           ncurses - CRT screen handling and optimization package

## SYNOPSIS

           #include

## DESCRIPTION

           The  ncurses  library  routines  give the user a terminal-
           independent method  of  updating  character  screens  with
           reasonable  optimization.   This  implementation  is ``new
           curses'' (ncurses) and is  the  approved  replacement  for
           4.4BSD classic curses, which has been discontinued.

           The  ncurses  routines  emulate  the curses(3X) library of
           System V Release 4 UNIX, and the XPG4 curses standard (XSI
           curses)  but the ncurses library is freely redistributable
           in source form.  Differences  from  the  SVr4  curses  are
           summarized  under  the  EXTENSIONS and BUGS sections below
           and  described  in  detail  in  the  EXTENSIONS  and  BUGS
           sections of individual man pages.

           A  program  using  these  routines must be linked with the
           -lncurses option, or (if it has been generated)  with  the
           debugging  library  -lncurses_g.   (Your system integrator
           may also have installed these libraries  under  the  names
           -lcurses and -lcurses_g.)  The ncurses_g library generates
           trace logs (in  a  file  called  'trace'  in  the  current
           directory) that describe curses actions.

           The  ncurses  package supports: overall screen, window and
           pad manipulation; output  to  windows  and  pads;  reading
           terminal input; control over terminal and curses input and
           output  options;   environment   query   routines;   color
           manipulation;   use   of   soft   label   keys;   terminfo
           capabilities;   and   access   to   low-level    terminal-
           manipulation routines.

           To initialize the routines, the routine initscr or newterm
           must be called before any of the other routines that  deal
           with  windows  and  screens  are used.  The routine endwin
           must be called before exiting.  To get character-at-a-time
           input  without  echoing (most interactive, screen oriented
           programs want this),  the  following  sequence  should  be
           used:

                 initscr(); cbreak(); noecho();

           Most programs would additionally use the sequence:

                 nonl();
                 intrflush(stdscr, FALSE);
                 keypad(stdscr, TRUE);

           defined,  must  be  output.  This can be done by executing
           the tput init command after the shell environment variable
           TERM  has  been  exported.  tset(1) is usually responsible
           for doing this.  [See terminfo(5) for further details.]

           The  ncurses  library   permits   manipulation   of   data
           structures,  called  windows,  which  can be thought of as
           two-dimensional arrays of characters representing  all  or
           part  of  a  CRT  screen.  A default window called stdscr,
           which is the size of the  terminal  screen,  is  supplied.
           Others may be created with newwin.

           Note  that  curses  does  not  handle overlapping windows,
           that's done by the panel(3X) library. This means that  you
           can  either  use  stdscr  or  divide the screen into tiled
           windows and not using stdscr at all. Mixing the  two  will
           result in unpredictable, and undesired, effects.

           Windows are referred to by variables declared as WINDOW *.
           These  data  structures  are  manipulated  with   routines
           described  here and elsewhere in the ncurses manual pages.
           Among which the most basic routines are  move  and  addch.
           More  general versions of these routines are included with
           names beginning with w, allowing the  user  to  specify  a
           window.  The routines not beginning with w affect stdscr.)

           After using routines to manipulate a  window,  refresh  is
           called,  telling curses to make the user's CRT screen look
           like stdscr.  The characters in a window are  actually  of
           type  chtype, (character and attribute data) so that other
           information about the character may also  be  stored  with
           each character.

           Special  windows  called  pads  may  also  be manipulated.
           These are windows which are not constrained to the size of
           the  screen  and  whose  contents  need  not be completely
           displayed.  See curs_pad(3X) for more information.

           In addition to drawing characters  on  the  screen,  video
           attributes  and  colors  may  be  supported,  causing  the
           characters to show up in  such  modes  as  underlined,  in
           reverse  video, or in color on terminals that support such
           display enhancements.   Line  drawing  characters  may  be
           specified  to be output.  On input, curses is also able to
           translate arrow and function  keys  that  transmit  escape
           sequences  into single values.  The video attributes, line
           drawing characters, and input values use names, defined in
           , such as A_REVERSE, ACS_HLINE, and KEY_LEFT.

