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Document:	ULTRIX Reference Pages Section 5: File Formats
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ULTRIX

Reference Pages Section 5: File Formats

Order Number: AA-L Y18B-TE
June 1990

Product Version:

ULTRIX Version 4.0 or higher

This manual describes the format of system files and how the files are used on both RISe and
VAX platforms.

digital equipment corporation
maynard, massachusetts

Restricted Rights: Use, duplication, or disclosure by the U.S. Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in
subparagraph (c) (1) (ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause of DFARS 252.227-7013.
© Digital Equipment Corporation 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990
All rights reserved.

Portions of the information herein are derived from copyrighted material as permittea under license agreements with
AT&T and the Regents of the University of California. © AT&T 1979, 1984. All Rights Reserved.
Portions of the information herein are derived from copyrighted material as permitted under a license agreement with
Sun MicroSystems, Inc. © Sun MicroSystems, Inc, 1985. All Rights Reserved.
Portions of this document © Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1984, 1985, 1986,
1988.
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment
by Digital Equipment Corporation. Digital Equipment Corporation assumes no responsibility for any errors that may
appear in this document.
The software described in this document is furnished under a license and may be used or copied only in accordance
with the terms of such license.
No responsibility is assumed for the use or reliability of software on equipment that is not supplied by Digital or its
affiliated companies.

The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation:

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DDIS
DEC
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DEC station

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DTIF
MASSBUS
MicroVAX
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ULTRIX
ULTRIX Mail Connection

ULTRIX Worksystem Software
UNIBUS
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VMS/ULTRIX Connection
VT
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Ethernet is a registered trademark of Xerox Corporation.
Network File System and NFS are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc.
POSIX is a registered trademark of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
System V is a registered trademark of AT&T.
Teletype is a registered trademark of AT&T in the USA and other countries.
UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T in the USA and other countries.

About Reference Pages

The ULTRIX Reference Pages describe commands, system calls, routines, file
formats, and special files for RISe and VAX platforms.

Sections
The reference pages are divided into eight sections according to topic. Within each
section, the reference pages are organized alphabetically by title, except Section 3,
which is divided into subsections. Each section and most subsections have an
introductory reference page called intra that describes the organization and
.
anything unique to that section.
Some reference pages carry a one- to three-letter suffix after the section number, for
example, scan(1mh). The suffix indicates that there is a "family" of reference
pages for that utility or feature. The Section 3 subsections all use suffixes and other
sections may also have suffixes.
Following are the sections that make up the ULTRIX Reference Pages.

Section 1: Commands
This section describes commands that are available to all ULTRIX users. Section 1 is
split between two binders. The first binder contains reference pages for titles that fall
between A and L. The second binder contains reference pages for titles that fall
between M and Z.

Section 2: System Calls
This section defines system calls (entries into the ULTRIX kernel) that are used by
all programmers. The introduction to Section 2, intro(2), lists error numbers with
brief descriptions of their meanings. The introduction also defines many of the terms
used in this section.

Section 3: Routines
This section describes the routines available in ULTRIX libraries. Routines are
sometimes referred to as subroutines or functions.

Section 4: Special Files
This section describes special files, related device driver functions, databases, and
network support.

Section 5: File Formats
This section describes the fonnat of system files and how the files are used. The files
described include assembler and link editor output, system accounting, and file
system fonnats.

Section 6: Games
The reference pages in this section describe the games that are available in the
unsupported software subset. The reference pages for games are in the document

Reference Pages for Unsupported Software.

Section 7: Macro Packages and Conventions
This section contains miscellaneous infonnation, including ASCII character codes,
mail addressing fonnats, text fonnatting macros, and a description of the root file
system.

Section 8: Maintenance
This section describes commands for system operation and maintenance.

Platform Labels
The ULTRIX Reference Pages contain entries for both RISC and V AX platfonns.
Pages that have no platfonn label beside the title apply to both platfonns. Reference
pages that apply only to RISC platfonns have a "RISC" label beside the title and the
VAX-only reference pages that apply only to VAX platfonns are likewise labeled
with "VAX. " If each platfonn has the same command, system call, routine, file
fonnat, or special file, but functions differently on the different platfonns, both
reference pages are included, with the RISe page first.

Reference Page Format
Each reference page follows the same general fonnat. Common to all reference pages
is a title consisting of the name of a command ora descriptive title, followed by a
section number; for example, da t e( 1). This title is used throughout the
documentation set.
The headings in each reference page provide specific infonnation. The standard
headings are:
Name

Provides the name of the entry and gives a short description.

Syntax

Describes the command syntax or the routine definition. Section 5
reference pages do not use the Syntax heading.

Description

Provides a detailed description of the entry's features, usage, and
syntax variations.

Options

Describes the command-line options.

Restrictions

Describes limitations or restrictions on the use of a command or
routine.

Examples

Provides examples of how a command or routine is used.

iv About Reference Pages

Return Values

Describes the values returned by a system call or routine. Used in
Sections 2 and 3 only.

Diagnostics

Describes diagnostic and error messages that can appear.

Files

Lists related files that are either a part of the command or used
during execution.

Environment

Describes the operation of the system call or routine when
compiled in the POSIX and SYSTEM V environments. If the
environment has no effect on the operation, this heading is not
used. Used in Sections 2 and 3 only.

See Also
tty(4), term(7)

File Formats 5-181

VAX

termcap(5)
Name
termcap - terminal capability data base

Syntax
/etc/termcap

Description
The termeap file is a data base describing terminals used, for example, by vi(1)
and eurses(3x). Terminals are described in termeap by giving a set of
capabilities which they have and by describing how operations are performed.
Padding requirements and initialization sequences are included in termeap.
Entries in termeap consist of a number of fields separated by colons (:). The first
entry for each terminal gives the names which are known for the terminal, separated
by vertical bars (I). The first name is always 2 characters long and is used by older
Version 6 systems, which store the terminal type in a 16-bit word in a system-wide
data base. The second name given is the most common abbreviation for the terminal,
and the last name given should be a long name fully identifying the terminal. The
second name should contain no blanks. The last name may contain blanks for
readability.

Capabi Iities
(P) indicates padding is commonly needed for these strings.
(P*) indicates that padding may be based on the number of lines affected.

Name Type Pad? Description
ae
al
am
as
bc
bl
bs
bt
bw
CC
ca
cd
ce
ch
cl
cm
co
cr
cs
ct
cv
da
dB
5-182 File Formats

str
str
bool
str
str
str
bool
str
bool
str
bool
str
str
str
str
str
num
str
str
str
str
bool
num

(P) End alternate character set.
(P*) Add new blank line.
Terminal has automatic margins.
(P) Start alternate character set.
Backspace, if not CTRL/H.
Audible bell character.
Terminal can backspace with CTRL/H.
(P) Back tab.
Backspace wraps from column 0 to last column.
Command character in prototype, if terminal-settable.
Cursor addressable.
(P*) Clear to end of display.
(P) Clear to end of line.
(P) Like em, but horizontal motion only; line stays the same.
(P*) Clear screen.
(P) Cursor motion.
Number of columns in a line.
(P*) Carriage return (default CTRL/M).
(P) Change scrolling region (VT100); like em.
Clear all tab stops.
(P) Like eh, but vertical only.
Display may be retained above.
Number of millisec of bs delay needed.

termcap(5)
db
bool
dC
num
dc
str
dF
num
dl
str
dm
str
num
dN
do
str
ds
str
num
dT
ed
str
ei
str
eo
str
bool
es
ff
str
fs
str
gt
bool
hc
bool
hd
str
ho
str
hs
bool
hu
str
hz
str
ic
str
if
str
im
bool
in
bool
ip
str
is
str
kO-k9 str
kb
str
kd
str
ke
str
kh
str
kl
str
kn
num
ko
str
kr
str
ks
str
ku
str
10-19 str
Ie
str
li
num
11
str
rna
str
mb
str
md
str
me
str
mh
str
bool
mi
ml
str
mr
str

(P*)
(P*)

(P*)

(P)

(P*)

Display may be retained below.
Number of millisec of er delay needed.
Delete character.
Number of millisec of f f delay needed.
Delete line.
Delete mode (enter).
Number of millisec of nl delay needed.
Move down one line.
Clear host writable status line.
Number of millisec of ta delay needed.
End delete mode.
End insert mode; give ":ei=:" if ie.
Can erase overstrikes with a blank.
Standout mode allowed on host writable status line.
Hard-copy terminal page eject (default CTRL/L).
Close host writable status line to writing.
Gtty indicates tabs.
Hard-copy terminal.
Half-line down (forward 1/2 linefeed).
Home cursor (if no em).
Host writable status line capabilities.
Half-line up (reverse 1/2 linefeed).
Hazeltine; cannot print tildes (-).
Insert character.
Name of file containing is.
Insert mode (enter); give ":im=:" if ie.
Insert mode distinguishes nulls on display.
Insert pad after character inserted.
Terminal initialization string.
Sent by "other" function keys 0-9.
Sent by backspace key.
Sent by terminal down arrow key.
Out of "keypad transmit" mode.
Sent by home key.
Sent by terminal left arrow key.
Number of "other" keys.
Termcap entries for other nonfunction keys.
Sent by terminal right arrow key.
Put terminal in "keypad transmit" mode.
Sent by terminal up arrow key.
Labels on "other" function keys.
Move cursor left one place.
Number of lines on screen or page.
Last line, first column (if no em).
Arrow key map, used by vi Version 2 only.
Turn on blinking.
Enter bold (extra-bright) mode.
Turn off all attributes, normal mode.
Enter dim (half-bright) mode.
Safe to move while in insert mode.
Memory lock on above cursor.
Enter reverse mode.

