ncurses/man/curs_initscr.3x

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.\" $Id: curs_initscr.3x,v 1.24 2015/07/21 23:01:38 tom Exp $
.TH curs_initscr 3X ""
.de bP
.IP \(bu 4
..
.ie \n(.g .ds `` \(lq
.el       .ds `` ``
.ie \n(.g .ds '' \(rq
.el       .ds '' ''
.na
.hy 0
.SH NAME
\fBinitscr\fR,
\fBnewterm\fR,
\fBendwin\fR,
\fBisendwin\fR,
\fBset_term\fR,
\fBdelscreen\fR \- \fBcurses\fR screen initialization and manipulation routines
.ad
.hy
.SH SYNOPSIS
\fB#include <curses.h>\fR
.sp
\fBWINDOW *initscr(void);\fR
.br
\fBint endwin(void);\fR
.br
\fBbool isendwin(void);\fR
.br
\fBSCREEN *newterm(char *\fP\fItype\fP\fB, FILE *\fP\fIoutfd\fP\fB, FILE *\fP\fIinfd\fP\fB);\fR
.br
\fBSCREEN *set_term(SCREEN *\fP\fInew\fP\fB);\fR
.br
\fBvoid delscreen(SCREEN* \fP\fIsp\fP\fB);\fR
.br
.SH DESCRIPTION
.SS initscr
\fBinitscr\fR is normally the first \fBcurses\fR routine to call when
initializing a program.
A few special routines sometimes need to be called before it;
these are \fBslk_init\fR, \fBfilter\fR, \fBripoffline\fR,
\fBuse_env\fR.
For multiple-terminal applications,
\fBnewterm\fR may be called before \fBinitscr\fR.
.PP
The initscr code determines the terminal type and initializes all \fBcurses\fR
data structures.
\fBinitscr\fR also causes the first call to \fBrefresh\fR to clear the screen.
If errors occur, \fBinitscr\fR writes an appropriate error
message to standard error and exits;
otherwise, a pointer is returned to \fBstdscr\fR.
.SS newterm
.PP
A program that outputs to more than one terminal should use the \fBnewterm\fR
routine for each terminal instead of \fBinitscr\fR.
A program that needs to inspect capabilities,
so it can continue to run in a line-oriented mode if the
terminal cannot support a screen-oriented program, would also use
\fBnewterm\fR.
The routine \fBnewterm\fR should be called once for each terminal.
It returns a variable of type \fBSCREEN *\fR which should be saved
as a reference to that terminal.
\fBnewterm\fP's arguments are
.bP
the \fItype\fR of the terminal to be used in place of \fB$TERM\fR,
.bP
a file pointer for output to the terminal, and
.bP
another file pointer for input from the terminal
.PP
If the \fItype\fR parameter is \fBNULL\fR, \fB$TERM\fR will be used.
.SS endwin
.PP
The program must also call
\fBendwin\fR for each terminal being used before exiting from \fBcurses\fR.
If \fBnewterm\fR is called more than once for the same terminal, the first
terminal referred to must be the last one for which \fBendwin\fR is called.
.PP
A program should always call \fBendwin\fR before exiting or escaping from
\fBcurses\fR mode temporarily.
This routine
.bP
restores tty modes,
.bP
moves the cursor to the lower left-hand corner of the screen and
.bP
resets the terminal into
the proper non-visual mode.
.PP
Calling \fBrefresh\fR or \fBdoupdate\fR after a
temporary escape causes the program to resume visual mode.
.SS isendwin
.PP
The \fBisendwin\fR routine returns \fBTRUE\fR if \fBendwin\fR has been
called without any subsequent calls to \fBwrefresh\fR,
and \fBFALSE\fR otherwise.
.SS set_term
.PP
The \fBset_term\fR routine is used to switch between different terminals.
The screen reference \fBnew\fR becomes the new current terminal.
The previous terminal is returned by the routine.
This is the only routine which manipulates \fBSCREEN\fR pointers;
all other routines affect only the current terminal.
.SS delscreen
.PP
The \fBdelscreen\fR routine frees storage associated with the
\fBSCREEN\fR data structure.
The \fBendwin\fR routine does not do
this, so \fBdelscreen\fR should be called after \fBendwin\fR if a
particular \fBSCREEN\fR is no longer needed.
.SH RETURN VALUE
\fBendwin\fR returns the integer \fBERR\fR upon failure and \fBOK\fR
upon successful completion.