           If the environment variables LINES and COLUMNS are set, or
           if the program is executing in a window environment,  line
           and  column  information  in the environment will override
           of a screen is changeable (see ENVIRONMENT).

           If the  environment  variable  TERMINFO  is  defined,  any
           program   using   curses   checks  for  a  local  terminal
           definition before checking in  the  standard  place.   For
           example,  if  TERM  is  set  to att4424, then the compiled
           terminal definition is found in

                 @DATADIR@/terminfo/a/att4424.

           (The a is copied from the first letter of att4424 to avoid
           creation  of  huge  directories.)  However, if TERMINFO is
           set to $HOME/myterms, curses first checks

                 $HOME/myterms/a/att4424,

           and if that fails, it then checks

                 @DATADIR@/terminfo/a/att4424.

           This is useful for developing experimental definitions  or
           when   write   permission  in  @DATADIR@/terminfo  is  not
           available.

           The integer  variables  LINES  and  COLS  are  defined  in
             and will be filled in by initscr with the size
           of the screen.  The constants  TRUE  and  FALSE  have  the
           values 1 and 0, respectively.

           The  curses  routines  also  define  the WINDOW * variable
           curscr which is used for certain low-level operations like
           clearing  and  redrawing a screen containing garbage.  The
           curscr can be used in only a few routines.

       Routine and Argument Names
           Many curses routines  have  two  or  more  versions.   The
           routines  prefixed  with w require a window argument.  The
           routines prefixed with p require a  pad  argument.   Those
           without a prefix generally use stdscr.

           The routines prefixed with mv require a y and x coordinate
           to move to before performing the appropriate action.   The
           mv  routines  imply  a call to move before the call to the
           other routine.  The coordinate y always refers to the  row
           (of  the  window), and x always refers to the column.  The
           upper left-hand corner is always (0,0), not (1,1).

           The routines prefixed with mvw take both a window argument
           and  x  and  y coordinates.  The window argument is always
           specified before the coordinates.

           WINDOW.

           Option setting routines require a Boolean flag bf with the
           value  TRUE  or  FALSE;  bf  is  always of type bool.  The
           variables ch and attrs below are always  of  type  chtype.
           The  types WINDOW, SCREEN, bool, and chtype are defined in
           .  The type TERMINAL  is  defined  in  .
           All other arguments are integers.

       Routine Name Index
           The following table lists each curses routine and the name
           of the manual page on which  it  is  described.   Routines
           flagged  with  `*'  are ncurses-specific, not described by
           XPG4 or present in SVr4.

