terminfo(5) File Formats Manual terminfo(5)
Name
terminfo - terminal capability database
Syntax
/usr/lib/terminfo/*/*
Description
The database describes terminals by giving a set of capabilities which the terminals have, and by describing how the operations are per-
formed by the terminals. Padding requirements and initialization sequences are included in
Entries in consist of a number of fields separated by commas (,) . White space after each comma (,) is ignored. The first entry for each
terminal provides the known name of the terminal, separated by vertical bars (|). 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. All others are understood as synonyms for the ter-
minal name. All names, with the exception of the last, should be in lowercase and cannot contain blanks; the last name can contain upper-
case characters and blanks for readability.
Terminal names, except for the last, should be chosen using the following conventions:
o The piece of hardware that makes up the terminal should have a root name chosen. For example, hp2621.
o The root name cannot contain hyphens, but synonyms can be used that do not conflict with other names.
o Modes that the hardware can be in, or user preferences, should be indicated by appending a hyphen and an indicator of the mode. For
example, a VT100 in 132 column mode would be vt100-w.
o The following suffixes should be used where possible:
Suffix Meaning Example
-w Wide mode (more than 80 columns) vt100-w
-am With auto. 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) c100-na
-np Number of pages of memory c100-4p
-rv Reverse video c100-rv
The following headers are used in the capabilities table:
Variable booleans Variable is the name by which the programmer (at the terminfo level) accesses the capability.
Capname Short name used in the text of the database, and is used by a person updating the database.
I.code Two-letter internal code used in the compiled database, which always corresponds to the old capability name.
Capability names have no hard length limit, but an informal limit of 5 characters has been adopted to keep them short and to allow the tabs
in the source file caps to line up nicely. Whenever possible, names are chosen to be the same as, or similar to, the ANSI X3.64-1979 stan-
dard. Semantics are also intended to match those of the specification. They are as follows:
(P) Indicates that padding may be specified.
(G) Indicates that the string is passed through tparm with parms as given (#i).
(*) Indicates that padding may be based on the number of lines affected
(#i) Indicates the ith parameter.
Variable Cap- I. Description
Booleans name Code
auto_left_margin, bw bw cub1 wraps from column 0 to last
column
auto_right_margin, am am Terminal has automatic margins
beehive_glitch, xsb xb Beehive (f1=escape, f2=ctrl C)
ceol_standout_glitch, xhp xs Standout not erased by over-
writing (hp)
eat_newline_glitch, xenl xn Newline ignored after 80 cols
(Concept)
erase_overstrike, eo eo Can erase overstrikes with a
blank
generic_type, gn gn Generic line type (for ex., dialup,
switch).
hard_copy, hc hc Hardcopy terminal
has_meta_key, km km Has a meta key (shift, sets
parity bit)
has_status_line, hs hs Has extra status line
insert_null_glitch, in in Insert mode distinguishes nulls
memory_above, da da Display may be retained above the
screen
memory_below, db db Display may be retained below the
screen
move_insert_mode, mir mi Safe to move while in insert mode
move_standout_mode, msgr ms Safe to move in standout modes
over_strike, os os Terminal overstrikes
status_line_esc_ok, eslok es Escape can be used on the status
line
teleray_glitch, xt xt Tabs ruin, magic so char (Teleray
1061)
tilde_glitch, hz hz Hazeltine; can not print tildes (~)s
transparent_underline, ul ul underline character overstrikes
xon_xoff, xon xo Terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking
Numbers:
columns, cols co Number of columns in a line
init_tabs, it it Tabs initially every # spaces
lines, lines li Number of lines on screen or page
lines_of_memory, lm lm Lines of memory if > lines. 0
means varies
magic_cookie_glitch, xmc sg Number of blank chars left by
smso or rmso