File Formats 5-183

termcap (5)
ms
mu
nc
nd
nl
ns
os
pc
pt
rc
rf
rs
sc
se
sf
sg
so
sr
st
ta
tc
te
ti
ts
uc
ue
ug
ul
up
us
vb
ve
vs
vt
xb
xn
xr
xs
xt

bool
str
bool
str
str
bool
bool
str
bool
str
str
str
str
str
str
num
str
str
str
str
str
str
str
str
str
str
num
bool
str
str
str
str
str
num
bool
bool
bool
bool
bool

Safe to move while in standout and underline mode.
Memory unlock (turn off memory lock).
No correctly working carriage return (DM2500,H2000).
Nondestructive space (cursor right).
(P*) Newline character (default \n).
Terminal is a CRT, but does not scroll.
Terminal overstrikes.
Pad character (rather than null).
Has hardware tabs (may need to be set with is).
Recover from last save cursor (se).
Reset file, like initialization file (i f) but for reset.
Reset string, like initialization string (i s) but for reset.
Save cursor.
End stand out mode.
(P) Scroll forwards.
Number of blank chars left by so or se.
Begin stand out mode.
(P) Scroll reverse (backwards).
Save cursor.
(P) Tab (other than CTRL/I or with padding).
Entry of similar terminal - must be last.
String to end programs that use em.
String to begin programs that use em.
Open host writable status line to writing.[jA.
Underscore one char and move past it.
End underscore mode.
Number of blank chars left by us or ue.
Terminal underlines even though it does not overstrike.
Upline (cursor up).
Start underscore mode.
Visible bell (may not move cursor).
Sequence to end open/visual mode.
Sequence to start open/visual mode.
Virtual terminal number.
Beehive (f1=escape, f2=CTRL/C).
A newline is ignored after a wrap (Concept).
Return acts like ee \r \n (Delta Data).
Standout not erased by writing over it (HP 264 ?).
Tabs are destructive, magic so char (Teleray 1061).

A Sample Entry
The following entry, which describes the Concept-lOO, is among the more complex
entries in the termeap file as of this writing. This particular 'Concept' entry is
outdated and is used as an example only:
cl I clOO I conceptlOO:is=\EU\Ef\E7\E5\E8\El\ENH\EK\E\200\Eo&\200:\
:al=3*\E AR:am:bs:cd=16*\E AC:ce=16\E AS:cl=2*AL:cm=\Ea%+ %+\
:co#80:\ :dc=16\E AA:dl=3*\E AB:ei=\E\200:eo:im=\E AP:ih\
:ip=16*:li#24:mi:nd=\E=:\ :se=\Ed\Ee:so=\ED\EE:ta=8\t\
:ul:up=\E;:vb=\Ek\EK:xn:

Entries can continue onto multiple lines by giving a backslash (\) as the last character
of a line. Empty fields can be included for readability (here between the last field on
a line and the first field on the next).
5-184 File Formats

termcap(5)
Types of Capabilities
Capabilities in termcap are of three types: Boolean capabilities that indicate that
the tenninal has some particular feature; numeric capabilities giving the size of the
tenninal or the size of particular delays; and string capabilities, which give a
sequence that can be used to perfonn particular tenninal operations.
All capabilities have 2-letter codes. For instance, the fact that the Concept has
"automatic margins" (that is, an automatic return and linefeed when the end of a line
is reached) is indicated by the capability am. Hence, the description of the Concept
includes am. Numeric capabilities are followed by the number sign (#) and then the
value. Thus, co, which indicates the number of columns the tenninal has, gives the
value '80' for the Concept.
Finally, string-valued capabilities, such as ce (clear to end-of-line sequence), are
given by the 2-character code: an equal sign (=) and then a string ending at the next
following colon (:). A delay in milliseconds may appear after the equal sign (=) in
such a capability. Padding characters are supplied by the editor after the remainder of
the string is sent to provide this delay. The delay can be either an integer, for
example, "20", or an integer followed by indicates that the padding required is
proportional to the number of lines affected by the operation, and the amount given is
the per-affected-unit padding required. When an asterisk (*) is specified, it is
sometimes useful to give a delay of the fonn "3.5" to specify a delay per unit to
tenths of milliseconds.
A number of escape sequences are provided in the string-valued capabilities for easy
encoding of characters there. A \E maps to an ESCAPE character, Q"x maps to a
CTRL/x for any appropriate x, and the sequences \n \r \t \b \f give a
newline, retum, tab, backspace and fonnfeed. Finally, characters may be given as
three octal digits after a backslash (\), and the characters circumflex (1\) and backslash
(\) may be given as \" and \ \. If it is necessary to place a colon (:) in a
capability, it must be escaped in octal as \ 072. If it is necessary to place a null
character in a string capability, it must be encoded as \ 2 00. The routines that deal
with termcap use C strings and strip the high bits of the output very late so that a
\200 comes out as a \000 would.

Preparing Descriptions
This section outlines how to prepare descriptions oftenninals. The most effective
way to prepare a terminal description is by imitating the description of a similar
tenninal in termcap and to build up a description gradually, using partial
descriptions with ex to check that they are correct. Be aware that a very unusual
tenninal may expose deficiencies in the ability of the termcap file to describe it or
bugs in ex. To easily test a new tenninal description, you can set the environment
variable TERMCAP to a pathname of a file containing the description you are
working on and the editor will look there rather than in / etc/termcap.
TERMCAP can also be set to the tenncap entry itself to avoid reading the file when
starting up the editor. This only works on Version 7 systems.

Basic Capabilities
The number of columns on each line for the tenninal is given by the co numeric
capability. If the terminal is a CRT, the number of lines on the screen is given by
the I i capability. If the tenninal wraps around to the beginning of the next line
when it reaches the right margin, it should have the am capability. If the tenninal
can clear its screen, this is given by the cl string capability. If the tenninal can

File Formats 5-185

termcap(5)
backspace, it should have the bs capability, unless a backspace is accomplished by a
character other than AH, in which case you should give this character as the be
string capability. If it overstrikes, rather than clearing a position when a character is
struck over, it should have the as capability.
A very important point here is that the local cursor motions encoded in termeap are
undefined at the left and top edges of a CRT terminal. The editor will never attempt
to backspace around the left edge, nor will it attempt to go up locally off the top.
The editor assumes that feeding off the bottom of the screen will cause the screen to
scroll up, and the am capability tells whether the cursor sticks at the right edge of
the screen. If the terminal has switch-selectable automatic margins, the termeap
file usually assumes that this is on, that is, am.
These capabilities suffice to describe hard-copy and "glass-tty" terminals. Thus, the
model 33 teletype is described as:
t3 I 33 I tty33: co#72: os

The Lear Siegler ADM-3 is described as:
cl I adm31311si adm3:am:bs:cl=AZ:li#24:co#80

Cursor Addressing
Cursor addressing in the terminal is described by a em string capability, with
printf(3s) types of escapes such as %x in it. These substitute to encodings of the
current line or column position, while other characters are passed through unchanged.
If the em string is thought of as being a function, its arguments are the line and then
the column to which motion is desired, and the % encodings have the following
meanings:
As in printj, 0 origin
Like %2d
Like %3d
Like %c
%.
%+x Adds x to value, then %.
%>xy If value> x adds y, no output.
%r
Reverses order of line and column, no output
%i
Increments line/column (for 1 origin)
%% Gives a single %
Exclusive or row and column with 0140 (DM2500)
%n
%B
BCD (16*(x/l0)) + (x%10), no output.
%D
Reverse coding (x-2*(x%16)), no output. (Delta Data).
%d
%2
%3

Consider the HP2645, which, to get to row 3 and column 12, needs to be sent
\E&aI2c03Y padded for 6 millisecond~. Note that the order of the rows and columns
is inverted here, and that the row and column are printed as 2 digits. Thus, its em
capability is "cm=6\E&%r%2c%2Y". The Microterm 2ACT-IV needs the current
row and column sent preceded by a AT, with the row and coluIlm simply encoded in
binary, "cm=AT%. %.". Terminals that use "%." need to be able to backspace the
cursor (bs or be), and to move the cursor up one line on the screen (up introduced
in the following section). This is necessary because it is not always safe to transmit
\ t, \n AD, and \r, as the system may change or discard them.
A final example is the LSI ADM-3a, which uses row and column offset by a blank
character; thus "cm=\E=%+ %+ ".

5-186 File Formats

termcap(5)
Cursor Motions
If the terminal can move the cursor one position to the right, leaving the character at
the current position unchanged, this sequence should be given as nd (non-destructive
space). If it can move the cursor up a line on the screen in the same column, this
should be given as up. If the terminal has no cursor addressing capability, but can
home the cursor (to very upper left corner of screen), this can be given as hOe
Similarly a fast way of getting to the lower left hand corner can be given as 11.
This may involve going up with up from the home position, but the editor will
never do this itself, unless 11 does, because it makes no assumption about the effect
of moving up from the home position.

Area Clears
If the terminal can clear from the current position to the end of the line, leaving the
cursor where it is, this should be given as ceo If the terminal can clear from the
current position to. the end of the display, this should be given as cd. The editor
only uses cd from the first column of a line.

InsertlDelete Line
If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line where the cursor is, this
should be given as a1; this is done only from the first position of a line. The cursor
must then appear on the newly blank line; If the terminal can delete the line which
the cursor is on, this should be given as dl. This is done only from the first
position on the line to be deleted. If the terminal can scroll the screen backwards,
this can be given as sb, but just a1 suffices. If the terminal can retain display
memory above, the da capability should be given; if display memory can be
retained below, db should be given. These let the editor understand that deleting a
line on the screen may bring nonblank lines up from below or that scrolling back
with sb may bring down nonblank lines.