           center tab(/); l l l l .  curses Routine Name/Manual  Page
           Name  =  addch/curs_addch(3X)  addchnstr/curs_addchstr(3X)
           addchstr/curs_addchstr(3X)         addnstr/curs_addstr(3X)
           addstr/curs_addstr(3X)              attr_get/curs_attr(3X)
           attr_off/curs_attr(3X)               attr_on/curs_attr(3X)
           attr_set/curs_attr(3X)               attroff/curs_attr(3X)
           attron/curs_attr(3X)                 attrset/curs_attr(3X)
           baudrate/curs_termattrs(3X)             beep/curs_beep(3X)
           bkgd/curs_bkgd(3X)                   bkgdset/curs_bkgd(3X)
           border/curs_border(3X)                 box/curs_border(3X)
           can_change_color/curs_color(3X)     cbreak/curs_inopts(3X)
           chgat/curs_attr(3X)                   clear/curs_clear(3X)
           clearok/curs_outopts(3X)           clrtobot/curs_clear(3X)
           clrtoeol/curs_clear(3X)       color_content/curs_color(3X)
           color_set/curs_attr(3X)           copywin/curs_overlay(3X)
           curs_set/curs_kernel(3X)     def_prog_mode/curs_kernel(3X)
           def_shell_mode/curs_kernel(3X)  define_key/define_key(3X)*
           del_curterm/curs_terminfo(3X)   delay_output/curs_util(3X)
           delch/curs_delch(3X)            deleteln/curs_deleteln(3X)
           delscreen/curs_initscr(3X)          delwin/curs_window(3X)
           derwin/curs_window(3X)           doupdate/curs_refresh(3X)
           dupwin/curs_window(3X)                echo/curs_inopts(3X)
           echochar/curs_addch(3X)            endwin/curs_initscr(3X)
           erase/curs_clear(3X)          erasechar/curs_termattrs(3X)
           filter/curs_util(3X)                   flash/curs_beep(3X)
           flushinp/curs_util(3X)             getbegyx/curs_getyx(3X)
           getbkgd/curs_bkgd(3X)                 getch/curs_getch(3X)
           getmaxyx/curs_getyx(3X)           getmouse/curs_mouse(3X)*
           getnstr/curs_getstr(3X)            getparyx/curs_getyx(3X)
           getstr/curs_getstr(3X)              getsyx/curs_kernel(3X)
           getwin/curs_util(3X)                  getyx/curs_getyx(3X)
           halfdelay/curs_inopts(3X)        has_colors/curs_color(3X)
           has_ic/curs_termattrs(3X)        has_il/curs_termattrs(3X)
           has_key/curs_getch(3X)*              hline/curs_border(3X)
           idcok/curs_outopts(3X)              idlok/curs_outopts(3X)
           immedok/curs_outopts(3X)                inch/curs_inch(3X)
           initscr/curs_initscr(3X)             innstr/curs_instr(3X)
           insch/curs_insch(3X)            insdelln/curs_deleteln(3X)
           insertln/curs_deleteln(3X)         insnstr/curs_insstr(3X)
           insstr/curs_insstr(3X)                instr/curs_instr(3X)
           intrflush/curs_inopts(3X)    is_linetouched/curs_touch(3X)
           is_wintouched/curs_touch(3X)     isendwin/curs_initscr(3X)
           keyname/curs_util(3X)                     keyok/keyok(3X)*
           keypad/curs_inopts(3X)         killchar/curs_termattrs(3X)
           leaveok/curs_outopts(3X)       longname/curs_termattrs(3X)
           mcprint/curs_print(3X)*               meta/curs_inopts(3X)
           mouseinterval/curs_mouse(3X)*    mousemask/curs_mouse(3X)*
           move/curs_move(3X)                  mvaddch/curs_addch(3X)
           mvaddchnstr/curs_addchstr(3X) mvaddchstr/curs_addchstr(3X)
           mvaddnstr/curs_addstr(3X)         mvaddstr/curs_addstr(3X)
           mvchgat/curs_attr(3X)              mvcur/curs_terminfo(3X)
           mvdelch/curs_delch(3X)            mvderwin/curs_window(3X)
           mvgetch/curs_getch(3X)           mvgetnstr/curs_getstr(3X)
           mvgetstr/curs_getstr(3X)           mvhline/curs_border(3X)
           mvinch/curs_inch(3X)           mvinchnstr/curs_inchstr(3X)
           mvinchstr/curs_inchstr(3X)         mvinnstr/curs_instr(3X)
           mvinsch/curs_insch(3X)           mvinsnstr/curs_insstr(3X)
           mvinsstr/curs_insstr(3X)            mvinstr/curs_instr(3X)
           mvprintw/curs_printw(3X)            mvscanw/curs_scanw(3X)
           mvwaddch/curs_addch(3X)     mvwaddchnstr/curs_addchstr(3X)
           mvwaddchstr/curs_addchstr(3X)   mvwaddnstr/curs_addstr(3X)
           mvwaddstr/curs_addstr(3X)           mvwchgat/curs_attr(3X)
           mvwdelch/curs_delch(3X)            mvwgetch/curs_getch(3X)
           mvwgetnstr/curs_getstr(3X)       mvwgetstr/curs_getstr(3X)
           mvwhline/curs_border(3X)             mvwin/curs_window(3X)
           mvwinch/curs_inch(3X)         mvwinchnstr/curs_inchstr(3X)
           mvwinchstr/curs_inchstr(3X)       mvwinnstr/curs_instr(3X)
           mvwinsch/curs_insch(3X)         mvwinsnstr/curs_insstr(3X)
           mvwinsstr/curs_insstr(3X)          mvwinstr/curs_instr(3X)
           mvwprintw/curs_printw(3X)          mvwscanw/curs_scanw(3X)
           mvwvline/curs_border(3X)             napms/curs_kernel(3X)
           newpad/curs_pad(3X)               newterm/curs_initscr(3X)
