termcap man page on Minix

Man page or keyword search:  
man Server   6208 pages
apropos Keyword Search (all sections)
Output format
Minix logo
[printable version]

TERMCAP(5)							    TERMCAP(5)

NAME
       termcap - terminal capability data base

SYNOPSIS
       /etc/termcap

DESCRIPTION
       Termcap	is  a data base describing terminals, used, e.g., by vi(1) and
       curses(3).  Terminals are described in termcap by giving a set of capa‐
       bilities that they have and by describing how operations are performed.
       Padding requirements and initialization sequences are included in term‐
       cap.

       Entries	in  termcap  consist of a number of `:'-separated fields.  The
       first entry for each terminal gives the names that are  known  for  the
       terminal,  separated  by	 `|' characters.  The first name is always two
       characters long and is used by older systems which store	 the  terminal
       type  in	 a  16-bit  word  in a system-wide data base.  The second name
       given is the most common abbreviation for the terminal, the  last  name
       given  should  be  a  long name fully identifying the terminal, and all
       others are understood as synonyms for the terminal name.	 All names but
       the  first  and last should be in lower case and contain no blanks; the
       last name may well contain upper case and blanks for readability.

       Terminal names (except for the last, verbose entry)  should  be	chosen
       using the following conventions.	 The particular piece of hardware mak‐
       ing up the terminal should have a  root	name  chosen,  thus  “hp2621”.
       This  name  should not contain hyphens.	Modes that the hardware can be
       in or user preferences should be indicated by appending a hyphen and an
       indicator  of  the mode.	 Therefore, a “vt100” in 132-column mode would
       be “vt100-w”.  The following suffixes should be used where possible:

       Suffix	Meaning					  Example
       -w	Wide mode (more than 80 columns)	  vt100-w
       -am	With automatic margins (usually default)  vt100-am
       -nam	Without automatic margins		  vt100-nam
       -n	Number of lines on the screen		  aaa-60
       -na	No arrow keys (leave them in local)	  concept100-na
       -np	Number of pages of memory		  concept100-4p
       -rv	Reverse video				  concept100-rv

CAPABILITIES
       The characters in the Notes field in the table have the following mean‐
       ings (more than one may apply to a capability):

       N   indicates numeric parameter(s)
       P   indicates that padding may be specified
       ∗   indicates that padding may be based on the number of lines affected
       o   indicates capability is obsolete

       “Obsolete”  capabilities	 have no terminfo equivalents, since they were
       considered useless, or are subsumed by other capabilities.   New	 soft‐
       ware should not rely on them at all.

