NAME¶
addch,
waddch,
mvaddch,
mvwaddch,
echochar,
wechochar - add a character (with attributes) to a
curses
window, then advance the cursor
SYNOPSIS¶
#include <curses.h>
int addch(const chtype ch);
int waddch(WINDOW *win, const chtype ch);
int mvaddch(int y, int x, const chtype ch);
int mvwaddch(WINDOW *win, int y, int x, const chtype ch);
int echochar(const chtype ch);
int wechochar(WINDOW *win, const chtype ch);
DESCRIPTION¶
The
addch,
waddch,
mvaddch and
mvwaddch routines put
the character
ch into the given window at its current window position,
which is then advanced. They are analogous to
putchar in
stdio(3). If the advance is at the right margin:
- •
- The cursor automatically wraps to the beginning of the next line.
- •
- At the bottom of the current scrolling region, and if scrollok is
enabled, the scrolling region is scrolled up one line.
- •
- If scrollok is not enabled, writing a character at the lower right
margin succeeds. However, an error is returned because it is not possible
to wrap to a new line
If
ch is a tab, newline, or backspace, the cursor is moved appropriately
within the window:
- •
- Backspace moves the cursor one character left; at the left edge of a
window it does nothing.
- •
- Newline does a clrtoeol, then moves the cursor to the window left
margin on the next line, scrolling the window if on the last line.
- •
- Tabs are considered to be at every eighth column. The tab interval may be
altered by setting the TABSIZE variable.
If
ch is any control character other than tab, newline, or backspace, it
is drawn in
^X notation. Calling
winch after adding a
control character does not return the character itself, but instead returns
the ^-representation of the control character.
Video attributes can be combined with a character argument passed to
addch or related functions by logical-ORing them into the character.
(Thus, text, including attributes, can be copied from one place to another
using
inch and
addch.) See the
attr(3NCURSES) page for
values of predefined video attribute constants that can be usefully OR'ed into
characters.
The
echochar and
wechochar routines are equivalent to a call to
addch followed by a call to
refresh, or a call to
waddch
followed by a call to
wrefresh. The knowledge that only a single
character is being output is used and, for non-control characters, a
considerable performance gain may be seen by using these routines instead of
their equivalents.
Line Graphics¶
The following variables may be used to add line drawing characters to the screen
with routines of the
addch family. The default character listed below
is used if the
acsc capability does not define a terminal-specific
replacement for it. The names are taken from VT100 nomenclature.
Name |
Default |
Description |
|
|
|
ACS_BLOCK |
# |
solid square block |
ACS_BOARD |
# |
board of squares |
ACS_BTEE |
+ |
bottom tee |
ACS_BULLET |
o |
bullet |
ACS_CKBOARD |
: |
checker board (stipple) |
ACS_DARROW |
v |
arrow pointing down |
ACS_DEGREE |
' |
degree symbol |
ACS_DIAMOND |
+ |
diamond |
ACS_GEQUAL |
> |
greater-than-or-equal-to |
ACS_HLINE |
- |
horizontal line |
ACS_LANTERN |
# |
lantern symbol |
ACS_LARROW |
< |
arrow pointing left |
ACS_LEQUAL |
< |
less-than-or-equal-to |
ACS_LLCORNER |
+ |
lower left-hand corner |
ACS_LRCORNER |
+ |
lower right-hand corner |
ACS_LTEE |
+ |
left tee |
ACS_NEQUAL |
! |
not-equal |
ACS_PI |
* |
greek pi |
ACS_PLMINUS |
# |
plus/minus |
ACS_PLUS |
+ |
plus |
ACS_RARROW |
> |
arrow pointing right |
ACS_RTEE |
+ |
right tee |
ACS_S1 |
- |
scan line 1 |
ACS_S3 |
- |
scan line 3 |
ACS_S7 |
- |
scan line 7 |
ACS_S9 |
_ |
scan line 9 |
ACS_STERLING |
f |
pound-sterling symbol |
ACS_TTEE |
+ |
top tee |
ACS_UARROW |
^ |
arrow pointing up |
ACS_ULCORNER |
+ |
upper left-hand corner |
ACS_URCORNER |
+ |
upper right-hand corner |
ACS_VLINE |
| |
vertical line |
RETURN VALUE¶
All routines return the integer
ERR upon failure and
OK on success
(the SVr4 manuals specify only "an integer value other than
ERR") upon successful completion, unless otherwise noted in the
preceding routine descriptions.
Functions with a "mv" prefix first perform a cursor movement using
wmove, and return an error if the position is outside the window, or if
the window pointer is null.
NOTES¶
Note that
addch,
mvaddch,
mvwaddch, and
echochar may
be macros.
PORTABILITY¶
All these functions are described in the XSI Curses standard, Issue 4. The
defaults specified for forms-drawing characters apply in the POSIX locale.
X/Open Curses states that the
ACS_ definitions are
char constants.
For the wide-character implementation (see
curs_add_wch), there are
analogous
WACS_ definitions which are
cchar_t constants.
Some ACS symbols (ACS_S3, ACS_S7, ACS_LEQUAL, ACS_GEQUAL, ACS_PI, ACS_NEQUAL,
ACS_STERLING) were not documented in any publicly released System V. However,
many publicly available terminfos include
acsc strings in which their
key characters (pryz{|}) are embedded, and a second-hand list of their
character descriptions has come to light. The ACS-prefixed names for them were
invented for
ncurses(3NCURSES).
The
TABSIZE variable is implemented in some versions of curses, but is
not part of X/Open curses.
If
ch is a carriage return, the cursor is moved to the beginning of the
current row of the window. This is true of other implementations, but is not
documented.
SEE ALSO¶
ncurses(3NCURSES),
attr(3NCURSES),
clear(3NCURSES),
inch(3NCURSES),
outopts(3NCURSES),
refresh(3NCURSES),
curses_variables(3NCURSES),
putc(3).
Comparable functions in the wide-character (ncursesw) library are described in
add_wch(3NCURSES).