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ncurses(3NCURSES)					     ncurses(3NCURSES)

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.
       This describes ncurses version 5.6 (patch 20080804).

       The  ncurses library emulates the ncurses(3NCURSES) library of System V
       Release 4 UNIX, and XPG4 (X/Open Portability Guide) curses (also	 known
       as  XSI	curses).   XSI	stands for X/Open System Interfaces Extension.
       The ncurses library is freely redistributable in source form.   Differ‐
       ences  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.

       The  ncurses  library  also provides many useful extensions, i.e., fea‐
       tures which cannot be implemented by a simple add-on library but	 which
       require access to the internals of the library.

       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.   See	also  the  section  on
       ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS.

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

       Beware: the terminal your program is running may or may	not  have  the
       features	 you  expect. Ncurses makes no attempt to check available fea‐
       tures in advance. This is upto the programmer.

       The ncurses library permits manipulation	 of  data  structures,	called
       windows,	 which	can be thought of as two-dimensional arrays of charac‐
       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(3CURSES) 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 those, 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 pad(3NCURSES) for more  informa‐
       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.   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 is executing in a window environment, line and column  information
       in  the	environment  will override information read by terminfo.  This
       would affect 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 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.

   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.

       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.  Most of the data  types  used  in
       the  library  routines,	such  as  WINDOW, SCREEN, bool, and chtype are
       defined in <curses.h>.  Types used for the terminfo  routines  such  as
       TERMINAL are defined in <term.h>.

       This manual page describes functions which may appear in any configura‐
       tion of the library.   There  are  two  common  configurations  of  the
       library:

	      ncurses
		   the	"normal" library, which handles 8-bit characters.  The
		   normal (8-bit)  library  stores  characters	combined  with
		   attributes in chtype data.

		   Attributes alone (no corresponding character) may be stored
		   in chtype or the equivalent attr_t data.  In	 either	 case,
		   the data is stored in something like an integer.

		   Each	 cell  (row  and  column)  in  a WINDOW is stored as a
		   chtype.

	      ncursesw
		   the so-called "wide" library, which handles multibyte char‐
		   acters  (See the section on ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS).  The
		   "wide" library includes all of the calls from the  "normal"
		   library.   It  adds	about  one third more calls using data
		   types which store multibyte characters:

		   cchar_t
			corresponds to chtype.	However	 it  is	 a  structure,
			because more data is stored than can fit into an inte‐
			ger.  The characters are large	enough	to  require  a
			full  integer  value  - and there may be more than one
			character per cell.  The video	attributes  and	 color
			are stored in separate fields of the structure.

			Each  cell (row and column) in a WINDOW is stored as a
			cchar_t.

		   wchar_t
			stores a "wide" character.  Like chtype, this  may  be
			an integer.

		   wint_t
			stores	a  wchar_t or WEOF - not the same, though both
			may have the same size.

		   The "wide" library provides new functions which are	analo‐
		   gous to functions in the "normal" library.  There is a nam‐
		   ing convention which relates many of the normal/wide	 vari‐
		   ants:  a "_w" is inserted into the name.  For example, wad‐
		   dch becomes wadd_wch.