       Name  Type  Notes  Description
       ae    str   (P)	  End alternate character set
       AL    str   (NP∗)  Add n new blank lines
       al    str   (P∗)	  Add new blank line
       am    bool	  Terminal has automatic margins
       as    str   (P)	  Start alternate character set
       bc    str   (o)	  Backspace if not ^H
       bl    str   (P)	  Audible signal (bell)
       bs    bool  (o)	  Terminal can backspace with ^H
       bt    str   (P)	  Back tab
       bw    bool	  le (backspace) wraps from column 0 to last column
       CC    str	  Terminal settable command character in prototype
       cd    str   (P∗)	  Clear to end of display
       ce    str   (P)	  Clear to end of line
       ch    str   (NP)	  Set cursor column (horizontal position)
       cl    str   (P∗)	  Clear screen and home cursor
       CM    str   (NP)	  Memory-relative cursor addressing
       cm    str   (NP)	  Screen-relative cursor motion
       co    num	  Number of columns in a line (See BUGS section below)
       cr    str   (P)	  Carriage return
       cs    str   (NP)	  Change scrolling region (VT100)
       ct    str   (P)	  Clear all tab stops
       cv    str   (NP)	  Set cursor row (vertical position)
       da    bool	  Display may be retained above the screen
       dB    num   (o)	  Milliseconds of bs delay needed (default 0)
       db    bool	  Display may be retained below the screen
       DC    str   (NP∗)  Delete n characters
       dC    num   (o)	  Milliseconds of cr delay needed (default 0)
       dc    str   (P∗)	  Delete character
       dF    num   (o)	  Milliseconds of ff delay needed (default 0)
       DL    str   (NP∗)  Delete n lines
       dl    str   (P∗)	  Delete line
       dm    str	  Enter delete mode
       dN    num   (o)	  Milliseconds of nl delay needed (default 0)
       DO    str   (NP∗)  Move cursor down n lines
       do    str	  Down one line
       ds    str	  Disable status line
       dT    num   (o)	  Milliseconds of horizontal tab delay needed (default
			  0)
       dV    num   (o)	  Milliseconds of vertical tab delay  needed  (default
			  0)
       ec    str   (NP)	  Erase n characters
       ed    str	  End delete mode
       ei    str	  End insert mode
       eo    bool	  Can erase overstrikes with a blank
       EP    bool  (o)	  Even parity
       es    bool	  Escape can be used on the status line
       ff    str   (P∗)	  Hardcopy terminal page eject
       fs    str	  Return from status line
       gn    bool	  Generic line type (e.g. dialup, switch)
       hc    bool	  Hardcopy terminal
       HD    bool  (o)	  Half-duplex
       hd    str	  Half-line down (forward 1/2 linefeed)
       ho    str   (P)	  Home cursor
       hs    bool	  Has extra “status line”
       hu    str	  Half-line up (reverse 1/2 linefeed)
       hz    bool	  Cannot print ~s (Hazeltine)
       i1-i3 str	  Terminal initialization strings (terminfo only)
       IC    str   (NP∗)  Insert n blank characters
       ic    str   (P∗)	  Insert character
       if    str	  Name of file containing initialization string
       im    str	  Enter insert mode
       in    bool	  Insert mode distinguishes nulls
       iP    str	  Pathname  of	program	 for  initialization (terminfo
			  only)
       ip    str   (P∗)	  Insert pad after character inserted
       is    str	  Terminal initialization string (termcap only)
       it    num	  Tabs initially every n positions
       K1    str	  Sent by keypad upper left
       K2    str	  Sent by keypad upper right
       K3    str	  Sent by keypad center
       K4    str	  Sent by keypad lower left
       K5    str	  Sent by keypad lower right
       k0-k9 str	  Sent by function keys 0-9
       kA    str	  Sent by insert-line key
       ka    str	  Sent by clear-all-tabs key
       kb    str	  Sent by backspace key
       kC    str	  Sent by clear-screen or erase key
       kD    str	  Sent by delete-character key
       kd    str	  Sent by down-arrow key
       kE    str	  Sent by clear-to-end-of-line key
       ke    str	  Out of “keypad transmit” mode
       kF    str	  Sent by scroll-forward/down key
       kH    str	  Sent by home-down key
       kh    str	  Sent by home key
       kI    str	  Sent by insert-character or enter-insert-mode key
       kL    str	  Sent by delete-line key
       kl    str	  Sent by left-arrow key
       kM    str	  Sent by insert key while in insert mode
       km    bool	  Has a “meta” key (shift, sets parity bit)
       kN    str	  Sent by next-page key
       kn    num   (o)	  Number of function (k0-k9) keys (default 0)
       ko    str   (o)	  Termcap entries for other non-function keys
       kP    str	  Sent by previous-page key
       kR    str	  Sent by scroll-backward/up key
       kr    str	  Sent by right-arrow key
       kS    str	  Sent by clear-to-end-of-screen key
       ks    str	  Put terminal in “keypad transmit” mode
       kT    str	  Sent by set-tab key
       kt    str	  Sent by clear-tab key
       ku    str	  Sent by up-arrow key
       l0-l9 str	  Labels on function keys if not “fn”
       LC    bool  (o)	  Lower-case only
       LE    str   (NP)	  Move cursor left n positions
       le    str   (P)	  Move cursor left one position
       li    num	  Number of lines on screen or page (See BUGS  section
			  below)
       ll    str	  Last line, first column
       lm    num	  Lines of memory if > li (0 means varies)
       ma    str   (o)	  Arrow key map (used by vi version 2 only)
       mb    str	  Turn on blinking attribute
       md    str	  Turn on bold (extra bright) attribute
       me    str	  Turn off all attributes
       mh    str	  Turn on half-bright attribute
       mi    bool	  Safe to move while in insert mode
       mk    str	  Turn on blank attribute (characters invisible)
       ml    str   (o)	  Memory lock on above cursor
       mm    str	  Turn on “meta mode” (8th bit)
       mo    str	  Turn off “meta mode”
       mp    str	  Turn on protected attribute
       mr    str	  Turn on reverse-video attibute
       ms    bool	  Safe to move in standout modes
       mu    str   (o)	  Memory unlock (turn off memory lock)
       nc    bool  (o)	  No  correctly-working	 cr (Datamedia 2500, Hazeltine
			  2000)
       nd    str	  Non-destructive space (cursor right)
       NL    bool  (o)	  \n is newline, not line feed
       nl    str   (o)	  Newline character if not \n
       ns    bool  (o)	  Terminal is a CRT but doesn't scroll
       nw    str   (P)	  Newline (behaves like cr followed by do)
       OP    bool  (o)	  Odd parity
       os    bool	  Terminal overstrikes
       pb    num	  Lowest baud where delays are required
       pc    str	  Pad character (default NUL)
       pf    str	  Turn off the printer
       pk    str	  Program function key n to type  string  s  (terminfo
			  only)
       pl    str	  Program function key n to execute string s (terminfo
			  only)
       pO    str   (N)	  Turn on the printer for n bytes
       po    str	  Turn on the printer
       ps    str	  Print contents of the screen
       pt    bool  (o)	  Has hardware tabs (may need to be set with is)
       px    str	  Program function key n to transmit  string  s	 (ter‐
			  minfo only)
       r1-r3 str	  Reset	 terminal  completely  to sane modes (terminfo
			  only)
       rc    str   (P)	  Restore cursor to position of last sc
       rf    str	  Name of file containing reset codes
       RI    str   (NP)	  Move cursor right n positions
       rp    str   (NP∗)  Repeat character c n times
       rs    str	  Reset terminal completely  to	 sane  modes  (termcap
			  only)
       sa    str   (NP)	  Define the video attributes
       sc    str   (P)	  Save cursor position
       se    str	  End standout mode
       SF    str   (NP∗)  Scroll forward n lines
       sf    str   (P)	  Scroll text up
       sg    num	  Number of garbage chars left by so or se (default 0)
       so    str	  Begin standout mode
       SR    str   (NP∗)  Scroll backward n lines
       sr    str   (P)	  Scroll text down
       st    str	  Set a tab in all rows, current column
       ta    str   (P)	  Tab to next 8-position hardware tab stop
       tc    str	  Entry of similar terminal - must be last
       te    str	  String to end programs that use termcap
       ti    str	  String to begin programs that use termcap
       ts    str   (N)	  Go to status line, column n
       UC    bool  (o)	  Upper-case only
       uc    str	  Underscore one character and move past it
       ue    str	  End underscore mode
       ug    num	  Number of garbage chars left by us or ue (default 0)
       ul    bool	  Underline character overstrikes
       UP    str   (NP∗)  Move cursor up n lines
       up    str	  Upline (cursor up)
       us    str	  Start underscore mode
       vb    str	  Visible bell (must not move cursor)
       ve    str	  Make cursor appear normal (undo vs/vi)
       vi    str	  Make cursor invisible
       vs    str	  Make cursor very visible
       vt    num	  Virtual  terminal  number (not supported on all sys‐
			  tems)
       wi    str   (N)	  Set current window
       ws    num	  Number of columns in status line
       xb    bool	  Beehive (f1=ESC, f2=^C)
       xn    bool	  Newline ignored after 80 cols (Concept)
       xo    bool	  Terminal uses xoff/xon (DC3/DC1) handshaking
       xr    bool  (o)	  Return acts like ce cr nl (Delta Data)
       xs    bool	  Standout not erased by overwriting (Hewlett-Packard)
       xt    bool	  Tabs ruin, magic so char (Teleray 1061)
       xx    bool  (o)	  Tektronix 4025 insert-line

