ncurses(3X) Library calls ncurses(3X) # [NAME](#NAME) **ncurses** - character-cell terminal interface with optimized output # [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS) ``` #include ``` # [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION) The “new curses” library offers the programmer a terminal-independent means of reading keyboard and mouse input and writing to character-cell displays with output optimized to minimize screen updates. *ncurses* replaces the *curses* libraries from System V Release 4 Unix (“SVr4”) and 4.4BSD Unix, the development of which ceased in the 1990s. This document describes *ncurses* version 6.6 (patch 20261024). *ncurses* permits control of the terminal screen's contents; abstraction and subdivision thereof with *windows* and *pads*; acquisition of keyboard and mouse events; selection of color and rendering attributes (such as bold or underline); the definition and use of *soft label* keys; access to the *terminfo* terminal capability database; a *termcap* compatibility interface; and an abstraction of the system's API for manipulating the terminal (such as [*termios*(3)](/man/os/ncurses/termios.3)). *ncurses* implements the interface described by X/Open Curses Issue 7. In many behavioral details not standardized by X/Open, *ncurses* emulates the *curses* library of SVr4 and provides numerous useful extensions. *ncurses* man pages employ several sections to clarify matters of usage and interoperability with other *curses* implementations. - “NOTES” describes issues and caveats of which any user of the *ncurses* API should be aware, such as limitations on the size of an underlying integral type or the availability of a preprocessor macro exclusive of a function definition (which prevents its address from being taken). This section also describes implementation details of significance to the programmer but which are not standardized. - “EXTENSIONS” presents *ncurses* innovations beyond the X/Open Curses standard and/or the SVr4 *curses* implementation. They are termed *extensions* to indicate that they cannot be implemented solely by using the library API, but require access to the library's internal state. - “PORTABILITY” discusses matters (beyond the exercise of extensions) that should be considered when writing to a *curses* standard, or for multiple implementations. - “HISTORY” examines points of detail in *ncurses* and other *curses* implementations over the decades of their development, particularly where precedent or inertia have frustrated better design (and, in a few cases, where such inertia has been overcome). A *curses* application must be linked with the library; use the **-lncurses** option to your compiler or linker. A debugging version of the library may be available; if so, link with it using **-lncurses\_g**. (Your system integrator may have installed these libraries such that you can use the options **-lcurses** and **-lcurses\_g**, respectively.) The *ncurses\_g* library logs events describing *ncurses* actions to a file called *trace* in the application's working directory at startup. See section “ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS” below. ## [Application Structure](#Application_Structure) A *curses* application uses information from the system locale; [*setlocale*(3)](/man/os/ncurses/setlocale.3) prepares it for *curses* library calls. ``` setlocale(LC_ALL, ""); ``` If the locale is not thus initialized, the library assumes that characters are printable as in ISO 8859-1, to work with certain legacy programs. You should initialize the locale; do not expect consistent behavior from the library when the locale has not been set up. [**initscr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/initscr.3X) or [**newterm**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/newterm.3X) must be called to initialize *curses* before use of any functions that access or manipulate windows or screens. To get character-at-a-time input without echoing — most interactive, screen-oriented programs want this — use the following sequence. ``` initscr(); cbreak(); noecho(); ``` Most applications would perform further setup as follows. ``` noqiflush(); keypad(stdscr, TRUE); ``` A *curses* program then often enters an event-handling loop. Call [**endwin**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/endwin.3X) before exiting. ## [Overview](#Overview) A *curses* library abstracts the terminal with a *SCREEN* data structure, and represents all or part of its display with *WINDOW* structures. Distinct properties apply to each; for example, the *line discipline* of a typical Unix terminal driver is in one of three modes: raw, cbreak, or canonical (“cooked”). In *curses*, the line discipline is a property of the screen, applying identically to all windows associated with it. A *window* is a rectangular grid of character cells, addressed by line and column coordinates (*y*, *x*), with the upper left corner as (0, 0). A window called **stdscr**, by default the same size as the terminal screen, is always available. Create others with [**newwin**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/newwin.3X). A *curses* library does not manage overlapping windows (but see below). You can either use **stdscr** to manage one screen-filling window, or tile the screen into non-overlapping windows and not use **stdscr** at all. Mixing the two approaches will result in unpredictable and undesired effects. Functions permit manipulation of a window and the *cursor* identifying the cell within it at which the next operation will occur. Among those, the most basic are [**move**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/move.3X) and [**addch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/addch.3X): these place the cursor within and write a character to **stdscr**, respectively. Frequent changes to the terminal screen can cause unpleasant flicker or inefficient use of the communication channel to the device, so as a rule the library does not update it automatically. Therefore, after using *curses* functions to accumulate a set of desired updates that make sense to present together, call [**refresh**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/refresh.3X) to tell the library to make the user's screen look like **stdscr**. The library *optimizes* its output by computing a minimal volume of operations to mutate the screen from its state at the previous refresh to the new one. Effective optimization demands accurate information about the terminal device: the management of such information is the province of the [**terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/terminfo.3X) API, a feature of every standard *curses* implementation. Special windows called *pads* may also be manipulated. These are not constrained to the size of the terminal screen and their contents need not be completely displayed. See [**curs\_pad**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_pad.3X). Many terminals support configuration of character cell foreground and background colors as well as *attributes*, which cause characters to render in such modes as boldfaced, underlined, or in reverse video. See [**curs\_color**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_color.3X) and [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X). *curses* defines constants to simplify access to a small set of forms-drawing graphics corresponding to the DEC Alternate Character Set (ACS), a feature of VT100 and other terminals. See [**addch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/addch.3X). *curses* is implemented using the operating system's terminal driver; key events are received not as scan codes but as byte sequences. The driver reports graphical keycaps (alphanumeric and punctuation keys, and the space) as-is. Everything else, including the tab, enter/return, keypad, arrow, and function keys, appears to *curses* as a control character or a multibyte *escape sequence.* *curses* can translate the latter into unique *key codes.* See [**keypad**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/keypad.3X) and [**getch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/getch.3X). *ncurses* provides reimplementations of the SVr4 [**panel**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/panel.3X), [**form**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/form.3X), and [**menu**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/menu.3X) libraries; they permit overlapping windows and ease construction of user interfaces with *curses*. ## [Initialization](#Initialization) The selection of an appropriate value of *TERM* in the process environment is essential to correct *curses* and *terminfo* library operation. A well-configured system selects a correct *TERM* value automatically; [**tset**(1)](/man/os/ncurses/tset.1) may assist with troubleshooting exotic situations. If you change the terminal type from a shell, export *TERM*, then run [**tset**(1)](/man/os/ncurses/tset.1) or the “**tput init**” command. See subsection “Tabs and Initialization” of [**terminfo**(5)](/man/os/ncurses/terminfo.5). If the environment variables *LINES* and *COLUMNS* are set, or if the *curses* program is executing in a graphical windowing environment, the information obtained thence overrides that obtained by *terminfo*. An *ncurses* extension supports resizable terminal displays; see [**wresize**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/wresize.3X). If the environment variable *TERMINFO* is defined, a *curses* program checks first for a terminal type description in the location it identifies. *TERMINFO* is useful for developing type descriptions or when write permission to */usr/share/terminfo* is not available. See section “ENVIRONMENT” below. ## [Naming Conventions](#Naming_Conventions) *curses* offers many functions in variant forms using a regular set of alternatives to the name of an elemental one. Those prefixed with “w” require a *WINDOW* pointer argument; those with a “mv” prefix first perform cursor movement using [**wmove**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/wmove.3X); a “mvw” prefix indicates both. The “w” function is typically the elemental one; the removal of this prefix usually indicates operation on **stdscr**. Four functions prefixed with “p” require a *pad* argument; see below. In function synopses, *ncurses* man pages apply the following names to parameters. We introduce the character types in the next subsection. *bf* a *bool* (**TRUE** or **FALSE**) *c* a *char* or *int* *ch* a *chtype* *wc* a *wchar\_t* or *wint\_t* *wch* a *cchar\_t* *win* pointer to a *WINDOW* *pad* pointer to a *WINDOW* that is a pad *pair* a foreground/background color pair identifier ## [Wide and Non-wide Character Configurations](#Wide_and_Non-wide_Character_Configurations) This man page primarily surveys functions that appear in any configuration of the library. There are two common configurations; for others, see section “ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS” below. [*ncurses*](#ncurses) is the library in its “non-wide” configuration, handling only eight-bit characters. It stores a character combined with attributes and a color pair identifier in a *chtype* datum, which is often an alias of *int*. A string of *curses* characters is similar to a C *char* string; a *chtype* string ends with an integral **0**, the null *curses* character. Attributes and a color pair identifier (with no corresponding character) can be stored in variables of *chtype* or *attr\_t* type. In either case, they are accessed via an integral bit mask. *ncurses* stores each cell of a *WINDOW* as a *chtype*. X/Open Curses does not specify the sizes of the character code or color pair identifier, nor the quantity of attribute bits, in *chtype*; these are implementation-dependent. *ncurses* uses eight bits for the character code. An application requiring a wider character type, for instance to represent Unicode, should use the wide-character API. [*ncursesw*](#ncursesw) is the library in its “wide” configuration, which handles character encodings requiring a larger data type than *char* (a byte-sized type) can represent. It provides additional functions that complement those in the non-wide library where the size of the underlying character type is significant. A somewhat regular naming convention relates many of the wide variants to their non-wide counterparts; where a non-wide function name contains “ch” or “str”, prefix it with “\_w” to obtain the wide counterpart. For example, **waddch** becomes **wadd\_wch**. An exception is **ins\_nwstr** (and its variants), spelled thus instead of “insn\_wstr”. (Exceptions that add only “w” comprise **addwstr**, **inwstr**, and their variants.) This convention is inapplicable to some non-wide function names, so other transformations are used for the wide configuration: the window background management function “bkgd” becomes “bkgrnd”; the window border-drawing and -clearing functions are suffixed with “\_set”; and character attribute manipulation functions like “attron” become “attr\_on”. [*cchar\_t*](#cchar_t) is a *curses complex character* and corresponds to the non-wide-character configuration's *chtype*. It is a structure type because it requires more storage than a standard scalar type offers. A character code may not be representable as a *char*, and moreover more than one character may occupy a cell (as with accent marks and other diacritics). Each character is of type *wchar\_t*; a complex character contains one spacing character and zero or more non-spacing characters (see below). A string of complex characters ends with a *cchar\_t* whose *wchar\_t* member is the null wide character. Attributes and a color pair identifier are stored in separate fields of the structure, not combined into an integer as in *chtype*. *ncurses* stores each cell of a *WINDOW* as a *cchar\_t*. [**setcchar**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/setcchar.3X) and [**getcchar**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/getcchar.3X) store and retrieve *cchar\_t* data. The wide library API of *ncurses* depends on two data types standardized by ISO C95. [*wchar\_t*](#wchar_t) stores a wide character. Like *chtype*, it may be an alias of *int*. Depending on the character encoding, a wide character may be *spacing*, meaning that it occupies a character cell by itself and typically accompanies cursor advancement, or *non-spacing*, meaning that it occupies the same cell as a spacing character, is often regarded as a “modifier” of the base glyph with which it combines, and typically does not advance the cursor. [*wint\_t*](#wint_t) can store a *wchar\_t* or the constant *WEOF*, analogously to the *int*-sized character manipulation functions of ISO C and its constant *EOF*. ## [Rendering](#Rendering) *curses* combines the following data to render a character cell. Any of them can include color information. - *curses* character and attributes, as from [**waddch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/waddch.3X) - window attributes, as from [**wattrset**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/wattrset.3X) - window background character attributes, as from [**wbkgdset**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/wbkgdset.3X) Per-character and window attributes are usually set through a function parameter containing attributes and/or a color pair identifier. Some functions, such as **wattr\_set**, use a separate color pair identifier. The background character is a special case: it includes a character code, as if it were passed to **waddch**. The *curses* library does the actual work of combining these color pairs in an internal function called from **waddch**. • If the parameter passed to **waddch** is blank and it uses the special color pair 0, *curses* next checks the window attribute. - If the window attribute does not use color pair 0, *curses* uses the color pair from the window attribute. - Otherwise, *curses* uses the background character. • If the parameter passed to **waddch** is not blank, or it does not use the special color pair 0, *curses* prefers the color pair from the parameter, if it is nonzero. Otherwise, it tries the window attribute next, and finally the background character. Some *curses* functions such as [**wprintw**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/wprintw.3X) call **waddch**. Those do not combine its parameter with a color pair. Consequently those calls use only the window attribute or the background character. ## [Function Name Index](#Function_Name_Index) The following table lists the *curses* functions provided in the non-wide and wide APIs and the corresponding man pages that describe them. Those flagged with “\*” are *ncurses*-specific, neither described by X/Open Curses nor present in SVr4. *curses* Function Name Man Page COLOR\_PAIR [**curs\_color**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_color.3X) PAIR\_NUMBER [**curs\_color**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_color.3X) add\_wch [**curs\_add\_wch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_add_wch.3X) add\_wchnstr [**curs\_add\_wchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_add_wchstr.3X) add\_wchstr [**curs\_add\_wchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_add_wchstr.3X) addch [**curs\_addch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addch.3X) addchnstr [**curs\_addchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addchstr.3X) addchstr [**curs\_addchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addchstr.3X) addnstr [**curs\_addstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addstr.3X) addnwstr [**curs\_addwstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addwstr.3X) addstr [**curs\_addstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addstr.3X) addwstr [**curs\_addwstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addwstr.3X) alloc\_pair [**new\_pair**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/new_pair.3X)* assume\_default\_colors [**default\_colors**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/default_colors.3X)* attr\_get [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) attr\_off [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) attr\_on [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) attr\_set [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) attroff [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) attron [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) attrset [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) baudrate [**curs\_termattrs**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_termattrs.3X) beep [**curs\_beep**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_beep.3X) bkgd [**curs\_bkgd**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_bkgd.3X) bkgdset [**curs\_bkgd**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_bkgd.3X) bkgrnd [**curs\_bkgrnd**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_bkgrnd.3X) bkgrndset [**curs\_bkgrnd**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_bkgrnd.3X) border [**curs\_border**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border.3X) border\_set [**curs\_border\_set**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border_set.3X) box [**curs\_border**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border.3X) box\_set [**curs\_border\_set**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border_set.3X) can\_change\_color [**curs\_color**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_color.3X) cbreak [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X) chgat [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) clear [**curs\_clear**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_clear.3X) clearok [**curs\_outopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_outopts.3X) clrtobot [**curs\_clear**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_clear.3X) clrtoeol [**curs\_clear**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_clear.3X) color\_content [**curs\_color**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_color.3X) color\_set [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) copywin [**curs\_overlay**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_overlay.3X) curs\_set [**curs\_kernel**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_kernel.3X) curses\_trace [**curs\_trace**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_trace.3X)* curses\_version [**curs\_extend**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_extend.3X)* def\_prog\_mode [**curs\_kernel**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_kernel.3X) def\_shell\_mode [**curs\_kernel**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_kernel.3X) define\_key [**define\_key**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/define_key.3X)* del\_curterm [**curs\_terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_terminfo.3X) delay\_output [**curs\_util**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_util.3X) delch [**curs\_delch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_delch.3X) deleteln [**curs\_deleteln**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_deleteln.3X) delscreen [**curs\_initscr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_initscr.3X) delwin [**curs\_window**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_window.3X) derwin [**curs\_window**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_window.3X) doupdate [**curs\_refresh**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_refresh.3X) dupwin [**curs\_window**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_window.3X) echo [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X) echo\_wchar [**curs\_add\_wch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_add_wch.3X) echochar [**curs\_addch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addch.3X) endwin [**curs\_initscr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_initscr.3X) erase [**curs\_clear**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_clear.3X) erasechar [**curs\_termattrs**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_termattrs.3X) erasewchar [**curs\_termattrs**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_termattrs.3X) exit\_curses [**curs\_memleaks**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_memleaks.3X)* exit\_terminfo [**curs\_memleaks**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_memleaks.3X)* extended\_color\_content [**curs\_color**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_color.3X)* extended\_pair\_content [**curs\_color**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_color.3X)* extended\_slk\_color [**curs\_slk**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_slk.3X)* filter [**curs\_util**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_util.3X) find\_pair [**new\_pair**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/new_pair.3X)* flash [**curs\_beep**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_beep.3X) flushinp [**curs\_util**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_util.3X) free\_pair [**new\_pair**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/new_pair.3X)* get\_escdelay [**curs\_threads**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_threads.3X)* get\_wch [**curs\_get\_wch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_get_wch.3X) get\_wstr [**curs\_get\_wstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_get_wstr.3X) getattrs [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) getbegx [**curs\_legacy**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_legacy.3X)* getbegy [**curs\_legacy**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_legacy.3X)* getbegyx [**curs\_getyx**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_getyx.3X) getbkgd [**curs\_bkgd**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_bkgd.3X) getbkgrnd [**curs\_bkgrnd**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_bkgrnd.3X) getcchar [**curs\_getcchar**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_getcchar.3X) getch [**curs\_getch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_getch.3X) getcurx [**curs\_legacy**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_legacy.3X)* getcury [**curs\_legacy**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_legacy.3X)* getmaxx [**curs\_legacy**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_legacy.3X)* getmaxy [**curs\_legacy**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_legacy.3X)* getmaxyx [**curs\_getyx**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_getyx.3X) getmouse [**curs\_mouse**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_mouse.3X)* getn\_wstr [**curs\_get\_wstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_get_wstr.3X) getnstr [**curs\_getstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_getstr.3X) getparx [**curs\_legacy**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_legacy.3X)* getpary [**curs\_legacy**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_legacy.3X)* getparyx [**curs\_getyx**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_getyx.3X) getstr [**curs\_getstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_getstr.3X) getsyx [**curs\_kernel**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_kernel.3X) getwin [**curs\_util**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_util.3X) getyx [**curs\_getyx**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_getyx.3X) halfdelay [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X) has\_colors [**curs\_color**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_color.3X) has\_ic [**curs\_termattrs**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_termattrs.3X) has\_il [**curs\_termattrs**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_termattrs.3X) has\_key [**curs\_getch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_getch.3X)* has\_mouse [**curs\_mouse**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_mouse.3X)* hline [**curs\_border**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border.3X) hline\_set [**curs\_border\_set**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border_set.3X) idcok [**curs\_outopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_outopts.3X) idlok [**curs\_outopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_outopts.3X) immedok [**curs\_outopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_outopts.3X) in\_wch [**curs\_in\_wch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_in_wch.3X) in\_wchnstr [**curs\_in\_wchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_in_wchstr.3X) in\_wchstr [**curs\_in\_wchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_in_wchstr.3X) inch [**curs\_inch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inch.3X) inchnstr [**curs\_inchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inchstr.3X) inchstr [**curs\_inchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inchstr.3X) init\_color [**curs\_color**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_color.3X) init\_extended\_color [**curs\_color**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_color.3X)* init\_extended\_pair [**curs\_color**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_color.3X)* init\_pair [**curs\_color**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_color.3X) initscr [**curs\_initscr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_initscr.3X) innstr [**curs\_instr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_instr.3X) innwstr [**curs\_inwstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inwstr.3X) ins\_nwstr [**curs\_ins\_wstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_ins_wstr.3X) ins\_wch [**curs\_ins\_wch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_ins_wch.3X) ins\_wstr [**curs\_ins\_wstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_ins_wstr.3X) insch [**curs\_insch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_insch.3X) insdelln [**curs\_deleteln**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_deleteln.3X) insertln [**curs\_deleteln**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_deleteln.3X) insnstr [**curs\_insstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_insstr.3X) insstr [**curs\_insstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_insstr.3X) instr [**curs\_instr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_instr.3X) intrflush [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X) inwstr [**curs\_inwstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inwstr.3X) is\_cbreak [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X)* is\_cleared [**curs\_opaque**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_opaque.3X)* is\_echo [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X)* is\_idcok [**curs\_opaque**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_opaque.3X)* is\_idlok [**curs\_opaque**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_opaque.3X)* is\_immedok [**curs\_opaque**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_opaque.3X)* is\_keypad [**curs\_opaque**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_opaque.3X)* is\_leaveok [**curs\_opaque**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_opaque.3X)* is\_linetouched [**curs\_touch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_touch.3X) is\_nl [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X)* is\_nodelay [**curs\_opaque**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_opaque.3X)* is\_notimeout [**curs\_opaque**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_opaque.3X)* is\_pad [**curs\_opaque**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_opaque.3X)* is\_raw [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X)* is\_scrollok [**curs\_opaque**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_opaque.3X)* is\_subwin [**curs\_opaque**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_opaque.3X)* is\_syncok [**curs\_opaque**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_opaque.3X)* is\_term\_resized [**resizeterm**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/resizeterm.3X)* is\_wintouched [**curs\_touch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_touch.3X) isendwin [**curs\_initscr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_initscr.3X) key\_defined [**key\_defined**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/key_defined.3X)* key\_name [**curs\_util**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_util.3X) keybound [**keybound**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/keybound.3X)* keyname [**curs\_util**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_util.3X) keyok [**keyok**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/keyok.3X)* keypad [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X) killchar [**curs\_termattrs**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_termattrs.3X) killwchar [**curs\_termattrs**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_termattrs.3X) leaveok [**curs\_outopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_outopts.3X) longname [**curs\_termattrs**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_termattrs.3X) mcprint [**curs\_print**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_print.3X)* meta [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X) mouse\_trafo [**curs\_mouse**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_mouse.3X)* mouseinterval [**curs\_mouse**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_mouse.3X)* mousemask [**curs\_mouse**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_mouse.3X)* move [**curs\_move**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_move.3X) mvadd\_wch [**curs\_add\_wch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_add_wch.3X) mvadd\_wchnstr [**curs\_add\_wchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_add_wchstr.3X) mvadd\_wchstr [**curs\_add\_wchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_add_wchstr.3X) mvaddch [**curs\_addch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addch.3X) mvaddchnstr [**curs\_addchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addchstr.3X) mvaddchstr [**curs\_addchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addchstr.3X) mvaddnstr [**curs\_addstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addstr.3X) mvaddnwstr [**curs\_addwstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addwstr.3X) mvaddstr [**curs\_addstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addstr.3X) mvaddwstr [**curs\_addwstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addwstr.3X) mvchgat [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) mvcur [**curs\_kernel**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_kernel.3X) mvdelch [**curs\_delch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_delch.3X) mvderwin [**curs\_window**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_window.3X) mvget\_wch [**curs\_get\_wch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_get_wch.3X) mvget\_wstr [**curs\_get\_wstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_get_wstr.3X) mvgetch [**curs\_getch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_getch.3X) mvgetn\_wstr [**curs\_get\_wstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_get_wstr.3X) mvgetnstr [**curs\_getstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_getstr.3X) mvgetstr [**curs\_getstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_getstr.3X) mvhline [**curs\_border**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border.3X) mvhline\_set [**curs\_border\_set**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border_set.3X) mvin\_wch [**curs\_in\_wch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_in_wch.3X) mvin\_wchnstr [**curs\_in\_wchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_in_wchstr.3X) mvin\_wchstr [**curs\_in\_wchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_in_wchstr.3X) mvinch [**curs\_inch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inch.3X) mvinchnstr [**curs\_inchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inchstr.3X) mvinchstr [**curs\_inchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inchstr.3X) mvinnstr [**curs\_instr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_instr.3X) mvinnwstr [**curs\_inwstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inwstr.3X) mvins\_nwstr [**curs\_ins\_wstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_ins_wstr.3X) mvins\_wch [**curs\_ins\_wch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_ins_wch.3X) mvins\_wstr [**curs\_ins\_wstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_ins_wstr.3X) mvinsch [**curs\_insch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_insch.3X) mvinsnstr [**curs\_insstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_insstr.3X) mvinsstr [**curs\_insstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_insstr.3X) mvinstr [**curs\_instr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_instr.3X) mvinwstr [**curs\_inwstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inwstr.3X) mvprintw [**curs\_printw**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_printw.3X) mvscanw [**curs\_scanw**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_scanw.3X) mvvline [**curs\_border**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border.3X) mvvline\_set [**curs\_border\_set**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border_set.3X) mvwadd\_wch [**curs\_add\_wch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_add_wch.3X) mvwadd\_wchnstr [**curs\_add\_wchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_add_wchstr.3X) mvwadd\_wchstr [**curs\_add\_wchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_add_wchstr.3X) mvwaddch [**curs\_addch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addch.3X) mvwaddchnstr [**curs\_addchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addchstr.3X) mvwaddchstr [**curs\_addchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addchstr.3X) mvwaddnstr [**curs\_addstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addstr.3X) mvwaddnwstr [**curs\_addwstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addwstr.3X) mvwaddstr [**curs\_addstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addstr.3X) mvwaddwstr [**curs\_addwstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addwstr.3X) mvwchgat [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) mvwdelch [**curs\_delch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_delch.3X) mvwget\_wch [**curs\_get\_wch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_get_wch.3X) mvwget\_wstr [**curs\_get\_wstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_get_wstr.3X) mvwgetch [**curs\_getch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_getch.3X) mvwgetn\_wstr [**curs\_get\_wstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_get_wstr.3X) mvwgetnstr [**curs\_getstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_getstr.3X) mvwgetstr [**curs\_getstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_getstr.3X) mvwhline [**curs\_border**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border.3X) mvwhline\_set [**curs\_border\_set**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border_set.3X) mvwin [**curs\_window**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_window.3X) mvwin\_wch [**curs\_in\_wch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_in_wch.3X) mvwin\_wchnstr [**curs\_in\_wchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_in_wchstr.3X) mvwin\_wchstr [**curs\_in\_wchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_in_wchstr.3X) mvwinch [**curs\_inch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inch.3X) mvwinchnstr [**curs\_inchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inchstr.3X) mvwinchstr [**curs\_inchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inchstr.3X) mvwinnstr [**curs\_instr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_instr.3X) mvwinnwstr [**curs\_inwstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inwstr.3X) mvwins\_nwstr [**curs\_ins\_wstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_ins_wstr.3X) mvwins\_wch [**curs\_ins\_wch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_ins_wch.3X) mvwins\_wstr [**curs\_ins\_wstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_ins_wstr.3X) mvwinsch [**curs\_insch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_insch.3X) mvwinsnstr [**curs\_insstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_insstr.3X) mvwinsstr [**curs\_insstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_insstr.3X) mvwinstr [**curs\_instr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_instr.3X) mvwinwstr [**curs\_inwstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inwstr.3X) mvwprintw [**curs\_printw**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_printw.3X) mvwscanw [**curs\_scanw**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_scanw.3X) mvwvline [**curs\_border**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border.3X) mvwvline\_set [**curs\_border\_set**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border_set.3X) napms [**curs\_kernel**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_kernel.3X) newpad [**curs\_pad**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_pad.3X) newterm [**curs\_initscr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_initscr.3X) newwin [**curs\_window**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_window.3X) nl [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X) nocbreak [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X) nodelay [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X) noecho [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X) nofilter [**curs\_util**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_util.3X)* nonl [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X) noqiflush [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X) noraw [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X) notimeout [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X) overlay [**curs\_overlay**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_overlay.3X) overwrite [**curs\_overlay**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_overlay.3X) pair\_content [**curs\_color**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_color.3X) pecho\_wchar [**curs\_pad**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_pad.3X) pechochar [**curs\_pad**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_pad.3X) pnoutrefresh [**curs\_pad**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_pad.3X) prefresh [**curs\_pad**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_pad.3X) printw [**curs\_printw**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_printw.3X) putp [**curs\_terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_terminfo.3X) putwin [**curs\_util**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_util.3X) qiflush [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X) raw [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X) redrawwin [**curs\_refresh**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_refresh.3X) refresh [**curs\_refresh**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_refresh.3X) reset\_color\_pairs [**curs\_color**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_color.3X)* reset\_prog\_mode [**curs\_kernel**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_kernel.3X) reset\_shell\_mode [**curs\_kernel**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_kernel.3X) resetty [**curs\_kernel**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_kernel.3X) resize\_term [**resizeterm**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/resizeterm.3X)* resizeterm [**resizeterm**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/resizeterm.3X)* restartterm [**curs\_terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_terminfo.3X) ripoffline [**curs\_kernel**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_kernel.3X) savetty [**curs\_kernel**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_kernel.3X) scanw [**curs\_scanw**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_scanw.3X) scr\_dump [**curs\_scr\_dump**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_scr_dump.3X) scr\_init [**curs\_scr\_dump**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_scr_dump.3X) scr\_restore [**curs\_scr\_dump**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_scr_dump.3X) scr\_set [**curs\_scr\_dump**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_scr_dump.3X) scrl [**curs\_scroll**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_scroll.3X) scroll [**curs\_scroll**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_scroll.3X) scrollok [**curs\_outopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_outopts.3X) set\_curterm [**curs\_terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_terminfo.3X) set\_escdelay [**curs\_threads**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_threads.3X)* set\_tabsize [**curs\_threads**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_threads.3X)* set\_term [**curs\_initscr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_initscr.3X) setcchar [**curs\_getcchar**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_getcchar.3X) setscrreg [**curs\_outopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_outopts.3X) setsyx [**curs\_kernel**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_kernel.3X) setupterm [**curs\_terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_terminfo.3X) slk\_attr [**curs\_slk**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_slk.3X)* slk\_attr\_off [**curs\_slk**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_slk.3X) slk\_attr\_on [**curs\_slk**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_slk.3X) slk\_attr\_set [**curs\_slk**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_slk.3X) slk\_attroff [**curs\_slk**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_slk.3X) slk\_attron [**curs\_slk**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_slk.3X) slk\_attrset [**curs\_slk**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_slk.3X) slk\_clear [**curs\_slk**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_slk.3X) slk\_color [**curs\_slk**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_slk.3X) slk\_init [**curs\_slk**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_slk.3X) slk\_label [**curs\_slk**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_slk.3X) slk\_noutrefresh [**curs\_slk**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_slk.3X) slk\_refresh [**curs\_slk**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_slk.3X) slk\_restore [**curs\_slk**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_slk.3X) slk\_set [**curs\_slk**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_slk.3X) slk\_touch [**curs\_slk**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_slk.3X) slk\_wset [**curs\_slk**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_slk.3X) standend [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) standout [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) start\_color [**curs\_color**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_color.3X) subpad [**curs\_pad**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_pad.3X) subwin [**curs\_window**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_window.3X) syncok [**curs\_window**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_window.3X) term\_attrs [**curs\_termattrs**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_termattrs.3X) termattrs [**curs\_termattrs**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_termattrs.3X) termname [**curs\_termattrs**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_termattrs.3X) tgetent [**curs\_termcap**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_termcap.3X) tgetflag [**curs\_termcap**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_termcap.3X) tgetnum [**curs\_termcap**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_termcap.3X) tgetstr [**curs\_termcap**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_termcap.3X) tgoto [**curs\_termcap**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_termcap.3X) tigetflag [**curs\_terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_terminfo.3X) tigetnum [**curs\_terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_terminfo.3X) tigetstr [**curs\_terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_terminfo.3X) timeout [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X) tiparm [**curs\_terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_terminfo.3X) tiparm\_s [**curs\_terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_terminfo.3X)* tiscan\_s [**curs\_terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_terminfo.3X)* touchline [**curs\_touch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_touch.3X) touchwin [**curs\_touch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_touch.3X) tparm [**curs\_terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_terminfo.3X) tputs [**curs\_termcap**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_termcap.3X) tputs [**curs\_terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_terminfo.3X) trace [**curs\_trace**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_trace.3X)* typeahead [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X) unctrl [**curs\_util**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_util.3X) unget\_wch [**curs\_get\_wch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_get_wch.3X) ungetch [**curs\_getch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_getch.3X) ungetmouse [**curs\_mouse**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_mouse.3X)* untouchwin [**curs\_touch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_touch.3X) use\_default\_colors [**default\_colors**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/default_colors.3X)* use\_env [**curs\_util**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_util.3X) use\_extended\_names [**curs\_extend**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_extend.3X)* use\_legacy\_coding [**legacy\_coding**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/legacy_coding.3X)* use\_screen [**curs\_threads**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_threads.3X)* use\_tioctl [**curs\_util**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_util.3X)* use\_window [**curs\_threads**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_threads.3X)* vid\_attr [**curs\_terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_terminfo.3X) vid\_puts [**curs\_terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_terminfo.3X) vidattr [**curs\_terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_terminfo.3X) vidputs [**curs\_terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_terminfo.3X) vline [**curs\_border**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border.3X) vline\_set [**curs\_border\_set**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border_set.3X) vw\_printw [**curs\_printw**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_printw.3X) vw\_scanw [**curs\_scanw**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_scanw.3X) vwprintw [**curs\_printw**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_printw.3X) vwscanw [**curs\_scanw**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_scanw.3X) wadd\_wch [**curs\_add\_wch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_add_wch.3X) wadd\_wchnstr [**curs\_add\_wchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_add_wchstr.3X) wadd\_wchstr [**curs\_add\_wchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_add_wchstr.3X) waddch [**curs\_addch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addch.3X) waddchnstr [**curs\_addchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addchstr.3X) waddchstr [**curs\_addchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addchstr.3X) waddnstr [**curs\_addstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addstr.3X) waddnwstr [**curs\_addwstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addwstr.3X) waddstr [**curs\_addstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addstr.3X) waddwstr [**curs\_addwstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addwstr.3X) wattr\_get [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) wattr\_off [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) wattr\_on [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) wattr\_set [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) wattroff [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) wattron [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) wattrset [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) wbkgd [**curs\_bkgd**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_bkgd.3X) wbkgdset [**curs\_bkgd**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_bkgd.3X) wbkgrnd [**curs\_bkgrnd**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_bkgrnd.3X) wbkgrndset [**curs\_bkgrnd**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_bkgrnd.3X) wborder [**curs\_border**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border.3X) wborder\_set [**curs\_border\_set**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border_set.3X) wchgat [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) wclear [**curs\_clear**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_clear.3X) wclrtobot [**curs\_clear**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_clear.3X) wclrtoeol [**curs\_clear**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_clear.3X) wcolor\_set [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) wcursyncup [**curs\_window**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_window.3X) wdelch [**curs\_delch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_delch.3X) wdeleteln [**curs\_deleteln**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_deleteln.3X) wecho\_wchar [**curs\_add\_wch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_add_wch.3X) wechochar [**curs\_addch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_addch.3X) wenclose [**curs\_mouse**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_mouse.3X)* werase [**curs\_clear**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_clear.3X) wget\_wch [**curs\_get\_wch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_get_wch.3X) wget\_wstr [**curs\_get\_wstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_get_wstr.3X) wgetbkgrnd [**curs\_bkgrnd**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_bkgrnd.3X) wgetch [**curs\_getch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_getch.3X) wgetdelay [**curs\_opaque**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_opaque.3X)* wgetn\_wstr [**curs\_get\_wstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_get_wstr.3X) wgetnstr [**curs\_getstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_getstr.3X) wgetparent [**curs\_opaque**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_opaque.3X)* wgetscrreg [**curs\_opaque**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_opaque.3X)* wgetstr [**curs\_getstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_getstr.3X) whline [**curs\_border**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border.3X) whline\_set [**curs\_border\_set**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border_set.3X) win\_wch [**curs\_in\_wch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_in_wch.3X) win\_wchnstr [**curs\_in\_wchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_in_wchstr.3X) win\_wchstr [**curs\_in\_wchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_in_wchstr.3X) winch [**curs\_inch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inch.3X) winchnstr [**curs\_inchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inchstr.3X) winchstr [**curs\_inchstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inchstr.3X) winnstr [**curs\_instr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_instr.3X) winnwstr [**curs\_inwstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inwstr.3X) wins\_nwstr [**curs\_ins\_wstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_ins_wstr.3X) wins\_wch [**curs\_ins\_wch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_ins_wch.3X) wins\_wstr [**curs\_ins\_wstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_ins_wstr.3X) winsch [**curs\_insch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_insch.3X) winsdelln [**curs\_deleteln**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_deleteln.3X) winsertln [**curs\_deleteln**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_deleteln.3X) winsnstr [**curs\_insstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_insstr.3X) winsstr [**curs\_insstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_insstr.3X) winstr [**curs\_instr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_instr.3X) winwstr [**curs\_inwstr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inwstr.3X) wmouse\_trafo [**curs\_mouse**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_mouse.3X)* wmove [**curs\_move**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_move.3X) wnoutrefresh [**curs\_refresh**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_refresh.3X) wprintw [**curs\_printw**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_printw.3X) wredrawln [**curs\_refresh**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_refresh.3X) wrefresh [**curs\_refresh**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_refresh.3X) wresize [**wresize**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/wresize.3X)* wscanw [**curs\_scanw**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_scanw.3X) wscrl [**curs\_scroll**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_scroll.3X) wsetscrreg [**curs\_outopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_outopts.3X) wstandend [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) wstandout [**curs\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_attr.3X) wsyncdown [**curs\_window**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_window.3X) wsyncup [**curs\_window**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_window.3X) wtimeout [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X) wtouchln [**curs\_touch**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_touch.3X) wunctrl [**curs\_util**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_util.3X) wvline [**curs\_border**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border.3X) wvline\_set [**curs\_border\_set**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_border_set.3X) *ncurses*'s *screen-pointer extension* adds additional functions corresponding to many of the above, each with an “\_sp” suffix; see [**curs\_sp\_funcs**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_sp_funcs.3X). The availability of some extensions is configurable when *ncurses* is compiled; see sections “ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS” and “EXTENSIONS” below. # [RETURN VALUE](#RETURN_VALUE) Unless otherwise noted, functions that return integers return the constants **OK** on success and **ERR** on failure; see [**curs\_variables**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_variables.3X). Functions that return pointers return a null pointer on failure. Typically, an *ncurses* function expecting a pointer argument fails if passed a null pointer. Functions prefixed with “mv” first perform cursor movement and fail if the position (*y*, *x*) is outside the window boundaries. # [ENVIRONMENT](#ENVIRONMENT) The following symbols from the process environment customize the runtime behavior of *ncurses* applications. The library may be configured to disregard the variables *TERMINFO*, *TERMINFO\_DIRS*, *TERMPATH*, and *HOME* if the user is the superuser (root), or if the application uses [*setuid*(2)](/man/os/ncurses/setuid.2) or [*setgid*(2)](/man/os/ncurses/setgid.2). ## *BAUDRATE* The debugging library checks this variable when the application has redirected output to a file. *ncurses* interprets its integral value as the terminal's line speed in bits per second. If that value is absent or invalid, *ncurses* uses 9600. This feature allows developers to construct repeatable test cases that take into account optimization decisions that depend on the terminal's line speed. ## *CC* (command character) When set, the **command\_character** (**cmdch**) capability value of loaded *terminfo* entries changes to the value of this variable. Very few *terminfo* entries provide this feature. Because this variable is also used in development environments to store the C compiler's name, *ncurses* ignores its value if it is not one character in length. ## *COLUMNS* This variable specifies the width of the screen in character cells. Applications running in a windowing environment usually are able to obtain the width of the window in which they are executing. *ncurses* enforces an upper limit of 512 when reading the value. If *COLUMNS* is not defined and the terminal's screen size is not available from the terminal driver, *ncurses* uses the size specified by the **columns** (**cols**) capability of the terminal type's entry in the *terminfo* database, if any. It is important that your application use the correct screen size. Automatic detection thereof is not always possible because an application may be running on a host that does not honor NAWS (Negotiations About Window Size) or as a different user ID than the owner of the terminal device file. Setting *COLUMNS* and/or *LINES* overrides the library's use of the screen size obtained from the operating system. The *COLUMNS* and *LINES* variables may be specified independently. This property is useful to circumvent misfeatures of legacy terminal type descriptions; [*xterm*(1)](/man/os/ncurses/xterm.1) descriptions specifying 65 lines were once notorious. For best results, avoid specifying **cols** and **lines** capability codes in *terminfo* descriptions of terminal emulators. [**use\_env**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/use_env.3X) can disable use of the process environment in determining the screen size. [**use\_tioctl**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/use_tioctl.3X) can update *COLUMNS* and *LINES* to match the screen size obtained from system calls or the terminal database. ## *ESCDELAY* For *curses* to distinguish the ESC character resulting from a user's press of the “Escape” key on the input device from one beginning an *escape sequence* (as commonly produced by function keys), it waits after receiving the escape character to see if further characters are available on the input stream within a short interval. A global variable **ESCDELAY** stores this interval in milliseconds. The default value of 1000 (one second) is adequate for most uses. This environment variable overrides it; *ncurses* enforces an upper limit of 30,000 (30 seconds) when reading the value. The most common instance where you may wish to change this value is to work with a remote host over a slow communication channel. If the host running a *curses* application does not receive the characters of an escape sequence in a timely manner, the library can interpret them as multiple key stroke events. Conversely, a fast typist on a low-latency connection who happens to input an ESC followed by characters that match an escape sequence (or the common prefix of multiple key-defining string capabilities) may experience confusing application behavior. [*xterm*(1)](/man/os/ncurses/xterm.1) mouse events are a form of escape sequence; therefore, if your application makes heavy use of multiple-clicking, you may wish to lengthen the default value because the delay applies to the composite multi-click event as well as the individual clicks. Portable applications should not rely upon the presence of **ESCDELAY** in either form, but setting the environment variable rather than the global variable does not create problems when compiling an application. If [**keypad**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/keypad.3X) is disabled for the *curses* window receiving input, **ESCDELAY** is irrelevant and a program must disambiguate escape sequences itself. ## *HOME* *ncurses* may read and write auxiliary terminal descriptions in *.termcap* and *.terminfo* files in the user's home directory. ## *LINES* This counterpart to *COLUMNS* specifies the height of the screen in characters. The corresponding *terminfo* capability and code is **lines**. See the description of the *COLUMNS* variable above. ## *MOUSE\_BUTTONS\_123* (OS/2 EMX port only) OS/2 numbers a three-button mouse inconsistently with other platforms, such that 1 is the left button, 2 the right, and 3 the middle. This variable customizes the mouse button numbering. Its value must be three digits 1-3 in any order. By default, *ncurses* assumes a numbering of “132”. ## *NCURSES\_ASSUMED\_COLORS* If set, this variable overrides the *ncurses* library's compiled-in assumption that the terminal's default colors are white on black; see [**default\_colors**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/default_colors.3X). Set the foreground and background color values with this environment variable by assigning it two integer values separated by a comma, indicating foregound and background color numbers, respectively. For example, to tell *ncurses* not to assume anything about the colors, use a value of “-1,-1”. To make the default color scheme green on black on a terminal that uses ANSI X3.64/ECMA-48/ISO 6429 color assignments, use “2,0”. *ncurses* accepts integral values from -1 up to the value of the *terminfo* **max\_colors** (**colors**) capability for the selected terminal type. ## *NCURSES\_CONSOLE2* (MinGW port only) The *Console2* program defectively handles the Microsoft Console API call *CreateConsoleScreenBuffer*. Applications that use it will hang. However, it is possible to simulate the action of this call by mapping coordinates, explicitly saving and restoring the original screen contents. Setting the environment variable *NCGDB* has the same effect. ## *NCURSES\_GPM\_TERMS* (Linux only) When *ncurses* is configured to use the GPM interface, this variable may list one or more terminal type names, separated by vertical bars (**|**) or colons (**:**), against which the *TERM* variable (see below) is matched. An empty value disables the GPM interface, using *ncurses*'s built-in support for [*xterm*(1)](/man/os/ncurses/xterm.1) mouse protocols instead. If the variable is absent, *ncurses* attempts to open GPM if *TERM* contains “linux”. ## *NCURSES\_NO\_HARD\_TABS* *ncurses* may use tab characters in cursor movement optimization. In some cases, your terminal driver may not handle them properly. Set this environment variable to any value to disable the feature. You can also adjust your [*stty*(1)](/man/os/ncurses/stty.1) settings to avoid the problem. ## *NCURSES\_NO\_MAGIC\_COOKIE* Many terminals store video attributes as properties of a character cell, as *curses* does. Historically, some recorded changes in video attributes as data that logically (but invisibly) *occupied* character cells on the display, switching attributes on or off, similarly to tags in a markup language, which then had to be overprinted to depict the cells' desired contents; these are termed “magic cookies”. If the *terminfo* entry for your terminal type does not adequately describe its handling of magic cookies, set this variable to any value to instruct *ncurses* to disable attributes entirely. ## *NCURSES\_NO\_PADDING* Most terminal type descriptions in the *terminfo* database detail hardware devices. Many people use *curses*-based applications in terminal emulator programs that run in a windowing environment. These programs can duplicate all of the important features of a hardware terminal, but often lack their limitations. Chief among these absent drawbacks is the problem of data flow management; that is, limiting the speed of communication to what the hardware could handle. Unless a hardware terminal is interfaced into a terminal concentrator (which does flow control), an application must manage flow itself to prevent overruns and data loss. A solution that comes at no hardware cost is for an application to pause transmission after directing a terminal to execute an operation that it performs slowly, such as clearing the display. Many terminal type descriptions, including that for the VT100, embed delay specifications in capabilities. You may wish to use these terminal descriptions without paying the performance penalty. Set *NCURSES\_NO\_PADDING* to any value to disable all but mandatory padding. Mandatory padding is used by such terminal capabilities as **flash\_screen** (**flash**). ## *NCURSES\_NO\_SETBUF* (Obsolete) Prior to internal changes developed in *ncurses* 5.9 (patches 20120825 through 20130126), the library used [*setbuf*(3)](/man/os/ncurses/setbuf.3) to enable fully buffered output when initializing the terminal. This was done, as in SVr4 *curses*, to increase performance. For testing purposes, both of *ncurses* and of certain applications, this feature was made optional. Setting this variable disabled output buffering, leaving the output stream in the original (usually line-buffered) mode. Nowadays, *ncurses* performs its own buffering and does not require this workaround; it does not modify the buffering of the standard output stream. This approach makes the library's handling of keyboard-initiated signals more robust. A drawback is that certain unconventional programs mixed [*stdio*(3)](/man/os/ncurses/stdio.3) calls with *ncurses* calls and (usually) got the behavior they expected, but no longer do: *ncurses* does not write to the standard output file descriptor through a *stdio*-buffered stream. As a special case, low-level API calls such as [**putp**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/putp.3X) still use the standard output stream. High-level *curses* calls such as [**printw**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/printw.3X) do not. ## *NCURSES\_NO\_UTF8\_ACS* At initialization, *ncurses* inspects the *TERM* environment variable for special cases where VT100 forms-drawing characters (and the corresponding alternate character set *terminfo* capabilities) are known to be unsupported by terminal types that otherwise claim VT100 compatibility. Specifically, when running in a UTF-8 locale, the Linux virtual console device and the GNU [*screen*(1)](/man/os/ncurses/screen.1) program ignore them. Set this variable to a nonzero value to instruct *ncurses* that the terminal's ACS support is broken; the library then outputs Unicode code points that correspond to the forms-drawing characters. Set it to zero (or a non-integer) to disable the special check for terminal type names matching “linux” or “screen”, directing *ncurses* to assume that the ACS feature works if the terminal type description advertises it. As an alternative to use of this variable, *ncurses* checks for an extended *terminfo* numeric capability **U8** that can be compiled using “**tic -x**”. Examples follow. ``` # linux console, if patched to provide working # VT100 shift-in/shift-out, with corresponding font. linux-vt100|linux console with VT100 line-graphics, U8#0, use=linux, # uxterm with vt100Graphics resource set to false xterm-utf8|xterm relying on UTF-8 line-graphics, U8#1, use=xterm, ``` The two-character code “U8” was chosen to permit its use via *ncurses*'s *termcap* interface. ## *NCURSES\_TRACE* At initialization, *ncurses* (in its debugging configuration) checks for this variable's presence. If defined with an integral value, the library calls [**curses\_trace**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curses_trace.3X) with that value as the argument. ## *TERM* The *TERM* variable denotes the terminal type. Each is distinct, though many are similar. It is commonly set by terminal emulators to help applications find a workable terminal description. Some choose a popular approximation such as “ansi”, “vt100”, or “xterm” rather than an exact fit to their capabilities. Not infrequently, an application will have problems with that approach; for example, a key stroke may not operate correctly, or produce no effect but seeming garbage characters on the screen. Setting *TERM* has no effect on hardware operation; it affects the way applications communicate with the terminal. Likewise, as a general rule ([*xterm*(1)](/man/os/ncurses/xterm.1) being a rare exception), terminal emulators that allow you to specify *TERM* as a parameter or configuration value do not change their behavior to match that setting. ## *TERMCAP* If *ncurses* is configured with *termcap* support, it checks for a terminal type description in *termcap* format if one in *terminfo* format is not available. Setting this variable directs *ncurses* to ignore the usual *termcap* database location, */etc/termcap*; see *TERMPATH* below. *TERMCAP* should contain either a terminal description (with newlines stripped out), or a file name indicating where the information required by the *TERM* environment variable is stored. ## *TERMINFO* *ncurses* can be configured to read terminal type description databases in various locations using different formats. This variable overrides the default location. - Descriptions in *terminfo* format are normally stored in a directory tree using subdirectories named for the common first letters of the terminal types named therein. System V used this scheme. - If *ncurses* is configured to use hashed databases, then *TERMINFO* may name its location, such as */usr/share/terminfo.db*, rather than */usr/share/terminfo/*. The hashed database uses less disk space and is a little faster than the directory tree. However, some applications assume the existence of the directory tree and read it directly, ignoring the *terminfo* API. - If *ncurses* is configured with *termcap* support, this variable may contain the location of a *termcap* file. - If the value of *TERMINFO* begins with “hex:” or “b64:”, *ncurses* uses the remainder of the value as a compiled *terminfo* description. You might produce the base64 format using [**infocmp**(1M)](/man/os/ncurses/infocmp.1M). ``` TERMINFO=$(infocmp -0 -Q2 -q) export TERMINFO ``` *ncurses* uses the compiled description only if it corresponds to the terminal type identified by *TERM*. Setting *TERMINFO* is the simplest, but not the only, way to direct *ncurses* to a terminal database. The search path is as follows. - the last terminal database to which the running *ncurses* application wrote, if any - the location specified by the *TERMINFO* environment variable - *$HOME/.terminfo* - locations listed in the *TERMINFO\_DIRS* environment variable - location(s) configured and compiled into *ncurses* - */etc/terminfo:/usr/share/terminfo:/lib/terminfo:/usr/lib/terminfo* - */usr/share/terminfo* ## *TERMINFO\_DIRS* This variable specifies a list of locations, akin to *PATH*, in which *ncurses* searches for the terminal type descriptions described by *TERMINFO* above. The list items are separated by colons on Unix and semicolons on OS/2 EMX. System V *terminfo* lacks a corresponding feature; *TERMINFO\_DIRS* is an *ncurses* extension. ## *TERMPATH* If *TERMCAP* does not hold a terminal type description or file name, then *ncurses* checks the contents of *TERMPATH*, a list of locations, akin to *PATH*, in which it searches for *termcap* terminal type descriptions. The list items are separated by colons on Unix and semicolons on OS/2 EMX. If both *TERMCAP* and *TERMPATH* are unset or invalid, *ncurses* searches for the files */etc/termcap*, */usr/share/misc/termcap*, and *$HOME/.termcap*, in that order. # [ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS](#ALTERNATE_CONFIGURATIONS) Many different *ncurses* configurations are possible, determined by the options given to the *configure* script when building the library. Run the script with the **--help** option to peruse them all. A few are of particular significance to the application developer employing *ncurses*. [**--disable-overwrite**](#disable) Avoid file name conflicts between *ncurses* and an existing *curses* installation on the system. The standard C preprocessor inclusion for the *curses* library is as follows. ``` #include ``` If *ncurses* is installed disabling overwrite, it puts its header files in a subdirectory. Here is an example. ``` #include ``` With **--disable-overwrite**, installation also omits a symbolic link that would cause the compiler's **-lcurses** option to link object files with *ncurses* instead of the system *curses* library. The directory used by this configuration of *ncurses* is shown in section “SYNOPSIS” above. [**--enable-widec**](#enable) (default for ABI 6+ since 2023-10-21) Enable support for wide characters. The *configure* script renames the *ncurses* library (and the *tinfo* library, if **--with-termlib** is also specified), appending “w”. An application desirous of wide-character support then uses **-lncursesw** (or **-ltinfow**) instead of **-lncurses** (or **-ltinfo**) as its linker option. The *ncurses++*, *panel*, *form*, and *menu* libraries are renamed similarly. An application must also define certain C preprocessor symbols to enable wide-character features in *curses* header files to use the extended (wide-character) functions. The symbol that enables these features has changed since X/Open Curses Issue 4. - Originally, the wide-character feature required the symbol *\_XOPEN\_SOURCE\_EXTENDED*, but that was valid only for XPG4 (1996). - Later, that was deemed conflicting with an *\_XOPEN\_SOURCE* value of 500. - As of mid-2018, no *ncurses* feature requires a *\_XOPEN\_SOURCE* value greater than 600. However, X/Open Curses Issue 7 (2009) recommends defining it to 700. - Alternatively, you can enable the feature by defining **NCURSES\_WIDECHAR** with the caveat that some header file other than *curses.h* may require a specific value for *\_XOPEN\_SOURCE* (or a system-specific symbol). The *curses.h* header file installed for the wide-character library is designed to be compatible with the non-wide library's header. Only the size of the *WINDOW* structure differs; few applications require more than pointers to *WINDOW*. If *ncurses*'s header files are installed allowing overwrite (the default, but see **--disable-overwrite** above), the wide-character library's headers should be installed last by packaging systems and similar, to allow applications to be built using either library from the same set of headers. [**--with-pthread**](#with) Enable support for multi-threaded applications. The *configure* script renames the *ncurses* library (and the *tinfo* library, if **--with-termlib** is also specified), appending “t” (before any “w” added by **--enable-widec**). An application desirous of support for multiple threads of execution then uses, for example, **-lncursest** (or **-ltinfot**) instead of **-lncurses** (or **-ltinfo**) as its linker option. The *ncurses++*, *panel*, *form*, and *menu* libraries are renamed similarly. *ncursest* and *ncursestw* replace global variables such as **LINES** with macros allowing read-only access. At the same time, they provide functions to set these values. Very few applications require changes to work with this convention. [**--with-shared**](#with~2) [**--with-normal**](#with~3) [**--with-debug**](#with~4) [**--with-profile**](#with~5) Mandate compilation of the *ncurses* library (and the *tinfo* library, if **--with-termlib** is also specified) in the specified forms. The shared and normal (static) library names differ by their suffixes, as with *libncurses.so* and *libncurses.a*. The debugging and profiling libraries add a “\_g” and a “\_p” to the roots of these respective names, forming *libncurses\_g.so* and *libncurses\_p.a*, for example. The *ncurses++*, *panel*, *form*, and *menu* libraries are made available similarly. [**--with-termlib**](#with~6) Provide *ncurses*'s lower-level terminal interface functions (those that do not depend on the *SCREEN* and *WINDOW* abstractions) in a library named *tinfo*. This arrangement reduces an application's linking and/or loading times when it does not require *curses*'s higher-level features. The following pages document *curses* functions provided by *tinfo*. - [**curs\_extend**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_extend.3X) - miscellaneous *ncurses* extensions - [**curs\_inopts**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_inopts.3X) - *curses* input options - [**curs\_kernel**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_kernel.3X) - low-level *curses* routines - [**curs\_termattrs**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_termattrs.3X) - *curses* environment query routines - [**curs\_termcap**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_termcap.3X) - *curses* emulation of *termcap* - [**curs\_terminfo**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_terminfo.3X) - *curses* interface to *terminfo* database - [**curs\_util**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_util.3X) - miscellaneous *curses* utility routines [**--with-trace**](#with~7) Expose the [**curses\_trace**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curses_trace.3X) function in the *ncurses(w)* shared and static libraries. Normally, it is available only in the debugging library. (If **--with-termlib** is also specified, *tinfo(w)* rather than *ncurses(w)* supplies the deprecated [**trace**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/trace.3X) function.) An application's configuration script should check for the function's existence rather than assuming its confinement to the debugging library. # [FILES](#FILES) */usr/share/tabset* tab stop initialization database */usr/share/terminfo* compiled terminal capability database # [NOTES](#NOTES) X/Open Curses permits most functions it specifies to be made available as macros as well. *ncurses* does so - for functions that return values via their parameters, - to support obsolete features, - to reuse functions (for example, those that move the cursor before another operation), and - in a few special cases. If the standard output file descriptor of an *ncurses* program is redirected to something that is not a terminal device, the library writes screen updates to the standard error file descriptor. This was an undocumented feature of SVr3 *curses*. See subsection “Header Files” below regarding symbols exposed by inclusion of *curses.h*. # [EXTENSIONS](#EXTENSIONS) *ncurses* enables an application to capture mouse events from certain terminals, including [*xterm*(1)](/man/os/ncurses/xterm.1); see [**curs\_mouse**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_mouse.3X). *ncurses* provides a means of responding to window resizing events, as when running in a GUI terminal emulator application such as *xterm*; see [**resizeterm**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/resizeterm.3X) and [**wresize**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/wresize.3X). *ncurses* allows an application to query the terminal for the presence of a wide variety of special keys; see [**has\_key**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/has_key.3X). *ncurses* extends the fixed set of function key capabilities specified by X/Open Curses by allowing the application programmer to define additional key events at runtime; see [**define\_key**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/define_key.3X), [**key\_defined**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/key_defined.3X), [**keybound**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/keybound.3X), and [**keyok**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/keyok.3X). *ncurses* can exploit the capabilities of terminals implementing ISO 6429/ECMA-48 SGR 39 and SGR 49 sequences, which allow an application to reset the terminal to its original foreground and background colors. From a user's perspective, the application is able to draw colored text on a background whose color is set independently, providing better control over color contrasts. See [**default\_colors**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/default_colors.3X). An *ncurses* application can eschew knowledge of *SCREEN* and *WINDOW* structure internals, instead using accessor functions such as [**is\_cbreak**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/is_cbreak.3X) and [**is\_scrollok**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/is_scrollok.3X). *ncurses* enables an application to direct its output to a printer attached to the terminal device; see [**curs\_print**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_print.3X). *ncurses* offers [**slk\_attr**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/slk_attr.3X) as a counterpart of [**attr\_get**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/attr_get.3X) for soft-label key lines, and [**extended\_slk\_color**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/extended_slk_color.3X) as a form of [**slk\_color**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/slk_color.3X) that can gather color information from them when many colors are supported. *ncurses* permits modification of [**unctrl**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/unctrl.3X)'s behavior; see [**use\_legacy\_coding**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/use_legacy_coding.3X). Rudimentary support for multi-threaded applications may be available; see [**curs\_threads**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_threads.3X). Functions that ease the management of multiple screens can be exposed; see [**curs\_sp\_funcs**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_sp_funcs.3X). To aid applications to debug their memory usage, *ncurses* optionally offers functions to more aggressively free memory it dynamically allocates itself; see [**curs\_memleaks**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_memleaks.3X). The library facilitates auditing and troubleshooting of its behavior; see [**curs\_trace**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_trace.3X). Compiling *ncurses* with the option **-DUSE\_GETCAP** causes it to fall back to reading */etc/termcap* 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 a cost in memory usage and application launch latency. *PDCurses* and NetBSD *curses* incorporate some *ncurses* extensions. Individual man pages indicate where this is the case. # [PORTABILITY](#PORTABILITY) X/Open Curses defines two levels of conformance, “base” and “enhanced”. The latter includes several additional features, such as wide-character and color support. *ncurses* intends base-level conformance with X/Open Curses, and supports all features of its enhanced level except the *untic* utility. Differences between X/Open Curses and *ncurses* are documented in the “PORTABILITY” sections of applicable man pages. ## [Error Checking](#Error_Checking) In many cases, X/Open Curses is vague about error conditions, omitting some of the SVr4 documentation. Unlike other implementations, *ncurses* checks pointer parameters, such as those to *WINDOW* structures, to ensure that they are not null. This is done primarily to guard against programmer error. The standard interface does not provide a way for the library to tell an application which of several possible errors occurred. An application that relies on *ncurses* to check its function parameters for validity limits its portability and robustness. ## [Padding Differences](#Padding_Differences) In historical *curses* implementations, delays embedded in the *terminfo* capabilities **carriage\_return** (**cr**), **scroll\_forward** (**ind**), **cursor\_left** (**cub1**), **form\_feed** (**ff**), and **tab** (**ht**) activated corresponding delay bits in the Unix terminal driver. *ncurses* performs all padding by sending NUL bytes to the device. This method is slightly more expensive, but narrows the interface to the Unix kernel significantly and correspondingly increases the package's portability. ## [Header Files](#Header_Files) The header file *curses.h* itself includes the header files *stdio.h* and *unctrl.h*. X/Open Curses has more to say, The inclusion of *curses.h* may make visible all symbols from the headers *stdio.h*, *term.h*, *termios.h*, and *wchar.h*. but does not finish the story. A more complete account follows. • The first *curses*, in 4BSD, provided a *curses.h* file. BSD *curses* code included *curses.h* and *unctrl.h* from an internal header file *curses.ext*, where “ext” abbreviated “externs”. The implementations of *printw* and *scanw* used undocumented internal functions of the standard I/O library (*\_doprnt* and *\_doscan*), but nothing in *curses.h* itself relied upon *stdio.h*. • SVr2 *curses* added *newterm*, which relies upon *stdio.h* because its function prototype employs the *FILE* type. SVr4 *curses* added *putwin* and *getwin*, which also use *stdio.h*. X/Open Curses specifies all three of these functions. SVr4 *curses* and X/Open Curses do not require the developer to include *stdio.h* before *curses.h*. Both document use of *curses* as requiring only *curses.h*. As a result, standard *curses.h* always includes *stdio.h*. • X/Open Curses and SVr4 *curses* are inconsistent with respect to *unctrl.h*. As noted in [**curs\_util**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_util.3X), *ncurses* includes *unctrl.h* from *curses.h* (as SVr4 does). • X/Open Curses's comments about *term.h* and *termios.h* may refer to HP-UX and AIX. HP-UX *curses* includes *term.h* from *curses.h* to declare *setupterm* in *curses.h*, but *ncurses* and Solaris *curses* do not. AIX *curses* includes *term.h* and *termios.h*. Again, *ncurses* and Solaris *curses* do not. • X/Open Curses says that *curses.h* **may** include *term.h*, but does not require it to do so. Some programs use functions declared in both *curses.h* and *term.h*, and must include both header files in the same translation unit. The header files supplied by *ncurses* include the standard library headers required for its declarations, so *ncurses*'s own header files can be included in any order. For portability even to old AIX systems, include *curses.h* before *term.h*. • X/Open Curses says “may make visible” because including a header file does not necessarily make visible all of the symbols in it (consider **#ifdef** and similar). For instance, *ncurses*'s *curses.h* **may** include *wchar.h* if the proper symbol is defined, and if *ncurses* is configured for wide-character support. If *wchar.h* is included, its symbols **may** be made visible depending on the value of the *\_XOPEN\_SOURCE* feature test macro. • X/Open Curses mandates an application's inclusion of one standard C library header in a special case: *stdarg.h* before *curses.h* to prototype the functions *vw\_printw* and *vw\_scanw* (as well as the obsolete *vwprintw* and *vwscanw*). Each of these takes a variadic argument list, a *va\_list* parameter, like that of [*printf*(3)](/man/os/ncurses/printf.3). SVr3 *curses* introduced the two obsolete functions, and X/Open Curses the others. In between, SVr4 *curses* provided for the possibility that an application might include either *varargs.h* or *stdarg.h*. These represented contrasting approaches to handling variadic argument lists. The older interface, *varargs.h*, used a pointer to *char* for variadic functions' *va\_list* parameter. Later, the list acquired its own standard data type, *va\_list*, defined in *stdarg.h*, empowering the compiler to check the types of a function call's actual parameters against the formal ones declared in its prototype. No conforming implementations of X/Open Curses require an application to include *stdarg.h* before *curses.h* because they either have allowed for a special type, or, like *ncurses*, they include *stdarg.h* themselves to provide a portable interface. # [AUTHORS](#AUTHORS) Zeyd M. Ben-Halim, Eric S. Raymond, Thomas E. Dickey. Based on *pcurses* by Pavel Curtis. # [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO) [**curs\_variables**(3X)](/man/os/ncurses/curs_variables.3X), [**terminfo**(5)](/man/os/ncurses/terminfo.5), [**user\_caps**(5)](/man/os/ncurses/user_caps.5) 2026-09-19 ncurses 6.6 --- Document: ncurses(3x) from ncurses 6.6.20261024-r0 (Chainguard OS) Source: https://github.com/ThomasDickey/ncurses-snapshots