InsertlDelete Character
There are two. basic kinds of intelligent terminals with respect to the insert/delete
character that can be described using terrncap. The most common insert/delete
character operations affect only the characters on the current line and shift characters
off the end of the line rigidly. Other terminals, such as the Concept 100 and the
Perkin Elmer Owl, make· a distinction between typed and untyped blanks on the
screen, shifting upon an insert or delete only to an untyped blank on the screen which
is either eliminated, or expanded to 2 untyped blanks. You can find out which kind
of terminal you have by clearing the screen and typing text separated by cursor
motions. Type "abc def" using local cursor motions (not spaces) between the
"abc" and the "def". Then, position the cursor before the "abc" and pufthe
terminal in insert mode. If typing characters causes the rest of the line to shift rigidly
and characters to fall off the end, your terminal does not distinguish between blanks
and untyped positions. If the "abc" shifts over to the "def" and then moves with it
around the end of the current line and onto the next line as you insert, you have the
second type of terminal, and should give the capability in, which stands for "insert
null". If your terminal does something different and unusual, you may have to
modify the editor to get it to use the insert mode your terminal defines. Virtually all
terminals that have an insert mode fall into one of these two classes.
The editor can handle both terminals that have an insert mode and terminals that send
a simple sequence to open a blank position on the current line. Give as irn the
sequence to get into insert mode, or give it an empty value if your terminal uses a

File Formats 5-187

termcap(5)
sequence to insert a blank position. Give as ei the sequence to leave insert mode
(give this with an empty value also, if you gave im so). Give as ie any sequence
needed to be sent just before sending the character to be inserted. Most terminals
with a true insert mode will not give ie. Terminals that send a sequence to open a
screen position should give it here. (Insert mode is preferable to the sequence to
open a position on the screen, if your terminal has both.) If post insert padding is
needed, give this as a number of milliseconds in ip (a string option). Any other
sequence that may need to be sent after an insert of a single character can also be
given in ip.
It is occasionally necessary to move around while in insert mode to delete characters
on the same line (for example, if there is a tab after the insertion position). If your
terminal allows motion while in insert mode, you can give the capability mi to
speed up inserting in this case. Omitting mi affects only speed. Some terminals
(notably Datamedia's) must not have mi because of the way their insert mode
works.

Finally, you can specify delete mode by giving dm and ed to enter and exit delete
mode, and de to delete a single character while in delete mode.
Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells
If your terminal has sequences to enter and exit standout mode, these can be given as
so and se, respectively. If there are several kinds of standout mode, such as
inverse video, blinking, or underlining. Half-bright is not usually an acceptable
"standout" mode, unless the terminal is in inverse video mode constantly. The
preferred mode is inverse video by itself. If the code to change into or out of
standout mode leaves 1 or even 2 blank spaces on the screen, as the TVI 912 and
Teleray 1061 do, ug should be given to tell how many spaces are left.
Codes to begin underlining and end underlining can be given as us and ue,
respectively. If the terminal has a code to underline the current character and move
the cursor one space to the right, such as the Microterm Mime, this can be given as
ue. (If the underline code does not move the cursor to the right, give the code
followed by a nondestructive space.)
Many terminals, such as the HP 2621, automatically leave standout mode when they
move to a new line or the cursor is addressed. Programs using standout mode should
exit standout mode before moving the cursor or sending a newline.
If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indicate an error quietly (a bell
replacement), this can be given as vb; it must not move the cursor. If the terminal
should be placed in a different mode during open and visual modes of ex, this can be
given as vs and ve, sent at the start and end of these modes respectively. These
can be used to change, for example, from an underline to a block cursor and back.
If the terminal needs to be in a special mode when running a program that addresses
the cursor, the codes to entyr and exit this mode can be given as ti and teo This
arises, for example, from terminals like the Concept with more than one page of
memory. If the terminal has only memory-relative cursor addressing and not screenrelative cursor addressing, a one-screen sized window must be fixed into the terminal
for cursor addressing to work properly.
If your terminal correctly generates underlined characters, with no special codes
needed, even though it does not overstrike, you should give the capability ul. If
overstrikes are erasable with a blank, this should be indicated by giving eo.

5-188 File Formats

termcap(5)
Keypad
If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes when the keys are pressed, this
information can be given. Note that it is not possible to handle terminals where the
keypad only works in local (this applies, for example, to the un shifted HP 2621
keys). If the keypad can be set to transmit or not transmit, give these codes as ks
and ke. Otherwise, the keypad is assumed to always transmit. The codes sent by
the left arrow, right arrow, up arrow, down arrow, and home keys can be given as
kl, kr, ku, kd, and kh, respectively. If there are function keys such as fO, fI, ... ,
f9, the codes they send can be given as kO, kl, ... , k9. If these keys have labels
other than the default fO through f9, the labels can be given as 10, 11, ... , 19. If
there are other keys that transmit the same code as the terminal expects for the
corresponding function, such as clear screen, the termcapP 2-letter codes can be
given in the ko capability, for example, ":ko=cl,ll,sf,sb:", which says that the
terminal has clear, home down, scroll down, and scroll up keys that transmit the
same thing as the cl, 11, sf, and sb entries.

The rna entry is also used to indicate arrow keys on terminals that have singlecharacter arrow keys. It is obsolete, but still in use in Version 2 of vi, which must
be run on some minicomputers due to memory limitations. This field is redundant
with kl, kr, ku, kd, and kh. It consists of groups of 2 characters. In each
group, the first character is what an arrow key sends; the second character is the
corresponding vi command. These commands are h for kl, j for kd, k for ku, 1
for kr, and H for kh. For example, the Microterm Mime would be
"ma="Kj"Zk"XI:" indicating arrow keys left ("H), down ("K), up ("Z), and right
("X). (There is no home key on the Mime.)

Miscellaneous
If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad, this can be given
as pc.
If tabs on the terminal require padding, or if the terminal uses a character other than
A I to tab, this can be given as tao

Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow tildes (,..,) to be printed, should indicate h z.
Datamedia terminals, which echo carriage-return linefeed for a carriage return and
then ignore a following linefeed, should indicate nco Early Concept terminals,
which ignore a linefeed immediately after an am wrap, should indicate xn. If an
erase-eol is required to get rid of standout (instead of merely writing on top of it),
xs should be given. Teleray terminals, where tabs tum all characters moved over to
blanks, should indicate xt. Other specific terminal problems may be corrected by
adding more capabilities of the form xx.
Other capabilities include is, an initialization string for the terminal, and if, the
name of a file containing long initialization strings. These strings are expected to
properly clear and then set the tabs on the terminal, if the terminal has settable tabs.
If both are given, isis printed before if. This is useful where if is
/usr / lib/tabset/ std but is clears the tabs first.

Similar Terminals
If there are two very similar terminals, one can be defined as being just like the other
with certain exceptions. The string capability tc can be given with the name of the
similar terminal. This capability must be last and the combined length of the two
entries must not exceed 1024. Since termlib routines search the entry from.Ieft to
right, and since the tc capability is replaced by the corresponding entry, the
File Formats 5-189

termcap(5)
capabilities given at the left override the ones in the similar terminal. A capability
can be canceled with xx@, where xx is the capability. For example, the following
entry defines a 2621nl that does not have the ks or ke capabilities, and hence does
not turn on the function key labels when in visual mode:
hn I 2621nl:ks@:ke@:tc=2621:

This is useful for different modes for a terminal or for different user preferences.

Restrictions
The ex command allows only 256 characters for string capabilities, and the routines
in terrncap(3x) do not check for overflow of this buffer. The total length of a
single entry (excluding only escaped newlines) cannot exceed 1024.
The rna, vs, and ve entries are specific to the vi program.

Files
/etc/termcap

File containing terminal descriptions

See Also
ex(1), more(l), tset(1), ul(1), vi(1), curses(3x), termcap(3x)

5-190 File Formats

terminfo (5)
Name
terminfo - terminal capability database

Syntax
lusrllib/terminfo/*1*

Descri ption
The terminfo database describes terminals by giving a set of capabilities which
the terminals have, and by describing how the operations are performed by the
terminals. Padding requirements and initialization sequences are included in
terminfo.
Entries in terminfo consist of a number of fields separated by commas (,). White
space after each comma (,) is ignored. The first entry for each terminal provides the
known name of the terminal, separated by vertical bars (I). The first name given is
the most common abbreviation for the terminal; the last name given should be a long
name fully identifying the terminal. All others are understood as synonyms for the
terminal name. All names, with the exception of the last, should be in lowercase and
cannot contain blanks; the last name can contain uppercase characters and blanks for
readability.
Terminal names, except for the last, should be chosen using the following
conventions:
•

The piece of hardware that makes up the terminal should have a root name
chosen. For example, hp2621.

•

The root name cannot contain hyphens, but synonyms can be used that do not
conflict with other names.

•

Modes that the hardware can be in, or user preferences, should be indicated by
appending a hyphen and an indicator of the mode. For example, a VT100 in
132 column mode would be vt100-w.

•

The following suffixes should be used where possible:

Suffix

Meaning

Example

-w
-am
-nam

Wide mode (more than 80 columns)
With auto. margins (usually default)
Without automatic margins
Number of lines on the screen
No arrow keys (leave them in local)
Number of pages of memory
Reverse video

vt100-w
vt100-am
vt100-nam
aaa-60
cl00-na
cl00-4p
cl00-rv

-n

-na
-np

-rv

The following headers are used in the capabilities table:

Variable booleans

Variable is the name by which the programmer (at the terminfo
level) accesses the capability.

Capname

Short name used in the text of the database, and is used by a
person updating the database.

I.code

Two-letter internal code used in the compiled database, which
always corresponds to the old termcap capability name.

File Formats 5-191

terminfo (5)
Capability names have no hard length limit, but an informal limit of 5 characters has
been adopted to keep them short and to allow the tabs in the source file caps to line
up nicely. Whenever possible, names are chosen to be the same as, or similar to, the
ANSI X3.64-1979 standard. Semantics are also intended to match those of the
specification. They are as follows:
(P)

Indicates that padding may be specified.

(G)

Indicates that the string is passed through tparm with parms as given (#i).

