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(python2.1-lib.info)Functions 2
Functions
---------
The module `curses' defines the following exception:
`error'
Exception raised when a curses library function returns an error.
*Note:* Whenever X or Y arguments to a function or a method are
optional, they default to the current cursor location. Whenever ATTR
is optional, it defaults to `A_NORMAL'.
The module `curses' defines the following functions:
`baudrate()'
Returns the output speed of the terminal in bits per second. On
software terminal emulators it will have a fixed high value.
Included for historical reasons; in former times, it was used to
write output loops for time delays and occasionally to change
interfaces depending on the line speed.
`beep()'
Emit a short attention sound.
`can_change_color()'
Returns true or false, depending on whether the programmer can
change the colors displayed by the terminal.
`cbreak()'
Enter cbreak mode. In cbreak mode (sometimes called "rare" mode)
normal tty line buffering is turned off and characters are
available to be read one by one. However, unlike raw mode,
special characters (interrupt, quit, suspend, and flow control)
retain their effects on the tty driver and calling program.
Calling first `raw()' then `cbreak()' leaves the terminal in
cbreak mode.
`color_content(color_number)'
Returns the intensity of the red, green, and blue (RGB) components
in the color COLOR_NUMBER, which must be between `0' and `COLORS'.
A 3-tuple is returned, containing the R,G,B values for the given
color, which will be between `0' (no component) and `1000'
(maximum amount of component).
`color_pair(color_number)'
Returns the attribute value for displaying text in the specified
color. This attribute value can be combined with `A_STANDOUT',
`A_REVERSE', and the other `A_*' attributes. `pair_number()' is
the counterpart to this function.
`curs_set(visibility)'
Sets the cursor state. VISIBILITY can be set to 0, 1, or 2, for
invisible, normal, or very visible. If the terminal supports the
visibility requested, the previous cursor state is returned;
otherwise, an exception is raised. On many terminals, the
"visible" mode is an underline cursor and the "very visible" mode
is a block cursor.
`def_prog_mode()'
Saves the current terminal mode as the "program" mode, the mode
when the running program is using curses. (Its counterpart is the
"shell" mode, for when the program is not in curses.) Subsequent
calls to `reset_prog_mode()' will restore this mode.
`def_shell_mode()'
Saves the current terminal mode as the "shell" mode, the mode when
the running program is not using curses. (Its counterpart is the
"program" mode, when the program is using curses capabilities.)
Subsequent calls to `reset_shell_mode()' will restore this mode.
`delay_output(ms)'
Inserts an MS millisecond pause in output.
`doupdate()'
Update the physical screen. The curses library keeps two data
structures, one representing the current physical screen contents
and a virtual screen representing the desired next state. The
`doupdate()' ground updates the physical screen to match the
virtual screen.
The virtual screen may be updated by a `noutrefresh()' call after
write operations such as `addstr()' have been performed on a
window. The normal `refresh()' call is simply `noutrefresh()'
followed by `doupdate()'; if you have to update multiple windows,
you can speed performance and perhaps reduce screen flicker by
issuing `noutrefresh()' calls on all windows, followed by a single
`doupdate()'.
`echo()'
Enter echo mode. In echo mode, each character input is echoed to
the screen as it is entered.
`endwin()'
De-initialize the library, and return terminal to normal status.
`erasechar()'
Returns the user's current erase character. Under Unix operating
systems this is a property of the controlling tty of the curses
program, and is not set by the curses library itself.
`filter()'
The `filter()' routine, if used, must be called before `initscr()'
is called. The effect is that, during those calls, LINES is set
to 1; the capabilities clear, cup, cud, cud1, cuu1, cuu, vpa are
disabled; and the home string is set to the value of cr. The
effect is that the cursor is confined to the current line, and so
are screen updates. This may be used for enabling
cgaracter-at-a-time line editing without touching the rest of the
screen.
`flash()'
Flash the screen. That is, change it to reverse-video and then
change it back in a short interval. Some people prefer such as
`visible bell' to the audible attention signal produced by
`beep()'.
`flushinp()'
Flush all input buffers. This throws away any typeahead that
has been typed by the user and has not yet been processed by the
program.
`getmouse()'
After `getch()' returns `KEY_MOUSE' to signal a mouse event, this
method should be call to retrieve the queued mouse event,
represented as a 5-tuple `(ID, X, Y, Z, BSTATE)'. ID is an ID
value used to distinguish multiple devices, and X, Y, Z are the
event's coordinates. (Z is currently unused.). BSTATE is an
integer value whose bits will be set to indicate the type of
event, and will be the bitwise OR of one or more of the following
constants, where N is the button number from 1 to 4:
`BUTTONN_PRESSED', `BUTTONN_RELEASED', `BUTTONN_CLICKED',
`BUTTONN_DOUBLE_CLICKED', `BUTTONN_TRIPLE_CLICKED', `BUTTON_SHIFT',
`BUTTON_CTRL', `BUTTON_ALT'.
`getsyx()'
Returns the current coordinates of the virtual screen cursor in y
and x. If leaveok is currently true, then -1,-1 is returned.