padding_baud_rate, pb pb Lowest baud where cr/nl padding
is needed
virtual_terminal, vt vt Virtual terminal number (UNIX
system)
width_status_line, wsl ws Number of columns in status line
Strings:
back_tab, cbt bt Back tab (P)
bell, bel bl Audible signal (bell) (P)
carriage_return, cr cr Carriage return (P*)
change_scroll_region, csr cs Change to lines #1 through #2
(vt100) (PG)
clear_all_tabs, tbc ct Clear all tab stops (P)
clear_screen, clear cl Clear screen and home cursor (P*)
clr_eol, el ce Clear to end of line (P)
clr_eos, ed cd Clear to end of display (P*)
column_address, hpa ch Set cursor column (PG)
command_character, cmdch CC Term. settable cmd char in
prototype
cursor_address, cup cm Screen rel. cursor motion row #1
col #2 (PG)
cursor_down, cud1 do Down one line
cursor_home, home ho Home cursor (if no cup)
cursor_invisible, civis vi Make cursor invisible
cursor_left, cub1 le Move cursor left one space
cursor_mem_address, mrcup CM Memory relative cursor addressing
cursor_normal, cnorm ve Make cursor appear normal
(undo vs/vi)
cursor_right, cuf1 nd Nondestructive space (cursor
right)
cursor_to_ll, ll ll Last line, first column (if no cup)
cursor_up, cuu1 up Upline (cursor up)
cursor_visible, cvvis vs Make cursor very visible
delete_character, dch1 dc Delete character (P*)
delete_line, dl1 dl Delete line (P*)
dis_status_line, dsl ds Disable status line
down_half_line, hd hd Half-line down (forward 1/2
linefeed)
enter_alt_charset_mode, smacs as Start alternate character set (P)
enter_blink_mode, blink mb Turn on blinking
enter_bold_mode, bold md Turn on bold (extra bright) mode
enter_ca_mode, smcup ti String to begin programs that use
cup
enter_delete_mode, smdc dm Delete mode (enter)
enter_dim_mode, dim mh Turn on half-bright mode
enter_insert_mode, smir im Insert mode (enter);
enter_protected_mode, prot mp Turn on protected mode
enter_reverse_mode, rev mr Turn on reverse video mode
enter_secure_mode, invis mk Turn on blank mode (chars
invisible)
enter_standout_mode, smso so Begin stand out mode
enter_underline_mode, smul us Start underscore mode
erase_chars ech ec Erase #1 characters (PG)
exit_alt_charset_mode, rmacs ae End alternate character set (P)
exit_attribute_mode, sgr0 me Turn off all attributes
exit_ca_mode, rmcup te String to end programs that use cup
exit_delete_mode, rmdc ed End delete mode
exit_insert_mode, rmir ei End insert mode
exit_standout_mode, rmso se End stand out mode
exit_underline_mode, rmul ue End underscore mode
flash_screen, flash vb Visible bell (may not move
cursor)
form_feed, ff ff Hardcopy terminal page eject (P*)
from_status_line, fsl fs Return from status line
init_1string, is1 i1 Terminal initialization string
init_2string, is2 i2 Terminal initialization string
init_3string, is3 i3 Terminal initialization string
init_file, if if Name of file containing is
insert_character, ich1 ic Insert character (P)
insert_line, il1 al Add new blank line (P*)
insert_padding, ip ip Insert pad after character
inserted (p*)
key_backspace, kbs kb Sent by backspace key
key_catab, ktbc ka Sent by clear-all-tabs key
key_clear, kclr kC Sent by clear screen or erase key
key_ctab, kctab kt Sent by clear-tab key
key_dc, kdch1 kD Sent by delete character key
key_dl, kdl1 kL Sent by delete line key
key_down, kcud1 kd Sent by terminal down arrow key
key_eic, krmir kM Sent by rmir or smir in insert mode
key_eol, kel kE Sent by clear-to-end-of-line key
key_eos, ked kS Sent by clear-to-end-of-screen
key
key_f0, kf0 k0 Sent by function key f0
key_f1, kf1 k1 Sent by function key f1
key_f10, kf10 ka Sent by function key f10
key_f2, kf2 k2 Sent by function key f2
key_f3, kf3 k3 Sent by function key f3
key_f4, kf4 k4 Sent by function key f4
key_f5, kf5 k5 Sent by function key f5
key_f6, kf6 k6 Sent by function key f6
key_f7, kf7 k7 Sent by function key f7
key_f8, kf8 k8 Sent by function key f8
key_f9, kf9 k9 Sent by function key f9
key_home, khome kh Sent by home key
key_ic, kich1 kI Sent by ins char/enter ins mode key
key_il, kil1 kA Sent by insert line
key_left, kcub1 kl Sent by terminal left arrow key
key_ll, kll kH Sent by home-down key
key_npage, knp kN Sent by next-page key
key_ppage, kpp kP Sent by previous-page key