   Routine Name Index
       The following table lists each curses routine and the name of the  man‐
       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(3NCURSES)
		  PAIR_NUMBER		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  _nc_tracebits		  trace(3NCURSES)*
		  _traceattr		  trace(3NCURSES)*
		  _traceattr2		  trace(3NCURSES)*
		  _tracechar		  trace(3NCURSES)*
		  _tracechtype		  trace(3NCURSES)*
		  _tracechtype2		  trace(3NCURSES)*
		  _tracedump		  trace(3NCURSES)*
		  _tracef		  trace(3NCURSES)*
		  _tracemouse		  trace(3NCURSES)*
		  add_wch		  add_wch(3NCURSES)
		  add_wchnstr		  add_wchstr(3NCURSES)
		  add_wchstr		  add_wchstr(3NCURSES)
		  addch			  addch(3NCURSES)
		  addchnstr		  addchstr(3NCURSES)
		  addchstr		  addchstr(3NCURSES)
		  addnstr		  addstr(3NCURSES)
		  addnwstr		  addwstr(3NCURSES)
		  addstr		  addstr(3NCURSES)
		  addwstr		  addwstr(3NCURSES)
		  assume_default_colors	  default_colors(3NCURSES)*
		  attr_get		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  attr_off		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  attr_on		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  attr_set		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  attroff		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  attron		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  attrset		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  baudrate		  termattrs(3NCURSES)
		  beep			  beep(3NCURSES)
		  bkgd			  bkgd(3NCURSES)
		  bkgdset		  bkgd(3NCURSES)
		  bkgrnd		  bkgrnd(3NCURSES)
		  bkgrndset		  bkgrnd(3NCURSES)
		  border		  border(3NCURSES)
		  border_set		  border_set(3NCURSES)
		  box			  border(3NCURSES)
		  box_set		  border_set(3NCURSES)
		  can_change_color	  color(3NCURSES)
		  cbreak		  inopts(3NCURSES)
		  chgat			  attr(3NCURSES)
		  clear			  clear(3NCURSES)
		  clearok		  outopts(3NCURSES)

		  clrtobot		  clear(3NCURSES)
		  clrtoeol		  clear(3NCURSES)
		  color_content		  color(3NCURSES)
		  color_set		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  copywin		  overlay(3NCURSES)
		  curs_set		  kernel(3NCURSES)
		  curses_version	  extensions(3NCURSES)*
		  def_prog_mode		  kernel(3NCURSES)
		  def_shell_mode	  kernel(3NCURSES)
		  define_key		  define_key(3NCURSES)*
		  del_curterm		  terminfo(3NCURSES)
		  delay_output		  util(3NCURSES)
		  delch			  delch(3NCURSES)
		  deleteln		  deleteln(3NCURSES)
		  delscreen		  initscr(3NCURSES)
		  delwin		  window(3NCURSES)
		  derwin		  window(3NCURSES)
		  doupdate		  refresh(3NCURSES)
		  dupwin		  window(3NCURSES)
		  echo			  inopts(3NCURSES)
		  echo_wchar		  add_wch(3NCURSES)
		  echochar		  addch(3NCURSES)
		  endwin		  initscr(3NCURSES)
		  erase			  clear(3NCURSES)
		  erasechar		  termattrs(3NCURSES)
		  erasewchar		  termattrs(3NCURSES)
		  filter		  util(3NCURSES)
		  flash			  beep(3NCURSES)
		  flushinp		  util(3NCURSES)
		  get_wch		  get_wch(3NCURSES)
		  get_wstr		  get_wstr(3NCURSES)
		  getattrs		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  getbegx		  legacy(3NCURSES)*
		  getbegy		  legacy(3NCURSES)*
		  getbegyx		  getyx(3NCURSES)
		  getbkgd		  bkgd(3NCURSES)
		  getbkgrnd		  bkgrnd(3NCURSES)
		  getcchar		  getcchar(3NCURSES)
		  getch			  getch(3NCURSES)
		  getcurx		  legacy(3NCURSES)*
		  getcury		  legacy(3NCURSES)*
		  getmaxx		  legacy(3NCURSES)*
		  getmaxy		  legacy(3NCURSES)*
		  getmaxyx		  getyx(3NCURSES)
		  getmouse		  mouse(3NCURSES)*
		  getn_wstr		  get_wstr(3NCURSES)
		  getnstr		  getstr(3NCURSES)
		  getparx		  legacy(3NCURSES)*
		  getpary		  legacy(3NCURSES)*
		  getparyx		  getyx(3NCURSES)
		  getstr		  getstr(3NCURSES)
		  getsyx		  kernel(3NCURSES)
		  getwin		  util(3NCURSES)
		  getyx			  getyx(3NCURSES)
		  halfdelay		  inopts(3NCURSES)
		  has_colors		  color(3NCURSES)
		  has_ic		  termattrs(3NCURSES)
		  has_il		  termattrs(3NCURSES)
		  has_key		  getch(3NCURSES)*
		  hline			  border(3NCURSES)
		  hline_set		  border_set(3NCURSES)
		  idcok			  outopts(3NCURSES)
		  idlok			  outopts(3NCURSES)
		  immedok		  outopts(3NCURSES)
		  in_wch		  in_wch(3NCURSES)
		  in_wchnstr		  in_wchstr(3NCURSES)

