CURSES_INPUT(3) | Library Functions Manual | CURSES_INPUT(3) |
curses_input
, getch
,
wgetch
, mvgetch
,
mvwgetch
, define_key
,
keyok
, has_key
,
getnstr
, wgetnstr
,
mvgetnstr
, mvwgetnstr
,
getstr
, wgetstr
,
mvgetstr
, mvwgetstr
,
keypad
, is_keypad
,
notimeout
, timeout
,
wtimeout
, nodelay
,
ungetch
, set_escdelay
—
#include <curses.h>
int
getch
(void);
int
wgetch
(WINDOW
*win);
int
mvgetch
(int
y, int x);
int
mvwgetch
(WINDOW
*win, int y,
int x);
int
keyok
(int
key_symbol, bool
flag);
int
has_key
(int
key_symbol);
int
define_key
(char
*sequence, int
key_symbol);
int
getnstr
(char
*str, int
limit);
int
wgetnstr
(WINDOW
*win, char *str,
int limit);
int
mvgetnstr
(int
y, int x,
char *str,
int limit);
int
mvwgetnstr
(WINDOW
*win, int y,
int x,
char *str,
int limit);
int
getstr
(char
*str);
int
wgetstr
(WINDOW
*win, char
*str);
int
mvgetstr
(int
y, int x,
char *str);
int
mvwgetstr
(WINDOW
*win, int y,
int x,
char *str);
int
keypad
(WINDOW
*win, boolf
flag);
bool
is_keypad
(const
WINDOW *win);
int
notimeout
(WINDOW
*win, boolf
flag);
int
timeout
(int
delay);
int
wtimeout
(WINDOW
*win, int
delay);
int
nodelay
(WINDOW
*win, boolf
flag);
int
ungetch
(int
c);
int
set_escdelay
(int
escdelay);
extern int ESCDELAY;
The getch
() function reads a character
from the stdscr
input file descriptor and returns
it. If the keypad
() flag has been set to
TRUE
, then getch
() will
assemble multi-character key sequences into key symbols, If the terminal is
resized, getch
() will return
KEY_RESIZE
, regardless of the setting of
keypad
(). Calling getch
()
will cause an implicit refresh
() on
stdscr
.
The wgetch
() function is the same as the
getch
() function, excepting that it reads from the
input file descriptor associated with the window specified by
win.
If the keypad
() flag is
TRUE
then the assembly of specific key symbols can
be disabled by using the keyok
() function. If the
flag is set to FALSE
on a key
symbol then getch
() will behave as if the character
sequence associated with that key symbol was not recognised and will return
the component characters one at a time to the caller. The
is_keypad
() function returns
TRUE
if the keypad flag is set for the window
specified by win.
The has_key
() function takes a key value
and returns TRUE
if the current terminal recognises
a key with that value, otherwise FALSE
.
Custom associations between sequences of characters and a key
symbol can be made by using the define_key
()
function. Normally, these associations are made by the information in the
terminfo(5) database but the
define_key
() function gives the capability to remove
or add more associations. If define_key
() is passed
a non-NULL string in sequence it will associate that
sequence with the key symbol passed in key_symbol. The
key symbol may be one of the ones listed below or a custom value that is
application defined. It is valid to have multiple character sequences map to
the same key symbol and there are no constraints on the length of the
sequence allowed. The assembly of custom sequences follow the same rules for
inter-character timing and so forth as the
terminfo(5) derived ones. If
define_key
() is passed a NULL in
sequence then all associations for the key symbol in
key_symbol will be deleted, this includes any
associations that were derived from
terminfo(5).
The mvgetch
() and
mvwgetch
() functions are the same as the
getch
() and wgetch
()
functions, respectively, excepting that wmove
() is
called to move the cursor to the position specified by
y, x before the character is
read.