       A Sample Entry

       The following entry, which describes the Concept-100, is among the more
       complex entries in the termcap file as of this writing.

       ca|concept100|c100|concept|c104|concept100-4p|HDS Concept-100:\
	 :al=3∗\E^R:am:bl=^G:cd=16∗\E^C:ce=16\E^U:cl=2∗^L:cm=\Ea%+ %+ :\
	 :co#80:.cr=9^M:db:dc=16\E^A:dl=3∗\E^B:do=^J:ei=\E\200:eo:im=\E^P:in:\
	 :ip=16∗:is=\EU\Ef\E7\E5\E8\El\ENH\EK\E\200\Eo&\200\Eo\47\E:k1=\E5:\
	 :k2=\E6:k3=\E7:kb=^h:kd=\E<:ke=\Ex:kh=\E?:kl=\E>:kr=\E=:ks=\EX:\
	 :ku=\E;:le=^H:li#24:mb=\EC:me=\EN\200:mh=\EE:mi:mk=\EH:mp=\EI:\
	 :mr=\ED:nd=\E=:pb#9600:rp=0.2∗\Er%.%+ :se=\Ed\Ee:sf=^J:so=\EE\ED:\
	 :.ta=8\t:te=\Ev    \200\200\200\200\200\200\Ep\r\n:\
	 :ti=\EU\Ev  8p\Ep\r:ue=\Eg:ul:up=\E;:us=\EG:\
	 :vb=\Ek\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\200\EK:\
	 :ve=\Ew:vs=\EW:vt#8:xn:\
	 :bs:cr=^M:dC#9:dT#8:nl=^J:ta=^I:pt:

       Entries	may  continue  onto  multiple  lines by giving a \ as the last
       character of a line, and empty fields may be included  for  readability
       (here  between  the  last  field	 on  a line and the first field on the
       next).  Comments may be included on lines beginning with “#”.

       Types of Capabilities

       Capabilities in termcap are of three types: Boolean capabilities, which
       indicate	 particular  features that the terminal has; numeric capabili‐
       ties, giving the size of the display or the size of  other  attributes;
       and  string  capabilities,  which  give character sequences that can be
       used to perform particular terminal operations.	All capabilities  have
       two-letter  codes.   For	 instance, the fact that the Concept has auto‐
       matic margins (i.e., an automatic return and linefeed when the end of a
       line  is reached) is indicated by the Boolean capability am.  Hence the
       description of the Concept includes am.

       Numeric capabilities are followed by the character `#' then the	value.
       In the example above co, which indicates the number of columns the dis‐
       play has, gives the value `80' for the Concept.

       Finally, string-valued capabilities, such as  ce	 (clear-to-end-of-line
       sequence)  are given by the two-letter code, an `=', then a string end‐
       ing at the next following `:'.  A  delay	 in  milliseconds  may	appear
       after  the `=' in such a capability, which causes padding characters to
       be supplied by tputs after the remainder of the string is sent to  pro‐
       vide  this  delay.   The delay can be either a number, e.g.  `20', or a
       number followed by an `∗', i.e., `3∗'.  An `∗' indicates that the  pad‐
       ding  required  is  proportional to the number of lines affected by the
       operation, and  the  amount  given  is  the  per-affected-line  padding
       required.   (In	the  case of insert-character, the factor is still the
       number of lines affected; this is always 1 unless the terminal  has  in
       and  the	 software uses it.)  When an `∗' is specified, it is sometimes
       useful to give a delay of the form `3.5' to specify a delay per line to
       tenths of milliseconds.	(Only one decimal place is allowed.)

       A number of escape sequences are provided in the string-valued capabil‐
       ities for easy encoding of control characters there.  \E maps to an ESC
       character,  ^X  maps  to	 a  control-X  for  any appropriate X, and the
       sequences \n \r \t \b \f map to linefeed, return, tab,  backspace,  and
       formfeed,  respectively.	  Finally,  characters	may  be given as three
       octal digits after a \, and the characters ^ and \ may be given	as  \^
       and  \\.	  If  it  is necessary to place a : in a capability it must be
       escaped in octal as \072.  If it is necessary to place a NUL  character
       in  a string capability it must be encoded as \200.  (The routines that
       deal with termcap use C strings and strip the high bits of  the	output
       very late, so that a \200 comes out as a \000 would.)

       Sometimes  individual  capabilities must be commented out.  To do this,
       put a period before the capability name.	 For example, see the first cr
       and ta in the example above.

       Preparing Descriptions

       We  now	outline	 how  to  prepare descriptions of terminals.  The most
       effective way to prepare a terminal description	is  by	imitating  the
       description of a similar terminal in termcap and to build up a descrip‐
       tion gradually, using partial descriptions with vi to check  that  they
       are  correct.   Be  aware that a very unusual terminal may expose defi‐
       ciencies in the ability of the termcap file to describe it or  bugs  in
       vi.  To easily test a new terminal description you can set the environ‐
       ment variable TERMCAP to the absolute pathname of a file containing the
       description you are working on and programs will look there rather than
       in /etc/termcap.	 TERMCAP can also be set to the termcap	 entry	itself
       to avoid reading the file when starting up a program.

