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man pages section 3: Curses Library Functions

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Updated: Thursday, June 13, 2019



curs_termattrs, baudrate, erasechar, has_ic, has_il, killchar, longname, termattrs, termname - curses environment query routines


cc [ flag ... ] file ... –lcurses [ library ... ]
#include <curses.h>

int baudrate(void);
char erasechar(void);
int has_ic(void);
int has_il(void);
char killchar(void);
char *longname(void);
chtype termattrs(void);
char *termname(void);


The baudrate() routine returns the output speed of the terminal. The number returned is in bits per second, for example 9600, and is an integer.

With the erasechar() routine, the user's current erase character is returned.

The has_ic() routine is true if the terminal has insert- and delete-character capabilities.

The has_il() routine is true if the terminal has insert- and delete-line capabilities, or can simulate them using scrolling regions. This might be used to determine if it would be appropriate to turn on physical scrolling using scrollok().

With the killchar() routine, the user's current line kill character is returned.

The longname() routine returns a pointer to a static area containing a verbose description of the current terminal. The maximum length of a verbose description is 128 characters. It is defined only after the call to initscr() or newterm(). The area is overwritten by each call to newterm() and is not restored by set_term(), so the value should be saved between calls to newterm() if longname() is going to be used with multiple terminals.

If a given terminal doesn't support a video attribute that an application program is trying to use, curses may substitute a different video attribute for it. The termattrs() function returns a logical OR of all video attributes supported by the terminal. This information is useful when a curses program needs complete control over the appearance of the screen.

The termname() routine returns the value of the environment variable TERM (truncated to 14 characters).

Return Values

longname() and termname() return NULL on error.

Routines that return an integer return ERR upon failure and an integer value other than ERR upon successful completion.


See attributes(7) for descriptions of the following attributes:


See Also

curs_initscr(3CURSES), curs_outopts(3CURSES), curses(3CURSES), attributes(7)


The header <curses.h> automatically includes the headers <stdio.h> and <unctrl.h>.

Note that termattrs() may be a macro.