tput(1)
NAME
tput - initialize a terminal or query terminfo database
SYNOPSIS
tput [-T type] capname [parm...]
tput -S <<
DESCRIPTION
The tput utility uses the terminfo database to make the
values of terminal-dependent capabilities and information
available to the shell (see sh(1)); to clear, initialize or
reset the terminal; or to return the long name of the
requested terminal type. tput outputs a string if the capa-
bility attribute (capname) is of type string, or an integer
if the attribute is of type integer. If the attribute is of
type boolean, tput simply sets the exit status (0 for TRUE
if the terminal has the capability, 1 for FALSE if it does
not), and produces no output. Before using a value returned
on standard output, the user should test the exit status
($?, see sh(1)) to be sure it is 0. See the EXIT STATUS sec-
tion.
OPTIONS
The following options are supported:
-Ttype
Indicates the type of terminal. Normally this option
is unnecessary, because the default is taken from the
environment variable TERM. If -T is specified, then
the shell variables LINES and COLUMNS and the layer
size will not be referenced.
-S Allows more than one capability per invocation of
tput. The capabilities must be passed to tput from the
standard input instead of from the command line (see
the example in the EXAMPLES section). Only one capname
is allowed per line. The -S option changes the meaning
of the 0 and 1 boolean and string exit statuses (see
the EXAMPLES section).
OPERANDS
The following operands are supported:
capname
Indicates the capability attribute from the terminfo
database. See terminfo(4) for a complete list of capa-
bilities and the capname associated with each.
The following strings will be supported as operands by
the implementation in the "C" locale:
clear Display the clear-screen sequence.
init If the terminfo database is present and an entry
for the user's terminal exists (see -Ttype,
above), the following will occur:
1. if present, the terminal's initialization
strings will be output (is1, is2, is3, if,
iprog),
2. any delays (for instance, newline) specified
in the entry will be set in the tty driver,
3. tabs expansion will be turned on or off
according to the specification in the entry,
and
4. if tabs are not expanded, standard tabs will
be set (every 8 spaces). If an entry does not
contain the information needed for any of the
four above activities, that activity will
silently be skipped.
reset Instead of putting out initialization strings,
the terminal's reset strings will be output if
present (rs1, rs2, rs3, rf). If the reset
strings are not present, but initialization
strings are, the initialization strings will be
output. Otherwise, reset acts identically to
init.
longname
If the terminfo database is present and an entry
for the user's terminal exists (see -Ttype
above), then the long name of the terminal will
be put out. The long name is the last name in
the first line of the terminal's description in
the terminfo database (see term(5)).
parm If the attribute is a string that takes parameters,
the argument parm will be instantiated into the
string. An all numeric argument will be passed to the
attribute as a number.
EXAMPLES
Example 1: Initializing the terminal according to TERM
This example initializes the terminal according to the type
of terminal in the environment variable TERM. This command
should be included in everyone's .profile after the
environment variable TERM has been exported, as illustrated
on the profile(4) manual page.
example% tput init
Example 2: Resetting a terminal
This example resets an AT&T 5620 terminal, overriding the
type of terminal in the environment variable TERM:
example% tput -T5620 reset
Example 3: Moving the cursor
The following example sends the sequence to move the cursor
to row 0, column 0 (the upper left corner of the screen,
usually known as the "home" cursor position).
example% tput cup 0 0
This next example sends the sequence to move the cursor to
row 23, column 4.
example% tput cup 23 4
Example 4: Echoing the clear-screen sequence
This example echos the clear-screen sequence for the current
terminal.
example% tput clear
Example 5: Printing the number of columns
This command prints the number of columns for the current
terminal.
example% tput cols
The following command prints the number of columns for the
450 terminal.
example% tput -T450 cols
Example 6: Setting shell variables
This example sets the shell variables bold, to begin stand-
out mode sequence, and offbold, to end standout mode
sequence, for the current terminal. This might be followed
by a prompt:
echo "${bold}Please type in your name: ${offbold}\c"
example% bold='tput smso'
example% offbold='tput rmso'
Example 7: Setting the exit status
This example sets the exit status to indicate if the current
terminal is a hardcopy terminal.
example% tput hc
Example 8: Printing the long name from terminfo
This command prints the long name from the terminfo database
for the type of terminal specified in the environment vari-
able TERM.
example% tput longname
Example 9: Processing several capabilities with one invoca-
tion
This example shows tput processing several capabilities in
one invocation. This example clears the screen, moves the
cursor to position 10, 10 and turns on bold (extra bright)
mode. The list is terminated by an exclamation mark (!) on a
line by itself.
example% tput -S <<!
> clear
> cup 10 10
> bold
> !
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
See environ(5) for descriptions of the following environment
variables that affect the execution of tput: LANG, LC_ALL,
LC_CTYPE, LC_MESSAGES, and NLSPATH.
TERM Determine the terminal type. If this variable is unset
or null, and if the -T option is not specified, an
unspecified default terminal type will be used.
EXIT STATUS
The following exit values are returned:
0
o If capname is of type boolean and -S is not
specified, indicates TRUE.
o If capname is of type string and -S is not
specified, indicates capname is defined for this
terminal type.
o If capname is of type boolean or string and -S
is specified, indicates that all lines were suc-
cessful.
o capname is of type integer.
o The requested string was written successfully.
1
o If capname is of type boolean and -S is not
specified, indicates FALSE.
o If capname is of type string and -S is not
specified, indicates that capname is not defined
for this terminal type.
2 Usage error.
3 No information is available about the specified termi-
nal type.
4 The specified operand is invalid.
>4 An error occurred.
-1 capname is a numeric variable that is not specified in
the terminfo database. For instance, tput -T450 lines
and tput -T2621 xmc.
FILES
/usr/include/curses.h
curses(3CURSES) header
/usr/include/term.h
terminfo header
/usr/lib/tabset/*
Tab settings for some terminals, in a format appropri-
ate to be output to the terminal (escape sequences
that set margins and tabs). For more information, see
the "Tabs and Initialization" section of terminfo(4)
/usr/share/lib/terminfo/?/*
compiled terminal description database
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attri-
butes:
____________________________________________________________
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
| Availability | SUNWcsu |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
| Interface Stability | Standard |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
SEE ALSO
clear(1), sh(1), stty(1), tabs(1), curses(3CURSES), pro-
file(4), terminfo(4), attributes(5), environ(5), stan-
dards(5), term(5)
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