4.4BSD/usr/share/man/cat5/termcap.0
TERMCAP(5) BSD Programmer's Manual TERMCAP(5)
NNAAMMEE
tteerrmmccaapp - terminal capability data base
SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
tteerrmmccaapp
DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
The TTeerrmmccaapp file is a data base describing terminals, used, for example,
by vi(1) and curses(3). Terminals are described in tteerrmmccaapp by giving a
set of capabilities that they have and by describing how operations are
performed. Padding requirements and initialization sequences are includ-
ed in tteerrmmccaapp.
Entries in tteerrmmccaapp consist of a number of `:'-separated fields. The
first entry for each terminal gives the names that are known for the ter-
minal, separated by `|' characters. The first 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 last should be in
lower case and contain no blanks; the last name may well contain upper
case characters and blanks for readability.
Terminal names (except for the last, verbose entry) should be chosen us-
ing the following conventions. The particular piece of hardware making
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:
SSuuffffiixx MMeeaanniinngg EExxaammppllee
-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
-na No arrow keys (leave them in local) concept100-na
-_n_p Number of pages of memory concept100-4p
-rv Reverse video concept100-rv
CCAAPPAABBIILLIITTIIEESS
The characters in the The _N_o_t_e_s function field in the table have the fol-
lowing meanings (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o indicates capability is obsolete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 _t_e_r_m_i_n_f_o equivalents, since they were
considered useless, or are subsumed by other capabilities. New software
should not rely on them at all.
NNaammee TTyyppee NNootteess DDeessccrriippttiioonn
functions
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. ^^HH.
bl str (P) Audible signal (bell).
bs bool (o) Terminal can backspace with ^^HH.
bt str (P) Back tab.
bw bool llee (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 _B_U_G_S sec-
tion 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 bbss delay needed (default
0).
db bool Display may be retained below the screen.
DC str (NP*) Delete _n characters.
dC num (o) Milliseconds of ccrr delay needed (default
0).
dc str (P*) Delete character.
dF num (o) Milliseconds of ffff 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 nnll 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, for example 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 ``~'' (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 (tteerrmmccaapp on-
ly).
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 (kk00- kk99) 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 ``f_n''.
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 _B_U_G_S
section below)
ll str Last line, first column
lm num Lines of memory if > llii (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 ccrr (Datamedia 2500,
Hazeltine 2000).
nd str Non-destructive space (cursor right).
NL bool (o) \\nn is newline, not line feed.
nl str (o) Newline character if not \\nn.
ns bool (o) Terminal is a CRT but doesn't scroll.
nw str (P) Newline (behaves like ccrr followed by ddoo ))..
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
iiss ))..
px str Program function key _n to transmit string _s
(terminfo only).
r1-r3 str Reset terminal completely to sane modes
(terminfo only).
rc str (P) Restore cursor to position of last sscc.
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
(tteerrmmccaapp 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 ssoo or ssee
(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 tteerrmmccaapp.
ti str String to begin programs that use tteerrmmccaapp.
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 uuss or uuee
(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 vvss/ vvii).
vi str Make cursor invisible.
vs str Make cursor very visible.
vt num Virtual terminal number (not supported on
all systems).
wi str (N) Set current window.
ws num Number of columns in status line.
xb bool Beehive (f1= ESC, f2=^^CC).
xn bool Newline ignored after 80 cols (Concept).
xo bool Terminal uses xoff/xon (DC3/DC1) handshak-
ing.
xr bool (o) Return acts like ccee ccrr nnll (Delta Data).
xs bool Standout not erased by overwriting
(Hewlett-Packard).
xt bool Tabs ruin, magic char (Teleray 1061).
xx bool (o) Tektronix 4025 insert-line.
AA SSaammppllee EEnnttrryy
The following entry, which describes the Concept-100, is among the more
complex entries in the tteerrmmccaapp 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 char-
acter 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). Com-
ments may be included on lines beginning with ``#''.