		  in_wchstr		  in_wchstr(3NCURSES)
		  inch			  inch(3NCURSES)
		  inchnstr		  inchstr(3NCURSES)
		  inchstr		  inchstr(3NCURSES)
		  init_color		  color(3NCURSES)
		  init_pair		  color(3NCURSES)
		  initscr		  initscr(3NCURSES)
		  innstr		  instr(3NCURSES)
		  innwstr		  inwstr(3NCURSES)
		  ins_nwstr		  ins_wstr(3NCURSES)
		  ins_wch		  ins_wch(3NCURSES)
		  ins_wstr		  ins_wstr(3NCURSES)
		  insch			  insch(3NCURSES)
		  insdelln		  deleteln(3NCURSES)
		  insertln		  deleteln(3NCURSES)
		  insnstr		  insstr(3NCURSES)
		  insstr		  insstr(3NCURSES)
		  instr			  instr(3NCURSES)
		  intrflush		  inopts(3NCURSES)
		  inwstr		  inwstr(3NCURSES)
		  is_cleared		  opaque(3NCURSES)*
		  is_idcok		  opaque(3NCURSES)*
		  is_idlok		  opaque(3NCURSES)*
		  is_immedok		  opaque(3NCURSES)*
		  is_keypad		  opaque(3NCURSES)*
		  is_leaveok		  opaque(3NCURSES)*
		  is_linetouched	  touch(3NCURSES)
		  is_nodelay		  opaque(3NCURSES)*
		  is_notimeout		  opaque(3NCURSES)*
		  is_scrollok		  opaque(3NCURSES)*
		  is_syncok		  opaque(3NCURSES)*
		  is_term_resized	  resizeterm(3NCURSES)*
		  is_wintouched		  touch(3NCURSES)
		  isendwin		  initscr(3NCURSES)
		  key_defined		  key_defined(3NCURSES)*
		  key_name		  util(3NCURSES)
		  keybound		  keybound(3NCURSES)*
		  keyname		  util(3NCURSES)
		  keyok			  keyok(3NCURSES)*
		  keypad		  inopts(3NCURSES)
		  killchar		  termattrs(3NCURSES)
		  killwchar		  termattrs(3NCURSES)
		  leaveok		  outopts(3NCURSES)
		  longname		  termattrs(3NCURSES)
		  mcprint		  print(3NCURSES)*
		  meta			  inopts(3NCURSES)
		  mouse_trafo		  mouse(3NCURSES)*
		  mouseinterval		  mouse(3NCURSES)*
		  mousemask		  mouse(3NCURSES)*
		  move			  move(3NCURSES)
		  mvadd_wch		  add_wch(3NCURSES)
		  mvadd_wchnstr		  add_wchstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvadd_wchstr		  add_wchstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvaddch		  addch(3NCURSES)
		  mvaddchnstr		  addchstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvaddchstr		  addchstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvaddnstr		  addstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvaddnwstr		  addwstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvaddstr		  addstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvaddwstr		  addwstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvchgat		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  mvcur			  terminfo(3NCURSES)
		  mvdelch		  delch(3NCURSES)
		  mvderwin		  window(3NCURSES)
		  mvget_wch		  get_wch(3NCURSES)
		  mvget_wstr		  get_wstr(3NCURSES)

