


tic(1)                                                     tic(1)


NAME
       tic - the terminfo entry-description compiler

SYNOPSIS
       tic  [-1CGILNTUVacfgrstx]  [-e names] [-o dir] [-R subset]
       [-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 ncurses(3X).

       The results are normally placed  in  the  system  terminfo
       directory /usr/share/misc/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/misc/ter-
       minfo  or your TERMINFO directory, it looks for the direc-
       tory $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/misc/terminfo.

       -1     restricts the output to a single column

       -a     tells  tic  to  retain  commented-out  capabilities
              rather than discarding them.  Capabilities are com-
              mented by prefixing them with a period.  This  sets
              the  -x option, because it treats the commented-out
              entries as user-defined names.  If  the  source  is
              termcap,  accept  the 2-character names required by
              version 6.  Otherwise these are ignored.

       -C     Force source translation to termcap format.   Note:
              this  differs  from the -C option of infocmp(1M) 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.

       -c     tells tic 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



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tic(1)                                                     tic(1)


              documented limit in terminfo),  these  entries  may
              cause core dumps.

       -e names
              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
              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  literals  in decimal form rather
              than their character equivalents.

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

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

       -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 do not 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.




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tic(1)                                                     tic(1)


       -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 through  version  1.3  or  BSD
              termcap through 4.3BSD) that does not handle multi-
              ple tc capabilities per entry.

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

       -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).

       -t     tells  tic  to  discard commented-out capabilities.
              Normally when translating from terminfo to termcap,
              untranslatable capabilities are commented-out.

       -U   tells  tic to not post-process the data after parsing
            the source file.  Normally, it infers data  which  is
            commonly  missing in older terminfo data, or in term-
            caps.

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

       -vn  specifies  that  (verbose) output be written to stan-
            dard error trace information showing tic's  progress.
            The  optional  parameter  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.

       -wn  specifies  the width of the output.  The parameter is
            optional.  If it is omitted, it defaults to 60.

       -x   Treat unknown capabilities as user-defined.  That is,
            if  you  supply  a capability name which tic does not
            recognize, it will infer its type (boolean, number or
            string)  from  the  syntax and make an extended table
            entry  for  that.   User-defined  capability  strings
            whose  name begins with ``k'' are treated as function
            keys.

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

       The debug flag levels are as follows:



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tic(1)                                                     tic(1)


       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 the debug level 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/misc/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/misc/terminfo.)  tic dupli-
       cates  the  capabilities  in  entry-name  for  the current
       entry, with  the  exception  of  those  capabilities  that
       explicitly are defined in the current entry.

       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/misc/ter-
       minfo.

       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.




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tic(1)                                                     tic(1)


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 -C, -G, -I, -N, -R, -T, -V, -a, -e, -f,  -g,  -o,  -r,
       -s,  -t  and -x 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/misc/terminfo/?/*
            Compiled terminal description database.

SEE ALSO
       infocmp(1), captoinfo(1),  infotocap(1),  curses(3),  ter-
       minfo(5).

       This describes ncurses version 5.7.





















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