scanw(3X)
                     mvvline                 curs_border(3X)
                     mvvline_set             curs_border_set(3X)
                     mvwadd_wch              curs_add_wch(3X)
                     mvwadd_wchnstr          curs_add_wchstr(3X)
                     mvwadd_wchstr           curs_add_wchstr(3X)
                     mvwaddch                curs_addch(3X)
                     mvwaddchnstr            curs_addchstr(3X)
                     mvwaddchstr             curs_addchstr(3X)
                     mvwaddnstr              curs_addstr(3X)
                     mvwaddnwstr             curs_addwstr(3X)
                     mvwaddstr               curs_addstr(3X)
                     mvwaddwstr              curs_addwstr(3X)
                     mvwchgat                curs_attr(3X)
                     mvwdelch                curs_delch(3X)
                     mvwget_wch              curs_get_wch(3X)
                     mvwget_wstr             curs_get_wstr(3X)
                     mvwgetch                curs_getch(3X)
                     mvwgetn_wstr            curs_get_wstr(3X)
                     mvwgetnstr              curs_getstr(3X)
                     mvwgetstr               curs_getstr(3X)
                     mvwhline                curs_border(3X)
                     mvwhline_set            curs_border_set(3X)
                     mvwin                   curs_window(3X)
                     mvwin_wch               curs_in_wch(3X)
                     mvwin_wchnstr           curs_in_wchstr(3X)
                     mvwin_wchstr            curs_in_wchstr(3X)
                     mvwinch                 curs_inch(3X)
                     mvwinchnstr             curs_inchstr(3X)
                     mvwinchstr              curs_inchstr(3X)
                     mvwinnstr               curs_instr(3X)
                     mvwinnwstr              curs_inwstr(3X)
                     mvwins_nwstr            curs_ins_wstr(3X)
                     mvwins_wch              curs_ins_wch(3X)
                     mvwins_wstr             curs_ins_wstr(3X)
                     mvwinsch                curs_insch(3X)
                     mvwinsnstr              curs_insstr(3X)
                     mvwinsstr               curs_insstr(3X)
                     mvwinstr                curs_instr(3X)
                     mvwinwstr               curs_inwstr(3X)
                     mvwprintw               curs_printw(3X)
                     mvwscanw                curs_scanw(3X)
                     mvwvline                curs_border(3X)
                     mvwvline_set            curs_border_set(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(3X)
                     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)
                     resizeterm              resizeterm(3X)*
                     restartterm             curs_terminfo(3X)
                     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)
                     scrl                    curs_scroll(3X)
                     scroll                  curs_scroll(3X)
                     scrollok                curs_outopts(3X)
                     set_curterm             curs_terminfo(3X)
                     set_term                curs_initscr(3X)
                     setcchar                curs_getcchar(3X)
                     setscrreg               curs_outopts(3X)
                     setsyx                  curs_kernel(3X)
                     setterm                 curs_terminfo(3X)
                     setupterm               curs_terminfo(3X)
                     slk_attr                curs_slk(3X)*
                     slk_attr_off            curs_slk(3X)
                     slk_attr_on             curs_slk(3X)
                     slk_attr_set            curs_slk(3X)
                     slk_attroff             curs_slk(3X)
                     slk_attron              curs_slk(3X)
                     slk_attrset             curs_slk(3X)
                     slk_clear               curs_slk(3X)
                     slk_color               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)
                     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)
                     term_attrs              curs_termattrs(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(3X)
                     tigetnum                curs_terminfo(3X)
                     tigetstr                curs_terminfo(3X)
                     timeout                 curs_inopts(3X)
                     touchline               curs_touch(3X)
                     touchwin                curs_touch(3X)