Calling getnstr
(),
wgetnstr
(), mvgetnstr
() or
mvwgetnstr
() is effectively the same as calling
getch
() repeatedly until a newline is received or
the character limit limit is reached. Once this
happens the string is NULL
terminated and returned
in str. During input, the normal curses input key
processing is performed and affects the input buffer. The
mvgetnstr
() function calls
wmove
() to move the cursor to the position given by
y, x before getting the string,
wgetnstr
() reads the input from the designated
window, mvwgetnstr
() moves the cursor to the
position given by y, x before
getting the input from the designated window.
The functions getstr
(),
wgetstr
(), mvgetstr
(), and
mvwgetstr
() are similar to
getnstr
(), wgetnstr
(),
mvgetnstr
(), and
mvwgetnstr
(), respectively, excepting that there is
no limit on the number of characters that may be inserted into
str. This may cause the buffer to be overflowed, so
their use is not recommended.
The keypad
() function is used to affect
how getch
() processes input characters. If
flag is set to TRUE
, then
getch
() will scan the input stream looking for
multi-character key sequences that are emitted by some terminal function
keys. If a recognised sequence of characters is found, then
getch
() will collapse that sequence into an integer
key symbol, as shown below. The default setting for the flag is
FALSE
.
The notimeout
() function controls whether
or not getch
() will wait indefinitely between
characters in a multi-character key sequence or not. If
flag is TRUE
, then there is no
timeout applied between characters comprising a multi-character key
sequence. If flag is FALSE
,
then the component characters of a multi-character sequence must not have an
inter-character gap of more than ESCDELAY. If this
timing is exceeded, then the multi-character key assembly is deemed to have
failed and the characters read thus far are returned one at a time when
getch
() is called. The default setting for the flag
is FALSE
. The default value of
ESCDELAY is 300ms. If ESCDELAY
is negative, no timeout is applied between characters comprising a
multi-character key sequence.
The timeout
() function affects the
behaviour of getch
() when reading a character from
stdscr
. If delay is negative,
then getch
() will block indefinitely on a read. If
delay is 0, then getch
() will
return immediately with ERR
if there are no
characters immediately available. If delay is a
positive number, then getch
() will wait for that
many milliseconds before returning and, if no character was available, then
ERR
will be returned. Note that for a positive
number, the timeout is only accurate to the nearest tenth of a second. Also,
the maximum value of delay is 25500 milliseconds. The
wtimeout
() function does the same as
timeout
() but applies to the specified window
win.
The nodelay
() function turns on and off
blocking reads for getch
(). If
flag is TRUE
, then
getch
() will not block on reads, if
flag is FALSE
, then reads will
block. The default setting for the flag is FALSE
.
nodelay
(win,
TRUE) is equivalent to
wtimeout
(win,
0) and
nodelay
(win,
FALSE) is equivalent to
wtimeout
(win,
-1).
ungetch
() will convert
c into an unsigned char and push that character back
onto the input stream. Only one character of push-back is guaranteed to
work, more may be possible depending on system resources.
The set_escdelay
() function sets the
ESCDELAY value of the current screen to
escdelay.