       To  get the padding for insert-line right (if the terminal manufacturer
       did not document it), a severe test is to use vi to edit /etc/passwd at
       9600  baud, delete roughly 16 lines from the middle of the screen, then
       hit the `u' key several times quickly.  If the display messes up,  more
       padding is usually needed.  A similar test can be used for insert-char‐
       acter.

       Basic Capabilities

       The number of columns on each line of the display is given  by  the  co
       numeric	capability.  If the display is a CRT, then the number of lines
       on the screen is given by the li	 capability.   If  the	display	 wraps
       around  to  the	beginning of the next line when the cursor reaches the
       right margin, then it should have the am capability.  If	 the  terminal
       can  clear  its	screen,	 the code to do this is given by the cl string
       capability.  If the terminal  overstrikes  (rather  than	 clearing  the
       position	 when a character is overwritten), it should have the os capa‐
       bility.	If the terminal is a printing  terminal,  with	no  soft  copy
       unit,  give it both hc and os.  (os applies to storage scope terminals,
       such as the Tektronix 4010 series, as well as to hard copy and APL ter‐
       minals.)	 If there is a code to move the cursor to the left edge of the
       current row, give this as cr.  (Normally this will be  carriage-return,
       ^M.)   If  there	 is  a	code to produce an audible signal (bell, beep,
       etc.), give this as bl.

       If there is a code (such as backspace) to move the cursor one  position
       to  the	left, that capability should be given as le.  Similarly, codes
       to move to the right, up, and down should be given as nd, up,  and  do,
       respectively.   These  local  cursor  motions should not alter the text
       they pass over; for example, you would not normally use	“nd= ”	unless
       the  terminal  has the os capability, because the space would erase the
       character moved over.

       A very important point here is that the local cursor motions encoded in
       termcap have undefined behavior at the left and top edges of a CRT dis‐
       play.  Programs should never attempt to backspace around the left edge,
       unless  bw is given, and never attempt to go up off the top using local
       cursor motions.

       In order to scroll text up, a program goes to the bottom left corner of
       the  screen  and	 sends	the sf (index) string.	To scroll text down, a
       program goes to the top left corner of the  screen  and	sends  the  sr
       (reverse	 index) string.	 The strings sf and sr have undefined behavior
       when not on their respective corners of the screen.  Parameterized ver‐
       sions  of  the  scrolling  sequences are SF and SR, which have the same
       semantics as sf and sr except that they take one parameter  and	scroll
       that  many  lines.   They  also	have  undefined behavior except at the
       appropriate corner of the screen.

       The am capability tells whether the cursor sticks at the right edge  of
       the  screen  when  text	is output there, but this does not necessarily
       apply to nd from the last column.  Leftward  local  motion  is  defined
       from the left edge only when bw is given; then an le from the left edge
       will move to the right edge of the previous row.	 This  is  useful  for
       drawing	a box around the edge of the screen, for example.  If the ter‐
       minal has switch-selectable automatic margins, the termcap  description
       usually assumes that this feature is on, i.e., am.  If the terminal has
       a command that moves to the first column of the next line, that command
       can  be given as nw (newline).  It is permissible for this to clear the
       remainder of the current line, so if the	 terminal  has	no  correctly-
       working CR and LF it may still be possible to craft a working nw out of
       one or both of them.

       These capabilities suffice to describe hardcopy and “glass-tty”	termi‐
       nals.  Thus the Teletype model 33 is described as

	 T3|tty33|33|tty|Teletype model 33:\
	   :bl=^G:co#72:cr=^M:do=^J:hc:os:

       and the Lear Siegler ADM-3 is described as

	 l3|adm3|3|LSI ADM-3:\
	   :am:bl=^G:cl=^Z:co#80:cr=^M:do=^J:le=^H:li#24:sf=^J:

       Parameterized Strings

       Cursor  addressing and other strings requiring parameters are described
       by a parameterized string capability, with printf(3)-like escapes %x in
       it,  while other characters are passed through unchanged.  For example,
       to address the cursor the cm capability is given, using two parameters:
       the  row	 and  column  to move to.  (Rows and columns are numbered from
       zero and refer to the physical screen visible to the user, not  to  any
       unseen  memory.	If the terminal has memory-relative cursor addressing,
       that can be indicated by an analogous CM capability.)

       The % encodings have the following meanings:

	       %%      output `%'
	       %d      output value as in printf %d
	       %2      output value as in printf %2d
	       %3      output value as in printf %3d
	       %.      output value as in printf %c
	       %+x     add x to value, then do %.
	       %>xy    if value > x then add y, no output
	       %r      reverse order of two parameters, no output
	       %i      increment by one, no output
	       %n      exclusive-or all parameters with 0140 (Datamedia 2500)
	       %B      BCD (16∗(value/10)) + (value%10), no output
	       %D      Reverse coding (value - 2∗(value%16)), no output (Delta
		       Data)

       Consider	 the  Hewlett-Packard  2645, which, to get to row 3 and column
       12, needs to be sent “\E&a12c03Y” padded for 6 milliseconds.  Note that
       the  order  of the row and column coordinates is reversed here and that
       the row and column are sent as two-digit integers.  Thus its  cm	 capa‐
       bility is “cm=6\E&%r%2c%2Y”.

       The  Microterm  ACT-IV  needs  the  current  row and column sent simply
       encoded in binary preceded by a ^T, “cm=^T%.%.”.	  Terminals  that  use
       “%.”  need to be able to backspace the cursor (le) and to move the cur‐
       sor up one line on the screen (up).  This is necessary  because	it  is
       not always safe to transmit \n, ^D, and \r, as the system may change or
       discard them.  (Programs using termcap must set terminal modes so  that
       tabs  are  not  expanded,  so \t is safe to send.  This turns out to be
       essential for the Ann Arbor 4080.)