		  mvgetch		  getch(3NCURSES)
		  mvgetn_wstr		  get_wstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvgetnstr		  getstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvgetstr		  getstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvhline		  border(3NCURSES)
		  mvhline_set		  border_set(3NCURSES)
		  mvin_wch		  in_wch(3NCURSES)
		  mvin_wchnstr		  in_wchstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvin_wchstr		  in_wchstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvinch		  inch(3NCURSES)
		  mvinchnstr		  inchstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvinchstr		  inchstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvinnstr		  instr(3NCURSES)
		  mvinnwstr		  inwstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvins_nwstr		  ins_wstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvins_wch		  ins_wch(3NCURSES)
		  mvins_wstr		  ins_wstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvinsch		  insch(3NCURSES)
		  mvinsnstr		  insstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvinsstr		  insstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvinstr		  instr(3NCURSES)
		  mvinwstr		  inwstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvprintw		  printw(3NCURSES)
		  mvscanw		  scanw(3NCURSES)
		  mvvline		  border(3NCURSES)
		  mvvline_set		  border_set(3NCURSES)
		  mvwadd_wch		  add_wch(3NCURSES)
		  mvwadd_wchnstr	  add_wchstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwadd_wchstr		  add_wchstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwaddch		  addch(3NCURSES)
		  mvwaddchnstr		  addchstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwaddchstr		  addchstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwaddnstr		  addstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwaddnwstr		  addwstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwaddstr		  addstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwaddwstr		  addwstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwchgat		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwdelch		  delch(3NCURSES)
		  mvwget_wch		  get_wch(3NCURSES)
		  mvwget_wstr		  get_wstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwgetch		  getch(3NCURSES)
		  mvwgetn_wstr		  get_wstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwgetnstr		  getstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwgetstr		  getstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwhline		  border(3NCURSES)
		  mvwhline_set		  border_set(3NCURSES)
		  mvwin			  window(3NCURSES)
		  mvwin_wch		  in_wch(3NCURSES)
		  mvwin_wchnstr		  in_wchstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwin_wchstr		  in_wchstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwinch		  inch(3NCURSES)
		  mvwinchnstr		  inchstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwinchstr		  inchstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwinnstr		  instr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwinnwstr		  inwstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwins_nwstr		  ins_wstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwins_wch		  ins_wch(3NCURSES)
		  mvwins_wstr		  ins_wstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwinsch		  insch(3NCURSES)
		  mvwinsnstr		  insstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwinsstr		  insstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwinstr		  instr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwinwstr		  inwstr(3NCURSES)
		  mvwprintw		  printw(3NCURSES)
		  mvwscanw		  scanw(3NCURSES)
		  mvwvline		  border(3NCURSES)

		  mvwvline_set		  border_set(3NCURSES)
		  napms			  kernel(3NCURSES)
		  newpad		  pad(3NCURSES)
		  newterm		  initscr(3NCURSES)
		  newwin		  window(3NCURSES)
		  nl			  outopts(3NCURSES)
		  nocbreak		  inopts(3NCURSES)
		  nodelay		  inopts(3NCURSES)
		  noecho		  inopts(3NCURSES)
		  nofilter		  util(3NCURSES)*
		  nonl			  outopts(3NCURSES)
		  noqiflush		  inopts(3NCURSES)
		  noraw			  inopts(3NCURSES)
		  notimeout		  inopts(3NCURSES)
		  overlay		  overlay(3NCURSES)
		  overwrite		  overlay(3NCURSES)
		  pair_content		  color(3NCURSES)
		  pechochar		  pad(3NCURSES)
		  pnoutrefresh		  pad(3NCURSES)
		  prefresh		  pad(3NCURSES)
		  printw		  printw(3NCURSES)
		  putp			  terminfo(3NCURSES)
		  putwin		  util(3NCURSES)
		  qiflush		  inopts(3NCURSES)
		  raw			  inopts(3NCURSES)
		  redrawwin		  refresh(3NCURSES)
		  refresh		  refresh(3NCURSES)
		  reset_prog_mode	  kernel(3NCURSES)
		  reset_shell_mode	  kernel(3NCURSES)
		  resetty		  kernel(3NCURSES)
		  resizeterm		  resizeterm(3NCURSES)*
		  restartterm		  terminfo(3NCURSES)
		  ripoffline		  kernel(3NCURSES)
		  savetty		  kernel(3NCURSES)
		  scanw			  scanw(3NCURSES)
		  scr_dump		  scr_dump(3NCURSES)
		  scr_init		  scr_dump(3NCURSES)
		  scr_restore		  scr_dump(3NCURSES)
		  scr_set		  scr_dump(3NCURSES)
		  scrl			  scroll(3NCURSES)
		  scroll		  scroll(3NCURSES)
		  scrollok		  outopts(3NCURSES)
		  set_curterm		  terminfo(3NCURSES)
		  set_term		  initscr(3NCURSES)
		  setcchar		  getcchar(3NCURSES)
		  setscrreg		  outopts(3NCURSES)
		  setsyx		  kernel(3NCURSES)
		  setterm		  terminfo(3NCURSES)
		  setupterm		  terminfo(3NCURSES)
		  slk_attr		  slk(3NCURSES)*
		  slk_attr_off		  slk(3NCURSES)
		  slk_attr_on		  slk(3NCURSES)
		  slk_attr_set		  slk(3NCURSES)
		  slk_attroff		  slk(3NCURSES)
		  slk_attron		  slk(3NCURSES)
		  slk_attrset		  slk(3NCURSES)
		  slk_clear		  slk(3NCURSES)
		  slk_color		  slk(3NCURSES)
		  slk_init		  slk(3NCURSES)
		  slk_label		  slk(3NCURSES)
		  slk_noutrefresh	  slk(3NCURSES)
		  slk_refresh		  slk(3NCURSES)
		  slk_restore		  slk(3NCURSES)
		  slk_set		  slk(3NCURSES)
		  slk_touch		  slk(3NCURSES)
		  standend		  attr(3NCURSES)