key_right, kcuf1 kr Sent by terminal right arrow key
key_sf, kind kF Sent by scroll-forward/down key
key_sr, kri kR Sent by scroll-backward/up key
key_stab, khts kT Sent by set-tab key
key_up, kcuu1 ku Sent by terminal up arrow key
keypad_local, rmkx ke Out of "keypad transmit" mode
keypad_xmit, smkx ks Put terminal in "keypad transmit"
mode
lab_f0, lf0 l0 Labels on function key f0 if not f0
lab_f1, lf1 l1 Labels on function key f1 if not f1
lab_f10, lf10 la Labels on function key f10 if not
f10
lab_f2, lf2 l2 Labels on function key f2 if not f2
lab_f3, lf3 l3 Labels on function key f3 if not f3
lab_f4, lf4 l4 Labels on function key f4 if not f4
lab_f5, lf5 l5 Labels on function key f5 if not f5
lab_f6, lf6 l6 Labels on function key f6 if not f6
lab_f7, lf7 l7 Labels on function key f7 if not f7
lab_f8, lf8 l8 Labels on function key f8 if not f8
lab_f9, lf9 l9 Labels on function key f9 if not f9
meta_on, smm mm Turn on "meta mode" (8th bit)
meta_off, rmm mo Turn off "meta mode"
newline, nel nw Newline (behaves like cr followed
by lf)
pad_char, pad pc Pad character (rather than null)
parm_dch, dch DC Delete #1 chars (PG*)
parm_delete_line, dl DL Delete #1 lines (PG*)
parm_down_cursor, cud DO Move cursor down #1 lines (PG*)
parm_ich, ich IC Insert #1 blank chars (PG*)
parm_index, indn SF Scroll forward #1 lines (PG)
parm_insert_line, il AL Add #1 new blank lines (PG*)
parm_left_cursor, cub LE Move cursor left #1 spaces (PG)
parm_right_cursor, cuf RI Move cursor right #1 spaces (PG*)
parm_rindex, rin SR Scroll backward #1 lines (PG)
parm_up_cursor, cuu UP Move cursor up #1 lines (PG*)
pkey_key, pfkey pk Prog funct key #1 to type string #2
pkey_local, pfloc pl Prog funct key #1 to execute string
#2
pkey_xmit, pfx px Prog funct key #1 to xmit string #2
print_screen, mc0 ps Print contents of the screen
prtr_off, mc4 pf Turn off the printer
prtr_on, mc5 po Turn on the printer
repeat_char, rep rp Repeat char #1 #2 times. (PG*)
reset_1string, rs1 r1 Reset terminal completely to sane
modes.
reset_2string, rs2 r2 Reset terminal completely to sane
modes.
reset_3string, rs3 r3 Reset terminal completely to sane
modes.
reset_file, rf rf Name of file containing reset
string
restore_cursor, rc rc Restore cursor to position of
last sc
row_address, vpa cv Vertical position absolute
(set row) (PG)
save_cursor, sc sc Save cursor position (P)
scroll_forward, ind sf Scroll text up (P)
scroll_reverse, ri sr Scroll text down (P)
set_attributes, sgr sa Define the video attributes (PG9)
set_tab, hts st Set a tab in all rows, current
column
set_window, wind wi Current window is lines #1-#2
cols #3-#4
tab, ht ta Tab to next 8 space hardware tab
stop
to_status_line, tsl ts Go to status line, column #1
underline_char, uc uc Underscore one char and move past
it
up_half_line, hu hu Half-line up (reverse 1/2 linefeed)
init_prog, iprog iP Path name of program for init
key_a1, ka1 K1 Upper left of keypad
key_a3, ka3 K3 Upper right of keypad
key_b2, kb2 K2 Center of keypad
key_c1, kc1 K4 Lower left of keypad
key_c3, kc3 K5 Lower right of keypad
prtr_non, mc5p pO Turn on the printer for #1 bytes
Sample Entry
The following entry, which describes the Concept-100, is one of the more complex entries in the
concept100|c100|concept|c104|c100-4p|concept 100,
am, bel=^G, blank=EH, blink=EC, clear=^L$<2*>, cnorm=Ew,
cols#80, cr=^M$<9>, cub1=^H, cud1=^J, cuf1=E=,
cup=Ea%p1%' '%+%c%p2%' '%+%c,
cuu1=E;, cvvis=EW, db, dch1=E^A$<16*>, dim=EE, dl1=E^B$<3*>,
ed=E^C$<16*>, el=E^U$<16>, eo, flash=Ek$<20>EK, ht= $<8>,
il1=E^R$<3*>, in, ind=^J, .ind=^J$<9>, ip=$<16*>,
is2=EUEfE7E5E8ElENHEKE200Eo&200Eo47E,
kbs=^h, kcub1=E>, kcud1=E<, kcuf1=E=, kcuu1=E;,
kf1=E5, kf2=E6, kf3=E7, khome=E?,
lines#24, mir, pb#9600, prot=EI, rep=Er%p1%c%p2%' '%+%c$<.2*>,
rev=ED, rmcup=Ev $<6>Ep
, rmir=E200, rmkx=Ex,
rmso=EdEe, rmul=Eg, rmul=Eg, sgr0=EN200,
smcup=EUEv 8pEp
, smir=E^P, smkx=EX, smso=EEED,
smul=EG, tabs, ul, vt#8, xenl,
Entries can continue onto multiple lines by placing white space at the beginning of each line, with the exception of the first line. Com-
ments can be included, as long as the comment is preceded by a number sign (#). The following list describes terminal capabilities in more
detail.