       A final example is the Lear Siegler ADM-3a, which offsets row and  col‐
       umn by a blank character, thus “cm=\E=%+ %+ ”.

       Row or column absolute cursor addressing can be given as single parame‐
       ter capabilities ch (horizontal position	 absolute)  and	 cv  (vertical
       position	 absolute).  Sometimes these are shorter than the more general
       two-parameter sequence (as with the Hewlett-Packard 2645)  and  can  be
       used  in	 preference  to	 cm.  If there are parameterized local motions
       (e.g., move n positions to the right) these can be given as DO, LE, RI,
       and  UP	with a single parameter indicating how many positions to move.
       These are primarily useful if the terminal does not have	 cm,  such  as
       the Tektronix 4025.

       Cursor Motions

       If  the	terminal  has a fast way to home the cursor (to the very upper
       left corner of the screen), this can be given as ho.  Similarly, a fast
       way  of	getting to the lower left-hand corner can be given as ll; this
       may involve going up with up from the  home  position,  but  a  program
       should  never  do  this itself (unless ll does), because it can make no
       assumption about the effect of moving up from the home position.	  Note
       that  the home position is the same as cursor address (0,0): to the top
       left corner of the  screen,  not	 of  memory.   (Therefore,  the	 “\EH”
       sequence on Hewlett-Packard terminals cannot be used for ho.)

       Area Clears

       If  the	terminal can clear from the current position to the end of the
       line, leaving the cursor where it is, this should be given as  ce.   If
       the terminal can clear from the current position to the end of the dis‐
       play, this should be given as cd.  cd must only	be  invoked  from  the
       first  column  of a line.  (Therefore, it can be simulated by a request
       to delete a large number of lines, if a true cd is not available.)

       Insert/Delete Line

       If the terminal can open a new blank line before	 the  line  containing
       the  cursor, this should be given as al; this must be invoked only from
       the first position of a line.  The cursor must then appear at the  left
       of  the newly blank line.  If the terminal can delete the line that the
       cursor is on, this should be given as dl; this must only be  used  from
       the  first  position  on the line to be deleted.	 Versions of al and dl
       which take a single parameter and insert or delete that many lines  can
       be given as AL and DL.  If the terminal has a settable scrolling region
       (like the VT100), the command to set this can be described with the  cs
       capability, which takes two parameters: the top and bottom lines of the
       scrolling region.  The cursor position is, alas, undefined after	 using
       this  command.	It  is	possible to get the effect of insert or delete
       line using this command — the sc and rc (save and restore cursor)  com‐
       mands  are  also	 useful.   Inserting lines at the top or bottom of the
       screen can also be done using sr or sf on many terminals without a true
       insert/delete  line,  and  is often faster even on terminals with those
       features.

       If the terminal has the ability to define a window as  part  of	memory
       which  all  commands  affect,  it  should be given as the parameterized
       string wi.  The four parameters are the starting and  ending  lines  in
       memory  and  the	 starting and ending columns in memory, in that order.
       (This  terminfo	capability  is	described  for	completeness.	It  is
       unlikely that any termcap-using program will support it.)

       If the terminal can retain display memory above the screen, then the da
       capability should be given; if display memory can  be  retained	below,
       then  db	 should	 be  given.   These  indicate  that deleting a line or
       scrolling may bring non-blank lines up from  below  or  that  scrolling
       back with sr may bring down non-blank lines.

       Insert/Delete Character

       There  are  two	basic  kinds  of intelligent terminals with respect to
       insert/delete character that can be described using termcap.  The  most
       common insert/delete character operations affect only the characters on
       the current line and shift characters off the end of the line  rigidly.
       Other terminals, such as the Concept-100 and the Perkin Elmer Owl, make
       a distinction between typed and untyped blanks on the screen,  shifting
       upon  an	 insert or delete only to an untyped blank on the screen which
       is either eliminated or expanded to two untyped blanks.	You can deter‐
       mine  the  kind of terminal you have by clearing the screen then typing
       text separated by cursor motions.  Type “abc    def” using local cursor
       motions	(not  spaces)  between the “abc” and the “def”.	 Then position
       the cursor before the “abc” and put the terminal in  insert  mode.   If
       typing  characters  causes  the	rest  of the line to shift rigidly and
       characters to fall off the end, then your terminal does not distinguish
       between	blanks and untyped positions.  If the “abc” shifts over to the
       “def” which then move together around the end of the current  line  and
       onto  the next as you insert, then you have the second type of terminal
       and should give the capability in,  which  stands  for  “insert	null”.
       While these are two logically separate attributes (one line vs.	multi-
       line insert mode, and special treatment of  untyped  spaces),  we  have
       seen no terminals whose insert mode cannot be described with the single
       attribute.

       Termcap can describe both terminals that have an insert mode and termi‐
       nals  that  send a simple sequence to open a blank position on the cur‐
       rent line.  Give as im the sequence to get into insert mode.   Give  as
       ei the sequence to leave insert mode.  Now give as ic any sequence that
       needs to be sent just before each character to be inserted.  Most  ter‐
       minals  with  a true insert mode will not give ic; terminals that use a
       sequence to open a screen position should give it here.	(If your  ter‐
       minal  has  both, insert mode is usually preferable to ic.  Do not give
       both unless the terminal actually requires both to be used in  combina‐
       tion.)  If post-insert padding is needed, give this as a number of mil‐
       liseconds in ip (a string option).  Any other sequence that may need to
       be  sent after insertion of a single character can also be given in ip.
       If your terminal needs to be placed into an `insert mode' and  needs  a
       special	code preceding each inserted character, then both im/ei and ic
       can be given, and both will be  used.   The  IC	capability,  with  one
       parameter n, will repeat the effects of ic n times.