TTyyppeess ooff CCaappaabbiilliittiieess
Capabilities in tteerrmmccaapp are of three types: Boolean capabilities, which
indicate particular features that the terminal has; numeric capabilities,
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 _a_u_t_o_m_a_t_i_c _m_a_r_g_i_n_s (an
automatic return and linefeed when the end of a line is reached) is indi-
cated by the Boolean capability aamm. Hence the description of the Concept
includes aamm.
Numeric capabilities are followed by the character `#' then the value.
In the example above ccoo, which indicates the number of columns the dis-
play has, gives the value `80' for the Concept.
Finally, string-valued capabilities, such as ccee (clear-to-end-of-line se-
quence) are given by the two-letter code, an `=', then a string ending 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 provide this delay.
The delay can be either a number, such as `20', or a number followed by
an `*', such as `3*'. An `*' indicates that the padding required is pro-
portional 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 _l_i_n_e_s affected; this
is always 1 unless the terminal has iinn 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 capabili-
ties for easy encoding of control characters there. \\EE maps to an ESC
character, ^^XX maps to a control-X for any appropriate X, and the se-
quences \\nn \\rr \\tt \\bb \\ff map to linefeed, return, tab, backspace, and form-
feed, respectively. Finally, characters may be given as three octal dig-
its 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 \\007722. If it is necessary to place a NUL character in a string capabil-
ity it must be encoded as \\220000. (The routines that deal with tteerrmmccaapp use
C strings and strip the high bits of the output very late, so that a \\220000
comes out as a \\000000 would.)
Sometimes individual capabilities must be commented out. To do this, put
a period before the capability name. For example, see the first ccrr and
ttaa in the example above.
PPrreeppaarriinngg DDeessccrriippttiioonnss
The most effective way to prepare a terminal description is by imitating
the description of a similar terminal in tteerrmmccaapp and to build up a de-
scription 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 tteerrmmccaapp file to describe it or bugs in vi.
To easily test a new terminal description you are working on you can put
it in your home directory in a file called _._t_e_r_m_c_a_p and programs will
look there before looking in _/_u_s_r_/_s_h_a_r_e_/_m_i_s_c_/_t_e_r_m_c_a_p. You can also set
the environment variable TERMPATH to a list of absolute file pathnames
(separated by spaces or colons), one of which contains the description
you are working on, and programs will search them in the order listed,
and nowhere else. See termcap(3). The TERMCAP environment variable is
usually set to the tteerrmmccaapp entry itself to avoid reading files 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 _/_e_t_c_/_p_a_s_s_w_d 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-
character.
BBaassiicc CCaappaabbiilliittiieess
The number of columns on each line of the display is given by the ccoo nu-
meric capability. If the display is a CRT, then the number of lines on
the screen is given by the llii 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 aamm capability. If the terminal can clear its
screen, the code to do this is given by the ccll string capability. If the
terminal overstrikes (rather than clearing the position when a character
is overwritten), it should have the ooss capability. If the terminal is a
printing terminal, with no soft copy unit, give it both hhcc and ooss. (ooss
applies to storage scope terminals, such as the Tektronix 4010 series, as
well as to hard copy and APL terminals.) If there is a code to move the
cursor to the left edge of the current row, give this as ccrr. (Normally
this will be carriage-return, ^^MM.) If there is a code to produce an audi-
ble signal (bell, beep, etc. ) , give this as bbll.
If there is a code (such as backspace) to move the cursor one position to
the left, that capability should be given as llee. Similarly, codes to move
to the right, up, and down should be given as nndd, uupp, and ddoo, respective-
ly. These _l_o_c_a_l _c_u_r_s_o_r _m_o_t_i_o_n_s should not alter the text they pass over;
for example, you would not normally use ``nd= '' unless the terminal has
the ooss capability, because the space would erase the character moved
over.