(*)

Indicates that padding may be based on the number of lines affected
'
h .th parameter.
I nd lcates
tel

(#)
i

Capname

I.
Code

auto_lefcmargin,

auto_righcmargin,
ceol_standout~litch,

am
xsb
xhp

am
xb
xs

eaCnew line~litch,

xenl

erase_overstrike,

generic_type,

hard_copy,
has_meta_key,

Ian

has_status_line,
insercnulCglitch,
memory_above,

hs
in
da

memory_below,

move_insert_mode,
move_standoucmode,
over_strike,
status_line_esc_ok,

mir
msgr
os
eslok

mi
ms
os
es

teleray~litch,

tilde~litch,

hz
ul
xon

hz
ul
xo

cub 1 wraps from column 0 to last
column
Terminal has automatic margins
Beehive (f1=escape, f2=ctrl C)
Standout not erased by overwriting (hp)
Newline ignored after 80 cols
(Concept)
Can erase overstrikes with a
blank.
Generic line type (for ex., dialup,
switch).
Hardcopy terminal
Has a meta key (shift, sets
parity bit)
Has extra status line
Insert mode distinguishes nulls
Display may be retained above the
screen
Display may be retained below the
screen
Safe to move while in insert mode
Safe to move in standout modes
Terminal overstrikes
Escape can be used on the status
line
Tabs ruin, magic so char (Teleray
1061)
Hazeltine; can not print tildes (-)s
underline character overstrikes
Terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking

cols
it
lines
1m

co
it
li
1m

Number of columns in a line
Tabs initially every # spaces
Number of lines on screen or page
Lines of memory if > lines. 0

Variable
Booleans

beehive~litch,

transparenCunderline,
xon_xoff,

Description

Numbers:
columns,
inictabs,
lines,
lines_of_memory,

5-192 File Formats

terminfo(5)
magic_cookie~litch,

xmc

paddin~baud_rate,

virtuaCterminal,

width_status_line,

wsl

back_tab,
bell,
carriage_return,
change_scroICregion,

cbt
bel
cr
csr

bt
bl
cr
cs

clear_alI_tabs,
clear_screen,
elr_eol,
clr_eos,
column_address,
command_character,

tbc
clear
el
ed
hpa
cmdch

ct
el
ce
cd
ch
CC

cursor_address,

cup

cursor_down,
cursor_home,
cursor_invisible,
cursor_left,
cursor_mem_address,
cursor_normal,

cudl
home
civis
cubl
mrcup
cnorm

do
ho
vi
Ie
CM
ve

cursor_right,

cufl

cursor_to_11,
cursor_up,
cursor_visible,
delete_character,
delete_line,

down_half_line,

11
cuul
cvvis
dchl
dll
dsl
hd

enter_alccharseCmode,
enter_blink_mode,
enter_bold_mode,
enter_ca_mode,

smacs
blink
bold
smcup

as
mb
md
ti

enter_delete_mode,
enter_dim_mode,
enter_insert_mode,
enter_protected_mode,
enter_reverse_mode,
enter_secure_mode,

smdc
dim
smir
prot
rev
invis

dm
mh
im
mp
mr
mk

means varies
Number of blank chars left by
smso or rmso
Lowest baud where cr/nl padding
is needed
Virtual terminal number (UNIX
system)
Number of columns in status line

Strings:

dis~status_line,

up
vs
dc
dl
ds
hd

Back tab (P)
Audible signal (bell) (P)
Carriage return (P*)
Change to lines #1 through #2
(vt100) (PG)
Clear all tab stops (P)
Clear screen and home cursor (P*)
Clear to end of line (P)
Clear to end of display (P*)
Set cursor column (PG)
Term. settable cmd char in
prototype
Screen reI. cursor motion row #1
col #2 (rG)
Down one line
Home cursor (if no cup)
Make cursor invisible
Move cursor left one space
Memory relative cursor addressing
Make cursor appear normal
(undo vs/vi)
Nondestructive space (cursor
right)
Last line, first column (if no cup)
Upline (cursor up)
Make cursor very visible
Delete character (P*)
Delete line (P*)
Disable status line
Half-line down (forward 1/2
linefeed)
Start alternate character set (P)
Turn op blinking
Turn on bold (extra bright) mode
String to begin programs that use
cup
Delete mode (enter)
Turn on half-bright mode
Insert mode (enter);
Turn on protected mode
Turn on reverse video mode
Turn on blank mode (chars
invisible)
File Formats 5-193

terminfo (5)
enter_standouCmode,
enter_underline_mode,
erase_chars
exicaiccharsecmode,
exicattribute_mode,
exicca_mode,
exiCdelete_mode,
exicinsert_mode,
exiCstandouCmode,
exicunderline_mode,
flash_screen,

smso
smul
ech
rmacs
sgrO
rmcup
rmdc
rmir
rmso
rmul
flash

so
us
ec
ae
me
te
ed
ei
se
ue
vb

form_feed,
from_status_line,
iniClstring,
inic2string,
inic3string,
inicfile,
insert_character,
insert_line,
insert_padding,

ff
fsl
isl
is2
is3
if
ichl
ill
ip

ff
fs
il
i2
i3
if
ic
al
ip

key_backspace,
key_catab,
key_clear,
key_ctab,
key_dc,
key_dl,
key_down,
key_eic,
key_eol,
key_eos,

kbs
ktbc
kclr
kctab
kdchl
kdll
kcudl
krmir
kel
ked

kb
ka
kC
kt
kD
kL
kd

key_fO,
key_fl,
key_flO,
key_f2,
key_f3,
key_f4,
key_fS,
key_f6,
key_f7,
key_f8,
key_f9,
key_home,
key_ic,
key_ii,
key_left,
key_ll,
key_npage,
key_ppage,

kfO
kfl
kflO
kf2
kf3
kf4
kfS
kf6
kf7
kf8
kf9
khome
kichl
kill
kcubl
kIl
knp
kpp

5-194 File Formats

kM
kE
kS
kO
kl
ka
k2
k3
k4
kS
k6
k7
k8
k9
kh
kI
kA
kI

kH
kN
kP

Begin stand out mode
Start underscore mode
Erase #1 characters (PO)
End alternate character set (P)
Turn off all attributes
String to end programs that use cup
End delete mode
End insert mode
End stand out mode
End underscore mode
Visible bell (may not move
cursor)
Hardcopy terminal page eject (P*)
Return from status line
Terminal initialization string
Terminal initialization string
Terminal initialization string
Name of file containing is
Insert character (P)
Add new blank line (P*)
Insert pad after character
inserted (p*)
Sent by backspace key
Sent by clear-all-tabs key
Sent by clear screen or erase key
Sent by clear-tab key
Sent by delete character key
Sent by delete line key
Sent by terminal down arrow key
Sent by rmir or smir in insert mode
Sent by clear-to-end-of-line key
Sent by clear-to-end-of-screen
key
Sent by function key fO
Sent by function key fl
Sent by function key fl 0
Sent by function key f2
Sent by function key f3
Sent by function key f4
Sent by function key fS
Sent by function key f6
Sent by function key f7
Sent by function key f8
Sent by function key f9
Sent by home key
Sent by ins char/enter ins mode key
Sent by insert line
Sent by terminal left arrow key
Sent by home-down key
Sent by next-page key
Sent by previous-page key

term info (5)
kr
kF
kR
kT
ku
ke
ks

key_right,
key_sf,
key_sr,
key_stab,
key_up,
keypad_local,
keypad_xmit,

kcufl
kind

lab_£O,
lab_fl,
lab_flO,

1£0
Ifl
IflO

10
11

lab_f2,
lab_f3,
lab_f4,
lab_f5,
lab_f6,
lab_f7,
lab_f8,
lab_f9,
meta_on,
meta_off,
newline,

1f2
If3
If4
If5
If6
If7
If8
If9
smm
rmm
nel

12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
mm
mo
nw

pad_char,
parm_dch,
parm_delete_line,
parm_down_cursor,
parm_ich,
parm_index,
parm_insert_line,
parm_lefccursor,
parm_righccursor,
parm_rindex,
parm_up_cursor,
pkey_key,
pkey_local,

pad
dch
dl
cud
ich
indn

cub
cuf
rin
cuu
pfkey
pftoc

DC
DL
DO
IC
SF
AL
LE
RI
SR
UP
pk
pI

pkey_xmit,
princscreen,
prtr_off,
prtr_on,
repeacchar,
resecl string,

pfx
mcO
mc4
mc5
rep
rsl

px
ps
pf
po
rp
rl

reseC2string,

rs2

resec3string,

rs3

resecfile,

restore_cursor,

kri
khts
kcuul
rmkx
smkx

Sent by terminal right arrow key
Sent by scroll-forward/down key
Sent by scroll-backward/up key
Sent by set-tab key
Sent by terminal up arrow key
Out of "keypad transmit" mode
Put terminal in "keypad transmit"
mode
Labels on function key £0 if not £0
Labels on function key fl if not fl
Labels on function key fl 0 if not
flO
Labels on function key f2 if not f2
Labels on function key f3 if not f3
Labels on function key f4 if not f4
Labels on function key f5 if not f5
Labels on function key f6 if not f6
Labels on function key f7 if not f7
Labels on function key f8 if not f8
Labels on function key f9 if not f9
Tum on "meta mode" (8th bit)
Tum off "meta mode"
Newline (behaves like cr followed
by If)
Pad character (rather than nUll)
Delete #1 chars (PO*)
Delete #1 lines (PO*)
Move cursor down #1 lines (PG*)
Insert #1 blank chars (PG*)
Scroll forward #1 lines (PG)
Add #1 new blank lines (PG*)
Move cursor left #1 spaces (PG)
Move cursor right #1 spaces (PO*)
Scroll backward #1 lines (PO)
Move cursor up #1 lines (PG*)
Prog funct key #1 to type string #2
Prog funct key #1 to execute string
#2
Prog funct key #1 to xmit string #2
Print contents of the screen
Turn off the printer
Turn on the printer
Repeat char #1 #2 times. (PG*)
Reset terminal completely to sane
modes.
Reset terminal completely to sane
modes.
Reset terminal completely to sane
modes.
Name of file containing reset
string
Restore cursor to position of

File Formats 5-195

terminfo(5)
row_address,

vpa

save_cursor,
scroll_forward,
scroll_reverse,
seCattributes,
seCtab,

sc
ind
ri
sgr
hts

sc
sf
sr
sa
st

seCwindow,

wind

tab,

to_status_line,
underline_char,

tsl
uc

ts
uc

up_half_line,
iniCprog,
key_aI,
key_a3,
key_b2,
key_c1,
key_c3,
prtr_non,

hu
iprog
ka1
ka3
kb2
kc1
kc3
mc5p

hu
iP
K1
K3
K2
K4
K5
pO

last sc
Vertical position absolute
(set row) (PO)
Save cursor position (P)
Scroll text up (P)
Scroll text down (P)
Define the video attributes (P09)
Set a tab in all rows, current
column
Current window is lines #1-#2
cols #3-#4
Tab to next 8 space hardware tab
stop
00 to status line, column #1
Underscore one char and move past
it
Half-line up (reverse 1/2 linefeed)
Path name of program for init
Upper left of keypad
Upper right of keypad
Center of keypad
Lower left of keypad
Lower right of keypad
Turn on the printer for # 1 bytes