                     tparm                   curs_terminfo(3X)
                     tputs                   curs_termcap(3X)
                     tputs                   curs_terminfo(3X)
                     trace                   curs_trace(3X)*
                     typeahead               curs_inopts(3X)
                     unctrl                  curs_util(3X)
                     unget_wch               curs_get_wch(3X)
                     ungetch                 curs_getch(3X)
                     ungetmouse              curs_mouse(3X)*
                     untouchwin              curs_touch(3X)
                     use_default_colors      default_colors(3X)*
                     use_env                 curs_util(3X)
                     use_extended_names      curs_extend(3X)*
                     vid_attr                curs_terminfo(3X)
                     vid_puts                curs_terminfo(3X)
                     vidattr                 curs_terminfo(3X)
                     vidputs                 curs_terminfo(3X)
                     vline                   curs_border(3X)
                     vline_set               curs_border_set(3X)
                     vw_printw               curs_printw(3X)
                     vw_scanw                curs_scanw(3X)
                     vwprintw                curs_printw(3X)
                     vwscanw                 curs_scanw(3X)
                     wadd_wch                curs_add_wch(3X)
                     wadd_wchnstr            curs_add_wchstr(3X)
                     wadd_wchstr             curs_add_wchstr(3X)
                     waddch                  curs_addch(3X)
                     waddchnstr              curs_addchstr(3X)
                     waddchstr               curs_addchstr(3X)
                     waddnstr                curs_addstr(3X)
                     waddnwstr               curs_addwstr(3X)
                     waddstr                 curs_addstr(3X)
                     waddwstr                curs_addwstr(3X)
                     wattr_get               curs_attr(3X)
                     wattr_off               curs_attr(3X)
                     wattr_on                curs_attr(3X)
                     wattr_set               curs_attr(3X)
                     wattroff                curs_attr(3X)
                     wattron                 curs_attr(3X)
                     wattrset                curs_attr(3X)
                     wbkgd                   curs_bkgd(3X)
                     wbkgdset                curs_bkgd(3X)
                     wbkgrnd                 curs_bkgrnd(3X)
                     wbkgrndset              curs_bkgrnd(3X)
                     wborder                 curs_border(3X)
                     wborder_set             curs_border_set(3X)
                     wchgat                  curs_attr(3X)
                     wclear                  curs_clear(3X)
                     wclrtobot               curs_clear(3X)
                     wclrtoeol               curs_clear(3X)
                     wcolor_set              curs_attr(3X)
                     wcursyncup              curs_window(3X)
                     wdelch                  curs_delch(3X)
                     wdeleteln               curs_deleteln(3X)
                     wecho_wchar             curs_add_wch(3X)
                     wechochar               curs_addch(3X)
                     wenclose                curs_mouse(3X)*
                     werase                  curs_clear(3X)
                     wget_wch                curs_get_wch(3X)
                     wget_wstr               curs_get_wstr(3X)
                     wgetbkgrnd              curs_bkgrnd(3X)
                     wgetch                  curs_getch(3X)
                     wgetn_wstr              curs_get_wstr(3X)
                     wgetnstr                curs_getstr(3X)
                     wgetstr                 curs_getstr(3X)
                     whline                  curs_border(3X)
                     whline_set              curs_border_set(3X)

                     win_wch                 curs_in_wch(3X)
                     win_wchnstr             curs_in_wchstr(3X)
                     win_wchstr              curs_in_wchstr(3X)
                     winch                   curs_inch(3X)
                     winchnstr               curs_inchstr(3X)
                     winchstr                curs_inchstr(3X)
                     winnstr                 curs_instr(3X)
                     winnwstr                curs_inwstr(3X)
                     wins_nwstr              curs_ins_wstr(3X)
                     wins_wch                curs_ins_wch(3X)
                     wins_wstr               curs_ins_wstr(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)
                     winwstr                 curs_inwstr(3X)
                     wmouse_trafo            curs_mouse(3X)*
                     wmove                   curs_move(3X)
                     wnoutrefresh            curs_refresh(3X)
                     wprintw                 curs_printw(3X)
                     wredrawln               curs_refresh(3X)
                     wrefresh                curs_refresh(3X)
                     wresize                 wresize(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)
                     wunctrl                 curs_util(3X)
                     wvline                  curs_border(3X)
                     wvline_set              curs_border_set(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 macros return  the  value  of  the  w  version,  except  setscrreg,
       wsetscrreg,  getyx,  getbegyx,  and  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.

ENVIRONMENT
       The following environment symbols are useful for customizing  the  run-time runtime
       time  behavior  of  the  ncurses library.  The most important ones have
       been already discussed in detail.