           newwin/curs_window(3X)                 nl/curs_outopts(3X)
           nocbreak/curs_inopts(3X)           nodelay/curs_inopts(3X)
           noecho/curs_inopts(3X)               nonl/curs_outopts(3X)
           noqiflush/curs_inopts(3X)            noraw/curs_inopts(3X)
           notimeout/curs_inopts(3X)         overlay/curs_overlay(3X)
           overwrite/curs_overlay(3X)     pair_content/curs_color(3X)
           pechochar/curs_pad(3X)           pnoutrefresh/curs_pad(3X)
           prefresh/curs_pad(3X)               printw/curs_printw(3X)
           putp/curs_terminfo(3X)                putwin/curs_util(3X)
           qiflush/curs_inopts(3X)                raw/curs_inopts(3X)
           redrawwin/curs_refresh(3X)        refresh/curs_refresh(3X)
           reset_prog_mode/curs_kernel(3X)
           reset_shell_mode/curs_kernel(3X)   resetty/curs_kernel(3X)
           resizeterm/resizeterm(3X)*   restartterm/curs_terminfo(3X)
           ripoffline/curs_kernel(3X)         savetty/curs_kernel(3X)
           scanw/curs_scanw(3X)            scr_dump/curs_scr_dump(3X)
           scroll/curs_scroll(3X)           scrollok/curs_outopts(3X)
           set_curterm/curs_terminfo(3X)    set_term/curs_initscr(3X)
           setscrreg/curs_outopts(3X)          setsyx/curs_kernel(3X)
           setterm/curs_terminfo(3X)      setupterm/curs_terminfo(3X)
           slk_attr/curs_slk(3X)*           slk_attr_off/curs_slk(3X)
           slk_attr_on/curs_slk(3X)         slk_attr_set/curs_slk(3X)
           slk_attroff/curs_slk(3X)           slk_attron/curs_slk(3X)
           slk_attrset/curs_slk(3X)            slk_clear/curs_slk(3X)
           slk_color/curs_slk(3X)               slk_init/curs_slk(3X)
           slk_label/curs_slk(3X)        slk_noutrefresh/curs_slk(3X)
           slk_refresh/curs_slk(3X)          slk_restore/curs_slk(3X)
           slk_set/curs_slk(3X)                slk_touch/curs_slk(3X)
           standend/curs_attr(3X)              standout/curs_attr(3X)
           start_color/curs_color(3X)             subpad/curs_pad(3X)
           subwin/curs_window(3X)              syncok/curs_window(3X)
           termattrs/curs_termattrs(3X)   termname/curs_termattrs(3X)
           tgetent/curs_termcap(3X)         tgetflag/curs_termcap(3X)
           tgetnum/curs_termcap(3X)          tgetstr/curs_termcap(3X)
           tgoto/curs_termcap(3X)         tigetflag/curs_terminfo(3X)
           tigetnum/curs_terminfo(3X)      tigetstr/curs_terminfo(3X)
           timeout/curs_inopts(3X)           touchline/curs_touch(3X)
           touchwin/curs_touch(3X)            tparm/curs_terminfo(3X)
           tputs/curs_termcap(3X)             tputs/curs_terminfo(3X)
           typeahead/curs_inopts(3X)             unctrl/curs_util(3X)
           ungetch/curs_getch(3X)          ungetmouse/curs_mouse(3X)*
           untouchwin/curs_touch(3X) use_default_colors/dft_fgbg(3X)*
           use_env/curs_util(3X)            vidattr/curs_terminfo(3X)
           vidputs/curs_terminfo(3X)            vline/curs_border(3X)
           vw_printw/curs_printw(3X)          vw_scanw/curs_scanw(3X)
           vwprintw/curs_printw(3X)            vwscanw/curs_scanw(3X)
           waddch/curs_addch(3X)         waddchnstr/curs_addchstr(3X)
           waddchstr/curs_addchstr(3X)       waddnstr/curs_addstr(3X)
           waddstr/curs_addstr(3X)            wattr_get/curs_attr(3X)
           wattr_off/curs_attr(3X)             wattr_on/curs_attr(3X)
           wattr_set/curs_attr(3X)             wattroff/curs_attr(3X)
           wattron/curs_attr(3X)               wattrset/curs_attr(3X)
           wbkgd/curs_bkgd(3X)                 wbkgdset/curs_bkgd(3X)
           wborder/curs_border(3X)               wchgat/curs_attr(3X)
           wclear/curs_clear(3X)             wclrtobot/curs_clear(3X)
           wclrtoeol/curs_clear(3X)          wcolor_set/curs_attr(3X)
           wcursyncup/curs_window(3X)           wdelch/curs_delch(3X)
           wdeleteln/curs_deleteln(3X)       wechochar/curs_addch(3X)
           wenclose/curs_mouse(3X)*             werase/curs_clear(3X)
           wgetch/curs_getch(3X)             wgetnstr/curs_getstr(3X)
           wgetstr/curs_getstr(3X)             whline/curs_border(3X)
           winch/curs_inch(3X)             winchnstr/curs_inchstr(3X)
           winchstr/curs_inchstr(3X)           winnstr/curs_instr(3X)
           winsch/curs_insch(3X)          winsdelln/curs_deleteln(3X)
           winsertln/curs_deleteln(3X)       winsnstr/curs_insstr(3X)
           winsstr/curs_insstr(3X)              winstr/curs_instr(3X)
           wmouse_trafo/curs_mouse(3X)            wmove/curs_move(3X)
           wnoutrefresh/curs_refresh(3X)      wprintw/curs_printw(3X)
           wscrl/curs_scroll(3X)          wsetscrreg/curs_outopts(3X)
           wstandend/curs_attr(3X)            wstandout/curs_attr(3X)
           wsyncdown/curs_window(3X)          wsyncup/curs_window(3X)
           wtimeout/curs_inopts(3X)           wtouchln/curs_touch(3X)
           wvline/curs_border(3X)