Sample Entry
The following entry, which describes the Concept-IOO, is one of the more complex
entries in the t e rmi n f 0:
concept100 I clOO I concept I c104 I c100-4p I concept 100,
am, bel=~G, blank=\EH, blink=\EC, clear=~L$<2*>, cnorm=\Ew,
cols#SO, cr=~M$<9>, cub1=~H, cud1=~J, cuf1=\E=,
cup=\Ea%p1%' '%+%c%p2%' '%+%c,
cuu1=\E;, cvvis=\EW, db, dch1=\E~A$<16*>, dim=\EE, dl1=\E~B$<3*>,
ed=\E~C$<16*>, el=\E~U$<16>, eo, flash=\Ek$<20>\EK, ht=\t$<S>,
il1=\E~R$<3*>, in, ind=~J,
.ind=~J$<9>, ip=$<16*>,
is2=\EU\Ef\E7\ES\ES\El\ENH\EK\E\200\Eo&\200\Eo\47\E,
kcubl=\E>, kcud1=\E<, kcuf1=\E=, kcuu1=\E;,
kfl=\ES, kf2=\E6, kf3=\E7, khome=\E?,
lines#24, mir, pb#9600, prot=\EI, rep=\Er%p1%c%p2%' '%+%c$<.2*>,
rev=\ED, rmcup=\Ev
$<6>\Ep\r\n, rmir=\E\200, rmkx=\Ex,
rmso=\Ed\Ee, rmul=\Eg, rmul=\Eg, sgrO=\EN\200,
smcup=\EU\Ev Sp\Ep\r, smir=\E~P, smkx=\EX, smso=\EE\ED,
kbs=~h,

smul=\EG,: tabs, ul, vt#S, xenl,

Entries can continue onto multiple lines by placing white space at the beginning of
each line, with the exception of the first line. Comments can be included, as long as
the comment is preceded by a number sign (#). The following list describes terminal
capabilities in more detail.
Types of Capabilities
Boolean capabilities

5-196 File Formats

Indicate that the terminal has some particular feature. For
example, the Concept-IOO has automatic margins (an
automatic return and linefeed when the end-of-line is
reached). This is described in the Boolean capabilities
column as an am.

terminfo (5)
Numeric capabilities

Provide the size of the tenninal or the size of particular
delays. Numeric capabilities are followed by a number
sign (#) and then the value. Hence, the cols, which
indicates the number of column the tenninal has, provides
the value 80 for the Concept.

String capabilities

Provide a sequence that can be used to perfonn particular
tenninal operations. Hence, string-valued capabilities
such as el (clear to the end-of-line sequence are described
the 2-character code (an equal sign (=) and then a string
ending at the next comma (,). A delay in milliseconds can
appear anywhere in such a capability, enclosed in $< .. >
brackets, and padding characters are supplied by t pu t s
to provide this delay.
A delay can be either a number, such as 20, or a number
followed by an asterisk (*), such as 3*. The asterisk (*)
indicates that the padding required is proportional to the
number of lines affected by the operation, and the amount
given is the per-affected-unit padding required. (In the
case of the insert character, the factor is still the number
of lines affected. This is always one, unless the tenninal
has xenl and the software uses it.) When an asterisk (*) is
specified, it is sometimes useful to give a delay of the
fonn 3.5, which indicates a delay per unit to tenths of
milliseconds. (Only one decimal place is allowed.)

Escape sequences are provided in the string-valued capabilities for easy encoding of
characters there. Both \E and \e map to an ESCAPE character, AX maps to a control-x
for any appropriate x, and the sequences \n \I \r \t \b \f \s give a newline, linefeed,
return, tab, backspace, formfeed, and space. Other escapes include \/\ for /\, \\ for \ \
for comma, \: for :, and \0 for null. (\0 will produce \200, which does not tenninate a
string but behaves as a null character on most tenninals.) Finally, characters may be
given as three octal digits after a \.
Sometimes individual capabilities must be commented out. To do this, put a period
before the capability name. For example, see the second ind in the previous Sample
Entry.
Preparing Descriptions
This section describes how to prepare a description of a tenninal. The most effective
way to prepare a tenninal description is by imitating the description of a similar
tenninal in terrninfo and to build up a description gradually, using partial
descriptions with v i to ensure that they are correct. A very unusual tenninal or
errors in vi may expose deficiencies in the ability of the terrninfo file to describe
it.
To test a new tenninal description, set the environment variable TERMINFO to a
pathname of a directory containing the compiled description you are working on.
The programs can search this directory rather than search lusrlliblterminfo. To get
the padding for insert line right (if the tenninal manufacturer did not document it),
edit /etc/passwd at 9600 baud, delete 16 or so lines from the middle of the screen,
then type the character u several times quickly. If the tenninal behaves erratically,
more padding is usually needed. A similar test can be used for the insert character.

File Formats 5-197

terminfo(5)
Basic Capabilities
The number of columns on.each line for the terminal is specified by the cols numeric
capability. If the terminal is a CRT, then the number of lines on the screen is given
by the lines capability. If the terminal wraps around to the beginning of the next line
when it reaches the right margin, then it should have the am capability. If the
terminal can clear its screen, leaving the cursor in the home position, then this is
given by the clear string capability. If the terminal overstrikes (rather than clearing a
position when.a character is struck over), then it should have the os capability. If the
terminal is a printing terminal, with no soft copy unit, give it both hc and os. (os
applies to storage scope terminals, such as TEKTRONIX 4010 series, as well as hard
copy and APL terminals.) If there is a code to move the cursor to the left edge of the
current row, give this as cr. (Normally this will be carriage return, control M.) If
there is a code to produce an audible signal (bell, beep, etc), give this as bel.
If there is a code to move the cursor one position to the left (such as backspace) that
capability should be given as cubl. Similarly, codes to move to the right, up, and
down should be given as cun, cuul, and cudl. These local cursor motions· should
not alter the text they pass over; for example, you would not normally use 'cun= '
because the space would erase the character moved over.
NOTE

The local cursor motions encoded in t e rmi n f 0 are undefined at the left
and top edges of a CRT terminal. Programs should never attempt to
backspace around the left edge, unless bw is given, and never attempt to
go up locally off the top. In order to scroll text up, a program will go to
the bottom left comer of the screen and send the ind (index) string.
To scroll text down, a program goes to the top left comer of the screen and sends the
ri (reverse index) string. The strings ind and ri are undefined when not on their
respective comers of the screen.
Parameterized versions of the scrolling sequences are indn and rin, which have the
same semantics as ind and ri, except that they take one parameter and scroll that
many lines. They are also undefined, except at the appropriate edge of the screen.
The am capability tells whether the cursor sticks at the right edge of the screen when
text is output, but this does not necessarily apply to a cun from the last column.
The only local motion that is defined from the left edge is if bw is given, then a cub I
from the left edge will move to the right edge of the previous row. If bw is not
given, the effect is undefined. This is useful for drawing a box around the edge of
the screen, for example. If the terminal has switch-selectable automatic margins, the
terminfo file usually assumes that this is on; that is, am. If the terminal has a
command which moves to the first column of the next line, that command can be
given as nel (newline). It does not matter if the command clears the remainder of the
current line, so, if the terminal has no cr and If, it may still be possible to craft a
working nel out of one or both of them.
These capabilities suffice to describe hardcopy and glass-tty terminals. Thus, the
Model 33 Teletype is described as:
33 I tty33 I tty I model 33 teletype,
bel=AG, eols#72, er=AM, eudl=AJ, he, ind=AJ, os,

The Lear Siegler ADM-3 is described as:
adrn3 I 3 Ilsi adrn3,

5-198 File Formats

terminfo (5)
am, bel=AG~ clear=AZ, cols.80, cr=AM, cubl=AH, cudl=AJ,
ind=AJ, lines.24,

Parameterized Strings
Cursor addressing and other strings requiring parameters in the terminal are described
by a parameterized string capability, with printf(3s), such as escapes like %x.
For example, to address the cursor, the cup capability is given, using two parameters:
the row and column to address to. (Rows and columns are numbered from zero and
refer to the physical screen visible to the user, not to any unseen memory.) If the
terminal has memory-relative cursor addressing, that can be inaicatea by mrcup.
The parameter mechanism uses a stack and special % codes to manipulate it.
Typically a sequence pushes one of the parameters onto the stack and then prints it in
some format. Often, more complex operations are necessary.
The percent sign (%) encodings have the following meanings:
%%
%d
%2d
%3d
%02d
%03d
%c
%s
%p[1-9]
%P[a-z]
%g[a-z]
%'c'
%{nn}

outputs '%'
print popO as in printf
print popO like %2d
print popO like %3d
as in printf
print popO gives %c
print popO gives %s
push ith parm
set variable [a-z] to popO
get variable [a-z] and push it
char constant c
integer constant nn

%+ %- %* %/ %m
arithmetic (%m is mod): push(popO op popO)
%&%1 %A
bit operations: push(popO op popO)
logical operations: push(popO op popO)
%=%>%<
%!%....
unary operations push(op popO)
%i
add 1 to first two parms (for ANSI terminals)
%? expr %t thenpart %e elsepart %;
if-then-else, %e elsepart is optional.
else-if's are possible ala Algol 68:
%? c 1 %t bJ ~e c2 %t b2 %e .c3 %t b3 %e c4 %t b4 %e %;
c are conditIOns, b are bodIes.
i
i
Binary operations are in postfix form with the operands in the usual order. That is, to
get x-5, use %gx%{5}%-.
Consider the HP2645, which, to get to row 3 and column 12, needs to be sent
\E&a12c03Y padded for 6 milliseconds. Note that the order of the rows and columns
is inverted here, and that the row and column are printed as two digits. Thus, its cup
capability is cup=6\E&%p2%2dc%p1 %2dY.
The Microterm ACT-IV needs the current row and column sent preceded by a AT,
with the row and column simply encoded in binary, cup=AT%p1 %c%p2%c.
Terminals that use %c need to be able to backspace the cursor (cubl), and to move
File Formats 5-199

terminfo (5)
the cursor up one line on the screen (cuul). This is necessary because it is not
always safe to transmit \0 AD and \r, as the system may change or discard them.
(The library routines dealing with terminfo set tty modes so that tabs are never
expanded, so \t is safe to send. This turns out to be essential for the Ann Arbor
4080.)
,
A final example is the LSI ADM-3a, which uses row and column offset by a blank
character; thus cup=\E=%pl%' '%+%c%p2%' '%+%. After sending\E=, this pushes
the first parameter, pushes the ASCII value for a space (32), adds them (pushing the
sum on the stack in place of the two previous values), and outputs that value as a
character. Then, the same is done for the second parameter. More complex
arithmetic is possible using the stack.
If the terminal has row or column absolute cursor addressing, these can be given as
single parameter capabilities hpa (horizontal position absolute) and vpa (vertical
position absolute). Sometimes, these are shorter than the more general 2-parameter
sequence (as with the hp2645) and can be used in preference to cup. If there are
parameterized local motions (for example, move n spaces to the right), these can be
given as cud, cub, cuf, and cuu, with a single parameter indicating how many spaces
to move. These are primarily useful if the terminal does not have cup, such as the
TEKTRONIX 4025.

