# tput 1

    tput(1)                     General Commands Manual                    tput(1)

## NAME

           tput, reset - initialize a terminal or query terminfo database

## SYNOPSIS

           tput [-Ttype] capname [parameters]
           tput [-Ttype] [-x] clear
           tput [-Ttype] init
           tput [-Ttype] reset
           tput [-Ttype] longname
           tput -S  <<
           tput -V

## DESCRIPTION

           The  tput utility uses the terminfo database to make the values of ter-
           minal-dependent capabilities and information  available  to  the  shell
           (see  sh(1)),  to  initialize or reset the terminal, or return the long
           name of the requested terminal type.  The result depends upon the capa-
           bility's type:

              string
                   tput  writes  the  string  to the standard output.  No trailing
                   newline is supplied.

              integer
                   tput writes the decimal value to the standard  output,  with  a
                   trailing newline.

              boolean
                   tput  simply sets the exit code (0 for TRUE if the terminal has
                   the capability, 1 for FALSE if it does not), and writes nothing
                   to the standard output.

           Before  using  a value returned on the standard output, the application
           should test the exit code (e.g., $?, see sh(1)) to be  sure  it  is  0.
           (See  the EXIT CODES and DIAGNOSTICS sections.)  For a complete list of
           capabilities and the capname associated with each, see terminfo(5).

### Options

           -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 example).  Only  one  cap-
                  name  is allowed per line.  The -S option changes the meaning of
                  the 0 and 1 boolean and string exit codes (see  the  EXIT  CODES
                  section).

                  Because  some capabilities may use string parameters rather than
                  numbers, tput uses a table and the presence of parameters in its
                  input  to  decide whether to use tparm(3x), and how to interpret
                  the parameters.

           -Ttype indicates the type of terminal.  Normally this option is  unnec-
                  essary,  because the default is taken from the environment vari-
                  able TERM.  If -T is specified, then the shell  variables  LINES
                  and COLUMNS will also be ignored.

           -V     reports  the  version of ncurses which was used in this program,
                  and exits.

           -x     do not attempt to clear the terminal's scrollback  buffer  using
                  the extended "E3" capability.

### Commands

           A few commands (init, reset and longname) are special; they are defined
           by the tput program.  The others are the names of capabilities from the
           terminal  database  (see  terminfo(5)  for  a list).  Although init and
           reset resemble capability names, tput uses several capabilities to per-
           form these special functions.

           capname
                  indicates the capability from the terminal database.

                  If  the  capability is a string that takes parameters, the argu-
                  ments following the capability will be used  as  parameters  for
                  the string.

                  Most  parameters  are numbers.  Only a few terminal capabilities
                  require string parameters; tput uses a table to decide which  to
                  pass  as  strings.   Normally tput uses tparm(3x) to perform the
                  substitution.  If no parameters are given  for  the  capability,
                  tput writes the string without performing the substitution.

           init   If  the terminal database is present and an entry for the user's
                  terminal exists (see -Ttype, above), the following will occur:

                  (1)  first, tput retrieves the current  terminal  mode  settings
                       for your terminal.  It does this by successively testing

                       o   the standard error,

                       o   standard output,

                       o   standard input and

                       o   ultimately "/dev/tty"

                       to  obtain  terminal settings.  Having retrieved these set-
                       tings, tput remembers which file  descriptor  to  use  when
                       updating settings.

                  (2)  if  the  window  size cannot be obtained from the operating
                       system, but the terminal description (or environment, e.g.,
                       LINES and COLUMNS variables specify this), update the oper-
                       ating system's notion of the window size.

                  (3)  the terminal modes will be updated:

                       o   any delays (e.g., newline) specified in the entry  will
                           be set in the tty driver,

                       o   tabs  expansion  will  be turned on or off according to
                           the specification in the entry, and

                       o   if tabs are not expanded, standard  tabs  will  be  set
                           (every 8 spaces).

                  (4)  if  present,  the terminal's initialization strings will be
                       output as detailed in the terminfo(5) section on  Tabs  and
                       Initialization,

                  (5)  output is flushed.