       BAUDRATE
            The debugging library checks  this  environment  symbol  when  the
            application has redirected output to a file.  The symbol's numeric
            value is used for the baudrate.  If no  value  is  found,  ncurses
            uses 9600.  This allows testers to construct repeatable test-cases
            that take into account costs that depend on baudrate.

       CC   When set, change occurrences of the command_character  (i.e.,  the
            cmdch  capability)  of the loaded terminfo entries to the value of
            this symbol.  Very few terminfo entries provide this feature.

       COLUMNS
            Specify the width of the screen in characters.  Applications  run-ning running
            ning  in  a  windowing  environment usually are able to obtain the
            width of the window in which they are executing.  If  neither  the
            COLUMNS value nor the terminal's screen size is available, ncurses
            uses the size which may be  specified  in  the  terminfo  database
            (i.e., the cols capability).

            It  is  important that your application use a correct size for the
            screen.  This is not always possible because your application  may
            be running on a host which does not honor NAWS (Negotiations About
            Window Size), or because you are temporarily  running  as  another
            user.    However,  setting  COLUMNS  and/or  LINES  overrides  the
            library's use of the screen size obtained from the operating  sys-tem. system.
            tem.

            Either  COLUMNS  or  LINES symbols may be specified independently.
            This is mainly useful to circumvent legacy misfeatures of terminal
            descriptions,  e.g.,  xterm  which  commonly  specifies  a 65 line
            screen.  For best results, lines and cols should not be  specified
            in  a  terminal  description for terminals which are run as emula-tions. emulations.
            tions.

            Use the use_env function to disable all use of  external  environ-ment environment
            ment (including system calls) to determine the screen size.

       ESCDELAY
            Specifies  the total time, in milliseconds, for which ncurses will
            await a character sequence, e.g., a  function  key.   The  default
            value, 1000 milliseconds, is enough for most uses.  However, it is
            made a variable to accommodate unusual applications.

            The most common instance where you may wish to change  this  value
            is  to  work  with slow hosts, e.g., running on a network.  If the
            host cannot read characters rapidly enough, it will have the  same
            effect  as if the terminal did not send characters rapidly enough.
            The library will still see a timeout.

            Note that xterm mouse events are built up from character sequences
            received  from  the xterm.  If your application makes heavy use of
            multiple-clicking, you may wish to  lengthen  this  default  value
            because  the  timeout applies to the composed multi-click event as
            well as the individual clicks.

            In addition to the environment variable, this implementation  pro-vides provides
            vides a global variable with the same name.  Portable applications
            should not rely upon the presence of ESCDELAY in either form,  but
            setting  the  environment variable rather than the global variable
            does not create problems when compiling an application.

       HOME Tells ncurses where your home directory is.  That is where it  may
            read and write auxiliary terminal descriptions:

            $HOME/.termcap
            $HOME/.terminfo

       LINES
            Like COLUMNS, specify the height of the screen in characters.  See
            COLUMNS for a detailed description.

       MOUSE_BUTTONS_123
            This applies only to the OS/2 EMX port.  It specifies the order of
            buttons  on  the  mouse.   OS/2 numbers a 3-button mouse inconsis-tently inconsistently
            tently from other platforms:

            1 = left
            2 = right
            3 = middle.

            This symbol lets you customize the  mouse.   The  symbol  must  be
            three numeric digits 1-3 in any order, e.g., 123 or 321.  If it is
            not specified, ncurses uses 132.

       NCURSES_ASSUMED_COLORS
            Override the compiled-in assumption that  the  terminal's  default
            colors  are  white-on-black  (see assume_default_colors(3X)).  You
            may set the foreground and background color values with this envi-ronment environment
            ronment  variable  by  proving  a 2-element list: foreground,back-ground. foreground,background.
            ground.  For example, to tell ncurses to not assume anything about
            the  colors,  set this to "-1,-1".  To make it green-on-black, set
            it to "2,0".   Any  positive  value  from  zero  to  the  terminfo
            max_colors value is allowed.