`getwin(file)'
Reads window related data stored in the file by an earlier
`putwin()' call. The routine then creates and initializes a new
window using that data, returning the new window object.
`has_colors()'
Returns true if the terminal can display colors; otherwise, it
returns false.
`has_ic()'
Returns true if the terminal has insert- and delete- character
capabilities. This function is included for historical reasons
only, as all modern software terminal emulators have such
capabilities.
`has_il()'
Returns true if the terminal has insert- and delete-line
capabilities, or can simulate them using scrolling regions.
This function is included for historical reasons only, as all
modern software terminal emulators have such capabilities.
`has_key(ch)'
Takes a key value CH, and returns true if the current terminal
type recognizes a key with that value.
`halfdelay(tenths)'
Used for half-delay mode, which is similar to cbreak mode in that
characters typed by the user are immediately available to the
program. However, after blocking for TENTHS tenths of seconds, an
exception is raised if nothing has been typed. The value of
TENTHS must be a number between 1 and 255. Use `nocbreak()' to
leave half-delay mode.
`init_color(color_number, r, g, b)'
Changes the definition of a color, taking the number of the color
to be changed followed by three RGB values (for the amounts of red,
green, and blue components). The value of COLOR_NUMBER must be
between `0' and `COLORS'. Each of R, G, B, must be a value
between `0' and `1000'. When `init_color()' is used, all
occurrences of that color on the screen immediately change to the
new definition. This function is a no-op on most terminals; it is
active only if `can_change_color()' returns `1'.
`init_pair(pair_number, fg, bg)'
Changes the definition of a color-pair. It takes three arguments:
the number of the color-pair to be changed, the foreground color
number, and the background color number. The value of PAIR_NUMBER
must be between `1' and `COLOR_PAIRS - 1' (the `0' color pair is
wired to white on black and cannot be changed). The value of FG
and BG arguments must be between `0' and `COLORS'. If the
color-pair was previously initialized, the screen is refreshed and
all occurrences of that color-pair are changed to the new
definition.
`initscr()'
Initialize the library. Returns a `WindowObject' which represents
the whole screen.
`isendwin()'
Returns true if `endwin()' has been called (that is, the curses
library has been deinitialized).
`keyname(k)'
Return the name of the key numbered K. The name of a key
generating printable ASCII character is the key's character. The
name of a control-key combination is a two-character string
consisting of a caret followed by the corresponding printable
ASCII character. The name of an alt-key combination (128-255) is
a string consisting of the prefix `M-' followed by the name of the
corresponding ASCII character.
`killchar()'
Returns the user's current line kill character. Under Unix
operating systems this is a property of the controlling tty of the
curses program, and is not set by the curses library itself.
`longname()'
Returns a string containing the terminfo long name field
describing the current terminal. The maximum length of a verbose
description is 128 characters. It is defined only after the call
to `initscr()'.
`meta(yes)'
If YES is 1, allow 8-bit characters to be input. If YES is 0,
allow only 7-bit chars.
`mouseinterval(interval)'
Sets the maximum time in milliseconds that can elapse between
press and release events in order for them to be recognized as a
click, and returns the previous interval value. The default value
is 200 msec, or one fifth of a second.
`mousemask(mousemask)'
Sets the mouse events to be reported, and returns a tuple
`(AVAILMASK, OLDMASK)'. AVAILMASK indicates which of the
specified mouse events can be reported; on complete failure it
returns 0. OLDMASK is the previous value of the given window's
mouse event mask. If this function is never called, no mouse
events are ever reported.
`napms(ms)'
Sleep for MS milliseconds.
`newpad(nlines, ncols)'
Creates and returns a pointer to a new pad data structure with the
given number of lines and columns. A pad is returned as a window
object.
A pad is like a window, except that it is not restricted by the
screen size, and is not necessarily associated with a particular
part of the screen. Pads can be used when a large window is
needed, and only a part of the window will be on the screen at one
time. Automatic refreshes of pads (e.g., from scrolling or
echoing of input) do not occur. The `refresh()' and
`noutrefresh()' methods of a pad require 6 arguments to specify
the part of the pad to be displayed and the location on the screen
to be used for the display. The arguments are pminrow, pmincol,
sminrow, smincol, smaxrow, smaxcol; the p arguments refer to the
upper left corner of the the pad region to be displayed and the s
arguments define a clipping box on the screen within which the pad
region is to be displayed.
`newwin([nlines, ncols,] begin_y, begin_x)'
Return a new window, whose left-upper corner is at `(BEGIN_Y,
BEGIN_X)', and whose height/width is NLINES/NCOLS.
By default, the window will extend from the specified position to
the lower right corner of the screen.
`nl()'
Enter newline mode. This mode translates the return key into
newline on input, and translates newline into return and line-feed
on output. Newline mode is initially on.
`nocbreak()'
Leave cbreak mode. Return to normal "cooked" mode with line
buffering.
