URL: http://www.firstbasesoftware.com/man/man5/terminals.htm
Last modified: 4 April 1996
Copyright © by FirstBase Software.
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NAME

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

clear()

clear the screen (cl)

clrtobot()

clear from cursor to bottom of screen (cd)

clrtoeol()

clear from cursor to end of line (ce)

move(x, y)

move cursor to absolute row,col (cm)

A few other terminal description fields are also supported:

standout

Begin Standout mode (so)

standend

End Standout mode (se)

reverse

Begin Standout mode (mr)

revend

End Standout mode (me)

lines

Lines on terminal (li)

columns

Columns on terminal (co)

Additionally, support for arrow and function keys is handled by the standard termcap(5) capabilities ku, kd, kl, kr, and k0 through k9. These termcap entries are designed to let the software know what strings are being emitted by what terminal keys.

When an arrow or function key is depressed, the string it emits is looked up to see if it is in one of the above mentioned k slots. If a match occurs, then the internal FirstBase signal corresponding to that k slot (as defined in setup(5)) will be generated for the waiting software.

Note that function keys are either a single <CONTROL> character or a sequence of characters starting with an ESCAPE character. Variable length escape sequences are supported.

The termcap(5) terminal database is used by all of the tools in FirstBase. This includes support for the 'visible bell' feature. Transparent support is provided for the terminfo(5) style database as well. The Unix environment variables TERMCAP and TERM are used to locate the termcap file and the specific entry in the terminal capabilities database.

Note that the FirstBase tools can make a distinction between standout video and reverse video modes. This distinction is not usually supplied by the termcap(5) database routines. The termcap codes for 'begin reverse' and for 'end reverse' can be listed as 'mr' and 'me' respectively. Of course, if you use reverse video for your standout mode, then this added distinction will not be needed.

The lines and columns termcap settings are used to define the shape of the window being used with the FirstBase tools. When using FirstBase interactively, a minimum screen must be at least 24 x 80. But, devices allowing larger windows may use them. However, two notes: 1) only dbvedit(1) and dbshell(1) can actually uses this larger window, and 2) only the 'lines', not the columns, termcap entry is utilized.

In addition, FirstBase will try and read the number of lines used by the current window after the termcap setting is used. So, if the user shrinks or expands the window, FirstBase will reset the LINES variable accordingly.

Tools which are run in batchmode (non-interactively) by using the -b argument line switch will not be subject to the above terminal constraints. Furthermore, non-FirstBase tools wanting to use larger windows can use the -fullscreen argument line option to bypass the normal 24 X 80 default. The lines entry from the termcap setting can also be set by using the LINES environment variable (setup(5)). This allows disabling the lines settings as described by the termcap.

SEE ALSO

FirstBase User's Guide and Reference Manual