		  standout		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  start_color		  color(3NCURSES)
		  subpad		  pad(3NCURSES)
		  subwin		  window(3NCURSES)
		  syncok		  window(3NCURSES)
		  term_attrs		  termattrs(3NCURSES)
		  termattrs		  termattrs(3NCURSES)
		  termname		  termattrs(3NCURSES)
		  tgetent		  termcap(3NCURSES)
		  tgetflag		  termcap(3NCURSES)
		  tgetnum		  termcap(3NCURSES)
		  tgetstr		  termcap(3NCURSES)
		  tgoto			  termcap(3NCURSES)
		  tigetflag		  terminfo(3NCURSES)
		  tigetnum		  terminfo(3NCURSES)
		  tigetstr		  terminfo(3NCURSES)
		  timeout		  inopts(3NCURSES)
		  touchline		  touch(3NCURSES)
		  touchwin		  touch(3NCURSES)
		  tparm			  terminfo(3NCURSES)
		  tputs			  termcap(3NCURSES)
		  tputs			  terminfo(3NCURSES)
		  trace			  trace(3NCURSES)*
		  typeahead		  inopts(3NCURSES)
		  unctrl		  util(3NCURSES)
		  unget_wch		  get_wch(3NCURSES)
		  ungetch		  getch(3NCURSES)
		  ungetmouse		  mouse(3NCURSES)*
		  untouchwin		  touch(3NCURSES)
		  use_default_colors	  default_colors(3NCURSES)*
		  use_env		  util(3NCURSES)
		  use_extended_names	  extensions(3NCURSES)*
		  use_legacy_coding	  legacy_coding(3NCURSES)*
		  vid_attr		  terminfo(3NCURSES)
		  vid_puts		  terminfo(3NCURSES)
		  vidattr		  terminfo(3NCURSES)
		  vidputs		  terminfo(3NCURSES)
		  vline			  border(3NCURSES)
		  vline_set		  border_set(3NCURSES)
		  vw_printw		  printw(3NCURSES)
		  vw_scanw		  scanw(3NCURSES)
		  vwprintw		  printw(3NCURSES)
		  vwscanw		  scanw(3NCURSES)
		  wadd_wch		  add_wch(3NCURSES)
		  wadd_wchnstr		  add_wchstr(3NCURSES)
		  wadd_wchstr		  add_wchstr(3NCURSES)
		  waddch		  addch(3NCURSES)
		  waddchnstr		  addchstr(3NCURSES)
		  waddchstr		  addchstr(3NCURSES)
		  waddnstr		  addstr(3NCURSES)
		  waddnwstr		  addwstr(3NCURSES)
		  waddstr		  addstr(3NCURSES)
		  waddwstr		  addwstr(3NCURSES)
		  wattr_get		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  wattr_off		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  wattr_on		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  wattr_set		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  wattroff		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  wattron		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  wattrset		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  wbkgd			  bkgd(3NCURSES)
		  wbkgdset		  bkgd(3NCURSES)
		  wbkgrnd		  bkgrnd(3NCURSES)
		  wbkgrndset		  bkgrnd(3NCURSES)
		  wborder		  border(3NCURSES)
		  wborder_set		  border_set(3NCURSES)