## RETURN VALUE

           Routines that return an integer return  ERR  upon  failure
           and  an  integer  value  other  than  ERR  upon successful
           completion,  unless  otherwise  noted   in   the   routine
           descriptions.

           All  macros  return  the  value  of  the w version, except
           setscrreg, wsetscrreg,  getyx,  getbegyx,  getmaxyx.   The
           return  values  of setscrreg, wsetscrreg, getyx, getbegyx,
           and getmaxyx are undefined (i.e., these should not be used
           as the right-hand side of assignment statements).

           Routines that return pointers return NULL on error.

## ENVIRONMENT

           The   following   environment   symbols   are  useful  for
           customizing the runtime behavior of the  ncurses  library.
           The  most  important  ones  have been already discussed in
           detail.

           BAUDRATE
                The debugging library checks this environment  symbol
                when the application has redirected output to a file.
                The symbol's numeric value is used for the  baudrate.
                If  no value is found ncurses uses 9600.  This allows
                testers to construct repeatable test-cases that  take
                into account costs that depend on baudrate.

           CC   When set, change occurrences of the command_character
                (i.e., the cmdch capability) of the  loaded  terminfo
                entries  to  the  value  of  this  symbol.   Very few
                terminfo entries provide this feature.

           COLUMNS
                Specify  the  width  of  the  screen  in  characters.
                Applications   running  in  a  windowing  environment
                usually are able to obtain the width of the window in
                which  they  are  executing.  If neither the $COLUMNS
                value nor the terminal's screen  size  is  available,
                ncurses  uses  the size which may be specified in the
                terminfo database (i.e., the cols capability).