A very important point here is that the local cursor motions encoded in
tteerrmmccaapp 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 bbww 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 ssff (index) string. To scroll text down, a pro-
gram goes to the top left corner of the screen and sends the ssrr (reverse
index) string. The strings ssff and ssrr have undefined behavior when not on
their respective corners of the screen. Parameterized versions of the
scrolling sequences are SSFF and SSRR, which have the same semantics as ssff
and ssrr 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 aamm 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 nndd from the last column. Leftward local motion is defined from the
left edge only when bbww is given; then an llee 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 terminal has switch-
selectable automatic margins, the tteerrmmccaapp description usually assumes
that this feature is on, _i_._e., aamm. If the terminal has a command that
moves to the first column of the next line, that command can be given as
nnww (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 nnww 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:
PPaarraammeetteerriizzeedd SSttrriinnggss
Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters are described by
a parameterized string capability, with printf(3)-like escapes %%xx in it,
while other characters are passed through unchanged. For example, to ad-
dress the cursor the ccmm 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 memo-
ry. If the terminal has memory-relative cursor addressing, that can be
indicated by an analogous CCMM 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 %.
%>_x_y 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 ccmm capability is
``cm=6\E&%r%2c%2Y''.
The Datamedia 2500 needs the current row and column sent encoded in bina-
ry using ``%.''. Terminals that use ``%.'' need to be able to backspace
the cursor (llee) and to move the cursor up one line on the screen (uupp).
This is necessary because it is not always safe to transmit \\nn, ^^DD, and
\\rr, as the system may change or discard them. (Programs using tteerrmmccaapp
must set terminal modes so that tabs are not expanded, so \\tt 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 column
by a blank character, thus ``cm=\E=%+ %+ ''.
Row or column absolute cursor addressing can be given as single parameter
capabilities cchh (horizontal position absolute) and ccvv (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 ccmm. If there are parameterized local motions (_e_._g., move _n
positions to the right) these can be given as DDOO, LLEE, RRII, and UUPP with a
single parameter indicating how many positions to move. These are pri-
marily useful if the terminal does not have ccmm, such as the Tektronix
4025.
CCuurrssoorr MMoottiioonnss
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 hhoo. Similarly, a fast way of
getting to the lower left-hand corner can be given as llll; this may in-
volve going up with uupp from the home position, but a program should never
do this itself (unless llll does), because it can make no assumption about
the effect of moving up from the home position. Note that the home posi-
tion 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 hhoo.)
AArreeaa CClleeaarrss
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 ccee. If the
terminal can clear from the current position to the end of the display,
this should be given as ccdd. ccdd 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 ccdd is not available.)
IInnsseerrtt//DDeelleettee LLiinnee
If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line containing the
cursor, this should be given as aall; 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 ddll; this must only be used from the first po-
sition on the line to be deleted. Versions of aall and ddll which take a
single parameter and insert or delete that many lines can be given as AALL
and DDLL. If the terminal has a settable scrolling region (like the VT100),
the command to set this can be described with the ccss 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 sscc and rrcc (save and restore cursor) commands are also useful. In-
serting lines at the top or bottom of the screen can also be done using
ssrr or ssff on many terminals without a true insert/delete line, and is of-
ten 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
wwii. 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
tteerrmmccaapp- using program will support it.)
If the terminal can retain display memory above the screen, then the ddaa
capability should be given; if display memory can be retained below, then
ddbb should be given. These indicate that deleting a line or scrolling may
bring non-blank lines up from below or that scrolling back with ssrr may
bring down non-blank lines.
IInnsseerrtt//DDeelleettee CChhaarraacctteerr
There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with respect to in-
sert/delete character that can be described using tteerrmmccaapp. The most com-
mon 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 dis-
tinction 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 determine 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 be-
fore the ``abc'' and put the terminal in insert mode. If typing charac-
ters 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 ca-
pability iinn, which stands for ``insert null''. While these are two logi-
cally separate attributes (one line _v_s. multi-line insert mode, and spe-
cial treatment of untyped spaces), we have seen no terminals whose insert
mode cannot be described with the single attribute.