Types of Capabilities
Boolean capabilities Indicate that the terminal has some particular feature. For example, the Concept-100 has automatic margins (an auto-
matic return and linefeed when the end-of-line is reached). This is described in the Boolean capabilities column as
an am.
Numeric capabilities Provide the size of the terminal or the size of particular delays. Numeric capabilities are followed by a number
sign (#) and then the value. Hence, the cols, which indicates the number of column the terminal has, provides the
value 80 for the Concept.
String capabilities Provide a sequence that can be used to perform particular terminal operations. Hence, string-valued capabilities
such as el (clear to the end-of-line sequence are described the 2-character code (an equal sign (=) and then a string
ending at the next comma (,). A delay in milliseconds can appear anywhere in such a capability, enclosed in $<..>
brackets, and padding characters are supplied by to provide this delay.
A delay can be either a number, such as 20, or a number followed by an asterisk (*), such as 3*. The asterisk (*)
indicates that the padding required is proportional to the number of lines affected by the operation, and the amount
given is the per-affected-unit padding required. (In the case of the insert character, the factor is still the num-
ber of lines affected. This is always one, unless the terminal has xenl and the software uses it.) When an asterisk
(*) is specified, it is sometimes useful to give a delay of the form 3.5, which indicates a delay per unit to tenths
of milliseconds. (Only one decimal place is allowed.)
Escape sequences are provided in the string-valued capabilities for easy encoding of characters there. Both E and e map to an ESCAPE
character, ^x maps to a control-x for any appropriate x, and the sequences
l
f s give a newline, linefeed, return, tab,
backspace, formfeed, and space. Other escapes include ^ for ^, \ for , , for comma, : for :, and for null. ( will produce 200,
which does not terminate a string but behaves as a null character on most terminals.) Finally, characters may be given as three octal dig-
its after a .
Sometimes individual capabilities must be commented out. To do this, put a period before the capability name. For example, see the second
ind in the previous Sample Entry.
Preparing Descriptions
This section describes how to prepare a description of a terminal. The most effective way to prepare a terminal description is by imitat-
ing the description of a similar terminal in and to build up a description gradually. A very unusual terminal may expose deficiencies in
the ability of the file to describe the terminal.
To test a new terminal description, set the environment variable TERMINFO to a pathname of a directory containing the compiled description
you are working on. The programs can search this directory rather than search /usr/lib/terminfo. To get the padding for insert line right
(if the terminal manufacturer did not document it), edit /etc/passwd at 9600 baud, delete 16 or so lines from the middle of the screen,
then type the character u several times quickly. If the terminal behaves erratically, more padding is usually needed. A similar test can
be used for the insert character.
Basic Capabilities
The number of columns on each line for the terminal is specified by the cols numeric capability. If the terminal is a CRT, then the number
of lines on the screen is given by the lines capability. If the terminal wraps around to the beginning of the next line when it reaches
the right margin, then it should have the am capability. If the terminal can clear its screen, leaving the cursor in the home position,
then this is given by the clear string capability. If the terminal overstrikes (rather than clearing a position when a character is struck
over), then it should have the os capability. 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 TEKTRONIX 4010 series, as well as 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 cr. (Normally this will be carriage return, control M.) If there is a code to
produce an audible signal (bell, beep, etc), give this as bel.
If there is a code to move the cursor one position to the left (such as backspace) that capability should be given as cub1. Similarly,
codes to move to the right, up, and down should be given as cuf1, cuu1, and cud1. These local cursor motions should not alter the text
they pass over; for example, you would not normally use `cuf1= ' because the space would erase the character moved over. The local cursor
motions encoded in are undefined at the left and top edges of a CRT terminal. Programs should never attempt to backspace around the left
edge, unless bw is given, and never attempt to go up locally off the top. In order to scroll text up, a program will go to the bottom left
corner of the screen and send the ind (index) string.