Cursor Motions
If the terminal has a fast way to home the cursor (to very upper left corner of screen),

then this can be given as home. Similarly, a fast way of getting to the lower left-hand
corner can be given as II. This may involve going up with cuul from the home
position, but a program should never do this itself (unless II does), because it can
make no assumption about the effect of moving up from the home position. Note
that the home position is the same as addressing to (0,0): the top left corner of the
screen, not memory. Thus, the \EH sequence on HP terminals cannot be used for

home.
Area Clears
If the terminal can clear from the current position to the end of the line, leaving the
cursor where it is, this should be given as el. If the terminal can clear from the
current position to the end of the display, this should be given as ed. Ed is only

defined from the first column of a line. Thus, it can be simulated by a request to
delete a large number of lines, if a true ed is not available.

Insert/delete line
If the terminal can open a new blank line before the line where the cursor is, this
should be given as ill; this is done only from the first position of a line. The cursor
must then appear on the newly blank line. If the terminal can delete the line that the

cursor is on, this should be given as dll; this is done only from the first position on
the line to be deleted. Versions of ill and dll that take a single parameter and insert
or delete that many lines can be given as iI and dl. If the terminal has a settable
scrolling region (like the VT100), the command to set this can be described with the
csr capability, which takes two parameters: the top and bottom lines of the scrolling
region. The cursor position is undefined after using this command. It is possible to
get the effect of insert or delete line using this command. The sc and rc (save and
restore cursor) commands are also useful. Inserting lines at the top or bottom of the
screen can also be done using ri or ind on many terminals without a true insert/delete
line, and this is often faster even on terminals with those features.

5-200 File Formats

terminfo (5)
If the terminal has the ability to define a window as part of memory, which all
commands affect, it should be given as the parameterized string wind. The four
parameters are the starting and ending lines in memory and the starting and ending
columns in memory, in that order.
If the terminal can retain display memory above, then the da capability should be
given; if display memory can be retained below, then db should be given. These
indicate that deleting a line or scrolling may bring nonblank lines up from below or
that scrolling back with ri may bring down nonblank lines.

Insert/Delete Character
There are two basic kinds of intelligent terminals with respect to insert/delete
character that can be described using terminfo. The most common insert/delete
character operations affect only the characters on the current line and shift characters
off the end of the line rigidly. Other terminals, such as the Concept-IOO and the
Perkin Elmer Owl, make a distinction between typed and untyped blanks on the
screen, shifting upon an insert or delete only to an untyped blank on the screen that is
either eliminated or expanded to two untyped blanks. You can determine the kin4 of
terminal you have by clearing the screen and typing text separated by cursor motions.
Type' 'abc def", using local cursor motions (not spaces) between the abc and the
def. Then, position the cursor before the abc and put the terminal in insert mode. If
typing characters causes the rest of the line to shift rigidly and characters fall off the
end, then your terminal does not distinguish between blanks and untyped positions.
If the abc shifts over to the def which then move together around the end of the
current line and onto the next as you insert, you have the second type of terminal.
You should give the capability in, which stands for "insert null". While these are
two logically separate attributes (one line, as opposed to multiline insert mode, and
special treatment of untyped spaces) every terminal's insert mode can be described
with the single attribute.
Terminfo can describe both terminals that have an insert mode and terminals that
send a simple sequence to open a blank position on the current line. Give as smir
the sequence to get into insert mode. Give as rmir the sequence to leave insert
mode. Then, give as ichl any sequence needed to be sent just before sending the
character to be inserted. Most terminals with a true insert mode will not give ichl;
terminals that send a sequence to open a screen position should give it here.
NOTE

If your terminal has both, insert mode is usually preferable to ichl. Do
not give both, unless the terminal actually requires both to be used in
combination.
If post insert padding is needed, give this as a number of milliseconds in ip (a string
option). Any other sequence that may need to be sent after an insert of a single
character may also be given in ip. If your terminal needs both to be placed into an
insert mode and a special code to precede each inserted character, both smir/rmir
and ichl can be given, and both will be used. The ich capability, with one
parameter, n, will repeat the effects of ichl n times.

It is occasionally necessary to move around while in insert mode to delete characters
on the same line (for example, if there is a tab after the insertion position). If your
terminal allows motion while in insert mode, you can give the capability mir to
speed up inserting. Omitting mir affects only speed. Some terminals (notably
Datamedia's) must not have mir because of the way their insert mode works.

File Formats 5-201

terminfo (5)
Finally, you can specify dehl to delete a single character, deh, with one parameter,
n, to delete n characters, and delete mode by giving smde and rmde to enter and
exit delete mode (any mode the terminal needs to be placed in for dehl to work).
A command to erase n characters (equivalent to outputting n blanks, without moving
the cursor) can be given as eeh with one parameter.
Highlighting, Underlining, and Visible Bells

If your terminal has one or more kinds of display attributes, these can be represented
in a number of different ways. You should choose one display form as standout
mode, representing a good, high contrast, easy to read, format for highlighting error
messages and other important information. If you have a choice, reverse video plus
half-bright is good, or reverse video alone. The sequences to enter and exit standout
mode are given as smso and rmso, respectively. If the code to change into or out of
standout mode leaves one or even two blank spaces on the screen, as the TVI 912
and Teleray 1061 do, then xme should be given to tell how many spaces are left.
Codes to begin underlining and end underlining can be given as smul and rmul,
respectively. If the terminal has a code to underline the current character and move
the cursor one space to the right, such as the Microterm Mime, this can be given as
ue.
Other capabilities to enter various highlighting modes include blink (blinking), bold
(bold or extra bright), dim (dim or half-bright), invis (blanking or invisible text),
prot (protected), rev (reverse video), sgrO (turn off all attribute modes), smaes (enter
alternate character set mode), and rmaes (exit alternate character set mode). Turning
on any of these modes singly mayor may not tum off other modes.

If there is a sequence to set arbitrary combinations of modes, this should be given as
sgr (set attributes), taking nine parameters. Each parameter is either 0 or 1, as the
corresponding attribute is on or off. The nine parameters are, in order: standout,
underline, reverse, blink, dim, bold, blank, protect, and alternate character set. Not
all modes need be supported by sgr, only those for which corresponding separate
attribute commands exist.
Terminals with the "magic cookie glitch" (xme) deposit special cookies when they
receive mode-setting sequences, which affect the display algorithm rather than having
extra bits for each character. Some terminals, such as the HP 2621, automatically
leave standout mode when they move to a new line or the cursor is addressed.
Programs using standout mode should exit standout mode before moving the cursor
or sending a newline, unless the msgr capability, asserting that it is safe to move in
standout mode, is present.
If the terminal has a way of flashing the screen to indicate an error quietly (a bell
replacement), this can be given as flash; however, it must not move the cursor.
If the cursor needs to be made more visible than normal when it is not on the bottom
line (to make, for example, a non-blinking underline into an easier to find block or
blinking underline), give this sequence as evvis. If you wish to make the cursor
completely invisible, give that as civis. The capability enorm should be given which
undoes the effects of both of these modes.
If the terminal needs to be in a special mode when running a program that uses these
capabilities, the codes to enter and exit this mode can be given as smeup and rmeup.
This arises, for example, from terminals like the Concept-IOO with more than one
page of memory. If the terminal has only memory-relative cursor addressing and not

5-202 File Formats

terminfo (5)
screen-relative cursor addressing, a one screen-sized window must be fixed into the
terminal for cursor addressing to work properly. This is also used for the
TEKTRONIX 4025, where smeup sets the command character to be the one used by
terminfo.
If your terminal correctly generates underlined characters (with no special codes
needed) even though it does not overstrike, you should give the capability ul. If
overstrikes are erasable with a blank, this should be indicated by giving eo.
Keypad
If the terminal has a keypad that transmits codes when the keys are pressed, give this
information. Note that it is not possible to handle terminals where the keypad only
works in local (this applies, for example, to the unshifted HP 2621 keys). If the
keypad can be set to transmit or not transmit, give these codes as smkx and rmkx.
Otherwise, the keypad is always assumed to transmit. The codes sent by the left
arrow, right arrow, up arrow, down arrow, and home keys can be given as keubl,
keufl, keuul, keudl, and khome, respectively. If there are function keys such as
fO, fl, ... flO, the codes they send can be given as kfO, kfl, .•• kflO. If these keys
have labels other than the default fO through flO, the labels can be given as lfO, Ifl,
••• lflO. The codes transmitted by certain other special keys can be given: kIl (home
down), kbs (backspace), ktbe (clear all tabs), ketab (clear the tab stop in this
column), kclr (clear screen or erase key), kdehl (delete character), kdIl (delete line),
krmir (exit insert mode), kel (clear to end of line), ked (clear to end of screen),
kiehl (insert character or enter insert mode), kill (insert line), knp (next page), kpp
(previous page), kind (scroll forward/down), kri (scroll backward/up), khts (set a tab
stop in this column). In addition, if the keypad has a 3 by 3 array of keys including
the four arrow keys, the other five keys can be given as kal, ka3, kb2, kel, and ke3.
These keys are useful when the effects of a 3 by 3 directional pad are needed.

