


tic(1)                                                     tic(1)


NAME
       tic - the terminfo entry-description compiler

SYNOPSIS
       tic [-1CINRTcfrs] [-e names] [-o dir] [-v[n]] [-w[n]] file

DESCRIPTION
       The command tic translates a  terminfo  file  from  source
       format  into compiled format.  The compiled format is nec-
       essary for use with the library routines in curses(3).

       The results are normally placed  in  the  system  terminfo
       directory  /usr/share/terminfo.   There  are  two  ways to
       change this behavior.

       First, you may override the system default by setting  the
       variable  TERMINFO  in  your  shell environment to a valid
       (existing) directory name.

       Secondly, if tic cannot get access to  /usr/share/terminfo
       or  your  TERMINFO  directory,  it looks for the directory
       $HOME/.terminfo; if that directory exists,  the  entry  is
       placed there.

       Libraries that read terminfo entries are expected to check
       for a TERMINFO directory first, look at $HOME/.terminfo if
       TERMINFO  is  not set, and finally look in /usr/share/ter-
       minfo.

       -c     specifies to only check file for errors,  including
              syntax  problems and bad use links.  If you specify
              -C (-I) with this option, the code will print warn-
              ings about entries which, after use resolution, are
              more than 1023 (4096) bytes long.  Due to  a  fixed
              buffer  length  in  older  termcap libraries (and a
              documented limit in terminfo),  these  entries  may
              cause core dumps.

       -vn    specifies that (verbose) output be written to stan-
              dard  error   trace   information   showing   tic's
              progress.   The optional integer n is a number from
              1 to 10, inclusive, indicating the desired level of
              detail  of  information.   If  n  is  omitted,  the
              default level is 1.  If n is specified and  greater
              than 1, the level of detail is increased.

       -odir  Write  compiled  entries to given directory.  Over-
              rides the TERMINFO environment variable.

       -wn    specifies the width of the output.

       -1     restricts the output to a single column

       -C     Force source translation to termcap format.   Note:



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tic(1)                                                     tic(1)


              this  differs  from  the -C option of infocmp(1) in
              that it does not merely translate capability names,
              but  also  translates  terminfo  strings to termcap
              format.  Capabilities that are not translatable are
              left  in  the  entry under their terminfo names but
              commented out with two preceding dots.

       -G     Display constant literals in  decimal  form  rather
              than their character equivalents.

       -I     Force source translation to terminfo format.

       -L     Force  source  translation to terminfo format using
              the long C variable names listed in <term.h>

       -N     Disable smart defaults.  Normally, when translating
              from termcap to terminfo, the compiler makes a num-
              ber of assumptions about  the  defaults  of  string
              capabilities  reset1_string,  carriage_return, cur-
              sor_left, cursor_down,  scroll_forward,  tab,  new-
              line,  key_backspace,  key_left, and key_down, then
              attempts to use obsolete  termcap  capabilities  to
              deduce correct values.  It also normally suppresses
              output of obsolete termcap capabilities such as bs.
              This  option forces a more literal translation that
              also preserves the obsolete capabilities.

       -Rsubset
              Restrict output to a given subset.  This option  is
              for  use  with  archaic  versions  of terminfo like
              those on SVr1, Ultrix, or HP/UX that don't  support
              the  full set of SVR4/XSI Curses terminfo; and out-
              right broken ports like AIX 3.x that have their own
              extensions  incompatible  with SVr4/XSI.  Available
              subsets  are  "SVr1",  "Ultrix",  "HP",  "BSD"  and
              "AIX"; see terminfo(5) for details.

       -T     eliminates size-restrictions on the generated text.
              This is mainly useful  for  testing  and  analysis,
              since  the compiled descriptions are limited (e.g.,
              1023 for termcap, 4096 for terminfo).

       -r     Force entry resolution (so there are  no  remaining
              tc  capabilities)  even  when  doing translation to
              termcap format.  This may  be  needed  if  you  are
              preparing  a  termcap  file  for  a termcap library
              (such as GNU termcap up to version 1.3 or BSD term-
              cap  up  to 4.3BSD) that doesn't handle multiple tc
              capabilities per entry.

