infocmp - Compare or print the terminal description

Format

infocmp [-ducn] [-ILC] [-1Vv] [-s d|i|l|c] [-A directory] [-B directory] [term_names...]

Description

infocmp compares terminfo database entries, or prints a terminfo database entry. Output is written to standard output.

The Curses application uses the terminfo database, which contains a list of terminal descriptions. This enables you to manipulate a terminal's display regardless of the terminal type. To create the terminfo database, use tic. For information about the terminfo database, see Customizing the terminfo database in z/OS UNIX System Services Planning.

For more information about curses, see Using the module map to improve performance in z/OS Common Debug Architecture User's Guide.

Options

d
Prints the two terminal definitions showing the differences between the capabilities.
u
Prints the differences between the two terminal definitions.
c
Prints entries that are common to the two terminfo databases.
n
Does not print entries in either terminfo database.
I
Prints the current terminal description using capname. (capname is the short name for a capability specified in the terminfo source file.)
C
Prints the current terminal description using termcap.
L
Prints the current terminal description using variables (names that the curses functions can use when working with the terminfo database)
1
Single-column output.
V
Prints the program version.
v
Prints debugging information (verbose) to standard error
s
Changes sort order of the fields printed.
d
Sorts by database
i
Sorts by terminfo
c
Sorts by termcap
l
Sorts by the variables (names that the curses function can use when working with the terminfo database)
A
First terminfo database.
B
Other terminfo database.
term_names
Names of entries to be processed.

Usage notes

When displaying terminal database information for entries that are to be processed, infocmp operates as follows:

  1. If you omit term_names, infocmp locates the terminal database information specified by the TERM environment variable and displays that as the entry's terminal database information.
  2. If you specify a single term_name, infocmp displays terminal database information for that named entry.
  3. If you specify more than one term_name, infocmp displays the results of a terminal database comparison between all of the specified term_names.

Examples

  1. To print out the current terminal description using capname, issue: 
    infocmp
    You will see: 
    infocmp ibm3101
#    Reconstructed via infocmp from file:/usr/share/lib/terminfo/i
ibm3101|IBM 3101-10:\

ibm3101|IBM 3101-10,
   am,
   cols#80, lines#24,
   bel=¬?, clear=¬.\322, cr=\r, cub1=\b, cud1=\n,
   cuf1=¬.\303,
  2. To print out the current terminal description using the curses capability names, issue: 
    infocmp -L
    You will get: 
    infocmp -L ibm3101
#    Reconstructed via infocmp from file:/usr/share/lib/terminfo/i
ibm3101|IBM 3101-10:\

Terminal type ibm3101
  ibm3101|IBM 3101-10
flags
  auto_right_margin,

numbers
  columns = 80, lines = 24,

strings
  bell = '¬?', carriage_return = '\r', clear_all_tabs = '¬.\310',
  clear_screen = '¬.\322', clr_eol = '¬.\311', clr_eos = '¬.\321',
  3. To print out the current terminal description using capname, issue: 
    infocmp -I
    You will get: 
    infocmp -I ibm3101
#    Reconstructed via infocmp from file:/usr/share/lib/terminfo/i
ibm3101|IBM 3101-10:\

ibm3101|IBM 3101-10,
   am,
   cols#80, lines#24,
   bel=¬?, clear=¬.\322, cr=\r, cub1=\b, cud1=\n,
   cuf1=¬.\303,
  4. To print out the current terminal description using termcap, issue: 
    infocmp -C
    You will get: 
    infocmp -C ibm3101
#    Reconstructed via infocmp from file:/usr/share/lib/terminfo/i
ibm3101|IBM 3101-10:\
   :am:bs:\
   :.co#80:li#24:kn#2:\
   :.cd=\EJ:.ce=\EI:.cl=\EK:\
   :.c:.cm=\EY%p1%' '%+%c%p2%'
'%+%c:.ct=\EH:.ho=\EH:\
   :.nd=\EC:.st=\E0:.up=\EA:
  5. To print entries in single-column format, issue: 
    infocmp -1
    You will get: 
    infocmp -C -1 ibm3101
#    Reconstructed via infocmp from file:/usr/share/lib/terminfo/i
ibm3101|IBM 3101-10:\
   :am:\
   :bs:\
   :co#80:\
   :li#24:\
   :kn#2:\
   :.cd=\EJ:\
   :.ce=\EI:\
   :.cl=\EK:\
  6. To print the two terminal definitions showing the difference between the capabilities (F indicates False, entry not present; T indicates True, entry present): 
    infocmp -d ibm3101 hft--c
    You will get: 
    #    Reconstructed via infocmp from file:/usr/share/lib/terminfo/i
ibm3101|IBM 3101-10:\
        comparing ibm3101 to hft-c.
           comparing booleans.
           bw:F:T.
           msgr:F:T.
           xon:F:T.
             comparing numbers.
           it:-1:8.
           lines:24:25.
             comparing strings.
           batt1:'NULL','\206\361'.
           batt2:'NULL','\206\361\224\204'.
    To print the capabilities that are different between the two terminal definitions. The values for the first terminal definitions are shown. 
    infocmp -u ibm3101 hft-c
    You will get: 
    #    Reconstructed via infocmp from file:/usr/share/lib/terminfo/i
ibm3101|IBM 3101-10:\
        ibm3101|IBM 3101-10,
            bw@, msgr@, xon@,
            it@, lines#24,
            batt1@, batt2@, blink@, bold@, box1@, box2@,
            clear=¬.\322, colb0@, colb1@, colb2@, colb3@, colb4@,
            colb5@, colb6@, colb7@, colf0@, colf1@, colf2@,
            colf3@, colf4@, colf5@, colf6@, colf7@, cub@, cud@,
            cuf@, cuf1=¬.\303,
  7. To print the capabilities that are the same in both terminal definitions, issue: 
    infocmp -c ibm3101 hft-c
    You will get: 
    #    Reconstructed via infocmp from file:/usr/share/lib/terminfo/i
ibm3101|IBM 3101-10:\
     comparing ibm3101 to hft-c.
        comparing booleans.
           am= T.
        comparing numbers.
           cols= 80.
        comparing strings.
           bel= '¬?'.
           cr= '\r'.
           cub1= '\b'.
           cud1= '\n'.
  8. To print the capabilities that are not found in either terminal definition, issue: 
    infocmp -u ibm3101 hft-c
    You will get: 
    #    Reconstructed via infocmp from file:/usr/share/lib/terminfo/i
ibm3101|IBM 3101-10:\
   comparing ibm3101 to hft-c.
      comparing booleans.
         !bce.
         !ccc.
         !chts.
         !cpix.
         !crxm.
         !da.
         !daisy.

Environment variables

infocmp uses the following environment variables:
TERMINFO
Contains the path name of the terminfo database.
TERM
Contains the name of your terminal, that is, the current terminal definition.

Related information

captoinfo, tic