       NCURSES_NO_PADDING
            Most  of  the  terminal  descriptions in the terminfo database are
            written for real "hardware" terminals.  Many people  use  terminal
            emulators  which  run  in  a windowing environment and use curses-based cursesbased
            based applications.  Terminal emulators can duplicate all  of  the
            important aspects of a hardware terminal, but they do not have the
            same limitations.  The chief limitation  of  a  hardware  terminal
            from  the  standpoint  of  your  application  is the management of
            dataflow, i.e., timing.  Unless a hardware terminal is  interfaced
            into  a  terminal  concentrator  (which does flow control), it (or
            your application) must manage dataflow, preventing overruns.   The
            cheapest  solution  (no  hardware  cost) is for your program to do
            this by pausing after operations that the  terminal  does  slowly,
            such as clearing the display.

            As a result, many terminal descriptions (including the vt100) have
            delay times embedded.  You may wish to use these descriptions, but
            not want to pay the performance penalty.

            Set  the  NCURSES_NO_PADDING  symbol  to disable all but mandatory
            padding.  Mandatory padding is used as a part of  special  control
            sequences such as flash.

       NCURSES_NO_SETBUF
            Normally  ncurses enables buffered output during terminal initial-ization. initialization.
            ization.  This is done (as in SVr4 curses)  for  performance  rea-sons. reasons.
            sons.   For testing purposes, both of ncurses and certain applica-tions, applications,
            tions, this feature is made optional.  Setting the NCURSES_NO_SET-BUF NCURSES_NO_SETBUF
            BUF  variable disables output buffering, leaving the output in the
            original (usually line buffered) mode.

       NCURSES_NO_UTF8_ACS
            During initialization, the  ncurses  library  checks  for  special
            cases  where  VT100  line-drawing (and the corresponding alternate
            character set capabilities) described in the terminfo are known to
            be  missing.   Specifically,  when  running in a UTF-8 locale, the
            Linux console emulator and the GNU screen  program  ignore  these.
            Ncurses checks the TERM environment variable for these.  For other
            special cases, you should set this  environment  variable.   Doing
            this  tells  ncurses to use Unicode values which correspond to the
            VT100 line-drawing glyphs.   That  works  for  the  special  cases
            cited, and is likely to work for terminal emulators.

            When  setting this variable, you should set it to a nonzero value.
            Setting it to zero (or to a nonnumber) disables the special  check
            for Linux and screen.

       NCURSES_TRACE
            During  initialization,  the  ncurses debugging library checks the
            NCURSES_TRACE symbol.  If it  is  defined,  to  a  numeric  value,
            ncurses  calls  the  trace function, using that value as the argu-ment. argument.
            ment.

            The argument values, which are defined in curses.h,  provide  sev-eral several
            eral types of information.  When running with traces enabled, your
            application will write the file trace to the current directory.

       TERM Denotes your terminal  type.   Each  terminal  type  is  distinct,
            though many are similar.

       TERMCAP
            If  the  ncurses library has been configured with termcap support,
            ncurses will check for a terminal's description in termcap form if
            it is not available in the terminfo database.

            The  TERMCAP  symbol  contains either a terminal description (with
            newlines stripped out), or a file name telling where the  informa-tion information
            tion  denoted  by the TERM symbol exists.  In either case, setting
            it directs ncurses to ignore the usual place for this information,
            e.g., /etc/termcap.

       TERMINFO
            Overrides  the directory in which ncurses searches for your termi-nal terminal
            nal description.  This is the simplest, but not the  only  way  to
            change  the list of directories.  The complete list of directories
            in order follows:

            -  the last directory to which ncurses wrote, if any, is  searched
               first

            -  the directory specified by the TERMINFO symbol

            -  $HOME/.terminfo

            -  directories listed in the TERMINFO_DIRS symbol

            -  one or more directories whose names are configured and compiled
               into the ncurses library, e.g., /usr/share/terminfo

       TERMINFO_DIRS
            Specifies a list of directories to search  for  terminal  descrip-tions. descriptions.
            tions.  The list is separated by colons (i.e., ":") on Unix, semi-colons semicolons
            colons on OS/2 EMX.  All of the terminal descriptions are in  ter-minfo terminfo
            minfo  form, which makes a subdirectory named for the first letter
            of the terminal names therein.

       TERMPATH
            If TERMCAP does not hold a  file  name  then  ncurses  checks  the
            TERMPATH  symbol.  This is a list of filenames separated by spaces
            or colons (i.e., ":") on Unix, semicolons on  OS/2  EMX.   If  the
            TERMPATH  symbol is not set, ncurses looks in the files /etc/term-cap, /etc/termcap,
            cap, /usr/share/misc/termcap and $HOME/.termcap, in that order.