                  If  an  entry does not contain the information needed for any of
                  these activities, that activity will silently be skipped.

           reset  This is similar to init, with two differences:

                  (1)  before any other initialization, the terminal modes will be
                       reset to a "sane" state:

                       o   set cooked and echo modes,

                       o   turn off cbreak and raw modes,

                       o   turn on newline translation and

                       o   reset  any  unset  special  characters to their default
                           values

                  (2)  Instead of putting out initialization strings,  the  termi-
                       nal's  reset  strings  will be output if present (rs1, rs2,
                       rs3, rf).  If the reset strings are not present,  but  ini-
                       tialization strings are, the initialization strings will be
                       output.

                  Otherwise, reset acts identically to init.

           longname
                  If the terminal 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 data-
                  base [see term(5)].

### Aliases

           tput handles the clear, init and reset commands  specially:  it  allows
           for the possibility that it is invoked by a link with those names.

           If  tput  is invoked by a link named reset, this has the same effect as
           tput reset.  The tset(1) utility also treats a link  named  reset  spe-
           cially.

           Before ncurses 6.1, the two utilities were different from each other:

           o   tset  utility  reset the terminal modes and special characters (not
               done with tput).

           o   On the other hand, tset's repertoire of terminal  capabilities  for
               resetting  the terminal was more limited, i.e., only reset_1string,
               reset_2string and reset_file in contrast to the tab-stops and  mar-
               gins which are set by this utility.

           o   The  reset  program  is  usually an alias for tset, because of this
               difference with resetting terminal modes and special characters.

           With the changes made for ncurses 6.1, the reset  feature  of  the  two
           programs is (mostly) the same.  A few differences remain:

           o   The  tset  program waits one second when resetting, in case it hap-
               pens to be a hardware terminal.

           o   The two programs write the terminal initialization strings to  dif-
               ferent  streams (i.e., the standard error for tset and the standard
               output for tput).

               Note: although these programs write to different streams, redirect-
               ing their output to a file will capture only part of their actions.
               The changes to the terminal modes are not affected  by  redirecting
               the output.

           If  tput  is  invoked by a link named init, this has the same effect as
           tput init.  Again, you are less likely to use that link because another
           program named init has a more well-established use.

### Terminal Size

           Besides  the  special  commands (e.g., clear), tput treats certain ter-
           minfo capabilities specially: lines and cols.  tput calls setupterm(3x)
           to obtain the terminal size:

           o   first, it gets the size from the terminal database (which generally
               is not provided for terminal emulators which do not  have  a  fixed
               window size)

           o   then  it  asks  the operating system for the terminal's size (which
               generally works, unless connecting via a serial line which does not
               support NAWS: negotiations about window size).

           o   finally,  it  inspects  the environment variables LINES and COLUMNS
               which may override the terminal size.

           If the -T option is given tput ignores  the  environment  variables  by
           calling   use_tioctl(TRUE),  relying  upon  the  operating  system  (or
           finally, the terminal database).

## EXAMPLES

           tput init
                Initialize the terminal according to the type of terminal  in  the
                environmental  variable  TERM.  This command should be included in
                everyone's .profile after the environmental variable TERM has been
                exported, as illustrated on the profile(5) manual page.

           tput -T5620 reset
                Reset  an  AT&T  5620 terminal, overriding the type of terminal in
                the environmental variable TERM.

           tput cup 0 0
                Send 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).

           tput clear
                Echo the clear-screen sequence for the current terminal.

           tput cols
                Print the number of columns for the current terminal.

           tput -T450 cols
                Print the number of columns for the 450 terminal.

           bold=`tput smso` offbold=`tput rmso`
                Set the shell variables bold, to begin  stand-out  mode  sequence,
                and offbold, to end standout mode sequence, for the current termi-
                nal.  This might be followed by a prompt: echo "${bold}Please type
                in your name: ${offbold}\c"

           tput hc
                Set  exit  code to indicate if the current terminal is a hard copy
                terminal.

           tput cup 23 4
                Send the sequence to move the cursor to row 23, column 4.

           tput cup
                Send the terminfo string for cursor-movement, with  no  parameters
                substituted.

           tput longname
                Print  the  long  name  from the terminfo database for the type of
                terminal specified in the environmental variable TERM.

                tput -S <<!
                > clear
                > cup 10 10
                > bold
                > !

