# term_variables

## NAME



           **SP** , **acs_map** , **boolcodes** , **boolfnames** , **boolnames** , **cur_term** , **numcodes** ,
           **numfnames** , **numnames** , **strcodes** , **strfnames** , **strnames** , **ttytype** -
           **curses** terminfo global variables
    


## SYNOPSIS



           **#include <curses.h>**
           **#include <term.h>**
    
           **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



           This  page  summarizes  variables provided by the **curses** library's
           low-level terminfo interface.  A more complete description is giv‐
           en in the **curs_terminfo**(3X) manual page.
    
           Depending on the configuration, these may be actual variables,  or
           macros  (see  **curs_threads**(3X))  which 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**
           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 periodi‐
           cally.  Application developers need only know that it is used  for
           the “ACS_” constants in <curses.h>.
    
           The  comparable  data  for the wide-character library is a private
           variable.
    
       **Current Terminal Data**
           After initializing the curses or terminfo interfaces, the **cur_term**
           contains data describing the current terminal.  This  variable  is
           also set as a side-effect of **set_term**(3X) and **delscreen**(3X).
    
           It is possible to save a value of **cur_term** for subsequent use as a
           parameter  to  **set_term** ,  for switching between screens.  Alterna‐
           tively, one  can  save  the  return  value  from  **newterm** or  **se‐**
           **tupterm**(3X) to reuse in **set_term**.
    
       **Terminfo Lookup Tables**
           The  **tic**(1) and **infocmp**(1) programs use lookup tables for the long
           and short names of terminfo capabilities, as well  as  the  corre‐
           sponding  names  for termcap capabilities.  These are available to
           other applications, although the hash-tables used by the  terminfo
           and termcap functions are not available.
    
           The long terminfo capability names use a “f” (eff) in their names:
           **boolfnames** , **numfnames** , and **strfnames**.
    
           These  are  the  short names for terminfo capabilities: **boolnames** ,
           **numnames** , and **strnames**.
    
           These are the corresponding names used for  termcap  descriptions:
           **boolcodes** , **numcodes** , and **strcodes**.
    
       **Terminal Type**
           A terminal description begins with one or more terminal names sep‐
           arated by “|” (vertical bars).  On initialization of the curses or
           terminfo  interfaces,  **setupterm**(3X)  copies the terminal names to
           the array **ttytype**.
    
       **Terminfo Names**
           In addition to the variables, **< term.h> **also defines a  symbol  for
           each  terminfo  capability  _long_  _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  capa‐
           bilities than using **tigetstr**(3X), etc.
    
           The  actual definition of **CUR** depends upon the implementation, but
           each terminfo library provides these long names defined  to  point
           into the current terminal description loaded into memory.
    


## NOTES



           The    low-level   terminfo   interface   is   initialized   using
           **setupterm**(3X).  The upper-level curses interface uses the low-lev‐
           el terminfo interface, internally.
    


## PORTABILITY



           X/Open Curses does not describe any of these 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 imple‐
           mentations provide the variables in their libraries, but omit them
           from the header files.
    
           All implementations which provide terminfo interfaces add  defini‐
           tions  as  described in the **Terminfo Names** section.  Most, but not
           all, base the definition upon the **cur_term** variable.
    


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