Termcap and Terminfo

While termcap and terminfo are no longer as important as they once were, due to the growth of the X terminal market and increased standardization among ASCII terminals, handling different terminal types can still be a headache for system administrators. The termcap and terminfo databases are UNIX's solution to the difficulty of supporting many terminals without writing special drivers for each terminal. Termcap (BSD) and terminfo (System V) describe the features of hundreds of terminals, together with a library of routines that allow programs to use those capabilities. This book documents hundreds of capabilities and syntax for termcap and terminfo, writing and debugging terminal descriptions, and terminal initialization. Contents include: Terminal independence: the need for termcap and terminfo. Reading termcap and terminfo entries. Capability syntax. Initializing the terminal environment. Writing termcap and terminfo entries. Converting between termcap and terminfo. Detailed descriptions of the capabilities. Screen dimensions and cursor movement. Initialization and reset. Special and equivalent terminals. Many useful appendices.

Table of Contents:
Preface. What This Book Contains. Typographic Conventions. Acknowledgements Part 1: Tutorial. Chapter 1 Introduction The Coming of Termcap The Coming of Terminfo What Termcap and Terminfo Do and Don't Control. Chapter 2 Reading Termcap and Terminfo Entries Where the Database is Stored Reading a Simple Entry Complete Sample Termcap Entries Complete Sample Terminfo Entries. Chapter 3 More Termcap and Terminfo Syntax Terminal Naming Conventions Padding Encoding Run Time Arguments. Chapter 4 Termcap, Terminfo and the Shell Environment Variables Default Terminal Type Specification Setting TERM with tset Initializing the Terminal with tset Initializing the Terminal with tput Using Terminfo Capabilities in Shell Programs. Chapter 5 Writing Termcap and Terminfo Entries Strategies for Obtaining Terminal Descriptions Modifying an Entry Creating an Entry From Scratch Writing the Entry Testing the New Entry Installing a Finished Entry. Chapter 6 Converting Between Termcap and Terminfo Converting From Termcap to Terminfo: captoinfo Converting From Terminfo to Termcap: infocmp Some Problems When Translating Other Uses of infocmp Comparing Termcap Entries. Part 2: Capability Reference. Chapter 7 Introduction to the Capabilities Syntax Used in Part 2 How to Read the Reference. Chapter 8 Screen Dimensions and Cursor Movement Screen Dimensions Local Cursor Movement Parameterized Local Cursor Movement Absolute Cursor Movement Scrolling Miscellaneous Local Movements Status Lines. Chapter 9 Editing the Screen Adding to the Screen Deleting From the Screen Insert Mode. Chapter 10 Initialization and Reset Termcap Initialization and Reset Terminfo Initialization and Reset Program Initialization Setting and Using Tabs Margins. Chapter 11 Special Effects Standout Mode Underlining Miscellaneous Highlight Modes and Alternate Character Sets Bells Cursor Intensity. Chapter 12 Special Keys Special Function Keys Extended Function Key Definitions Programmable Function Keys Keypad Keys Other Special Keyboard Keys Extended Special Key Descriptions. Chapter 13 Padding and XON/XOFF Padding Capabilities XON/XOFF Flow Control. Chapter 14 Special Terminals Glitch Capabilities Hardcopy Terminals Terminals With Local Printers Line Graphics Meta Modes. Chapter 15 Equivalent Terminals Equivalent Terminal Disabling Capabilities. Chapter 16 Miscellaneous Miscellaneous Miscellaneous (obsolete) Part 3: Appendices. Appendix A Capabilities Used by vi Appendix B Accessing Termcap From a C Program The Termcap Library Test Program Appendix C Accessing Terminfo From C Program The Terminfo Routines Test Program Capability Variable Names Appendix D List of Capabilities Index

About the Author :
Linda Mui is an employee of O'Reilly and Associates. At ORA she has worked in system administration and user support, with a specialty in UNIX text processing tools. In addition, Linda has co-authored books on Termcap and Terminfo, Pick BASIC, and now the X Window System Administrator's Guide. Linda was born and raised in New York City. She currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her summer hobbies are lazing on her hammock, taking long aimless drives, and attempting to play tennis. Her winter hobbies are reading, cooking, and waiting for summer. John Strang now finds himself "a consumer--rather than a producer of Nutshells." He is currently a diagnostic radiologist (MD) at Stanford University. He is married to a pediatrician, Susie, and they have two children, Katie and Alex. John enjoys hiking, bicycling, and dabbling in other sciences. He plans to use his experience as an author at ORA to write his own book on radiology. Tim O'Reilly is founder and president of O'Reilly & Associates, publisher of the X Window System series and the popular Nutshell Handbooks(R) on UNIX. Tim has had a hand in writing or editing many of the books published by O'Reilly & Associates. He is also the author of a book about science-fiction writer Frank Herbert. Tim's long-term vision for the company is to create a vehicle where creative people can support themselves by exploring interesting ideas. Technical book publishing is just the first step. Tim graduated cum laude from Harvard in 1975 with a B.A. in Classics.