HP-UX Reference (11i v2 03/08) - 4 File Formats (vol 8)

t
terminfo(4) terminfo(4)
(ENHANCED CURSES)
If el is required to get rid of standout (instead of writing normal text on top of it), xhp should be given.
Those Teleray terminals whose tabs turn all characters moved over to blanks, should indicate xt (des-
tructive tabs). This capability is also taken to mean that it is not possible to position the cursor on top of
a "magic cookie". Therefore, to erase standout mode, it is necessary, instead, to use delete and insert line.
For Beehive Superbee terminals that do not transmit the escape or control-C characters, specify xsb,
indicating that the f1 key is to be used for escape and the f2 key for control-C.
Similar Terminals
If there are two similar terminals, one can be defined as being just like the other with certain exceptions.
The string capability use can be given with the name of the similar terminal. The capabilities given
before use override those in the terminal type invoked by use. A capability can be canceled by placing
capability-name@ prior to the appearance of the string capability use. For example, the entry:
att4424-2|Teletype 4424 in display function group ii,
rev@, sgr@, smul@, use=att4424,
defines an AT&T 04424 terminal that does not have the rev, sgr, and smul capabilities, and hence
cannot do highlighting. This is useful for different modes for a terminal, or for different user preferences.
More than one use capability may be given.
Printer Capabilities
The terminfo database lets you define capabilities of printers as well as terminals. Capabilities avail-
able for printers are included in the lists in the "Defined Capabilities" section above.
Rounding Values
Because argumentized string capabilities work only with integer values, terminfo designers should
create strings that expect numeric values that have been rounded. Application designers should note this
and should always round values to the nearest integer before using them with a argumentized string
capability.
Printer Resolution
A printer’s resolution is defined to be the smallest spacing of characters it can achieve. In general, the
horizontal and vertical resolutions are independent. Thus the vertical resolution of a printer can be
determined by measuring the smallest achievable distance between consecutive printing baselines, while
the horizontal resolution can be determined by measuring the smallest achievable distance between the
leftmost edges of consecutive printed, identical, characters.
All printers are assumed to be capable of printing with a uniform horizontal and vertical resolution. The
view of printing that terminfo currently presents is one of printing inside a uniform matrix: All char-
acters are printed at fixed positions relative to each "cell" in the matrix; furthermore, each cell has the
same size given by the smallest horizontal and vertical step sizes dictated by the resolution. (The cell size
can be changed as will be seen later.)
Many printers are capable of "proportional printing", where the horizontal spacing depends on the size of
the character last printed. terminfo does not make use of this capability, although it does provide
enough capability definitions to allow an application to simulate proportional printing.
A printer must not only be able to print characters as close together as the horizontal and vertical resolu-
tions suggest, but also of "moving" to a position an integral multiple of the smallest distance away from a
previous position. Thus printed characters can be spaced apart a distance that is an integral multiple of
the smallest distance, up to the length or width of a single page.
Some printers can have different resolutions depending on different "modes". In "normal mode", the exist-
ing terminfo capabilities are assumed to work on columns and lines, just like a video terminal. Thus
the old lines capability would give the length of a page in lines, and the cols capability would give the
width of a page in columns. In "micro mode," many terminfo capabilities work on increments of lines
and columns. With some printers the micro mode may be concomitant with normal mode, so that all the
capabilities work at the same time.
HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003 − 24 − Hewlett-Packard Company Section 4−−335