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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 sections 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  gener-ated) generated)
       ated)  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 manipulation; output to windows and
       pads; reading terminal input; control over terminal and curses input and output options;  environment
       query routines; color manipulation; use of soft label keys; terminfo capabilities; and access to low-level lowlevel
       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 exit-ing. exiting.
       ing.  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  environment  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 characters 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. Mixing 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 begin-ning beginning
       ning with w, allowing the user to specify a window.  The routines not beginning with  w  affect  std-scr.) stdscr.)
       scr.)

       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 information.

       In addition to drawing characters on the screen, video attributes and colors may be supported,  caus-ing causing
       ing 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 values.  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 program is executing in a window
       environment, line and column information in the environment will override information  read  by  ter-minfo. terminfo.
       minfo.   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
       compiled 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/ter-minfo /usr/share/terminfo
       minfo 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 routines.

   Routine and Argument Names
       Many  curses routines have two or more versions.  The routines prefixed with w require a window argu-ment. argument.
       ment.  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 appropri-ate appropriate
       ate action.  The mv routines imply a call to move before the call to the other routine.  The  coordi-nate coordinate
       nate  y always refers to the row (of the window), and x always refers to the column.  The upper left-hand lefthand
       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 argu-ment argument
       ment is always specified before the coordinates.

       In  each case, win is the window affected, and pad is the pad affected; win and pad are always point-ers pointers
       ers 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 manual 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 suc-cessful successful
       cessful completion, unless otherwise noted in the routine descriptions.

       All macros return the value of the w version, except setscrreg, wsetscrreg, getyx, getbegyx, and get-maxyx. getmaxyx.
       maxyx.   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  runtime  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 running 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 (Negotia-tions (Negotiations
            tions About Window Size), or because you are temporarily running as another user.  However, set-ting setting
            ting COLUMNS and/or LINES overrides the library's use of the screen size obtained from the oper-ating operating
            ating system.

            Either COLUMNS or LINES symbols may be specified independently.  This is mainly useful  to  cir-cumvent circumvent
            cumvent  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 emulations.

            Use  the use_env function to disable all use of external environment (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 provides 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 ter-minal terminal
            minal 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 inconsistently 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
            environment  variable  by proving a 2-element list: foreground,background.  For example, to tell
            ncurses to not assume anything about the colors, set this to  "-1,-1".   To  make  it  green-on-black, green-onblack,
            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"  ter-minals. terminals.
            minals.  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 termi-nal terminal
            nal 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 initialization.  This is  done  (as  in
            SVr4  curses) for performance reasons.  For testing purposes, both of ncurses and certain appli-cations, applications,
            cations, this feature is made optional.  Setting the NCURSES_NO_SETBUF 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 argument.

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

       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 termi-nal's terminal's
            nal'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 information denoted by the TERM symbol exists.  In either case, set-ting setting
            ting 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 terminal description.  This is the
            simplest, but not the only way to change the list of directories.  The complete list of directo-ries directories
            ries 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 descriptions.  The list is  separated  by
            colons  (i.e.,  ":")  on  Unix, semicolons on OS/2 EMX.  All of the terminal descriptions are in
            terminfo 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/termcap, /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 supe-ruser superuser
       ruser  (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 capability  database  /usr/share/ter-minfo /usr/share/terminfo
            minfo 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 termcap 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 resizing 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
       background  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_colors(3X) manual page for details.

       The ncurses library includes a function for directing application output 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 wenclose relating to mouse interfac-ing interfacing
       ing  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 implementation.   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 signifi-cantly significantly
       cantly 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)

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