John Strang Books

While termcap and terminfo are no longer as important as they once were, due to the growth of the X terminal market and increased standardization among ASCII terminals, handling different terminal types can still be a headache for system administrators. The termcap and terminfo databases are UNIX's solution to the difficulty of supporting many terminals without writing special drivers for each terminal. Termcap (BSD) and terminfo (System V) describe the features of hundreds of terminals, together with a library of routines that allow programs to use those capabilities.This book documents hundreds of capabilities and syntax for termcap and terminfo, writing and debugging terminal descriptions, and terminal initialization.Contents include:Terminal independence: the need for termcap and terminfo. Reading termcap and terminfo entries. Capability syntax. Initializing the terminal environment. Writing termcap and terminfo entries. Converting between termcap and terminfo. Detailed descriptions of the capabilities. Screen dimensions and cursor movement. Initialization and reset. Special and equivalent terminals. Many useful appendices.

This reprint preserves the essence of a classic originally published in 1857, offering readers a glimpse into the themes and ideas of its time. The book captures the historical context and cultural nuances of the era, making it a valuable addition for those interested in literary history. Its enduring relevance and unique perspective continue to resonate with contemporary audiences, providing insights into the past while inviting reflection on modern issues.

curses is a UNIX library of functions for controlling a terminal's display screen from a C program. It can be used to provide a screen driver for a program (such as a visual editor) or to improve a program's user interface. This handbook will help you make use of the curses library in your C programs. We have presented ample material on curses and its implementation in UNIX so that you understand the whole, as well as its parts. This handbook covers Ken Arnold's original Berkeley implementation of curses , not the System V version. Topics covered