                This example shows tput processing  several  capabilities  in  one
                invocation.   It  clears  the screen, moves the cursor to position
                10, 10 and turns on bold (extra bright) mode.  The list is  termi-
                nated by an exclamation mark (!) on a line by itself.

## FILES

           /usr/share/terminfo
                  compiled terminal description database

           /usr/share/tabset/*
                  tab  settings  for some terminals, in a format appropriate to be
                  output to the terminal (escape sequences that  set  margins  and
                  tabs);  for  more  information, see the Tabs and Initialization,
                  section of terminfo(5)

## EXIT CODES

           If the -S option is used, tput checks for errors from each line, and if
           any  errors  are  found, will set the exit code to 4 plus the number of
           lines with errors.  If no errors are found, the exit  code  is  0.   No
           indication  of which line failed can be given so exit code 1 will never
           appear.  Exit codes 2, 3, and 4 retain their usual interpretation.   If
           the  -S  option  is not used, the exit code depends on the type of cap-
           name:

              boolean
                     a value of 0 is set for TRUE and 1 for FALSE.

              string a value of 0 is set if the capname is defined for this termi-
                     nal  type  (the value of capname is returned on standard out-
                     put); a value of 1 is set if capname is not defined for  this
                     terminal type (nothing is written to standard output).

              integer
                     a value of 0 is always set, whether or not capname is defined
                     for this terminal type.  To determine if capname  is  defined
                     for  this terminal type, the user must test the value written
                     to standard output.  A value of -1 means that capname is  not
                     defined for this terminal type.

              other  reset  or  init  may fail to find their respective files.  In
                     that case, the exit code is set to 4 + errno.

           Any other exit code indicates an error; see the DIAGNOSTICS section.

## DIAGNOSTICS

           tput prints the following error messages  and  sets  the  corresponding
           exit codes.

           exit code   error message
           ---------------------------------------------------------------------
           0           (capname  is a numeric variable that is not specified in
                       the terminfo(5) database for this  terminal  type,  e.g.
                       tput -T450 lines and tput -T2621 xmc)
           1           no error message is printed, see the EXIT CODES section.
           2           usage error
           3           unknown terminal type or no terminfo database
           4           unknown terminfo capability capname
           >4          error occurred in -S
           ---------------------------------------------------------------------

## HISTORY

           The  tput  command  was begun by Bill Joy in 1980.  The initial version
           only cleared the screen.

           AT&T System V provided a different tput command, whose init  and  reset
           subcommands  (more  than  half  the program) were incorporated from the
           reset feature of BSD tset written by Eric Allman.

           Keith Bostic replaced the BSD tput command in 1989 with a new implemen-
           tation based on the AT&T System V program tput.  Like the AT&T program,
           Bostic's version accepted some parameters named for terminfo  capabili-
           ties  (clear,  init, longname and reset).  However (because he had only
           termcap available), it accepted termcap names for  other  capabilities.
           Also,  Bostic's  BSD  tput did not modify the terminal I/O modes as the
           earlier BSD tset had done.

           At the same time, Bostic added a shell script named "clear", which used
           tput to clear the screen.

           Both of these appeared in 4.4BSD, becoming the "modern" BSD implementa-
           tion of tput.

           This implementation of tput began from a different source than AT&T  or
           BSD:  Ross  Ridge's  mytinfo package, published on comp.sources.unix in
           December 1992.  Ridge's program made more sophisticated use of the ter-
           minal  capabilities  than the BSD program.  Eric Raymond used that tput
           program (and other parts of mytinfo) in ncurses in  June  1995.   Using
           the  portions dealing with terminal capabilities almost without change,
           Raymond made improvements to the way the command-line  parameters  were
           handled.

## PORTABILITY

           This  implementation  of  tput  differs from AT&T tput in two important
           areas:

           o   tput capname writes to the standard output.  That  need  not  be  a
               regular terminal.  However, the subcommands which manipulate termi-
               nal modes may not use the standard output.