		  wchgat		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  wclear		  clear(3NCURSES)
		  wclrtobot		  clear(3NCURSES)
		  wclrtoeol		  clear(3NCURSES)
		  wcolor_set		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  wcursyncup		  window(3NCURSES)
		  wdelch		  delch(3NCURSES)
		  wdeleteln		  deleteln(3NCURSES)
		  wecho_wchar		  add_wch(3NCURSES)
		  wechochar		  addch(3NCURSES)
		  wenclose		  mouse(3NCURSES)*
		  werase		  clear(3NCURSES)
		  wget_wch		  get_wch(3NCURSES)
		  wget_wstr		  get_wstr(3NCURSES)
		  wgetbkgrnd		  bkgrnd(3NCURSES)
		  wgetch		  getch(3NCURSES)
		  wgetn_wstr		  get_wstr(3NCURSES)
		  wgetnstr		  getstr(3NCURSES)
		  wgetstr		  getstr(3NCURSES)
		  whline		  border(3NCURSES)
		  whline_set		  border_set(3NCURSES)
		  win_wch		  in_wch(3NCURSES)
		  win_wchnstr		  in_wchstr(3NCURSES)
		  win_wchstr		  in_wchstr(3NCURSES)
		  winch			  inch(3NCURSES)
		  winchnstr		  inchstr(3NCURSES)
		  winchstr		  inchstr(3NCURSES)
		  winnstr		  instr(3NCURSES)
		  winnwstr		  inwstr(3NCURSES)
		  wins_nwstr		  ins_wstr(3NCURSES)
		  wins_wch		  ins_wch(3NCURSES)
		  wins_wstr		  ins_wstr(3NCURSES)
		  winsch		  insch(3NCURSES)
		  winsdelln		  deleteln(3NCURSES)
		  winsertln		  deleteln(3NCURSES)
		  winsnstr		  insstr(3NCURSES)
		  winsstr		  insstr(3NCURSES)
		  winstr		  instr(3NCURSES)
		  winwstr		  inwstr(3NCURSES)
		  wmouse_trafo		  mouse(3NCURSES)*
		  wmove			  move(3NCURSES)
		  wnoutrefresh		  refresh(3NCURSES)
		  wprintw		  printw(3NCURSES)
		  wredrawln		  refresh(3NCURSES)
		  wrefresh		  refresh(3NCURSES)
		  wresize		  wresize(3NCURSES)*
		  wscanw		  scanw(3NCURSES)
		  wscrl			  scroll(3NCURSES)
		  wsetscrreg		  outopts(3NCURSES)
		  wstandend		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  wstandout		  attr(3NCURSES)
		  wsyncdown		  window(3NCURSES)
		  wsyncup		  window(3NCURSES)
		  wtimeout		  inopts(3NCURSES)
		  wtouchln		  touch(3NCURSES)
		  wunctrl		  util(3NCURSES)
		  wvline		  border(3NCURSES)
		  wvline_set		  border_set(3NCURSES)

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  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  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.

	    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.

	    Use the use_env function to disable all use of  external  environ‐
	    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 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 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 default_colors(3NCURSES)).  You may
	    set the foreground and background color values with this  environ‐
	    ment  variable by proving a 2-element list: foreground,background.
	    For example, to tell ncurses to not assume anything about the col‐
	    ors,  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_HARD_TABS
	    Ncurses  may use tabs as part of the cursor movement optimization.
	    In some cases, your terminal driver may not handle these properly.
	    Set	 this  environment  variable  to disable the feature.  You can
	    also adjust your stty settings to avoid the problem.