       It  is  occasionally  necessary	to move around while in insert mode to
       delete characters on the same line (e.g., if there is a tab  after  the
       insertion  position).   If  your terminal allows motion while in insert
       mode, you can give the capability mi to	speed  up  inserting  in  this
       case.   Omitting	 mi  will  affect only speed.  Some terminals (notably
       Datamedia's) must not have mi because of	 the  way  their  insert  mode
       works.

       Finally,	 you  can specify dc to delete a single character, DC with one
       parameter n to delete n characters, and delete mode by giving dm and ed
       to  enter and exit delete mode (which is any mode the terminal needs to
       be placed in for dc to work).

       Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells

       If your terminal has one or more kinds of display attributes, these can
       be  represented	in  a number of different ways.	 You should choose one
       display form as standout mode, representing a good high-contrast, easy-
       on-the-eyes  format for highlighting error messages and other attention
       getters.	 (If you have a choice,	 reverse  video	 plus  half-bright  is
       good,  or reverse video alone.)	The sequences to enter and exit stand‐
       out mode are given as so and se, respectively.  If the code  to	change
       into  or	 out  of  standout mode leaves one or even two blank spaces or
       garbage characters on the screen, as the TVI 912 and Teleray  1061  do,
       then sg should be given to tell how many characters are left.

       Codes  to  begin underlining and end underlining can be given as us and
       ue, respectively.  Underline mode change garbage is  specified  by  ug,
       similar	to  sg.	  If  the terminal has a code to underline the current
       character and move the cursor one position to the right,	 such  as  the
       Microterm Mime, this can be given as uc.

       Other  capabilities  to	enter  various	highlighting  modes include mb
       (blinking), md (bold or extra bright),  mh  (dim	 or  half-bright),  mk
       (blanking  or  invisible	 text), mp (protected), mr (reverse video), me
       (turn off all attribute	modes),	 as  (enter  alternate	character  set
       mode),  and  ae (exit alternate character set mode).  Turning on any of
       these modes singly may or may not turn off other modes.

       If there is a sequence to set  arbitrary	 combinations  of  mode,  this
       should  be  given  as  sa  (set attributes), taking 9 parameters.  Each
       parameter is either 0 or 1, as the corresponding attributes  is	on  or
       off.   The  9  parameters  are, in order: standout, underline, reverse,
       blink, dim, bold, blank, protect, and alternate character set.  Not all
       modes  need  be	supported  by  sa,  only those for which corresponding
       attribute commands exist.  (It is unlikely that a termcap-using program
       will  support  this capability, which is defined for compatibility with
       terminfo.)

       Terminals with the “magic cookie” glitches (sg  and  ug),  rather  than
       maintaining  extra  attribute  bits  for	 each  character cell, instead
       deposit special “cookies”, or “garbage characters”, when	 they  receive
       mode-setting sequences, which affect the display algorithm.

       Some  terminals,	 such as the Hewlett-Packard 2621, automatically leave
       standout mode when they move to a  new  line  or	 when  the  cursor  is
       addressed.   Programs  using standout mode should exit standout mode on
       such terminals before moving the cursor or sending a newline.  On  ter‐
       minals where this is not a problem, the ms capability should be present
       to say that this overhead is unnecessary.

       If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indicate  an	 error
       quietly (a bell replacement), this can be given as vb; it must not move
       the cursor.

       If the cursor needs to be made more visible than normal when it is  not
       on  the	bottom	line (to change, for example, a non-blinking underline
       into an easier-to-find block or blinking underline), give this sequence
       as vs.  If there is a way to make the cursor completely invisible, give
       that as vi.  The capability ve, which undoes the	 effects  of  both  of
       these modes, should also be given.

       If your terminal correctly displays underlined characters (with no spe‐
       cial codes needed) even though it does not overstrike, then you	should
       give the capability ul.	If overstrikes are erasable with a blank, this
       should be indicated by giving eo.

       Keypad

       If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes  when	the  keys  are
       pressed,	 this  information can be given.  Note that it is not possible
       to handle terminals where the keypad only works	in  local  mode	 (this
       applies,	 for example, to the unshifted Hewlett-Packard 2621 keys).  If
       the keypad can be set to transmit or not transmit, give these codes  as
       ks  and	ke.   Otherwise the keypad is assumed to always transmit.  The
       codes sent by the left-arrow, right-arrow,  up-arrow,  down-arrow,  and
       home  keys  can	be  given as kl, kr, ku, kd, and kh, respectively.  If
       there are function keys such as f0, f1, ..., f9, the  codes  they  send
       can  be	given as k0, k1,..., k9.  If these keys have labels other than
       the default f0 through f9, the labels can be given as l0,  l1,...,  l9.
       The  codes  transmitted	by certain other special keys can be given: kH
       (home down), kb (backspace), ka (clear all tabs),  kt  (clear  the  tab
       stop  in	 this  column), kC (clear screen or erase), kD (delete charac‐
       ter), kL (delete line), kM (exit insert mode),  kE  (clear  to  end  of
       line),  kS  (clear  to  end  of	screen), kI (insert character or enter
       insert mode), kA (insert line), kN (next page), kP (previous page),  kF
       (scroll	forward/down), kR (scroll backward/up), and kT (set a tab stop
       in this column).	 In addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3 array of keys
       including the four arrow keys, then the other five keys can be given as
       K1, K2, K3, K4, and K5.	These keys are useful when the effects of a  3
       by  3  directional pad are needed.  The obsolete ko capability formerly
       used to describe “other” function keys has been	completely  supplanted
       by the above capabilities.