`noecho()'
Leave echo mode. Echoing of input characters is turned off,
`nonl()'
Leave newline mode. Disable translation of return into newline on
input, and disable low-level translation of newline into
newline/return on output (but this does not change the behavior of
`addch('\n')', which always does the equivalent of return and line
feed on the virtual screen). With translation off, curses can
sometimes speed up vertical motion a little; also, it will be able
to detect the return key on input.
`noqiflush()'
When the noqiflush routine is used, normal flush of input and
output queues associated with the INTR, QUIT and SUSP characters
will not be done. You may want to call `noqiflush()' in a signal
handler if you want output to continue as though the interrupt had
not occurred, after the handler exits.
`noraw()'
Leave raw mode. Return to normal "cooked" mode with line buffering.
`pair_content(pair_number)'
Returns a tuple (FG,BG) containing the colors for the requested
color pair. The value of PAIR_NUMBER must be between 0 and
COLOR_PAIRS-1.
`pair_number(attr)'
Returns the number of the color-pair set by the attribute value
ATTR. `color_pair()' is the counterpart to this function.
`putp(string)'
Equivalent to `tputs(str, 1, putchar)'; emits the value of a
specified terminfo capability for the current terminal. Note that
the output of putp always goes to standard output.
`qiflush( [flag] )'
If FLAG is false, the effect is the same as calling `noqiflush()'.
If FLAG is true, or no argument is provided, the queues will be
flushed when these control characters are read.
`raw()'
Enter raw mode. In raw mode, normal line buffering and processing
of interrupt, quit, suspend, and flow control keys are turned off;
characters are presented to curses input functions one by one.
`reset_prog_mode()'
Restores the terminal to "program" mode, as previously saved by
`def_prog_mode()'.
`reset_shell_mode()'
Restores the terminal to "shell" mode, as previously saved by
`def_shell_mode()'.
`setsyx(y, x)'
Sets the virtual screen cursor to Y, X. If Y and X are both -1,
then leaveok is set.
`setupterm([termstr, fd])'
Initializes the terminal. TERMSTR is a string giving the terminal
name; if omitted, the value of the TERM environment variable will
be used. FD is the file descriptor to which any initialization
sequences will be sent; if not supplied, the file descriptor for
`sys.stdout' will be used.
`start_color()'
Must be called if the programmer wants to use colors, and before
any other color manipulation routine is called. It is good
practice to call this routine right after `initscr()'.
`start_color()' initializes eight basic colors (black, red, green,
yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, and white), and two global variables
in the `curses' module, `COLORS' and `COLOR_PAIRS', containing the
maximum number of colors and color-pairs the terminal can support.
It also restores the colors on the terminal to the values they
had when the terminal was just turned on.
`termattrs()'
Returns a logical OR of all video attributes supported by the
terminal. This information is useful when a curses program needs
complete control over the appearance of the screen.
`termname()'
Returns the value of the environment variable TERM, truncated to 14
characters.
`tigetflag(capname)'
Returns the value of the Boolean capability corresponding to the
terminfo capability name CAPNAME. The value `-1' is returned if
CAPNAME is not a Boolean capability, or `0' if it is canceled or
absent from the terminal description.
`tigetnum(capname)'
Returns the value of the numeric capability corresponding to the
terminfo capability name CAPNAME. The value `-2' is returned if
CAPNAME is not a numeric capability, or `-1' if it is canceled or
absent from the terminal description.
`tigetstr(capname)'
Returns the value of the string capability corresponding to the
terminfo capability name CAPNAME. `None' is returned if CAPNAME
is not a string capability, or is canceled or absent from the
terminal description.
`tparm(str[,...])'
Instantiates the string STR with the supplied parameters, where
STR should be a parameterized string obtained from the terminfo
database. E.g. `tparm(tigetstr("cup"), 5, 3)' could result in
`'\033[6;4H'', the exact result depending on terminal type.
`typeahead(fd)'
Specifies that the file descriptor FD be used for typeahead
checking. If FD is `-1', then no typeahead checking is done.
The curses library does "line-breakout optimization" by looking for
typeahead periodically while updating the screen. If input is
found, and it is coming from a tty, the current update is
postponed until refresh or doupdate is called again, allowing
faster response to commands typed in advance. This function allows
specifying a different file descriptor for typeahead checking.
`unctrl(ch)'
Returns a string which is a printable representation of the
character CH. Control characters are displayed as a caret
followed by the character, for example as `^C'. Printing
characters are left as they are.
`ungetch(ch)'
Push CH so the next `getch()' will return it. *Note:* only one CH
can be pushed before `getch()' is called.
`ungetmouse(id, x, y, z, bstate)'
Push a `KEY_MOUSE' event onto the input queue, associating the
given state data with it.
`use_env(flag)'
If used, this function should be called before `initscr()' or
newterm are called. When FLAG is false, the values of lines and
columns specified in the terminfo database will be used, even if
environment variables `LINES' and `COLUMNS' (used by default) are
set, or if curses is running in a window (in which case default
behavior would be to use the window size if `LINES' and `COLUMNS'
are not set).
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