       -e     Limit writes  and  translations  to  the  following
              comma-separated  list of terminals.  If any name or
              alias of a terminal matches one of the names in the
              list,  the  entry  will be written or translated as



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tic(1)                                                     tic(1)


              normal.  Otherwise no output will be generated  for
              it.  The option value is interpreted as a file con-
              taining the list if  it  contains  a  '/'.   (Note:
              depending  on how tic was compiled, this option may
              require -I or -C.)

       -f     Display  complex  terminfo  strings  which  contain
              if/then/else/endif  expressions  indented for read-
              ability.

       -g     Display constant character literals in quoted  form
              rather than their decimal equivalents.

       -s     Summarize the compile by showing the directory into
              which  entries  are  written,  and  the  number  of
              entries which are compiled.

       file   contains one or more terminfo terminal descriptions
              in source format [see terminfo(5)].  Each  descrip-
              tion  in  the  file describes the capabilities of a
              particular terminal.

       The debug flag levels are as follows:

       1      Names of files created and linked

       2      Information related to the ``use'' facility

       3      Statistics from the hashing algorithm

       5      String-table memory allocations

       7      Entries into the string-table

       8      List of tokens encountered by scanner

       9      All values computed in  construction  of  the  hash
              table

       If n is not given, it is taken to be one.

       All but one of the capabilities recognized by tic are doc-
       umented in terminfo(5).  The exception is the use capabil-
       ity.

       When  a  use=entry-name  field is discovered in a terminal
       entry currently being compiled, tic reads  in  the  binary
       from  /usr/share/terminfo to complete the entry.  (Entries
       created from file will be used first.  If the  environment
       variable  TERMINFO  is  set,  that  directory  is searched
       instead of /usr/share/terminfo.)  tic duplicates the capa-
       bilities  in  entry-name  for  the current entry, with the
       exception  of  those  capabilities  that  explicitly   are
       defined in the current entry.



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tic(1)                                                     tic(1)


       When    an   entry,   e.g.,   entry_name_1,   contains   a
       use=entry_name_2  field,  any  canceled  capabilities   in
       entry_name_2  must also appear in entry_name_1 before use=
       for these capabilities to be canceled in entry_name_1.

       If the environment variable TERMINFO is set, the  compiled
       results are placed there instead of /usr/share/terminfo.

       Total compiled entries cannot exceed 4096 bytes.  The name
       field cannot exceed 512 bytes.  Terminal  names  exceeding
       the  maximum  alias  length (32 characters on systems with
       long filenames, 14 characters otherwise) will be truncated
       to  the maximum alias length and a warning message will be
       printed.

COMPATIBILITY
       There is some evidence that historic  tic  implementations
       treated  description  fields with no whitespace in them as
       additional aliases or short names.  This tic does  not  do
       that,  but  it  does  warn  when description fields may be
       treated that way and check them for dangerous  characters.

EXTENSIONS
       Unlike the stock SVr4 tic command, this implementation can
       actually compile termcap sources.   In  fact,  entries  in
       terminfo  and  termcap  syntax  can  be  mixed in a single
       source file.  See terminfo(5)  for  the  list  of  termcap
       names taken to be equivalent to terminfo names.

       The  SVr4  manual  pages  are  not clear on the resolution
       rules for use capabilities.  This  implementation  of  tic
       will find use targets anywhere in the source file, or any-
       where in the file tree rooted at TERMINFO (if TERMINFO  is
       defined),  or  in the user's $HOME/.terminfo directory (if
       it exists), or (finally) anywhere  in  the  system's  file
       tree of compiled entries.

       The  error  messages from this tic have the same format as
       GNU C error messages, and can be  parsed  by  GNU  Emacs's
       compile facility.

       The  -o,  -G,  -I,  -C,  -N, -R, -e, -f, -g, -T, -r and -s
       options are not supported under SVr4.  The  SVr4  -c  mode
       does not report bad use links.

       System  V does not compile entries to or read entries from
       your $HOME/.terminfo directory unless TERMINFO is  explic-
       itly set to it.

FILES
       /usr/share/terminfo/?/*
            Compiled terminal description database.





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tic(1)                                                     tic(1)


SEE ALSO
       infocmp(1), captoinfo(1), curses(3), terminfo(5).























































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