       The ma entry is also used to indicate arrow keys on terminals that have
       single-character arrow keys.  It is obsolete but still in use  in  ver‐
       sion 2 of vi which must be run on some minicomputers due to memory lim‐
       itations.  This field is redundant with kl, kr, ku,  kd,	 and  kh.   It
       consists of groups of two characters.  In each group, the first charac‐
       ter is what an arrow key sends, and the second character is the	corre‐
       sponding	 vi command.  These commands are h for kl, j for kd, k for ku,
       l  for  kr,  and	 H  for	 kh.   For  example,  the  Mime	  would	  have
       “ma=^Hh^Kj^Zk^Xl”  indicating arrow keys left (^H), down (^K), up (^Z),
       and right (^X).	(There is no home key on the Mime.)

       Tabs and Initialization

       If the terminal needs to be in a special mode when  running  a  program
       that uses these capabilities, the codes to enter and exit this mode can
       be given as ti and te.  This arises, for example, from  terminals  like
       the  Concept  with  more	 than one page of memory.  If the terminal has
       only memory-relative cursor addressing and not  screen-relative	cursor
       addressing,  a  screen-sized  window must be fixed into the display for
       cursor addressing to work properly.  This is also  used	for  the  Tek‐
       tronix  4025, where ti sets the command character to be the one used by
       termcap.

       Other capabilities include is, an initialization string for the	termi‐
       nal, and if, the name of a file containing long initialization strings.
       These strings are expected to set the terminal  into  modes  consistent
       with  the  rest	of the termcap description.  They are normally sent to
       the terminal by the tset program each time the user logs in.  They will
       be  printed  in	the following order: is; setting tabs using ct and st;
       and finally if.	(Terminfo uses i1-i2 instead of is and runs  the  pro‐
       gram  iP	 and  prints  i3  after the other initializations.)  A pair of
       sequences that does a harder reset from a totally unknown state can  be
       analogously  given as rs and if.	 These strings are output by the reset
       program, which is used when the terminal	 gets  into  a	wedged	state.
       (Terminfo  uses	r1-r3 instead of rs.)  Commands are normally placed in
       rs and rf only if they produce annoying effects on the screen  and  are
       not  necessary  when  logging  in.  For example, the command to set the
       VT100 into 80-column mode would normally be part of is, but  it	causes
       an  annoying  glitch of the screen and is not normally needed since the
       terminal is usually already in 80-column mode.

       If the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance to  the  next
       tab  stop  can  be given as ta (usually ^I).  A “backtab” command which
       moves leftward to the previous tab stop can be given as bt.  By conven‐
       tion,  if  the  terminal driver modes indicate that tab stops are being
       expanded by the computer rather than being sent to the  terminal,  pro‐
       grams  should not use ta or bt even if they are present, since the user
       may not have the tab stops properly set.	 If the terminal has  hardware
       tabs that are initially set every n positions when the terminal is pow‐
       ered up, then the numeric parameter it is given, showing the number  of
       positions between tab stops.  This is normally used by the tset command
       to determine whether to set the driver mode for hardware tab expansion,
       and  whether  to set the tab stops.  If the terminal has tab stops that
       can be saved in nonvolatile memory, the termcap description can	assume
       that they are properly set.

       If  there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can be given as
       ct (clear all tab stops) and st (set a tab stop in the  current	column
       of  every  row).	  If a more complex sequence is needed to set the tabs
       than can be described by this, the sequence can be placed in is or if.

       Delays

       Certain capabilities control padding in the terminal driver.  These are
       primarily needed by hardcopy terminals and are used by the tset program
       to set terminal driver modes appropriately.   Delays  embedded  in  the
       capabilities  cr,  sf,  le, ff, and ta will cause the appropriate delay
       bits to be set in the terminal driver.  If pb (padding  baud  rate)  is
       given, these values can be ignored at baud rates below the value of pb.
       For 4.2BSD tset, the delays are given as numeric capabilities  dC,  dN,
       dB, dF, and dT instead.

       Miscellaneous

       If  the	terminal  requires other than a NUL (zero) character as a pad,
       this can be given as pc.	 Only the first character of the pc string  is
       used.

       If  the	terminal  has commands to save and restore the position of the
       cursor, give them as sc and rc.

       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, then the capability hs  should  be
       given.	Special	 strings to go to a position in the status line and to
       return from the status line can be given as ts and fs.  (fs must	 leave
       the cursor position in the same place that it was before ts.  If neces‐
       sary, the sc and rc strings can be included in ts and fs	 to  get  this
       effect.)	  The  capability  ts takes one parameter, which is the column
       number of the status line to which the  cursor  is  to  be  moved.   If
       escape  sequences  and other special commands such as tab work while in
       the status line, the flag es can be given.  A string that turns off the
       status  line  (or otherwise erases its contents) should be given as ds.
       The status line is normally assumed to be the same width as the rest of
       the  screen, i.e., co.  If the status line is a different width (possi‐
       bly because the terminal does not allow an entire line to  be  loaded),
       then  its  width in columns can be indicated with the numeric parameter
       ws.

       If the terminal can move up or down half a line, this can be  indicated
       with hu (half-line up) and hd (half-line down).	This is primarily use‐
       ful for superscripts and subscripts on hardcopy terminals.  If a	 hard‐
       copy  terminal  can eject to the next page (form feed), give this as ff
       (usually ^L).

       If there is a command to repeat a given character  a  given  number  of
       times  (to  save	 time transmitting a large number of identical charac‐
       ters), this can be indicated with the  parameterized  string  rp.   The
       first  parameter	 is the character to be repeated and the second is the
       number of times to repeat it.  (This is	a  terminfo  feature  that  is
       unlikely to be supported by a program that uses termcap.)