To scroll text down, a program goes to the top left corner of the screen and sends the ri (reverse index) string. The strings ind and ri
are undefined when not on their respective corners of the screen.
Parameterized versions of the scrolling sequences are indn and rin, which have the same semantics as ind and ri, except that they take one
parameter and scroll that many lines. They are also undefined, except at the appropriate edge of the screen.
The am capability tells whether the cursor sticks at the right edge of the screen when text is output, but this does not necessarily apply
to a cuf1 from the last column. The only local motion that is defined from the left edge is if bw is given, then a cub1 from the left edge
will move to the right edge of the previous row. If bw is not given, the effect is undefined. This is useful for drawing a box around the
edge of the screen, for example. If the terminal has switch-selectable automatic margins, the file usually assumes that this is on; that
is, am. If the terminal has a command which moves to the first column of the next line, that command can be given as nel (newline). It
does not matter if the command clears the remainder of the current line, so, if the terminal has no cr and lf, it may still be possible to
craft a working nel out of one or both of them.
These capabilities suffice to describe hardcopy and glass-tty terminals. Thus, the Model 33 Teletype is described as:
33|tty33|tty|model 33 teletype,
bel=^G, cols#72, cr=^M, cud1=^J, hc, ind=^J, os,
The Lear Siegler ADM-3 is described as:
adm3|3|lsi adm3,
am, bel=^G, clear=^Z, cols#80, cr=^M, cub1=^H, cud1=^J,
ind=^J, lines#24,
Parameterized Strings
Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters in the terminal are described by a parameterized string capability, with such as
escapes like %x. For example, to address the cursor, the cup capability is given, using two parameters: the row and column to address 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 mrcup.
The parameter mechanism uses a stack and special % codes to manipulate it. Typically a sequence pushes one of the parameters onto the
stack and then prints it in some format. Often, more complex operations are necessary.
The percent sign (%) encodings have the following meanings:
%% outputs `%'
%d print pop() as in printf
%2d print pop() like %2d
%3d print pop() like %3d
%02d
%03d as in printf
%c print pop() gives %c
%s print pop() gives %s
%p[1-9] push ith parm
%P[a-z] set variable [a-z] to pop()
%g[a-z] get variable [a-z] and push it
%'c' char constant c
%{nn} integer constant nn
%+ %- %* %/ %m
arithmetic (%m is mod): push(pop() op pop())
%& %| %^ bit operations: push(pop() op pop())
%= %> %< logical operations: push(pop() op pop())
%! %~ unary operations push(op pop())
%i add 1 to first two parms (for ANSI terminals)
%? expr %t thenpart %e elsepart %;
if-then-else, %e elsepart is optional.
else-if's are possible ala Algol 68:
%? c1 %t b1 %e c2 %t b2 %e c3 %t b3 %e c4 %t b4 %e %;
ci are conditions, bi are bodies.
Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands in the usual order. That is, to get x-5, use %gx%{5}%-.
Consider the HP2645, 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 rows and columns is inverted here, and that the row and column are printed as two digits. Thus, its cup capability is
cup=6E&%p2%2dc%p1%2dY.
The Microterm ACT-IV needs the current row and column sent preceded by a ^T, with the row and column simply encoded in binary,
cup=^T%p1%c%p2%c. Terminals that use %c need to be able to backspace the cursor (cub1), and to move the cursor up one line on the screen
(cuu1). This is necessary because it is not always safe to transmit
^D and
, as the system may change or discard them. (The library
routines dealing with terminfo set tty modes so that tabs are never expanded, so is safe to send. This turns out to be essential for
the Ann Arbor 4080.)
A final example is the LSI ADM-3a, which uses row and column offset by a blank character; thus cup=E=%p1%' '%+%c%p2%' '%+%. After sending
E=, this pushes the first parameter, pushes the ASCII value for a space(32), adds them (pushing the sum on the stack in place of the two
previous values), and outputs that value as a character. Then, the same is done for the second parameter. More complex arithmetic is pos-
sible using the stack.