getch
(), wgetch
(),
mvgetch
(), and mvwgetch
() will
return the value of the key pressed or ERR
in the case
of an error or a timeout. Additionally, if
keypad
(TRUE) has been called on
a window, then it may return one of the following values:
Termcap entry | getch Return Value | Key Function |
!1 | KEY_SSAVE | Shift Save |
!2 | KEY_SSUSPEND | Shift Suspend |
!3 | KEY_SUNDO | Shift Undo |
#1 | KEY_SHELP | Shift Help |
#2 | KEY_SHOME | Shift Home |
#3 | KEY_SIC | Shift Insert Character |
#4 | KEY_SLEFT | Shift Left Arrow |
%0 | KEY_REDO | Redo |
%1 | KEY_HELP | Help |
%2 | KEY_MARK | Mark |
%3 | KEY_MESSAGE | Message |
%4 | KEY_MOVE | Move |
%5 | KEY_NEXT | Next Object |
%6 | KEY_OPEN | Open |
%7 | KEY_OPTIONS | Options |
%8 | KEY_PREVIOUS | Previous Object |
%9 | KEY_PRINT | |
%a | KEY_SMESSAGE | Shift Message |
%b | KEY_SMOVE | Shift Move |
%c | KEY_SNEXT | Shift Next Object |
%d | KEY_SOPTIONS | Shift Options |
%e | KEY_SPREVIOUS | Shift Previous Object |
%f | KEY_SPRINT | Shift Print |
%g | KEY_SREDO | Shift Redo |
%h | KEY_SREPLACE | Shift Replace |
%i | KEY_SRIGHT | Shift Right Arrow |
%j | KEY_SRSUME | Shift Resume |
&0 | KEY_SCANCEL | Shift Cancel |
&1 | KEY_REFERENCE | Reference |
&2 | KEY_REFRESH | Refresh |
&3 | KEY_REPLACE | Replace |
&4 | KEY_RESTART | Restart |
&5 | KEY_RESUME | Resume |
&6 | KEY_SAVE | Save |
&7 | KEY_SUSPEND | Suspend |
&8 | KEY_UNDO | Undo |
&9 | KEY_SBEG | Shift Begin |
*0 | KEY_SFIND | Shift Find |
*1 | KEY_SCOMMAND | Shift Command |
*2 | KEY_SCOPY | Shift Copy |
*3 | KEY_SCREATE | Shift Create |
*4 | KEY_SDC | Shift Delete Character |
*5 | KEY_SDL | Shift Delete Line |
*6 | KEY_SELECT | Select |
*7 | KEY_SEND | Shift End |
*8 | KEY_SEOL | Shift Clear to EOL |
*9 | KEY_SEXIT | Shift Exit |
@0 | KEY_FIND | Find |
@1 | KEY_BEG | Begin |
@2 | KEY_CANCEL | Cancel |
@3 | KEY_CLOSE | Close |
@4 | KEY_COMMAND | Command |
@5 | KEY_COPY | Copy |
@6 | KEY_CREATE | Create |
@7 | KEY_END | End |
@8 | KEY_ENTER | Enter |
@9 | KEY_EXIT | Exit |
F1 | KEY_F(11) | Function Key 11 |
F2 | KEY_F(12) | Function Key 12 |
F3 | KEY_F(13) | Function Key 13 |
F4 | KEY_F(14) | Function Key 14 |
F5 | KEY_F(15) | Function Key 15 |
F6 | KEY_F(16) | Function Key 16 |
F7 | KEY_F(17) | Function Key 17 |
F8 | KEY_F(18) | Function Key 18 |
F9 | KEY_F(19) | Function Key 19 |
FA | KEY_F(20) | Function Key 20 |
FB | KEY_F(21) | Function Key 21 |
FC | KEY_F(22) | Function Key 22 |
FD | KEY_F(23) | Function Key 23 |
FE | KEY_F(24) | Function Key 24 |
FF | KEY_F(25) | Function Key 25 |
FG | KEY_F(26) | Function Key 26 |
FH | KEY_F(27) | Function Key 27 |
FI | KEY_F(28) | Function Key 28 |
FJ | KEY_F(29) | Function Key 29 |
FK | KEY_F(30) | Function Key 30 |
FL | KEY_F(31) | Function Key 31 |
FM | KEY_F(32) | Function Key 32 |
FN | KEY_F(33) | Function Key 33 |
FO | KEY_F(34) | Function Key 34 |
FP | KEY_F(35) | Function Key 35 |
FQ | KEY_F(36) | Function Key 36 |
