# curs_variables 3x

    curs_variables(3x)                                   curs_variables(3x)

## NAME

           COLORS, COLOR_PAIRS, COLS, ESCDELAY, LINES, TABSIZE,
           curscr, newscr, stdscr - curses global variables

## SYNOPSIS

           #include <curses.h>

           int COLOR_PAIRS;
           int COLORS;
           int COLS;
           int ESCDELAY;
           int LINES;
           int TABSIZE;
           WINDOW * curscr;
           WINDOW * newscr;
           WINDOW * stdscr;

## DESCRIPTION

           This page summarizes variables provided by the curses  li-
           brary.   A more complete description is given in the curs-
           es(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.

       COLOR_PAIRS
           After initializing curses, this variable contains the num-
           ber of color pairs which the terminal can support.  Usual-
           ly the number of color pairs  will  be  the  product  COL-
           ORS*COLORS, however this is not always true:

           o   a  few  terminals  use HLS colors, which do not follow
               this rule

           o   terminals supporting a large number of colors are lim-
               ited  by  the number of color pairs that can be repre-
               sented in a signed short value.

       COLORS
           After initializing curses, this variable contains the num-
           ber of colors which the terminal can support.

       COLS
           After  initializing  curses,  this  variable  contains the
           width of the screen, i.e., the number of columns.

       ESCDELAY
           This variable holds the number of milliseconds to wait af-
           ter reading an escape character, to distinguish between an
           individual escape character entered on the  keyboard  from
           escape  sequences  sent  by cursor- and function-keys (see
           curses(3x).

       LINES
           After initializing  curses,  this  variable  contains  the
           height of the screen, i.e., the number of lines.

       TABSIZE
           This  variable  holds  the  number  of columns used by the
           curses library when converting a tab character  to  spaces
           as it adds the tab to a window (see curs_addch(3x).

       The Current Screen
           This implementation of curses uses a special window curscr
           to record its updates to the terminal screen.

       The New Screen
           This implementation of curses uses a special window newscr
           to  hold  updates  to  the terminal screen before applying
           them to curscr.

       The Standard Screen
           Upon initializing curses, a default window called  stdscr,
           which  is  the  size  of  the terminal screen, is created.
           Many curses functions use this window.

## NOTES

           The   curses   library   is   initialized   using   either
           initscr(3x), or newterm(3x).

           If  curses  is  configured to use separate curses/terminfo
           libraries, most of these variables reside  in  the  curses
           library.

## PORTABILITY

           ESCDELAY  and TABSIZE are extensions, not provided in most
           other implementations of curses.

## SEE ALSO

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

                                                         curs_variables(3x)