                It is important that your application use  a  correct
                size  for  the  screen.   However, this is not always
                possible because your application may be running on a
                host  which  does  not honor NAWS (Negotiations About

                Either  COLUMNS  or  LINES  symbols  may be specified
                independently.  This is mainly useful  to  circumvent
                legacy  misfeatures  of  terminal descriptions, e.g.,
                xterm which commonly specifies a 65 line screen.  For
                best  results, lines and cols should not be specified
                in a terminal description for terminals which are run
                as emulations.

                Use the use_env function to disable this feature.

           ESCDELAY
                Specifies  the total time, in milliseconds, for which
                ncurses will await  a  character  sequence,  e.g.,  a
                function  key.  The default value, 1000 milliseconds,
                is enough for most  uses.   However,  it  is  made  a
                variable to accommodate unusual applications.

                The most common instance where you may wish to change
                this value is to work with slow hosts, e.g.,  running
                on  a  network.   If  the host cannot read characters
                rapidly enough, it will have the same  effect  as  if
                the  terminal did not send characters rapidly enough.
                The library will still see a timeout.

                Note that  xterm  mouse  events  are  built  up  from
                character sequences received from the xterm.  If your
                application makes heavy use of multiple-clicking, you
                may  wish  to lengthen this default value because the
                timeout applies to the composed multi-click event  as
                well as the individual clicks.

           HOME Tells  ncurses where your home directory is.  That is
                where  it  may  read  and  write  auxiliary  terminal
                descriptions:

                $HOME/.termcap
                $HOME/.terminfo

           LINES
                Like  COLUMNS,  specify  the  height of the screen in
                characters.  See COLUMNS for a detailed  description.

           MOUSE_BUTTONS_123
                This applies only to the OS/2 EMX port.  It specifies
                the order of buttons on the mouse.   OS/2  numbers  a
                3-button mouse inconsistently from other platforms:

                1 = left
                2 = right
                3 = middle.

                123  or  321.   If  it is not specified, ncurses uses
                132.

           NCURSES_NO_PADDING
                Most of the terminal  descriptions  in  the  terminfo
                database  are  written for real "hardware" terminals.
                Many people use terminal emulators  which  run  in  a
                windowing    environment    and    use   curses-based
                applications.  Terminal emulators can  duplicate  all
                of  the important aspects of a hardware terminal, but
                they do not have the  same  limitations.   The  chief
                limitation of a hardware terminal from the standpoint
                of your application is the  management  of  dataflow,
                i.e.,   timing.    Unless   a  hardware  terminal  is
                interfaced into a terminal concentrator  (which  does
                flow  control),  it (or your application) must manage
                dataflow, preventing overruns.  The cheapest solution
                (no  hardware cost) is for your program to do this by
                pausing  after  operations  that  the  terminal  does
                slowly, such as clearing the display.

                As  a  result,  many terminal descriptions (including
                the vt100) have delay times embedded.  You  may  wish
                to  use  these  descriptions, but not want to pay the
                performance penalty.

                Set the NCURSES_NO_PADDING symbol to disable all  but
                mandatory  padding.   Mandatory  padding is used as a
                part of special control sequences such as flash.

           NCURSES_NO_SETBUF
                Normally  ncurses  enables  buffered  output   during
                terminal  initialization.   This  is done (as in SVr4
                curses)  for  performance   reasons.    For   testing
                purposes,  both  of ncurses and certain applications,
                this  feature  is   made   optional.    Setting   the
                NCURSES_NO_SETBUF variable disables output buffering,
                leaving the output  in  the  original  (usually  line
                buffered) mode.

           NCURSES_TRACE
                During  initialization, the ncurses debugging library
                checks the NCURSES_TRACE symbol.  If it  is  defined,
                to a numeric value, ncurses calls the trace function,
                using that value as the argument.

                The argument values, which are defined  in  curses.h,
                provide  several  types of information.  When running
                with traces enabled, your application will write  the
                file trace to the current directory.

           TERM Denotes  your  terminal  type.  Each terminal type is
                If the  ncurses  library  has  been  configured  with
                termcap  support, ncurses will check for a terminal's
                description in termcap form if it is not available in
                the terminfo database.