       NCURSES_NO_MAGIC_COOKIES
	    Some terminals use a magic-cookie feature which  requires  special
	    handling  to  make highlighting and other video attributes display
	    properly.  You can suppress the highlighting  entirely  for	 these
	    terminals by setting this environment variable.

       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 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.  This is done (as in SVr4 curses)	for  performance  rea‐
	    sons.   For testing purposes, both of ncurses and certain applica‐
	    tions, this feature is made optional.  Setting the NCURSES_NO_SET‐
	    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.

	    The argument values, which are defined in curses.h,	 provide  sev‐
	    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  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 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.  The list is separated by colons (i.e., ":") on Unix, semi‐
	    colons on OS/2 EMX.	 All of the terminal descriptions are in  ter‐
	    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, /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.

ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS
       Several different configurations are possible, depending on the config‐
       ure script options used when building ncurses.  There are  a  few  main
       options	whose  effects are visible to the applications developer using
       ncurses:

       --disable-overwrite
	    The standard include for ncurses is as noted in SYNOPSIS:

	    #include <curses.h>

	    This option is used to avoid filename conflicts  when  ncurses  is
	    not the main implementation of curses of the computer.  If ncurses
	    is installed disabling overwrite, it puts its headers in a	subdi‐
	    rectory, e.g.,

	    #include <ncurses/curses.h>

	    It	also  omits  a	symbolic  link	which  would  allow you to use
	    -lcurses to build executables.

       --enable-widec
	    The configure script renames the library and  (if  the  --disable-
	    overwrite  option  is  used)  puts the header files in a different
	    subdirectory.  All of the library names have  a  "w"  appended  to
	    them, i.e., instead of

	    -lncurses

	    you link with

	    -lncursesw

	    You must also define _XOPEN_SOURCE_EXTENDED when compiling for the
	    wide-character library to use the extended (wide-character)	 func‐
	    tions.   The curses.h file which is installed for the wide-charac‐
	    ter library is designed to be compatible with the normal library's
	    header.   Only  the size of the WINDOW structure differs, and very
	    few applications require more than a pointer to WINDOWs.   If  the
	    headers  are  installed  allowing  overwrite,  the	wide-character
	    library's headers should be installed last, to allow  applications
	    to be built using either library from the same set of headers.

       --with-shared

       --with-normal

       --with-debug

       --with-profile
	    The	 shared and normal (static) library names differ by their suf‐
	    fixes, e.g., libncurses.so and libncurses.a.  The debug  and  pro‐
	    filing  libraries  add a "_g" and a "_p" to the root names respec‐
	    tively, e.g., libncurses_g.a and libncurses_p.a.

       --with-trace
	    The trace function normally resides in the debug library,  but  it
	    is sometimes useful to configure this in the shared library.  Con‐
	    figure scripts should check for the	 function's  existence	rather
	    than assuming it is always in the debug library.

FILES
       /usr/share/tabset
	    directory  containing  initialization files for the terminal capa‐
	    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  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 mouse(3NCURSES) manual
       page for details.

       The ncurses library includes facilities for responding to window resiz‐
       ing    events,	e.g.,	when   running	 in   an   xterm.    See   the
       resizeterm(3NCURSES) and wresize(3NCURSES) 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(3NCURSES)
       key_defined(3NCURSES), and keyok(3NCURSES) 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 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(3NCURSES) manual page for details.

       The ncurses library includes a function for directing application  out‐
       put   to	  a   printer  attached	 to  the  terminal  device.   See  the
       print(3NCURSES) manual page for details.

PORTABILITY
       The ncurses library is intended to be BASE-level	 conformant  with  XSI
       Curses.	 The  EXTENDED	XSI Curses functionality (including color sup‐
       port) 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.

       This implementation also contains several extensions:

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

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

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

	    The	 routine mcprint was not present in any previous curses imple‐
	    mentation.	See the print(3NCURSES) manual page for details.

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

	    The	 WINDOW structure's internal details can be hidden from appli‐
	    cation programs.   See  opaque(3NCURSES)  for  the	discussion  of
	    is_scrollok, etc.

       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 sending NUL
       bytes.  This method is slightly more expensive, but narrows the	inter‐
       face  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(3NCURSES)
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