Tabs and Initialization
If the terminal has hardware tabs, the command to advance to the next tab stop can
be given as ht (usually CTRL I). A backtab command which moves leftward to the
next tab stop can be given as ebt. By convention, if the teletype modes indicate that
tabs are being expanded by the computer rather than being sent to the terminal,
programs should not use ht or ebt, even if they are present, since the user may not
have the tab stops properly set. If the terminal has hardware tabs that are initially set
every n spaces when the terminal is powered up, the numeric parameter it is given,
showing the number of spaces the tabs are set to. This is normally used by the tset
command to determine whether to set the mode for hardware tab expansion and
whether to set the tab stops. If the terminal has tab stops that can be saved in
nonvolatile memory, the terminfo description can assume that they are properly set.

Other capabilities include isl, is2, and is3, initialization strings for the terminal,
iprog, the path name of a program to be run to initialize the terminal, and if, the
name of a file containing long initialization strings. These strings are expected to set
the terminal into modes consistent with the rest of the terminfo description. They are
normally sent to the terminal, by the tset program, each time the user logs in.
They will be printed in the following order: isl, is2, setting tabs using tbe and hts,
if, running the program iprog, and finally is3. Most initialization is done with is2.
Special terminal modes can be set up without duplicating strings by putting the
common sequences in is2 and special cases in isl and is3. A pair of sequences that
does a harder reset from a totally unknown state can be analogously given as rsl,
rs2, rf, and rs3, analogous to is2 and if. These strings are output by the reset

File Formats 5-203

terminfo(5)
program, which is used when the terminal gets into a wedged state. Commands are
normally placed in rs2 and rf only if they produce annoying effects on the screen and
are not necessary when logging in. For example, the command to set the vt1 00 into
80-column mode would normally be part of is2, but it causes an annoying movement
of the screen and is not normally needed because the terminal is usually already in
80-column mode.
If there are commands to set and clear tab stops, they can be given as tbc (clear all
tab stops) and hts (set a tab stop in the current column of every row). If a more
complex sequence is needed to set the tabs than can be described by this, the
sequence can be placed in is2 or if.

Delays
Certain capabilities control padding in the teletype driver. These are primarily
needed by hard copy terminals, and are used by the tset program to set teletype
modes appropriately. Delays embedded in the capabilities cr, ind, cubl, ff, and tab
cause the appropriate delay bits to be set in the teletype driver. If pb (padding baud
rate) is given, these values can be ignored at baud rates below the value of pb.
Miscellaneous
If the terminal requires other than a null (zero) character as a pad, this can be given
as pad. Only the first character of the pad string is used.
If the terminal has an extra status line that is not normally used by software, indicate
this fact. If the status line is viewed as an extra line below the bottom line, into
which one can cursor-address normally (such as the Heathkit h19's 25th line, or the
24th line of a vt100 which is set to a 23-line scrolling region), the capability hs
should be given. Special strings to go to the beginning of the status line and to
return from the status line can be given as tsl and fsl. The fsl string must leave the
cursor position in the same place it was before tsl. If necessary, the sc and rc strings
can be included in tsl and fsl to get this effect. The parameter tsl takes one
parameter, which is the column number of the status line the cursor is to be moved
to. If escape sequences and other special commands, such as tab, work while in the
status line, give the eslok flag. A string that turns off the status line, or otherwise
erases its contents, should be given as dsl. If the terminal has commands to save and
restore the position of the cursor, give them as sc and rc. The status line is normally
assumed to be the same width as the rest of the screen, for example, cols. If the
status line is a different width (possibly because the terminal does not allow an entire
line to be loaded), the width, in columns, can be indicated with the numeric
parameter, wsl.

If the terminal can move up or down half a line, you can indiCate this with hu (halfline up) and hd (half-line down). This is primarily useful for superscripts and
subscripts on hardcopy terminals. If a hardcopy terminal can eject to the next page
(form feed), give this as ff (usually CTRL L).
If there is a command to repeat a given character a given number of times (to save
time transmitting a large number of identical characters), you can indicate this with
the parameterized string rep. The first parameter is the character to be repeated and
the second is the number of times to repeat it. Thus, tparm(repeat_char, 'x', 10)
represents "xxxxxxxxxx".
If the terminal has a settable command character, such as the TEKTRONIX 4025, this
can be indicated with cmdch. Choose a prototype command character to use in all
capabilities. This character is given in the cmdch capability to identify it. The
5-204 File Formats

terminfo (5)
following convention is supported on some UNIX systems: the environment is to be
searched for a CC variable, and, if found, all occurrences of the prototype character
are replaced with the character in the environment variable.
Terminal descriptions that do not represent a specific kind of known terminal, such as
switch, dialup, patch, and network, should include the go (generic) capability, so
that programs can complain that they do not know how to talk to the terminal. This
capability does not apply to virtual terminal descriptions, for which the escape
sequences are known.
If the terminal uses xon/xoff handshaking for flow control, give xoo. Padding
information should still be included, so that routines can make better decisions about
costs, but actual pad characters are not transmitted.
If the terminal has a meta key that acts as a shift key, setting the eighth bit of any
character transmitted, this fact can be indicated with km. Otherwise, software
assumes that the eighth bit is panty and it is usually cleared. If strings exist to tum
this meta mode on and off, they can be given as smm and rmm.
If the terminal has more lines of memory than will fit on the screen at once, the
number of lines of memory can be indicated with 1m. A value of Im#O indicates that
the number of lines is not fixed, but that there is still more memory than fits on the
screen.
If the terminal is one of those supported by the UNIX virtual terminal protocol, the
terminal number can be given as vt.

Media copy strings that control an auxiliary printer connected to the terminal can be
given as meO: print the contents of the screen, me4: tum off the printer, and meS:
tum on the printer. When the printer is on, all text sent to the terminal is sent to the
printer. It is undefined whether the text is also displayed on the terminal screen when
the printer is on. A variation me5p takes one parameter, and leaves the prihter on for
as many characters as the value of the parameter. It then turns the printer off. The
parameter should not exceed 255. All text, including me4, is transparently passed to
the printer while an me5p is in effect.
Strings to program function keys can be given as pfkey, pfloe, and pfx. Each of
these strings takes two parameters: the function key number to program (from 0 to
10) and the string to program it with. Function key numbers out of this range may
program undefined keys in a terminal-dependent manner. The difference between the
capabilities is that pfkey causes pressing the given key to be the same as the user
typing the given string; pfloe causes the string to be executed by the terminal in
local; and pfx causes the string to be transmitted to the computer.

Restrictions
Hazeltine terminals, which do not allow tilde (,..,) characters to be displ~yed, should
indicate hz.
Terminals that ignore a linefeed immediately after an am wrap, such as the Concept100 and VT100, should indicate xenl.
If el is required to get rid of standout (instead of merely writing normal text on top of
it), xhp should be given.

Teleray terminals, where tabs tum all characters moved over to blanks, should
indicate xt (destructive tabs). This glitch is also taken to mean that it is not possible
to position the cursor on top of a "magic cookie", that to erase standout mode it is
instead necessary to use delete and insert line.
File Formats 5-205

terminfo (5)

The Beehive Superbee, which is unable to correctly transmit the escape or CTRL C
characters, has xsb, indicating that the f1 key is used for escape and f2 for CTRL C.
(Only certain Superbees have this problem, depending on the ROM.)
Other specific terminal problems can be corrected by adding more capabilities of the
form xx.
Similar Terminals
If there are two very 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 xx@ to the left of the
capability definition, where xx is the capability. For example, the following entry
2621-nl, smkx@, rmkx@, use=2621,

defines a 2621-nl that does not have the smkx or rmkx capabilities, and hence does
not tum on the function key labels when in visual mode. This is useful for different
modes for a terminal, or for different user preferences.

Files
/usr/lib/terminfo/?/*
Files containing terminal descriptions

See Also
tic(I), intro(3cur), printf(3s), term(7),

Guide to X/Open curses Screen-Handling

5-206 File Formats

trace (5)
Name
trace - system call tracer device

Description
The file / dev /trace is the system call trace device. It supports the following
system calls: open, close, read, ioctl, and select. The device supports
16 (configurable in sys/systrace.h as TR_USRS) simultaneous users. It uses an
8 192-byte buffer for trace records. The choice of which system calls to trace is done
with the ioctl system call. The select call is used for efficient reading of the
device. The select call uses an 8 192-byte buffer and returns when the buffer is
60% full. It is required that the user use a buffer the same size as the system buffer
size defined in sys / systrace. h as TR_BUFSIZE. All ioctl operations are
defined in the header file, sys/ systrace. h. The ioctl calls are:
ioctl

arg (pointer to)

IOTR_GETOFF
IOTR_GETON
IOTR_GETALL
IOTR_GETPIDS
IOTR_GETUIDS
IOTR_GETSYSC
IOTR_GETPGRP
IOTR_SETOFF
IOTR_SETON
IOTR_SETALL
IOTR_SETPIDS
IOTR_SETUIDS
IOTR_SETSYSC
IOTR_SETPGRP

int a
int a
int a
int a[10]
int arlO]
int arlO]
int arlO]
int a
int a
int a
int a[10]
int arlO]
int a[10]
int arlO]

Examples
A prototype example (with missing parts):
char cmd[BUFSIZ],buf[TR_BUFSIZ];
int pgrp[lO],i;
fd = open("/dev/trace",O);
/* open the device */
pgrp[O] = dofork(cmd);
/* fork the command to trace */
for (i=l;i<TR_PGRP;i++)
/* dofork sleeps 2 seconds while */
pgrp[i] = 0;
/* we set up to do the trace */
i = ioctl(fd,IOTR_SETPGRP,pgrp);/* set up for the trace */
/* select code goes here */
read(fd,buf,sizeof(buf»;

See Also
trace(1), close(2), ioctl(2), open(2), read(2), select(2)

File Formats 5-207

ttys (5)