TTeerrmmccaapp can describe both terminals that have an insert mode and termi-
nals that send a simple sequence to open a blank position on the current
line. Give as iimm the sequence to get into insert mode. Give as eeii the
sequence to leave insert mode. Now give as iicc any sequence that needs to
be sent just before each character to be inserted. Most terminals with a
true insert mode will not give iicc; terminals that use a sequence to open
a screen position should give it here. (If your terminal has both, in-
sert mode is usually preferable to iicc. Do not give both unless the termi-
nal actually requires both to be used in combination.) If post-insert
padding is needed, give this as a number of milliseconds in iipp (a string
option). Any other sequence that may need to be sent after insertion of
a single character can also be given in iipp. If your terminal needs to be
placed into an `insert mode' and needs a special code preceding each in-
serted character, then both iimm/ eeii and iicc can be given, and both will be
used. The IICC capability, with one parameter _n, will repeat the effects
of iicc _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 in-
sertion position). If your terminal allows motion while in insert mode,
you can give the capability mmii to speed up inserting in this case. Omit-
ting mmii will affect only speed. Some terminals (notably Datamedia's)
must not have mmii because of the way their insert mode works.
Finally, you can specify ddcc to delete a single character, DDCC with one pa-
rameter _n to delete _n characters, and delete mode by giving ddmm and eedd to
enter and exit delete mode (which is any mode the terminal needs to be
placed in for ddcc to work).
HHiigghhlliigghhttiinngg,, UUnnddeerrlliinniinngg,, aanndd VViissiibbllee BBeellllss
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 dis-
play form as _s_t_a_n_d_o_u_t _m_o_d_e, representing a good high-contrast, easy-on-
the-eyes format for highlighting error messages and other attention get-
ters. (If you have a choice, reverse video plus half-bright is good, or
reverse video alone.) The sequences to enter and exit standout mode are
given as ssoo and ssee, 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 ssgg should be giv-
en to tell how many characters are left.
Codes to begin underlining and end underlining can be given as uuss and uuee,
respectively. Underline mode change garbage is specified by uugg, similar
to ssgg. 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 uucc.
Other capabilities to enter various highlighting modes include mmbb (blink-
ing), mmdd (bold or extra bright), mmhh (dim or half-bright), mmkk (blanking or
invisible text), mmpp (protected), mmrr (reverse video), mmee (turn off _a_l_l at-
tribute modes), aass (enter alternate character set mode), and aaee (exit al-
ternate 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 ssaa (set attributes), taking 9 parameters. Each parameter is
either 0 or 1, as the corresponding attributes is on or off. The 9 pa-
rameters are, in order: standout, underline, reverse, blink, dim, bold,
blank, protect, and alternate character set. Not all modes need be sup-
ported by ssaa, only those for which corresponding attribute commands ex-
ist. (It is unlikely that a tteerrmmccaapp-using program will support this ca-
pability, which is defined for compatibility with terminfo.)
Terminals with the ``magic cookie'' glitches (ssgg and uugg), 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 ad-
dressed. Programs using standout mode should exit standout mode on such
terminals before moving the cursor or sending a newline. On terminals
where this is not a problem, the mmss 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 vvbb; 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 vvss. If
there is a way to make the cursor completely invisible, give that as vvii.
The capability vvee, 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 uull. If overstrikes are erasable with a blank, this
should be indicated by giving eeoo.
KKeeyyppaadd
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 kkss and kkee.
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 kkll, kkrr, kkuu, kkdd, and kkhh, respectively. If there are function
keys such as f0, f1, ..., f9, the codes they send can be given as kk00, kk11,
kk99. If these keys have labels other than the default f0 through f9, the
labels can be given as ll00, ll11, ll99. The codes transmitted by certain other
special keys can be given: kkHH (home down), kkbb (backspace), kkaa (clear all
tabs), kktt (clear the tab stop in this column), kkCC (clear screen or
erase), kkDD (delete character), kkLL (delete line), kkMM (exit insert mode),
kkEE (clear to end of line), kkSS (clear to end of screen), kkII (insert char-
acter or enter insert mode), kkAA (insert line), kkNN (next page), kkPP (previ-
ous page), kkFF (scroll forward/down), kkRR (scroll backward/up), and kkTT (set
a tab stop in this column). In addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3 ar-
ray of keys including the four arrow keys, then the other five keys can
be given as KK11, KK22, KK33, KK44, and KK55. These keys are useful when the ef-
fects of a 3 by 3 directional pad are needed. The obsolete kkoo capability
formerly used to describe ``other'' function keys has been completely
supplanted by the above capabilities.
