# term_variables 3x

    term_variables(3x)                                   term_variables(3x)

## 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[];
           NCURSES_CONST char * const * boolcodes;
           NCURSES_CONST char * const * boolfnames;
           NCURSES_CONST char * const * boolnames;
           TERMINAL * cur_term;
           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;
           char ttytype[];

## DESCRIPTION

           This  page summarizes variables provided by the curses li-
           brary's low-level terminfo interface.  A more complete de-
           scription is given in the curs_terminfo(3x) manual page.

           Depending  on the configuration, these may be actual vari-
           ables, or  macros  (see  curs_threads(3x))  which  provide
           read-only  access  to curses's state.  In either case, ap-
           plications should treat them as read-only to avoid confus-
           ing 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
           periodically.   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.  Alternatively, one can  save  the  return  value
           from newterm or setupterm to reuse in set_term.

       Terminfo Names
           The  tic(1)  and infocmp(1) programs use lookup tables for
           the long and short names of terminfo capabilities, as well
           as  the  corresponding  names  for  termcap  capabilities.
           These are available  to  other  applications,  though  the
           hash-tables are not available.

           The  long  terminfo  capability  names  use a "l" (ell) in
           their names: boolfnames numfnames strfnames

           These are the short names for terminfo capabilities: bool-
           names, numnames, and strnames.

           These  are  the  corresponding  names used for termcap de-
           scriptions: boolcodes, numcodes, and strcodes.

       Terminal Type
           On initialization of the curses  or  terminfo  interfaces,
           setupterm copies the terminal name to the array ttytype.

## NOTES

           The  low-level terminfo interface is initialized using se-
           tupterm(3x).  The upper-level curses  interface  uses  the
           low-level 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
           implementations  provide the variables in their libraries,
           but omit them from the header files.

## SEE ALSO

           curses(3x), curs_terminfo(3x),  curs_threads(3x),  termin-
           fo(3x), terminfo(5).

                                                         term_variables(3x)