Name
ttys - terminal initialization data

Description
The / etc / tty s file contains information used by various routines to initialize and
control the use of terminal special files. This file is created when the system is
installed and can be updated at any time.
Each terminal special file ( / dev / t t yxx ) has a line in the tty s file. Each 1ine
contains several fields. Fields are separated by tabs or spaces. A field with more
than one word should be enclosed in quotes. Blank lines and comments can appear
anywhere in the file. Comments begin with a number sign (#) and are terminated by
a newline character. Unspecified fields default to the empty string or zero, as
appropriate.
The format of each line is as follows:
name command type flag1 flag2 ...

where:

name

Is the name of the special file for the terminal in the / dev directory.
Some examples are:
console
ttydO
ttyd1

command

Is the command to be executed each time the terminal is initialized.
This can happen when the system is booted, or when the superuser
adds new terminals to the tty s file and initializes the new terminals.
The command is usually getty, which performs such tasks as
baud-rate recognition, reading the login name, and calling login. It
can be any command you wish, such as the startup command for a
window system terminal emulator or a command to maintain other
daemon processes.

type

Is the type of terminal normally connected to the terminal special
file. You can find the possible types by examining the
/ etc/termcap file on your system. The types available are given
as the third field in entries in that file. Some examples are:
vt100
vt200
dialup

flags

5-208 File Formats

Are the flags to be set in the ty_status or ty_window fields of
the structure returned by the getttyent(3) routine. If the line ends
in a comment, the comment is included in the ty comment field of
this structure.
-

ttys (5)
These fields are used by the init command that is executed when
tenninals are initialized.
The ty_status flags are:
on

Sets the TrY_ON bit in the getttyent
t y _ s tat u s field. This enables logins for this
tenninal.
The default if this flag is not set is that logins are
disabled for the tenninal.

off

Clears the TIY_ON bit in the getttyent
ty status field. This disables logins for this
tenninal.

secure

Sets the TrY_SECURE bit in the getttyent
t y s tat u s field. This allows the root user to log
in On this tenninal. (The on flag should also be
set.)
The default if this flag is not set is that the root user
cannot log in on this tenninal.

nomodem

Sets the TrY_LOCAL bit in the getttyent
t y s tat us field. The line ignores modem signals.
ThIs is the default if neither the modem nor
nomodem flag is set.

modem

Clears the TrY_LOCAL bit in the get t t yen t
t Y s tat u s field. The line recognizes modem
signals.
The default if this flag is not set is nomodem. That
is, the line does not recognize modem signals.

shared

Sets the TrY_SHARED bit in the getttyent
t y s tat u s field. The line can be used for both
incoming and outgoing connections.
The default if this flag is not set is that the line
cannot be used for incoming and outgoing
connections.

The ty _window flag is:

window="string" The quoted string is a window system process
that in i t maintains for the tenninalline.

Examples
The following example pennits the root user to log in on the console at 1200 baud:
console "jete/getty std.1200" vt100 on secure

This example allows dialup at 1200 baud without root login:
ttydO "jete/getty d1200" dialup on

These two examples allow login at 9600 baud with two different tenninal types:
hp2621-nl and vt100. In this example, the tenninals should be set up to operate in

File Formats 5-209

ttys (5)
7-bit mode, because the std.9600 gettytab entry is specified:
ttyOO "fete/getty std.9600" hp2621-nl on
tty01 "fete/getty std.9600" vt100 on

This example shows the same two terminals as the previous example operating·in full
8-bit mode. Note the use of a different gettytab entry:
ttyOO "fete/getty 8bit.9600" hp2621-nl on
tty01 "fete/getty 8bit.9600" vt100 on

These two examples show network pseudoterminals, which should not have get t y
enabled:
ttypO none network
ttyp1 none network off

This example shows a terminal emulator and window-system startup entry and should
be typed all on one line:
ttyvO "/usr/bin/xterm -L -r -i -fn 9x15 =80x24+0-0 unix:O"
xterm on secure window="/usr/bin/X 0 -0 #000000 -1 #FFFFFF"

This example shows an example of an entry for an Ita device:
tty01 "jete/getty 8bit.9600" vt100 on modem secure # LAT

Note
Any terminal configured to run getty in 8-bit mode should specify a gettytab
entry that declares 8-bit operation. The command field of the tty s entry is used to
specify the gettytab entry. If the terminal device is set up to operate in 8-bit mode
and the command field does not specify an 8-bit gettytab entry, output to the
terminal appears as multinational characters. These characters are the result of the
get t y program using the eighth bit of each character to represent parity attributes.
By using an 8-bit gettytab entry, the high order bit of each character is unaffected
by the getty program. The examples presented demonstrate the use of both 7- and
8-bit terminals.

Files
/etc/ttys

The full pathname for the file

See Also
10gin(1), getttyent(3), gettytab(5), getty(8), init(i)
Guide to System Environment Setup

5-210 File Formats

types (5)
Name
types - primitive system data types

Syntax
#include <sys/types.h>

Description
The data type s defined in the include file are used in UNIX system code. Some
data of these type s are accessible to user code:
#ifndef _TYPES_
#define _TYPES_
/* major part of a device */
#define major (x)
«int) ( «unsigned) (x) »8) &0377) )
/* minor part of a device */
#define minor (x)
«int) ( (x) &0377))
/* make a device number */
#define makedev (x, y)
«dev_t) « (x) «8)
typedef unsigned char
typedef unsigned short
typedef unsigned int
typedef unsigned long
typedef unsigned short
#ifdef mips
typedef struct
typedef struct
int
} label_t;
#endif
typedef struct
typedef long
typedef char *
typedef u_long
typedef long
typedef int
typedef int
typedef short
typedef int
typedef struct
#endif

u - char;
u - short;
u inti
u_long;
ushort;

I (y)))

/* sys I I I compat */

yhysadr { int r [1] ;
label t {
val[12];

} *physadr;

_quad { long val[2];
daddr_t;
caddr_t;
ino_ti
sWblk_t;
size_t;
time_ti
dev_t;
off_t;

}

quad;

fd_set { int fds_bits[l];

fd_set;

The form daddr_t is used for disk addresses except in an i-node on disk. For further
information, see f s(5). Times are encoded in seconds since 00:00:00 GMT, January
1, 1970. The major and minor parts of a device code specify kind and unit number
of a device and are installation-dependent. Offsets are measured in bytes from the
beginning of a file. The label_t variables are used to save the processor state while
another process is running.

File Formats 5-211

Rise

types (5)
See Also
dbx(1}, lseek(2}, time(3}, fs(5}

5-212 File Formats

tzfile(5)

Name
tzfile - time zone information

Syntax
#include <tzfile.h>

Description
The time zone information files used bytzset begin with bytes reserved for future
use, followed by three 4-byte values of type "long", written in a "standard" byte
order (the high-order byte of the value is written first). These values are, in order:

tzh_timecnt

The number of transition times for which data is stored in the file.

tzh_typecnt

The number of local time types for which data is stored in the file
(must not be zero).

tzh- charcnt
-

The number of characters of "time zone abbreviation strings"
stored in the file.
This header is followed by t z h _ time cn t 4-byte values of type
"long", sorted in ascending order. These values are written in
"standard" byte order. Each is used as a transition time (as
returned by time at which the rules for computing local time
change). Next come tzh_timecnt 1-byte values of type
"unsigned char" . Each one tells which of the different types of
local time types described in the file is associated with the sameindexed transition time. These values serve as indices into an
array of ttinfo structures that appears next in the file; these
structures are defined as follows:
struct ttinfo {
long
int
unsigned int

tt_gmtoff;
tt_isdst;
tt_abbrind;

};

Each structure is written as a 4-byte value for tt_gmtoff of type
"long", in a standard byte order, followed by a 1-byte value for
tt_isdst and a 1-byte value for tt_abbrind. In each
structure, tt_gmtoff gives the number of seconds to be added to
GMT, tt_isdst tells whether tm_isdst should be set by
localtime and tt_abbrind serves as an index into the array
of time zone abbreviation characters that follows the ttinfo
structure or structures in the file.
The local time call uses the first standard-time ttinfo structure in the file (or
simply the first ttinfo structure, in the absence of a standard-time structure) if
either tzh_timecnt is zero or the time argument is less than the first transition
time recorded in the file.

File Formats 5-213

tzfile(5)
See Also
ctime(3)

5-214 File Formats

ufs(5)

Name
ufs - ULTRIX local file system

Description
The ULTRIX file system is a local file system implemented under the Generic File
System Interface, GFSI, which is described in gfsi(5). UFS is a reorganization of
the file system that is always supplied with ULTRIX.
Aside from the difference in mounting and unmounting file systems, there are no
observable. differences in the ijle system compared to earlier releases. ULTRIX file
system disks are completely transportable between releases of ULTRIX.

See Also
getmnt(2), getdirentries(2), mount(2), fstab(5), nfs(5nfs), fsck(8), mount(8)

File Formats 5-215

USERFILE (5)
Name
USERFILE - defines uucp security

Syntax
lusr/Jib/uucplUSERFILE

Description
The uucp utility uses the USERFILE to establish what access a remote system can
have to the local system. An entry should exist for each system. If no entries exist
for a particular system, the default entries are used. The entries for particular systems
have the following format:

The name with which the remote system logs in.

node-name

The name of the remote node.

The execution level for the remote system. The remote system can
execute commands defined in the L. cmds(5) file that have an
execution level less than or equal to the number #.

path-name

The remote system can access anything at the local system with this
prefix.

Two entries must also be provided for systems not otherwise listed:
remote, X# path-name ...
local, X# path-name ...
These entries define the execution level and access pathnames for the local system
and ~ll remote systems not defined by specific entries.

Examples
remote, Xl /usr/spool/uucppublic
local, X9 /
max,systemY /usr/sources /usr/src/share
max,systemZ X3 /usr

In the above example, the node named systemY with the login name max has access
to anything with the pathname prefixes /usr/sources and /usr/src/share.
The node named systemZ with the login name max can execute commands defined in
L. cmds(5) with an execution level of 3 or lower. It can access anything with the
pathname prefix / u sr.

Any other remote systems can execute commands defined in L. cmds(5) with an
execution level of 1 or O. They can access anything with the pathname prefix of
/usr/spool/uucppublic.
Users on the local system can execute any of the commands defined in L. cmd and
access anything on the system.

5-216 File Formats

USERFILE (5)