termcap & terminfo: Help for Unix System Administrators - Softcover

Strang

Softcover

ISBN 10: 093717503X ISBN 13: 9780937175033

Publisher: O'Reilly & Associates, 1988

Synopsis

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.

About this title

From the Publisher

For UNIX system administrators and programmers. This handbook provides information on writing and debugging terminal descriptions, as well as terminal initialization, for the two UNIX terminal databases.

About the Author

Linda Mui started working for O'Reilly & Associates in 1986. She was first hired as a production assistant, later became an apprentice system administrator, and now is a writer. Her first writing job was for termcap and terminfo, which she co-authored with John Strang and Tim O'Reilly. She also wrote Pick BASIC, on programming applications for Pick systems. In between writing jobs, Linda works on troff macros and tools for the O'Reilly & Associates production staff. Linda was raised in the Bronx, New York and now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Lately she has been trying to improve herself by learning how to swim, play billiards, and accessorize.

Edition details

• Publisher: O'Reilly & Associates
• Publication date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 093717503X
• ISBN 13: 9780937175033
• Binding: Paperback