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.\"***************************************************************************
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.\" Copyright (c) 1998-2003,2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
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.\" Copyright (c) 1998-2004,2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc. *
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.\" Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a *
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.\" copy of this software and associated documentation files (the *
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Compiled terminfo descriptions are placed under the directory \fB\*d\fP.
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In order to avoid a linear search of a huge \s-1UNIX\s+1 system directory, a
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two-level scheme is used: \fB\*d/c/name\fP
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Two configurations are supported (when building the ncurses libraries):
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A two-level scheme is used to avoid a linear search
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of a huge \s-1UNIX\s+1 system directory: \fB\*d/c/name\fP where
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is the name of the terminal, and
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can be found in the file \fB\*d/a/act4\fP.
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Synonyms for the same terminal are implemented by multiple
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links to the same compiled file.
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Using Berkeley database, two types of records are stored:
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the terminfo data in the same format as stored in a directory tree with
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the terminfo's primary name as a key,
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and records containing only aliases pointing to the primary name.
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If built to write hashed databases,
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ncurses can still read terminfo databases organized as a directory tree,
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but cannot write entries into the directory tree.
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It can write (or rewrite) entries in the hashed database.
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ncurses distinguishes the two cases in the TERMINFO and TERMINFO_DIRS
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environment variable by assuming a directory tree for entries that
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correspond to an existing directory,
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and hashed database otherwise.
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The format has been chosen so that it will be the same on all hardware.
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An 8 or more bit byte is assumed, but no assumptions about byte ordering
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or sign extension are made.
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The compiled file is created with the
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program, and read by the routine
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The file is divided into six parts:
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This section contains six short integers in the format
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(1) the magic number (octal 0432);
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(2) the size, in bytes, of the names section;
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(3) the number of bytes in the boolean section;
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(4) the number of short integers in the numbers section;
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(5) the number of offsets (short integers) in the strings section;
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(6) the size, in bytes, of the string table.
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Short integers are stored in two 8-bit bytes.
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The first byte contains the least significant 8 bits of the value,
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It contains all the values of string capabilities referenced in
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the string section.
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Each string is null terminated.
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.SS EXTENDED STORAGE FORMAT
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The previous section describes the conventional terminfo binary format.
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With some minor variations of the offsets (see PORTABILITY),
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the same binary format is used in all modern UNIX systems.
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Each system uses a predefined set of boolean, number or string capabilities.
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The ncurses libraries and applications support extended terminfo binary format,
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allowing users to define capabilities which are loaded at runtime. This
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extension is made possible by using the fact that the other implementations
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stop reading the terminfo data when they have reached the end of the size given
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ncurses checks the size, and if it exceeds that due to the predefined data,
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continues to parse according to its own scheme.
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First, it reads the extended header (5 short integers):
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count of extended boolean capabilities
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count of extended numeric capabilities
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count of extended string capabilities
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size of the extended string table in bytes.
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last offset of the extended string table in bytes.
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Using the counts and sizes, ncurses allocates arrays and reads data
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for the extended capabilties in the same order as the header information.
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The extended string table contains values for string capabilities.
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After the end of these values, it contains the names for each of
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the extended capabilities in order, e.g., booleans, then numbers and
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Note that it is possible for
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to expect a different set of capabilities
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capabilities to the string table that (in the binary format) collide with
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System V and XSI Curses extensions. See \fBterminfo\fR(\*n) for detailed
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discussion of terminfo source compatibility issues.
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As an example, here is a hex dump of the description for the Lear-Siegler
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ADM-3, a popular though rather stupid early terminal:
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Some limitations: total compiled entries cannot exceed 4096 bytes.
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The name field cannot exceed 128 bytes.
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\*d/*/* compiled terminal capability data base
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\fBcurses\fR(3X), \fBterminfo\fR(\*n).
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extended terminfo format for ncurses 5.0
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hashed database support for ncurses 5.6
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.\"# The following sets edit modes for GNU EMACS
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.\"# Local Variables:
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man/term.5