       The library may be configured to disregard the following variables when
       the  current  user  is the superuser (root), or if the application uses
       setuid or setgid permissions: $TERMINFO, $TERMINFO_DIRS, $TERMPATH,  as
       well as $HOME.

FILES
       /usr/share/tabset
            directory  containing  initialization files for the terminal capa-bility capability
            bility database /usr/share/terminfo terminal capability database

SEE ALSO
       terminfo(5) and related pages whose names begin  "curs_"  for  detailed
       routine descriptions.

EXTENSIONS
       The  ncurses library can be compiled with an option (-DUSE_GETCAP) that
       falls back to the old-style /etc/termcap file  if  the  terminal  setup
       code  cannot  find a terminfo entry corresponding to TERM.  Use of this
       feature is not recommended, as it essentially includes an entire  term-cap termcap
       cap  compiler  in the ncurses startup code, at significant cost in core
       and startup cycles.

       The ncurses library includes facilities for capturing mouse  events  on
       certain terminals (including xterm). See the curs_mouse(3X) manual page
       for details.

       The ncurses library includes facilities for responding to window resiz-ing resizing
       ing events, e.g., when running in an xterm.  See the resizeterm(3X) and
       wresize(3X) manual pages for details.  In addition, the library may  be
       configured with a SIGWINCH handler.

       The  ncurses library extends the fixed set of function key capabilities
       of terminals by allowing the application designer to define  additional
       key  sequences at runtime.  See the define_key(3X) key_defined(3X), and
       keyok(3X) manual pages for details.

       The ncurses library can exploit the  capabilities  of  terminals  which
       implement  the  ISO-6429  SGR  39  and  SGR 49 controls, which allow an
       application to reset the terminal to its original foreground and  back-ground background
       ground colors.  From the users' perspective, the application is able to
       draw colored text on a background whose  color  is  set  independently,
       providing  better  control  over color contrasts.  See the default_col-ors(3X) default_colors(3X)
       ors(3X) manual page for details.

       The ncurses library includes a function for directing application  out-put output
       put   to   a   printer  attached  to  the  terminal  device.   See  the
       curs_print(3X) manual page for details.

PORTABILITY
       The ncurses library is intended to be BASE-level  conformant  with  the
       XSI  Curses standard.  The EXTENDED XSI Curses functionality (including
       color support) is supported.

       A small number of local differences (that  is,  individual  differences
       between  the XSI Curses and ncurses calls) are described in PORTABILITY
       sections of the library man pages.

       The routine has_key is not part of XPG4, nor is  it  present  in  SVr4.
       See the curs_getch(3X) manual page for details.

       The  routine  slk_attr  is not part of XPG4, nor is it present in SVr4.
       See the curs_slk(3X) manual page for details.

       The routines getmouse, mousemask, ungetmouse, mouseinterval,  and  wen-close wenclose
       close  relating to mouse interfacing are not part of XPG4, nor are they
       present in SVr4.  See the curs_mouse(3X) manual page for details.

       The routine mcprint was not present in any previous curses  implementa-tion. implementation.
       tion.  See the curs_print(3X) manual page for details.

       The  routine  wresize  is  not part of XPG4, nor is it present in SVr4.
       See the wresize(3X) manual page for details.

       In historic curses versions, delays embedded in  the  capabilities  cr,
       ind,  cub1,  ff  and tab activated corresponding delay bits in the UNIX
       tty driver.  In this implementation, all padding is done by NUL  sends.
       This  method  is  slightly more expensive, but narrows the interface to
       the UNIX kernel significantly and increases the  package's  portability
       correspondingly.

NOTES
       The  header  file  <curses.h>  automatically  includes the header files
       <stdio.h> and <unctrl.h>.

       If standard output from a ncurses program is re-directed  to  something
       which  is not a tty, screen updates will be directed to standard error.
       This was an undocumented feature of AT&T System V Release 3 curses.

AUTHORS
       Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.  Based on pcurses
       by Pavel Curtis.



                                                                   ncurses(3X)