The mmaa entry is also used to indicate arrow keys on terminals that have
single-character arrow keys. It is obsolete but still in use in version
2 of vvii which must be run on some minicomputers due to memory limita-
tions. This field is redundant with kkll, kkrr, kkuu, kkdd, and kkhh. It consists
of groups of two characters. In each group, the first character is what
an arrow key sends, and the second character is the corresponding vvii com-
mand. These commands are _h for kkll, _j for kkdd, _k for kkuu, _l for kkrr, and _H
for kkhh. 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.)
TTaabbss aanndd IInniittiiaalliizzaattiioonn
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 ttii and ttee. This arises, for example, from terminals like the
Concept with more than one page of memory. If the terminal has only mem-
ory-relative cursor addressing and not screen-relative cursor addressing,
a screen-sized window must be fixed into the display for cursor address-
ing to work properly. This is also used for the Tektronix 4025, where ttii
sets the command character to be the one used by tteerrmmccaapp.
Other capabilities include iiss, an initialization string for the terminal,
and iiff, 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 tteerrmmccaapp 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: iiss; setting tabs using cctt and sstt; and finally iiff.
(Terminfo uses ii11--ii22 instead of iiss and runs the program iiPP and prints ii33
after the other initializations.) A pair of sequences that does a harder
reset from a totally unknown state can be analogously given as rrss and iiff.
These strings are output by the reset program, which is used when the
terminal gets into a wedged state. (Terminfo uses rr11--rr33 instead of rrss.)
Commands are normally placed in rrss and rrff only if they produce annoying
effects on the screen and are not necessary when logging in. For exam-
ple, the command to set the VT100 into 80-column mode would normally be
part of iiss, 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 ttaa (usually ^^II). A ``backtab'' command which moves
leftward to the previous tab stop can be given as bbtt. By convention, if
the terminal driver modes indicate that tab stops are being expanded by
the computer rather than being sent to the terminal, programs should not
use ttaa or bbtt even if they are present, since the user may not have the
tab stops properly set. If the terminal has hardware tabs that are ini-
tially set every _n positions when the terminal is powered up, then the
numeric parameter iitt 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 tteerrmmccaapp description can assume that they are
properly set.
If there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can be given as cctt
(clear all tab stops) and sstt (set a tab stop in the current column of ev-
ery row). If a more complex sequence is needed to set the tabs than can
be described by this, the sequence can be placed in iiss or iiff.
DDeellaayyss
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 capa-
bilities ccrr, ssff, llee, ffff, and ttaa will cause the appropriate delay bits to
be set in the terminal driver. If ppbb (padding baud rate) is given, these
values can be ignored at baud rates below the value of ppbb. For 4.2BSD
tset, the delays are given as numeric capabilities ddCC, ddNN, ddBB, ddFF, and
ddTT instead.
MMiisscceellllaanneeoouuss
If the terminal requires other than a NUL (zero) character as a pad, this
can be given as ppcc. Only the first character of the ppcc string is used.
If the terminal has commands to save and restore the position of the cur-
sor, give them as sscc and rrcc.
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 hhss 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 ttss and ffss. (fs must leave the cursor po-
sition in the same place that it was before ttss. If necessary, the sscc and
rrcc strings can be included in ttss and ffss to get this effect.) The capa-
bility ttss 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 eess
can be given. A string that turns off the status line (or otherwise
erases its contents) should be given as ddss. The status line is normally
assumed to be the same width as the rest of the screen, _i_._e., ccoo. If the
status line is a different width (possibly because the terminal does not
allow an entire line to be loaded), then its width in columns can be in-
dicated with the numeric parameter wwss.
If the terminal can move up or down half a line, this can be indicated
with hhuu (half-line up) and hhdd (half-line down). This is primarily useful
for superscripts and subscripts on hardcopy terminals. If a hardcopy
terminal can eject to the next page (form feed), give this as ffff (usually
^^LL).
If there is a command to repeat a given character a given number of times
(to save time transmitting a large number of identical characters), this
can be indicated with the parameterized string rrpp. The first parameter is
the character to be repeated and the second is the number of times to re-
peat it. (This is a terminfo feature that is unlikely to be supported by
a program that uses tteerrmmccaapp.)