               The AT&T implementation's init  and  reset  commands  use  the  BSD
               (4.1c)  tset  source, which manipulates terminal modes.  It succes-
               sively tries standard output, standard error, standard input before
               falling back to "/dev/tty" and finally just assumes a 1200Bd termi-
               nal.  When updating terminal modes, it ignores errors.

               Until changes made after ncurses 6.0, tput did not modify  terminal
               modes.  tput now uses a similar scheme, using functions shared with
               tset (and ultimately based on the 4.4BSD tset).  If it is not  able
               to open a terminal, e.g., when running in cron, tput will return an
               error.

           o   AT&T tput guesses the type of its capname operands by seeing if all
               of the characters are numeric, or not.

               Most implementations which provide support for capname operands use
               the tparm function to  expand  parameters  in  it.   That  function
               expects  a mixture of numeric and string parameters, requiring tput
               to know which type to use.

               This implementation uses a table to determine the  parameter  types
               for the standard capname operands, and an internal library function
               to analyze nonstandard capname operands.

           This implementation (unlike others) can accept both  termcap  and  ter-
           minfo names for the capname feature, if termcap support is compiled in.
           However, the predefined termcap and terminfo names have two ambiguities
           in this case (and the terminfo name is assumed):

           o   The  termcap  name  dl corresponds to the terminfo name dl1 (delete
               one line).
               The terminfo name dl corresponds to the termcap name DL  (delete  a
               given number of lines).

           o   The  termcap  name  ed  corresponds  to the terminfo name rmdc (end
               delete mode).
               The terminfo name ed corresponds to the termcap name cd  (clear  to
               end of screen).

           The  longname  and  -S options, and the parameter-substitution features
           used in the cup example,  were  not  supported  in  BSD  curses  before
           4.3reno (1989) or in AT&T/USL curses before SVr4 (1988).

           IEEE   Std   1003.1/The   Open   Group   Base  Specifications  Issue  7
           (POSIX.1-2008) documents only the operands for clear, init  and  reset.
           There are a few interesting observations to make regarding that:

           o   In  this implementation, clear is part of the capname support.  The
               others (init and longname) do not correspond to terminal  capabili-
               ties.

           o   Other  implementations  of  tput  on  SVr4-based  systems  such  as
               Solaris, IRIX64 and HPUX as well as others such as  AIX  and  Tru64
               provide support for capname operands.

           o   A few platforms such as FreeBSD recognize termcap names rather than
               terminfo capability names in their respective tput commands.  Since
               2010,  NetBSD's  tput  uses  terminfo names.  Before that, it (like
               FreeBSD) recognized termcap names.

           Because (apparently) all of the certified Unix systems support the full
           set  of  capability names, the reasoning for documenting only a few may
           not be apparent.

           o   X/Open Curses Issue 7 documents tput differently, with capname  and
               the other features used in this implementation.

           o   That  is,  there  are  two standards for tput: POSIX (a subset) and
               X/Open Curses (the full implementation).  POSIX documents a  subset
               to avoid the complication of including X/Open Curses and the termi-
               nal capabilities database.

           o   While it is certainly possible to  write  a  tput  program  without
               using  curses,  none of the systems which have a curses implementa-
               tion provide a tput utility which does not provide the capname fea-
               ture.

           X/Open  Curses  Issue  7 (2009) is the first version to document utili-
           ties.  However that part of X/Open  Curses  does  not  follow  existing
           practice (i.e., Unix features documented in SVID 3):

           o   It  assigns exit code 4 to "invalid operand", which may be the same
               as unknown capability.  For instance, the source code for  Solaris'
               xcurses uses the term "invalid" in this case.

           o   It  assigns  exit code 255 to a numeric variable that is not speci-
               fied in the terminfo database.   That  likely  is  a  documentation
               error,  confusing  the  -1  written  to  the standard output for an
               absent or cancelled numeric value versus an (unsigned) exit code.

           The various Unix systems (AIX, HPUX, Solaris) use the  same  exit-codes
           as ncurses.

           NetBSD curses documents different exit codes which do not correspond to
           either ncurses or X/Open.

## SEE ALSO

           clear(1), stty(1), tabs(1), tset(1), terminfo(5), curs_termcap(3x).

           This describes ncurses version 6.2 (patch 20201107).

                                                                           tput(1)