FR | KEY_F(37) | Function Key 37 |
FS | KEY_F(38) | Function Key 38 |
FT | KEY_F(39) | Function Key 39 |
FU | KEY_F(40) | Function Key 40 |
FV | KEY_F(41) | Function Key 41 |
FW | KEY_F(42) | Function Key 42 |
FX | KEY_F(43) | Function Key 43 |
FY | KEY_F(44) | Function Key 44 |
FZ | KEY_F(45) | Function Key 45 |
Fa | KEY_F(46) | Function Key 46 |
Fb | KEY_F(47) | Function Key 47 |
Fc | KEY_F(48) | Function Key 48 |
Fd | KEY_F(49) | Function Key 49 |
Fe | KEY_F(50) | Function Key 50 |
Ff | KEY_F(51) | Function Key 51 |
Fg | KEY_F(52) | Function Key 52 |
Fh | KEY_F(53) | Function Key 53 |
Fi | KEY_F(54) | Function Key 54 |
Fj | KEY_F(55) | Function Key 55 |
Fk | KEY_F(56) | Function Key 56 |
Fl | KEY_F(57) | Function Key 57 |
Fm | KEY_F(58) | Function Key 58 |
Fn | KEY_F(59) | Function Key 59 |
Fo | KEY_F(60) | Function Key 60 |
Fp | KEY_F(61) | Function Key 61 |
Fq | KEY_F(62) | Function Key 62 |
Fr | KEY_F(63) | Function Key 63 |
K1 | KEY_A1 | Upper left key in keypad |
K2 | KEY_B2 | Centre key in keypad |
K3 | KEY_A3 | Upper right key in keypad |
K4 | KEY_C1 | Lower left key in keypad |
K5 | KEY_C3 | Lower right key in keypad |
Km | KEY_MOUSE | Mouse Event |
k0 | KEY_F0 | Function Key 0 |
k1 | KEY_F(1) | Function Key 1 |
k2 | KEY_F(2) | Function Key 2 |
k3 | KEY_F(3) | Function Key 3 |
k4 | KEY_F(4) | Function Key 4 |
k5 | KEY_F(5) | Function Key 5 |
k6 | KEY_F(6) | Function Key 6 |
k7 | KEY_F(7) | Function Key 7 |
k8 | KEY_F(8) | Function Key 8 |
k9 | KEY_F(9) | Function Key 9 |
k; | KEY_F(10) | Function Key 10 |
kA | KEY_IL | Insert Line |
ka | KEY_CATAB | Clear All Tabs |
kB | KEY_BTAB | Back Tab |
kb | KEY_BACKSPACE | Backspace |
kC | KEY_CLEAR | Clear |
kD | KEY_DC | Delete Character |
kd | KEY_DOWN | Down Arrow |
kE | KEY_EOL | Clear to End Of Line |
kF | KEY_SF | Scroll Forward one line |
kH | KEY_LL | Home Down |
kh | KEY_HOME | Home |
kI | KEY_IC | Insert Character |
kL | KEY_DL | Delete Line |
kl | KEY_LEFT | Left Arrow |
kM | KEY_EIC | Exit Insert Character Mode |
kN | KEY_NPAGE | Next Page |
kP | KEY_PPAGE | Previous Page |
kR | KEY_SR | Scroll One Line Back |
kr | KEY_RIGHT | Right Arrow |
kS | KEY_EOS | Clear to End Of Screen |
kT | KEY_STAB | Set Tab |
kt | KEY_CTAB | Clear Tab |
ku | KEY_UP | Up Arrow |
Note that not all terminals are capable of generating all the keycodes listed above nor are terminfo entries normally configured with all the above capabilities defined.
Other functions that return an int will return one of the following values:
OK
ERR
Functions returning pointers will return
NULL
if an error is detected.
keyok
() and define_key
()
functions are implementations of extensions made by the NCurses library to the
Curses standard. Portable implementations should avoid the use of these
functions.
is_keypad
() and set_tabsize
()
functions are ncurses extension to the Curses library and
was added in NetBSD 8.0.
January 5, 2017 | NetBSD 9.0 |