TPUT(1)TPUT(1)NAMEtput - initialize a terminal or query terminfo database
SYNOPSIStput [-T type] capname [parm]...
tput-S <<
DESCRIPTION
The tput utility uses the terminfo database to make the values of ter‐
minal-dependent capabilities and information available to the shell
(see sh(1)); to clear, initialize or reset the terminal; or to return
the long name of the requested terminal type. tput outputs a string if
the capability attribute (capname) is of type string, or an integer if
the attribute is of type integer. If the attribute is of type boolean,
tput simply sets the exit status (0 for TRUE if the terminal has the
capability, 1 for FALSE if it does not), and produces no output.
Before using a value returned on standard output, the user should test
the exit status ($?, see sh(1)) to be sure it is 0. See the EXIT STATUS
section.
OPTIONS
The following options are supported:
-Ttype
Indicates the type of terminal. Normally this option is
unnecessary, because the default is taken from the environ‐
ment variable TERM. If -T is specified, then the shell vari‐
ables LINES and COLUMNS and the layer size will not be ref‐
erenced.
-S
Allows more than one capability per invocation of tput. The
capabilities must be passed to tput from the standard input
instead of from the command line (see the example in the
EXAMPLES section). Only one capname is allowed per line. The
-S option changes the meaning of the 0 and 1 boolean and
string exit statuses (see the EXAMPLES section).
OPERANDS
The following operands are supported:
capname
Indicates the capability attribute from the terminfo data‐
base. See terminfo(4) for a complete list of capabilities
and the capname associated with each.
The following strings will be supported as operands by the
implementation in the "C" locale:
clear
Display the clear-screen sequence.
init
If the terminfo database is present and an
entry for the user's terminal exists (see
-Ttype, above), the following will occur:
1. if present, the terminal's initial‐
ization strings will be output
(is1, is2, is3, if, iprog),
2. any delays (for instance, newline)
specified in the entry will be set
in the tty driver,
3. tabs expansion will be turned on or
off according to the specification
in the entry, and
4. if tabs are not expanded, standard
tabs will be set (every 8 spaces).
If an entry does not contain the
information needed for any of the
four above activities, that activ‐
ity will silently be skipped.
reset
Instead of putting out initialization strings,
the terminal's reset strings will be output if
present (rs1, rs2, rs3, rf). If the reset
strings are not present, but initialization
strings are, the initialization strings will
be output. Otherwise, reset acts identically
to init.
longname
If the terminfo database is present and an
entry for the user's terminal exists (see
-Ttype above), then the long name of the ter‐
minal will be put out. The long name is the
last name in the first line of the terminal's
description in the terminfo database (see
term(5)).
parm
If the attribute is a string that takes parameters, the
argument parm will be instantiated into the string. An all
numeric argument will be passed to the attribute as a num‐
ber.
EXAMPLES
Example 1 Initializing the terminal according to TERM
This example initializes the terminal according to the type of terminal
in the environment variable TERM. This command should be included in
everyone's .profile after the environment variable TERM has been
exported, as illustrated on the profile(4) manual page.
example% tput init
Example 2 Resetting a terminal
This example resets an AT&T 5620 terminal, overriding the type of ter‐
minal in the environment variable TERM:
example% tput-T5620 reset
Example 3 Moving the cursor
The following example sends the sequence to move the cursor to row 0,
column 0 (the upper left corner of the screen, usually known as the
"home" cursor position).
example% tput cup 0 0
This next example sends the sequence to move the cursor to row 23, col‐
umn 4.
example% tput cup 23 4
Example 4 Echoing the clear-screen sequence
This example echos the clear-screen sequence for the current terminal.
example% tput clear
Example 5 Printing the number of columns
This command prints the number of columns for the current terminal.
example% tput cols
The following command prints the number of columns for the 450 termi‐
nal.
example% tput-T450 cols
Example 6 Setting shell variables
This example sets the shell variables bold, to begin stand-out mode
sequence, and offbold, to end standout mode sequence, for the current
terminal. This might be followed by a prompt:
echo "${bold}Please type in your name: ${offbold}\c"
example% bold='tput smso'
example% offbold='tput rmso'
Example 7 Setting the exit status
This example sets the exit status to indicate if the current terminal
is a hardcopy terminal.
example% tput hc
Example 8 Printing the long name from terminfo
This command prints the long name from the terminfo database for the
type of terminal specified in the environment variable TERM.
example% tput longname
Example 9 Processing several capabilities with one invocation
This example shows tput processing several capabilities in one invoca‐
tion. This example clears the screen, moves the cursor to position 10,
10 and turns on bold (extra bright) mode. The list is terminated by an
exclamation mark (!) on a line by itself.
example% tput-S <<!
> clear
> cup 10 10
> bold
> !
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
See environ(5) for descriptions of the following environment variables
that affect the execution of tput: LANG, LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, LC_MESSAGES,
and NLSPATH.
TERM
Determine the terminal type. If this variable is unset or
null, and if the -T option is not specified, an unspecified
default terminal type will be used.
EXIT STATUS
The following exit values are returned:
0
o If capname is of type boolean and -S is not speci‐
fied, indicates TRUE.
o If capname is of type string and -S is not speci‐
fied, indicates capname is defined for this termi‐
nal type.
o If capname is of type boolean or string and -S is
specified, indicates that all lines were success‐
ful.
o capname is of type integer.
o The requested string was written successfully.
1
o If capname is of type boolean and -S is not speci‐
fied, indicates FALSE.
o If capname is of type string and -S is not speci‐
fied, indicates that capname is not defined for
this terminal type.
2
Usage error.
3
No information is available about the specified terminal
type.
4
The specified operand is invalid.
>4
An error occurred.
−1
capname is a numeric variable that is not specified in the
terminfo database. For instance, tput-T450 lines and tput-T2621 xmc.
FILES
/usr/include/curses.h
curses(3CURSES) header
/usr/include/term.h
terminfo header
/usr/lib/tabset/*
Tab settings for some terminals, in a format appropriate to be out‐
put to the terminal (escape sequences that set margins and tabs).
For more information, see the "Tabs and Initialization" section of
terminfo(4)
/usr/share/lib/terminfo/?/*
compiled terminal description database
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌────────────────────┬─────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├────────────────────┼─────────────────┤
│Interface Stability │ Standard │
└────────────────────┴─────────────────┘
SEE ALSOclear(1), sh(1), stty(1), tabs(1), curses(3CURSES), profile(4), ter‐
minfo(4), attributes(5), environ(5), standards(5), term(5)
Feb 1, 1995 TPUT(1)