.PP
Routines that return pointers always return \fBNULL\fR on error.
.PP
X/Open defines no error conditions.
In this implementation
.bP
\fBendwin\fP returns an error if the terminal was not initialized.
.bP
\fBnewterm\fP
returns an error if it cannot allocate the data structures for the screen,
or for the top-level windows within the screen,
i.e.,
\fBcurscr\fP, \fBnewscr\fP, or \fBstdscr\fP.
.bP
\fBset_term\fP
returns no error.
.SH NOTES
Note that \fBinitscr\fR and \fBnewterm\fR may be macros.
.SH PORTABILITY
These functions were described in the XSI Curses standard, Issue 4.
As of 2015, the current document is X/Open Curses, Issue 7.
.SS Differences
X/Open specifies that portable applications must not
call \fBinitscr\fR more than once:
.bP
The portable way to use \fBinitscr\fP is once only,
using \fBrefresh\fP (see curs_refresh(3X)) to restore the screen after \fBendwin\fP.
.bP
This implementation allows using \fBinitscr\fP after \fBendwin\fP.
.PP
Old versions of curses, e.g., BSD 4.4, may have returned a null pointer
from \fBinitscr\fR when an error is detected, rather than exiting.
It is safe but redundant to check the return value of \fBinitscr\fR
in XSI Curses.
.SS Unset TERM Variable
.PP
If the TERM variable is missing or empty, \fBinitscr\fP uses the
value \*(``unknown\*('',
which normally corresponds to a terminal entry with the \fIgeneric\fP
(\fIgn\fP) capability.
Generic entries are detected by \fBsetupterm\fP (see curs_terminfo(3X)) and cannot be
used for full-screen operation.
Other implementations may handle a missing/empty TERM variable differently.
.SS Signal Handlers
.PP
Quoting from X/Open Curses, section 3.1.1:
.RS 5
.PP
\fICurses implementations may provide for special handling of the SIGINT,
SIGQUIT and SIGTSTP signals if their disposition is SIG_DFL at the time
\fBinitscr()\fP is called \fP...
.PP
\fIAny special handling for these signals may remain in effect for the
life of the process or until the process changes the disposition of
the signal.\fP
.PP
\fINone of the Curses functions are required to be safe with respect to signals \fP...
.RE
.PP
This implementation establishes signal handlers during initialization,
e.g., \fBinitscr\fP or \fBnewterm\fP.
Applications which must handle these signals should set up the corresponding
handlers \fIafter\fP initializing the library:
.TP 5
.B SIGINT
The handler \fIattempts\fP to cleanup the screen on exit.
Although it \fIusually\fP works as expected, there are limitations:
.RS 5
.bP
Walking the \fBSCREEN\fP list is unsafe, since all list management
is done without any signal blocking.
.bP
On systems which have \fBREENTRANT\fP turned on, \fBset_term\fP uses
functions which could deadlock or misbehave in other ways.
.bP
\fBendwin\fP calls other functions, many of which use stdio or
other library functions which are clearly unsafe.
.RE
.TP 5
.B SIGTERM
This uses the same handler as \fBSIGINT\fP, with the same limitations.
It is not mentioned in X/Open Curses, but is more suitable for this
purpose than \fBSIGQUIT\fP (which is used in debugging).
.TP 5
.B SIGTSTP
This handles the \fIstop\fP signal, used in job control.
When resuming the process, this implementation discards pending
input with \fBflushinput\fP (see curs_util(3X)), and repaints the screen
assuming that it has been completely altered.
It also updates the saved terminal modes with \fBdef_shell_mode\fP (see curs_kernel(3X)).
.TP 5
.B SIGWINCH
This handles the window-size changes which were initially ignored in
the standardization efforts.
The handler sets a (signal-safe) variable
which is later tested in \fBwgetch\fP (see curs_getch(3X)).
If \fBkeypad\fP has been enabled for the corresponding window,
\fBwgetch\fP returns the key symbol \fBKEY_RESIZE\fP.
At the same time, \fBwgetch\fP calls \fBresizeterm\fP to adjust the
standard screen \fBstdscr\fP,
and update other data such as \fBLINES\fP and \fBCOLS\fP.
.SH SEE ALSO
\fBcurses\fR(3X),
\fBcurs_kernel\fR(3X),
\fBcurs_refresh\fR(3X),
\fBcurs_slk\fR(3X),
\fBcurs_terminfo\fR(3X),
\fBcurs_util\fR(3X),
\fBcurs_variables\fR(3X).