default_colors(3X) default_colors(3X)
NAME
use_default_colors, assume_default_colors - use terminal's default colors
SYNOPSIS
#include <curses.h>
int use_default_colors(void);
int assume_default_colors(int fg, int bg);
DESCRIPTION
The use_default_colors() and assume_default_colors() functions are extensions to the curses library.
They are used with terminals that support ISO 6429 color, or equivalent. These terminals allow the
application to reset color to an unspecified default value (e.g., with SGR 39 or SGR 49).
Applications that paint a colored background over the whole screen do not take advantage of SGR 39
and SGR 49. Some applications are designed to work with the default background, using colors only
for text. For example, there are several implementations of the ls program which use colors to
denote different file types or permissions. These "color ls" programs do not necessarily modify the
background color, typically using only the setaf terminfo capability to set the foreground color.
Full-screen applications that use default colors can achieve similar visual effects.
The first function, use_default_colors() tells the curses library to assign terminal default fore-ground/background foreground/background
ground/background colors to color number -1. So init_pair(x,COLOR_RED,-1) will initialize pair x as
red on default background and init_pair(x,-1,COLOR_BLUE) will initialize pair x as default foreground
on blue.
The other, assume_default_colors() is a refinement which tells which colors to paint for color pair
0. This function recognizes a special color number -1, which denotes the default terminal color.
The following are equivalent:
use_default_colors();
assume_default_colors(-1,-1);
These are ncurses extensions. For other curses implementations, color number -1 does not mean any-thing, anything,
thing, just as for ncurses before a successful call of use_default_colors() or assume_default_col-ors(). assume_default_colors().
ors().
Other curses implementations do not allow an application to modify color pair 0. They assume that
the background is COLOR_BLACK, but do not ensure that the color pair 0 is painted to match the
assumption. If your application does not use either use_default_colors() or assume_default_colors()
ncurses will paint a white foreground (text) with black background for color pair 0.
RETURN VALUE
These functions return the integer ERR upon failure and OK on success. They will fail if either the
terminal does not support the orig_pair or orig_colors capability. If the initialize_pair capability
is found, this causes an error as well.
NOTES
Associated with this extension, the init_pair(3X) function accepts negative arguments to specify
default foreground or background colors.
The use_default_colors() function was added to support ded. This is a full-screen application which
uses curses to manage only part of the screen. The bottom portion of the screen, which is of
adjustable size, is left uncolored to display the results from shell commands. The top portion of
the screen colors filenames using a scheme like the "color ls" programs. Attempting to manage the
background color of the screen for this application would give unsatisfactory results for a variety
of reasons. This extension was devised after noting that color xterm (and similar programs) provides
a background color which does not necessarily correspond to any of the ANSI colors. While a special
terminfo entry could be constructed using nine colors, there was no mechanism provided within curses
to account for the related orig_pair and back_color_erase capabilities.
The assume_default_colors() function was added to solve a different problem: support for applications
which would use environment variables and other configuration to bypass curses' notion of the termi-nal's terminal's
nal's default colors, setting specific values.
PORTABILITY
These routines are specific to ncurses. They were not supported on Version 7, BSD or System V imple-mentations. implementations.
mentations. It is recommended that any code depending on them be conditioned using NCURSES_VERSION.
SEE ALSO
curs_color(3X), ded(1).
AUTHOR
Thomas Dickey (from an analysis of the requirements for color xterm for XFree86 3.1.2C, February
1996).
default_colors(3X)
|