                The   TERMCAP   symbol  contains  either  a  terminal
                description (with newlines stripped out), or  a  file
                name  telling  where  the  information denoted by the
                TERM symbol  exists.   In  either  case,  setting  it
                directs  ncurses  to  ignore the usual place for this
                information, e.g., /etc/termcap.

           TERMINFO
                Overrides the directory in which ncurses searches for
                your terminal description.  This is the simplest, but
                not the only way to change the list  of  directories.
                The complete list of directories in order follows:

                -  the last directory to which ncurses wrote, if any,
                   is searched first.

                -  the directory specified by the TERMINFO symbol

                -  $HOME/.terminfo

                -  directories listed in the TERMINFO_DIRS symbol

                -  one or more directories whose names are configured
                   and  compiled  into  the  ncurses  library,  e.g.,
                   @DATADIR@/terminfo

           TERMINFO_DIRS
                Specifies  a  list  of  directories  to  search   for
                terminal  descriptions.   The  list  is  separated by
                colons (i.e., ":").  All of the terminal descriptions
                are  in  terminfo  form,  which  makes a subdirectory
                named for the first  letter  of  the  terminal  names
                therein.

           TERMPATH
                If  TERMCAP  does  not  hold a file name then ncurses
                checks the  TERMPATH  symbol.   This  is  a  list  of
                filenames  separated  by  colons (i.e., ":").  If the
                TERMPATH symbol is not  set,  ncurses  looks  in  the
                files   /etc/termcap,   /usr/share/misc/termcap   and
                $HOME/.termcap, in that order.

## FILES

           @DATADIR@/tabset
                directory containing  initialization  files  for  the
                terminal   capability   database   @DATADIR@/terminfo
                terminal capability database

           terminfo(5) and 3X pages whose  names  begin  "curs_"  for
           detailed routine descriptions.

## EXTENSIONS

           The  ncurses  library  can  be  compiled  with  an  option
           (-DUSE_GETCAP)  that   falls   back   to   the   old-style
           /etc/termcap file if the terminal setup code cannot find a
           terminfo entry corresponding to TERM.  Use of this feature
           is  not  recommended, as it essentially includes an entire
           termcap  compiler  in  the  ncurses   startup   code,   at
           significant cost in core and startup cycles.

           The  ncurses  library  includes  facilities  for capturing
           mouse events on certain terminals (including  xterm).  See
           the curs_mouse(3X) manual page for details.

           The  ncurses library includes facilities for responding to
           window resizing events, e.g., when running  in  an  xterm.
           See  the  resizeterm(3X)  and wresize(3X) manual pages for
           details.  In addition, the library may be configured  with
           a SIGWINCH handler.

           The  ncurses library extends the fixed set of function key
           capabilities of  terminals  by  allowing  the  application
           designer  to  define  additional key sequences at runtime.
           See the define_key(3X)  and  keyok(3X)  manual  pages  for
           details.

           The  ncurses  library  can  exploit  the  capabilities  of
           terminals which implement the ISO-6429 SGR 39 and  SGR  49
           controls, which allow an application to reset the terminal
           to its original foreground and  background  colors.   From
           the  users'  perspective,  the application is able to draw
           colored  text  on  a  background  whose   color   is   set
           independently,   providing   better   control  over  color
           contrasts.  See the use_default_colors(3X) manual page for
           details.

           The  ncurses  library  includes  a  function for directing
           application output to a printer attached to  the  terminal
           device.  See the curs_print(3X) manual page for details.

