Previous Table of Contents Next


The terminfo Database

The terminfo database describes the characteristics of TTY devices. The source files in terminfo specify a set of capabilities for a device by quantifying certain aspects of the device and by specifying character sequences that control particular results. This database is often used by applications such as vi and curses, as well as by the ls and more commands. Information in the terminfo database is stored in a compiled binary format. The terminfo compiler, tic(1M), translates a terminfo file from source format to the required compiled binary format that applications use..

If you have site-specific termcap entries for devices, you can use the captoinfo utility to convert those entries into terminfo source format. Then use the tic compiler to translate the data into compiled format. See the captoinfo(1M) and tic(1M) manual pages for more information.

The tput Utility

Use the tput(1M) utility to initialize or reset the terminal or to make terminal-dependent capabilities and information available to the shell. The tput command sets terminal characteristics using data in the terminfo database. The tput utility is similar to the SunOS 4.x tset(1B) utility, which is provided in the SunOS/BSD Compatibility Package. The tput utility uses the following syntax:

tput [-Ttype] init
tput[-Ttype] reset

The stty Command

The /usr/bin/stty command is the SVR4 version of the SunOS 4.x stty command. The old /usr/ucb/stty command is available in the SunOS/BSD Compatibility Package. Use of the options varies, depending on which version of stty you are using. The stty command uses this syntax:

stty [-a] [-g] [options]

The -a flag lists current options using their termio names. The -g flag lists the same information in a format that can be used as an argument to another stty command.

The following examples show the default line settings using first the /usr/bin/stty command and then the /usr/ucb/stty command.

oak% /usr/bin/stty
speed 96ØØ baud; evenp hupcl
rows = 66; columns = 8Ø; ypixels = 5Ø8; xpixels = 61289;
swtch = <undef>;
brkint -inpck icrnl -ixany imaxbel onlcr
echo echoe echok echoctl echoke iexten
oak% /usr/ucb/stty
speed 96ØØ baud; evenp hupcl
rows = 66; columns = 8Ø; ypixels = 5Ø8; xpixels = 61289;
swtch = <undef>;
-inpck imaxbel
crt iexten
oak%

Table 9-4 compares the default line settings for SunOS 4.x and Solaris 2.x. Note that the dash means not to set the value.

Table 9-4 Default Line Settings

SunOS 4.x Solaris 2.x Description
9600 9600 Baud rate.
evenp -parity Even parity/disable parity.
hupcl Hang up connection on close.
rows=X, columns=X, ypixels=0 Set number of rows, columns, and ypixels.
xpixels=0 Set xpixels to 0.
swtch=<undef>, dsusp=<undef> Set control character assignments.
brkint Signal INTR on break.
-inpck -inpck Disable input parity checking.
icrnl Map CR to NL on input.
-ixany Do not allow only DC1 to restart output.
imaxbel imaxbel Echo BEL when the input line is too long.
onlcr Map NL to CR-NL on output.
tab3 Select style of delay for horizontal tabs.
echo Echo back every character typed.
echoe Echo ERASE character as a backspace-space-backspace string.
echok Echo NL after KILL character.
echoctl Echo control characters as ^char, delete as ^?.
echoke BS-SP-BS erase entire line.
iexten iexten Enable extended functions for input data.

UUCP Files

To use uucp, tip, or cu with modems and terminals, you must use information from or add information to the /etc/uucp/Dialers and /etc/uucp/Devices files. Each of these files is described in the following sections.


Previous Table of Contents Next