If the terminal has row or column absolute cursor addressing, these can be given as single parameter capabilities hpa (horizontal position
absolute) and vpa (vertical position absolute). Sometimes, these are shorter than the more general 2-parameter sequence (as with the
hp2645) and can be used in preference to cup . If there are parameterized local motions (for example, move n spaces to the right), these
can be given as cud, cub, cuf, and cuu, with a single parameter indicating how many spaces to move. These are primarily useful if the ter-
minal does not have cup, such as the TEKTRONIX 4025.
Cursor Motions
If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very upper left corner of screen), then this can be given as home. Similarly, a fast
way of getting to the lower left-hand corner can be given as ll. This may involve going up with cuu1 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 addressing to (0,0): the top left corner of the screen, not memory. Thus, the EH sequence on HP
terminals cannot be used for home.
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 el. If
the terminal can clear from the current position to the end of the display, this should be given as ed. Ed is only defined from the first
column of a line. Thus, it can be simulated by a request to delete a large number of lines, if a true ed is not available.
Insert/delete line
If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line where the cursor is, this should be given as il1; this is done only from the
first position of a line. The cursor must then appear on the newly blank line. If the terminal can delete the line that the cursor is on,
this should be given as dl1; this is done only from the first position on the line to be deleted. Versions of il1 and dl1 that take a sin-
gle parameter and insert or delete that many lines can be given as il and dl. If the terminal has a settable scrolling region (like the
VT100), the command to set this can be described with the csr capability, which takes two parameters: the top and bottom lines of the
scrolling region. The cursor position is 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) commands are also useful. Inserting lines at the top or bottom of the screen
can also be done using ri or ind on many terminals without a true insert/delete line, and this 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 wind. The four parameters are the starting and ending lines in memory and the starting and ending columns in memory, in that order.
If the terminal can retain display memory above, 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 nonblank lines up from below or that scrolling back with ri
may bring down nonblank lines.
Insert/Delete Character
There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with respect to insert/delete character that can be described using 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 that is either eliminated or expanded to two untyped blanks. You
can determine the kind of terminal you have by clearing the screen and 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 fall off the end, then your terminal does not dis-
tinguish 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, you have the second type of terminal. You should give the capability in, which stands for ``insert
null''. While these are two logically separate attributes (one line, as opposed to multiline insert mode, and special treatment of untyped
spaces) every terminal's insert mode can be described with the single attribute.
Terminfo can describe both terminals that have an insert mode and terminals that send a simple sequence to open a blank position on the
current line. Give as smir the sequence to get into insert mode. Give as rmir the sequence to leave insert mode. Then, give as ich1 any
sequence needed to be sent just before sending the character to be inserted. Most terminals with a true insert mode will not give ich1;
terminals that send a sequence to open a screen position should give it here. If your terminal has both, insert mode is usually preferable
to ich1. Do not give both, unless the terminal actually requires both to be used in combination. If post insert padding is needed, give
this as a number of milliseconds in ip (a string option). Any other sequence that may need to be sent after an insert of a single charac-
ter may also be given in ip. If your terminal needs both to be placed into an insert mode and a special code to precede each inserted
character, both smir/rmir and ich1 can be given, and both will be used. The ich capability, with one parameter, n, will repeat the effects
of ich1 n times.
It is occasionally necessary to move around while in insert mode to delete characters on the same line (for example, if there is a tab
after the insertion position). If your terminal allows motion while in insert mode, you can give the capability mir to speed up inserting.
Omitting mir affects only speed. Some terminals (notably Datamedia's) must not have mir because of the way their insert mode works.
Finally, you can specify dch1 to delete a single character, dch, with one parameter, n, to delete n characters, and delete mode by giving
smdc and rmdc to enter and exit delete mode (any mode the terminal needs to be placed in for dch1 to work).
A command to erase n characters (equivalent to outputting n blanks, without moving the cursor) can be given as ech with one parameter.
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 to read, format for highlighting error messages and other
important information. 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 smso and rmso, respectively. If the code to change into or out of standout mode leaves one or even two
blank spaces on the screen, as the TVI 912 and Teleray 1061 do, then xmc should be given to tell how many spaces are left.
Codes to begin underlining and end underlining can be given as smul and rmul, respectively. If the terminal has a code to underline the
current character and move the cursor one space to the right, such as the Microterm Mime, this can be given as uc.
Other capabilities to enter various highlighting modes include blink (blinking), bold (bold or extra bright), dim (dim or half-bright),
invis (blanking or invisible text), prot (protected), rev (reverse video), sgr0 (turn off all attribute modes), smacs (enter alternate
character set mode), and rmacs (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 modes, this should be given as sgr (set attributes), taking nine parameters. Each
parameter is either 0 or 1, as the corresponding attribute is on or off. The nine parameters are, in order: standout, underline, reverse,
blink, dim, bold, blank, protect, and alternate character set. Not all modes need be supported by sgr, only those for which corresponding
separate attribute commands exist.