## PORTABILITY

           The   ncurses   library   is  intended  to  be  BASE-level
           conformant with the XSI Curses standard.  Certain portions
           of  the EXTENDED XSI Curses functionality (including color
           support) are supported.  The following EXTENDED XSI Curses
           calls  in  support  of wide (multibyte) characters are not
           yet   implemented:   add_wch,   add_wchnstr,   add_wchstr,
           addnwstr, addwstr, bkgrnd, bkgrndset, border_set, box_set,
           echo_wchar,  erasewchar,  get_wch,  get_wstr,   getbkgrnd,
           getcchar,   getn_wstr,   getwchtype,   hline_set,  in_wch,
           killwchar,   mvadd_wch,    mvadd_wchnstr,    mvadd_wchstr,
           mvaddnwstr, mvaddwstr, mvget_wch, mvget_wstr, mvgetn_wstr,
           mvhline_set, mvin_wch, mvinnwstr, mvins_nwstr,  mvins_wch,
           mvins_wstr, mvinwchnstr, mvinwchstr, mvinwchstr, mvinwstr,
           mvvline_set,  mvwadd_wch,  mvwadd_wchnstr,  mvwadd_wchstr,
           mvwaddnwstr,     mvwaddwstr,     mvwget_ch,    mvwget_wch,
           mvwget_wstr,   mvwgetn_wstr,   mvwhline_set,    mvwin_wch,
           mvwin_wchnstr,   mvwin_wchstr,  mvwinnwstr,  mvwins_nwstr,
           mvwins_wch,   mvwins_wstr,    mvwinwchnstr.     mvwinwstr,
           mvwvline_set, pecho_wchar, setcchar, slk_wset, term_attrs,
           unget_wch,  vhline_set,  vid_attr,  vid_puts,   vline_set,
           wadd_wch,  wadd_wchnstr, wadd_wchstr, waddnwstr, waddwstr,
           waddwstr, wbkgrnd,  wbkgrndset,  wbkgrndset,  wborder_set,
           wecho_wchar, wecho_wchar, wget_wch, wget_wstr, wgetbkgrnd,
           wgetn_wstr, whline_set, win_wch, win_wchnstr,  win_wchstr,
           winnwstr,  wins_nwstr,  wins_wch,  wins_wstr,  winwchnstr,
           winwchstr, winwstr, wunctrl, wvline_set,

           A small number of local differences (that  is,  individual
           differences  between the XSI Curses and ncurses calls) are
           described in  PORTABILITY  sections  of  the  library  man
           pages.

           The routine has_key is not part of XPG4, nor is it present
           in SVr4.  See the curs_getch(3X) manual page for  details.

           The  routine  slk_attr  is  not  part  of  XPG4, nor is it
           present in SVr4.  See the  curs_slk(3X)  manual  page  for
           details.

           The     routines    getmouse,    mousemask,    ungetmouse,
           mouseinterval, and wenclose relating to mouse  interfacing
           are  not  part of XPG4, nor are they present in SVr4.  See
           the curs_mouse(3X) manual page for details.

           The routine mcprint was not present in any previous curses
           implementation.   See  the  curs_print(3X) manual page for
           details.

           The routine wresize is not part of XPG4, nor is it present
           in SVr4.  See the wresize(3X) manual page for details.

           In  historic  curses  versions,  delays  embedded  in  the
           capabilities  cr,  ind,  cub1,  ff   and   tab   activated
           corresponding  delay bits in the UNIX tty driver.  In this
           implementation, all padding is done by  NUL  sends.   This
           method   is  slightly  more  expensive,  but  narrows  the
           interface to the UNIX kernel significantly  and  increases
           the package's portability correspondingly.

           In  the  XSI  standard  and  SVr4 manual pages, many entry
           points have prototype arguments of the for char *const (or
           (see  section  3.5.4.1), these declarations are either (a)
           meaningless,  or  (b)  meaningless   and   illegal.    The
           declaration  const  char  *x  is  a  modifiable pointer to
           unmodifiable data, but char *const x' is  an  unmodifiable
           pointer to modifiable data.  Given that C passes arguments
           by value,  *const  as  a  formal  type  is  at  best
           dubious.    Some   compilers   choke  on  the  prototypes.
           Therefore, in this implementation, they have been  changed
           to const  * globally.

## NOTES

           The  header  file    automatically  includes the
           header files  and .

           If standard output from a ncurses program  is  re-directed
           to  something  which  is not a tty, screen updates will be
           directed to standard  error.   This  was  an  undocumented
           feature of AT&T System V Release 3 curses.

## AUTHORS

           Zeyd  M.  Ben-Halim,  Eric  S.  Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey.
           Based on pcurses by Pavel Curtis.