terminfo.4 (2010 09)

t
terminfo(4) terminfo(4)
(ENHANCED CURSES)
Strings to program function keys can be specified as pfkey, pfloc, and pfx. A string to program
screen labels should be specified as pln. Each of these strings takes two arguments: a function key
identifier and a string to program it with. pfkey causes pressing the given key to be the same as the
user typing the given string; pfloc causes the string to be executed by the terminal in local mode; and
pfx causes the string to be transmitted to the computer. The capabilities nlab, lw and lh define the
number of programmable screen labels and their width and height. If there are commands to turn the
labels on and off, give them in smln and rmln. smln is normally output after one or more pln
sequences to make sure that the change becomes visible.
Tabs and Initialization
If the device has hardware tabs, the command to advance to the next tab stop can be given as ht (usually
control-I). A "backtab" command that moves leftward to the next tab stop can be given as cbt. By con-
vention, if tty modes show that tabs are being expanded by the computer rather than being sent to the
device, programs should not use ht or cbt (even if they are present) because the user might not have
the tab stops properly set. If the device has hardware tabs that are initially set every n spaces when the
device is powered up, the numeric argument it is given, showing the number of spaces the tabs are set
to. This is normally used by tput init to determine whether to set the mode for hardware tab expan-
sion and whether to set the tab stops. If the device has tab stops that can be saved in nonvolatile
memory, the terminfo description can assume that they are properly set. If there are commands to set
and clear tab stops, they can be given as tbc (clear all tab stops) and hts (set a tab stop in the current
column of every row).
Other capabilities include: is1, is2, and is3, initialization strings for the device; iprog, the path
name of a program to be run to initialize the device; and if, the name of a file containing long initializa-
tion strings. These strings are expected to set the device into modes consistent with the rest of the ter-
minfo description. They must be sent to the device each time the user logs in and be output in the fol-
lowing order: run the program iprog; output is1; output is2; set the margins using mgc, smgl and
smgr; set the tabs using tbc and hts; print the file if; and finally output is3. This is usually done
using the init option of tput.
Most initialization is done with is2. Special device modes can be set up without duplicating strings by
putting the common sequences in is2 and special cases in is1 and is3. Sequences that do a reset
from a totally unknown state can be given as rs1, rs2, rf, and rs3, analogous to is1, is2, is3,
and if. (The method using files, if and rf, is used for a few terminals; however, the recommended
method is to use the initialization and reset strings.) These strings are output by tput reset, which is
used when the terminal gets into a wedged state. Commands are normally placed in rs1, rs2, rs3,
and rf only if they produce annoying effects on the screen and are not necessary when logging in. For
example, the command to set a terminal into 80-column mode would normally be part of is2, but on
some terminals it causes an annoying glitch on the screen and is not normally needed because the termi-
nal is usually already in 80-column mode.
If a more complex sequence is needed to set the tabs than can be described by using tbc and hts, the
sequence can be placed in is2 or if.
Any margin can be cleared with mgc. (For instructions on how to specify commands to set and clear mar-
gins, see the Margins subsection of the Capabilities That Cause Movement section below.
Delays
Certain capabilities control padding in the tty driver. These are primarily needed by hard-copy termi-
nals, and are used by tput init to set tty modes appropriately (see tput (1)). Delays embedded in the
capabilities cr, ind, cub1, ff, and tab can be used to set the appropriate delay bits to be set in the
tty driver. If pb (padding baud rate) is given, these values can be ignored at baud rates below the value
of pb.
Status Lines
If the terminal has an extra "status line" that is not normally used by software, this fact can be indicated.
If the status line is viewed as an extra line below the bottom line, into which one can cursor-address nor-
mally (such as the Heathkit H19’s 25th line, or the 24th line of a VT100 which is set to a 23-line scrolling
region), the capability hs should be given. Special strings that go to a given column of the status line
and return from the status line can be given as tsl and fsl.(fsl must leave the cursor position in the
same place it was before tsl. If necessary, the sc and rc strings can be included in tsl and fsl to
get this effect.) The capability tsl takes one argument, which is the column number of the status line
the cursor is to be moved to.
22 Hewlett-Packard Company − 22 − HP-UX 11i Version 3: September 2010