Terminals with the ``magic cookie glitch'' (xmc) deposit special cookies when they receive mode-setting sequences, which affect the display
algorithm rather than having extra bits for each character. Some terminals, such as the HP 2621, automatically leave standout mode when
they move to a new line or the cursor is addressed. Programs using standout mode should exit standout mode before moving the cursor or
sending a newline, unless the msgr capability, asserting that it is safe to move in standout mode, is present.
If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indicate an error quietly (a bell replacement), this can be given as flash; however, 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 make, for example, a non-blinking underline
into an easier to find block or blinking underline), give this sequence as cvvis. If you wish to make the cursor completely invisible,
give that as civis. The capability cnorm should be given which undoes the effects of both of these modes.
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 smcup and rmcup. This arises, for example, from terminals like the Concept-100 with more than one page of memory. If the
terminal has only memory-relative cursor addressing and not screen-relative cursor addressing, a one screen-sized window must be fixed into
the terminal for cursor addressing to work properly. This is also used for the TEKTRONIX 4025, where smcup sets the command character to
be the one used by terminfo.
If your terminal correctly generates underlined characters (with no special codes needed) even though it does not overstrike, 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, give this information. Note that it is not possible to handle
terminals where the keypad only works in local (this applies, for example, to the unshifted HP 2621 keys). If the keypad can be set to
transmit or not transmit, give these codes as smkx and rmkx. Otherwise, the keypad is always assumed to transmit. The codes sent by the
left arrow, right arrow, up arrow, down arrow, and home keys can be given as kcub1, kcuf1, kcuu1, kcud1, and khome, respectively. If there
are function keys such as f0, f1, ... f10, the codes they send can be given as kf0, kf1, ... kf10. If these keys have labels other than
the default f0 through f10, the labels can be given as lf0, lf1, ... lf10. The codes transmitted by certain other special keys can be
given: kll (home down), kbs (backspace), ktbc (clear all tabs), kctab (clear the tab stop in this column), kclr (clear screen or erase
key), kdch1 (delete character), kdl1 (delete line), krmir (exit insert mode), kel (clear to end of line), ked (clear to end of screen),
kich1 (insert character or enter insert mode), kil1 (insert line), knp (next page), kpp (previous page), kind (scroll forward/down), kri
(scroll backward/up), khts (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, the other five keys can be given as ka1, ka3, kb2, kc1, and kc3. These keys are useful when the effects of a 3 by 3 directional pad
are needed.
Tabs and Initialization
If the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance to the next tab stop can be given as ht (usually CTRL I). A backtab command
which moves leftward to the next tab stop can be given as cbt. By convention, if the teletype modes indicate that tabs are being expanded
by the computer rather than being sent to the terminal, programs should not use ht or cbt, 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 spaces when the terminal is powered up,
the numeric parameter it is given, showing the number of spaces the tabs are set to. This is normally used by the command to determine
whether to set the 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 terminfo description can assume that they are properly set.
Other capabilities include is1, is2, and is3, initialization strings for the terminal, iprog, the path name of a program to be run to ini-
tialize the terminal, 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 terminfo description. They are normally sent to the terminal, by the program, each time the
user logs in. They will be printed in the following order: is1, is2, setting tabs using tbc and hts, if, running the program iprog, and
finally is3. Most initialization is done with is2. Special terminal modes can be set up without duplicating strings by putting the common
sequences in is2 and special cases in is1 and is3. A pair of sequences that does a harder reset from a totally unknown state can be analo-
gously given as rs1, rs2, rf, and rs3, analogous to is2 and if. These strings are output by the reset program, which is used when the ter-
minal gets into a wedged state. Commands are normally placed in rs2 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 is2, but it causes an
annoying movement of the screen and is not normally needed because the terminal is usually already in 80-column mode.
If there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can be given as tbc (clear all tab stops) and hts (set a tab stop in the current
column of every row). If a more complex sequence is needed to set the tabs than can be described by this, the sequence can be placed in
is2 or if.
Delays
Certain capabilities control padding in the teletype driver. These are primarily needed by hard copy terminals, and are used by the pro-
gram to set teletype modes appropriately. Delays embedded in the capabilities cr, ind, cub1, ff, and tab cause the appropriate delay bits
to be set in the teletype driver. If pb (padding baud rate) is given, these values can be ignored at baud rates below the value of pb.
