term\_variables(3X) Library calls term\_variables(3X) # [NAME](#NAME) **SP**, **acs\_map**, **boolcodes**, **boolfnames**, **boolnames**, **cur\_term**, **numcodes**, **numfnames**, **numnames**, **strcodes**, **strfnames**, **strnames**, **ttytype** - *terminfo* global variables # [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS) ``` #include #include ``` ``` chtype acs_map[]; ``` ``` SCREEN * SP; ``` ``` TERMINAL * cur_term; ``` ``` char ttytype[]; ``` ``` NCURSES_CONST char * const boolcodes[]; NCURSES_CONST char * const boolfnames[]; NCURSES_CONST char * const boolnames[]; ``` ``` NCURSES_CONST char * const numcodes[]; NCURSES_CONST char * const numfnames[]; NCURSES_CONST char * const numnames[]; ``` ``` NCURSES_CONST char * const strcodes[]; NCURSES_CONST char * const strfnames[]; NCURSES_CONST char * const strnames[]; ``` # [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION) This page summarizes variables provided by the *curses* library's lower-level *terminfo* interface. Locate a more complete description in the [**curs\_terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_terminfo.3X) manual page. Depending on *ncurses*'s build-time configuration, these may be actual variables, or macros (see [**curs\_threads**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_threads.3X)) that provide read-only access to *curses*'s state. In either case, applications should treat them as read-only to avoid confusing the library. ## [Alternate Character Set Mapping](#Alternate_Character_Set_Mapping) After initializing the *curses* or *terminfo* interfaces, the **acs\_map** array holds information used to translate cells with the **A\_ALTCHARSET** video attribute into line-drawing characters. The encoding of the information in this array has changed periodically. Application developers need only know that it is used for the “ACS\_” constants in *curses.h*. The comparable data for the wide-character library are not exposed as symbols in the API. ## [Current Terminal Data](#Current_Terminal_Data) After initializing the *curses* or *terminfo* interfaces, **cur\_term** contains data describing the current terminal. It is also updated as a side effect of [**set\_term**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/set_term.3X) and [**delscreen**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/delscreen.3X). It is possible to save a value of **cur\_term** for subsequent use as a parameter to [**set\_term**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/set_term.3X) for switching between screens. Alternatively, one can save the return value from [**newterm**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/newterm.3X) or [**setupterm**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/setupterm.3X) to reuse in [**set\_term**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/set_term.3X). ## *terminfo* Lookup Tables The [**tic**(1)](/man/os/ncurses/tic.1) and [**infocmp**(1)](/man/os/ncurses/infocmp.1) programs use lookup tables for the long and short names of *terminfo* capabilities, as well as the corresponding names for *termcap* capabilities. These are available to other applications, though the hash tables used by the *terminfo* and *termcap* functions are not. *terminfo* stores capability names in arrays with an “f” (eff) in their names: **boolfnames**, **numfnames**, and **strfnames**. It stores the briefer capability codes in arrays without the “f”: **boolnames**, **numnames**, and **strnames**. The corresponding *termcap* capability codes are stored in **boolcodes**, **numcodes**, and **strcodes**. [**terminfo**(5)](/man/os/ncurses/terminfo.5) catalogs these. ## [Terminal Type](#Terminal_Type) A terminal description begins with one or more terminal names separated by “|” (vertical bars). On initialization of the *curses* or *terminfo* interfaces, [**setupterm**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/setupterm.3X) copies the terminal name to the array **ttytype**. ## *terminfo* Names In addition to the variables, *term.h* also defines a symbol for each *terminfo* capability name. These are in terms of the symbol **CUR**, which is defined ``` #define CUR ((TERMTYPE *)(cur_term))-> ``` These symbols provide a faster method of accessing *terminfo* capabilities than using, for example, [**tigetstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/tigetstr.3X). The definition of **CUR** is implementation-dependent, but each *terminfo* library defines these names to point into the in-memory description of the current terminal. For example, in *ncurses*, the expressions **tigetstr("key\_dc")** and “**CUR Strings\[59]**” are equivalent. ## *terminfo* and *curses* [**setupterm**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/setupterm.3X) initializes the lower-level *terminfo* interface. The higher-level *curses* interface uses the *terminfo* interface internally; the symbol **SP** bridges the *curses* *SCREEN* type with the *terminfo* *TERMINAL* type. # [PORTABILITY](#PORTABILITY) X/Open Curses does not describe any of these symbols except for *cur\_term*. (The inclusion of *cur\_term* appears to be an oversight, since other comparable low-level information is omitted by X/Open.) Other implementations may have comparable variables. Some implementations provide the variables in their libraries, but omit them from the header files. All implementations that provide *terminfo* interfaces add definitions as described in the “*terminfo* Names” section above. Most, but not all, base the definition upon the *cur\_term* variable. # [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO) [**curses**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curses.3X), [**curs\_terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_terminfo.3X), [**curs\_threads**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_threads.3X), [**terminfo**(5)](/man/os/ncurses/terminfo.5) 2025-11-11 ncurses 6.6 --- Document: ttytype(3x) from ncurses 6.6.20260926-r0 (Chainguard OS) Source: https://github.com/ThomasDickey/ncurses-snapshots