       If the terminal has a settable command character, such as the Tektronix
       4025, this can be indicated with CC.  A prototype command character  is
       chosen  which  is used in all capabilities.  This character is given in
       the CC capability to identify it.  The  following  convention  is  sup‐
       ported on some UNIX systems: The environment is to be searched for a CC
       variable, and if found, all occurrences of the prototype character  are
       replaced by the character in the environment variable.  This use of the
       CC environment variable is a  very  bad	idea,  as  it  conflicts  with
       make(1).

       Terminal	 descriptions  that  do not represent a specific kind of known
       terminal, such as switch, dialup, patch, and  network,  should  include
       the  gn (generic) capability so that programs can complain that they do
       not know how to talk to the terminal.  (This capability does not	 apply
       to  virtual  terminal  descriptions  for which the escape sequences are
       known.)

       If the terminal uses xoff/xon (DC3/DC1) handshaking for	flow  control,
       give xo.	 Padding information should still be included so that routines
       can make better decisions about costs, but actual pad  characters  will
       not be transmitted.

       If the terminal has a “meta key” which acts as a shift key, setting the
       8th bit of any character transmitted, then this fact can	 be  indicated
       with  km.   Otherwise,  software will assume that the 8th bit is parity
       and it will usually be cleared.	If strings exist to  turn  this	 “meta
       mode” on and off, they can be given as mm and mo.

       If the terminal has more lines of memory than will fit on the screen at
       once, the number of lines of memory  can	 be  indicated	with  lm.   An
       explicit	 value	of  0 indicates that the number of lines is not fixed,
       but that there is still more memory than fits on the screen.

       If the terminal is one of those supported by the	 UNIX  system  virtual
       terminal protocol, the terminal number can be given as vt.

       Media  copy strings which control an auxiliary printer connected to the
       terminal can be given as ps: print the contents of the screen; pf: turn
       off  the printer; and po: turn on the printer.  When the printer is on,
       all text sent to the terminal will be sent to the printer.  It is unde‐
       fined  whether  the  text is also displayed on the terminal screen when
       the printer is on.  A variation pO takes one parameter and  leaves  the
       printer	on  for as many characters as the value of the parameter, then
       turns the printer off.  The parameter should not exceed 255.  All text,
       including  pf,  is  transparently  passed to the printer while pO is in
       effect.

       Strings to program function keys can be given as pk, pl, and px.	  Each
       of  these strings takes two parameters: the function key number to pro‐
       gram (from 0 to 9) and the string to program  it	 with.	 Function  key
       numbers	out  of	 this  range may program undefined keys in a terminal-
       dependent manner.  The differences among the capabilities are  that  pk
       causes  pressing	 the  given  key to be the same as the user typing the
       given string; pl causes the string to be executed by  the  terminal  in
       local mode; and px causes the string to be transmitted to the computer.
       Unfortunately, due to lack of a definition  for	string	parameters  in
       termcap, only terminfo supports these capabilities.

       Glitches and Braindamage

       Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow `~' characters to be displayed,
       should indicate hz.

       The nc capability, now obsolete, formerly  indicated  Datamedia	termi‐
       nals,  which  echo  \r  \n  for carriage return then ignore a following
       linefeed.

       Terminals that ignore a linefeed immediately after an am wrap, such  as
       the Concept, should indicate xn.

       If  ce  is  required  to get rid of standout (instead of merely writing
       normal text on top of it), xs should be given.

       Teleray terminals, where tabs turn all characters moved over to blanks,
       should  indicate	 xt  (destructive tabs).  This glitch is also taken to
       mean that it is not possible to position the cursor on top of a	“magic
       cookie”,	 and that to erase standout mode it is necessary to use delete
       and insert line.

       The Beehive Superbee, which is unable to correctly transmit the ESC  or
       ^C characters, has xb, indicating that the “f1” key is used for ESC and
       “f2” for ^C.  (Only certain Superbees have this problem,	 depending  on
       the ROM.)

       Other  specific terminal problems may be corrected by adding more capa‐
       bilities of the form xx.

       Similar Terminals

       If there are two very similar terminals, one can be  defined  as	 being
       just  like the other with certain exceptions.  The string capability tc
       can be given with the name of the similar  terminal.   This  capability
       must  be	 last,	and the combined length of the entries must not exceed
       1024.  The capabilities given before tc override those in the  terminal
       type invoked by tc.  A capability can be canceled by placing xx@ to the
       left of the tc invocation, where xx is the  capability.	 For  example,
       the entry

	       hn|2621-nl:ks@:ke@:tc=2621:

       defines a “2621-nl” that does not have the ks or ke capabilities, hence
       does not turn on the function key labels when in visual mode.  This  is
       useful  for different modes for a terminal, or for different user pref‐
       erences.

AUTHOR
       William Joy
       Mark Horton added underlining and keypad support

FILES
       /etc/termcap   file containing terminal	descriptions  /usr/etc/termcap
		      file containing more terminal descriptions (Minix-vmd)

SEE ALSO
       elvis(1), more(1), termcap(3), printf(3).

CAVEATS AND BUGS
       Lines  and columns are now stored by the kernel as well as in the term‐
       cap entry.  Most programs now use the kernel information primarily; the
       information  in	this file is used only if the kernel does not have any
       information.

       Not all programs support all entries.

       The MINIX 3 termcap(3) does not understand everything  described	 here,
       unlike the one Minix-vmd uses.

3rd Berkeley Distribution	1 November 1985			    TERMCAP(5)
[top]

List of man pages available for Minix

Copyright (c) for man pages and the logo by the respective OS vendor.

For those who want to learn more, the polarhome community provides shell access and support.

[legal] [privacy] [GNU] [policy] [cookies] [netiquette] [sponsors] [FAQ]
Tweet
Polarhome, production since 1999.
Member of Polarhome portal.
Based on Fawad Halim's script.
....................................................................
Vote for polarhome
Free Shell Accounts :: the biggest list on the net