Miscellaneous
If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad, this can be given as pad. Only the first character of the pad string
is used.
If the terminal has an extra status line that is not normally used by software, indicate this fact. If the status line is viewed as an
extra line below the bottom line, into which one can cursor-address normally (such as the Heathkit h19's 25th line, or the 24th line of a
vt100 which is set to a 23-line scrolling region), the capability hs should be given. Special strings to go to the beginning of the status
line and to return from the status line can be given as tsl and fsl. The fsl string must leave the cursor position in the same place it
was before tsl. If necessary, the sc and rc strings can be included in tsl and fsl to get this effect. The parameter tsl takes one param-
eter, which is the column number of the status line the cursor is to be moved to. If escape sequences and other special commands, such as
tab, work while in the status line, give the eslok flag. A string that turns off the status line, or otherwise erases its contents, should
be given as dsl. If the terminal has commands to save and restore the position of the cursor, give them as sc and rc. The status line is
normally assumed to be the same width as the rest of the screen, for example, cols. If the status line is a different width (possibly
because the terminal does not allow an entire line to be loaded), the width, in columns, can be indicated with the numeric parameter, wsl.
If the terminal can move up or down half a line, you can indicate this with hu (half-line up) and hd (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
ff (usually CTRL 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), you can indicate this with the parameterized string rep. The first parameter is the character to be repeated and the second is the
number of times to repeat it. Thus, tparm(repeat_char, 'x', 10) represents ``xxxxxxxxxx''.
If the terminal has a settable command character, such as the TEKTRONIX 4025, this can be indicated with cmdch. Choose a prototype command
character to use in all capabilities. This character is given in the cmdch 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 with the character in the environment variable.
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 xon/xoff handshaking for flow control, give xon. Padding information should still be included, so that routines can
make better decisions about costs, but actual pad characters are not transmitted.
If the terminal has a meta key that acts as a shift key, setting the eighth bit of any character transmitted, this fact can be indicated
with km. Otherwise, software assumes that the eighth bit is parity and it is usually cleared. If strings exist to turn this meta mode on
and off, they can be given as smm and rmm.
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. A
value of lm#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 virtual terminal protocol, the terminal number can be given as vt.
Media copy strings that control an auxiliary printer connected to the terminal can be given as mc0: print the contents of the screen, mc4:
turn off the printer, and mc5: turn on the printer. When the printer is on, all text sent to the terminal is sent to the printer. It is
undefined whether the text is also displayed on the terminal screen when the printer is on. A variation mc5p takes one parameter, and
leaves the printer on for as many characters as the value of the parameter. It then turns the printer off. The parameter should not exceed
255. All text, including mc4, is transparently passed to the printer while an mc5p is in effect.
Strings to program function keys can be given as pfkey, pfloc, and pfx. Each of these strings takes two parameters: the function key num-
ber to program (from 0 to 10) and the string to program it with. Function key numbers out of this range may program undefined keys in a
terminal-dependent manner. The difference between the capabilities is that pfkey causes pressing the given key to be the same as the user
typing the given string; pfloc causes the string to be executed by the terminal in local; and pfx causes the string to be transmitted to
the computer.
Restrictions
Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow tilde (~) characters to be displayed, should indicate hz.
Terminals that ignore a linefeed immediately after an am wrap, such as the Concept-100 and VT100, should indicate xenl.
If el is required to get rid of standout (instead of merely writing normal text on top of it), xhp 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'', that to erase standout mode it is instead necessary to
use delete and insert line.
The Beehive Superbee, which is unable to correctly transmit the escape or CTRL C characters, has xsb, indicating that the f1 key is used
for escape and f2 for CTRL C. (Only certain Superbees have this problem, depending on the ROM.)
Other specific terminal problems can be corrected by adding more capabilities 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
use can be given with the name of the similar terminal. The capabilities given before use override those in the terminal type invoked by
use. A capability can be canceled by placing xx@ to the left of the capability definition, where xx is the capability. For example, the
following entry
2621-nl, smkx@, rmkx@, use=2621,
defines a 2621-nl that does not have the smkx or rmkx capabilities, and 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 preferences.
Files
Files containing terminal descriptions
See Also
tic(1), intro(3cur), printf(3s), term(7)
Guide to X/Open curses Screen Handling
terminfo(5)