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tput(1) tput(1)
NAME
tput, reset - initialize a terminal or query terminfo database
SYNOPSIS
tput [-Ttype] capname [parms ... ]
tput [-Ttype] init
tput [-Ttype] reset
tput [-Ttype] longname
tput -S <<
tput -V
DESCRIPTION
The tput utility uses the terminfo database to make the values of ter-
minal-dependent capabilities and information available to the shell
(see sh(1)), to initialize or reset the terminal, or return the long
name of the requested terminal type. tput outputs a string if the
attribute (capability name) is of type string, or an integer if the
attribute is of type integer. If the attribute is of type boolean,
tput simply sets the exit code (0 for TRUE if the terminal has the
capability, 1 for FALSE if it does not), and produces no output.
Before using a value returned on standard output, the user should test
the exit code [$?, see sh(1)] to be sure it is 0. (See the EXIT CODES
and DIAGNOSTICS sections.) For a complete list of capabilities and
the capname associated with each, see terminfo(1).
-Ttype indicates the type of terminal. Normally this option is unnec-
essary, because the default is taken from the environment vari-
able TERM. If -T is specified, then the shell variables LINES
and COLUMNS will be ignored,and the operating system will not
be queried for the actual screen size.
capname
indicates the attribute from the terminfo database. When term-
cap support is compiled in, the termcap name for the attribute
is also accepted.
parms If the attribute is a string that takes parameters, the argu-
ments parms will be instantiated into the string. An all-
numeric argument will be passed to the attribute as a number.
Only a few terminfo capabilities require string parameters;
tput uses a table to decide which to pass as strings. Normally
tput uses tparm (3X) to perform the substitution. If no param-
eters are given for the attribute, tput writes the string with-
out performing the substitution.
-S allows more than one capability per invocation of tput. The
capabilities must be passed to tput from the standard input
instead of from the command line (see example). Only one cap-
name is allowed per line. The -S option changes the meaning of
the 0 and 1 boolean and string exit codes (see the EXIT CODES
section).
Again, tput uses a table and the presence of parameters in its
input to decide whether to use tparm (3X), and how to interpret
the parameters.
-V reports the version of ncurses which was used in this program,
and exits.
init If the terminfo database is present and an entry for the user's
terminal exists (see -Ttype, above), the following will occur:
(1) if present, the terminal's initialization strings will be
output (is1, is2, is3, if, iprog), (2) any delays (e.g., new-
line) specified in the entry will be set in the tty driver, (3)
tabs expansion will be turned on or off according to the speci-
fication in the entry, and (4) if tabs are not expanded, stan-
dard tabs will be set (every 8 spaces). If an entry does not
contain the information needed for any of the four above activ-
ities, that activity will silently be skipped.
reset Instead of putting out initialization strings, the terminal's
reset strings will be output if present (rs1, rs2, rs3, rf).
If the reset strings are not present, but initialization
strings are, the initialization strings will be output. Other-
wise, reset acts identically to init.
longname
If the terminfo database is present and an entry for the user's
terminal exists (see -Ttype above), then the long name of the
terminal will be put out. The long name is the last name in
the first line of the terminal's description in the terminfo
database [see term(5)].
If tput is invoked by a link named reset, this has the same effect as
tput reset. See tset for comparison, which has similar behavior.
EXAMPLES
tput init
Initialize the terminal according to the type of terminal in the
environmental variable TERM. This command should be included in
everyone's .profile after the environmental variable TERM has
been exported, as illustrated on the profile(5) manual page.
tput -T5620 reset
Reset an AT&T 5620 terminal, overriding the type of terminal in
the environmental variable TERM.
tput cup 0 0
Send the sequence to move the cursor to row 0, column 0 (the
upper left corner of the screen, usually known as the "home" cur-
sor position).
tput clear
Echo the clear-screen sequence for the current terminal.
tput cols
Print the number of columns for the current terminal.
tput -T450 cols
Print the number of columns for the 450 terminal.
bold='tput smso' offbold='tput rmso'
Set the shell variables bold, to begin stand-out mode sequence,
and offbold, to end standout mode sequence, for the current ter-
minal. This might be followed by a prompt: echo "${bold}Please
type in your name: ${offbold}\c"
tput hc
Set exit code to indicate if the current terminal is a hard copy
terminal.
tput cup 23 4
Send the sequence to move the cursor to row 23, column 4.
tput cup
Send the terminfo string for cursor-movement, with no parameters
substituted.
tput longname
Print the long name from the terminfo database for the type of
terminal specified in the environmental variable TERM.
tput -S < clear
> cup 10 10
> bold
> !
This example shows tput processing several capabilities in one
invocation. It clears the screen, moves the cursor to position
10, 10 and turns on bold (extra bright) mode. The list is termi-
nated by an exclamation mark (!) on a line by itself.
FILES
/usr/share/terminfo
compiled terminal description database
/usr/include/curses.h
curses(3X) header file
/usr/include/term.h
terminfo header file
/usr/share/tabset/*
tab settings for some terminals, in a format appropriate to be
output to the terminal (escape sequences that set margins and
tabs); for more information, see the "Tabs and Initialization"
section of terminfo(5)
EXIT CODES
If the -S option is used, tput checks for errors from each line, and
if any errors are found, will set the exit code to 4 plus the number
of lines with errors. If no errors are found, the exit code is 0. No
indication of which line failed can be given so exit code 1 will never
appear. Exit codes 2, 3, and 4 retain their usual interpretation. If
the -S option is not used, the exit code depends on the type of cap-
name:
boolean
a value of 0 is set for TRUE and 1 for FALSE.
string a value of 0 is set if the capname is defined for this
terminal type (the value of capname is returned on stan-
dard output); a value of 1 is set if capname is not
defined for this terminal type (nothing is written to
standard output).
integer
a value of 0 is always set, whether or not capname is
defined for this terminal type. To determine if capname
is defined for this terminal type, the user must test the
value written to standard output. A value of -1 means
that capname is not defined for this terminal type.
other reset or init may fail to find their respective files. In
that case, the exit code is set to 4 + errno.
Any other exit code indicates an error; see the DIAGNOSTICS section.
DIAGNOSTICS
tput prints the following error messages and sets the corresponding
exit codes.
exit code error message
---------------------------------------------------------------------
0 (capname is a numeric variable that is not specified in
the terminfo(1) database for this terminal type, e.g.
tput -T450 lines and tput -T2621 xmc)
1 no error message is printed, see the EXIT CODES section.
2 usage error
3 unknown terminal type or no terminfo database
4 unknown terminfo capability capname
>4 error occurred in -S
---------------------------------------------------------------------
PORTABILITY
The longname and -S options, and the parameter-substitution features
used in the cup example, are not supported in BSD curses or in
AT&T/USL curses before SVr4.
SEE ALSO
clear(1), stty(1), tabs(1), terminfo(5).
tput(1)
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