If the terminal has a settable command character, such as the Tektronix
4025, this can be indicated with CCCC. A prototype command character is
chosen which is used in all capabilities. This character is given in the
CCCC capability to identify it. The following convention is supported 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 environ-
ment variable is a very bad idea, as it conflicts with make(1).
Terminal descriptions that do not represent a specific kind of known ter-
minal, such as _s_w_i_t_c_h, _d_i_a_l_u_p, _p_a_t_c_h, and network, should include the ggnn
(generic) capability so that programs can complain that they do not know
how to talk to the terminal. (This capability does not apply to _v_i_r_t_u_a_l
terminal descriptions for which the escape sequences are known.)
If the terminal uses xoff/xon (DC3/DC1) handshaking for flow control,
give xxoo. 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 kkmm. 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 mmmm and mmoo.
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 llmm. 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 ter-
minal protocol, the terminal number can be given as vvtt.
Media copy strings which control an auxiliary printer connected to the
terminal can be given as ppss: print the contents of the screen; ppff: turn
off the printer; and ppoo: 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 ppOO 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
ppff, is transparently passed to the printer while ppOO is in effect.
Strings to program function keys can be given as ppkk, ppll, and ppxx. Each of
these strings takes two parameters: the function key number to program
(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 man-
ner. The differences among the capabilities are that ppkk causes pressing
the given key to be the same as the user typing the given string; ppll
causes the string to be executed by the terminal in local mode; and ppxx
causes the string to be transmitted to the computer. Unfortunately, due
to lack of a definition for string parameters in tteerrmmccaapp, only terminfo
supports these capabilities.
GGlliittcchheess aanndd BBrraaiinnddaammaaggee
Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow `~' characters to be displayed,
should indicate hhzz.
The nncc capability, now obsolete, formerly indicated Datamedia terminals,
which echo \\rr \\nn for carriage return then ignore a following linefeed.
Terminals that ignore a linefeed immediately after an aamm wrap, such as
the Concept, should indicate xxnn.
If ccee is required to get rid of standout (instead of merely writing nor-
mal text on top of it), xxss should be given.
Teleray terminals, where tabs turn all characters moved over to blanks,
should indicate xxtt (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 ^^CC
characters, has xxbb, 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 capabil-
ities of the form xx _x.
SSiimmiillaarr TTeerrmmiinnaallss
If there are two very similar terminals, one can be defined as being just
like the other with certain exceptions. The string capability ttcc can be
given with the name of the similar terminal. This capability must be
_l_a_s_t, and the combined length of the entries must not exceed 1024. The
capabilities given before ttcc override those in the terminal type invoked
by ttcc. A capability can be canceled by placing xxxx@@ to the left of the ttcc
invocation, where xxxx is the capability. For example, the entry
hn|2621-nl:ks@:ke@:tc=2621:
defines a ``2621-nl'' that does not have the kkss or kkee 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 prefer-
ences.
FFIILLEESS
/usr/share/misc/termcap File containing terminal descriptions.
/usr/share/misc/termcap.db Hash database file containing terminal de-
scriptions (see cap_mkdb(1)).
SSEEEE AALLSSOO
ex(1), cap_mkdb(1), more(1), tset(1), ul(1), vi(1), curses(3),
printf(3), termcap(3), term(7)
CCAAVVEEAATTSS AANNDD BBUUGGSS
The _N_o_t_e: tteerrmmccaapp functions were replaced by terminfo in AT&T System V
UNIX Release 2.0. The transition will be relatively painless if capabil-
ities flagged as ``obsolete'' are avoided.
Lines and columns are now stored by the kernel as well as in the termcap
entry. Most programs now use the kernel information primarily; the in-
formation in this file is used only if the kernel does not have any in-
formation.
Vi allows only 256 characters for string capabilities, and the routines
in termlib(3) do not check for overflow of this buffer. The total length
of a single entry (excluding only escaped newlines) may not exceed 1024.
Not all programs support all entries.
HHIISSTTOORRYY
The tteerrmmccaapp file format appeared in 3BSD.
3rd Berkeley Distribution June 8, 1993 14