tput(1)
NAME
tput - initialize a terminal or query terminfo database
SYNOPSIS
tput [-Ttype] capname [parms ... ]
tput [-Ttype] init
tput [-Ttype] reset
tput [-Ttype] longname
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 initialize or reset
the terminal, or return the long name of the requested
terminal type. tput outputs a string if the attribute
(capability name) 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 code (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 code [$?,
see sh(1)] to be sure it is 0. (See the EXIT CODES and
DIAGNOSTICS sections.) For a complete list of capabili-
ties and the capname associated with each, see ter-
minfo(5).
-Ttype indicates the type of terminal. Normally this
option is unnecessary, because the default is taken
from the environment variable TERM. If -T is spec-
ified, then the shell variables LINES and COLUMNS
will be ignored,and the operating system will not
be queried for the actual screen size.
capname
indicates the attribute from the terminfo database.
parms If the attribute is a string that takes parameters,
the arguments parms will be instantiated into the
string. An all numeric argument will be passed to
the attribute as a number.
-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 capname 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).
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 ter-
minal's initialization strings will be output (is1,
is2, is3, if, iprog), (2) any delays (e.g., new-
line) 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 ini-
tialization 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)].
EXAMPLES
tput init
Initialize the terminal according to the type of ter-
minal in the environmental variable TERM. This com-
mand should be included in everyone's .profile after
the environmental variable TERM has been exported, as
illustrated on the profile(4) 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 termi-
nal.
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 terminal. 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, col-
umn 4.
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 capabili-
ties 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.
FILES
/usr/share/terminfo
compiled terminal description database
/usr/include/curses.h
curses(3X) header file
/usr/include/term.h
terminfo header file
/usr/share/tabset/*
tab settings for some terminals, in a format appro-
priate to be output to the terminal (escape
sequences that set margins and tabs); for more
information, see the "Tabs and Initialization" sec-
tion of terminfo(4)
SEE ALSO
clear(1) stty(1) tabs(5). profile(5) terminfo(4) in
the System Administrator's Reference Manual. Chapter 10
of the Programmer's Guide.
EXIT CODES
If capname is of type boolean, a value of 0 is set for
TRUE and 1 for FALSE unless the -S option is used.
If capname is of type string, a value of 0 is set if the
capname is defined for this terminal type (the value of
capname is returned on standard output); a value of 1 is
set if capname is not defined for this terminal type (a
null value is returned on standard output).
If capname is of type boolean or string and the -S option
is used, a value of 0 is returned to indicate that all
lines were successful. 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 capname is of type 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 of standard output. A value
of -1 means that capname is not defined for this terminal
type.
Any other exit code indicates an error; see the DIAGNOS-
TICS section.
DIAGNOSTICS
tput prints the following error messages and sets the cor-
responding 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
PORTABILITY
The longname and -S options, and the parameter-substitu-
tion features used in the cup example, are not supported
in BSD curses or in AT&T/USL curses before SVr4.